Hirako Shinji, already filled with hatred toward Aizen Sōsuke, felt his fury reach a whole new level.
He gently laid Hiyori down and said calmly, "Komamura, keep her stable until Ichigo returns with Inoue!"
Komamura nodded and exited the battlefield, using his unique spatial kidō to seal off Hiyori's wounds and stop the bleeding.
Shinji, meanwhile, flash-stepped back into the air to face Aizen.
He was going to avenge his girl.
Standing alone before Aizen Sōsuke, Shinji drew his zanpakutō. In a show of respect toward his former captain, Aizen did the same.
Shinji sneered. "Aizen, you and I both know—I never trusted you a hundred years ago. I never let you meddle in my business."
"So, you don't know what my zanpakutō's ability is. And if you think a blade that manipulates the nerves of others is limited to Kyōka Suigetsu, then you're dead wrong!"
Shinji held his zanpakutō upright.
A sweet scent wafted through the air.
"Collapse, Sakanade!"
The world around them flipped.
Floating upside-down in midair, Shinji grinned. "Welcome to the inverted world."
In his hand was his shikai—a blade with five circular holes on its edge and a ring-shaped pommel. The sweet fragrance it emitted entranced any who inhaled it.
And once caught in its scent, the victim's sense of direction became completely reversed.
Up became down, left became right, front became back—and what you saw was the opposite of what was real.
See an attack from the right? It's actually coming from the left.
Think you're blocking above? The slash is from below.
Every sense—sight, spatial awareness, even reflexes—was thrown into chaos.
The ability had no direct offensive power.
Much like Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, it didn't harm—but it disoriented.
It targeted instinct.
Shinji charged forward and began swinging.
Though Aizen's reflexes helped him dodge the first few attacks, eventually even he fell prey to his habits.
A blade slashed into his thigh.
Shinji smirked in satisfaction. Even you can't escape the trap of habit.
He followed up with another swing—this time, certain of a clean hit.
But he missed.
Aizen appeared behind him and slashed Shinji cleanly across the back.
Shinji was stunned—how?
"Shinji," Aizen said coldly, "you're the one most dependent on your senses. You assumed where I was based solely on vision."
"All I had to do was scramble your senses a bit... and your so-called 'inversion' is meaningless."
He smiled faintly.
"Compared to my complete control of the five senses, your little trick is just a child's toy."
Only then did Shinji realize: he had never landed a hit. It was all an illusion. He'd been under Kyōka Suigetsu from the start.
And unfortunately, his Bankai wasn't suited for this kind of battlefield.
If Kyōraku's Bankai risked dragging his allies into the effect, Shinji's Bankai was outright unusable around others.
Meanwhile—
Tōsen Kaname was locked in a heated battle with Komamura Sajin and Hisagi Shūhei.
Unlike Gin, who followed Aizen out of calculation, Tōsen followed him out of devotion.
It was Aizen who had made him a Shinigami. Aizen who gave him power and status.
"Tōsen!" Komamura, his longtime friend, couldn't understand his betrayal.
He swung his zanpakutō, but Tōsen easily blocked it.
With a flash step, Tōsen appeared behind Komamura and slashed mercilessly at his friend.
Komamura raised his armored forearm just in time and deflected the blow.
Using his rotating strength, he forced Tōsen to block and disengage.
Seizing the opening, Komamura threw a powerful punch—but Tōsen, familiar with his friend's style, effortlessly avoided it with a backstep.
But then—
A scythe flew from the distance.
Kazeshini.
It was Hisagi Shūhei's weapon, disrupting Tōsen's retreat.
Tōsen knocked Kazeshini away but was immediately confronted by Hisagi in close quarters.
Their blades clashed.
Tōsen, surrounded and pressured from both sides, found himself losing ground.
Hisagi and Komamura knew his style far too well.
Even worse, neither was fighting to kill—they still held hope for his redemption.
Tōsen, seeing Komamura fall behind slightly, struck twice in quick succession and disarmed Hisagi—knocking both halves of Kazeshini away.
But that was Hisagi's plan all along.
Just as Tōsen thought he'd incapacitated him, Hisagi yanked the chain linking the blades—pulling them back toward Tōsen's waist.
Tōsen sensed the attack and flash-stepped away.
Truth was—neither Komamura nor Hisagi had fought seriously.
They weren't trying to kill him.
They just wanted to understand why—why a man of justice would follow Aizen.
Tōsen readied himself for another strike.
But Komamura's zanpakutō came swinging in, forcing him back once again.
He glanced toward Aizen's location, still mid-duel with Shinji.
Tōsen couldn't afford to waste any more time.
He decided—it was time to use his true power.
But this wasn't his Bankai.
Honestly, neither Komamura nor Hisagi had the means to break Enma Kōrogi.
Maybe Tōsen felt his Bankai's massive size was too much for this battlefield.
Because if you weren't within it—his Bankai was meaningless.
"Be careful, Shūhei. Something's not right," Komamura warned.
Hisagi was drenched in sweat, fully aware of how outmatched he was.
He tightened his grip and prepared for anything.
Then Tōsen raised his hand to his face—just like the Visoreds did.
A pulse of purple-black spiritual pressure erupted behind him.
A vortex of dark energy formed—howling, raging.
"Hold your ground!" Komamura shouted.
He stood firm.
Hisagi could only watch in stunned silence.
Tōsen was engulfed in the pillar of light.
When the dust settled—he had completed Hollowfication.
His mask was minimalist—a single vertical slit down the center.
Unlike the early, unstable Visoreds, Tōsen had fused with a perfect Hōgyoku.
His Hollow form was stable. More powerful. More refined.
This was the final product of Aizen's research.
In the next instant, Tōsen Sonído'd in front of the unprepared Hisagi—
And slashed him severely in an instant.
Even Komamura hadn't reacted in time.
"Shūhei!!" Komamura shouted, horrified.
"Tenken!"
Komamura immediately activated Shikai, summoning a colossal spiritual construct.
Hisagi plummeted toward the ground—but he had managed to backstep just enough during Tōsen's strike to avoid a fatal blow.
A massive phantom blade struck down toward Tōsen from behind.
But to a Hollowfied Tōsen, even Tenken was laughable.
Without turning, he blocked with his blade, then countered with a spinning kick that sent Komamura flying.
Blood spewed from Komamura's mouth as he was launched into a false building in Karakura Town.
He tried to stabilize—but Tōsen was already there.
One strike broke his defense.
Another kick punted him like a football into a nearby structure—collapsing the entire building in an instant.
Still, Komamura's physical resilience was remarkable.
Despite the punishment, he stood up from the rubble.
"Tōsen… have you lost all humanity?" he cried.
Tōsen laughed. "Humanity? Komamura… do I really seem inhuman to you?"
Suddenly, a black chain wrapped around Tōsen's neck and yanked him from the sky.
Hisagi Shūhei.
Though injured, he was far from finished.
The chain dragged Tōsen onto the rooftop.
Hisagi pinned him down, gripping his throat with one hand and raising Kazeshini with the other.
Tōsen chuckled bitterly. "Did I go too easy? How foolish of me."
But Hisagi growled back, "No… You didn't go easy."
"I stepped back—half a step—by reflex. Just like you taught me."
"You told me: 'In battle, always leave yourself enough room to step back.'"
Tōsen's eyes widened.
The man he had raised… the vice-captain he had mentored… had used his own teachings to turn the tide.
"Captain Tōsen… I don't understand," Hisagi said. "You once gave such passionate speeches about justice."
"Why… why would you throw it all away for power?"
"What are you still afraid of?!"
But the only response he got—
was a roar.
(End of Chapter)
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