Before Aizen could make a move, Kaname Tōsen shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
His strength might not even match Gin Ichimaru's, but he was Aizen's most loyal follower. His devotion to Aizen was absolute.
Kazuma watched Tōsen charge at him with open disdain, his eyes filled with mockery and contempt.
"A blind man like you thinks you can kill me?" The corner of Kazuma's mouth lifted, his voice carrying absolute confidence and dominance.
"What kind of joke is that?"
At Kazuma's words, anger twisted Tōsen's face.
Behind his visor, his sightless eyes seemed ready to spit fire, as though Kazuma's insult had enraged him to the extreme.
Yet he did not answer the provocation. He simply continued rushing toward Kazuma at full speed, the Zanpakutō in his hand flashing with a cold, vicious gleam.
Kazuma stood where he was without moving, his gaze locked firmly onto Tōsen.
The moment Tōsen drew close, Kazuma suddenly raised his left hand.
A powerful surge of reiatsu poured from his palm, forming a massive sphere of yellow lightning that blasted straight toward Tōsen.
"Hadō #63: Raikōhō."
Tōsen sensed the power of Raikoho and hurriedly swung his Zanpakutō, trying to block the attack.
But he had underestimated the force of Kazuma's sixty-third Hadō.
Raikōhō tore through his defense with ease and sent him flying.
Tōsen crashed heavily to the ground, blood spraying from his mouth.
He struggled back to his feet, but he knew full well that the gap between him and Kazuma was too great.
There was no way he could defeat him.
Kazuma looked at him and sneered.
"I told you. With your strength, you're no match for me. You understand that now, don't you?"
His voice was icy and merciless, sending a chill through Tōsen.
"Captain Kazuma!" Tōsen forced himself to endure his injuries. "Do not look down on me! I am also a captain of the Gotei 13!"
Without hesitation, he released his Bankai.
"Bankai : Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi!"
With Tōsen's furious roar, he raised his Zanpakutō and swept it behind him.
The ring at the end of the sword's guard suddenly multiplied into nine rings, which expanded rapidly outward.
At the same time, Kazuma and Tōsen's surroundings were swallowed by darkness, forming a black space around them.
"Captain Kazuma! My strength may not be exceptional, but my Zanpakutō's ability is not something just anyone can withstand. Everything within this space is part of my Bankai. I can strip away all your senses and cut off your perception of the world. Then I will slowly enjoy torturing you as I watch you struggle in pain. Hahahaha!"
Tōsen laughed triumphantly, his voice echoing through the black space with a chilling eeriness.
Kazuma stood there quietly, not a trace of fear on his face.
He looked coldly at Tōsen and gave a faint, disdainful smile.
"Tōsen, your Bankai is certainly unusual, but that changes nothing. You think this is enough to trap me? How naive."
Kazuma's voice was calm and confident.
Tōsen's expression darkened.
He had not expected Kazuma to look down on his Bankai so completely, and anger surged in his chest.
Kazuma stood within the pitch-black space, utterly unafraid, powerful reiatsu radiating from his body.
He gently closed his eyes and calmly sensed everything around him.
When Tōsen saw that, joy flashed through his heart. He believed Kazuma had already lost his senses and secretly grew pleased with himself.
Tōsen slowly walked up to Kazuma, raised his Zanpakutō, and swung it down with force.
Yet just as the blade was about to cut into Kazuma, Kazuma suddenly reached out and caught the edge of Tōsen's Zanpakutō in his hand.
Then Kazuma's eyes snapped open, his gaze burning like fire as he stared straight at Tōsen.
"Your Bankai amounts to no more than this."
His voice was cold.
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Kazuma swung his sword.
Tōsen was shocked and hurriedly raised his blade to defend, but Kazuma's sword still struck him and sent him flying backward.
"So this is what you called stripping away all my senses? Laughable."
Kazuma's voice rang beside Tōsen's ear.
In the next instant, agony tore through him.
