"Bankai, Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū!"
Lightning converged above Sasakibe Chōjirō's head, reiatsu (spiritual pressure) roaring alongside that golden thunder.
As an old veteran from nearly the same era as Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, and Unohana Retsu, Sasakibe Chōjirō's true strength was never something as simple as "just a vice-captain."
If he wanted to serve as a captain, he had more than enough power to do so.
It was only because the man he admired was Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni that he willingly chose to be nothing more than a supporting leaf at Yamamoto's side.
In the original course of events, Sasakibe's showing against Kurosaki Ichigo could only be called abysmal—he was almost instantly taken out.
But that was only when measured against Kurosaki Ichigo.
At the very least, Sasakibe's attack—driving a skyful of lightning straight at Aizen Sōsuke—forced Aizen to shift slightly to the side.
Of course, an attack that straightforward was never going to land on Aizen.
Truthfully, even against any other captain-class shinigami, it would still be difficult to score a direct hit.
Yet its symbolic meaning far outweighed its tactical value.
That single strike from Sasakibe was like a horn sounding the final charge—the last assault of the remaining shinigami against Aizen.
"Hahahaha! Aizen Sōsuke, today's a damn fine day! One troublemaker after another—eat my blade!"
The first to crash into Aizen's range was the captain of the Eleventh Division: Zaraki Kenpachi.
On the way here, after crossing paths with Kyōraku Shunsui and the others, he'd gotten a rough picture of what was happening from them—and from the Tenth Division's captain, Kisaragi Shūsuke.
Kenpachi didn't really understand the details, but he only needed to know one thing:
The Fifth Division's captain, Aizen, was a traitor to Soul Society!
A traitor meant one thing—steel could answer steel!
Cutting down a "real" captain was a hell of a lot more exciting than the usual scum he hunted in Soul Society, or the small fry from Hueco Mundo he chopped up for fun.
Aizen reflexively went to draw his sword to block Kenpachi's slash—
Only to find his waist completely empty.
So the Zanpakutō he had always looked down on—something he'd considered a shackle forced on shinigami—had already been "helpfully" erased by the Hōgyoku within him.
But that didn't matter.
The instant he understood, Aizen murmured under his breath, voice calm:
"One blade."
The reiatsu around him—like an extension of his own body—moved with his will, condensing into the shape of a long sword in front of him, braced against Kenpachi's Zanpakutō.
With that reishi blade, Kenpachi's strike should have been turned aside.
Should have.
But would reality really unfold exactly as Aizen predicted?
Of course not. Compared to the newer generation of captains like Kuchiki Byakuya and Soifon, veterans like Kyōraku and the others excelled at something else—
Coordination.
Some things didn't need words beforehand. In the middle of battle, they could find their roles with uncanny precision.
For example—Ukitake Jūshirō had already chosen his position, angled beneath Aizen's flank, and released his Zanpakutō:
"Rise, waves and become my shield. Flash, lightning and become my blade—Sōgyo no Kotowari!"
His Zanpakutō split into two, becoming twin blades in his hands. Then Ukitake raised his left arm, presenting the blade that symbolized absorption—the "Yin fish"—toward Aizen, its maw opening wide.
Along the chain that linked the twin swords, the talisman swayed, and Ukitake's intent settled, guided and fixed by those shifting signs.
The Sōgyo no Kotowari, which normally only absorbed reishi attacks directed at Ukitake, became something else in that moment—
It began actively absorbing whatever its gaze fell upon.
Including the black reishi longblade stretched between Aizen and Kenpachi.
Blood sprayed through the air.
It was Aizen's first injury of the day.
He hadn't expected such exquisite synergy between Ukitake and Kenpachi.
It certainly wasn't something those two had planned together—Kenpachi's simple brain would never grasp "complex tactical arrangements."
Aizen was almost certain this was Ukitake's unilateral support, executed in a single perfect instant.
Timing without waste. Control of the field without excess.
No wonder he'd once been one of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's two most prized disciples.
Even as Aizen marveled, his footwork—beyond what even shinigami Shunpō (Flash Step) should allow—snapped him away from Kenpachi, and also broke Ukitake's lock.
