"Rukia Kuchiki… What did you do?" Aizen's voice lost its usual composure, dropping into a chilling, deep tone. The instant he obtained the so-called Hōgyoku, he knew. The spiritual pressure was similar… but its essence was undeniably false. A counterfeit.
Ichimaru Gin and Tōsen Kaname, standing close by, also felt the shift in their captain's spiritual energy. The plan—perfect on paper—was unraveling.
All eyes locked onto Aizen. No one noticed the faint shimmer of reiryoku streaking through the air. Amamiya Miyako's arrow, fired at full strength, pierced through the smoke and struck the Zanpakutō at Aizen's waist—Kyōka Suigetsu.
The arrow dissolved upon impact, its spiritual particles spreading like threads, wrapping around the blade.
Hold on… just a few more seconds. Miyako clenched his teeth, every muscle trembling. That arrow, forged with the last of his reiryoku, would only bind Aizen's illusion for the briefest moment.
"Now, Yoruichi-san!" Miyako roared, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"Shunpō!" With a thunderclap of lightning-like speed, Yoruichi Shihōin closed the gap. Golden sparks burst from her shoulders and back, her fist slamming directly into Aizen's chest.
The earth caved in, stone shattering beneath his feet as shockwaves rippled outward. Smoke and dust engulfed the battlefield.
At that same instant, Suì-Fēng's form blurred across the field. She caught Rukia in her arms, vanishing in a flash of speed.
"Aizen-taichō!" Tōsen's voice rang out sharply, his composure broken. Even Gin's perpetual fox-like smile faltered, his eyes narrowing. He had truly not sensed them approach until it was too late.
"Well done, Amamiya-kun," Yoruichi's smooth voice praised as she reappeared beside him.
Miyako staggered, his breathing ragged. "No… Yoruichi-san timed it perfectly. But… don't let your guard down. That strike alone won't stop him…"
Suì-Fēng returned with Rukia in her arms, bowing slightly. "Yoruichi-sama, Rukia Kuchiki is safe."
"Good work, Suì-Fēng. You matched my timing and retrieved her in one breath. Truly splendid."
"You honor me," Suì-Fēng replied, cheeks slightly flushed with pride.
"Thank you, Captain Suì-Fēng," Miyako added, nodding weakly. He knew all too well—had they been even a heartbeat slower, Aizen would have already ripped the Hōgyoku from Rukia's soul.
"Miyako-san, are you alright?" Rukia asked softly.
"I'm fine. Suì-Fēng-taichō protected you perfectly. But…" His eyes turned to the thick smoke ahead. "Aizen won't fall that easily."
The haze dispersed. A figure stood tall and unshaken.
Aizen Sōsuke.
He looked down at the small wound across his arm, brows drawn together in irritation. Then his cold eyes shifted to Miyako.
"Aizen-taichō, you're hurt," Tōsen murmured, stepping to his side.
"It's nothing, Kaname. A scratch at best." His tone was calm, but the glint in his eyes was razor sharp.
"I'm sorry, Captain Aizen," Gin said, his usual lazy drawl gone, bowing slightly. "I really didn't notice their approach. Their speed… was beyond me."
"The speed of the former Commander of the Onmitsukidō and her successor… it is not your failure, Gin." Aizen dismissed him, though his gaze never left Miyako.
"…Amamiya Miyako. Did you seal my Kyōka Suigetsu just now?" His tone was icy, but beneath it was genuine curiosity. Aizen had tried to release Kyōka Suigetsu the moment he sensed Yoruichi and Suì-Fēng, yet for those few seconds, the blade had been unresponsive. Dormant.
"Who knows?" Miyako smirked faintly, though blood still dripped from his side. "Shall I… try again, Aizen-san?"
"You really are a troublesome one," Aizen replied, his smile returning. "It seems… the Hōgyoku was hidden by you and Kisuke Urahara long before this execution."
At the mention of that name, Yoruichi's eyes narrowed. Aizen had already pieced it together.
From the start, after Rukia was captured, Aizen had personally confirmed that the Hōgyoku rested within her. Even while stationed at Central 46, he had checked, confirming its presence through his own methods.
And yet—somewhere in the past few days—it had been extracted and replaced with a decoy. By Miyako. By Urahara.
When? His mind raced. At what moment did I allow this oversight?
"I see. Instead of stopping Urahara, you chose to aid him." Aizen exhaled softly, as if admitting a rare miscalculation. "How careless of me. I believed victory was absolute, only to find it stolen by a thief."
"Oya oya," Gin drawled, his smile back, though his eyes remained sharp. "So, Aizen-taichō… the plan's failed, huh?"
