In the desolate silence of Hueco Mundo, Amamiya Miyako finished his final preparations. A small pile of freshly crafted Seele Schneider lay beside him, enough to sustain one full release of his Vollständig. He then took out the silver pass given to him by Ryūken Ishida, channeling his reiryoku into it. With a low hum, the Sun Gate—the portal symbolizing the Wandenreich—materialized before him.
The gate was still and sealed, showing no activity. Miyako gave it one last, contemplative look before turning his back on it and stepping through the adjacent portal that represented the Human World.
The moment he arrived in the replicated Karakura Town, he headed straight for its center. On the outskirts of the false city, he was met by the stern-faced Lieutenant of the 1st Division.
"Vice-Captain Amamiya?!" Chōjirō Sasakibe exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock. "You've returned from Hueco Mundo? What of the other Captains and Vice-Captains?!" There had been no word from the strike force, and concern was mounting.
"Captain Kuchiki and the others had their Garganta sealed by Aizen. They are temporarily trapped," Miyako reported swiftly. "But the enemy forces in Hueco Mundo have been largely neutralized. Aizen should receive no further reinforcements. If we can defeat him here and now, the war is ours."
It was a comforting half-truth. The full, brutal reality was that the Gotei 13 was heading for a devastating defeat.
"I see… That explains their prolonged absence."
"Vice-Captain Sasakibe, please lower the barrier. I must get inside immediately. I have critical intelligence. If we delay, it will be too late!"
"Understood." Trusting Miyako's urgency, Sasakibe quickly worked the controls, and a section of the protective barrier flickered and dissolved.
Before crossing the threshold, Miyako drew his twin Zanpakuto. Thanks to his training, he no longer needed an incantation. "Awaken, Shingetsu, Zetsunèn." A soft glow enveloped the blades as their Shikai ability activated. He was taking no chances, preemptively shielding his senses from Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu.
He had a terrible suspicion: Aizen had already placed everyone under his Complete Hypnosis and was merely waiting to harvest the spoils of the battle.
The moment he darted through the opening, his fears were confirmed. The scene before him made his blood run cold.
Near the battlefield where Suì-Fēng and Hachigen Ushōda were fighting Baraggan, Sōsuke Aizen stood silently beside the Segunda Espada. No one else seemed to notice him.
Baraggan was in a wretched state, clearly on the verge of defeat. But it was Aizen's actions that sent a chill down Miyako's spine. The traitor Captain held a blue-black orb in his hand—the Hōgyoku—and was raising it towards the wounded Espada.
"I will reduce you all to dust! You blaspheme against your king—GYAAAAAH!" Baraggan's threat turned into a scream of agony as his entire body began to dissolve, his spiritual essence being violently sucked into the glowing orb.
"Aizen?!" Baraggan rasped, finally noticing the master he had served standing behind him. This was the only thing Aizen allowed him to perceive.
"You have served your purpose, Baraggan Louisenbairn," Aizen said, a faint, cruel smile on his lips. "Your failure is itself a valuable contribution. You shall become the finest nourishment for the Hōgyoku."
Aizen's true plan was laid bare. Under the perfect illusion of Kyōka Suigetsu, he could move unseen, ready to consume his own top Espada at the moment of their defeat to fuel the orb's evolution.
Seeing this, Miyako didn't hesitate. His bow and arrow morphed back into his twin blades. He combined a burst of Hirenkyaku with a flash-step, crossing the distance in an instant and bringing his swords down in a furious, cross-shaped slash aimed at Aizen's back.
"Hmm?" Aizen turned, a flicker of genuine surprise in his eyes. Everyone should have been under his hypnosis. How could anyone perceive his true location?
CLANG!
Aizen's own Zanpakuto, Kyōka Suigetsu, met the twin blades with a sharp ring of steel.
"So it's you, Amamiya Miyako," Aizen said, his voice a calm contrast to the violent clash. "I wondered who could resist my illusion. How did you escape Hueco Mundo? By my calculations, even Kisuke Urahara should not have been able to reopen a passage so soon."
"Aizen… you've drawn your sword against me," Miyako stated, a calculated taunt. In that split second, his twin blades dissolved and reformed into his massive spiritual bow. He didn't nock an arrow; he simply pressed the bowstring itself against the blade of Kyōka Suigetsu and let it loose.
TWANG!
A point-blank shot, imbued with the sealing power of his Shikai, struck the hypnotic Zanpakuto directly.
