"Who's there?!"
Seeing Aizen suddenly appear on the battlefield, a few Shinigami cried out in alarm.
Those present were all warriors from the Gotei 13. While not all of them were seated officers, they possessed skills worthy of the title.
Yet, this man had just appeared and instantly struck one of them down. What kind of power was this?
"Defensive formation!"
The officer among the rebels barked out the command.
His subordinates swiftly disengaged from the battle, regrouping and pulling closer together.
The officer on the Gotei 13 side hesitated for a moment before making the same decision.
He wanted to get a clear look at the intruder, but the figure was cloaked in a twisted, shimmering Kidō that only revealed a vague human silhouette.
Aizen glanced at the Shinigami from the Thirteen Court Guard and then turned, striding toward the rebels.
Seeing him approach, the rebels' faces went tense with fear.
Several Shinigami shouted and raised their Zanpakutō, charging at Aizen.
Aizen, however, simply continued walking forward.
Only when he was less than a meter away from them did he suddenly move.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, Aizen's form flickered, and in the next second, he was already standing behind them.
He leaned slightly forward, his blade raised at an angle behind him.
As Aizen slowly straightened up, the Shinigami behind him staggered as if they were puppets whose strings had been cut, blood spraying from their bodies as they collapsed to the ground.
Witnessing this scene, the rebels looked as if they'd seen a ghost.
The officer leading the rebels twitched, then roared and leaped into the air.
Clang!
He drew his Zanpakutō from his waist—
"Restrain him, Iron Fork!"
In mid-air, the Zanpakutō in the officer's hands glowed with a bright light, extending outward.
As the light faded, his blade transformed into a long-handled weapon.
The "spearhead" was shaped like a U-shaped metal frame, resembling the enforcement forks used by patrolmen.
The officer gripped the long fork with both hands, baring a fierce grin.
"I don't know who you are, but with 'Iron Fork' in one-on-one combat, no matter how strong you are, you're going down!"
"Get on the ground, now!!"
With that, he pressed the long fork toward Aizen.
Seeing this, the rebel Shinigami's faces lit up with excitement.
"As expected of Koichi Hisami, he is comparable to a Fourth Seat!"
"Iron Fork is unbeatable!"
"Let's show this guy what real strength is!"
As the rebels shouted encouragement, Aizen raised his head slightly, watching the rebel rush toward him.
Then, with a casual wave of his blade upward—
BANG!!!
A loud collision rang out.
Koichi Hisami, who had been charging downwards, was knocked back, flying backward like a broken kite before landing on the ground with a heavy thud, twitching briefly before falling silent.
Rebels: "..."
Gotei 13 members: "..."
Looking at Koichi Hisami lying on the ground, the rebels paused in confusion, then came to the same conclusion.
Dozens of them turned to flee.
But before they could take a step, a strange glow began to emanate from Aizen.
Seeing the bizarre light, everyone stopped, instinctively staring at him. Under their watchful eyes, Aizen seemed to chuckle softly.
Then, he raised his blade slowly, reversing his grip with the tip pointing downward, in a pose similar to the activation of Senbonzakura's Bankai.
"What the…?!"
Kaelith Yurei felt a sudden jolt of realization and gasped.
Without hesitation, he shut his eyes tightly, turned around, and dropped to the ground, covering his head with his arms as if terrified of seeing something forbidden.
At the same time, Aizen's calm voice resonated.
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu." (t/n This sword is OP)
The sound of shattering glass seemed to echo in the air.
Then, silence fell, as if nothing had happened.
The rebels looked at Aizen in shock, then turned to their nearby allies.
What they saw nearly scared them to death.
To their horror, they realized that their comrades had somehow all turned into their enemies!
Without a moment's thought, they instinctively drew their Zanpakutō and swung at the people beside them.
Once again, the sounds of battle echoed across the battlefield.
Aizen walked among them, occasionally flicking his sword to finish off those caught in the fiercest exchanges.
In less than two minutes, every rebel lay sprawled on the ground.
Seeing the surreal scene before them, the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 felt their knees go weak.
The officer leading the Thirteen Court Guard widened his eyes in fear, staring at Aizen, whose form was still cloaked in an eerie glow, afraid that he might do the same to them.
Aizen looked at them as well.
By his logic, he should eliminate these Shinigami as well, just in case.
But… Just now, he thought he heard Kaelith's voice.
Though his Spirit Pressure sweep detected no one, after a moment's thought, he decided against killing them.
They hadn't seen his face, nor would they understand the ability he'd used.
Killing them without reason might raise the alert in Seireitei, creating obstacles for his future research.
Yes, that was the only reason. Perfectly rational, entirely in line with his usual principles.
With a flick of Kyoka Suigetsu, Aizen shook off the blood from the blade and sheathed it.
He surveyed the area, then vanished from the spot.
It was only a while after Aizen left that Kaelith Yurei opened his eyes.
Using tracking Kidō, he saw that Aizen had moved to a desolate mountain near Rukongai's 60th district.
Under normal circumstances, he would have followed to see what was happening.
But today, he had absolutely no desire to do so.
Aizen had silently learned how to activate his Zanpakutō's initial release.
This guy was intense—Kaelith almost cried.
He made up his mind: until he found a way to counter Kyoka Suigetsu, he wouldn't even think of tailing Aizen.
Standing up and brushing off the dust from when he had dropped to the ground, Kaelith quickly regained his cool, letting go of his earlier awkwardness.
On his way back to his quarters, he suddenly realized something.
Damn it, he had always hoped the system would sync Kyoka Suigetsu's abilities to him when Aizen unlocked his Shikai.
But in the end, it didn't happen.
Useless system!
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