"Why don't you go see your Shinigami?"
After finishing Zaraki Kenpachi with a punch entangled in Conqueror's Reiatsu, Aiyan glanced at the pink-haired little girl at his feet.
"You know?"
Kusajishi Yachiru's long pink lips curved, surprised that Aiyan could see through her at a glance.
"Go ahead and comfort him, so that he doesn't get depressed."
Aiyan smiled.
"If Ken-chan can use me, I'll definitely make you draw your sword."
Kusajishi Yachiru said confidently with her hands on her hips.
"I'll wait and see."
"But today's protagonist is not him. When he achieves Bankai, let him come to me."
"My Gotei 13 has a place for him."
Aiyan did not refute.
Zaraki Kenpachi, who had unlocked all his power, could indeed be trained into Bankai, and with that, he might finally force him to draw his Zanpakutō.
But that was all.
"Goodbye, Yan-chan."
Kusajishi Yachiru nodded, then twisted the Zanpakutō in her hand like a child's toy, and ran toward the place where Zaraki Kenpachi had fallen — not at all angry that Aiyan had smashed her Shinigami partner into the ground.
"Captain Aiyan, I think she's the only one in the entire Soul Society who dares to call you that."
Upon hearing this, Unohana Retsu couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.
The other captains wanted to laugh as well, but they didn't dare do so openly like Unohana.
"After all, she's a Zanpakutō spirit with a pure heart."
Aiyan shook his head. Of course, he would not argue with a pink-haired little girl, especially one who was also a Zanpakutō.
But the next second, his eyes fell on Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
"It's your turn, Captain."
The moment the words fell, the lighthearted atmosphere brought about by Yachiru's "Yan-chan" was immediately swept away, replaced by tension and oppressive silence.
"Shiba Isshin, step back."
"Otherwise, I can't guarantee I won't treat you as an enemy."
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni glanced at Shiba Isshin, his five fingers tightening on Ryūjin Jakka's hilt. Reiatsu flames burning at six thousand degrees erupted, sweeping out in blazing waves of heat, scorching several kilometers around them and steadily raising the temperature.
Although Zaraki Kenpachi had already challenged Aiyan, Yamamoto still did not trust Shiba Isshin.
In fact—
Within the Gotei 13, which was now little more than a name, he trusted no one except Jūshirō Ukitake, Kyōraku Shunsui, and Chōjirō Sasakibe lying unconscious on the ground.
Shiba Isshin listened silently, then nodded slightly and retreated without a word.
"Do you think you can win with just Gotei 13?"
"Innocent. So innocent it almost makes me laugh."
"Aiyan Sōsuke, let me teach you one last lesson. The strength of the Gotei 13 does not lie in the Lieutenant, nor the Captains, nor even the Head-Captain—it lies in me."
For the first time, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, who always bore a stern expression, grinned. Then, in a flash step, he raised Ryūjin Jakka, igniting it in a raging fire. The sea of clouds above Seireitei was dyed fiery red, turning into a burning ocean of flame.
Flames capable of incinerating Shinigami and Menos alike surged into the blade, then roared toward Aiyan like lightning.
Clang!
In a flash, Aiyan—who had not once drawn his sword since the beginning of the battle—unsheathed his Zanpakutō for the first time and caught the oncoming Ryūjin Jakka.
Boom!
The swords clashed. Sparks burst out, but there was no sharp screech of clashing steel—only a heavy, earth-shaking sound, like a meteorite crashing to the ground.
Boom!
With a single exchange, centered on the two of them, blazing flames and overwhelming Reiatsu erupted into a shockwave, tearing up the earth three meters deep and a hundred meters wide, as though the ground had been overturned by a giant hand.
"You drew your sword?"
"A wise choice."
"Otherwise, you would have been cut to pieces."
Yamamoto's cold eyes glanced at the Zanpakutō in Aiyan's hand.
"No."
"I only felt that, as Seireitei's history, you deserved my blade to mark your end."
"That's all."
Aiyan's words instantly ignited the fury and killing intent of the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years.
"Arrogant!"
"Do you know why I have been Head-Captain of the Gotei 13 for a thousand years, unshaken by anyone?"
"Because in these thousand years, no Shinigami has ever been stronger than me!"
The hand gripping Yamamoto's sword tightened further. The Reiatsu accumulated over millennia surged out like a supervolcano, stirring the sea of flames above Seireitei into a massive vortex that inverted across the sky.
"Kendō—none."
"Hakuda—none."
"Shunpo—none."
"Kidō—none."
"Reiatsu—none."
"Zanpakutō—least of all."
As if to prove his words, Yamamoto placed both hands on the hilt, flames bursting wildly from the blade. The temperature within several kilometers spiked instantly to over a thousand degrees.
At the same time, he stepped forward, his swing descending.
"Kendō: Two Breaks."
Thousands of years of Reiatsu.
A blazing flame at six thousand degrees.
All of it merged into a single strike—
A flaming blade pressure that split sky and earth, scorching even before it touched Aiyan, swallowing everything within range.
The sea of clouds melted into a gorge.
The atmosphere itself was pierced through.
The ground cracked, charred, and burned.
Boom!
The overwhelming flame surged, engulfing Aiyan and the surrounding Captains and Lieutenants.
But then— Aiyan raised his free left hand. Brilliant golden light erupted, forming countless golden blades of light that encircled him like stars around the moon.
"Kendō: Hyakpo Hiken."
Hundreds of golden blades shot out, transforming into colossal golden dragons, each one wreathed in boundless sharpness. Like a swarm of heavenly serpents, they lunged forward, colliding with the flaming sword pressure that could incinerate all creation.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Reiatsu dragons and flame clashed violently.
Each second, golden dragons were burned away.
Each second, the sky-high flames were scattered and suppressed.
Within moments, the shockwave of their clash had flooded hundreds of meters. Except for Aizen, Rangiku, Gin, and Unohana, who could still stand their ground, everyone else was forced to retreat over a thousand meters.
Even Captain-class Shinigami could only watch from afar—otherwise they would be torn apart by the golden dragons' sharp Reiatsu, or consumed by the searing flame pressure.
Crack!
A chilling sound split the air.
The unbearable heatwave that had filled kilometers vanished.
The towering flame pressure dissipated.
Then—
A figure was hurled back by ten golden dragons, retreating over a hundred meters before finally slamming his blade into the ground to stop himself. Dust and debris erupted skyward like a sandstorm, blotting out the sun.
"As you can see."
Aiyan lowered his hand, gazing calmly at Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, who had been driven back a hundred meters.
"Not in a thousand years."
"But now there is."
"Whether it's Kendō, Hakuda, Shunpo, Kidō, Reiatsu, or Zanpakutō—I stand above you."