Chapter 075: Hado #90: Kurohitsugi (Nerfed Edition)
The Zanpakuto's appearance had changed.
It had become more slender, more tapered, more refined. In terms of silhouette, it no longer read as a weapon so much as something closer to a piece of craftsmanship, precise and almost delicate.
At the same time, the ribbon at the pommel end drifted and wound through the air before settling, draping itself in coils around Matsushita Yusuke's right arm like something alive.
Both observers noticed the change, and both turned their attention toward it.
There it was again.
A release, in the same general shape as the Physical-type from before.
But clearly different in character.
No obvious change in physical form. And yet there was an unmistakable shift in quality, as if something at the level of the blade's fundamental nature had moved.
If one had to find an image for it: a silkworm in the process of becoming something else. The restraint of the cocoon stage, drawing inward, gathering, not yet what it would become. That inward quality, that contained tension, was exactly the feeling coming off Matsushita Yusuke's blade right now.
What Aizen found more interesting than the change itself, though, was the form it had taken.
Different. Entirely different in character from the release during the Squad 11 fight.
Where that one had been broad and assertive, almost aggressive in its presence, this one had pulled everything inward. Dark and contained rather than forceful and open.
"Matsushita-kun. Your Zanpakuto: can it take different forms?"
Matsushita Yusuke didn't hesitate.
"Yes. It isn't limited to one fixed form."
There was no real reason to hide it. Having multiple abilities was something that was going to become known eventually regardless. Better to disclose it selectively and use it to build trust than to keep it concealed until it surfaced on its own.
The calculation proved correct.
Aizen's eyes narrowed slightly at the confirmation. Something clicked into place behind his expression, and what came after it was a visibly heightened interest.
A Zanpakuto as a reflection of the soul: each person's was a fixed type, a settled form. Multiple forms from a single blade implied something unusual about what lay underneath. More secrets, possibly. More layers.
"I find myself increasingly interested in you."
He paused, then added something that seemed more personal than analytical.
"Although -- and this is only my own preference -- I think I actually liked the previous form better."
Matsushita Yusuke blinked, then laughed quietly.
Aizen's instincts on this were sharper than they had any right to be. Without any direct information, he had still gravitated toward the Physical-type over the Kido-type.
It made sense, in a way. Aizen's own Zanpakuto ran on indirect support abilities. What would someone like him do with a purely physical weapon? He'd cut from one end of a battlefield to the other without breaking his commentary.
"Let's move on. We're getting sidetracked."
Aizen smiled.
"I'll say this upfront: I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing where your ceiling actually is, Matsushita-kun."
An opening like that deserved a real response.
If he had been considering a more conservative approach before, the feeling of the Kido-type release had settled the question. He had a clear choice.
This was the right door to knock on.
"Hss..."
A long slow breath in.
Matsushita Yusuke straightened up.
The right hand with the ribbon coiled around it hung at his side. His left hand rose, index finger extended upward, and he said clearly, one word at a time:
"This will be a Kido at my absolute limit. The power and form may still fall short of what this technique is supposed to be. But this is the furthest I can reach right now."
And so.
"Please be ready, Aizen-sensei."
Aizen's response to the declaration was a smile.
"Come."
A breath.
A wind came up from nowhere across the open wasteland. Soundless, carrying a cold that made the skin prickle, it swept past all three of them without explanation.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man..."
For anyone who truly understood Kido, the opening words of an incantation were enough to identify the general number and category of what was coming.
For Aizen Sosuke, attempting that with him as the audience was roughly equivalent to performing a card trick for the person who invented the deck.
And yet.
His expression showed none of the contempt that kind of challenge might have produced. Quite the opposite.
He heard the full incantation as it took shape, and a flicker of surprise crossed his face.
Then it became a broader smile.
Interesting.
He chose this. He actually chose this as his answer. The expectation had been met and exceeded. This student was still worth watching.
"Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams..."
As the incantation continued, the air around them began to thicken.
Black light gathered from above.
Dark threads peeled away from the sky and pulled taut, appearing one by one like components of something intricate being assembled midair. They wove and joined with rapid precision, building a structure overhead that was impossible to ignore: wide, oppressive, pressing down with a weight that drew a line of sweat along Tosen's forehead.
Tosen's theoretical grasp of Kido was limited, so he couldn't make an immediate identification. What was Matsushita Yusuke trying to do?
He was also smart enough not to ask out loud. Because the only person whose judgment mattered here had not reacted. Aizen was allowing it. Which meant everything was proceeding as it should.
Matsushita Yusuke's brow had tightened.
The pressure of sustaining this incantation was considerably more than he had anticipated. But his technique skill was holding, and the Kido-type release was providing structural support he wouldn't have had otherwise. Together they let him maintain finer control over the whole construction than he could have managed before.
Difficult. Not impossible.
He had also deliberately chosen a condensed version of the incantation, shaving it down where possible. That alone had saved him a meaningful amount of output.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!"
Then, a pause. A catch in the breath.
The reiatsu converted into a dark surge and held its position in the air above.
Aizen looked up at it and read it quickly.
Total output isn't enough to sustain the fixed form. So instead of holding the structure up, he's letting it come down. A different attack geometry entirely rather than forcing an incomplete version of the original.
If he had to put a single word to it:
Genius.
"Steel princess rusted, clay puppet crumbling..."
Breath. A beat of stillness.
Matsushita Yusuke's left index finger came down, and he said it with full conviction:
"Hado #90: Kurohitsugi!"