Just as the two continued their relentless struggle across the scorched earth, sparks flying from their fierce clashes.
At the edge of Sokyoku Hill, several sharp sounds of rushing wind suddenly rang out.
"We're here! This is the place!"
Wielding his pitch-black Zanpakuto, Tensa Zangetsu, Ichigo Kurosaki streaked across like a dark meteor, becoming the first to charge onto the cliffside platform.
Close behind him were Yoruichi Shihoin and Toshiro Hitsugaya.
As well as the Fourth Division's Fourth Seat, Shinobu Kocho, who was panting heavily while carrying a medical kit.
When they clearly saw the scene before them, everyone was struck with inexplicable horror.
The originally flat ground of Sokyoku Hill was now littered with glass-like craters, melted by terrifyingly high temperatures and then solidified.
Those were the scars left behind by the rampage of Zanka no Tachi.
Not far away, the corpses of the Kanritei and the Executive Militia lay haphazardly in pools of blood. The two Vice Captains, Renji Abarai and Chojiro Sasakibe, were also collapsed on the ground with their eyes rolled back.
As for Rukia Kuchiki, who was supposed to be executed.
She was currently lying unconscious on the scorched earth, her chest stained with blood, discarded casually like a broken ragdoll.
"Rukia!!!" Ichigo yelled in shock, his eyes instantly turning red.
He wanted to rush over but was stopped by Yoruichi.
"Wait, Ichigo! Look over there!"
Yoruichi's gaze was fixed dead on the center of the ruins, her voice carrying an unbelievable gravity.
The group followed her line of sight.
They saw the Captain of the Fifth Division, Sosuke Aizen—who was usually gentle, elegant, and treated others like a refreshing spring breeze—now wielding his Zanpakuto in a life-and-death struggle against a man exuding an ominous black aura.
"Captain Aizen?! How could he..." Toshiro muttered, his face full of astonishment.
But when he saw Gin Ichimaru entangled in combat with Byakuya Kuchiki, he quickly realized something.
Ever since the beginning of the Ryoka invasion, he had been warned by Yoruichi that an invisible hand was manipulating everything behind the scenes.
He had suspected many people, but he never expected it to be Aizen.
However... who was that man in black fighting Aizen?
Just as Toshiro was completely baffled, Shinobu Kocho, who was standing beside him, suddenly began to tremble violently.
Clatter.
The medical kit she had been gripping tightly dropped to the ground. The medicine bottles inside rolled everywhere, letting out a series of shattering sounds.
But Shinobu acted as if she had heard nothing at all.
Her feet uncontrollably took two steps forward. Her gentle eyes, which always maintained a crescent-moon-like smile, had now lost their focus.
Large teardrops welled up uncontrollably, sliding down her fair, maiden-like cheeks.
Even though that man's body was covered in evil black markings...
Even though his Spiritual Pressure had become unfamiliar and berserk, and even though his breathing sent shivers down one's spine...
That back, etched deep into her soul, could still be clearly recalled in her dreams even if a hundred years were to pass...
How could she possibly mistake him!
"Fourth Seat Kocho? What's wrong?" Toshiro asked anxiously, noticing her strange behavior.
Shinobu ignored Toshiro. She simply sniffled her reddened nose, trying hard to suppress the surging tears, and shouted desperately:
"Asuka!!!"
This mournful, heart-wrenching cry, filled with anticipation and hope, pierced through the raging Spiritual Pressure storm on the battlefield and clearly reached the ears of the two men locked in fierce combat.
Asuka, who was swinging his blade, suddenly stiffened.
In that instant, the black markings full of malice on his body seemed to fade slightly.
'It's Shinobu.'
He felt an intense urge to respond immediately.
A stern voice exploded in Asuka's mind.
These cold yet powerful words instantly extinguished Asuka's impulse.
He bit his lip until it bled, letting the crimson spread in his mouth as he suppressed his urges, locking his gaze back onto Aizen's footwork.
