Aizen Sōsuke appeared outside the ice prison.
He already looked noticeably different from before, and he lightly rested his left hand atop the towering block of ice.
It was as if he were reminiscing—yet also as if he found it a pity.
With a technique and teamwork this decent, if they had faced almost anyone else, it might have become a textbook example of battle.
Unfortunately, their opponent was him, so all it could ever become was a tragic backdrop.
"Aizen?
Then who was the one that got sealed just now?"
Soifon wasn't surprised that Aizen didn't simply get insta-killed by Hitsugaya Tōshirō's move.
What made disbelief spread across her face was the fact that Aizen had appeared outside the ice prison like this.
Had Hitsugaya's attack missed?
It wasn't impossible.
After all, not long ago Hitsugaya Tōshirō had still been a student at the Shin'ō Academy. It was his first real battlefield, and the enemy was Aizen Sōsuke—making a mistake would be understandable.
Even Hitsugaya himself, seeing Aizen outside the prison, stared at his own Sennen Hyōrō (Thousand-Year Ice Prison) in confusion.
Did he whiff his ultimate?
No. He hadn't.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō could clearly sense it—there was something alive inside that ice prison.
He had definitely hit Aizen!
So what was going on?
Aizen could tell that in the eyes of these Shinigami, huge, unmistakable confusion had filled every face.
"Ha ha ha…"
He was extremely satisfied with this situation.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
By normal logic, as the "villain," Aizen should have let Soifon and the others keep fighting in confusion—letting them die never knowing what had really happened.
But Aizen Sōsuke, ever the teacher, disdained doing things that way.
In his view, Soifon and the rest had already been shocked, already been thoroughly toyed with and humiliated by him.
So now it was time to let them know the truth.
Because being defeated while kept in the dark—dying confused—
And knowing the reason yet still being powerless, forced to watch yourself be defeated again—
Those were two completely different sensations.
If it were Higashino Shuuichi, he would absolutely choose the former.
But Aizen clearly preferred the latter.
"Doesn't it feel unbelievable?
Didn't I get caught in that little kid's Bankai?
So why am I standing here?"
With an elegant motion, Aizen swept his right hand across the thick ice prison.
As his movement and Reiatsu flowed in—
That massive Sennen Hyōrō vanished in an instant.
Just like what had happened in the Dangai earlier.
Erasing this prison was as easy for Aizen as eating and drinking.
It wasn't some profound technique.
No "trick" was required—just power, simple and absolute.
It was nothing more than the Hōgyoku's power responding to Aizen's desire.
Aizen wished for the Dangai to cease to exist, and so the Hōgyoku made the Dangai—something that had stood between Soul Society and the Human World for thousands of years, tormenting countless Shinigami for thousands of years—disappear in a single moment.
Aizen didn't want Hitsugaya Tōshirō's ice prison to obstruct his view, and so the Hōgyoku helped him erase that heavy mass of ice with one casual sweep of his hand.
The original version of the Hōgyoku might not have been able to do things quite as freely as this.
But in this timeline—where Aizen had learned of the Great Spirit Book Corridor, and obtained from Urahara Kisuke every last piece of data Urahara had created and experimented with—Aizen's union with the Hōgyoku was seamless, effortless, perfectly in tune.
In Aizen's hands, this version of the Hōgyoku had become a true wish-fulfillment machine.
And beneath where the ice prison had been, what Soifon and Hitsugaya saw was not Aizen Sōsuke at all—
But a Shinigami they never could have expected.
Hinamori Momo, the vice-captain of the Fifth Division.
"Why is it Momo?!" Soifon couldn't understand.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō couldn't understand either.
But Aizen Sōsuke seized Hinamori Momo—who had nearly had her consciousness frozen away by Sennen Hyōrō—and gave everyone the answer.
Kyōka Suigetsu.
The true Shikai of Aizen's Zanpakutō.
His Zanpakutō had never been a "water-type" Zanpakutō at all—it was a mental-type Zanpakutō.
