Aizen did not stop him.
Around Tōsen Kaname, the black coffin formed, folding in on itself until his body was swallowed in absolute darkness.
"Pfft. Pfft. Pfft."
The sound of countless blades tearing flesh echoed from within.
When the Kurohitsugi dissipated, Tōsen collapsed, his body lacerated with hundreds of wounds. Blood gushed freely, spreading across the ground until the stone beneath was dyed red. His breath rasped, shallow and uneven, each exhalation weaker than the last. Death hovered close.
"Justice…" Tōsen forced out the word with his final strength before slipping into unconsciousness.
Shiraha's gaze was steady, his voice detached. "Commendable courage, but strength alone does not measure up."
He released the seventyfold gravity and the suppressing Reiatsu pressing down on Tōsen. In his state, it would have killed him outright. Shiraha had never intended to end his life—not yet. Teaching him a lesson was enough.
Killing him here would shatter his fragile alliance with Aizen, long before the Hōgyoku was within reach. If that happened, all the maneuvering up until now would be wasted, and with Aizen concealing the orb's location, Shiraha would lose everything.
No—timing mattered more than any personal victory.
He turned his eyes toward Aizen, the faintest smile on his lips. Let's see how long you endure, Captain Aizen.
Feeding Kisuke half a year's worth of false memories had paralyzed him for one second. Now, he had forced five years into Aizen's mind. Would it hold him for five seconds? Three?
But Aizen's strength dwarfed Kisuke's. Shiraha knew the effect would be shorter.
"I… this is?"
Two seconds later, Aizen's lifeless gaze cleared, his body straightened, and his will reasserted itself. The haze dissolved as if it had never been.
"Captain Shiraha," Aizen said, voice calm but edged with a rare flicker of unease, "this ability of yours—surely it is not your Zanpakutō's? It must be something you gained when you touched the Hōgyoku."
Before, Shiraha's blade spirit had been near-invincible defensively, but offensively too weak to pose a threat. Aizen had dismissed it as negligible, confident that once he fused with the Hōgyoku, even its defenses would prove useless.
But those two seconds of paralysis, when his body had refused to move, had been unlike anything he had ever experienced. For that moment, it was as though death itself had sealed him.
"Yes," Shiraha admitted evenly. "It's the ability I gained after making contact with the Hōgyoku."
Aizen's brow furrowed slightly. A full five years of false knowledge had been forced into his mind, and yet it had lasted no more than two seconds. By comparison, Kisuke had fallen for one second under only half a year's worth. Which meant Aizen's resistance was at least five times greater.
And this was before fusing with the Hōgyoku. After merging, his Reiatsu would climb higher still. Then, perhaps even ten years of fabricated memories might fail to restrain him for more than an instant.
"I see." Aizen's expression smoothed, though the gleam in his eyes showed he was filing every detail away. This was no Zanpakutō, no Fullbring—it was something more, something alien, something only possible through the Hōgyoku.
"Why didn't you strike me when I was unable to move?" he asked suddenly.
Shiraha smiled lightly. "Captain Aizen, you jest. We are partners, are we not?"
In truth, he had considered it. But even paralyzed, Aizen's spiritual pressure was immense. His very presence was a wall. Shiraha doubted his own strength could have pierced that defense. In battle between Shinigami, Reiatsu determined everything.
And more importantly—Aizen's death now would ruin too many of Shiraha's objectives. The Hōgyoku was not yet whole. The sign-in tasks tied to Aizen remained incomplete. If Shiraha wanted to crush him, it would have to be at the right moment.
Aizen's lips curved faintly. "You're ruthless, Captain Shiraha." He gestured toward the ruin that had been his comrades. "Tōsen lies at death's door. Gin is bleeding heavily. Yet you call this restraint?"
Shiraha's smile deepened. "I hadn't expected Captain Tōsen and Captain Ichimaru to be so weak."
Truthfully, Tōsen had always been fragile before his transformation with the Hōgyoku. Gin was another matter—Shiraha had sensed his holding back deliberately. Had Gin fought seriously, Shiraha knew it would not have been so easy.
In his mind, the system prompt chimed.
Successful sign-in. Task complete.
Reward: Gojo Satoru Template progress increased by 2%.
First Template: Fujitora Isshō Template — 100%
Abilities: [complete]
Exclusive Ability: [complete]
Second Template: Gojo Satoru Template — 100%
Abilities: Six Eyes — perfected. Infinity techniques: Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue — perfected. Cursed Technique Reversal: Red — perfected. Hollow Technique: Purple — perfected.
Exclusive Ability: Domain Expansion — Infinite Void, perfected.
Third Template Unlock Condition: Gojo Satoru Template 100% (fulfilled), contact with the true, complete Hōgyoku (unfulfilled).
Power rushed through Shiraha, sharpening every sense. His Reiatsu flared, surging upward like a storm.
He could feel it—his domain had expanded, swelling from its previous limit of 160,000 meters to a vast 200,000. And the useless knowledge he could impose upon an opponent had doubled—from five years to ten.
That meant against an opponent like Aizen, such an attack could now bind him for four full seconds.
The hilt of his blade trembled faintly. A voice whispered deep within his soul.
Master Shiraha… my name is Shira—
The word fractured before completion.
"White? White what?" Shiraha muttered under his breath, straining to hear. But the rest of the name eluded him.
"So… the true Zanpakutō will only reveal itself once the third template opens." His eyes narrowed with a quiet resolve.
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