"Yes," Aizen said, almost lightly. "Even the backup plan has crumbled. Yare yare… how disappointing."
"Backup plan?" Yoruichi echoed, her voice tense.
Aizen's expression shifted into calm explanation, the kind of voice a teacher might use to lecture students. "After learning of the Ryoka invasion, I prepared. If the execution failed, I would enact a secondary measure. Within the Great Spirit Book Corridor lies every scrap of knowledge and technique gathered by Seireitei… including Urahara's research."
"What…?" Yoruichi's eyes widened.
"There, I uncovered his technique. A method to extract foreign objects from souls without destroying the vessel."
Miyako's fists clenched. So that's how he planned to take it even if Sōkyoku failed…
"The plan was elegant. But alas…" Aizen spread his arms slightly, almost theatrically. "You stole the Hōgyoku before I could act. Still… there was another revelation. Urahara Kisuke's own notes… detailing the very process by which he created the Hōgyoku. By weaving together countless Hollow souls, he forged his own."
"…!" Yoruichi's breath caught.
"In that archive, I successfully found the technique to extract foreign objects from souls. Should the Sōkyoku execution fail, I would have simply enacted this contingency. However—" his eyes gleamed faintly behind his glasses, "—the Hōgyoku had already been switched before I could act."
He paused briefly, then went on smoothly, "Yet fortune smiled upon me. I also uncovered Urahara's notes on the creation of the Hōgyoku itself. His method required fusing together countless Hollow souls, whereas mine was born from Shinigami souls. Originally, I intended to use his Hōgyoku to strengthen and supplement my own… but that plan, too, failed."
Aizen's lips curved into a faint, mocking smile. "Since Urahara himself concealed the Hōgyoku, it would be nearly impossible to recover it in such a short time. Kisuke Urahara is far too cautious for that. The Ryoka invasion was nothing more than a distraction. The true threat was Urahara's secret instructions to Amamiya Miyako."
A glimmer of interest flickered in his eyes as he turned them toward the young Vice-Captain. He wouldn't suspect the truth: that the Hōgyoku was currently within Miyako's possession. After all, there were two reasons. First, Aizen could not sense the Hōgyoku's spiritual pressure. Second, Amamiya Miyako, a mere Vice-Captain, could not possibly be aware of something so forbidden and hidden. To Aizen, that could only mean Miyako was Urahara's real trump card.
"No matter what you plan, Aizen," Yoruichi declared sharply, her tone hardening as the ground trembled faintly with approaching reiatsu, "you've got nowhere left to run! The Captains are almost here."
"Captain Aizen, it seems they've all arrived," Gin Ichimaru chimed in lazily, raising one hand in mock surrender. But before he could move further, his wrist was suddenly seized. Matsumoto Rangiku's blade was at his throat.
"My apologies, Captain Aizen," Gin said with his usual foxlike grin, "it seems I've been caught."
Behind him, Rangiku's face twisted with conflicted emotions. "Gin… what are you really trying to do?" she asked softly. But as always, he offered no answer, his eyes slitted in silence.
"Aizen…" Jūshirō Ukitake's gentle voice cut through the tension as he and Shunsui Kyōraku stepped into the scene. His white hair swayed lightly in the breeze as he regarded Aizen with sorrow in his eyes.
"I didn't expect the mastermind Miyako-kun mentioned… would be you," Ukitake said quietly.
"Yare yare daze…" Kyōraku muttered, tilting his straw hat, his voice heavy with disappointment. "To think the one pulling the strings was you all along, Aizen-san."
Aizen only sneered at them. "How swift you all are, Captains of the Gotei 13. A hundred years ago, it was Kisuke Urahara who interfered with my research. And now—one hundred years later—he once again obstructs me, this time through his young disciple. It seems all of Soul Society is less perceptive than a single Vice-Captain."
"A hundred years ago…?" Ukitake's expression hardened as the pieces fell into place. "Could it be—the rebellion of that time… was you?"
Kyōraku's eyes narrowed beneath the brim of his hat. "You said… Hōgyoku?"
"Yes," Aizen replied smoothly. "The Hōgyoku. Since you've forced me into a corner, allow me to enlighten you before I leave."
He let his gaze sweep across all of them, his voice ringing out with chilling conviction.
"Zanpakutō, Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō… no matter the discipline, every Shinigami faces a wall. A limit. No matter how exceptional their talent, no matter how refined their reiatsu… all Shinigami eventually encounter a bottleneck. That is the curse of our kind—the limit of the soul itself."
"Impossible…" one of the nearby Shinigami muttered.
"Is there truly no way to surpass that?" another questioned.
