"What a remarkable power."
Aizen watched as the endless blackness swallowed the Espada puppets whole.
"Szayelaporro carried out his task very well."
The roaring black Cero had nearly pierced straight through the entire city.
All that remained in the sky was a profound, pitch-black darkness.
The Espada puppets had been utterly incapable of withstanding such a terrifying attack. They dissolved directly into spirit particles and scattered across Karakura Town.
As the light of the Cero faded, only a badly ruined figure remained, barely standing atop the scorched earth.
Szayelaporro's four wings had vanished completely.
Broken bones protruded from his body, charred black.
"Cough… cough!"
A large quantity of black fluid spilled from Szayelaporro's mouth, leaving him in a miserable state.
"What a terrifying power…"
His voice had become extremely weak. Resisting Shimo's attack had all but drained his spiritual pressure.
"To surpass one's limits… kek…"
A strange glimmer flashed through Szayelaporro's golden eyes.
"I'm beginning to doubt the outcome of this war."
"Shinigami… I hope you survive to the very end!"
The instant his final words fell, he vanished like a bubble bursting under sunlight.
Espada No. 2, Szayelaporro Granz, is dead.
---
On Starrk's battlefield, Aizen showed not the slightest emotional reaction to the death of his subordinate.
Szayelaporro had already served his purpose.
The outburst of spatial power had not caused much destruction to the surrounding area. It had merely made the nearby space itself more solid.
"Shimo."
Aizen's figure disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already a short distance away from Shimo.
Standing in midair, he looked down like a god surveying the world below.
Shimo vanished from his own position as well, reappearing at the same height, meeting Aizen eye to eye.
"Your power is truly astonishing."
"The ability you used to kill Tōsen… that should be time, shouldn't it?"
Those indifferent words sent shock through every onlooker.
Time?!
A Zanpakutō release could wield such a power?
As expected… even while time is stopped, he can still perceive changes in the outside world.
Shimo was not surprised.
Aizen's mastery of Kidō was second to none among the Shinigami.
Naturally, he would also be familiar with forbidden Kidō that touched upon the suspension of time.
That was why he had been able to identify the power emanating from Shimo's Zanpakutō.
"No matter how one looks at it, your ability is awe-inspiring."
A faint glint passed through Aizen's eyes as he said coldly:
"Unfortunately…"
"I have already seen through your Zanpakutō."
Shimo raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
"Arrogance leads to destruction you know."
The moment those words left his mouth, the Zanpakutō in his right hand rose lightly—
And came slashing down through the air.
That warped, void-like force once again spread across all of Karakura Town.
It was as though someone had pressed a pause button.
The entire town fell into a pale stillness.
Everyone's movements, and even their thoughts—were frozen in the previous instant.
Shimo used Shunpo, appearing directly before Aizen. Raising his blade once more, he struck downward.
Slash!
A great spray of blood burst from Aizen's chest.
And at that exact moment—
The effect of Time Stop was suddenly undone.
"Hadō #90: Black Coffin."
A cold voice sounded from the opposite side.
In the next instant, Shimo was engulfed by countless black cube-like fragments that enclosed around him like pieces of a puzzle.
Everything before his eyes vanished.
"Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy. Boil forth and deny. Grow numb and flicker. Disrupt sleep. Crawling queen of iron. Eternally self-destructing doll of mud. Unite. Repulse. Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness."
The moment Shimo was completely sealed inside, Aizen added the full incantation for Black Coffin afterward.
A post-chant incantation.
The instant the chant concluded, countless razor-sharp shadow blades pierced through the Black Coffin.
"Arrogance… is one of the flaws we both share."
Aizen did not even bother to look at the serious wound in his chest as he spoke calmly.
"It is not only my failing. Is it not yours as well?"
Crack!
The Black Coffin shattered, and Shimo emerged from within.
Even against Aizen's full-powered assault, he had inevitably suffered some injury.
But with the complete Hollow system, that level of damage was hardly worth mentioning.
With only a slight expenditure of spiritual pressure, his wounds instantly healed.
He even had enough strength left to restore his own shihakushō to perfect condition.
Shimo looked toward Aizen in the distance, the corners of his lips curling upward.
"At times, you need to understand the difference between arrogance and confidence."
"What the Hōgyoku has given you is not merely power…"
"…but an ever-expanding ego."
Aizen lifted his gaze toward him, his expression unchanged.
"And where does your confidence come from?"
"Your Zanpakutō?"
"It seems you ignored what I said earlier."
Aizen pulled open his white haori, revealing the place where Shimo had slashed him moments before.
The torn flesh on his chest was visibly knitting back together before the naked eye.
Even the blood flowing from the wound vanished in an instant.
He looked back at Shimo and smiled faintly.
"The power to stop time… is not your exclusive privilege."
"There are forbidden Kidō techniques capable of producing the same effect."
"When two powers of the same nature appear, they cancel one another out until both are nullified."
"And all I need to do…"
"…is continuously maintain that forbidden Kidō."
Shimo stared at Aizen, clearly seeing the change within his chest.
The Hōgyoku, emitting a faint violet glow, had completely fused with his body, forming a pale cross-shaped mark.
Noticing Shimo's gaze, Aizen continued:
"It seems you've noticed, Shimo."
"I have now successfully mastered the Hōgyoku's power and fused with it."
"For me, maintaining a forbidden Kidō is not particularly difficult."
"Because the Hōgyoku's instinct drives it to protect its master."
At that, Aizen raised his Zanpakutō and pointed it at Shimo.
"Your ability is now useless against me."
Faced with Aizen's provocation, Shimo smiled.
"In that case…"
"Let's continue our fight."
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