Otherwise, Ukitake could have used the other blade—"Yang fish"—to return that same black reishi sword to him intact… perhaps even amplified.
As Aizen repositioned, the wound on his body fully healed.
The Hōgyoku would not permit imperfection in its master.
But the moment Aizen reappeared—
A man was already waiting for him there.
"To the east is Soifon, captain of the Second Division. To the west are Unohana Retsu of the Fourth Division and Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, former captain of the Third. To the north… the Head Captain, Yamamoto, has just arrived.
Mm-hm~ If I were you, I'd dodge this way on instinct, too.
So easy to guess, Aizen Sōsuke."
It was Kyōraku Shunsui, captain of the Eighth Division. The moment Ukitake and Kenpachi began their assault, he'd read it and moved ahead of time to this very direction.
But he still hadn't released his Zanpakutō.
Because below them, the non-captain shinigami were only just starting to withdraw on his order. If he carelessly unleashed his Zanpakutō here, his ability might drag those innocent young shinigami into it.
After all, his Zanpakutō's power was a forced, indiscriminate, rule-type ability.
People like Higashino Shuuichi—who could counter its influence with a special power—were the exception, not the norm.
So even though Kyōraku had predicted Aizen's escape route perfectly, all he did was swing out several Kidō slashes laced with heavy reiatsu.
"And you call yourself a shinigami?" Aizen sneered.
He'd seen Kyōraku's concern at a glance.
As he flicked away the incoming Kidō slashes, he mocked him openly.
Kyōraku didn't budge. He only smiled.
"Better than you pretending to be one. Everything you've done up to now is what truly disgraces the name 'shinigami.'"
Aizen let out a cold snort and was about to answer—
When he felt it.
His body was seized by a terrifying lock of intent.
From Soifon's position.
"Die, Aizen Sōsuke! Bankai, Jakuhō Raikōben—ichigeki hissatsu!"
On the ground, Soifon was shouldering a massive cannon wildly out of proportion with her small frame. Behind her, Ōmaeda Marechiyo—dragged over as a last-minute pack mule—braced it as support. Only with both of them working together could Soifon barely fire that all-out strike at Aizen.
If that shell hit, even with the gap in reiatsu between them, Aizen wouldn't get off clean.
Injury was guaranteed.
Aizen knew that perfectly well.
So he decisively freed one hand and carved a barrier at his side—
A reishi shield meant to stop Soifon's attack.
At this moment, Ukitake was still at a distance, and Kenpachi was still charging back in. Aizen had no reason to fear interference with this defense.
He could focus on finishing Kyōraku first.
But then, suddenly, Aizen realized something—
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni was no longer where he'd been.
Where did that old man go?
As if answering the thought, scorching heat began to sear Aizen's feet from below.
Below?
Aizen didn't even need to look. The only man who could warp the surrounding temperature that violently in an instant was—
"Heh… so you can change too, old man?
After that crushing defeat against Higashino Shuuichi decades ago, you're not insisting on a duel anymore~"
Aizen found the idea genuinely amusing.
But fine.
If anything, it only made this battle more valuable.
What Higashino Shuuichi had done back then couldn't compare to Aizen now.
Aizen—proud to his bones—was satisfied.
He drove the remaining reiatsu he had, compressing reishi into a sharp sword, and pointed it straight downward.
Two captains, three captains—so what?
Even if it was Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, hailed as the strongest shinigami in a thousand years—
He'd take them all at once!
After fusing with the completed Hōgyoku, after tasting that incomparable surge of power, Aizen was simply that confident.
And yet—at that exact moment, a voice appeared inside a certain shinigami's mind.
"Now, Shūsuke—seal his power!"
Kisaragi Shūsuke, prepared long in advance, didn't hesitate for even a heartbeat. He released his Bakkōtō instantly:
"Bankai, Raika: Gōenka!
Donka (Dullification)!"
Layer after layer of soundless shockwaves spread from Kisaragi Shūsuke's Bakkōtō. Under his control, those invisible waves converged, becoming a far more concentrated force—then slammed directly into Aizen's body.
