The firmament shattered.
Together with the Soul-Shield membrane, the sky above was pierced clean through in less than a single second!
Blinding violet light, laced with crackling lightning, roared as if the heavens themselves were raging.
The terrifying blast wave
did not just sweep across the whole of Seireitei—
even the transparent projection screen in the sky could not withstand the surging spiritual-pressure shock and was blown apart into countless fragments!
As the image collapsed,
it was only natural that the audience, once again, suffered an undeserved calamity.
Their fate was exactly like those eyeball monsters from before:
they were swept away en masse by Aizen's overwhelming spiritual pressure, bodies flung everywhere. A huge swath of souls were knocked head over heels, screams of pain rising one after another without end!
"This Aizen monster…"
"At this rate… he's really going to knock the entire Soul King Palace down, isn't he?!"
Inside the little candy shop,
Kisuke Urahara's striped bucket hat was blown clean off.
He looked up at the ceiling, which was already on the verge of collapsing, and at the kidō barrier that protected the shop, now trembling and close to falling apart.
In those amber, gem-like eyes, a sharp, unmistakable look of worry flashed.
Too exaggerated…
Far too violently over the top…
As expected—
after evolving into this "Blood-Blue" state and regaining all of his intellect, Aizen was not just spouting nonsense because his power had swelled!
His actions,
though they looked absurdly arrogant and utterly impossible in the eyes of most of the audience,
were backed by absolute confidence.
He was entirely sure that, relying on that ever-growing, limitless spiritual pressure condensed inside his spirit body,
he could actually try to smash apart this supposedly untouchable Soul-Shield barrier!
And judging from the current situation,
if this pillar of spiritual pressure kept rising, boring further up into the depths of the clouds…
then it really might, in just a few moments, punch straight through the space of the Soul King Palace as well!
That was precisely the part that Kisuke Urahara found the most terrifying!
He had never thought…
that the Aizen of the Thousand-Year Blood War timeline—
the power and oppressive aura he displayed—
would reach such a horrifying level, truly pressing right up against the Soul King's realm!
It was practically to the point where you could carve the word "Invincible" directly across Aizen's face!!!
"Too terrifying…"
"What's even crazier is, if I remember correctly, Shunsui Kyōraku has only undone three of Aizen's seals so far, right?"
Yoruichi was dumbfounded, her eyes wide as she spoke in disbelief:
"Doesn't that mean…"
"what we're seeing on screen is only a fraction of Aizen's strength—and he's still nowhere near his true peak!"
"Calling him a 'monster' doesn't even begin to cover it!!!"
Normally,
Yoruichi almost never evaluated someone in that kind of way.
What was more, even without merging with the Hōgyoku, Aizen had already been one of the top-tier Shinigami, his might more than enough to tower over the heavens!
They had always thought
that the previous version—Hōgyoku Aizen—was already broken beyond reason.
Who could have predicted that "Blood-Blue" Aizen would be even more absurd?
He was a pure stat monster, nothing but raw numbers maxed out—no technique required!
That was what made him truly monstrous!!!
"If the Soul King Palace really gets blasted down, Seireitei is finished. After that, Soul Society will end up worse off than Hueco Mundo…"
Isshin Kurosaki shook his head. Even though he had settled in the World of the Living for many years now, he still didn't want to see Soul Society fall into ruin.
Fortunately,
everyone's worries
were suddenly undercut by an abrupt reversal in the footage playing before them—
and their moods swung wildly once more!
"Boom!!!"
The solidified, violet spiritual pressure,
having formed into a massive sphere of light and blown apart the Soul-Shield membrane,
was just about to unleash its full power and crash into the space of the Soul King Palace when…
all of a sudden,
its scale shrank.
Its power weakened.
The pillar of spiritual pressure itself contracted at a speed visible to the naked eye, until all of the violet lightning dissolved and crumbled away,
and the blinding glow filling the screen completely vanished!!!
This sudden turn of events
instantly flipped the situation on its head and sparked an uproar among the spectators:
"???"
"What the heck?! Was it because of that chair?"
"Did it mess up at the crucial moment and interfere with Lord Aizen's performance?!"
"Damn it! Those Shinigami only know how to drag him down!!!"
Inside Las Noches,
the Hollows and Arrancars were angrily flaming everything in sight.
Their expressions, which had started out excited and full of anticipation, shifted to disappointment and then finally twisted into pure rage!
From the standpoint of Aizen's Arrancar army,
they couldn't care less about things like:
"If the Soul King Palace really falls, Soul Society will be destroyed."
All that "fake kindness" meant nothing to them.
As Aizen's most fanatical supporters and loyal subordinates,
what they wanted was to see Blood-Blue Aizen flex his muscles and knock the Soul King Palace down with nothing but spiritual pressure!
But in the end,
things did not go as they had hoped,
and it was only natural that all of them suddenly felt as if they had gone soft at the worst possible time, frustration boiling over!!!
Even Gin Ichimaru
couldn't help but gripe, "Hehe… that's probably Mayuri Kurotsuchi's doing, right? He's still as petty as ever!"
