Aizen Sōsuke was under considerable pressure.
The two enemies before him possessed strength comparable to seated officers.
To defeat them, he'd have to release his Shikai.
But with Hirako Shinji and the others yet to attain their own Shikai, he didn't want to reveal that he had already learned it—it would draw far too much attention.
He quickly assessed the situation.
His teacher had just executed one of the enemies, but her spiritual pressure had dropped significantly. She had likely used a technique that consumed a vast amount of energy and wouldn't be able to support them for a while.
Yoruichi was already struggling to hold her own in her solo battle—there was no way she could come help.
And things on his end were even worse. Hirako Shinji, Azashiro Kana, and Kobane Jin'emon were pushing their limits just to keep the opponents occupied. They were barely managing to restrain them, not fight them head-on.
Both enemies had troublesome abilities.
The "Nest Bug" guy could summon mosquitoes that absorbed Reiatsu. Once full, they'd become explosive spiritual pressure bombs. Fortunately, their flight speed was slow—constant high-speed movement could avoid their attacks.
But there were just too many of them. The red-haired man kept summoning more, surrounding himself in a dense cloud of mosquitoes. It was nearly impossible to breach their defense.
And with each new wave, the safe ground to stand on grew smaller and smaller.
The other one, "Chain Blade" guy, could grow blades out of his body, like he was wearing a suit of swords. Their Zanpakutō couldn't even scratch him.
"Cover me!" Hirako Shinji raised his hand and began chanting.
"Got it!" Kobane Jin'emon stepped forward, blocking the sweeping chain blade.
But the spinning chain suddenly curved mid-air, circled around Kobane Jin'emon, and locked tightly around his upper body—he couldn't even lift his arms.
The chain blade reversed course, shooting straight for Kobane Jin'emon's face.
Seeing his comrade in danger, Hirako Shinji had no choice but to redirect the Kidō spell he was casting at Chain Blade:
"…Bakudō #4: Hainawa!"
A golden rope of condensed spirit energy shot out and yanked the chain blade back.
Azashiro Kana, already fully charged, saw the opening. She drew her sword and unleashed a Flowlight slash.
"Useless!" roared Chain Blade. Several blades suddenly grew from his chest, blocking the incoming attack.
Clang! Chain Blade looked like a porcupine covered in blades—none of their attacks could get through his defenses!
Worse still, they'd lingered in one spot too long and had become surrounded by mosquitoes.
Dense swarms clung to their skin, sucking away their Reiatsu.
The mosquitoes began to swell grotesquely!
Then a calm voice rang out:
"Shatter—Kyōka Suigetsu."
Everyone turned. First, they saw a shimmer like a mirrored reflection.
Then a fine mist spread rapidly through the air.
Aizen Sōsuke had made his move.
But the Nest Bug man ignored him, deciding to finish off the three others with mosquito bombs first.
"Explode!!"
One mosquito bomb alone wasn't powerful—but with enough of them, the blast was devastating.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—
A continuous roar of explosions echoed out.
Smoke and dust billowed everywhere, obscuring the view.
As it slowly cleared, Nest Bug looked toward Aizen and sneered.
"You're next. Time to die!"
"What... what's going on?" Hirako Shinji gasped.
Azashiro Kana and Kobane Jin'emon were equally stunned.
Lying on the ground—
Was Chain Blade!
Just before the explosions, the swollen mosquitoes had swarmed him instead.
All the blades on his body had been blown clean off!
"W-What are you doing?!" Chain Blade wheezed, barely alive.
Finally realizing something was wrong, Nest Bug's smile froze into horror.
"Wait—what's happening?! How could I lose control?! They were supposed to target them!!!"
Aizen Sōsuke raised a finger and calmly adjusted his glasses.
"Kyōka Suigetsu is a water-type Zanpakutō. It uses mist and flowing water to create mirrored reflections, confusing the enemy's senses and causing them to attack each other."
Nest Bug's face twisted in rage.
"You little brat—die!"
A mass of mosquitoes surged toward Aizen.
But halfway there, they turned back—clustering around Chain Blade again to drain his Reiatsu.
"You idiot… Stop!!" Chain Blade glared at Nest Bug in fury.
But Nest Bug didn't realize it. He activated the bomb swarm.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
When the smoke cleared, Nest Bug saw to his horror—
He'd just blown up his own teammate again!
Chain Blade's body was in pieces. He didn't move again.
While Nest Bug was frozen in shock, Azashiro Kana, Hirako Shinji, and Kobane Jin'emon used Shunpo to close in.
"Shun Strike!" ×3
Three blades pierced through Nest Bug's throat and chest simultaneously.
His head flew into the air, his expression of disbelief frozen in place.
He couldn't understand how he, backed by such powerful abilities, had been defeated by a bunch of kids who weren't even Shinigami yet.
Kobane Jin'emon said in awe, "Sōsuke's amazing... He hasn't even entered the Spiritual Arts Academy, and he already mastered Shikai..."
Azashiro Kana nodded in wonder. "What an impressive ability!"
"Hah, not bad, Sōsuke!" Hirako Shinji scoffed. "If it weren't for this unexpected fight, you probably would've kept it a secret. Can't believe you pulled off Shikai without saying a word!"
He'd thought Aizen Sōsuke had merely advanced a bit faster in stabilizing his Inner World than the rest of them.
He never imagined this guy had already secretly learned Shikai!
Such terrifying talent. Sōsuke had joined last, yet his strength had already surpassed everyone else in their cohort.
Aizen Sōsuke said humbly, "I just got lucky. My Zanpakutō is easy to communicate with, so I picked it up quickly."
"The teacher said the speed of unlocking Shikai depends heavily on your Zanpakutō's personality."
Hirako Shinji rolled his eyes. "That only works after stabilizing the Inner World—you must've done that ages ago, huh?"
He paused and then added seriously, "Still, thanks, Sōsuke."
He'd spent time in the rough zones of Rukongai himself and could understand why Aizen Sōsuke was so cautious.
Revealing his power early to save them—Hirako found that genuinely moving.
Aizen Sōsuke gave a faint smile. "No need for thanks between comrades, Shinji-kun."
He had made his move after weighing all the factors.
There was no way he could defeat those two enemies without releasing his Zanpakutō. Rather than wait until Shinji and the others were defeated to retaliate, it was better to act now and save them.