"A... Asuka..."
Shinobu Kocho slumped weakly inside the barrier, her hands feebly clawing at the wall of light until her nails almost bled. "It's been seventy years... We finally reunited... Why are you leaving me behind again...?"
Seeing the despair in Shinobu's eyes, Asuka felt as if a hand had ruthlessly squeezed his heart.
He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the churning blood within him, and tried to make his voice sound as steady as possible.
"Shinobu, listen to me."
"I won't die."
Asuka's voice sounded somewhat distorted amidst the noise of the twisting space, yet it still clearly reached the ears of the person he wanted to speak to the most.
"Don't you know me by now? How many certain-death situations have I faced, only to survive them all?"
"This is just... a slightly farther business trip, that's all."
Shinobu raised her head, looking at him through tear-filled eyes.
Gathering his strength, Asuka raised his right hand against the suffocating spatial pressure and extended his pinky finger.
"I promise you, no matter what corner of the world, no matter what dimensional crevice I end up in..."
"I will definitely come back! I will definitely return here!"
'Was this a lie? Perhaps.'
'Even that person said this was fate; Asuka himself had no certainty.'
'But Asuka had to say it.'
'Because if he didn't leave Shinobu with a sliver of hope, how would she endure the rest of her long life all alone?'
The suction from the sky suddenly intensified. Half of Asuka's body began to blur, as if he had already been dragged into that pitch-black world.
"There's one more thing..."
Asuka's expression suddenly turned incredibly serious, displaying a solemnity Shinobu had never seen before.
"Shinobu, you must be careful all alone in the Soul Society!"
"That place is even more dangerous than a world overrun by demons."
Hearing this, Shinobu seemed to suddenly remember something. She fiercely wiped away her tears and shouted at Asuka.
"I'm not alone!!"
"Eh?" Asuka paused, his body that was about to be swallowed up halting for a moment.
"Master... Master Kagaya Ubuyashiki! And Mr. Himejima! Everyone... everyone is here!"
Shinobu's voice carried a crying tone, yet it revealed a firm resolve. "We found each other in the Rukongai, and we've been supporting each other all along!"
"So... so you aren't fighting alone! We've been waiting for you!!"
This sudden news made Asuka's heart, which had already prepared for death, pound violently.
'Kagaya... Gyomei... Everyone is here?'
'They're all in this world?!'
'How is that possible!!'
A massive surge of ecstasy and shock instantly welled up in his heart, even diluting the sorrow of their impending separation.
'Thank goodness...'
'So Shinobu wasn't wandering alone in this cold world.'
'Our former comrades are still keeping each other company.'
"Is that so... That's really... wonderful..."
The smile at the corners of Asuka's mouth blurred within the violent distortion of the air.
The final heavy burden in his heart was lifted.
'If that's the case, then I absolutely cannot let their world be threatened.'
At that moment, the magic circle in the sky let out a final roar.
It was the signal that the gate was closing.
Asuka's figure had become indistinct, like a pencil sketch being erased.
"Shinobu! Remember my words!!"
Asuka used all his remaining strength to issue a final warning.
This was not just for Shinobu Kocho, but for all the members of the Demon Slayer Corps who had been reborn in this world.
"No matter what... no matter what happens..."
"You must beware of a man named Aizen!"
"Remember that name! Aizen!!"
The name echoed across the empty battlefield.
Rangiku Matsumoto froze.
'Aizen? Captain Aizen? That good-natured man from the Fifth Division?'
'The Captain Aizen who always wears a gentle smile and is beloved by everyone?'
'Why? Why would this mysterious powerhouse specifically mention him right before his death?'
Shinobu Kocho was also stunned.
She hadn't just trusted Captain Sosuke Aizen; she had even introduced him to the Master, making him a friend of the family.
'Why did Asuka make him sound like a being even more terrifying than Muzan Kibutsuji?'
But she believed Asuka unconditionally.
At this very moment, her heart was filled with terror, and her entire body ran cold.
As for Kisuke Urahara, it was also his first time hearing Aizen's name from someone else's mouth.
Beneath his mask, his eyes widened in a daze, almost unable to believe his ears.
"Asuka! What did you—"
Shinobu wanted to ask more, but it was too late.
Hum—!!!
The magic circle in the sky completely closed.
Like turning the page of a book, the 'Fuyuki City' filled with disaster and despair was ruthlessly flipped over by an invisible giant hand.
Crack.
Space let out a crisp sound.
Asuka's figure, along with the sky full of black clouds, the shattered magic circle, and the suffocating malicious intent, completely vanished in that instant.
In its place was tranquility.
A deathly silence.
Everyone stared blankly at the scene before them.
The hellish battlefield from moments ago was gone.
The severed bridge was restored to its original state, and the corroded steel rebars were perfectly intact.
Fuyuki City, which had been pitch-black and dead silent without a single light, was now sparkling with the lights of thousands of homes like a dazzling jewel.
The streetlights emitted a warm orange glow, and the faint sound of car horns drifted over from the distant streets.
The night breeze blew gently, carrying a hint of coolness, completely devoid of any stench of blood or rot.
It was as if everything that had just happened—the terrifying mutated Hollows, the magic circle blotting out the sun, the man who swung his sword to cleave the sky—was nothing more than an absurd nightmare.
"..."
A Soul Reaper squad member looked blankly at his arm. Not long ago, a Hollow had clawed a wound deep enough to show bone there.
But as he looked again at the pristine Fuyuki City, a sense of absurdity crept into his heart. "Where exactly are we?"
"Was the world... reset?"
Rangiku Matsumoto sheathed her sword. Looking at the excessively peaceful scene before her, she only felt a chill run down her spine.
'Is this the Convergence of Worldlines that man spoke of?'
'Excising all anomalies and forcibly rolling back to a normal state.'
'And that man named Asuka was the price paid for this correction.'
"Asuka..."
Shinobu Kocho slumped to her knees.
She reached out her hand, as if trying to grasp something.
But her fingertips touched nothing but empty air.
The man she had waited seventy years for, whom she had reunited with for less than an hour, vanished from her life once again.
"Liar..."
Shinobu lowered her head. Large teardrops fell to the ground, blooming into dark, wet spots.
"You promised... you wouldn't leave me behind..."
"You big liar..."
Kisuke Urahara, still wearing his mask, pulled down the brim of his hat, hiding his complicated gaze.
He looked in the direction where Asuka had disappeared, then glanced back at the Tenth Division Soul Reapers behind him, who were equally bewildered and had yet to recover from the massive whiplash.
"Sorry about this, Asuka."
"This debt... is on me, Kisuke Urahara. I'll remember it."
At the same time, the final warning that the mysterious man had issued right before his 'death' surged through everyone's minds—
Beware of Sosuke Aizen.