"What?!"
For the first time today, genuine alarm flashed in Aizen's eyes.
Because Kisaragi Shūsuke's timing was too perfect.
Aizen's current form could no longer be described as a simple shinigami—
But with the Hōgyoku's help, he still hadn't fully transcended the shinigami state, either.
Meaning: a large part of his body was still, fundamentally, shinigami.
And so was his power.
Even though the power he was using now was no longer a straightforward Zanpakutō release, at its core it was still a kind of special ability release.
And anything based on a shinigami's special abilities fell within the suppression range of Kisaragi Shūsuke's Bankai.
Back when Aizen didn't yet possess the complete Hōgyoku, his Zanpakutō release could be fully suppressed by Kisaragi's Bankai. If not for Kyōka Suigetsu's even more unreasonable passive effect—and Aizen's own top-tier Zanjutsu (swordsmanship) and Hakuda (hand-to-hand combat)—Higashino Shuuichi wouldn't have even needed to join forces with Yushima Ōko to handle him.
Now Aizen had the complete Hōgyoku, and yet his abilities could still be suppressed—for a moment.
It had nothing to do with Kisaragi Shūsuke's reiatsu.
It was simply because Kisaragi's Bankai didn't originate from a Zanpakutō—
It originated from a Bakkōtō.
Back then, Higashino Shuuichi had gone to extreme lengths, taking enormous risks, feeding nearly all the Bakkōtō spirit-core accumulations the Kasumiooji family had gathered over decades—perhaps even centuries—into the Bakkōtō in Kisaragi Shūsuke's hands.
All to make it a true shinigami killer.
And now was the moment that Bakkōtō proved its worth.
Right when Aizen believed he could easily withstand Kyōraku and Soifon's attacks with the power the Hōgyoku gave him—and chose not to dodge.
Right when even if Aizen realized it and tried to evade—
It was already too late.
Higashino Shuuichi had Kisaragi Shūsuke present Aizen with a gift.
"A chance like this only comes once. The complete Hōgyoku in your body definitely won't allow Shūsuke's Bakkōtō ability to work on you a second time—but this one time…
Aizen, take it as a lesson~"
In a corner of Sōkyoku Hill, Higashino Shuuichi—just returned from the Dangai—watched Aizen in the distance and spoke silently in his heart.
To be honest, even ten-odd minutes earlier, he hadn't had this thought. Even when he saw Aizen nearly kill Yushima Ōko, he could still warn Aizen aloud to watch out for Urahara Kisuke.
Because Higashino Shuuichi knew he and Aizen were on the same side.
But after Higashino Shuuichi saw Aizen obtain the complete Hōgyoku—and for some reason display power that far exceeded what this stage of the Hōgyoku "should" have shown—he changed his mind on the spot.
He had to manufacture a little difficulty for Aizen.
Otherwise, with the Hōgyoku acting this absurd, Higashino Shuuichi could feel the balance between him and Aizen starting to break.
And with Aizen's personality, the moment his strength stopped being "equal," he would never remain on the same side as Higashino Shuuichi again.
Because only equals can negotiate.
When strength is unequal, who bothers talking about fairness?
Especially someone like Aizen.
Higashino Shuuichi had originally wanted Ichimaru Gin to put on a show, but one look told him Gin was still busy with that love-hate mess with Matsumoto Rangiku, and couldn't spare attention for Aizen.
So Higashino Shuuichi had no choice but to send in another of his major pieces—
Kisaragi Shūsuke.
Fortunately, the results were immediate.
Kyōraku's Kidō slashes—now crashing down on a heavily weakened Aizen—struck like divine weapons from the heavens, wounds stacking one after another.
And that black reishi barrier failed to become a shield against Soifon's Bankai. The gigantic shell met Aizen's body at point-blank range.
Still—Aizen was Aizen.
Even under that brutal chain of hits, he dragged his shattered body out and escaped.
But what awaited him next—
Was the scorching "sun"!
"All things in the universe, turn to ash—Ryūjin Jakka!"