"Captain Aizen, shall we go out now?", Tosen looked at Aizen as he stepped forward, unable to hide a slight frown.
Right now, with the enemy knowing who they were and their side hidden, it really wasn't a good time to go out.
"Yes. No need to be nervous. He discovered us long ago. For an opponent this strong, we should accord him the respect fitting of such a foe," As Aizen finished speaking, he had already appeared before Rosse and Harribel, smiling slightly and lightly applauding.
"Who are you?", Harribel, still lying on the ground, was the first to ask. She rose and stood before Rosse.
She hadn't figured out Rosse's origin, and now two Shinigami had suddenly shown up, how could she not stay on guard?
Compared to Rosse, the three newly appeared Shinigami were clearly more suspicious to her.
At least Rosse not only looked more like an Arrancar, he had just saved her.
Those three new Shinigami, however, didn't look like good people at all.
"Let me introduce myself. Aizen, Sosuke Aizen, a Shinigami."
Aizen introduced himself calmly, but his gaze never left Rosse, as if waiting for the other to reply.
"Aizen, huh? Rosse, Jaygarcia Rosse, a Vasto Lorde Hollow who completed his own breaking of the mask," Rosse responded with a smile.
When you're out in the world, you give yourself your identity.
Since they'd been sent to Hueco Mundo, his identity here was that of a top native Hollow.
Compared to the complicated Soul Society, Hueco Mundo was undoubtedly more suitable for him to assert dominance.
As for Soul Society, he could play with that later when he had time.
If he truly wanted to enjoy himself, he could always return to his own world.
"A self-broken Arrancar? So there's more than one being like you in Hueco Mundo?", Aizen looked at Rosse with interest, his eyes showing a bit of scholarly curiosity.
Though polite, Aizen's words carried the arrogance baked into his bones.
"Why should I answer questions from someone who hides his face? Aizen," Rosse turned his head, half-smiling, his gaze fixed on Gin Ichimaru.
"Interesting! When did you notice?", Under everyone's watchful eyes, the face of 'Gin Ichimaru' smiled, then shifted into Aizen's likeness.
Meanwhile, the Aizen who had been standing nearby changed into Gin Ichimaru's sly grin.
Seeing this, Harribel suddenly tensed, warily looking at Aizen.
She hadn't noticed any problem earlier and had even thought the middle one was the real Aizen.
"When did you get so good at making me see illusions?", Rosse, half-smiling, looked down at Aizen. His height hadn't changed, which was also part of why he was mistaken for a Hollow.
Viewed at his height, Aizen indeed seemed rather small.
This Aizen in front of him, while the most charismatic villain in the Shinigami world, was not yet at his peak.
Compared to Rosse, he did not yet fully deserve Rosse's complete attention.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Sosuke Aizen]
[Overall Rating: S+]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Though not at full power, Aizen's strength already sat near the pinnacle.
Still, in front of Rosse, he was slightly lacking.
"So that's it, no wonder I couldn't sense your reiatsu. Looks like I was the one with a narrow perspective," Aizen narrowed his eyes slightly as realization struck him.
From the start until now, he had not sensed Rosse's reiatsu.
At first, he'd thought Rosse was deliberately suppressing it.
Now he realized the gap was simply too great, Rosse's reiatsu was so different that Aizen couldn't sense it.
Having understood this, Aizen's look toward Rosse changed.
Even Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, the Captain-Commander, had never reached an unperceivable level for him.
Noticing the slight change in Aizen's expression, Rosse merely smiled and turned to walk toward Sung-Sun and the others.
Rather than chat idly with Aizen here, he'd go collect his spoils.
"Lord Rosse, are you leaving already?", Aizen called softly to Rosse, sensing the casual disdain in his actions.
Even if someone's reiatsu was stronger than his, Aizen couldn't tolerate such contempt.
Those mediocrities in Soul Society only showed disdain for his disguise, not realizing how high the sky truly was.
But Rosse was different, Aizen had sensed Rosse's reiatsu yet Rosse still treated him with scorn.
That kind of contempt was something Aizen, who always held himself in high regard, found hard to accept.
"If I don't leave, do you want to be my punching bag?", Rosse's voice suddenly came from behind Aizen.
Aizen's pupils constricted as he looked up in surprise, Rosse's original position was already only a fleeting afterimage.
'So fast... so fast even I haven't noticed. Is this the true Sonido of an Arrancar?'
In Aizen's studies, Hollows had many basic abilities, space-moving Sonido-like skills, energy beams like Cero, impenetrable armor, limbs that regenerate at incredible speed... Rosse's speed just now exceeded Aizen's understanding of Sonido.
"Didn't see it clearly? Want me to show you again?"
Rosse's hand reached for Aizen's shoulder. As he made that move, Aizen flashed, deploying Shunpo, and instantly reappeared a hundred meters away.
Almost at the same moment, Rosse was behind him, his hand still reaching forward.
Aizen's expression remained composed as he kept moving rapidly around, while Rosse shadowed him, always maintaining the same distance; that hand steadily extended, drawing ever closer to Aizen's shoulder.
"So fast...", Watching the field filled with afterimages, Harribel showed clear shock.
Neither Rosse nor Aizen were opponents she could track with her eyes.
They were on completely different tiers.
"Got you," Rosse chuckled softly as his hand pressed onto Aizen's shoulder.
Feeling the weight on his shoulder, Aizen could no longer maintain his composure.
Although his face didn't show it, the look of doubt and alarm in his eyes proved his unrest.
Rosse simply smiled and withdrew his hand without really doing anything to Aizen.
His earlier trick had merely been a small manipulation of reishi.
At his level, once he'd touched energy, he could instantly wield it convincingly.
With his observational skill, he could easily seize any reishi within a kilometer, and so-called spatial movement was just an exchange between reishi fields.
If his calculation speed was fast enough, he could appear in any corner within a kilometer instantly.
Speed was not Aizen's specialty, so naturally he couldn't match Rosse.
After teasing Aizen, Rosse turned and left.
The three worlds in this realm were created by the Spirit King, who ultimately sealed himself to maintain their balance.
To achieve Rosse's goal, he needed to kill the Spirit King, then the bond holding the worlds together would collapse, and Rosse could use the system to devour the world core and ascend to SSS rank.
Aizen's current plan was to replace the Spirit King by heading to the Spirit Palace.
Having Aizen take the lead was better than Rosse doing it himself.
After walking a short distance, Rosse suddenly stopped, turned his head, and smiled at Aizen, "Aizen, your power is decent among the Shinigami, but compared to that old man and a few of the Zero Division, you're still quite lacking."
Leaving that remark behind, Rosse never looked back. Aizen's expression, however, grew even more interesting.
In an instant, Aizen realized Rosse's words were a provocation.
Not only a comment on his strength, but Rosse seemed to know what Aizen intended and believed he couldn't accomplish it.
"Interesting... I haven't reached my limit yet... Jaygarcia Rosse... I'll remember you, an intriguing Arrancar."
Within seconds, Aizen's face returned to calm as he watched Rosse's back, etching the other deeply into his mind.
Next time they met, he would have strength that would force Rosse to take him seriously.
Then they could be excellent collaborators.
Sometimes, comrades recognize each other with a single glance.
Clearly, in Aizen's view, Rosse was a fellow traveler like himself, similarly innately powerful, similarly possessing boundless ambition.
Only that Rosse had already gotten ahead, while Aizen was still the pursuer.
Aizen would not let someone wait too long.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.