"Good grief, this Spirit Hub is something else. There are so many humans just wandering around."
They had arrived at the real Karakura Town. Gin Ichimaru trailed behind his sworn enemy, Sosuke Aizen, who was busy confirming the status of the town's Dragon Veins. Gin watched his back like a predator, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Time was running out.
First, there was his Bankai. He had been maintaining it secretly since the battle with Ichigo and Isshin, but no release—including Kamishini no Yari—could be held indefinitely.
Second, there was Aizen's spiritual status. If the fusion with the Hogyoku became permanent, not even Gin's ultimate trump card would be enough to kill him.
Of course, none of this anxiety showed on Gin's playful, fox-like mask, but the thread of tension in his chest was stretched to the breaking point.
"Oh? Those kids over there look familiar," Gin noted.
"Yes, they are Ichigo Kurosaki's companions," Aizen replied.
On the way to the third Dragon Vein spring, Aizen took interest in a few humans in school uniforms passing in the distance.
"Ichigo Kurosaki? I thought he was a failure," Gin said.
"That doesn't sound like you, Gin. If Ichigo Kurosaki were the type of man to stop growing at that level, he never would have been born into this world."
Aizen seemed to find the boy's true value in his heroic spirit—a soul that, no matter how broken, would stand up again and again for the sake of those he loved. He wasn't a weakling who would cling to his own life while his family and friends were in danger.
"Well, he was Momo's special project... I suppose he might do something interesting," Gin drawled.
In truth, Gin didn't care. He couldn't imagine a human recovering so easily after being confronted with such a crushing truth. It was impossible for the boy to obtain the power necessary to fight the Demon King in less than an hour.
Ichigo was not a card Gin could play for his revenge.
But in the midst of his private war, a new seed of anxiety appeared before him.
"Aizen! Gin! I made it!"
A lone female Soul Reaper landed in their path.
She had used a Senkaimon to intercept them in Karakura Town—his only weakness, Rangiku Matsumoto.
Gin knew she had been wounded in battle and treated by Izuru. Perhaps because of her reunion with Isshin, she was radiating a level of killing intent that was uncharacteristic of her. However, her sense of justice was nothing but an obstacle to Gin's objective.
Of all the times... why now? Gin's heart hammered against his ribs.
Aizen, who knew his subordinates' histories and relationships perfectly, might show a bit of mercy, but he also had a habit of toy with people's hearts for his own amusement. If he started digging into Gin and Rangiku's past in the Rukon District, things would get ugly.
"Gin, this is your problem. I'll leave her to you," Aizen said with surprising leniency.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Take your time catching up with your old friend."
"Well... thanks."
Gin gave a bow and used a Flash Step to charge at the female Soul Reaper.
"Gin—!"
"Don't bite your tongue, Rangiku."
Whether she was alive or dead, Momo Hinamori—the primary target of Aizen's malice—wasn't here. Having seen the disaster that befell Ichigo Kurosaki just by being nearby, Gin decided to get Rangiku out of the area immediately to ensure she didn't meet a similar fate.
"Wait, Gin! Let go of me!"
"..."
Gin set Rangiku down on the roof of a nearby building, far from where Aizen could hear them. They stood facing each other in the heavy, suffocating silence.
Rangiku stared at him with sorrowful eyes as she caught her breath. Her serious expression gave Gin a strange, uncomfortable feeling.
Their relationship could be described as estranged childhood friends. But the feelings Gin held for her were more precious to him than his own life. Everything he had done—joining Aizen, betraying the Soul Society—was for the selfish sake of protecting her from tragedy. He had kept his distance to keep her safe, and he had treated her coldly whenever she tried to get close.
He had left nothing behind. He had made no new memories. He had tried to erase his existence from her heart completely.
That was the plan.
And yet.
"Why did you come? Since when were you so dedicated to your duties as a Soul Reaper?" Gin asked.
"Don't you dare joke with me! You know exactly why I'm here! I'm here because you are here!"
Rangiku wore the face of a woman of pure resolve. It was an emotion that a man of the shadows like Gin had no right to receive.
"Me?"
Gin was genuinely confused. He was well aware—though perhaps not to the extent of that demon Momo—that his own psyche was warped.
He was a snake. He would crawl close to his prey and swallow them whole. No matter how powerful the enemy, he would never give up, waiting with a cold, damp heart for the moment of revenge. That was the only meaning he had found in his life. He was a madman.
A man like that could not stay by Rangiku's side. He was certain of it. That was why Gin Ichimaru had reduced their relationship to nothing.