'Wait for me... just wait for me a little longer!!' he screamed in his heart.
To prevent Aizen from having any opportunity to harm Shinobu nearby, Asuka abruptly accelerated the tempo of his attacks.
He completely abandoned his defense. Every strike aimed straight for Aizen's vitals, forcing Aizen to focus all his attention on dealing with this mad-dog-like assault.
"Oh? You hear the call of your beloved, yet you don't even turn your head?" Aizen provoked with ease while parrying. "What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of seeing the disappointment in her eyes, or are you afraid of seeing my blade?"
He had already noticed the anomaly in Asuka's fighting style.
From the moment they engaged until now, Asuka's gaze had never lingered on his hands or his blade for even a single second.
This fighting style, relying purely on perception and intuition, was extremely mentally draining, but it perfectly avoided the conditions for Kyoka Suigetsu's absolute control.
'Who taught him this?' Aizen wondered, unable to understand.
"It seems that in the other world, not only did you gain power, but you also learned some of my secrets..."
Aizen said with a smile, "However, how long can you keep up this juggling act of fighting with your eyes closed?"
At the same time, he pressed the communicator in his pocket...
On the other side, at the edge of Sokyoku Hill.
Toshiro Hitsugaya looked around, trying to find the figure who could take charge of the situation.
"Where is the Head Captain? Where is Head Captain Yamamoto?!" Toshiro asked loudly.
The Spiritual Pressure of Ryujin Jakka clearly erupted right here, so why was the Head Captain nowhere to be seen?
His gaze searched through the crowd and finally landed on a petite figure sitting paralyzed on the ground not far away, covering her face with her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Hinamori?!"
Toshiro's heart tightened. He immediately used Shunpo to rush over, grabbing hold of the trembling girl.
"Hinamori! Are you okay? What exactly happened? Where did the Head Captain go?!" Toshiro fired off the questions in his heart like a machine gun.
But Momo Hinamori had completely broken down at this moment.
Her eyes, which were originally full of admiration and longing, now held nothing but endless emptiness and despair.
Gripping Toshiro's arm tightly, Momo Hinamori could not utter a single complete sentence, only continuously repeating that name.
"Aizen... Captain Aizen... why... why is this happening..."
Seeing his childhood friend in such a heartbroken state, a nameless fire ignited in Toshiro's heart.
He abruptly raised his head and looked at the equally pale-faced Vice Captain of the Third Division, Izuru Kira, who was gripping his Zanpakuto, Wabisuke, at a total loss for what to do.
"Kira! You tell me! What exactly happened here?!" Toshiro roared.
Izuru Kira looked at his Captain, Gin Ichimaru, and then at the crowd arriving behind him, his mind in complete turmoil for a moment.
But he still managed to haltingly recount the horrifying scene that had just occurred.
"What did you say?!" Toshiro was struck as if by lightning, freezing in place.
The pillar of the Gotei 13, the strongest Soul Reaper in a thousand years, was actually sealed and banished by Aizen?!
"That's impossible..."
He turned his head, glaring fixedly at the figure fighting fiercely with Asuka in the distance, an unprecedented, icy killing intent erupting in his eyes.
"That bastard... not only did he betray the Soul Society, but he also reduced Hinamori to this state..."
The temperature around Toshiro began to plummet drastically, frost spreading beneath his feet.
"Bankai・Daiguren Hyorinmaru..."
However, before Toshiro's massive wings of ice could fully unfurl.
A black gale had already beaten him to it, howling past him.
"The bastard who... reduced Rukia to this miserable state..."
Ichigo Kurosaki's voice was terrifyingly deep, his special black Shihakusho fluttering wildly under the agitation of his Spiritual Pressure.
Swoosh!
In just the blink of an eye, Ichigo's figure had crossed a distance of hundreds of meters, appearing behind Aizen's flank as if he had teleported.
"Was it you!!"