Ichigo made a gulp, jumping backwards so he could stay away from the raging inferno that he nearly stepped into. He had been completely taken by surprise when Yamamoto made his entrance. The sheer, overwhelming Spiritual Pressure that was released from him, and he wasn't even in a battle. "It's the old man…" he murmured to himself.
Aizen on the other hand, was not as intimidated as Ichigo. In fact he seemed glad that the most powerful Soul Reaper of Squad 1 joined. Even so, he of all people was more than aware to take caution. One wrong move and his plans will be thrown off completely. "It appears that the Head Captain has finally joined in the fray." Both he and the ancient Soul Reaper stared down at one another. "But you're too late… as you can see, most of your subordinates have been taken care off. As of now you are the only Captain remaining who has the power to oppose me. Desperation is evident, if you fall right here it would mean the end of 13 Court Guard Squads. You shouldn't have even bothered to come, old man. In fact you missed your best opportunity to stop me."
Yamamoto didn't make any expression, but he heard Sosuke's words loud and clear. If this weren't such a serious situation, he would have been amused. He began to walk towards his younger opponent, the flames of his Ryujin Jakka glowing brightly as he had been prepared to take this battle with his Shikai right off the bat. "I see that your sudden victory over my subordinates has led you to believe you can defeat me all on your own." he snorted as he gave Sosuke a glare. "Believe me, you are not the first fool who believed he could take me down, nor will you be the last."
"I'm not really worried if I can or not." Aizen replied, and he couldn't help but grow a small smile that he knew would set off Yamamoto from what he was about to say next. "Because I already have." he stated.
"Enough!" Yamamoto lunged right at Aizen as he swung his flaming sword with the intent of splitting him in half, his movements being too fast for Ichigo to keep up with. However his Shikai went right through the traitorous Captain, revealing what the old man struck was an illusion, and the real Aizen stood directly behind him.
Both Captains turned around to face each other at the same time, only for Aizen to react faster by stabbing Yamamoto through his entrails. Aizen made a smirk as he made the first blow. But it was then that Yamamoto grew a wide grin, revealing his teeth, which was rather unusual given his serious posture and stern gaze he held most times. Yamamoto grabbed Aizen by his right arm and squeezed it with enough pressure to draw blood, staining the white sleeve. "You can't slip away now, Sosuke Aizen!" Yamamoto exclaimed.
Aizen tried to subdue the pain he felt in his arm. If this were anybody else besides him, their arm would have been ripped out of their body very easily. "Interesting… are you sure you really caught me?" He wouldn't admit it outloud, but he loved messing with his opponent's minds like this. He doubted it would work on someone like Yamamoto that easily, but if it still worked it made it all the more merrier for him. "Think about this very carefully, old man. Is the limb you're holding so tightly my real arm? You know how powerful my Kyoka Suigetsu is. Surely you haven't gotten so old that I need to explain this more than a couple times?" He mocked the old general.
"So you're saying this is a part of your Complete Hypnosis? That may be true, you may have clouded my mind and would have deceived me had I used my eyes and touch to find you. However…" If it were possible, Yama's gaze became even more stern than before. "There is no mistaking the Zanpakuto that pierced my entrails and the Spirit Energy running through it… belongs to you!"
Figures, he should have known that someone like Yamamoto would have found his way to get around his illusions, even if it were rather reckless. But that's what he was counting on, he didn't spend years being a Captain doing nothing. He studied each of the member's personalities and their powers. The grip on his arm was squeezed tighter, and even Aizen was trying not to show the pain he felt as the bones in his arm were going to break the longer this went on. "You say I missed my opportunity? Quite the opposite, this is the opportunity I seek!" Yamamoto remarked.
Ichigo couldn't help but feel conflicted if he should help or not. If he did then would he just get in the way? At this close range he knew that Yamamoto was far more powerful than him, but was it worth getting in the way? He didn't have much time to ponder, as he looked over where he heard what seemed to be some kind of earthquake. "What the hell…?" He was confused. Where was this coming from all of a sudden? But that answer came to him almost immediately as several pillars of flames bursted from the ground, surrounding the three of them.
"Ennetsu Jigoku!" Yamamoto told the name of the attack he was about to unleash. He was worried if this would really be enough to kill Aizen, but if it could at least heavily damage him then that was more than enough. "All of the battles you fought were preludes to this moment."
Aizen began to grow worried, but upon a closer look he counted just how many they were. There weren't as many as he thought there would be. 'Only 4 of them?' he thought to himself before he turned back to look at his adversary. "You were planning this after you finished taking care of Halibel, weren't you? And all the while your subordinates were being slain? How devious of you."
"Call me what you will." It was incredible how Aizen's arm didn't break at this point. But it's what made the villain so resilient, being the only person that is even capable of standing up against Yamomoto. "You will die with me in this blazing inferno." the old Captain looked over at Ichigo. "What are you standing around there for?! Evacuate everybody away from here as much as you possibly can! And if by some chance I survive this, I'll go after you next!" He made the message loud and clear, not forgetting what happened the last time when he and the boy spoke.
"Hold on a second!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Isn't there anything I can do to stop—"
"DO NOT MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF, BOY!" Yamamoto screamed loudly at the teenager, making him flinch in the process. "YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR TASK IS!"
Ichigo didn't dare to argue back with the Head Captain, and not wanting to simply die just by standing like an idiot, he went to do as told.
The battle between Komamura and Tousen continued to rage on, with Tousen entering his Released form to amplify his power even further with a rather grotesque appearance. Not only that but the transformation also allowed Tousen to finally have sight.
Komamura continued to block the relentless blows that were handed to him by his once former friend, using his giant of a Bankai to go in defense. In terms of power there was absolutely no doubt that Tousen's strength far surpasses his own, even at his Bankai's full power. The same could be said for speed, but Komamura noticed that Tousen was becoming sloppy in his attacks, making it easier for the Captain to defend himself by using his skill fighting experience.
The two of them continued to go at it back and forth, as they traded blows until they separated from another as they gained distance. And it was then that they sensed the massive burst of Spiritual Pressure coming from Yamamoto, along with the large pillar of flames that erupted from the grounds. Both combatants ceased their fighting and turned their attention towards where Aizen and Yamamoto were at.
"So it's come down to this…" Tousen commented first before he turned his attention back to Komamura, who proceeded to do the same. "Both of our leaders are about to face off in a fight of their own, and if they so wished they could easily destroy this city and us along with it. Are you really willing to continue fighting like this? Knowing that you might as well become a sacrifice."
Komamura frowned when Tousen said this, as he somewhat lowered his sword. Even though his former friend was finally able to see upon using his Resurrección, it somehow made him become more blind than ever. It was truly ironic. "And you really think that's going to stop me? Personally I wish that the Head Captain didn't do this, but if that's how things must be, then perhaps this is a sign that I have failed to save you, and my own fault that I failed to see your true intentions. We both know that we're too weak to assist our leaders, so now my only duty is to stop you, right here and now."
"Is that so…?" Tousen stared at his enemy with his enormous bug eyes, and couldn't help but become absorbed in anger at this. "Then you really are a fool! If fighting me is what you think seems to be your only option, you won't get to succeed! I'll make sure to kill you first before anybody else does!"
"You really think that flames like these will be enough to kill me?" Aizen asked in amusement as he opened his left hand. "This is quite a bluff you're pulling, Head Captain."
"If you believe that my threats are nothing but a bluff, then I dare you not to move a muscle." Yamamoto replied firmly.
"That's not what I'm talking about. Let me enlighten you once more, you were preparing when you were finished with Halibel, were you not?" Aizen continued to keep up his smirk. "And that's where the problem lies ahead, you didn't have enough time to fully prepare for this technique of yours because you were toying with my subordinate, otherwise there would be more than 4 pillars." he didn't hear Yamamoto say anything at all. "It would appear that Halibel's reckless actions weren't for nothing after all."
"That may be so, while this technique isn't at full power like I wished to be, it should sustain immense damage. If you still live, then I'll simply kill you." Yamamoto replied casually. "Now then… prepare yourself!"
Aizen stopped looking at the older man and instead looked behind him. "I beg to differ, Head Captain…"
Yamamoto widened his eyes when he sensed something right behind him. How did he miss this? Whatever was behind him, did it somehow lower it's Spiritual Pressure so low that he couldn't sense it? Whatever it was, he would get rid of it quick. The old war general quickly turned around to cut whatever was behind him in half, who was revealed to be Wonderweiss in his Resurrección form. The flaming sword did make contact with Wonderweiss' body, but instead of cutting him, the flames of the Zanpakuto were nullified in doing so.
