"Aizen!!!"
Kyoka Suigetsu's furious roar split the sky.
He had thought that, free of Aizen, his own cunning would be enough to live on his terms—maybe even overthrow his master. He never imagined everything had already been woven into Aizen's plan.
"Modifying a zanpakuto…?"
Even Cole was surprised. Aizen had the tech and the nerve to alter a zanpakuto—and even plant a Hollow inside it. Ruthless. Wouldn't he risk ruining the blade?
Then again… in this world, not everyone treats their zanpakuto as comrades. Think of Hibiki, who just died. Think of that maniac scientist, Mayuri—he packed his zanpakuto with traps and toxins like a toy. Aizen wasn't far behind. Most remember his near-demonic intellect, his five-senses domination via Kyoka Suigetsu, and his bottomless patience—but forget he's also a mad scientist on Urahara's level. He half-crafted the Hōgyoku, forced shinigami to Hollowfy, created Arrancar, and could even design Vasto Lorde-class Hollows tailored to counter specific enemies. Compared in pure "mad," Aizen dwarfed Mayuri by orders of magnitude—and his research outclassed him too. Someone like that could absolutely modify his own zanpakuto.
While Cole considered this, Byakuya stepped up to the rising reverse membrane and stared coldly at Aizen seated on the throne beyond. "Aizen, was this your design from the start? Does staining the Kuchiki honor amuse you?"
His right hand swept out and a tidal flood of Senbonzakura's petals slammed against the reverse membrane. No longer at absolute zero, Rukia still clenched her teeth and sent a super-low-temperature slash crashing in as well.
The barrier, knitted by more than a thousand Gillians, didn't ripple.
Aizen smiled softly. "Captain Kuchiki, Rukia. 'Noble honor'? Do you think I care? Nobles are termites in silk to me."
Cole couldn't help but nod. He despised Aizen's contempt for humans—but on nobles, they oddly agreed. Rukia shot Cole a glare. How could he and the enemy be in sync!?
Cole coughed and rapped the barrier with his golden staff. The reverse membrane shuddered hard.
Aizen's eyelids twitched. This lowly human… had grown stronger—again. Knowing Cole's zanpakuto could shake such barriers, he'd specifically used over a thousand Gillians this time, thinking it would hold. If he hadn't, that barrier might have shattered—and Kyoka Suigetsu might have been broken in the bargain.
He sped up the barrier's ascent. Kyoka Suigetsu still had value—especially now, merged with Muramasa's ability. With more "adjustments," he'd become a perfect anti-shinigami weapon.
Seeing the barrier still intact, Cole stopped pounding and turned his gaze to the yawning tear of the black garganta. He wetted his lips. "Rukia, if I go through that, I drop straight into Hueco Mundo, yeah?"
She nodded on instinct, then grabbed his hand, anxious. "Don't you dare. Hueco Mundo is buried in danger—far beyond what you can handle alone."
Shirayuki manifested and added, "Cole, you can't go. There are countless Hollows there—Adjuchas-level by the dozens at least."
At Shin'ō Academy, they'd been drilled on Hueco Mundo: a place of endless Hollows. Mountain-sized Gillians number in the tens of millions in the Forest of Menos; trash Hollows are beyond counting. In a sea that big, the number of high-tier Hollows is terrifying. A lone shinigami—if not ambushed by a great Hollow—could be worn down to death by sheer numbers.
"I'm not stupid…," Cole muttered, deadpan, side-eyeing them both. Did he look that reckless? March into Hueco Mundo alone just to get diced by Aizen?
They both exhaled in relief, then glared at him for the tone. They were only worried.
Cole's mouth quirked. He leveled the golden staff at Aizen.
Between the garganta and the reverse membrane was a hairline gap—likely because cramming in so many Gillians made some of them itch toward the Living World. Too narrow for a Gillian—or a human—to pass… but enough for the tip of a staff.
"Shoot him—Ruyi Jingu Bang!"
The staff caught the wind and grew, streaking like a golden line through the heavens. On the far side, beside Aizen's throne, Gin heard Cole's words and nearly lost his fox-smile. He stared at the bright, lengthening line. When Cole spoke, he'd thought someone had stolen his Kamishini no Yari. A staff, playing at being a spear? And so slow.
His God-Killing Spear extends to thirteen kilometers in an instant—so fast you'd think it splits space. The golden staff, while quick, crawled compared to that.
Then it breached the void—and kept going. Gin's pupils tightened. Slow or not, its length dwarfed God-Killing Spear by far—easily a hundred thousand meters.
Aizen narrowed his eyes as the staff tip lunged for his throne. He considered, then declined to cast kido. He raised his right hand to meet it.
Gin's eyes thinned further. He was curious to measure Aizen's recent gains.
Boom.
Staff met palm. Aizen's face shifted—but he clamped down, catching the blow. Only the throne beneath him cracked.
"This brat… what is he?"