Aizen's brow furrowed slightly. He had assumed Miyako was making another desperate grab for the Hōgyoku. He hadn't anticipated the true target was his sword itself.
As the arrow's energy washed over Kyōka Suigetsu, the blade seemed to grow dull and quiet. The pervasive effect of Complete Hypnosis that had gripped the entire battlefield shattered instantly.
"Amamiya?!"
"Aizen's gone!"
"No—he's over there! By Amamiya!"
To everyone else, Aizen had suddenly vanished from his perch in the sky. In his place, they saw the shocking sight of Miyako and Aizen locked in combat right beside the now-vanished Baraggan.
"To have the same trick work on me twice," Aizen mused, his calm demeanor returning, though a new intensity now burned in his eyes. "You have grown stronger, Amamiya."
Amamiya's flash-step and Shikai release were sharper than ever. Combined with Aizen's own miscalculation, he had successfully sealed Kyōka Suigetsu a second time.
Only now did Aizen truly regard Miyako as a significant variable. The theft of the Hōgyoku in Soul Society could be attributed to Kisuke Urahara's scheming. But this time, Amamiya had personally, and undeniably, disrupted his plans with his own power.
Suì-Fēng, Ōmaeda, and Hachigen Ushōda, seeing Baraggan vanish and Aizen suddenly materialize, quickly scrambled backward, putting distance between themselves and the two adversaries.
Miyako retreated to a position near Suì-Fēng and shouted to everyone on the battlefield, his voice ringing with urgency. "Listen! Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu is sealed! His plan is exposed! He just used the Hōgyoku to absorb Baraggan! He's turning his own Espada into fuel for that thing! The Primera and Tercera are next!"
A stunned silence fell, followed by a wave of shocked exclamations.
"What?!"
"Baraggan… he's gone? He was just here!"
"He's consuming his own forces?!"
Even Gin Ichimaru, who had been standing placidly nearby, frowned, his slit eyes narrowing as he looked at the real Aizen. Until a moment ago, he too had been under the illusion that his master was still beside him.
"Tsk…" Aizen glanced down at the dormant Kyōka Suigetsu in his hand. The seal was lasting significantly longer than the first time.
"Because you were immune to its influence, you witnessed me absorbing Baraggan," Aizen stated openly, completely unconcerned that Coyote Starrk and Tier Harribel were hearing his admission.
His confirmation sent another ripple of shock through the ranks. It finally clicked for everyone: Amamiya Miyako was immune to Complete Hypnosis. While a few in Soul Society knew of the Sōkyoku Hill incident, the full implications had never been widely understood.
Yet, even with his greatest weapon neutralized, Aizen showed no panic. His goal was nearly achieved, and he possessed the absolute confidence to see it through, regardless of who knew his plans.
"Aizen… Lord Aizen?" Tier Harribel's voice was laced with disbelief and betrayal.
Coyote Starrk disengaged from his fight, his weary eyes locking onto the man he had pledged to follow. What had their loyalty, their battles, their very purpose been for? The vow he made to Lilynette—'We'll win, as long as we follow Lord Aizen'—felt like a hollow joke.
"My, my… things just got complicated," Shunsui Kyōraku muttered under his breath, his casual demeanor belying the rapid calculations going on behind his eyes.
"What if I told you I've known since you were in your mother's womb?" Miyako taunted, throwing Hirako Shinji's old words back in Aizen's face in a bold attempt to provoke him.
Aizen ignored the jab, his expression feigning mild inconvenience. "I judged that the top three Espada would likely prove insufficient against the full might of the Gotei 13. I merely sought to… recycle defeated assets. I hadn't expected to be discovered after only the first." Then, the troubled look vanished, replaced by his signature, serene smile. "No matter. It is of little consequence."
With a soft chuckle, he flash-stepped back to Gin's side. "Gin," he commanded, his tone leaving no room for debate. "Amamiya is yours. I will handle the rest… alone."
Aizen's judgment was intact. As long as someone kept Amamiya occupied and prevented another sealing, he was confident he could eradicate everyone else single-handedly. And Gin, with the impossible speed of his Shinsō, was the perfect counter to Amamiya's Zanpakuto abilities. Aizen had deduced this from their first encounter and Amamiya's subsequent targeting of Gin in Hueco Mundo.
"Alright, alright," Gin sighed, a lazy smile stretching across his face as he stepped forward, his Zanpakuto already loosening in its sheath. "It seems I can't slack off after all."