"We were wrong."
"I should have followed the advice of Kirio Hikifune and Senjumaru Shutara from the beginning."
"Joined hands to abolish Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's position as Captain-Commander."
Seeing the complete break between the Aiyan brothers and Seireitei, Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō looked at each other and saw regret in each other's eyes.
Before Kirio Hikifune and Senjumaru Shutara ascended to the Royal Guard (Zero Division), she had secretly approached them, saying that Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni was no longer fit to serve as Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, and proposed joining forces with the Sōsuke brothers, gathering the strength of six individuals, to depose him.
However—
Out of respect for Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and their teacher–student bond that had lasted hundreds of years, they rejected Hikifune and Shutara's proposal, deciding instead to give Yamamoto one more chance.
In truth—
After the collapse of Seireitei's barriers and the opening of the protective spiritual membrane, both Shunsui and Ukitake thought of resolving the matter by stripping Yamamoto of his post.
But no matter what—
You only get one chance.
The Sōsuke brothers left Seireitei, Hikifune and Shutara were far away in the Royal Guard, and the only two left were Shunsui and Ukitake.
In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the tragedy they least wanted came to pass.
"Okay… very good. You've done a fine job!"
"One of you is the Shinigami hero I admired most and personally promoted; the other is the disciple I cherished most, the one I relied upon."
"Now, you've destroyed everything I fought to uphold — justice and duty."
Faced with Shunsui's furious shouting, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni seemed unmoved. Instead, a scorching wave of Reiatsu burst out from his body.
Do you regret it?
Perhaps.
But who is he?
The strongest Shinigami in a thousand years.
He bore the weight of the Soul Society he built with his own hands, holding honor, justice, and law above his very life.
From the moment he witnessed the Aiyan brothers destroying Central 46, only one thought remained in his mind:
Kill!
Even as Shunsui and Ukitake scolded him, their words could not shake his murderous intent.
"Gotei 13, obey my command!"
"At any cost — even if you fight to the death — you must kill the criminal Aiyan Sōsuke and the criminal Aizen Sōsuke!"
Yamamoto cast off his Captain's haori, revealing a body of corded muscle and glorious scars.
"Yes, Captain-Commander!"
"Your Excellency, Captain-Commander!"
In the face of Yamamoto's command, part of the Gotei treated his words as imperial edicts.
But most looked around hesitantly. Though they finally unsheathed their Zanpakutō, it was only because of the overwhelming authority of the man known as the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years.
"I'll only say this once."
"Stand down."
"Gotei 13."
Facing the drawn Zanpakutō, the glint of cold steel reflecting the scorching sun, Aiyan remained calm and unfazed as he descended from the skies above Seireitei.
Yamamoto snorted coldly at the sight. His blazing Reiatsu erupted like wildfire, engulfing two thousand Shinigami.
Majestic.
Crushing.
Scorching heat.
All hesitation and doubt were instantly burned away.
At the same time, a row of execution soldiers appeared like ghosts, their cold eyes piercing the ranks of the Gotei.
Clearly, they were also there to enforce obedience.
"Kill!"
Faced with Yamamoto's Reiatsu and the pressure of the execution squad, whether willing or not, the two thousand Shinigami gathered in the execution grounds could only shout in unison, release their Zanpakutō, and form a vast army.
Their spiritual pressure surged with killing intent as they rushed toward the Sōsuke brothers.
Aiyan's eyes flashed coldly. His dark pupils turned scarlet, and he stepped forward casually.
Boom—!
The atmosphere trembled, waves of air bursting upward. Scarlet Reiatsu, dense enough to crack the ground, surged outward, drowning the advancing Shinigami.
"Aaah!"
"My head… it hurts so much!"
"It feels like it's going to explode!"
As the storm of scarlet Reiatsu unfolded, the faces of the Shinigami below lieutenant level went pale. Struck as if by lightning, their bodies trembled and staggered; some collapsed outright.
They couldn't fight.
They couldn't even walk.
They couldn't even hold their Zanpakutō.
Thud, thud, thud—
One after another, more than 1,600 Shinigami collapsed like dominos, covering the execution grounds.
Silence.
The vast execution site fell so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Only the lieutenants and captains remained standing, breathing heavily.
"No… impossible!"
Kurotsuchi Mayuri's eyes widened as he stared at the cracked ground beneath him, like a dried riverbed.
"Can he attack at the spiritual level just by raising his Reiatsu?"
"And over such a vast range…?"
Ukitake Jūshirō was shaken.
"Is this Captain Aiyan's Reiatsu?"
Komamura Sajin knelt, pressing his hands to the fractured ground. Though the cracks were shallow, Seireitei's foundation itself had been split apart by that wave of Reiatsu.
"It's true."
"Compared to Hueco Mundo, when the boundary between Shinigami and Hollow was just broken, his Reiatsu has grown tremendously."
Unohana Yachiru lowered her gaze, hiding the shock in her eyes.
Since Aiyan altered his soul structure and broke the boundaries of Shinigami, his Reiatsu had grown daily. Even without training or battle, his power kept climbing.
But compared to what he had just released, both in strength and growth rate, it was beyond comprehension.
"How could it have increased so much since the execution ground at Shinō Academy?"
"It shouldn't be possible!"
"Once Reiatsu reaches a bottleneck, further growth should be impossible!"
Yamamoto's heart churned with turmoil.
Among all the Shinigami present, none were more shaken than he.
A thousand years ago, he had reached the absolute limit of a Shinigami's Reiatsu. Even the last time he clashed with Aiyan, he had judged that Aiyan's Reiatsu was still beneath his own.
But now?
Not only equal… it had surpassed his own, built up through millennia of cultivation.
Boom—!
As the captains looked on in shock, Aiyan raised his other foot and took a second step forward.
"Not good."
"All Shinigami below lieutenant level — retreat at once!"
Shunsui shuddered. Realizing the danger, he ignored Yamamoto's reaction and shouted to the hundreds still gathered under the execution platform.
But before they could move, Reiatsu surged like a golden tsunami, flooding outward from Aiyan and engulfing the area for kilometers around.
Boom—!
In an instant, the clear skies over Seireitei turned turbulent. The weather warped under his Reiatsu.
The blue sky and white clouds vanished.
Thunderclouds rolled in, blotting out the sun.
With the howling wind came black and crimson Reiatsu lightning, lashing down like thousands of bolts of thunder, swallowing the execution grounds whole.
Crack!
When the golden waves of Reiatsu finally faded, the lightning no longer poured down. Under the execution platform, not a single Shinigami could remain standing.
The forced summoning of the Gotei 13 had gathered two thousand Shinigami here. Yet now, from captains to unseated officers, nearly all were prostrate, unconscious.
Only a handful remained.
Those like Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika — whose strength exceeded the level of ordinary seated officers — could still cling to consciousness.
But even they lay sprawled on the ground, unable to even lift their heads.