Katen Kyokotsu: Karamatsu Shinju (Flower-Heaven Crazy Bone: Black Pine Double Suicide)!
San-danme: Dangyūen (Third Act: Severed Fish Abyss)!
A vast mass of dark, icy water formed out of pure reiatsu. Anyone within the game's range—friend or foe—would be forcibly dragged into the depths and held there until one side's reiatsu was completely exhausted.
That was the domain of Katen Kyokotsu's bankai. Its power was so immense that it covered hundreds of streets and countless buildings in Karakura Town.
It was a technique that could even threaten Yamamoto.
But for Kyoraku, it had been a move of pure desperation—he'd wanted to trap Aizen inside and then use the fourth act to finish him.
Yet to his shock, Aizen's reiatsu felt almost inexhaustible.
The two of them had simply been locked in a stalemate—
Waiting for the moment when one of them finally ran out of reiatsu and drowned.
He had originally thought Aizen had no way to break the Third Act: Dangyūen.
Who could've imagined Aizen would simply slice it apart with a single blow.
"Crack… crack…"
The towering bankai domain fractured and collapsed.
Behind Kyoraku, Katen and Kyokotsu materialized again, both of their faces pale as they stared at Aizen in terror.
"Kyoraku, this guy is strong," Katen said quietly.
"You absolutely can't be his opponent," Kyokotsu added.
As zanpakuto spirits, no one understood better than they did just how terrifying that one slash had been.
It had been a single, straightforward stroke—
But the reiatsu layered over it could only be described as monstrous.
It was as if that blade could cut through anything and everything.
Aizen stopped walking and coldly swept his gaze over everyone present. Then he raised Kyoka Suigetsu and slammed the back of the blade against his own face.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
With the sound of shattering stone, the white, plaster-like substance covering his face fell away like rain, revealing his features beneath.
Seeing this, everyone frowned instinctively.
They had no idea what Aizen was playing at.
That was his Hollowfied shell—was he really smashing his own mask? Was he planning to go back to a pure Soul Reaper form?
Aizen didn't bother explaining at first. He simply smoothed back his hair and smiled.
"Captain Kyoraku, I should thank you. If it weren't for the threat posed by your bankai, the Hogyoku wouldn't have taken the initiative to fuse with me further."
Urahara's expression hardened.
"Aizen, what nonsense are you spouting? Hasn't the Hogyoku already fused with you?"
As far as he remembered—
The Hogyoku had already been embedded in Aizen's chest.
At his words, Aizen turned toward Urahara. Spreading his arms wide, he let an astonishing wave of reiatsu erupt from his body.
"Urahara Kisuke, your perspective is far too narrow. The Hogyoku hasn't merely fused with me anymore—it has become a part of my body."
"The current me has already broken the boundary between Soul Reaper and Hollow, and reached the pinnacle of what a Soul Reaper can be."
"Watch—my reiatsu…"
He spoke as he walked forward, continuing to release his spiritual pressure. With his very first step—
A deafening boom ripped through the air.
The entire street exploded under his foot. The blast tore the road into rubble.
The nearby shops, office buildings, and apartment blocks all seemed to be suddenly crushed under hundreds or thousands of times normal gravity—
They collapsed in an instant, turning into a sea of ruins.
Every Soul Reaper and Hollow watching had their pupils contract violently, their faces full of disbelief.
That kind of devastation—
Came from reiatsu alone.
"The third stage has already reached the limit of Soul Reapers, huh…"
Even Cole couldn't help being impressed.
In his previous life, watching the anime, he'd only had a vague sense that Aizen in this phase was "really strong." But he'd never truly understood just how strong.
Only now did it hit him.
Aizen really was a walking cheat.
This was only the Hogyoku's third stage of fusion, yet the reiatsu he was releasing already rivaled Yamamoto's when the old man unleashed his bankai.
If Aizen reached the final stage—
His reiatsu and combat power might very well surpass Yamamoto altogether.
No wonder Yhwach—with that almighty, all-knowing power of his—had taken the initiative to seek Aizen out and propose an alliance.
Those two final bosses…
Really did belong to the same tier of monsters.
While Cole was thinking this over, Yoruichi finally couldn't hold it in any longer. Her body leaned forward, then shot out like a bullet.
"Aizen!!!"
The way she moved was like a black cat exploding into motion, her leg whipping around in a brutal kick aimed straight at his head.
All of this—
Happened in less than a second.
Everyone else only felt their eyes blur for a moment, and then Yoruichi was already right in front of Aizen.
Cole had the urge to curse out loud, but he didn't have time to think about it. He stomped down and rushed in as well.
Of all times, she chose now to play hero?
Did she really think that was someone she could beat?
Facing that absurdly fast kick, Aizen still handled it with ease. He simply retreated a half-step and raised his right hand.
"Hadō 91: Kurohitsugi (Way of Destruction 91: Black Coffin)."
Black reiatsu appeared from nothing, surging upward as it wrapped around Yoruichi's body.
Seeing her strike miss and the coffin closing in on her, even Yoruichi started to panic. She spun her head, searching desperately for a way out.
"How is this guy's speed this insane!?"
She was the Flash Goddess Yoruichi—her hoho (flash step) was almost unmatched in all of Soul Society.
Yet Aizen had read her speed as if it were nothing, and even launched an effective counter at the same time.
Watching the black coffin close around her, her heart lurched wildly in her chest.
She knew—
Once she was sealed inside…
Her life and death would be decided in an instant.