"He never allows anyone else to stand above his precious technology!"
Gin's tone was dripping with sarcasm.
He didn't even need to think about it. With Mayuri Kurotsuchi's arrogant personality, his insidious scheming, and his meticulous calculations…
there was absolutely no way he would tolerate
Aizen sitting right in front of him, showing off again and again thanks to Mayuri's own invention!
So the scene they were watching now—
disappointing as it was—actually didn't surprise him in the least!!!
"Did my spiritual-pressure release get forcibly cut off?"
Even Aizen himself felt a bit regretful. "That really is a shame…"
The truth was,
Aizen, just like all the other spectators,
had wanted to witness that earth-shaking spectacle where the Soul King Palace was knocked out of the sky.
Unfortunately,
Mayuri insisted on spoiling everyone's fun.
He just had to cut things off halfway, ruining the enjoyment for the audience—Aizen included—leaving even Aizen slightly helpless and exasperated!
"Captain Aizen…"
"At this point, your screen time might really be over…" Gin Ichimaru reminded him.
In Gin's opinion,
now that the immediate crisis had been averted,
and with two high-IQ scientists—Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kisuke Urahara—appearing together on screen,
it would not be difficult for the captains of the Gotei 13
to reach the Soul King Palace. It was hard to imagine they would allow Aizen and his throne to be sent upstairs as well.
So,
barring any surprises,
this round of the recap was probably drawing to a close.
After such a spectacular round of showing off, Aizen's part in the story might really be finished!
"It doesn't matter…"
Aizen said calmly, his face expressionless. "Through this glimpse of the Thousand-Year Blood War era, the future me has already put on a five-star showcase."
"It's been proven that both I and my Zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu, chose an evolution path that is absolutely correct!"
"That alone is enough…"
The corners of Aizen's mouth curled upward, drawing a satisfied arc.
Blood-Blue—
his final version.
Even Aizen himself was quite pleased with it.
His state of unity with his Zanpakutō had reached a brand-new height and realm,
infinitely close to the level of the Soul King!
And that
was exactly what Aizen had been pursuing all these years!
The clip rolled on.
As expected,
once the segment ended, the screen went pitch black.
Just as the audience members all settled their emotions, readying themselves,
waiting for new subtitles to appear
and to welcome the next round of ranking—
no one expected…
that it actually wasn't over yet!!!
Shhhk—!!
Light flashed.
The giant projection screen lit up again,
and a brand-new scene appeared.
Only,
the footage had jumped forward in time instead of continuing from where it left off.
"Huh…"
"The location's the same!"
"It's still the battlefield of Soul Society!"
"It's just that all of the captain-level Shinigami seem to be gone!"
The audience carefully examined the new scene on screen
and couldn't find a single familiar captain.
The only thing left,
still standing in that open space,
was the massive prison throne.
And Aizen was still seated upon it, his figure alone making him look oddly solitary.
"?!"
"What's going on?"
"Ever since this ranking video started, there's never been this much screen time focused on just one person…"
"Could this be suggesting that… Aizen is about to face a new opponent?"
The moment this thought
appeared in the minds of the viewers,
the originally calm image suddenly rippled.
The air twisted into a vortex, space itself violently warping.
Then,
before everyone's eyes,
a gateway between worlds slammed down out of nowhere!
Boundless darkness,
towering over the land of Seireitei!!!
"This is…"
"Don't tell me—this is Yhwach descending?!"
In that instant,
the faces of the audience changed as they imagined the worst possible outcome!
At the same time,
it signaled that…
the most explosive plotline—the second clash between the two great final bosses—
was about to begin!!!
"This aura…"
"It's His Majesty!!! He's here!!!"
"As expected, His Majesty never fails. Not only did he defeat the Eyeball Monk, but he may also have already devoured the Soul King!!"
Right now,
it was only natural that the most excited spectators were the pure-blood Quincies of the Wandenreich.
The aura surging from the screen
was far too familiar to them!
It was exactly the same as the pressure radiating from the region of the ice-crystal palace where Yhwach currently lay dormant.
The only difference was—
this aura was now many times stronger!
It had truly climbed up to the level of the Soul King, and nothing less!
"Tch…"
"Back in Muken, Aizen showed off in front of His Majesty, mocking him like crazy and even threatening to eat the King himself!"
"Well, this time, it's finally his turn to get thrashed, isn't it?"
Gerard Valkyrie crossed his arms arrogantly,
smirking viciously as he spat out all the frustration he'd been bottling up.
Damn it…
After watching Aizen posture for so long, even he had started to get fed up.
He had been just a step away from surrendering in his heart, admitting that Aizen really was too strong to be matched!!!
Thankfully,
the plotline of this ranking video
never failed to defy expectations, always delivering a twist just when things seemed most hopeless.
Gerard Valkyrie,
along with the other Sternritter elites, firmly believed:
soon,
with no outsiders interfering,
no limitations from any special terrain,
and a straightforward one-on-one duel—
Soul King-tier Yhwach
would absolutely crush Aizen head-on with overwhelming might!
