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"Right?"
"Kisuke Urahara…"
The moment those words dropped, Aizen-in-Hōgyoku form shifted his gaze in the video.His eyes locked straight onto Kisuke.
That single move made Las Noches fall silent.
"What? Did I hear that right?"
"Did he really say… Kisuke Urahara?"
"Don't tell me that fisherman-hat guy is actually Urahara?!"
Every arrancar froze.
Aizen's look had already confirmed it.
One minute ago, that bucket-hat man had been mocked by everyone.
And he really was the real deal. Kisuke Urahara in the flesh.
"No way! Something's wrong. If that guy is Urahara, then who the hell is this cocoon freak?!" Nnoitra snarled.
His instinct told him to doubt everything.
From the start, the shopkeeper hadn't shown anything impressive. How could someone like that rank in the top fifteen?
"Exactly, this must be some kind of mix-up!" Yammy, still furious about earlier, suddenly felt like he'd regained momentum. "That trash Shinigami can't be stronger than me!"
Grimmjow jeered.
Szayel Aporro sneered.
Even Ulquiorra frowned.
Clearly, despite the truth staring them in the face, the Espada still refused to accept Urahara's strength.
They were convinced the ranking was full of nonsense.
Urahara didn't deserve a spot at all.
"Wait…"
From a distant corner, Starrk (Coyote Starrk) pulled back his lazy expression and raised another point.
"Hey… forget that for a second. Doesn't the cocoon guy's voice sound kinda familiar to you?"
His words hit everyone like a bomb.
A moment passed.
Then all the arrancars widened their eyes at the same time.
That déjà vu feeling washed over them.
"I swear I've heard that voice somewhere…"
Under his pink hair, Szayel Aporro pushed up his glasses-shaped mask and frowned hard, digging through his memory for a clue.
Unfortunately…
From cocoon to butterfly, awaiting rebirth.
Once Aizen fused with the Hōgyoku, his entire being had changed.His form, his appearance, even his voice had molted into something new.
So even a genius like Szayel Aporro didn't immediately think of Aizen.
And right as the atmosphere grew stranger, the video continued.Urahara's trio finally launched their counterattack.
"Bakudō 61: Six Rods Prison of Light!"
"Bakudō 62: Hundred Step Fence!"
"Bakudō 63: Chain-Linked Binding!"
One after another, three chant-less spells.
Aizen's cocooned body was wrapped like a tied-up zongzi in an instant.
When they finished, Urahara lowered his hat brim, a mocking grin curling on his lips.
"Looks like evolving has made you a little overconfident…"
"Shouldn't I be?"
"You really think a few Bakudō spells are enough to stop me?"
Aizen's voice was cold, emotionless.
He didn't draw his sword.He didn't resist.He just stood quietly in midair.
He didn't even acknowledge the bindings.
"Heh…"
"Who told you the Bakudō were meant to stop you?"
Under the arrancars' stunned gazes, Urahara's smile faded.His eyes sharpened.
Then—
Boom!
Spirit pressure erupted from him like a pillar blasting upward.
A tidal wave of force rushed outward.
Blue ripples of reiatsu wrapped around Kisuke, scraping the ground into messy currents of air.
At the same time, that pressure pushed through the projection and spread through every corner of the palace.
"Such strong reiatsu!"
"So he does have some bite after all!"
Feeling that pressure, the Espada's disdain softened slightly.
But only slightly.
It still wasn't enough to convince them.
"He must have something else up his sleeve," Ulquiorra muttered, staring at the screen without blinking.
His instincts told him this was far from over.
Urahara was about to bring out something big.
And sure enough—
Just as that thought surfaced, Kisuke, now fully unleashing his reiatsu, began chanting a Hadō spell:
"Hands of a thousand, reaching toward the distant dark. Archer of the far blue sky, untouched by all light. Road bathed in radiance, wind that stokes the sparks, gather together with no hesitation."
"Light bursts, eight bodies, nine beams, divine surge, swift treasure, great wheel. Grey turret, draw your bow, and vanish in the distant sky!"
"Hadō 91: Senju Kōten Taihō!"
A fully chanted Ninety-First Hadō.
"..."
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