At that critical moment, a streak of golden light shot in from the distance, firmly planting itself between Yoruichi and Aizen.
The newcomer was Cole, gripping his golden staff.
The instant he'd seen Yoruichi move, he'd already sensed something was very wrong.
In this evolution, Aizen had already climbed to the apex of Soul Reapers—only one step away from surpassing dimensions themselves.
And what was a "pinnacle"?
It meant being the strongest in every aspect.
Yoruichi wanted to toy with Aizen using hoho. That was just wishful thinking.
Her speed might be top-tier in Soul Society—
But in the Zero Division, it would only be average.
Aizen, on the other hand—
Had already reached the level of the Royal Guard.
With a booming crash, the forming Black Coffin was smashed to pieces by a swing of Cole's golden staff.
"Cole!"
Yoruichi looked at him in surprise and relief.
"Alright, alright, Yoruichi, stop messing around. This isn't a place you can just jump into. Get back. Leave Aizen to me."
Cole reached out and ruffled her hair.
As he spoke, he took a deep breath and stared at Aizen with a suddenly serious gaze. Reiatsu surged from his body, rising sharply.
At first, Aizen seemed unconcerned.
But as the pressure climbed, his expression gradually turned grim.
Because he could feel it—
The reiatsu Cole was releasing was directly clashing with his own.
And it wasn't the slightest bit weaker.
"How is this… possible…"
Even Aizen, for all his composure, felt his mental defenses crack a little. He clenched his fist, teeth grinding as he glared at Cole.
"You again!! You damned human again!! How can your reiatsu be on this level!!!"
He had schemed for centuries, risen to become the king of Hueco Mundo, engineered the Hollowfication incident, and even invaded the Great Spirit Book Corridor in the Royal Palace.
All of that effort—
Just to research and forge his own Hogyoku.
Then, after endless spying and plotting, he'd stolen the Hogyoku Urahara created and fused the two into one.
He had fought, planned, and struggled this hard—
Only to evolve three times and finally reach the limits of a Soul Reaper.
And now.
A human had caught up to him.
Didn't that mean—
That hundreds of years of his work…
Weren't even equal to the growth of a "normal" human?
Facing Aizen's murderous stare, Cole's lips curled into a subtle smile.
"Aizen, everyone's opportunities are different. Losing your cool over something like that is pretty immature, don't you think?"
Everyone here was cheating.
So no one had any right to point fingers.
He was using a stat hack.
Aizen had a mechanics hack.
Ichigo had a protagonist hack.
And future Yhwach had an invincibility hack.
His own cheat was big, sure—
But compared to Ichigo and Yhwach, it wasn't even that outrageous.
And compared to Aizen?
It wasn't that over-the-top either.
After all, Aizen's evolution had already transcended dimensions.
Listening to Cole's casual mockery, Aizen genuinely wanted to kill him on the spot.
But he still held back, gripping Kyoka Suigetsu tightly in his hand, reiatsu boiling as he spoke in a low voice:
"Cole. Ichigo. You should feel honored. Once you're dead, I will personally study your corpses."
Ichigo was obvious enough—inside him dwelled the power of a Soul Reaper, a Quincy, and a Hollow.
Even across the entire flow of time, that combination was one-of-a-kind.
His "research value" was off the charts.
Cole, on the other hand—this infuriating human who kept breaking his composure—surely hid some equally shocking secrets in his body.
"Well, I'm just so honored," Cole replied dryly.
While he and Aizen were trading barbs, Yoruichi finally snapped.
"Brat, I'm not in cat form right now. Can you get your claws off me?"
She was grateful that he'd saved her from Kurohitsugi—
But the problem was, this damn brat had been pawing at her back the whole time, making her feel itchy and weird in all kinds of places.
Cole immediately bristled.
"Yoruichi, I save you and that's what you say? Believe it or not, I'll just turn around and walk away."
Yoruichi's face darkened and she lashed out with a kick.
"Then go ahead and walk away!"
This little brat had been patting her butt over and over—she was about to start having… physiological reactions.
Cole took a step back, dodging the kick, and couldn't help laughing.
"Yoruichi, it's not my fault your figure is that good. When I stand behind you, my hands just move on their own."
Back when she was in her cat form, he'd often pet her without a second thought.
Now that she was in human form, that urge hadn't gone away.
She was basically a catgirl now.
Yoruichi snorted twice and decided to settle accounts with him later.
She turned away, glaring at Aizen again. Flames of anger burned in her eyes as powerful reiatsu burst from her body.
"Aizen, you think your speed is faster than mine? Don't underestimate people too much!"
She was the Flash Goddess Yoruichi.
Someone had challenged and beaten her in terms of speed—that was something she absolutely could not tolerate.
She had to take that back.
Aizen merely looked at her coldly, utterly unmoved by her words.
To him—
Yoruichi was no different from a weed by the roadside.
Not worth caring about.
Seeing that attitude made Yoruichi even angrier. Gritting her teeth, she stayed in human form, but dropped onto all fours.
Her entire body shifted into a distinctly feline posture.
And as she moved—
Her already stunning figure became even more striking.
From behind, Cole couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath as his eyes fell on the line of her hips.
"Yoruichi, I've always thought this—but when I stand behind you, the curve of your butt really is a work of art…"
Before he could finish, Yoruichi roared:
"Shunkō: Raijin Senkei (Instant Roar: Thunder God Battle Form)!!!"
(End of Chapter)
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