Yamamoto became shocked from this, and the moment that he failed to pull his sword back was when Wonderweiss threw Yamamoto away downwards in a diagonal matter, making him crash through a few building, destroying them completely in the process as well. Smoke piled up due to the strong crash that was made, but Yamamoto was still revealed to be alive with no injury at all, save now for his white Haori that was missing.
He became confused now as he looked back at his Zanpakuto, and sensed that not a single ounce of flame remained in his Shikai. 'The flames of Ryujin Jakka… gone?' It all happened so quickly that he didn't have time to register what just happened.
"Shall I enlighten you? You seem to be rather confused." Yamamoto looked where his younger enemy was at, and stood at the front where he stood. "Your Ryujin Jakka is the most powerful Zanpakuto in the Soul Society, there is no question about that. If we were to fight head on, you would more than likely take victory against me. However, I prepared a plan just for this, and it required the creation of a weapon that was specifically designed to contain your Zanpakuto. And his name…" the flames completely died out as well, fully revealing Wonderweiss' form. "... Is Wonderweiss. One of the rare modified Arrancars I created for the sole purpose of containing Ryujin Jakka. And the name of his Resurección is Extinguir, which is rather fitting." He didn't hear Yamamoto say anything, as instead he only heard the groans of Wonderweiss approaching as he stood right beside him. "This was the one thing he was made to do. He sacrificed his speech, intelligence, memories, and even his reasoning to carry out this mission."
"You say this was sacrificed?" Yamamoto scoffed at this. While he had seen much crueler things in his lifetime than this, taking away a person's way of living such as this was still foul, and it always has been. "You robbed them from him!"
"This is simply the will of the Hougyoku." Aizen answered simply with a shrug, completely disregarding the tool that was made. "I wonder what the great Head Captain can do now that his weapon has been taken away from him. Wonderweiss… attack him." he ordered the modified Arrancar.
"Aaaah…" was Wonderweiss' reply before charging straight ahead at one of the most powerful Soul Reapers in existence. Yamamoto just stood still and let the monstrous creation come at him… until it reached his range before the old war Captain threw a light fist, and hit Wonderweiss hard enough to send him crashing through at least several buildings, tearing them in half in doing so.
"Did you really believe you could kill me that easily just by taking Ryujin Jakka away from me? How naive!" Yamamoto exclaimed as he remained in his pose. "So naive that it makes me dizzy! How do you think I remained as the Head Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads for a 1000 years?" he didn't hear Aizen say anything as the old Soul Reaper gave a hard stare. "It's because no Soul Reaper born in that time has emerged stronger than I!" he then threw his sword away, seeing as now he may as well be holding a wooden stick now that he couldn't use his Shikai anymore.
Before anyone could register his movements, Yamamoto got in front of his taller enemy and went ahead to perform an Ikkotsu at full power to punch a hole through Aizen's head, but Aizen had been able to keep up with Yamamoto's speed and as such he used Flash Step to dodge, making Yamamoto miss in the progress, but the mere shockwaves were more than enough to destroy the atoms and subatomic particles in the way.
In that moment Wonderweiss appeared again and tackled Yamamoto against the background, but the old man countered by merely backhanding the monster. "Oaaaaaah…" Wonderweiss groaned as his form was now fully revealed, with a large noticeable hole on his hip that nearly tore half of his body, but the damage was being healed thanks to Instant Regeneration.
"I must admit I didn't expect you would come back from that blow." Yamamoto said, as he stared at the monstrous creation before him. "Very well, if Ikkotsu wasn't able to take you down, then I'll have to try something else." he removed the top half of his Soul Reaper robe, revealing his muscular physique. "I warn you, if you do not choose to stand down then this will be very painful."
"Ooooa…" Wonderweiss merely replied with incoherent babbling.
"Ah that's right, I nearly forgot he took away your ability to speak." Yamamoto said, and the moment he finished his sentence was when Wonderweiss used Sonido to attack him, to which he missed as the old Captain jumped in the air to avoid the blow. "Attacking without warning? I see that modification was quite an improvement!" Yamamoto exclaimed.
A large arm suddenly produced from Wonderweiss' back as it lunged at the old man at alarming speeds, but Yamamoto stepped out of the way before grabbing the large arm and ripped it in half, spewing blood out of it. "Ograaagh!" Wonderweiss yelled out in pain before the brain dead Arrancar blindly charged at Yamamoto, producing another large arm like before but this time multiplied it in numbers. Wonderweiss used this to launch an assault by throwing his punches at the old Soul Reaper as fast and strong as possible, making Yamamoto put both of his arms in front to block the attacks.
But then two of the arms grabbed both of Yamamoto's, spreading them wide to leave the old general defenseless. All of a sudden, there were hundreds of more arms bursting from Wonderweiss' shoulders, making blood explode from them in doing so. "Ahhhh…" the Arrancar groaned once more as he grew an eerie smile on his face. Yamamoto stood still before Wonderweiss unleashed all of his punches, hurling them at an extremely fast pace. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Wonderweiss screamed as the hundreds of arms attacked Yamamoto relentlessly, and all of them combined made a white blur as it became practically impossible to tell what was happening to Yamamoto.
Wonderweiss kept pounding his arms against the Soul Reaper for about a minute or so before he stopped just so he could catch his breath. "Pathetic…" Yamamoto was heard once more, and Wonderweiss seemed confused by this. The old general looked at the Arrancar with a glare. "Is this really all you're capable of? What a disappointment." he wasted no time as he proceeded to casually tear off the arms that held him just by moving his own arms. This made Wonderweiss yell out in pain as blood erupted. "I see that despite your childish appearance you are truly nothing but a monstrous creation. In that case, it makes it much easier for me to kill you."
Yamamoto stepped his foot firmly against the Reishi in the air before he began to slightly raise his Spiritual Pressure, and it was more than enough to make Wonderweiss become terrified. Before the Arrancar could even register his movements, Yamamoto already got in front of him by using his raw speed alone, stretching his body as he flexed the muscles on his arms to give a devastating blow. "Sokotsu!" He exclaimed the name of the attack before he rammed both of his fists onto Wonderweiss' body, and in doing so made the Arrancar shatter into multiple pieces as blood bursted violently from his body, making some of it spill onto Yamamoto's.
The old Captain watched as the pieces that were once Wonderweiss fell into the ground. He watched silently as he looked over the piece that was the shattered face. He remembered the look of fear before he struck the final blow, and it made him somewhat frown. "You poor creature… he never robbed you of your emotions when he created you, did he?" his robe flew through the air before he turned his head to look back at Aizen, who was standing on the ground far behind him. "How cruel of you…"
Aizen heard this and continued to keep up his smirk. "What do you mean? Souls that become Hollows have no free will anymore, their one obsession is to devour as many souls as possible. How can you say what I did was cruel when I gave him a purpose? In fact if we were to look at this dispassionately… you're even more cruel than I am for destroying that creature who had a purpose in his life."
"I have no time to get into a silly argument about this." Yamamoto replied as he lowered himself till he stepped onto the ground. "You can make as many comebacks as you like, but this will all be over very soon." he said, as he made a fighting stance.
Aizen hadn't done that at all, in fact he was still keeping his hands in his pockets. "A silly argument? That's an odd response to what I just said." he made a sigh. "So not only are you taking my words lightly, but you even miss their meaning."
"What are you talking about?" Yamamoto's body tensed when he heard this. For someone like Aizen, there was no telling what he actually meant.
"Think back to what I said earlier. I told you that Extinguir was specifically created to contain the flames of Ryujin Jakka." Yamamoto made sure to listen very carefully. "And when I say contain, I mean as in trapping the flames inside your sword so that no new flames could produce. But was that the only one there was? What about the flames you released earlier?" Yamamoto queried his eyes, as he somewhat realized what Aizen was getting at. "So what do you suppose happened to them? Where did those flames go?"
Yamamoto widened his eyes in shock when he realized what Aizen meant. Behind him, the shattered part of Wonderweiss' head began to bulge in size rapidly, readying to release the flames at any moment. The old general turned around to see what was happening, at best he only had a few seconds before everything was destroyed. "You have a sharp mind, Head Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads. You know exactly what would happen if all the power and energy you were able to produce here today was suddenly released in one huge blast…"
Yamamoto didn't want to risk using his body, especially when the power he unleashed was too powerful for this world,, but he refused to sit back and let everyone die. What he was about to do was risky, but if that didn't work then he would use his body regardless to take most of his own power. Using his Flash Step, he crouched down to pick up his Zanpakuto before using Flash Step again upwards in the air before coming back down to lunge at Wonderweiss.
