"A guest?"
Konan was slightly taken aback, a flicker of surprise crossing her features. She watched as Aizen cast his gaze toward the nearby woods and spoke with a calm, practiced poise.
"Are you here to reminisce with me, Orochimaru-senpai?"
"Hehehe... your perception is as sharp as ever, Sosuke-kun."
Orochimaru, clad in the black cloak embroidered with red clouds, stepped slowly from the dense forest, a faint, predatory smile playing on his lips.
It really is Orochimaru. What is he doing here? Konan wondered.
Then, she realized something chilling. Orochimaru's eyes never once strayed toward her; he looked through her as if she were nothing more than empty air standing beside Aizen.
This isn't right!
Logically, regardless of Orochimaru's purpose, he couldn't possibly ignore her presence. Yet, he seemed completely oblivious to her. In other words... is this the power of Kyoka Suigetsu?
He was controlling Orochimaru's five senses, making her appear as if she were part of the scenery. The thought sent a jolt of shock through Konan. Did Aizen do this on purpose? Is he flaunting his power in front of me to test my reaction?
Bewildered, Konan felt a desperate urge to open the group chat and ask for help. Facing a man like Aizen made her feel utterly powerless.
In reality, Konan was overthinking it. Aizen hadn't intended to test her in this specific way; there was simply no need. Because they were members of the same dimensional group, they were shielded from each other's detrimental effects. Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu naturally failed to influence Konan, allowing her to see the unvarnished truth before her.
As Konan began silently drafting a message to the group, Aizen spoke again.
"It has nothing to do with perception, Orochimaru-senpai. It is simply that your ability to hide is quite poor."
His tone was superficially respectful, but his eyes held a unmistakable glint of contempt. The smile on Orochimaru's face vanished instantly.
"It seems you have grown arrogant during your years under Danzo," Orochimaru hissed coldly.
"My apologies. It appears my words have offended you, Orochimaru-senpai." Aizen smiled thinly. "Well, let me put it another way. The spiritual pressure emanating from you is truly impossible to ignore."
Spiritual pressure? Reiatsu?
Konan was stunned, a sense of utter incredulity rising within her. Thanks to the shared memories of the Soul Society, she knew exactly what Reiatsu was. But that was precisely why it felt so wrong. Reiatsu was a power unique to the beings of the world of death. How could Orochimaru, a ninja, possess it?
Her gaze snapped to Aizen. It has to be him. There was no doubt; the emergence of Reiatsu in the Shinobi World was definitely Aizen's doing. Konan recalled that among Aizen's many terrifying facets, he was a brilliant researcher and inventor. In the world of Bleach, his scientific intellect was rivaled only by Urahara Kisuke.
Why would Aizen grant Orochimaru spiritual pressure? What is he planning?
While Konan was lost in thought, Orochimaru's expression darkened. He spoke in a low, hoarse rasp. "Sosuke-kun, you truly do know a great deal! It seems I was right to deliberately avoid that silly woman, Konan, to seek you out alone. Now, tell me everything you know. Otherwise..."
Silly woman?
Konan watched Orochimaru spewing nonsense just a few feet away, her lip twitching slightly.
"Otherwise, what?" Aizen asked, his expression unchanged, his smile as polite as ever.
"Like this!"
With a hoarse cry, Orochimaru lunged. A pale, elongated hand shot out, seizing Aizen by the throat and lifting him high off the ground. "You will regret this for the rest of your life!"
"Oh? That is a truly terrifying threat," a familiar voice remarked—from directly behind Orochimaru.
What?
Orochimaru froze. Before he could react, a flash of silver steel erupted from behind him.
Pschht.
Orochimaru's body was sliced clean in two, falling uselessly to the dirt. Aizen could see it was a replacement technique, but he didn't care. With a soft click, he sheathed his sword.
"Let us go, Konan-senpai."
"Ah... yes." Konan snapped back to reality. She suppressed the storm of questions in her mind and nodded.
As they turned to leave, Orochimaru's upper body suddenly erupted from the mud behind them. His long black hair draped over his shoulders as his pale hands blurred through a series of seals.
"Earth Style: Earthen Spear!"
Swish-swish-swish!
Dozens of pitch-black stone spears coalesced in mid-air, hurtling toward Aizen at a speed nearly invisible to the naked eye. Aizen didn't even turn around. His expression didn't flicker. He simply pointed his left index finger toward the ground, his lips barely moving.
"Earth Style: Ten-Thousand-Mile Earth Wall."
Rumble!
The air filled with dust as a colossal wall, tens of meters high, erupted from the earth behind Aizen. The indestructible barrier swallowed the impact of the stone spears with a series of muffled thuds.
What? How is this possible?!
Orochimaru stared at the massive fortification in disbelief. Although the Manri Doryubi was an A-rank jutsu, it typically required the combined efforts of multiple ninja to manifest. The chakra drain was so immense that even an elite Jonin could be emptied in an instant.
Yet Aizen, a boy of barely twelve or thirteen, had not only performed it alone with ease, but he had done so with a single-handed seal—if an outstretched index finger could even be called a seal.
Orochimaru's mind raced. He was now certain that Aizen had used "that thing." Moreover, it wasn't just a prototype he'd researched himself.
Danzo...
Orochimaru's teeth ground together. This meant that old hawk had already developed a complete "Hollow" transformation. The fact that Danzo was hiding such progress even while collaborating with him was infuriating.
Orochimaru couldn't tolerate it. He could keep secrets from others, but he would not allow others to keep secrets from him. He would have to find a way to make Danzo understand the true price of such a deception.