His gaze flicked to Cole in disbelief. The boy's growth outstripped even his expectations. Aizen had fused with the Hōgyoku; his body had begun to break the shinigami-Hollow boundary, his power multiplied tenfold at least. Yet he couldn't absorb that strike in an instant—the force bled through him into the throne.
Cole's teeth ached. This was the big stage of Bleach—if he had cheats, Aizen had bigger ones. Sure, the Ruyi Jingu Bang's force thinned as it stretched—but catching it bare-handed? Ridiculous.
They stared at each other across the yawning dark.
Cole coughed first and put on a cold snort. "Aizen, is that all?"
Aizen's expression actually darkened. From above he looked down at Cole. "Human, what are you so proud of?"
He'd caught Cole's blade with his bare hand—so why did it feel like he'd been smacked eight hundred li?
Cole sniffed. "I'm laughing at your lack of strategy—and at Gin's, too. The two of you see the world like frogs in a well."
Gin almost cracked again. Since opening the garganta he hadn't said a single word—why drag him into it every time?
Aizen's face went flinty. "Human, do you want me to cross over and kill you now?"
Insults from a shinigami are one thing. From a human? Harder to swallow.
Cole's smile sharpened. "That's exactly why I say you lack strategy. You hid for centuries and still know nothing about the Royal Guard. You posture like a genius while missing the ceiling altogether."
Aizen's eyes thinned. The barb hit the heart. He'd infiltrated Seireitei for centuries and scraped it bare—but anything about the Soul King's Palace and the Zero Division had been scrubbed away. Not in Seireitei. Likely locked above. He hadn't cared—until now.
Senjumaru's appearance had shaken him. He'd assumed Yamamoto was the ceiling and had tuned his plan to that titan. But Shutara Senjumaru was only a sliver beneath him. Her Bankai—"Sokakushara Kasaro Kuragari" (broadly, "Woven Skeleton of the Dark")*—had made Seireitei tremble. Each shifting cloth could erase a captain in an eyeblink. And by his count, the Palace still held at least three more on that level.
If he marched ahead on schedule, even cutting down every foe to reach the Palace, he'd be dog-piled by monsters. His head might crack open like a gourd.
Cole's voice slid in again. "See now? Stop obsessing over 'destroying the world.' Train a few more years and maybe—just maybe—you'll have a shot."
Byakuya and Rukia glanced at Cole; Rukia bared her teeth. "Whose side are you on, jerk? Giving Aizen advice!?"
Gin nodded wildly in his heart. Exactly! Letting Aizen train just makes him worse. How was Gin supposed to assassinate him after that?
Cole ignored them, musing to himself. Go hide in Hueco Mundo a few years, Aizen. You're a shinigami; a few years is a nap. When Yhwach wakes, you'll be first to take the hit. With Aizen's nature, he won't bow—and Yhwach will never trust him. Let the two of you tear each other apart. Maybe Cole could scoop the prize at the end.
He found himself grinning at the thought. Yhwach versus full-powered Aizen—peak villain versus peak villain. Spectacular.
Far away, Aizen watched that grin and felt… certain. The human was calculating him. But how? Who gave this child the gall to plot against him? What could possibly reach him?
Time slipped by in the standoff. No one spared Kyoka Suigetsu; he was dragged through and vanished into Las Noches.
Cole flicked his wrist. The golden staff shrank back. The sky's black tear cinched closed amid Gillian howls. Quiet crept back over Karakura—aside from the ground, still creaking where his staff had smashed it.
Rukia sighed. "Shame. We only took down Hibiki, not Muramasa."
A single zanpakuto—but the damage he'd caused would stain Seireitei's history for millions of years.
Cole shrugged. "Muramasa's not a big deal. Once a zanpakuto's wrung out and reeled back, it won't bewitch a second time."
He stretched and nodded. "Alright. Let's go home."
Just this one skirmish had lit his fire again. If everyone else could flip switches, so could he. Back in Seireitei, he'd grind threefold. At least push his zanpakuto to Bankai. Boost his Hollowfication too—gain the bite to rip space. Above all: reiatsu, reiatsu, reiatsu.
Minazuki, perched atop the one-eyed devil ray, fluttered over and hugged his arm. "Then let's get back to our 'sparring.'"
Unohana's cheeks pinked; she didn't pry Minazuki off him this time, letting her nestle in as they slipped toward the gate. Rukia and Shirayuki fumed, eyes darting, before fixing on Byakuya.
"Brother…"
Girl and blade looked at him with pleading eyes. Quick—go steal their man back.
Byakuya: "…"
…
Elsewhere, in the eternal night of Las Noches—
Kyoka Suigetsu tumbled and landed, face ashen. On the throne, Aizen looked down at his zanpakuto with a gentle smile. "Kyoka Suigetsu. Since you've taken Muramasa's power… why don't you tell me—what is Gin's zanpakuto ability?"
Gin's smile froze.
(End of Chapter)
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