A massive explosion erupted from Wonderweiss' head as it incinerated the buildings around them. "Hyraaaaaah!" Yamamoto made a battle cry as he swung his sword against the massive explosion. Aizen simply watched as if this were a fireworks show, seemingly not the least bit worried about the fire emitting. Before long the explosion began to die down as Yamamoto was seemingly able to overpower it using his own Spiritual Pressure whilst gritting his teeth.
The effects have been minimized as the explosion was contained, as all the damage it produced was to make a large crater and completely wiped off buildings that were close by. And there in the crater stood Yamamoto with his back turned as he held his sword, now with new flames being produced. The old Captain turned around to look at Aizen, who was clapping his hands as though he was praising what Yamamoto just performed. "Well done, Head Captain. Not only were you able to contain the explosion, but you even used your Zanpakuto to free the flames that were trapped inside. If you waited just a second longer, not only would that explosion have instantly destroyed this city and this weak barrier, but this entire planet as well, along with all of it's Reishi and Kishi. Truly a remarkable feat." Aizen complimented Yamamoto's abilities with no hint of mockery or sarcasm in his voice whatsoever. "And thanks to your heroic actions, you have protected my world."
"You sound confident for someone who's life is about to be taken from them." Yamamoto replied sharply as he glared at the rogue Soul Reaper. "What will you do now, Sosuke Aizen? The flames of Ryujin Jakka have returned to me, and now I can fight you properly without the use of my hands."
Aizen's smirk hadn't vanished. "Why, even you should know the answer to that. Since you killed Wonderweiss, you left me with no other choice but to fight you myself." he said, as he began to take his Zanpakuto out from its sheath.
"Keep that smug look as long as you want, brat. We'll see if you continue to act so arrogant once I take your head off." Yamamoto made his threat clear, as he was more than ready to start this battle.
"Really now?" Aizen was interested by the response given to him. "Tell me this, Head Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads, with all your incredible power how come you weren't even capable of cutting down one rogue Soul Reaper?"
No reply was given to him, as instead Yamamoto answered by using his Flash Step to get in front of Aizen and swing his flaming sword to cut Aizen's body in half, only for the traitorous Captain to use his own Flash Step to avoid the deadly blow.
The medical Captain of Squad 4 and most of the remaining Soul Reapers, along with Nelliel have moved everybody away with the exception of Komamura, Tousen, and Gin to a safer location, originally thinking that Yamamoto was ready to pull off the kamikaze technique at any moment of time before Wonderweiss' interference. Even so, Unohana assured everyone that the Head Captain was more than capable of fighting by himself, and that it was better not to get in his way regardless.
"Are you sure this is everyone?" Izuru asked, as he and everybody else travelled to the other side of Karakura Town to maintain a safe distance. As of now Captain Unohana began healing both Rangiku and Momo since they were the most injured out of everyone else. The Vizards and the other Captains had the least amount of injuries compared to everyone else, so it made it easier for Izuru and Nelliel to heal them.
"We took as many as Ichigo could find to bring them here, away where the Head Captain can fight without holding back." Unohana assured everybody, but the last part was a lie. She knew that Yamamoto could never use his full strength in this kind of place, even with so many of them staying out of his way. But even so, it should be at the very least enough to combat Aizen.
"Wait…" Shuhei groaned as he laid on the ground, having regained his consciousness shortly after Ichigo moved him here. Unohana and the other healers looked at the Lieutenant in question. "What about Captain Komamura? He's still out there fighting Captain Tousen…" he seethed in pain as he held his gut, remembering when his Hollowfied Captain stabbed him. In his weakened condition he would never make it in time to help Komamura.
"That's why Ichigo got to you." Unohana replied back to the young Lieutenant. "The Head Captain ordered him to evacuate all who were injured, not the ones who were still fighting. But if it makes you feel better, he went back to finish off Tousen."
"I see…" Shuhei grunted as he put his hand on his gut to stop the bleeding. "At least that's something."
Ichigo travelled back to the other side of Karakura in no time to help out a last remaining Captain who was still engaging in a fight. The Spiritual Pressure felt so strange, it felt that of a Vizard's at first, but when it rose higher it felt far more twisted than that. He couldn't tell if it was a Vizard or an Arrancar, it was unlike anything he ever sensed. Even so he could tell it was much weaker than he was. One good Getsuga and that's all that was needed to take him down.
'Think I'm at the right place.' Ichigo thought to himself as he spotted both Komamura and Tousen fighting, especially Tousen's enormous figure. 'Alright, this should be it. Let's get this over with.' he was about to swing his sword over his head and fire a Getsuga so quickly that Tousen would never have the time to dodge it even at this distance. Before he could do that, there was a warning of danger coming in his head, and Ichigo looked over to his left and gasped to see an extremely lengthy sword coming right towards him, to which he barely put his sword at front to block the lethal blow in time before it cut through his body. "Gaaah!" Ichigo yelled out as he forcefully got pushed, crashing through several buildings in doing so.
The young man grunted as he got back up, shaking his head as he looked over to see what came at him, only to see that the sword that lunged at him at incredible speed was gone as though it were never there to begin with. "What… was that just now?" he asked himself.
"Oooooohhh, so close…" Ichigo heard a voice speaking as he sensed it coming in his direction, one that sounded awfully familiar to him. He looked upwards to see Gin Ichimaru standing at the rooftop of the front of a building he crashed through. "Those are some good reflexes you have, gotta say that's pretty impressive. Even used my Bankai an' everything." Ichigo glared at the man. That ever present smile of his still remained the same as before, as though he were mocking him despite the compliments given towards him. "But unfortunately I simply can't let you kill my teammate, that would just lower our numbers even more."
"You…" Ichigo gripped the handle of his sword tighter, remembering the last time they met Gin cut off Jidanbo's arm and pushed both of them away like nothing more than flies. But with his sword… something felt much different than last time. So much so that he questioned if this really was the same person he met months ago.
"Oh, so you do remember me!" Gin exclaimed, his tone changing in a cheerful and upbeat fashion. "Well that's a relief to hear. I still remember when you came charging at me right after I cut Jidanbo's arm off, I thought you were a pretty spooky kid at that time."
"Well that must be odd… cause I don't remember you." Ichigo used his Flash Step to get past Gin as he flew through the holes he crashed through, but when he got halfway he saw Gin in front of him before the two of them intercepted by clashing with their swords.
"Has anybody ever told ya that you're a horrible liar?" Gin remarked, as he didn't let Ichigo get past him. "Surely you remember. Hold on, was that supposed to be an insult?"
"Take it however you want!" Ichigo backed away from Gin before he went on to fire a Getsuga Tenshou at his opponent, to which Gin used his Zanpakuto to cut the energy attack in half. Ichigo scowled when he saw that didn't do anything to even distract him. 'Damn it… I don't have time for this right now!' he thought to himself as he tried to think of how to help Komamura. "It's not that I don't remember crossing blades with you, I just have no idea what your intentions are." Gin looked at the teenager with a puzzled look on his face. "I wasn't aware of it at first, but the more fights I've been through I began to sense what they're thinking. Don't get this twisted, I'm not exactly reading their minds, but during the battles I can tell why they're really fighting, what they want out of me. Funny thing is, I just recently realized that the stronger my opponent is, the easier it is for me to read them after having been through so many battles now."
"That's quite a fascinating ability." Gin replied back as his grin returned again. "With that explanation, you could be a poet."
Komamura barely managed to get away from the Cero blast that Tousen fired at him. It became obvious that the Hollowfied Soul Reaper was not used to the form he took, otherwise he wouldn't have lasted this long to begin with. Maybe it was also because of the resolve that the Captain gained, the resolve not to let his corrupt friend overtake his philosophy. Friend? Could he even be called that anymore? Perhaps not, but in a better world they would have started over and got to know each other properly, that was if everything went swimmingly by surviving this battle.
Komamura was no fool. This wasn't just something he could talk to Kaname over, he knew what needed to be done. The results of their battle caused the environment to become nothing short of a war zone, what not with demolished buildings and ruined landscape. He had very little strength left in him with all the injuries he sustained from earlier, the only reason he was able to continue fighting was due to his resolve.
Tousen looked up to see the enormous Bankai sword directly swinging down to cut him in half, and at that moment the corrupt soul in question had about all he could take. Why was it that Komamura couldn't stay down? Tousen was not aware that by regaining his eyesight, it completely threw all of his other senses out of balance, having been accustomed to using them for many, many decades. He was stronger than Komamura, faster than that hideous beast, so why was it that he couldn't finish him off already?! It was time to make that clear and finally end this. Tousen caught the Bankai blade with his hand, and in doing so broke a piece of the sword. The giant was held back and couldn't push onwards, and the same thing happened to the user.