Anyone who had been affected by its power would have their five senses completely controlled by Aizen for life.
Even if Aizen released the Zanpakutō's Shikai, it made no difference.
"So back then… you used that ability to deceive all of Soul Society, and forced Urahara Kisuke and Yadomaru Lisa and the others to flee into the Human World, didn't you?"
After hearing Aizen's explanation, Shihōin Yoruichi's face darkened. She sprang up from the ground and landed in front of Aizen.
Just like Soifon's earlier concern, no matter how fiercely the Gotei 13 had fought Aizen, no matter how badly Yoruichi had wanted to join in—
She had never made a move.
Because her status as a traitor to Soul Society did not allow it.
But now, the situation had changed.
With Aizen practically admitting his crimes outright, Yoruichi could clearly feel it—the shackles that had bound her for a hundred years, forcing her to live in hiding, had snapped.
This was something that would be unthinkable if it were Higashino Shuuichi.
If it were Higashino Shuuichi, he wouldn't care what shackles were placed on him. If Soul Society treated him unjustly, then it couldn't blame him for treating Soul Society without mercy.
But for veteran Shinigami like Shihōin Yoruichi—true members of the Gotei 13, raised under the most complete and traditional Shinigami education—this was perfectly normal.
After all, in the original storyline, they made choices that were even more outrageous and infuriating.
When Yhwach led the Sternritter in revenge and slaughter against Soul Society, the Visored—Hirako Shinji and the others—had chances to fight those Quincy with everything they had.
Yet one by one, because they feared Soul Society's rules, they refused to use their stronger Hollowfication forms within Soul Society, and were defeated by the Sternritter.
Sure, even if they had used Hollowfication, they might not necessarily have beaten those Sternritter, who were practically cheating.
But the fact that they wouldn't Hollowfy for that reason alone was enough to show how high Soul Society's "rules" sat in the hearts of these old-guard Shinigami.
To Yoruichi, Aizen's words were foolish—because they created an enemy like her out of thin air.
But to Aizen…
What did it matter if they all came at once?
"So, great former head of the Shihōin clan… do you want to do something for those 'traitors' of Soul Society?"
Aizen smiled at Shihōin Yoruichi.
He didn't directly admit his past, but at this point, no Shinigami alive would believe a single word of his old "testimony" anyway.
"Shunkō: Raijū Senkei (Thunder Beast Battle Form)!"
Yoruichi went all-out immediately.
Her thought was simple: since Aizen had just dispelled the illusion on Hinamori Momo—meaning there was a so-called "Kyōka Suigetsu gap"—she would defeat him in the shortest possible time.
Otherwise, if Aizen used Kyōka Suigetsu again, she might not even know who she was attacking.
Yoruichi's thinking wasn't unreasonable. By the world's simplest logic—something Higashino Shuuichi had noticed long ago—every Shinigami ability, even Hollow abilities, couldn't be run continuously without interruption.
There would always be intervals—like skill cooldowns in the games of Higashino Shuuichi's previous life.
But Aizen was an exception.
Kyōka Suigetsu had no cooldown.
There was only one question: did Aizen feel like using it in that moment?
Yoruichi was lucky enough that Aizen didn't intend to use Kyōka Suigetsu.
But Yoruichi was also unlucky enough that the opponent she had chosen was named Aizen Sōsuke.
The lightning around her looked spectacular, loud, overwhelming—
Yet before that man, it was as powerless as cotton.
Aizen didn't even raise his hands.
He simply clasped them behind his back, drifting lazily through the air—and effortlessly avoided every attack Yoruichi threw at him.
In that moment, Yoruichi felt like her title of "Flash Goddess" was a joke.
She could feel it—Aizen's eyes saw through every movement she made.
"That's all you can do?"
In the end, when Yoruichi abruptly stopped, Aizen calmly appeared right in front of her and finally extended a hand, pressing it against her abdomen.
Yoruichi's eyes widened.
When had Aizen gotten there?