"Of course there is." Aizen's tone grew sharp. "And I proved it… one hundred years ago. The answer is Hollowfication. By crossing the boundary between Shinigami and Hollow, one can transcend the natural limits of a soul."
Gasps rippled among those gathered, but Aizen pressed on, undeterred.
"And the one who first made my success possible… was none other than Kisuke Urahara himself. He created something capable of shattering the boundary between Shinigami and Hollow."
His eyes gleamed as he spoke the name clearly. "That is… the Hōgyoku."
Amamiya Miyako felt a chill run down his spine as Aizen's gaze flicked toward him and Rukia Kuchiki.
"After discovering Urahara's movements in the Human World, I sought his Hōgyoku directly. To draw him out, I released experimental Hollows into Karakura Town. But instead of Urahara, what I found was Rukia Kuchiki—who had given her Shinigami powers to a human."
Rukia's eyes widened at the revelation.
"Kisuke Urahara sensed the danger as well. To protect the Hōgyoku, he sealed it into Rukia Kuchiki along with the Gigai. That Gigai would force her to gradually lose her Shinigami powers and revert to an ordinary soul, hiding the Hōgyoku beyond all detection."
His smile sharpened. "But Rukia Kuchiki's unusual state did not escape me. And so, I moved the Soul Society into action, manipulating everything to flush her out."
A heavy silence fell. It was the truth no one wanted to hear, but it explained everything.
"Criminal, Sōsuke Aizen!" Yamamoto Genryūsai's voice roared, the butt of his staff striking the ground with an ear-splitting crack. "You have nowhere left to run!"
"Nowhere to run, huh…" Aizen echoed, a faint smile lingering as though the words amused him.
But before anyone could move, the sky above the Soul Society tore open with a violent rift. A flood of yellow light burst forth, enveloping Aizen's body.
"Wh-what is that!?" gasped one of the Shinigami.
Everyone's heads tilted upward.
A massive shadow emerged—towering silhouettes of Menos Grande. "T-this is… a Menos Grande invasion! Not just one Gillian—there are dozens!"
The oppressive spiritual pressure shook the ground beneath their feet. And then—behind the horde of Gillian—an ominous giant eye cracked open in the darkness of the rift.
Two additional beams of light descended, wrapping themselves around Ichimaru Gin and Tōsen Kaname.
Gin turned his head slightly toward Rangiku. "Sorry, Rangiku-chan. I'll be goin' now." His words were soft, almost gentle, as the light carried him away.
"Excuse me, Shinigami of the Soul Society," Aizen's voice rang clear as he rose higher into the air. "Consider this your victory… or rather, Urahara Kisuke's victory. For now."
Though his tone was calm, Miyako could feel the fury boiling just beneath the surface.
In Aizen's original plan, he would have taken the Hōgyoku and revealed everything on his own terms. Yet thanks to Urahara's clever schemes—and Miyako's interference—that plan had collapsed.
His eyes narrowed. "Amamiya Miyako… you've given me more surprises than I expected. Keep the Hōgyoku you claimed. It makes no difference. In Hueco Mundo, I will forge a new one. When that day comes, our true war will begin."
Miyako clenched his fist but said nothing, his gaze locked on Aizen.
From the side, Ukitake Jūshirō's voice broke the rising tension. "Why are you doing this, Aizen…? What could possibly drive you this far?"
Aizen glanced at his former comrade, his tone chillingly resolute. "To pursue a higher realm."
"Have you fallen so low…?" Ukitake's eyes trembled, his voice heavy with grief.
"You're far too pure, Ukitake." Aizen's gaze hardened. "From the very beginning, there was no one seated upon the heavens. Not you, not me… not even 'God.'"
The last word struck like a hammer. The two locked eyes, and Ukitake's chest tightened with dread.
Then, Aizen slowly reached up, sliding his glasses from his face. With a faint shimmer of power, they crumbled into dust. His once-gentle expression twisted into one of absolute coldness.
"This unbearable vacancy of the heavenly throne…" he murmured, slicking back his bangs and exposing his sharp, merciless features. His spiritual pressure surged like a crushing tide, pressing down on everyone present.
"…is about to end."
Gasps rang out among the Captains as Aizen's form seemed to radiate sheer dominance.
"I shall be the one to stand above the heavens!" His declaration thundered across the Seireitei, leaving no room for doubt.
"Farewell, Shinigami of the Soul Society… and you as well, human intruder."
Miyako's eyes narrowed, his lips pressed tightly together. He didn't respond, but deep within his chest, the Hōgyoku trembled violently, as if resonating with Aizen's overwhelming will.
The war between them had only just begun.