Komamura looked back from his Zanpakuto to his enemy, widening his eyes when he saw Tousen beginning to draw lime-green circles in the air with his claws. Komamura had little power left, and his body was wearing down as it became difficult to move, even as he tried to get his sword away from Kaname's hand. A smirk grew on Tousen's face, and Komamura saw that Tousen was more than ready to kill him without any second thoughts, ready to permanently cut down whatever relationship they had. "Los Nueve Aspectos." Tousen called out the name of the attack before firing it in a burst of sonic wave that reverberated with enough crushing power to completely shatter the Bankai giant's armor, which in return caused bones to break on Komamura's ribcage and tore a hole through his gut, as blood exploded out of him and coughed up the red liquid that was stored in his body.
That was it. Komamura's Bankai had now reverted back to its sealed state, and the bestial Captain layed on the rubble beneath his back, finding difficulty to even breathe. His consciousness still remained even after that fatal blow given to him. He thought that maybe his final moments were truly upon him, he didn't have the energy to fight anymore, and there was nobody who could rescue him. He tried to speak, but his throat felt more sore than a person being stuck in a desert. "Tousen…" he barely managed to speak the man's name, to which the said soul in question looked down at his pitiful state.
"Justice…" Tousen began to speak to his former comrade. He knew that this would be the last time they would speak like this, not out of pity, but to rub the salt in his wounds. Nothing was going to cause him conflict, not with the power he had. "Isn't something that's seen with your eyes.'' He began to gather both Ceros in front of his eyes, being more than ready to vaporize Komamura for good. "Justice is something no mere words can describe."
Ichigo and Gin charged straight ahead at one another before clashing with their blades, and doing so again as Gin diagonally swung his wakizashi downwards at Ichigo's right eye, to which Ichigo put his sword diagonally where the handle was next to his head. Ichigo pushed the smaller blade successfully and launched a counter by swinging Tensa Zangetsu horizontally at Gin's hip, but the traitor made a counter of his own where he pressed his blade against his so quickly that it was a blur to Ichigo's eyes.
Ichigo backed away to split the distance between them before he jumped higher in the air. He then charged at Gin's left side while raising his sword with only one hand. Gin was amused by such a parlor trick, and would have used his Bankai to stop the boy in his tracks, but he became surprised when Ichigo donned his Hollow mask and proceeded to come at him faster than before, with his black blade surrounded by a dangerously warped Getsuga. ''Gyaaaaahhh!" Ichigo yelled out as he swung his sword diagonally and released the Getsuga Tenshou at his opponent.
'Uh oh!' Gin thought to himself when seeing the powerful attack coming straight towards him. There was no way for him to stop this attack without taking injuries in the process. So he went ahead to avoid the Black Getsuga by using Flash Step, whilst the attack in question ripped through half the building Gin stood on before travelling further onwards to the person that Ichigo intended to pursue in the first place… that being Tousen.
The fight reached its climax, or so Komamura and Tousen believed to be the case, seeing no other way for Komamura to get out of this situation. The wolf-like Captain gave what he believed to be his final thoughts, that being forgiveness to his Lieutenant, Shuhei, and his former best friend.
But the timing of his rescue couldn't possibly be any better. In mere moments before Komamura's form was about to be vaporized, Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou hurled towards Tousen and made a direct hit, and in the process Tousen gasped as his giant body was smashed through the buildings, with the Getsuga nearly consuming him as he screamed in pain unlike anything he's ever felt before. Though it couldn't be seen very well, Tousen desperately tried to stop the black beam of energy from completely killing him by firing Ceros against it. The result did little effect, as the black energy consumed the light that was fired with sheer strength, but unbelievably enough it was enough to save Tousen's life, albeit barely. If he hadn't done it, he would have been dead without question.
Using a Hollowfied Getsuga against someone many times weaker than himself like this was nothing short of overkill, but he did make sure to hold back so that he didn't accidentally kill Komamura. For Ichigo he didn't see any other way of getting past Gin like this. Once the smoke began to clear up, Tousen's form could be seen more clearly as he laid on the ground, the damage being bad enough that he reverted from his Resurreción to all the way back as a Soul Reaper. His throat was crushed so he couldn't speak, and along with that he didn't have a right arm nor a left leg anymore. That wasn't the worst part, as the Getsuga rammed in him hard enough that his body suffered internal bleeding. The blood coming out of him covered the ground he laid on more than his whole body. The only thing that kept Tousen alive at this point was his Instant Regeneration, as even though he wasn't using his mask or his Resurección, his Hollow powers merged with his Soul Reaper ones, and thus his regeneration kept him alive passively. But even so, it could only work for so long. At the state Tousen was in, he only had minutes at most. He was no longer in any condition to fight whatsoever.
"My, oh my, that was very sudden of you." Gin spoke as he landed behind another rooftop where Ichigo was at, who removed his Hollow mask and looked back at the traitorous Captain, wanting to save some strength. "That was Hollowfication just now, wasn't it? I remember Shinji Hirako using this, quite a useful ability to have, and it's quite powerful as well."
"Couldn't really think of anything else to get past you. I was in a rush, and you were being a pain in the ass, so this was all I could think of." Ichigo held his blade with one hand. "Since the old man is dealing with Aizen, I can focus on dealing with you. As far as I'm concerned you two are the only threats left, and the biggest by far. Once we get rid of you… then this whole war is as good as over."
"Good guess, but just how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Gin formed a position where he held his sword as though he would make a thrust. "And if you think that reading my intentions will help you get the upper hand against me, then you still have a lot to learn."
It would appear as though all the battles that have taken place in this fake city seem to be approaching ever so closer to it's ending. Whatever battle that was currently taking place was irrelevant compared to the level that took place between two of the most powerful leaders in their respective unit. Both Head Captain and Aizen clashed with their swords in mid air, and the result of the clash became so powerful that mere shockwaves wiped away the Reishi around them. Gusts of wind blew ever so strongly.
Using the Flash Step technique at the same time, Aizen and Yamamoto clashed once more, moving all over the place as they continuously clashed with their Zanpakutos. They span in circles whilst keeping their swords intact, as Aizen raised his sword above his head in a diagonal position to keep Yamamoto from cutting him in two, and the leader of Arrancars pushed his sword to his other side to keep the flaming sword away, except when Aizen got halfway through Yamamoto stopped Kyoka Suigetsu in its tracks and horizontally pushed Ryujin Jakka to burn Aizen's whole body in half, only for the traitorous Captain to split distance by using his Flash Step.
Yamamoto cut him no slack as he charged straight forward at his younger opponent and unleashed a barrage of flames to close the range and burn Aizen alive, the flames being large enough to consume an entire building. As it turned out, Aizen wasn't someone to be rid of that easily, bringing his right arm forward and forming a Kido barrier to protect himself. This gave him enough time to get away from the flames of Ryujin Jakka and split further distance between him and Yamamoto as Aizen travelled higher in the air.
To Aizen's surprise, Yamamoto wasn't anywhere to be seen. Upon sensing his Spiritual Pressure, Aizen quickly turned around to see Yamamoto charging downwards from behind and spun his sword to make a defense as Yamamoto attempted to slash his head from behind. Their blades clashed once more, and this time Yamamoto overpowered the struggle as he pushed through Aizen's defense, but by using his skills Aizen pushed just enough so that only his shoulder was slashed, spewing blood in the process. "Nngh!" Aizen grunted from the pain, but that didn't stop him as both he and Yamamoto turned around at the same time and clashed once more, causing another shockwave to be formed until Aizen got pushed back via Yama's sheer strength.
Aizen used the Reishi under his feet in an attempt to halt his movements. He widened his eyes when he saw Yamamoto hovering above him, and quickly brought his sword above his head to defend himself as Yamamoto swung his fiery blade, unleashing the dangerous heat upon Aizen. But unlike most Captains, Aizen was merely stunned for a moment as he was sent plummeting to the land, his fall was nothing short of a small meteor impact that sent an uproar of dust and debris upwards into a smoke screen of broken concrete and granite. Inside said dust cloud Aizen sat up in a crater at least 5 times larger than that of his body.