How had he appeared in front of her?
Why hadn't she sensed anything at all?!
And the lightning surrounding her—why did it have no effect on Aizen whatsoever?!
Countless questions lingered in her mind for only a single heartbeat.
Because in the next instant, a black torrent of Reiatsu pierced straight through Yoruichi's body.
Even the lightning flashing around her was carried along with that black Reiatsu torrent, flung off into the distance.
One strike.
Still just one strike.
Yoruichi-sama lost—her secret art Shunkō shattered—forcing her back into her original state.
Soifon felt lost.
Could she really stop a monster like this?
She had only ever felt this same kind of helplessness before… from Shuuichi-sama long ago.
But even Shuuichi-sama back then had never looked like today's Aizen—dropping captains one after another.
As if a captain in his hands was nothing more than a slightly higher-grade toy.
Thankfully, a large hand pressed down on Soifon's shoulder in time, giving her the last thread of strength.
"You've all worked hard. We arrived late."
Soifon turned and saw them—
Kyōraku Shunsui, Captain of the Eighth Division.
Behind him, Ukitake Jūshirō, Captain of the Thirteenth Division, pale-faced and solemn.
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, the Captain-Commander, brows knit, eyes blazing.
Sasakibe Chōjirō, vice-captain of the First Division, already drawing his Zanpakutō, about to use Bankai and enter the fight.
Zaraki Kenpachi, Captain of the Eleventh Division, carrying an unreleased Asauchi, blood on him as if he had just finished a brutal battle.
And Kisaragi Shūsuke, the Captain of the Tenth Division, also spattered with blood, his left arm clearly injured—eyes filled with surprise and curiosity.
You could say that Soul Society's top combat power had fully gathered on this small Sōkyoku Hill.
And they had only one target:
Aizen Sōsuke, Captain of the Fifth Division of the Gotei 13.
"Aizen—Shihōin Yoruichi has already told me everything through Jigokuchō. As for Central 46, Ukitake and I confirmed it personally. The Great Elders of Central 46 really have been murdered. We even encountered someone unexpected there.
I think you know who I mean—Tōsen Kaname, Captain of the Ninth Division.
Your crimes have nowhere left to hide. Stop resisting and surrender. Perhaps you can still end up like Higashino Shuuichi back then—imprisoned in Muken."
Kyōraku Shunsui knew perfectly well that his teacher Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, by temperament, would never say something like this—nor make such a decision.
So Kyōraku spoke first.
He wanted to make one final attempt.
Because Soul Society—already tottering, with powerful enemies watching from beyond—could not endure a battle like this.
And that conclusion was something Kyōraku Shunsui reached without even experiencing the fight that had just happened on Sōkyoku Hill—simply from learning that Tōsen Kaname and Ichimaru Gin both served Aizen Sōsuke.
Unfortunately, his effort was doomed to be futile.
Because Aizen Sōsuke would not accept.
And now, the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, would accept even less!
"Do you know what kind of people are the most disgusting in this rotten world?
Not the Kasumiooji clan head, Masasuke—who has ambition, but no strength.
Not Tsunayashiro Kamihara—once among the Five Great Noble Clans—who has both strength and ambition.
Not Tokinada Tsunayashiro, who hides in the shadows and only knows how to scheme and strike from the dark.
But you—this group of stubborn,腐朽 Shinigami who can see right and wrong clearly… and still obey a wrong decision anyway!"
Aizen shouted at Kyōraku Shunsui and the others.
Every word stabbed into the depths of Kyōraku Shunsui's heart.
Because Kyōraku knew Aizen wasn't wrong.
Kyōraku had hated this world too.
But he was powerless.
His status as a Kyōraku made it so that all he could do in this rotten world… was patch and stitch.
Kyōraku understood now:
Wasn't this farce also Aizen's final test for Shinigami like them?
And the result of that test—
Up in the sky, light flashed.
It was Sasakibe Chōjirō's Bankai.
It was also the answer of these Shinigami.