"What are you even saying? Are you serious?"
"Gin..."
"Give me a break. All my hard work has gone to waste. How did it come to this...?"
He had no reason to be loved, and he didn't want to be. His existence only brought her sorrow. He was something unnecessary in the world he wanted for her.
Therefore, the look on her face—as if she were about to burst into tears—had to be a mistake.
"Rangiku..."
"—You're just an obstacle."
If she was an impediment to his revenge, Gin was prepared to be as heartless as necessary. Even if it meant hurting his most precious treasure...
***
"I've returned, Captain Aizen."
Having settled things with Rangiku, Gin returned to his prey alone.
Aizen had finished his tour of the town while playing with Ichigo's friends, and in that short time, his power seemed to have increased even further. A primal fear surged in Gin's chest.
There was no doubt. The perfect fusion with the Hogyoku was imminent.
"Welcome back, Gin. Did you have a nice talk with her?"
Aizen shifted his attention away from the humans groveling before him. Gin reported with a neutral expression.
"I killed her."
"Oh?"
"I had a feeling she'd follow me to the ends of the earth otherwise."
Gin smiled, his grin widening playfully. "And I don't exactly have a hobby of being chased by women."
Aizen narrowed his eyes, seemingly searching the distance for a spiritual pressure. Then, he raised an eyebrow and shot a sidelong glance at Gin.
"I'm surprised. I thought you harbored some kind of sentiment toward her."
Whether it was admiration or disappointment, Gin couldn't tell. Aizen's true feelings were always hidden behind that smile.
But with this, the last weakness Aizen knew of Gin Ichimaru was gone. This was the final move in his long hunt. The final lie to lure the Demon King into a false sense of security.
"Hehe. 'Sentiment'? I never had anything that grand to begin with."
That's right—
I am a snake. My skin is cold, and I have no heart. I crawl around, searching for prey with the tip of my tongue, and I swallow the ones I like whole. That is the kind of creature I am.
"I told you that once before, didn't I?"
Under normal circumstances, Gin never would have said those words. It was a meaningless, aesthetic line—a declaration that he was about to devour the man before him.
—Because you're here!
Looking back, perhaps those words were a way of settling his own feelings.
"Fortunately, the Soul Society has already converted the humans here into spirit particles. We won't need to prepare a specialized ritual," Aizen said.
"That saves us a lot of trouble," Gin replied, though his blood was turning cold.
"There are no anomalies in the primary Dragon Vein springs. The Tenkai Kechu was Urahara's work, I believe. He likely had help from Tessai and Hachigen, but it is a magnificent feat nonetheless."
Aizen's words drifted past Gin's ears. There was only one thing left to do: exploit the weakness of Kyoka Suigetsu.
And then, as if on cue...
"There is nothing left to hinder us. We shall eliminate these meddling rats and begin the creation of the Oken."
Right in front of Gin, Aizen casually raised the source of his perfect hypnosis.
Kyoka Suigetsu.
"Sounds like a plan," Gin said.
This is it. It's finally happening.
Gin reached out and subtly touched the blade. In his heart, he offered a silent apology to Rangiku.
"In that case, Captain Aizen..."
I never would have guessed. That you still cared for a man like me after all this time. A woman who hasn't spoken to me properly in a hundred years. A woman with so many friends and a place to belong... that you still cherished the bond of a mere childhood friend.
"Let me be the one to kill those kids."
I really wish you had just been mistaken...
"Gin—"
Aizen called his name.
Before he could finish, Gin prepared his Bankai beneath his sleeve. He finally reached out for the ambition he had held for over a century.
"Kamishini no Yari."
So you see, Rangiku?
I can't stay in this world anymore...
***
Kyoka Suigetsu—the vicious illusion-type Zanpakuto of Sosuke Aizen.
It dominated all five senses, including spiritual perception. It could make a fly look like a dragon or a swamp look like a flower garden. This "Perfect Hypnosis" was born from Aizen's own soul and could only be mastered by him. It was a power derived not just from his spiritual connection to the blade, but from his monstrous intellect and overwhelming spiritual pressure. His demonic wisdom was what made it a threat capable of toy with the entire Soul Society.
When Urahara had faced Momo, he had focused on the "self-defense mechanism against one's own power" that every living being possesses. This was the final piece Gin needed to fulfill his long-held desire.
"The only way to escape the power of Kyoka Suigetsu... is that 'self-defense.' In other words, one must be touching the blade itself before the hypnosis is released, just like you, the owner."