On that point, there was no room for doubt!!!
The darkness within the screen deepened.
As the gate between worlds fully formed and then yawned open, Yhwach's shadowy figure stepped out from within!
"Boom!!!"
His spiritual pressure exploded outward,
crushing the air around him in an instant,
and even the very ground of Soul Society trembled under the impact.
Most terrifying of all,
Yhwach's appearance was now utterly different from before.
That iconic
blood-red cloak was nowhere to be seen.
Instead,
his entire body was wrapped in pitch-black spiritual power,
and with every step he took, his spiritual pressure rippled outward, leaving dark afterimages trailing behind him, his presence utterly awe-inspiring.
Beyond that,
his facial features were almost completely obscured by the darkness.
His very being had fused with the tide of spiritual pressure surging around him.
He had practically become
a true "dark" version of the Soul King!!!
The debut of this "Soul King Yhwach,"
with that monstrous appearance and the space-crushing aura he exuded,
naturally caused a worldwide uproar!
All around the world, spectators shrieked in terror!!!
"Too scary…"
"He's a walking Soul King!!"
"Looks like Yhwach really did devour the Soul King…"
"The pressure he gives off is unlike anything before. Even someone as powerful as Aizen clearly can't compare!!!"
"Is this it, then? Is the future of the Shinigami world really about to reach its end?"
"From now on, are they doomed to live under the rule of a new Soul King—Yhwach—and enter an age of endless darkness?!"
The viewing atmosphere
instantly turned oppressive and frightening, suffocating every spectator.
Some of the more timid souls
fainted outright on the spot; others barely managed to hang on, trembling.
In the face of Soul King Yhwach's aura,
their hearts felt like they were on the verge of bursting, their breathing almost cut off before the true battle had even begun!
In short,
the appearance of Soul King Yhwach
caused a shock that was in no way inferior to the Soul King Palace actually being shot out of the sky!
The mental impact alone was enormous!!!
"It seems…"
"the situation really can't be reversed anymore…"
"Yhwach's ascension as the new Soul King means the Gotei 13, Seireitei, all of Soul Society are collapsing across the board!"
"In the end, he still got his wish. After a thousand years, he has once more taken this world back for himself!!!"
Back in the candy shop,
Kisuke Urahara furrowed his brows tightly, waves crashing in his heart.
He had never thought…
that despite the countless captains who had fought,
including even his future self—
they still,
no matter what methods they used,
failed to stop Yhwach.
They could only watch helplessly
as he devoured the Soul King, taking his place and descending upon the world in a cloak of darkness!
From Urahara's perspective,
now that things had come to this point, there was no hope of turning the tables!
Because…
he had entered the Soul King Palace Corridor many times in the past.
Urahara knew the truth of everything: the previous Soul King had long since been torn apart in ancient times, reduced to nothing more than a limbless stake.
He had been an incomplete god, hidden from the world for ages!!!
No one could deny
that the Soul King's power
was one of the most supreme forces in existence.
It could shape the world itself, bestow the Ouken, and grant a twisted form of immortality.
However,
after being dissected,
the old Soul King had practically no combat ability left. He could only remain trapped in his chamber, under the protection of the Royal Guard.
By contrast,
Soul King Yhwach was completely different!
He was already the pure-blood Quincy King!
In terms of raw strength, he was undeniably at the very ceiling of the Bleach world!
And now,
after devouring the Soul King and obtaining the entirety of his power—
Yhwach's might would reach an unprecedented height,
to the point where surpassing the original Soul King was not impossible!
That
was what left Kisuke Urahara feeling the most despair!!!
"It looks like only Aizen is left now…"
Yoruichi forced down her unease. In those beautiful eyes, the distant image of that massive prison throne in the darkness was reflected.
In a doubtful tone, she murmured,
"Will Aizen be able to pull off another miracle and save Soul Society this time?!"
To think that they would meet again in Soul Society, Aizen…
After going around and around in circles,
they had still returned to the starting point.
The role of "saving the world"—from here on out, it would depend entirely on whether Aizen could withstand what was coming!!!
———
Back to the video.
With heavy steps, the dark figure landed.
As the dense smoke dispersed, Soul King Yhwach gazed forward, the corners of his mouth lifting into a faint smile.
"How unexpected…"
"I never thought I'd meet you again in Soul Society, Aizen…"
His sickly, distorted laughter
had barely faded
when the viewpoint swung around, pointing toward the figure standing opposite Soul King Yhwach.
The shot zoomed in, revealing a full-body close-up:
four arms, all of them bone-white and razor-sharp at the fingertips.
Aizen rested his hands calmly, his posture elegant.
Still seated in his throne, his handsome face remained utterly unruffled.
Facing Soul King Yhwach's stare,
Aizen smiled, then slowly straightened up and turned fully toward him.
He spoke a single, blunt line—
one that made every viewer in the entire Bleach world go absolutely wild:
"Yhwach…"
"Welcome to my Soul Society!!"
(End of Chapter)
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