Tōsen could not stop himself from screaming. Kazuma had slashed him again, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
Kazuma looked down at the fallen Tōsen, and a trace of pity flickered through his eyes.
"How did you know that grabbing my blade would break my Bankai?"
Tōsen's face was filled with shock and confusion.
At that moment, he had completely lost his composure, his expression nearly mad.
"Oh?" Kazuma asked mildly. "Grabbing your blade can break your Bankai?"
"Did you touch it by accident?"
"You're too naive," Kazuma said. "Your Bankai doesn't work on me at all. I can see. Your Bankai cannot blind my perception."
Tōsen's eyes widened as he stared at Kazuma in disbelief.
"You… you can see? That's impossible! No one can see inside my Bankai!"
Kazuma gave a cold laugh.
"Your Bankai may be able to rob a person of their five senses, but against me, your reiatsu is nowhere near strong enough to sustain that effect. Tōsen, reiatsu is what matters most."
With that, Kazuma raised his sword again and thrust it toward Tōsen.
Tōsen tried to dodge, only to discover that his body would no longer move.
"What… what is this?" Tōsen asked in terror.
"I mixed a Kidō of my own creation into that last strike. It has already sealed your reiatsu. Right now, you're nothing more than a lamb waiting for slaughter."
A cruel smile appeared on Kazuma's face.
Tōsen's heart filled with despair and fear. He knew there was nowhere left to run.
Just as Kazuma's sword was about to pierce Tōsen's throat, a figure suddenly appeared inside the Bankai space, bringing with him an overwhelming surge of reiatsu.
Clang!
Steel rang against steel.
Kazuma's sword was deflected.
"Aizen?" Kazuma looked at the man before him, his eyes full of contempt. "So you actually care whether your subordinates live or die? Unfortunately, if I decide to kill someone, you won't be able to stop me."
"Hadō #78: Zangerin."
Kazuma chanted softly.
Powerful reiatsu instantly wrapped around his blade, making the sword shine with dazzling light. Then he swung.
A fierce arc of sword energy cut through the air like lightning.
Tōsen's figure was engulfed by the slash, as though bound in place by an invisible force, unable to move.
The enormous sword energy swallowed his entire body and reduced him to ash, leaving not even an intact corpse behind.
His Zanpakutō fell to the ground.
It was the only proof that he had ever existed.
After unleashing that strike, Kazuma's gaze turned deep and complicated.
He murmured to himself, "Tōsen, your obsession ran too deep. It blinded your mind. What a pity. You chose the wrong path."
With Tōsen's death, the space formed by his Bankai began trembling violently.
At last, it shattered apart and dissolved into nothingness.
"Tōsen!"
Kazuma had moved so quickly that even Aizen failed to react in time.
At long last, Aizen's calm expression vanished. A flash of anger passed through his eyes as he gritted his teeth.
"Kazuma! You dare… You dare kill Tōsen in front of me."
Kazuma looked coldly at Gin Ichimaru, who lay on the ground with his life or death uncertain, then shifted his gaze back to Aizen.
His eyes were calm, as though everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.
"What? You came here to kill me, but I'm not allowed to fight back?" Kazuma said flatly. "Aizen, if you had attacked me personally from the beginning, perhaps things would not have reached this point. But that only proves how arrogant you are."
Kazuma's words stabbed into Aizen like knives, yet Aizen did not erupt in rage.
Instead, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a faint smile.
"Heh. Kazuma, do you think you have already seen the full extent of my power? You're wrong. I still have plenty of methods I have yet to use. Now, let us have a true duel. I will show you just how powerful I really am."
As Aizen's voice fell, a terrifying surge of reiatsu erupted from his body and swept across the entire battlefield in an instant.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze. Even space itself began to twist and distort.
Kazuma felt a pressure unlike anything before, but he did not retreat.
Instead, excitement surged even stronger within him.
"Come on, then! You're the only one left, Aizen. Let me see just how strong you really are."
Kazuma's voice carried a trace of provocation and anticipation.
He tightened his grip on his zanpakuto, ready to clash with Aizen properly.