"What the—?!"
As the curtain of darkness slowly dissipated, a shocking scene appeared in midair.
There stood Tōsen Kaname, his body drenched in blood, looking like a man who had just crawled out of a slaughterhouse.
The moment everyone saw him—
Both allies like Shiba Isshin and those secretly watching from the shadows were stunned.
Every face changed instantly.
Eyes widened.
And several voices cried out at the same time:
"Captain Tōsen…?!"
"How is he here?!"
At that moment, every witness was utterly shocked.
For Aizen and Gin, the shock came from something else entirely.
Not only had Tōsen Kaname been exposed—
One of his arms had been brutally severed.
This outcome was something Aizen had never anticipated.
The ambush had failed… and instead, the hunter had become the prey.
Which meant—
From the very beginning, everything they had done might have already been seen through by Bai Chen.
Thinking of this possibility, Aizen's expression immediately darkened.
When his gaze shifted away from Tōsen and landed once again on Bai Chen—
A deep trace of wariness appeared in his eyes.
Clearly—
What had just happened had gone far beyond Aizen's expectations.
And for the first time in a long time…
He felt something resembling danger.
With Tōsen now exposed, their covert operation had completely collapsed.
Worse still—
Once his identity as an inside traitor was revealed, Tōsen Kaname would likely be killed on the spot by Bai Chen and Shiba Isshin.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the battlefield, in the so-called "safe zone,"
Shiba Isshin's expression was no less shocked than Aizen's.
His jaw nearly dropped.
"W–What the hell is going on?!"
"How did someone suddenly appear out of nowhere?!"
"Wait… could it be that Captain Tōsen…"
"…has been secretly colluding with the Hollows all this time?!"
"And all the strange incidents that happened recently…"
"…were actually orchestrated by him?!"
Isshin's mind was racing.
Even though he was still struggling to process everything, the evidence before his eyes pointed clearly to one conclusion.
Tōsen Kaname was the mastermind.
A traitor who had secretly allied with the Hollows.
A criminal who had betrayed the Gotei 13.
Even so—
Isshin still couldn't understand why.
Why would Tōsen betray Soul Society?
Why would he try to assassinate Bai Chen?
For years, in everyone's impression, Tōsen had always been a quiet, low-profile man.
He rarely spoke.
He rarely drew attention to himself.
Among the captains and the rank-and-file alike, everyone agreed on one thing:
Tōsen Kaname was someone with very little presence.
And because he often attended captain meetings together with Komamura Sajin, that image had become even more deeply rooted in people's minds.
Yet now—
The very man who constantly spoke about justice and righteousness…
Had turned out to be a traitor to the Gotei 13.
The contrast was so extreme that Isshin still found it difficult to believe.
"What should we do now?"
"Should we immediately report Captain Tōsen's betrayal to the Technology Development Bureau?"
Behind Isshin, several 10th Division members asked nervously.
Although they were only low-ranking Shinigami, they understood the gravity of the situation.
A captain betraying Soul Society was no ordinary incident.
It would shake the entire Seireitei.
It could even cause a massive upheaval within the Gotei 13.
Isshin nodded solemnly.
"Yes. Contact the Technology Development Bureau immediately."
"They must notify the entire Gotei 13 as soon as possible."
"This situation cannot be delayed."
Just as Isshin finished speaking—
In the sky above, Bai Chen, holding the war fan behind his back, had clearly heard the conversation.
He shook his head slightly.
Then he stared coldly at Tōsen.
"There's no need for that."
"A dead man's identity… no longer matters."
Bai Chen wasn't a villain.
But he was certainly not someone who would spare an enemy.
From the very beginning, Tōsen had intended to ambush and assassinate him.
Now that the opportunity to eliminate the threat had presented itself—
Bai Chen had no intention of letting it slip away.
So—
He raised his hand.
The war fan swung forward.
"Black Flames…"
"Great Fire Annihilation!"
Dark spiritual power surged into the fan.
The surface of the fan, marked with black tomoe patterns, ignited instantly.
A vast ocean of flames erupted.
Like a raging inferno, the fire surged into the sky.
Then—
It roared forward with terrifying force,
Engulfing the severely wounded Tōsen Kaname.
The newly awakened Uchiha-style black flames…
And Bai Chen's unmistakable intent to kill without hesitation…
Immediately triggered another wave of shock across the battlefield.
Both sides reacted in completely different ways.
"Damn… this situation is completely out of control!"
"I can't believe it… the moment he got the chance, Bai Chen went straight for the kill!"
Even though Gin Ichimaru felt no attachment to Tōsen—
In fact, as a fellow conspirator, he wouldn't mind seeing Tōsen die—
The sudden escalation still startled him.
Bai Chen's actions were simply too decisive.
Too ruthless.
Even someone as composed and calculating as Ichimaru Gin couldn't help but feel shaken at that moment.
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