In the hearts of every Shinigami, Yamamoto Genryūsai was an absolutely invincible god—the Soul Society's final trump card, capable of overturning any crisis.
Yet now, that very trump card had been casually reduced to ashes by the man floating in mid-air, calmly smoking a cigar, as though crushing nothing more than an ant.
"So terrifying... this man..."
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow, rhythmic applause suddenly echoed from the top of a ruined stone wall nearby.
Along with it came a refined, gentle voice filled with effortless confidence.
"Truly a magnificent spectacle."
"Swift, decisive, and utterly without hesitation. Such pure destructive power is worthy of admiration."
Who?!
Hearing that familiar voice, the kneeling Shunsui Kyōraku and Tōshirō Hitsugaya abruptly looked toward the sound in disbelief.
Standing atop the broken wall was a man wearing a captain's haori over his shihakusho.
Black-rimmed glasses.
Brown hair neatly parted.
A warm smile that resembled a gentle spring breeze.
Captain of the Fifth Division—
Sōsuke Aizen.
"Captain Aizen?!"
Hitsugaya's voice cracked with emotion, as though grasping his final lifeline.
"Y-You're still alive?! That's wonderful! Hurry and run! You can't defeat that monster! Go to the Royal Guard and ask for reinforcements!"
To the young genius, the always gentle Captain Aizen could never possibly stand against Uchiha Tobirama, who slaughtered captains as casually as crushing insects.
However...
Aizen never spared the battered captains below so much as a glance.
His gaze pierced through the drifting dust and landed directly on Tobirama, who floated calmly in the air with one hand in his pocket and a cigar between his lips.
The warmth in those eyes vanished.
What remained was boundless ambition...
...and overwhelming superiority.
"Run?"
The gentle smile slowly widened into a cold, arrogant sneer.
"Why should I run?"
"I've waited far too long for this day."
Before the stunned gazes of every captain...
Aizen slowly raised his right hand.
His fingers grasped the bridge of his glasses.
Crack.
With a crisp snap, the glasses shattered into countless fragments beneath his grip, scattering into the wind.
Then...
He casually brushed his brown bangs backward.
Slicked-back hair.
In that instant, Aizen Sōsuke's entire presence underwent a complete transformation.
The gentle scholar disappeared.
The kind captain vanished.
What stood there now was supreme arrogance—as though the heavens themselves existed beneath his feet.
"No one has stood at the summit of Heaven since the beginning."
"Not you."
"Not I."
"Not even God."
His voice now carried the authority of an emperor.
"But the vacant throne of Heaven..."
"...will finally be claimed."
"From this moment onward..."
"I shall stand at the top."
Boom!!
An oceanic Spiritual Pressure erupted from Aizen's body.
Its magnitude rivaled even Captain Commander Yamamoto himself.
"Aizen... you..."
Kyōraku stared blankly, his worldview collapsing once again.
Was this truly the gentle captain of the Fifth Division?
How long had this terrifying ambition—and this monstrous Spiritual Pressure—been hidden?
"You fools..."
Aizen glanced at the captains beneath him with utter contempt.
"...have you still not realized?"
"Yamamoto Genryūsai was always the greatest obstacle standing between me and Heaven."
"I had already prepared a method to neutralize Ryūjin Jakka."
His eyes shifted toward Tobirama.
For the first time...
There was unmistakable admiration within them.
"I simply never expected an unknown powerhouse like you..."
"...to remove my greatest obstacle so effortlessly."
"You've done me an enormous favor."
He slowly spread both arms.
As the greatest strategist in Soul Society...
Aizen firmly believed everything remained within his calculations.
Even Tobirama effortlessly annihilating multiple captains and erasing Yamamoto amounted, in his eyes, to nothing more than overwhelming brute strength.
And brute force...
...was merely another tool.
"Unknown powerhouse."
Looking down upon Tobirama, Aizen spoke with absolute confidence.
"Your strength is impressive."
"It perfectly complements my vision of the new world."
"I, Aizen Sōsuke..."
"...shall become the new god governing the Three Realms."
"I hereby grant you the honor of serving beneath me."
"Cooperate with me."
"Become my right hand."
"In the new world that I rule..."
"...everything you desire shall belong to you."
His utterly self-important proposal left every remaining captain speechless.
Cooperate?
He wanted the monster who crushed Bankai barehanded...
...and erased the Captain Commander with a single attack...
...to become his subordinate?
Had Aizen completely lost his mind?
In mid-air...
Tobirama calmly held Matsumoto Rangiku with one arm while leisurely smoking his cigar.
He listened to Aizen's lengthy declaration.
There was no anger in his Rinnegan.
Only...
...the speechless expression of someone looking at a complete fool.