Quickly using Flash Step down to sea level, a few meters short of where the smoke screen took place, Yamamoto's fiery Ryuujin Jakka burst into a massive torrent of fire. With a swing the Head Captain unleashed a inferno so massive it overtook an entire city block in a swarm. Aizen moved behind Yamamoto to cut his head clean off, only for Yamamoto to use his own Flash Step to dodge the blow and countered by swinging his sword and successfully cut half of Aizen's face off. But it turned out to be merely an illusion as it warped away from existence. Yamamoto raised one of his eyebrows before turning his head to see there was nothing behind him.
It was then he felt a cold piece of steel stab through his chest, making Yamamoto somewhat widen his eyes. ''Damn you…" the Head Captain cursed under his breath as he turned his head to see Sosuke Aizen standing behind, sword in his hand as he was the one who stabbed the old Captain.
"So was the best you could throw at me?" Aizen rhetorically asked with a smug grin plastered on his face. "You had a good run, Genryusai Yamamoto, but your time is up. It looks like you finally found your match after 1000 years—" The leader of the Arrancars felt the wind knocked out of him as Yamamoto kicked him in the gut with the back of his foot, with enough force to send him flying away with his sword still intact as it was released from Yamamoto's body. "Gugh!" Aizen grunted from the pain he felt, taking a few breaths as he clenched his stomach with his other hand.
"Such arrogance!" Yamamoto exclaimed as he fully turned to glare at the rogue Soul Reaper. "If you truly thought that a simple attack like that was enough to make me keel over, then you're an even bigger fool than I thought!" However, there was one detail that the old Captain found that was odd. 'The wound on his shoulder… is gone?' Yamamoto thought as he thought back to an earlier part of their battle where he attempted to cut Aizen's head clean off, only to end up slashing his shoulder instead. Now it wasn't there anymore, as though it was never there to begin with. He knew for a fact he cut him in that area. A small part of Yamamoto's mind made him wonder if his age really was starting to get to him.
"That's quite the assumption you made." Aizen replied back, still keeping that cool headed maneuver of his. ''I never said that a simple stab would have been enough to take you out. Who knows, perhaps I could have done further damage to your body by stabbing you somewhere else."
Yamamoto merely scoffed at this. His kick split the distance between them by a few meters or so. He was starting to consider what his next move would be. As much as he didn't like to admit this, reading Aizen's movements was not a simple task to do, even for a Soul Reaper of his caliber. It was difficult to know what his next move would be, but not impossible.
"Sajo Sabaku." Aizen thought ahead faster as he fired a 60's level Kido at his opponent's direction. Yamamoto simply reacted by swinging his blazing sword, unleashing flames to wipe out the energy chains that headed towards him. The flames covered the view where Aizen was at, giving him the opening to Flash Step directly in front of Yamamoto as he horizontally swung his sword to slash his eyes, only for Yamamoto to react quickly enough to duck his body and counter by swinging his Zanpakuto in an attempt to cut Aizen's legs.
The rogue Captain jumped further in the air to avoid the counter, and used the Reishi on his feet to give a boost in his momentum as he flew downwards to slash Yamamoto's spine. The Head Captain reacted as well by swinging his inferno Zanpakuto upwards in a diagonal matter and clashed against Aizen's, the result of the clash produced a shockwave powerful enough to cover the entirety of Karakura Town. Aizen got pushed back, but rushed back at his opponent almost immediately as they clashed in a duel of Zanjutsu. Both veteran Soul Reapers implemented the knowledge they had and used it in a battle of skill.
Yamamoto held far more fighting experience than Aizen had, but Aizen's superior intellect more than made up the difference as the two of them kept swinging their blades at one another. Aizen jumped over Yamamoto by cartwheeling, and twisted his body so he could slash Yama's left eye, only for the Head Captain to block the deadly strike by pressing Rjujin Jakka against the flat side of Kyoka Suigetsu and moving it out of the way. Aizen charged at the old Captain and thrust his Zanpakuto forward, only for Yamamoto to swing his sword upwards and clashed against Aizen's, which pushed both of them back. Both Soul Reapers used Flash Step to outmaneuver the other. To every other Soul Reaper, they couldn't be seen even as blurs.
"This is insane…" Izuru commented as he watched the battle between two of the most powerful Soul Reapers fighting like this. He tried to keep his attention on healing the injured but the raw Spiritual Pressure being released all the way from here made it difficult to concentrate. "How can anyone have this much power?!" he made a frowning expression, with the amount of outrageous power being unleashed it was slowing his healing down, and he didn't like that.
Nelliel felt her entire body tensing as two chaotic forces of Spiritual Pressure weighted down on her. Never could she imagine that beings such as this even existed. She had a rough idea on how strong Aizen was, but could never fully grasp the full extent of his abilities as she had never seen him in an actual fight until today. And adding that with a force stronger than that? It felt suffocating and overwhelming.
"Wait a minute…" Shuhei groaned as he tried to speak. "Where's Ichigo at? Shouldn't he have been back already?"
"From what I'm sensing it looks like he has his hands full at the moment against Captain Ichimaru." Izuru replied. ''If you're wondering where Captain Unohana is, she left to go to heal Captain Komamura, his condition is critical. Thankfully Rangiku and Momo have been stabilized by now."
"What about Captain Tousen? What happened to him?" Shuhei needed to know. If what Izuru said was true and Komamura had been saved, something must have happened to Captain Tousen in the process. Otherwise why else would the medical Captain tell him that Komamura was no longer in any danger.
Izuru hesitated for a moment and thought to himself how she could word this without bringing down Shuhei's emotions. "I can't really sense him anymore. I'm not sure if he's really dead or his Spiritual Pressure is so low that it can't be sensed very well, at least for me." he informed his comrade.
For a minute Shuhei didn't say anything. He was hoping there would have been some way for his former Captain to return to the way he used to be, but with the crimes he committed and even going as far as to obtain Hollowfication, there was no way he wouldn't end up getting executed. He didn't know anything about the Vizards so he couldn't say what would happen to them, assuming they all live through this. "I see… Thank you for telling me." Was all he spoke, hardening his face so that he wouldn't appear to be affected by the news. This was war, there was no time for stuff like this. At least that's what he thought.
Yamamoto swung his sword down to slash Aizen's chest, to which Aizen moved his body out of the way to evade the blow. He moved to Yamamoto's lower side and quickly placed his hand against his right hip. "Raikoho." Aizen spoke the Kido spell before the electrical torrent invaded the Head Captain's body and sent him crashing through multiple buildings.
This spell didn't make Yamamoto so much as stun him as he rose back up to the surface, his body only suffering a minor burn in the process. He came after Aizen once more, closing the distance as he swung his sword directly to stab through his opponent's ribcage, but Aizen waved his sword diagonally upfront to counteract Yamamoto's deadly blow and clashed against his Zanpakuto, only to get pushed back in doing so. Aizen was pushed on the defensive side as he twisted the handle of his blade to block a vertical strike that was aimed to split his head in half. Seeing an opportunity for a counter attack Aizen aimed to slash Yamamoto's left side of his body, but the old man twisted his blade by vertically putting it on the area where Aizen tried to attack, and blocked it successfully.
Using his raw strength Yamamoto managed to push Aizen's weapon away from him before aiming to slash one of Aizen's hands in intent to catch him by surprise, so that this way it would lower his power and versatility, even if by little. Aizen reacted quickly enough to use his Flash Step to get behind Yamamoto, who titled his head to see Aizen's sword coming at him to cut his right eye. The Head Captain twisted his body to avoid the brutal blow and made a counter by kicking Aizen's left arm. As Aizen couldn't react quickly enough to raise a barrier, the blow hit his arm, and it was devastating enough that it shattered the bones from within. This briefly made Aizen flinch from the pain before being launched back with enough force to shatter buildings entirely, as whatever pieces remained fell on the ground.
Crashing through the tenth building, Aizen was sent against the concrete ground and continued to get pushed, his back grazing against the ground in doing so. The rogue Soul Reaper stabbed his blade next to the ground in order to slow himself down. Aizen grunted as he managed to get back up, somewhat bending his knees in doing so and lowered his back. Sweat was pouring down from his face and couldn't help but try to catch his breath.
"Have you reached your limit?" Aizen raised his chin to meet the Head Captain face to face, who was descending down to the same ground area where he stood. "You're becoming slower, and not only that but your attacks have gotten weaker as well." Yamamoto hinted mockery in his tone as he began to approach Aizen by walking, but still took precaution just in case.
"Reaching my limit, you say?" Yamamoto expected another comeback from the fiend, but to his confusion he simply made a smirk. "You may be right. After all, it's difficult to stay at full power when I'm constantly being drained. But that's good… it simply means that my soul is about to be restructured."
