Chapter 168: Visored's Defeat
At this moment, there was rare silence on the battlefield. Even Aizen, who was fighting the masked warriors, subconsciously turned his attention to Fiander.
There was no helping it—the movement from their battle was truly tremendous. The sudden changes in surrounding temperature were especially noticeable near the two combatants.
The intermittently hot and cold air currents filled this fragile space. After all, this wasn't a real land of concentrated spirits, but just an illusion created by Urahara Kisuke using the transformation pillars.
The actual location was simply a corner of Soul Society.
At this time, Hirako Shinji, who had been fighting fiercely with Aizen, suddenly stopped. Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō at his side reacted the same way.
"Have you noticed, Hirako... Our attacks come close to touching Aizen's clothing every time. It seems back and forth, but we're not actually causing effective damage."
"Also... what is the identity of that guy who fought Captain Yamamoto and forced the Captain-Commander to such a degree?"
"I don't know. Urahara Kisuke's information doesn't contain any details about this person."
"Shinji, be careful!"
Just as Hirako Shinji and Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō were talking, a blade edge struck near Hirako's hair. Hirako, feeling his scalp tense, raised his head subconsciously and avoided the attack extremely dangerously.
"That was... dangerous!" Sensing heat from his forehead, Hirako stretched out his hand to touch it and said resentfully.
Looking at Hirako Shinji, who'd had half his hairline cut off and was bleeding from his forehead, Aizen gently shook the Zanpakuto in his hand and smiled. "Sorry, I intended to pierce your head directly just now."
"As a result... it seems I missed slightly!"
"That's not something to apologize for—you nearly killed me!"
Looking at Aizen, who could still handle the siege of five masked warriors with ease despite being affected by his Sakanade ability, Hirako couldn't help feeling extremely stressed.
"Are you confused, Hirako Shinji?"
Hearing Aizen suddenly say something inexplicable to him, Hirako was momentarily stunned.
"You clearly released your Zanpakuto before me and subverted my visual perception. So why can I still attack you in this situation?"
"You clearly mastered Hollowfication, and your abilities have greatly improved. Yet when facing me, you're still powerless to resist."
"Let me tell you, Hirako Shinji!"
Suddenly Aizen's figure flashed, appearing behind Hirako Shinji in an instant. The moment Aizen materialized, Hirako Shinji had just turned his eyes backward when he felt sharp pain in his shoulder.
Accompanied by blood spray, Aizen's voice reached Hirako Shinji's ears again. "The so-called inverted world merely manipulates people's vision. Did those attacks you thought succeeded before actually work?"
"Compared to my Kyōka Suigetsu, your so-called inverted world is simply laughable!"
Holding the wound on his shoulder, Hirako didn't say much. He just stared at Aizen with a frown.
"Shinji!"
At this moment, after seeing Hirako Shinji injured, the other Visored members also rushed to his side to protect him.
"Aizen, let me ask you..." At this time Hirako said to Aizen, holding back the pain. "You said my ability is inferior to Kyōka Suigetsu, so... when did you activate Kyōka Suigetsu?"
Hearing Hirako Shinji's growling question, Aizen didn't seem concerned. He simply turned around, held his Zanpakuto vertically and said, "I see. It seems... you don't fully understand my abilities, Captain Hirako."
"It's been like this since the past. Your attitude of thinking you have everything under control has led to your current predicament."
"You said at the beginning that you made me your vice-captain because you were worried about me and wanted to monitor me. I'm afraid in your view, you felt I'd be safer only if I was always by your side."
"But... you never tried to understand me. Did you ever verify that the man following you each time was truly me?"
Hearing Aizen's sudden questioning, Hirako had an ominous thought in his heart. But he still steeled himself and gritted his teeth to ask, "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?"
"It's actually quite simple. Let me change the subject. Then... Captain Hirako, when did you realize I wasn't using Kyōka Suigetsu?"
When saying this, Aizen withdrew the gentle smile from his face and said coldly, "Shatter: Kyōka Suigetsu!"
As Aizen released his grip on the hilt, freeing Kyōka Suigetsu, there was suddenly the sound of glass shattering in the surrounding scenery.
Splurt!!
In an instant, the masked warriors beside Hirako Shinji were all seriously injured simultaneously. Their heads lowered as they fell straight to the ground.
"No, no, no!!"
"This... impossible!!"
"Aizen!!"
Hirako Shinji, realizing he'd been played again, could no longer restrain his inner rage. Regardless of his physical injuries, he roared and rushed toward Aizen.
"You really... are as naive as ever, Captain Hirako!" With a sneer, Aizen caught Hirako's blade with his bare hand and simply raised it lightly.
Hirako fell from the sky like a kite with a severed string.
From the very beginning, the masked warriors had been affected by Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu. The activation of Kyōka Suigetsu didn't need to be performed in front of the subject, and it could be used repeatedly.
As long as you'd been hit once, when facing Aizen again, you became a fish at his mercy.
So the Visored thought their battle with Aizen was evenly matched, but it was actually Aizen's self-directed drama using Complete Hypnosis.
In the end, only Hirako Shinji himself was injured.
Therefore, Fiander hadn't had any interest in this predetermined battle from the very beginning. After saying "boring," he went to face Genryūsai.
This battle, Aizen versus Visored—Aizen won.
On the other side, beyond the Barrier Formation Pillars, Ichimaru Gin and Tōsen Kaname, who had broken through the barrier, were floating above the sky.
But surrounding them were Byakuya Kuchiki and Zaraki Kenpachi, who had been unfrozen not long ago by Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
"My, Captain Tōsen, we seem to be surrounded!"
Ichimaru Gin looked at those familiar colleagues and said to Tōsen Kaname with a smile on his face.
"It's fine! Their spiritual pressure is unstable. They've clearly just been seriously injured and haven't had time to recover. I can sense Kurosaki Ichigo's weak spiritual pressure."
"It seems that even though they escaped Hueco Mundo from Mr. Fiander's hands, they didn't get off easily."
With that said, Tōsen Kaname drew his Zanpakuto from his waist and chanted, "Cry: Suzumushi!"
***
30+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces