Outside the Maggot's Nest, Aizen Sōsuke's body remained trapped in a long paralysis. Higashino Shuuichi seized that perfect opening, strolled up at an unhurried pace, and stabbed him once—and just as Higashino Shuuichi was about to follow with a second strike, the prolonged "paralysis" triggered the protection mechanism of the half Hōgyoku (Wish-Granting Orb) within Aizen, forcibly canceling the effect on his body.
"Haa… if I remember right, Shuuichi, before you do something bad, you always like to set up Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) concealment devices first. So the Kisaragi Shūsuke you personally taught… he should have that habit too, right?"
Aizen realized he'd underestimated him—and decided to get serious.
A Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) rose from his body that carried a Hollow-like quality, a special method that—using the Hōgyoku (Wish-Granting Orb) as a medium—let Aizen, with a Shinigami's body, temporarily wield Hollow power.
Cero: Ōkyū no Senkō (Gran Rey Cero)!
A crimson Cero (Hollow Flash) blasted out from Aizen's right palm toward Higashino Shuuichi. The ground caved in, buildings collapsed—like nothing could survive beneath that terrifying, high-density Reiatsu (spiritual pressure)!
Outside the Maggot's Nest, Aizen's body was "paralyzed." Higashino Shuuichi smiled, walked up slowly, and with meticulous calm, slid his Zanpakutō into Aizen's body. The blood was restrained—it didn't gush out—yet Higashino Shuuichi clearly had no intention of stopping at one cut.
The half Hōgyoku (Wish-Granting Orb) in Aizen activated. The "paralysis" was lifted.
"Haa… if I remember right… he should have that habit too, right?"
Aizen, who had only meant to test how far Higashino Shuuichi's strength had reached, decided to use something real.
Hollow power—Cero: Ōkyū no Senkō (Gran Rey Cero)—a red phantom carving the sky, as if the world itself fell briefly silent.
Then Aizen discovered his body had fallen into "paralysis" again—so long it went beyond imagination…
Everything felt like an endless loop.
The same scene replayed again and again with no end—until, this time—
"Haa… if I remember right, Shuuichi, before you do something bad, you always like to set up Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) concealment devices first. So you… mm."
Aizen finally sensed something off.
Why did it feel like he'd already said the same words countless times?
And he even seemed to "see" what came next—him showing Higashino Shuuichi his latest research成果: relying on the Hōgyoku (Wish-Granting Orb) and a relatively mature Shinigami–Hollow conversion technique, he would erupt his Shinigami power—his Reiatsu (spiritual pressure), far beyond ordinary Shinigami—in the form of Hollow power.
It was that technique he'd named Ōkyū no Senkō (Gran Rey Cero)—that terrifying might that split the heavens.
The image felt familiar… and yet oddly unfamiliar.
Then Aizen smiled. He looked straight at Higashino Shuuichi.
"So this is the real reason you 'paralyzed' my body, isn't it?
The reason I couldn't simply force my way out with Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) is because this was never paralysis to begin with—you only made me believe it was.
In truth, my body was trapped in a false repetition, unable to break free, and it stopped obeying my brain's commands. That… is the real 'paralysis,' isn't it?"
Everything that happened had a cause. Everything that occurred left traces. And nothing was done without purpose.
That was Higashino Shuuichi.
It was his strength—and also his weakness.
If someone else had used this so-called "technology," Aizen might not have noticed for a while. But because his opponent was Higashino Shuuichi, and because of Higashino Shuuichi's earlier strange actions, Aizen found it easy to convince himself and assemble a clear chain of logic.
Aizen still didn't know the exact moment he'd fallen into Higashino Shuuichi's scheme, but he suspected it was nothing more than those few slashes—Higashino Shuuichi using his own body as bait to make Aizen lower his guard.
Including the "openings" he'd deliberately shown at the start—甚至 even protecting Kisaragi Shūsuke by keeping Shikai (Initial Release) active—looking back, Aizen could tell those too had been bait that Higashino Shuuichi tossed out.
This wasn't really about guarding against Kyōka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon). That was merely the surface Higashino Shuuichi wanted Aizen to see.
Higashino Shuuichi's goal was to plant a subconscious impression in Aizen's mind:
Because Higashino Shuuichi had to guard against Kyōka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon), he couldn't use Bankai (Final Release) or Kyoka (Hollowfication)—meaning he was, for the first time ever, historically weak.
Once that impression formed, as Aizen pressed him harder and harder, it would only deepen—until Aizen believed it completely.
And once Aizen believed that, who would ever suspect that the "weaker" Higashino Shuuichi—the one being pushed around on the surface—was actually plotting to ambush him?
Aizen had nearly forgotten: what Higashino Shuuichi excelled at most was pretending to be prey—then hunting the ones who thought they were the hunters.
"Past-travel serum. The stuff that slowly entered your body when you were cutting me—through the collapse of my body, and the moment your Zanpakutō withdrew."
To Aizen's surprise, Higashino Shuuichi answered.
He gave only a name, and no explanation—yet that was the best explanation of all. It meant Higashino Shuuichi accepted Aizen's deduction.
But now that Aizen realized it was all a trap—and still had no idea how many hidden cards Higashino Shuuichi had left—Higashino Shuuichi's sudden answer made Aizen hesitate for the first time.
He thought:
This entire fight has basically been me performing a one-man show. Higashino Shuuichi has been silent, focused only on combat—so why answer now?
What new thing is he scheming this time?
Is he guiding me?
Is he trying to make me accept a "fact"—that I'm still under the serum's influence?
If so, then I should read it backward:
Because I saw through the serum's effect and broke the loop, my body is no longer "paralyzed," and won't be "paralyzed." The serum is already useless. I don't need to fear falling back into that mental cycle—so long as I'm careful not to let him inject it again by some strange method.
In an instant, Aizen felt as if he'd seen through everything.
This subordinate—someone Aizen had almost watched grow step by step into what he was today—truly possessed extraordinary battle intelligence. Those tiny manipulations in the middle of a fight could quietly tilt the entire board.
Unfortunately for him…
Aizen was the mountain he could not cross.
Aizen didn't care what Higashino Shuuichi was plotting behind the curtain. Just as Higashino Shuuichi had guessed, as long as Aizen wasn't forced to expose himself to all of Soul Society's Shinigami, he would show Higashino Shuuichi—and his plans—not even a shred of mercy.
Cero: Ōkyū no Senkō (Gran Rey Cero)!
A crimson flood of Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) crushed down toward Higashino Shuuichi.
A familiar scene—
And yet, an unfamiliar result.
Without using Bankai (Final Release), there was no way Higashino Shuuichi could "catch" that Cero (Hollow Flash).
But in Aizen's brief glance, Higashino Shuuichi's mouth curved into a smile.
With the fragments of the Reiō's nail granting him endless regeneration as his foundation, Higashino Shuuichi dared to fight uphill for short stretches.
Facing that Cero (Hollow Flash), his choice was—
"To ride the flash away!"
He gathered every scrap of Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) he could mobilize in front of himself, then let that Cero (Hollow Flash) slam into him and launch him violently away!
Aizen's mouth twitched.
Fine—he truly hadn't expected that kind of development.
He'd nearly forgotten: Higashino Shuuichi's goal was never to defeat him.
It was to escape the Maggot's Nest.
So no matter who won or lost here, every extra minute spent entangled with Aizen only increased Higashino Shuuichi's danger.
Honestly, if Aizen were standing in Higashino Shuuichi's position, he would do the same.
So why did it still irritate him so much?
He looked back at the Maggot's Nest—this wasn't "in ruins" anymore. It was nothing but broken walls and rubble.
Looks like this Fifth Division taichō would have to go to the First Division and "report" later…
But that wasn't his fault. Who could've known that Higashino Shuuichi's subordinate, Kisaragi Shūsuke's Bakkōtō, could break the Shihōin clan's divine artifact "Bandage"?
Aizen thought, I'm just an ordinary taichō with ordinary strength. Against Higashino Shuuichi—a high-tier taichō who decades ago could already fight five taichō-class Shinigami at once—and with another taichō-class Shinigami like Kisaragi Shūsuke beside him who can seal Zanpakutō releases, it's normal that I couldn't win!
As he was thinking that, he was about to leave—
And then the color of the sky changed.
No—more precisely, the world changed.