This wasn't the reply he was expecting at all. His soul was about to be restructured? What did that even mean? "What are you talking about?" Yamamoto wanted an explanation at once.
"It's better if you were to see it for yourself. Even if I were to waste my time explaining it, you wouldn't be able to understand a word I'm saying." Aizen prepared a stance to engage in a fight once more. The process should begin very soon, but in his current state he wasn't gonna last much longer. He could sense Gin was holding off the boy on his own, and the others were busy healing.
"Is that so?" More flames from Genryusai's blade emerged than ever before, signaling that he was preparing for a large attack. "In that case, you'll die by my hands before you even get the chance to speak a word!" he leaped straight towards the traitor and was ready to swing his sword in an attempt to burn Aizen where he stood…
The last remaining fights may decide the outcome of the fate of not just Karakura Town and the entire world, but the Soul Society as well. Ichigo and Gin seemed to have entered in some form of hyper speed combat as Gin pushed Ichigo back, swinging his small blade relentlessly at the boy, who kept blocking each blow with his own sword. The attacks and defenses of both sides moved like blurs for almost anybody to see.
"That's a very sharp sword you have in your hands!" Gin complimented as he kept swinging his Zanpakuto in all sorts of directions, keeping Ichigo on his toes the whole time. "It feels like mine could break apart at any moment!"
"Well I'm glad! In fact let me help you with that!" Ichigo rebuked as he tried to put as much force to literally break Gin's blade, but it was to no avail. 'Be careful here. Pay attention as to when he makes a thrust and not when he makes a swing.' he remembered back to when he barely blocked the first thrust when he was heading for Tousen. 'If what I'm thinking is right… with such a long length his sword was able to make, there must be time that takes him to retract it as well. But now that begs the question, is he still using his Bankai? Or is he not able to at the moment?' Gin pushed him back hard enough to split the distance between them, which was about a meter from where they were at. Gin leaped in the air and vertically swung his sword at Ichigo, and at that moment his Bankai became active.
Ichigo widened his eyes when he saw what was gonna happen when his enemy pointed his Zanpakuto like that. Having already seen the danger coming, he leaped away to his right, giving him the opening he needed as he leaped towards Gin as fast as possible. When he was about to cut right through his body, Ichigo was shocked when he saw that Gin's Zanpakuto already retracted as he blocked the blow he was about to give. 'What?!' Ichigo thought as he saw Gin jumping further back till he landed on a rundown rooftop. 'What was that just now?! I couldn't have missed that, I was paying attention to his sword the entire time. Hell I thought he was gonna swing it back and cut my leg off. But no… not only did it somehow retract without notice, I never heard a sound coming from it at all.'
"Is everything alright down there?" Gin asked as he saw Ichigo glaring at him from down below. He could guess how confused and frustrated the boy must be right now. Actually, that would be incorrect. Why would he need to guess when he already knew. "Is this going too fast? I can slow things down if ya want."
A small growl escaped from Ichigo's throat, clearly not liking how Gin was treating him like a child. But his instincts warned him to calm down and keep his frustration in check, as it was clear that his enemy was trying to take advantage of that and make him give into pressure. He was no Aizen, but Gin was still a powerful foe not to take lightly. "I think I'm starting to get the idea of how your Bankai works." he saw Gin shift a different expression on his face, where he went from grinning to becoming surprised, as though that wasn't the response he expected to hear. "The scary thing about your Bankai isn't its range nor its destructive power. It's the speed of its length and shortening. The way you retracted your sword without my notice bothered me. With an ability like that it would confuse your opponent, keep them guessing if it's some kind of trick you have or if they're seeing things. This would allow you to exploit more weaknesses, and eventually make them so confused that you would point your tip and finish them off before realizing what even happened."
"Huh…" Gin scratched his hair, being somewhat stunned by this revelation. "Well I'll be damned." If he were honest he was quite impressed. If he were to have done this back in the Soul Society the boy never would have even considered this to be a possibility. "I guess you really are growing up." he commented. 'That was a good analysis. I never even told him about Kamishini No Yari's range, and figured out how my style of fighting works when I use my Bankai. Not to mention, fighting an opponent of my level is gonna make him more powerful in mid battle until he eventually surpasses me. But even so… he is far from guessing my Bankai's scariest ability.' he thought to himself before putting his Zanpakuto under his armpit and holding it. "Well you're right about that one. But I'll give you one tip of advice, don't let information like that get to your head. You can get as much information about my Zanpakuto as you like, but I'll always stay one step ahead of you."
"Why is that?" Ichigo raised his eyebrows in confusion. "If I get more information on your Zanpakuto it would just give me more of an advantage."
"That doesn't really matter if you don't know how to go about it." Gin replied in his ever so casual tone. "Here's an example, earlier you explained how you're able to read into people's emotions when you cross blades with them. Now let me ask you this: What have you ever done with this ability?"
"Huh?" Ichigo became confused by what he meant.
"The way you even said it made it sound like you keep this to yourself. In fact you weren't even fully sure how to go on about this. All you said is you discover how your enemies feel about you." Gin began to explain, and Ichigo listened in just so he could understand what the hell he was talking about. "But is that all there is to it? You never thought that you should use this to your advantage?"
"How exactly would that even work?"
"How would I know that you felt I wasn't focusing on you?"
Ichigo widened both of his eyes in shock from this. Earlier in the battle when they kept clashing, he felt that while Gin was looking straight at him, he wasn't paying any attention to him at all. How could he possibly know this? "Wha…" He wasn't sure how to reply to something like this. "How did you…"
"Now you get it!" Gin clapped his hands together before separating them. "You're not the only one who has an ability like that. While you were busy pondering on what my Bankai can do, you let yourself become wide open for me to read you and your movements like an open book." he took his Zanpakuto out of his armpit. "And unlike you, who's only just begun to read people, I've been doing it since I was a young boy. Think of this like the years that's needed to graduate from the Soul Reaper academy. 6 years is what took you just to learn how to perform the most basic teachings. I only graduated in 1 year and knew how to perform them better than the teachers could. And believe me, even without this ability, I am very good at reading people…" he grinded his right foot backwards and lowered himself to make a stance.
"Tousen."
The fallen Soul Reaper opened his eyes once his name was called. He titled his head to look up to see Komamura standing before his side. He was surprised. With the injuries he gave him before that Getsuga Tenshou hit him, he shouldn't have been able to get up with that hole in his gut. Yet not only did he manage that, but he even went to his side. "Komamura…" It felt odd actually seeing what he looked like. He had a rough idea what his physical appearance was like when he was still blind, but now that he wasn't anymore it just felt… off putting.
"Don't speak, your throat is badly damaged…" Komamura remarked. "I suspect your Hollow regeneration is what's keeping you alive at this point. But even so… you don't have a whole lot of time, do you?" He was no fool, that attack was powerful to rip through practically any other Captain. He saw Tousen nod his head, not bothering to try pretending at all. "I see… before this battle you told me that you knew we'd eventually cross swords. And to tell you the truth… I should have realized that as well. With everything that happened in this battle, our relationship has been superficial at best. I can tell you that Shuhei probably feels the same way. No matter how you cut it, us crossing swords was inevitable. I learned that during our battle."
Tousen wanted to say something, but it was becoming harder to breathe. "However… even if you were to somehow live through this, our relationship can never be the same. You are free to hate me, or put aside our differences, whatever you wish for. I just ask for one thing… when you reincarnate… don't allow your thirst for revenge to change who you are as a person. However… even though you tried to kill me, I will never forget the moments we shared before your departure."
He saw Tousen taking breaths, and Komamura easily noticed a tear coming out of his left eye. Tousen raised his left hand to reach out to Komamura, who grabbed and held it with his own. Komamura watched as Tousen drew his final breaths, and felt his hand becoming colder. It didn't take very long before Tousen drew his final moments, and Komamura felt his hand becoming limp. The wolf-like Captain frowned as he lost who was once his best friend.
He wouldn't blame the Substitute Soul Reaper if they made it through this. Not one bit. The boy did what he had to in order to save him, and he could never fault him for that. He wished there was another way to prevent this, but that is how things are. If there was one thing he wanted the most if they made it through this war, it was to bury Tousen's body before he becomes one with the world.
Aizen breathed heavily as he struggled to come to his senses. He widened his eyes when he saw Yamamoto throwing a kick in his direction, barely ducking his head in time before Yamamoto spun his body to throw another kick against his body. His reaction time has gotten much slower, and as such he didn't have enough time to evade the blow before plummeting down against the ground, and the impact caused a crater to be formed under Aizen, one that was few times larger than his body, similar to the last one.
