In the distance, Ren caught the sound of Byakuya's voice. Or rather, he had come all this way specifically to hear this line!
"Tsk, tsk. Big Brother Byakuya... talking like that is bound to offend people."
Atop the cliff, Byakuya held his Zanpakutō vertically, point down. The next moment, he let go. The blade didn't pierce the ground; instead, it rippled into the earth as if falling into the surface of water, vanishing instantly.
"Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. First Act: Senkei!"
In an instant, the scenery around Ichigo shifted drastically. A dark curtain seemed to drape over the world, and surrounding them were thousands of pink katanas arranged in three towering circular rows.
Byakuya reached out his hand, and a pink blade manifested in his palm. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you have repeatedly broken the laws of the Soul Society. Today, I shall execute you myself."
His tone was flat. Despite the declaration of execution, his actions lacked any visible personal malice—it was pure duty.
Clang!
A flash of sparks flew as the two swapped positions. Ichigo sneered, "If this is all you've got, you won't be doing any 'executing' today!"
Byakuya didn't respond. The pink blade in his hand dissolved into cherry blossoms, only for another pristine blade to take its place in the next second. Without a word, both gripped their swords and clashed again!
Meanwhile, the situation outside had undergone a cataclysmic shift.
While Ichigo and Byakuya were locked in the domain of Senbonzakura, Rukia—who was supposed to have been carried away by Renji—was intercepted.
Rukia lay on the ground, a glowing blue cavity visible in her chest. Inside the hole hovered a diamond-shaped transparent box containing a small, mysterious sphere radiating a faint, eerie light.
A hand gently reached out, plucking the box from Rukia's body. At this moment, Sōsuke Aizen finally revealed his true self to the world.
Captains and Lieutenants alike stared at him in utter shock. "Captain Aizen, what... what are you doing?" Renji's brain was short-circuiting. He couldn't reconcile the man known as the "kindly scholar" with the man who had just seemingly destroyed Rukia's soul.
Aizen ignored Renji, turning toward the gathered Soul Reapers with a polite smile. "My apologies. I no longer have the patience to continue this game."
He turned slightly toward the shadows. "You two, aren't you going to leave with us?"
Ren and Lilynette stepped out of the shadows, Ren carrying a massive sack over his shoulder. Honestly, it was a bit of a mood-killer for the grand atmosphere Aizen had spent so long cultivating. But Aizen didn't seem to mind.
As the conspirators gathered, the sky was suddenly torn open. The silhouettes of countless Menos Grande appeared in the rift. Pillars of light—Negación—descended, enveloping Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, Kaname Tōsen, Ren, and Lilynette.
From that moment on, though they could still be seen, they were separated into a different dimension.
Captain Sajin Komamura finally realized the reality of the situation. He looked at his friend Tōsen in disbelief. "Kaname! Why? Why are you standing with Aizen?!"
Tōsen didn't answer. Their goals had been different from the start; the "friendship" had been nothing more than a passing fancy.
As the five rose toward the rift, the other Captains arrived. Jūshirō Ukitake looked up at Aizen with cold eyes. "To conspire with Hollows... have you truly fallen that far, Aizen?"
Aizen looked down at Ukitake, his gaze calm as he delivered his legendary proclamation:
"You are arrogant, Captain Ukitake. No one has ever stood atop the heavens from the beginning. Not you, not I, not even God himself."
"But the unbearable vacancy of the throne of heaven shall end here."
Aizen reached up, removing his glasses and smoothing his hair back. The scholarly fringe vanished, replaced by a sleek, slicked-back look.
"From this day forth... I shall stand atop the heavens."
As the five were taken away by the Negación, a hollow silence returned to the Seireitei. While the Soul Reapers were still processing Aizen's departure, the duel between Ichigo and Byakuya came to a close.
With a heavy thud, Byakuya's Bankai dissolved. A blood-soaked Ichigo stood before the crowd, while Byakuya collapsed, unconscious from blood loss.
When Ichigo turned around and saw the wall of Captains, he thought he was in for another fight. But the Captain-Commander spoke flatly: "Unohana, treat them. Everyone else, follow me to the First Division for a meeting."
Hueco Mundo: Las Noches.
Back in the Espada base, Ren and Lilynette had stowed away their spices and were currently hanging out in the common area.
"No one has ever stood atop the heavens, not you, not I, not even God! But the annoying vacancy is over! From now on, I'M the boss!" Lilynette shouted, mimicking Aizen's voice perfectly.
"You forgot the pose! Breaking the glasses, slicking the hair!" Ren reminded her from the side.
"Oh! Right, right!"
Lilynette grabbed a pair of empty frames. With a dramatic crush of her hand, the frames turned to dust. She then swept her small hand over her forehead, smoothing her messy green hair into a sleek look.
Ulquiorra offered a rare ghost of a smile, and Nel was practically rolling on the floor, clutching her stomach. "Hahaha! I can't believe Aizen had such a dramatic side! He kept it so well hidden!"
Just outside the door, Aizen's expression was... less than pleased. He stood motionless, his hand hovering mid-air as he had been about to knock. Beside him, Gin Ichimaru squinted and grinned. "Aren't you going in to join the fun, Lord Aizen?"
Without a word, Aizen turned and walked away. He decided to postpone giving Nel the Hogyoku-assisted evolution for a while. Instead, he would start the Arrancar experiments on the Hollows he had just collected.
A month later, Las Noches was filled with the sounds of agonizing screams as Aizen's "experiments" continued. Out of thousands of Hollows, only a few hundred survived.
One day, Aizen summoned Ren to the central plaza.
Ren appeared, hands behind his head, strolling lazily toward Aizen. "Yo, Lord Aizen. Something on your mind?"
Aizen pointed to the sea of Arrancars below. "I am putting these Arrancars under your command. In two months, I want an Espada capable of crushing the Captains of the Gotei 13."
Ren looked down at the hundreds of Adjuchas-class Arrancars. Their spiritual pressures were impressive; even the weakest among them seemed to rival the lower-tier Captains.
At the front of the crowd were several familiar faces: the golden-haired Halibel, the blue-haired Grimmjow, the massive Yammy, the pink-haired Szayelaporro, Aaroniero with his jar-head, and the dark-skinned Zommari. Nnoitra was notably absent.
Ren smiled. "No problem. You focus on your 'God' business; the Gotei 13 is our problem now!"
One relevant follow-up question: Should Ren implement a "survival of the fittest" tournament to rank the new Arrancars, or should he use his "Brotherhood" knowledge to train them as a coordinated unit?