Night became day. The Maggot's Nest became a Human World building—like the world was afraid Aizen wouldn't realize he'd stepped into a new space.
A low incantation echoed from all around. It was unmistakably Higashino Shuuichi's voice.
"A turbid crest faintly emerges, talent arrogant and unrestrained; surging tides—negation—paralysis—in an instant, obstructing eternal sleep. The Iron Princess that crawls, the mud doll that constantly self-mutilates; combine—rebound—extend to the ground… know your own powerlessness! Hadō no Kyūjū: Kurohitsugi (Way of Destruction #90: Black Coffin)!"
He hadn't run.
He'd changed posture—and come back in for another kill!
Honestly…
Aizen was happy.
"This level of Kidō (Demon Arts)—at your level, Shuuichi, even with a full incantation, it can't possibly work on me!"
For such an obedient Higashino Shuuichi, Aizen was willing to give him a little "sweetness"—a small reward for risking so much to turn back and complete this fight with him.
So Aizen simply stood there, letting that enormous black coffin swallow him whole.
He knew it was risky. Even if he'd already deciphered Higashino Shuuichi's earlier little tricks, who could say Higashino Shuuichi wasn't hiding more?
Aizen believed he was.
Otherwise, with Higashino Shuuichi's personality, he would never turn back without at least some certainty.
But Aizen believed his own judgment even more:
Higashino Shuuichi was not his opponent.
And even if—ten thousand steps back—Higashino Shuuichi truly had the ability to threaten him with death by catching him off guard, Higashino Shuuichi still could not afford the price of killing a taichō… let alone killing Aizen Sōsuke.
Tōsen Kaname, Ichimaru Gin, the Arrancar in Hueco Mundo, and the rotten mess inside Soul Society—those were not things Higashino Shuuichi could handle right now.
So Aizen had no worries.
He would treat it as a tiny reward for his subordinate.
It could only be said: Aizen's deductions had many problems, yet his conclusion landed on the right track by accident.
Higashino Shuuichi really couldn't kill Aizen right now—he needed to keep Aizen as a higher-level candidate for a Reiō replacement, and as an insurance policy for the day he would kill Yhwach.
But that didn't mean Higashino Shuuichi wouldn't give Aizen a memory he'd never forget.
After all, this was only "base-form" Aizen—without the complete Hōgyoku, without fusing with it.
Where did he get the audacity to be this arrogant?
Inside the pitch-black coffin, Aizen snorted and prepared to slice apart the Kidō (Demon Arts) he looked down on—
And then he felt something deeply wrong with his Reiatsu (spiritual pressure).
If his normal upper limit was 10, then right now he could sense it was around 9, and what he could actually output was not even 6—and that number was visibly dropping.
"Black Coffin has this effect too?"
Aizen frowned.
No—wrong.
It wasn't Black Coffin.
Aizen lifted his head, staring into the darkness above—
It was this special space.
Higashino Shuuichi hadn't dragged him into this space just to keep their fight from being known outside.
Because the Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) concealment barrier earlier could already do that.
And by Higashino Shuuichi's logic—he never makes meaningless moves—this new space must exist for a reason.
Aizen judged that absorbing his Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) was Higashino Shuuichi's purpose.
Because Shinigami battles are Reiatsu battles.
In theory, if his Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) were reduced below a certain level, then Higashino Shuuichi could crush him in every way—maybe even ignore Kyōka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon) with sheer Reiatsu strength.
But unfortunately…
It was only theory.
Because—
Aizen calmly raised his arm and pointed forward. The half Hōgyoku (Wish-Granting Orb) on him flashed, and enormous Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) poured out to fill the gaps inside his body.
Cero: Ōkyū no Senkō (Gran Rey Cero)!
A hole blasted open through the massive black coffin.
Aizen stood proudly in midair and looked at Higashino Shuuichi, now back in his view.
"A good idea. But in my eyes, it's not even as effective as those little 'tech toys' you used earlier. Reiatsu (spiritual pressure)… I can have as much as I want~"
"Is that so? Then I hope you're telling the truth~"
Higashino Shuuichi lifted his hand. The earth shattered—five azure dragons roared up, raging into the sky.
Hadō no Kyūjūkyū: Goryū Tenkōmetsu (Way of Destruction #99: Five Dragons' Destruction)… once again!
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