Sweat profusely came off of Aizen's face, struggling so much as to even breathe with how low his energy levels were. He couldn't remember a time he ever felt this tired. He really did reach his limit, and whatever move the Head Captain chose next may decide everything. Despite the amount of plans he made over many years, he was worried just how much the Hougyoku was able to protect him at its current stage. It would protect it's master on pure instinct and regenerate him from any wound he sustains.
The war general firmly placed his foot against the Reishi as majestic flames sprung from his Zanpakuto. "Grrrrrngh!" Yamamoto growled deeply like a beast, more than ready to finish Aizen once and for all. He swung his fiery flames from behind, charging up his attack as the flames roared like a blazing inferno. "Graaaaaagh!" Yamamoto vertically waved his sword downward and released the fire down at his enemy's direction.
Aizen widened his eyes, and began to feel a foreboding sense of dread and fear. He was too tired to move out of the way in time. Before he even knew it the flames of Rjujin Jakka made a direct hit against him. Not being able to hold back the pain anymore, Aizen began to yell from the flames burning him alive. Not just him, but the ground and the buildings surrounding him were burned to a crisp instantaneously.
Gin waved his Bankai horizontally to make an attempt of cutting off Ichigo's arm, to which Ichigo responded by vertically placing Tensa Zangetsu next to his head before he began to be pushed back to his left. Ichigo struggled to overpower the extended wakizashi blade before he crashed through the flat side of a building, causing smoke to be dispersed.
The rogue Captain of Squad 3 smirked in amusement as he continued to test Ichigo's capabilities and see how he could get out of this. What happened next nearly caused him to open his eyes as he looked to his side to see a large mass of flames that easily enveloped city blocks from where he stood. He almost couldn't believe how Captain Aizen's Spiritual Pressure dropped so dramatically. From what he could sense he was on the verge of death. 'Is he actually…?' Gin began to think if he really was dead.
His concentration wavered and because of this it allowed Ichigo to break as he burst forth from the building he crashed through, and came after Gin with his Hollowfication. "Hyaaaah!" Ichigo exclaimed as he spun his body, with his black blade glowing dangerously with the mass of black of energy enveloping it "Haaaaaa!" The teenager made a battle cry as he swung his enhanced Getsuga at his enemy.
Gin made a smirk once more when seeing the Black Getsuga coming at him at dangerous speeds. His mind formed an idea as he increased his Spiritual Pressure, seemingly too late to do anything as the Getsuga hit him at full force, sending Gin hurling against the ground before the Black Getsuga ceased it's attack.
Ichigo waited in his position to see what Gin would do next. Coming at him in close range was too risky, he didn't wanna afford being lethally injured by that Bankai of his if he became careless. His body tensed as he saw Gin emerging from the smoke as a result of his Getsuga, but oddly enough he was just walking towards him, holding his left hip with his right arm, which gave an odd sigh as he still held his sword.
"Ok…" Gin began to speak, still keeping that ever running grin present on his features. "I think I've had just about enough for a day. Let's say you win this time, alright?"
"Huh?!" Ichigo had been completely taken aback by this as his Hollowfied eyes widened.
"What? Is it something I said?" Gin rhetorically asked as he put his hands in the air. "I said you won. I give up. You put up a good fight."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Ichigo was at a loss what to really say. Was this some another attempt to fuck with him? He couldn't tell if he was just joking or actually being serious. "This isn't—"
"Look, I'm sure even you could sense that Captain Aizen is dying right about now." Gin began to speak. "And I'm afraid that the Head Captain still hasn't run out of fuel. Dealing with you is hard enough as it is. I'm the only one remaining here, so it would be pointless to fight with you."
Ichigo thought about it. He did raise a point. With Aizen gone it would be suicidal to continue fighting everyone else. Even so, why were his instincts telling him not to trust what he says?
Yamamoto watched with a cold stare of the damage that he had done to the environment. He descended down as his robe gently blew from behind till he reached the scorched ground level. For a brief moment the damage reminded him of the battlefields he was in during his younger days as a Soul Reaper, albeit nowhere near as violent and grueling. He suppressed those thoughts, wanting to focus on the present threat.
He walked towards where Aizen was at. To his surprise he heard raspy breathing and looked down to see Aizen's entire body was nothing more than a rotten corpse that somehow still remained alive, even if barely. Anybody looking at him would have been horrified to see what they were looking at. He looked as though someone fell in a pool of lava, and then came out of it with the fire continuing to burn them with such agony that it permanently ruined their bodies, decaying of the flesh they once had.
"It's a shame that you wasted your youth like this, Sosuke Aizen." Yamamoto spoke as the flames from his sword died out. "You could have done so much more with your intellect, and yet you threw all that away for this? But I'll give you this much, your power truly was frightening. Farewell…" the old general raised his sword above and was ready to deliver the final blow to put Aizen out of his misery.
No words could describe what happened next. Somehow, an impossible occured as Aizen began to get up. The sight nearly made Yamamoto utterly shocked, momentarily stopping him from giving the final blow. Aizen's entire body glowed in an eerie fashion with light purple-like energy surrounding him before it drastically shot up in the air.
Ichigo and Gin turned to see the direction where an enormous pillar of energy shot up in the air. The sight completely took them by surprise, as it was the last thing they never thought would happen.
"Wh — What the fuck is that?!" Ichigo couldn't believe what he was seeing. It somewhat reminded him of what he felt when Ulquiorra used his Segunda Etapa. How alien it felt. But that couldn't even remotely compare to what he sensed from this. His body subconsciously shook from fear, as his grip on the sword shook as well.
Gin didn't say a word, rather he just looked at the pillar of energy with an unreadable expression on his face.
The healers turned their heads to look at the mass of energy that formed at the Fake Karakura, as they couldn't believe what they were seeing was real.
"No way... I can't be the only one seeing this, am I?" Izuru asked, as he was focusing on healing the Vizards now.
It was then that Halibel began to wake up as she opened her eyes, groaning in pain as she tried to get up. She flinched in doing so, having not been fully recovered as of yet from her scuffle with Yamamoto. She looked up to see Nelliel standing by her side, having finished healing half the Vizards. "Wha…" she felt groggy, but that was understandable.
"Are you alright?" Nelliel put her hand on the Espada's shoulder. "How do you feel?"
"Better than I thought." Halibel answered before looking up to see the purple pillar of light shooting upwards. The sight of it made her agape and widened her eyes in utter shock. "What the hell is that…?"
Rangiku began to wake up shortly after that, making a groan as she opened her eyes.
"Is something the matter, Genryusai Yamamoto?" a warped voice spoke inside the pillar before it emerged from the light, revealing Aizen, whose appearance has been drastically altered compared to before. Yamamoto couldn't hold back the shock plastered on his face, backing away on pure instinct. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Aizen spoke in a mocking fashion as he casually approached the master of flames without having his guard up whatsoever.
There were rare instances where Genryusai felt a sense of doom approaching him. This couldn't possibly be the same Aizen that was on the verge of death mere seconds ago. This… thing he was looking at was an entirely different entity altogether. He couldn't feel a single ounce of Spiritual Pressure coming out of him whatsoever.
Regardless, he couldn't let this stop him. He was the Head Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads, he's been through many life and death scenarios far longer than anybody can count. He was respected and feared by many, and he was going to show exactly why. Getting over his momentary shock, Yamamoto used his Flash Step to get directly in front of Aizen as he swung his Zanpakuto in a diagonal fashion to split his body in two. He released his Shikai and held nothing with this strike.
The next thing he knew, the sound of a sword breaking rang in his ears, and blood splattered from his body, sustaining a wound that ran from his right shoulder to all the way down to his hip. Yamamoto widened his eyes in shock as he his body weighted heavily. His knees buckled immensely under the weight of the blow registered to him, struggling so much as to even take a step forward as he dropped his broken Zanpakuto and fell on the ground.
Aizen looked down to see the fallen form of the general. Now nothing was capable of stopping him. "When I said your Ryujin Jakka was the most powerful Zanpakuto, I wasn't mocking you. What you grasp in your hand is the power to scorch this entire realm all together. Even if you had used your Bankai, you wouldn't make a difference." Aizen raised his foot and rested it against Yamamoto's head. "I could crush your skull right here and do the Soul Society a favor… but that would be too easy." The newly transformed being walked away from Yamamoto's body. "I want you to watch as all of Soul Society crumbles, and you can do nothing but watch."