Long ago, when he was still a child without the knowledge, experience, or power to be a Lieutenant, Gin had asked Aizen why a Soul Reaper wasn't destroyed by the power of their own Zanpakuto.
『So the reason the owner doesn't get hurt by their own power is...』
『Exactly, Gin. A Zanpakuto is the other half of a Soul Reaper. To ensure the master doesn't accidentally cut themselves, the Zanpakuto itself protects them.』
Back then, Gin hadn't understood the gravity of those words. But after decades of serving Aizen, he realized that whenever Aizen used his perfect hypnosis, he never let go of the physical blade of Kyoka Suigetsu.
"Even Momo, who can see the future, couldn't escape Urahara's logic. I confirmed it would work on you, too."
The plan was a success. Gin's Kamishini no Yari didn't pierce the enemy's body, but it drew blood from Aizen's chest. The spiritual density of the man was truly astronomical.
But for Gin's Bankai, that was enough.
"The true value of Kamishini no Yari is the poison—it kills and dissolves cells from within the blade."
It didn't extend as fast as he had claimed. It wasn't as long as he had said. Instead, it turned into dust for a fraction of a second during its expansion and contraction.
"The tip that just pierced your chest... I turned it to dust and left it inside your bloodstream, Captain Aizen."
Now for the finish.
"It takes approximately fifty seconds for blood to travel from the capillaries in the chest back to the heart."
As Gin spoke the command for his Bankai, a massive hole opened in Sosuke Aizen's chest.
"Thank you, Gin."
A demonic, mocking laugh escaped Aizen's lips.
"What!?"
"Thanks to you exploiting that opening, I have confirmed that my evolution still has further to go."
A flash of intense heat seared Gin's chest. He didn't even have time to register the shock before he realized he had been cut.
A localized tsunami of spiritual pressure erupted. Standing in the storm, white flesh began to spill from the hole in Aizen's chest. The writhing mass wasn't just mending the dissolved body; it was overflowing, stretching toward his back.
Suddenly, several pairs of eerie white wings sprouted from Aizen's shoulders.
"What... what is this...?"
"Is it really that surprising? You were the one investigating my research into the Hogyoku. You knew that if you were to move, it had to be now—before I achieved a perfect fusion."
"Damn it!!"
Gin clutched his bleeding chest, stumbling back as he launched a follow-up attack. He tried to widen the wound with his Bankai, desperate to finish the job.
But Aizen, having reached a new spiritual rank, already possessed an immunity to the Hogyoku's poison.
"What's wrong? Was that your last card? It was a magnificent scheme, but surely you aren't such an optimist that you believe sheer numbers will change anything now."
"..."
The Demon King brushed off the attack and walked toward him with leisure.
Gin had been naive. Aizen had known everything.
Had he figured it out himself? Had Momo told him? Or had Gin unknowingly fallen for a trap?
Should he have used the entire blade to vaporize Aizen's body from the start? It didn't matter now.
Somewhere deep down, he had known this would happen. He'd known it the moment he realized Momo Hinamori had a goal beyond her own pleasure. He'd known it when he offered that apology to Rangiku at the Hill of Sokyoku. Gin Ichimaru had always known how his life would end.
But that's okay.
My final goal was to die without her ever knowing.
To leave nothing behind and simply vanish from her heart like dust.
If I could do that, I'd have no regrets leaving this world—this playground for demons.
As the enemy's blade approached, Gin closed his eyes.
"So, you've arrived."
Aizen laughed as the ground between them exploded.
***
The pulverized asphalt threw up a thick curtain of dust. Gin, still in a daze, stared blankly into the smoke.
The dust cleared quickly. Under the bright blue sky, a vibrant orange glow shone from within the crater.
When Gin realized who it was, his eyes widened to their limit.
"Internecine fighting? You're less popular than I thought."
Momo Hinamori had teamed up with Aizen, throwing countless enemies at the human born of their experiment. But whenever he faltered, she had guided his allies to his side. In the Soul Society, she had used Kyoka Suigetsu to clear a path for Yoruichi; in the World of the Living, she had prevented Grimmjow's release and recovered him; in Hueco Mundo, she had placed the child-form Neliel by his side. Her investment in him was inexplicable.
What was the reason those two had spent so much effort cultivating this boy? What were they expecting?
The answer stood right in front of Gin Ichimaru.
"AIZEN!"
The poor experimental animal who had overcome his destiny and gripped his sword once more.
The miracle of a man—Ichigo Kurosaki—stood before Sosuke Aizen.
***
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