"Pff..."
He slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.
Then casually scratched his ear with his little finger.
"Your name's Aizen, right?"
His lazy tone instantly shattered the atmosphere Aizen had carefully built.
"Have you lived underground for too long?"
"Or has water flooded your brain?"
Tobirama sneered.
His eyes regarded Aizen like nothing more than a clown.
"You want me to become your right hand?"
"A rat hiding in the sewers—only daring to show itself after plotting against everyone from the shadows..."
"...actually thinks it's qualified to speak of cooperation before a true dragon?"
"You put on quite a performance."
"But what exactly makes you think..."
"...you're worthy of standing at the top?"
Every word landed like a resounding slap across Aizen's face.
Even Kyōraku and Hitsugaya were left stunned.
Compared to Tobirama...
Aizen's grand speech now seemed utterly ridiculous.
"..."
For a brief instant...
Aizen's smile stiffened.
But only for a moment.
Soon, that composed expression returned.
He even sighed softly with apparent regret.
"What a disappointment."
"I assumed someone with such strength would possess wisdom worthy of it."
"It seems..."
"...a beast remains nothing more than a beast."
"It knows only violence."
"It cannot comprehend a higher dimension."
He showed no anger whatsoever.
Because in his eyes...
Uchiha Tobirama was already a dead man.
Or more accurately...
A puppet about to become his.
"Tell me."
"Why do you think I dared to stand before you after witnessing your strength?"
He slowly raised his right hand.
A long, sheathless Zanpakutō appeared in his grasp.
Kyōka Suigetsu.
The ultimate illusion-type Zanpakutō.
"You are far too arrogant."
"You possess overwhelming physical power."
"You even devoured Yamamoto Genryūsai's flames."
"But battle..."
"...is not decided by brute strength alone."
Holding the blade before himself, Aizen slowly stroked its edge.
"From the instant I appeared..."
"No."
"From the moment you first entered Soul Society..."
"...you had already stepped into the abyss I prepared."
His voice overflowed with complete confidence.
"My Zanpakutō..."
"...is named Kyōka Suigetsu."
"It possesses neither flames nor lightning."
"It controls..."
"...Complete Hypnosis."
His tone suddenly rose.
"So long as someone has witnessed my Shikai once..."
"...their five senses become mine to command."
"Sight."
"Hearing."
"Smell."
"Taste."
"Touch."
"Even spiritual perception itself."
"I can make a fly appear as a dragon."
"I can turn a swamp into a flower field."
"I can make your closest companion appear as your greatest enemy."
"I can even rewrite reality itself within your mind."
He spread his arms like a god overlooking creation.
"This hypnosis is absolute."
"It cannot be escaped."
"Even if you close your eyes or cover your ears now..."
"...it is already too late."
"Your mind."
"Your nerves."
"Your soul."
"They have all become prisoners of Kyōka Suigetsu."
At that moment...
Aizen's confidence reached its absolute peak.
Even Kyōraku and the others felt a chill run through their souls.
Complete Hypnosis...
Absolute domination over the senses.
No wonder Aizen dared to reveal himself now.
Even that invincible monster...
...should already be trapped.
"Has... has even that monster fallen under it...?"
Hitsugaya slowly closed his eyes in despair.
Meanwhile...
Aizen smiled triumphantly.
In his mind, Tobirama was already trapped within endless darkness.
A prison of endless torment.
"Kneel."
Step by step...
Aizen approached until only five meters separated them.
He looked down upon Tobirama and delivered his verdict.
"Within the absolute illusion of Kyōka Suigetsu..."
"...submit yourself to your new god."
He eagerly anticipated watching this arrogant monster collapse to his knees.
One second passed.
Three seconds passed.
The Tobirama whom Aizen believed trapped within illusion...
...neither screamed...
...nor knelt.
Instead—
"Pfft."
A short laugh echoed through the silent battlefield.
It was filled with unmistakable ridicule.
"...?"
The smile on Aizen's face froze.
His footsteps halted.
Tobirama still stood exactly where he had been.
One hand remained inside his pocket.
Matsumoto Rangiku was still resting in his arm.
He leisurely puffed on his cigar.
Tilting his head slightly...
Those deep purple Rinnegan regarded Aizen exactly as one might watch an amusing monkey perform tricks.
"Finished?"
He slowly blew a smoke ring directly into Aizen's stiffening face.
"You've been yapping for quite a while."
"I honestly thought the so-called greatest poser among the Shinigami had something impressive prepared."
"After all that..."
His eyes suddenly turned ice-cold.
A terrifying ocular pressure erupted from the Rinnegan.
"You worthless fool..."
"...you actually thought..."
"...you could use illusions against an Uchiha?"