That was most certainly a fitting end for someone like Yamamoto. All that work he put in for millennia was about to crumble before his eyes. But this new stage of power he achieved was… odd to say the least. It felt incomplete. Was it too soon for the Hougyoku to transform him like this? Or is it because he hasn't had the time to get used to this? It didn't help that everything around him looked blurry, making it practically impossible to see anything through his eyesight. And the inside of this clothing felt… uncomfortable to say the least. But that was of little concern to him. Right now he had more pressing matters to attend to. He failed to notice that his mere presence alone was destroying Reishi around him simply by walking right through it. It seems that this current stage of evolution was some kind of... Chrysalis form, if that's how he could put it.
This was impossible. They have been so close to winning and now Aizen managed to come back and become stronger than ever before. But this wasn't some absurd increase, this was literally beyond anything Ichigo had ever sensed before. It felt so suffocating and overwhelming to the point that Ichigo's whole body was shaking, and Gin noticed this rather easily.
"Are you doing alright? I know that winter is approaching soon, but surely you can't be this sensitive to weather are ya?" Gin asked in amusement.
Ichigo tried to calm himself down. But he couldn't, the Spiritual Pressure was approaching closer and closer. The more it did the harder it was for him to breathe. The gap between his own energy and whatever he felt was beyond measure. He never thought it was remotely possible for this level of power to even exist.
"Hello Gin." Aizen spoke directly behind Ichigo, and just hearing his voice so close to him made Ichigo leap far away from him. "I see you were having your hands full with the boy." he looked over at Ichigo, who tried to get away from him as much as possible. "Still... I'm surprised that you lost so quickly."
"Well, what can I say? The boy proved to be more of a challenge than I imagined." Gin shrugged his shoulders. "Still... I didn't actually think you would survive like that."
"If I haven't subjected myself with the Hougyoku, I never would have survived that attack." Aizen looked over at his left hand. "But it was all worth it. Now then, stay here until I come back. I have other matters to attend to." he informed his subordinate before disappearing from sight.
Ichigo looked from behind to see if Aizen was on his trail. He became confused when he saw that he wasn't with Gin Ichimaru anymore. He then felt someone stop his tracks, and turned his head to look at Aizen who grabbed the collar of his Bankai coat. "Now then…" Ichigo didn't dare to make a scream, as even though Aizen's gaze didn't hold ill intentions, something told him to stay quiet and listen to what he had to say. "Let's take this somewhere more private. The others should arrive soon, and they can be rather noisy."
Before Ichigo's mind could register what happened, they were already standing on some kind of rooftop, far away from everyone else as much as possible. Aizen softly threw Ichigo away and watched him slowly getting up. However he too noticed the constant shaking Ichigo's body was emitting. "Hm… that's odd. Tell me, why are you shaking like that?" He saw Ichigo gritting his teeth, making an attempt to form a glare at him until he fully got up. Aizen then widened his eyes as he immediately realized why that was the case. "I see… you're able to sense me, aren't you?" He saw the look of confusion plastered onto the teenager's face. That was all the confirmation he needed. "That's good… you've matured magnificently. No, not even I expected your development would have grown this much. But I'm glad you did… my plan worked out even better than I anticipated."
"H-Huh?" Ichigo became more confused than ever before. "What the hell are you talking about…?" He didn't understand this. What plan? What did he mean about his development?
"6 months ago… you met Rukia Kuchiki. And during your battle with a Uryu Ishida, you awakened your own Soul Reaper powers." Ichigo was shocked to hear about this. The way he was speaking was as though he knew exactly how those events went down. Hell, he still remembered a lot of them very clearly. "During your battle with Renji Abarai, you realized the power of your Zanpakuto. You found a foothold for your Bankai during your battle with Kenpachi Zaraki. You began Hollowfication during your battle with Byakuya Kuchiki. During your battle with Jin Kariya you tapped into your killer instincts. In your final battle against Grimmjow, you mastered your Hollowfication. And during your subsequent battle with Ulquiorra, it appears you gained an even greater power."
Ichigo didn't understand this. The detail broken down to him was as though he was there the entire time ever since the first day he became a Substitute Soul Reaper. But that's not possible. It shouldn't be. How would any of that make sense? He can somewhat understand the plans when he invaded the Soul Society to save Rukia, but even so how could he have just set all of that so perfectly without anything going wrong? And now he's saying he was aware even further back than that? But that can't be…
Aizen raised his left arm as he put it in front of him, pointing it towards the young man. "The truth is Ichigo Kurosaki… all of the battles you have fought up until now… have simply been an elaborate part of my plan."
Phew, finally got around to finishing the damn chapter. Hate how it took me a month to finish writing this one, and it's pretty damn long as well. So, let's get down to breaking the details in this:
I still had to time things right with the Komamura fight and with the Aizen fight just more so I could finish the Komamura and Tousen battle and make it easier to focus on other ones, since writing 3 fight scenes at once is a pain to get by. And yeah like how it was explained, the Ennetsu Jigoku technique couldn't really be used at its full strength since in the story he was throwing Halibel around left and right, and as such didn't really have the time to perform the technique like he has in Canon.
So for the Wonderweiss fight, the extension of the fight was about as long as it was in the Manga, I was tempted to go with the Anime since I liked the filler extension that Pierrot gave in that fight along with the soundtracks that were put in place… except I had a bit of a problem when reading and watching the fight. It's the entire statement when Yamamoto aimed a punch that was meant for Aizen and Wonderweiss tanked it instead, and Yamamoto said that he held nothing back in that punch… completely using it at full strength… so either Yamamoto was being generous or lying because Wonderweiss is somehow still alive and regenerating. Now I know that Wonderweiss is extremely durable but it's honestly questionable at times like this. And then when we see Wonderweiss getting bullied by Yama badly, without landing a blow mind you and just powering up only a little bit… just completely one shot Wonderweiss. Like it's honestly weird, so I thought it would have been better to give a more accurate representation.
Which brings me to another problem that's… a bit controversial. So when Yamamoto contained his own explosion in Canon, he became so weak to the point he couldn't even get up. And when Aizen approached him Yama just grabbed his ankle and held it so tightly before using Itto Kaso to blow up his arm and take Aizen with him… AND STILL SURVIVED. So here's something really weird that my friends and I noticed. Despite how severely weakened Yamamoto was... Aizen was still genuinely worried about the Kido that was being used to take him out. And when Aizen came out he… had very little injuries to begin with. So there's either two things that could be interpreted from that, either the Hougyoku healed Aizen off screen… or the attack was really, really fucking weak. Neither of which I can see happening except for the first one. So my Co Author got an idea, and that was to make the fight between Yama and Aizen actually happen, with the idea that Yamamoto would use his Zanpakuto and basically chad his way through to get his Shikai back. Let's be honest he would unironically be able to do this.
So now with the Ichigo and Gin fight… this was one hard to do in all honesty. In Canon Gin was just completely fucking around with Ichigo and even bodied him if you wanna go that far. In the story I did make it clear that Ichigo isn't just stronger than Canon but his mental state is better… but to what extent. He was doing ok against Base Aizen at best… but against Gin I wasn't even sure what to do with this since another problem lied in that Gin never went all out until he used his technique against 3rd form Aizen… which even then Aizen let him do that on purpose. So should I have just had Ichigo actually do well this time, would it still be the same, or something else? So my friends and I just went with what I wrote with this. Which brings me to another point, Gin having the same ability of crossing blades with people and reading them like what Ichigo does, but way better in his case. Honestly it does fit him really well, figuring that this would be another way as to how Gin would always stay one step ahead of Ichigo, and if I'm correct I believe that in the Databooks it does imply that he does have this ability.
And now last but not least… the Chrysalis Aizen form. So I kinda wanted to make this form look more impressive in terms of sheer power, since in Canon literally his only feat in existence is him just one shotting Isshin, Urahara, and Yoruichi once he started putting effort… which in all honesty… isn't really impressive at that point when we find out just what Transcendent beings in that state and beyond are capable of. So we figured that him one shotting Yamamoto would have been a decent showing, and show Aizen actually getting pushed to his limits, since in Canon it's weird that he did get pushed by the time he fought Isshin since… all he did was cut down Halibel, bodied the Captains, tank an attack from a weakened Yamamoto, and have a small scuffle with Ichigo… which is barely worth anything.
And now… we finally gonna get to the chapter of Aizen revealing that Ichigo's life was a lie… but in this case it would have to go into more detail, which is also why rewriting the beginning chapters of Overflow is important to do. Although this one might be a bit more complicated to handle considering all the timing that's about to happen. Until then, I'll see you all next time. Hope the waiting was worth it.