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The moment the Head Captain's honed physique was revealed, the audience felt a crushing pressure slam into them through the screen.
"Those muscles are insane!"
"That can't possibly be an old man's body!"
"But what does he mean by Ryūjin Jakka being sealed?"
"Was it that weird-looking Arrancar? It can actually seal the strongest fire-type Zanpakutō?!"
…
What shook them just as much was what the Head Captain had declared moments earlier.
Even without Ryūjin Jakka, he could still crush his enemies with his bare hands.
Impossible.
The sheer dominance of Ryūjin Jakka had been on full display in the previous segment. In everyone's mind, the Head Captain had already been branded a living fire god.
And yet…
That overwhelming, unstoppable power could be forcibly sealed?
If those words hadn't come straight from the Head Captain himself, no one would've believed them.
But now… there was no denying it.
From the moment the Captain-Commander casually stripped off his outer robes, the truth was impossible to deny.
This was real.
Ryūjin Jakka was currently sealed.
"So, after flexing his Zanpakutō, he's moving on to showing off his hand-to-hand skills now? The old man really knows how to have fun," Ichimaru Gin said with a teasing grin.
But behind those half-lidded eyes was unmistakable caution.
Good thing he was only watching from behind a transparent barrier.
If he were actually on that battlefield and took a punch from the old man for no reason at all, every bone in his body would shatter on the spot.
"Gin, be patient and keep watching. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Aizen said calmly, his attention never wavering.
As the ruler of Hueco Mundo, and one of the five figures slated for the final evaluation, Aizen knew perfectly well who his true benchmark was.
The Captain-Commander.
Thanks to this advance exposure through the ranking video, Aizen could observe the full extent of Yamamoto's strength from the safety of the audience.
Every detail. Every secret.
That alone made this opportunity priceless.
For this round of the ranking, Aizen was giving it his full focus.
—
At that moment, as the black-and-white fragments of Yamamoto's shattered robes completely disintegrated into dust, the Captain-Commander brought his hands forward and dropped into a deep, grounded stance.
Then—
Boom!
A terrifying wave of white energy erupted from his body.
Layer upon layer of pressure surged outward like a tornado connecting heaven and earth, violently shaking the very camera of the ranking video itself.
Once again, the spectators were blown backward.
"He's making his move!"
Fighting against the raging wind, everyone forced their eyes wide open, afraid to miss even a single second of what came next.
Sure enough—
"If I relied on my Zanpakutō alone," Yamamoto said coldly, "I could never have held the position of Captain-Commander for a thousand years. But a pitiful creature like you, one that sacrifices everything just to seal flames, wouldn't understand that."
As his words fell, the raging energy abruptly collapsed inward, compressing back into his body with terrifying precision.
His clenched fist became sharply defined, wrapped in a layer of pure white, translucent spiritual pressure.
At that moment, he truly looked like a man who could end anything with a single punch.
Unfortunately for him, Wonderweiss Margela was a special Arrancar created by Aizen using the Hōgyoku.
Stripped of all reason, Wonderweiss couldn't understand Yamamoto's words. To him, that long speech was nothing more than mockery.
So—
"WAAAAAAHHHHHH—!"
Not the babbling of a child, but a shrill, ear-splitting scream like a demon's wail.
With a Sonído, Wonderweiss vanished, instantly closing the distance. Under the stunned gazes of countless onlookers, he charged straight at the Captain-Commander.
"That Arrancar's got some nerve," Zaraki Kenpachi commented with interest from the Eleventh Division.
Even someone as reckless as him wouldn't dare provoke the old man.
Let alone wave a sword around like an idiot in front of the Captain-Commander.
In Kenpachi's eyes, Wonderweiss's move was nothing short of suicide.
And reality quickly proved him right.
"Hyakkikōshū!"
Following the garbled roar, Wonderweiss's shoulder exploded. Countless white tentacles burst forth like a horrific tidal wave, instantly swallowing Yamamoto's silhouette.
"Trying to defy fate? What a foolish dream," Yamamoto said flatly.
He didn't move.
He merely lifted his eyes and glanced upward.
Then—
"Hakuda Technique: Twin Bone Fists!"
His fists slammed violently into the air before him.
An overwhelming surge of spiritual pressure detonated outward, forming two white shock rings.
Each punch carried enough force to obliterate most of the buildings across the entire battlefield.
Then came the aftermath.
Splat. Splat. Splat.
The sound of flesh bursting echoed endlessly.
Every single white tentacle, along with Wonderweiss's body itself, vanished the instant they were struck.
No fragments.
No ashes.
Nothing remained.
In the blink of an eye, the massive form of the Flame-Extinguishing Prince simply ceased to exist.
What's more, the residual force from those bone-shattering punches whipped up a colossal gale that surged beyond the screen itself, sweeping across every spectator and leaving tangible effects behind.
"Gulp…"
The sound of swallowing echoed throughout the Soul Society.
Brushing aside bangs lifted by the violent wind, everyone wore the same pale, shaken expression.
This was absurd.
The power of Twin Bone Fists had shattered space and time itself, affecting past and future alike.
Since the ranking video began, nothing this bizarre had ever happened.
"Even without his Zanpakutō, the old man's strength is still monstrously terrifying," Ichimaru Gin muttered, his clothes soaked with cold sweat.
He even felt a quiet sense of relief.
Thank goodness Ryūjin Jakka had been sealed in advance.
Otherwise, the one getting pummeled into oblivion would have been him.
"What a shame," Aizen said softly, disappointment flickering in his eyes. "Wonderweiss did everything he could. In the end, this plan still fell short."
Aizen had known all along that Wonderweiss couldn't defeat the Captain-Commander.
But deep down, a sliver of hope had remained.
As expected, it was futile.
"Aizen-taichō, if even the 'flame-extinguishing' trump card failed," Ichimaru Gin said slyly, his foxlike gaze sharp, "then doesn't that mean you'll eventually have to face the Captain-Commander head-on?"
No one could tell what he was truly thinking.
"That's right," Aizen replied calmly. "Wonderweiss was tailor-made to counter Ryūjin Jakka. If even he failed, then the only option left is for me to act personally."
His eyes grew cold once more.
Deep within those dark pupils, a sharp glint of killing intent flashed.
For a moment, it felt as if he had already crossed into the future, standing face-to-face with the stripped-down old man himself.
However—
Right in the middle of their conversation, the screen suddenly went black.
There was no pause.
The scene instantly shifted to a new battlefield.
And the moment the first image appeared, Ichimaru Gin, Tōsen Kaname, and even Aizen himself cried out in shock.
"How is that possible?!"
"When did that old man lose an arm?!"
"..."
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