Aizen did not strike again. He merely stood aside, arms folded, watching.
Shiraha remained rooted where he was, unmoving, neither dodging nor evading.
There was no lower limit—only the crushing spell of gravity and stasis.
Ichimaru Gin's Kamishini no Yari lashed out once more, just as before. It looked lethal, deceptively swift and devastating, but against Shiraha it might as well have been striking empty air.
"Since you all insist on using Bankai," Shiraha said coolly, "then I'll add more weight. Seventy times gravity."
He extended his hand and the air thickened. The oppressive pull multiplied instantly, an extra thirtyfold increase crashing down upon the three captains.
Gin and Tōsen had already released their Bankai, and their Reiatsu had swelled to new heights. At forty times gravity they had barely managed to remain upright, forcing their spiritual pressure to counterbalance the crushing field. But at seventy, the strain became unbearable.
"Boom!"
Gin fared slightly better, his sharp spiritual pressure deflecting most of the force, yet even he could not move. The ground beneath his feet split open, crumbling into a crater from the weight pressing down on his body.
Tōsen was far less fortunate. Even with his Reiatsu unleashed at full, he could only offset part of the pressure. The rest bore down without mercy.
The earth beneath him gave way. With a thunderous crash, he was swallowed into the ground, a hole more than ten meters deep forming around his frame.
"Ka-ka-ka…" The sound of bones snapping echoed from within the pit.
Under the suffocating crush of gravity, Tōsen's body split open with wound after wound. Blood seeped from the gashes, dyeing the white feathers of his captain's haori a ghastly red.
That he did not die instantly was, in its own way, a miracle.
"This gravity… interesting."
Aizen's eyes glimmered faintly. Even he had to let his Reiatsu surge, a deep, overwhelming tide bursting outward to counteract the seventyfold pull. His spiritual pressure roared like a storm, erasing the gravity's effect around him.
Shiraha's eyes narrowed in surprise. "As expected of Captain Aizen. That Reiatsu… it's no weaker than Yamamoto Genryūsai's. Perhaps second only to his."
He let his voice drop, a note of disdain threading through. "Captain Tōsen, sometimes I truly wonder how you ever became a captain with strength like that."
Through his Observation Haki, Shiraha had already measured him clearly. Even after invoking Bankai, Tōsen was weaker than Komamura.
From the pit, a hoarse voice rose, trembling with fury. "Ahem… Kuchiki Shiraha!" Tōsen's face twisted with anger as he forced the words out through ragged breaths.
Shiraha lifted his blade-staff in one hand. Armament Haki wrapped it in a purple sheen, and with a single slash he tore forward.
The strike split the black oval barrier before him with a resounding crack. Spiritual particles scattered like dust and dissolved into the air.
"Bakudō no Hana," Shiraha murmured, before glancing toward Gin. His lips curved faintly. "Captain Ichimaru, allow me to present you a gift."
He raised his palm, releasing a tide of purple energy. The wave spread outward in an instant, swelling to hundreds of meters wide, radiating an aura of pure destruction.
It hurtled toward Gin at blinding speed.
Gin's narrow eyes flicked briefly to Aizen, then back to the incoming wave. His blade snapped forward.
"No Step, No Edge!"
Kamishini no Yari stretched and retracted at impossible speed, countless strikes hammering the oncoming wave. White streaks of light slashed into the energy, breaking it apart, tearing it down piece by piece.
From hundreds of meters, the wave was whittled to mere tens, its force weakened, though not extinguished. Gin used Shunpo, flickering away, putting distance between himself and the remnant energy.
But before he could breathe, the wave twisted midair and turned back toward him, still roaring forward with undiminished speed.
Gin's eyes narrowed. "It can turn?"
He remembered Baidaimon. That time, he had slipped away with Shunpo and avoided it completely.
"Captain Ichimaru," Shiraha called lightly, "I forgot to tell you. My attacks do not dissipate unless destroyed—or unless they strike you."
Within his domain, Shiraha's attacks would never miss. The field bent all trajectories to his will.
The wave reached Gin in a blink.
"Boom!!"
It detonated, consuming him in a storm of violet light. The blast tore through hundreds of meters, annihilating everything in its path. The terrain disintegrated into spirit particles, leaving only ruin.
Gin staggered out of the smoke, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His captain's haori hung in tatters, his skin split with shallow cuts, blood seeping steadily. He dropped to one knee, eyes still fixed on Shiraha.
"…Justice shall not be profaned!!"
The cry came not from Gin but from behind, where Tōsen dragged himself out of the pit. His body was broken, blood soaking him from head to toe, veins bulging on his forehead as he forced his ruined body forward. His words dripped with rage and conviction.
Shiraha tilted his head slightly. "Such willpower," he murmured, faintly impressed. "Your strength may be lacking, Captain Tōsen, but your resolve for justice is extraordinary. To endure this state under seventyfold gravity… remarkable."
Aizen's gaze lingered on his battered subordinates. He did not intervene. He merely observed, silent, intent, studying every technique Shiraha unleashed as though their suffering meant nothing.
"Captain Tōsen," Shiraha said with a thin smile, "why not lie down and rest?"
He extended his finger, voice steady. "Hadō no Kyūjū… Kurohitsugi!"
Black energy surged as a cube began to construct itself around Tōsen, its edges folding inward with the weight of death.
Aizen's lips quirked faintly. "Bakudō no Hachijūichi—Danku."
But Shiraha's domain flared, warping perception. Aizen's mind flooded with five years' worth of false information, drowning him in a blank haze. His chant fractured.
For a heartbeat, his body faltered, his limbs refusing to obey. His eyes turned glassy, vacant.
And in that instant, the black coffin closed.
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