Chapter 200
Sōsuke Aizen pointed his index finger at Yuta, his face twisted with fury. Then, as if reconsidering, he calmed himself and lowered his finger.
"Yuta… you are truly terrifying. I must watch my words carefully. With only a few sentences, you nearly shattered my fighting spirit. Yuta, you are really a frightening man!"
Yuta's expression did not change.
"Really? Tricks? I've done nothing but state the truth."
"Hmph," Aizen replied coldly. "As long as I understand the essence of your words, I will not be shaken by them again. Look at yourself-you hold nothing but a dead branch. That alone proves you have no escape. Our battle was decided the moment we met. I win, and you lose."
Yuta's hand gently brushed the surface of the branch he held.
"Tell me, Aizen, do you know the four disciplines of a Shinigami?"
"How could I not? Swordsmanship, Hakuda, Kidō, and Shunpo," Aizen responded immediately.
"Then surely you've noticed that most have long neglected the art of swordsmanship itself," Yuta said quietly. "Today, you'll witness what true invincible swordsmanship looks like. Flying flowers and falling leaves, dead branches used as blades… even a single strand of grass could cut the stars themselves." His eyes lifted as he drew his sword in an instant.
From where she stood at the edge of the battlefield, Unohana Retsu felt her body tense at his words. A familiar, sharp sensation ran through her. She had once named herself Yachiru for her mastery of the blade, the conviction that she embodied the most beautiful form of swordsmanship in Soul Society. But even she knew that against an opponent like Aizen, swordsmanship alone could not prevail. What was Yuta planning?
The answer came quickly, as Yuta swung his branch in one decisive stroke.
The sound rang out like distant thunder. Smoke and dust surged across the battlefield. When the haze settled, a massive fissure scarred the ground where Yuta had stood-a thousand feet long, several feet wide, and impossibly deep. The force of a single strike had carved through the terrain itself. The sheer scale of the attack was staggering.
Behind Aizen, the six wings of his evolved form had been torn away by the strike, only to reform instantly under the power of the Hōgyoku. Still, Aizen himself looked stunned.
"This is… a dead branch?" His voice faltered. "If you had told me that was a divine blade, I would have believed you."
He could not help but ask: "What kind of swordsmanship is this?"
Yuta paused as if considering his answer.
"It doesn't have a name yet. Its power is nothing special, so let's just call it an ordinary sword."
Even Aizen's subordinates, Peche and Dondochakka, stared in disbelief.
"An… ordinary sword?"
"Something like that can split the sky… with a dead branch?"
"How are we supposed to live in a world where that's ordinary?"
Their disbelief echoed across those watching from afar. Ichigo Kurosaki's jaw went slack.
"Just 'so-so' power? How strong does he expect it to be? My Getsuga Tenshō is nothing compared to that… in front of him, it's worthless." Though Yuta stood on their side, Ichigo clenched his fist with frustration. "I almost want to land a punch on him just for saying that."
Even Unohana's expression shifted in rare surprise as the storm of energy lifted her haori against her body. She said nothing, but her silence was heavy with realization. One sword seemed capable of breaking all techniques placed before it.
The clash resumed instantly. Aizen vanished from his place and appeared directly before Yuta, his blade cutting with intent to end it in a single blow.
"Yuta, I understand now. Your strength comes not from what you wield but from who you are. Then I will defeat you head-on. With you as my opponent, I can finally unleash the power that surpasses Hollow and Shinigami alike!"
His full force descended, but Yuta simply extended his left hand and caught the blade mid-swing. The sound of impact roared like an explosion, and the shockwave tore into the ground. The force hurled back all who stood too close. Even seasoned Captains were rattled by the pressure alone. Kensei Muguruma staggered back, coughing blood from the backlash.
The land itself sank into a crater several dozen meters deep. For an ordinary creature, a blow like that would have spelled certain death. Even so, Yuta still stood with Aizen's sword caught in his grip.
Gasps broke through the air.
"So powerful… Aizen's strength has evolved to such a level?"
"How can anyone withstand that?"
Among them, Inoue Orihime and Kuchiki Rukia's expressions twisted with worry, while Matsumoto Rangiku and the others started forward in panic, calling Yuta's name. Before they could reach him, Suì-Fēng and Unohana both raised their arms in restraint.
"Don't," Unohana said quietly. "Trust him. Have faith in Yuta."
When the smoke cleared completely, Aizen's blade remained locked firmly in place by Yuta's hand. He had not moved even an inch back from where he had been standing. Aizen's eyes widened in disbelief.
Impossible. If Yuta had dodged, it might have made sense. But with the sword's speed and power, not even dodging should have been feasible. Yet here the blade sat, stopped in his opponent's grasp.
Stepping back quickly, Aizen widened the distance between them by several hundred meters. His voice carried restraint but also frustration.
"Why? Why do you hold back nothing yet stand untouched before me?"
Yuta's expression remained steady.
"Why keep a distance? Do you think it will help?"
Ichigo froze where he stood. He remembered hearing nearly the same words from Aizen himself during their fight-that wherever Ichigo stood, Aizen could reach his heart with ease. Now Yuta had returned that sentiment to him. Even more shocking was what lay unsaid: Aizen's strike hadn't been deflected, avoided, nor even countered-it had simply been arrested in place by Yuta's strength alone.
With frustration overtaking his composure, Aizen shouted furiously.
"Don't be arrogant! Yuta!" His hand rose again, power gathering at his fingertip. "I will use Kidō itself to end you!"
He spread his left index finger forward and began to chant:
"The turbid emblems faintly reveal the unruly and arrogant talents…"
"Surge, denial, paralysis, a moment, hindering eternal sleep…"
"The crawling iron princess and the clay doll that hurts itself endlessly…"
"Combine, rebound, and extend to the ground, revealing your own powerlessness!"
"Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi!"
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