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"Damn it!!!"
"Shoot them down now! Don't let the Espada take Kuchiki Rukia away!!!"
Inside the descending anti-membrane, two figures continued to rise slowly.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō clenched his teeth, threw caution to the wind, and raised his Zanpakutō, Hyōrinmaru.
He slashed fiercely toward the sky.
"Ice Dragon—Spinning Tail: Absolute Void!"
The ice dragon roared.
Baring its fangs and claws, it lunged straight at the pale yellow pillar of light.
And then… something bizarre happened.
"Whoosh—!"
There was no collision.
No explosion.
Instead, the attack passed straight through the dim light as if it didn't exist.
The ice dragon missed completely.
"How is that possible?! What the hell is going on?!"
Hitsugaya shouted in shock.
Faced with a phenomenon he had never seen before, his pupils shrank and his mind froze.
He could see it clearly with his own eyes, yet in reality it was completely untouchable?
Something this absurd shouldn't be possible.
Unless…
Could the Arrancar actually manipulate space itself?
Sadly, no one could answer Hitsugaya's questions.
The other Shinigami present were just as clueless about the existence of the "anti-membrane."
They couldn't explain this supernatural, eerie phenomenon either.
"Damn it… Rukia!!!"
Kuchiki Byakuya was heartbroken.
The once cold, aloof gaze he wore so naturally now held nothing but despair.
Watching his adoptive sister being taken away, forced to stand there helplessly as he saw her off, cut deeper than any blade.
After all, within the Gotei Thirteen, Kuchiki Byakuya was famously one of the biggest "sister protectors" around.
The Seventh Espada, Zommari, had been killed in a single strike precisely because he dared to threaten Kuchiki Rukia's life.
But this wasn't the future.
What happened in the ranking video couldn't be reflected directly in the current timeline.
Facing the terrifying black-winged demon, Kuchiki Byakuya felt true despair for the first time in his life.
At that moment—
Just as the ice dragon shattered after missing its target—
A regretful voice came from behind them, some distance away.
"Ah… looks like we're late, Kensei, Hachi."
"The Arrancar already escaped using the anti-membrane."
The sudden voice drew everyone's attention.
Shinigami and Arrancar alike turned toward the source.
Hirako Shinji stood there, one hand resting casually on his Zanpakutō.
The neatly tied tie on his chest fluttered in the pressure of his spiritual energy.
"It's you… Hirako Shinji!!!"
Not long ago, during the ranking of that so-called Miracle Man, Hirako's humiliating death—slapped to death in a single blow—had left an unforgettable impression.
So the moment they saw that honest-looking bowl haircut of his, everyone recognized the unlucky guy immediately.
"Yo, guess I'm more famous than I thought," Hirako said with a self-mocking grin. "Too bad we showed up late. Otherwise, I'd have loved to clear my name after that embarrassing performance in the video."
Just thinking about how miserably he died made Hirako's blood pressure spike.
Even knowing the anti-membrane couldn't be broken, he still vented his frustration by slashing upward twice.
The result was exactly what you'd expect.
The attacks passed straight through the anti-membrane again.
They couldn't touch Yammy or Ulquiorra at all.
"Why is it like this…?"
Hitsugaya lowered his Zanpakutō, exhausted and unwilling to accept it.
Hirako clicked his tongue and deliberately put on a mocking tone. "Wait, don't tell me you don't even know what an anti-membrane is? Seriously? The captains these days are really something…"
After the jab, he finally explained calmly.
"Those two pale yellow pillars of light are called anti-membranes. It's a special ability used by Menos Grande to rescue their companions."
As he spoke, Hirako casually picked at his ear.
Then he looked up at Ulquiorra and sighed. "Even though it still looks like they're here in the Human World, the moment the anti-membrane appeared, they already returned to Hueco Mundo."
"In other words…"
"The space inside and outside that light are two completely separate dimensions. They don't interfere with each other. So if you Shinigami are thinking about a rescue, you might as well give it up."
He didn't bother considering how devastating those words would be for Kuchiki Byakuya.
Without another glance back, Hirako turned and motioned for his companions to leave, throwing out a cryptic message as he went.
"Kuchiki Byakuya."
"Hitsugaya Tōshirō."
"Go back and tell old man Yamamoto this. What really happened on that night a hundred years ago… he'll be learning the truth very soon, from the upcoming rankings."
With that, he vanished in a flash step.
The three members of the Visored disappeared on the spot.
All that remained were stunned Shinigami and the two Espada fading into the clouds above.
"What did he mean by that…?"
When calm finally returned, Hitsugaya was the first to snap out of it. He frowned deeply.
"The truth from a hundred years ago? What was he talking about?"
"Could it be…"
"That Hirako Shinji and the others didn't betray Soul Society willingly, but were framed by someone working in the shadows?"
"And if that's the case, what does it have to do with the ranking video?!"
His brows were nearly knotted together.
No matter how much he thought about it, Hitsugaya couldn't figure out Hirako's intent.
"Captain, is it possible that among the top four in the next ranking… one of them is the real villain behind everything?"
Matsumoto Rangiku swallowed hard and voiced a bold guess.
———
The scene shifted.
Fifth Division, underground chamber.
Given the sensitive situation, Aizen had no intention of revealing himself just yet.
So even though he had already used Kyōka Suigetsu's complete hypnosis to deceive the entire Gotei Thirteen, he didn't rush to contact Hueco Mundo.
Instead, accompanied by Ichimaru Gin and Tōsen Kaname, he remained in the underground chamber, patiently watching the ranking video.
Because of that, he had no idea what was happening in the Human World.
Nor did he know that the Hōgyoku he longed for had, by sheer coincidence, practically delivered itself to him.
"Captain Aizen…"
"If the screen hadn't shattered on its own, even with a chantless Dankū barrier, that would've been pretty dicey," Gin said at last, having only just recovered from the shock.
He still looked shaken.
"Indeed," Aizen replied.
"Getting a glimpse of Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai ahead of time… this ranking of Captain-Commander Yamamoto brought far more surprises than I expected."
A bright light flared in Aizen's eyes.
The early exposure of Zanka no Tachi cleared away a massive amount of uncertainty on his path to standing at the pinnacle of the three realms.
It gave him far more confidence.
"Tsk tsk," Gin chuckled, eyes narrowing. "Now that the old man's ranking is over, it's basically turned into a guessing game, hasn't it?"
"A guessing game?" Aizen asked calmly.
"Isn't it obvious?" Gin shrugged, clearly amused. "We're guessing whether Captain Aizen here can make it into the top three."
"Top three…"
Aizen's face remained perfectly composed.
But deep down, he felt the same intense anticipation.
The top three meant entering the final bracket.
It also meant standing at the absolute ceiling of power in the Shinigami world.
As long as he made it into the top three, no matter how the final ranking turned out, Aizen would consider it deeply satisfying.
And just then—
As if the pitch-black screen could recognize voices—
The vanished image reappeared.
Right as their conversation ended, new text appeared at the center of the screen:
[No. 4]
[Captain of Squad Zero, the Monk Who Calls the True Name]
[The One Who Names All Things in Soul Society]
[Ichibē Hyōsube]
"..."
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