The battlefield was a vortex of chaos. The Visoreds—the outlawed group of Soul Reapers who had mastered Hollowfication—had finally bared their fangs. Driven by a century of hatred toward their arch-nemesis, Sosuke Aizen, they had descended upon the fake Karakura Town, joining the fray between the Gotei 13 and the Arrancar army.
Led by Shinji Hirako, the group threw themselves into their respective fights. Some clashed with the Espada, some stood by for tactical support, and others sought the head of the man who had ruined their lives.
"Damn you, brat! You insignificant ant! CURSE YOU!"
One battle saw a Visored using a combination of a one-hit-kill Bankai and Kido barriers to narrowly escape the scythe of death. In another, the tide turned abruptly against the "Lone Wolf" of the Espada when an unrefined interloper interrupted the duel between warriors.
But just as the opening skirmishes reached their peak, the transcendent being fighting Shinji made his move.
"Oh... that won't do."
With a faint blur, Sosuke Aizen vanished. After maintaining a condescending attitude without launching a single attack, his sudden movement caught everyone off guard.
"What!?"
Shinji scrambled to track his target, only to see Aizen cutting down his own subordinate, Tier Halibel, with a cold dismissal of her being "useless." She had been the final Espada standing against the Visored women.
"Now, Momo. Show me the power I've bestowed upon you."
There was no time for shock. As a young woman stepped onto the battlefield, Shinji realized the true horror behind Aizen's actions.
"Yes, Lord Aizen."
That short reply told them everything they needed to know. Shinji shouted a warning to his comrades, but it was too late. A Spiritual Pressure equivalent to a Captain-level Soul Reaper vanished into thin air like a bursting bubble.
Blood sprayed across the sky. Every Visored on the field froze at the sight.
"Gah... h..."
"Hiyori!"
Kensei Muguruma and Love Aikawa rushed toward the center, joined by Shinji, who had been abandoned by Aizen. But their speed was insufficient. Neither Hiyori Sarugaki, the first to be struck, nor her partner Lisa Yadomaru could be saved.
"You... you little brat!"
"Hold it, Kensei! Love, get back!"
It was Shinji Hirako who restrained his vengeful comrades. Despite being the closest to Hiyori, he remained unnervingly calm. He knew they were preparing their "trump card," and his caution stemmed from being the only one among them who had personally fought the enemy before him.
"So, you've finally decided to move... Momo Hinamori!"
Standing before them was a lone female Soul Reaper. Under normal circumstances, her beauty was so endearing it would make anyone smile. Her frame was small and delicate, looking as fragile as a flower.
But no one present was fooled by her helpless appearance.
"Damn, so this is the one...!"
"What is this ridiculous Spiritual Pressure? Is she even a Soul Reaper? Shinji, you bastard, did you downplay her in your report just to save face?"
"Shut up and stay sharp! If you let your guard down, it's over in an instant!"
These men were former Captains—the elite of the elite among souls. Yet, even with their combined strength, it took everything they had just to keep from falling to their knees under the sheer weight of her presence.
Their spiritual status was fundamentally different. The enemy the Visoreds faced was a monster of Spiritual Pressure that had long since transcended the limits of a soul.
"Hehe..."
The monster's lips curled into an eerie arc, sensing their instinctual fear. Her voice, as sweet as ringing bells, vibrated against their eardrums.
"You seem to be in high spirits today, little girl," Shinji taunted. "Happy to see you left them with a fraction of an inch of their lives?"
"Yes, I'm glad to see you've all made a full recovery. Last time, I was... a bit distracted by remnants of my former self. I was worried I might have accidentally killed you."
Was her relieved gesture a provocation? Shinji didn't care. He focused entirely on stalling for time.
"What, so you're saying you went easy on us because you couldn't bring yourself to kill your old friends?"
"Oh, that? Well... I don't really care about my old self anymore. Today is the day I dispose of everything unnecessary for Lord Aizen's sake—including things like 'emotions' or 'friends.'"
The girl's face seemed to melt, revealing a grotesque expression of pure pleasure. Gone was the tragic guilt or sorrow she had shown during their last encounter. A completely transformed monster stood in her place, one whose change couldn't be explained by a simple shift in mindset.
But for Shinji, this was within expectations. The object embedded within her soul was a volatile substance capable of elevating one's spiritual rank and human nature to a higher dimension. Furthermore, Aizen himself was the mastermind behind this. Using high-level Hollowfication techniques to brainwash a girl into his perfect puppet would be child's play for him.
They stood in silence for what felt like an eternity, bathed in her suffocating Reiatsu. The tension was finally broken by her casual remark.
"Lord Aizen is getting bored. If you won't come to me, I'll come to you."
In a flash, her form split into two. Shinji, his senses sharpened to the absolute limit, managed to dodge her strike with only a minor graze.
He felt a surge of hope. Unlike their last fight, he believed he could now see through her vicious combination of Kido and Spiritual Pressure clones.
"Hah! It's the other way around this time! Maybe one of those 'unnecessary things' you threw away was your combat sense?"
"...?"
The monster ignored the provocation, instead looking down at her own feet with a puzzled expression. Her dismissive attitude sent a chill down Shinji's spine.
Wait... was that actually a Spiritual Pressure clone just now?
His unease was dispelled by her quiet mumbling.
"The final step is still so difficult. Zommari was so good at this... it's a bit frustrating."
"You... don't tell me..."
It wasn't a clone. If anything, it was—
"Yes, that was an application of Sonido. I'm planning to quit being a Soul Reaper soon, so I'm practicing other movement techniques besides Flash Step. Like this."
"What!? No!"
Three voices rang out simultaneously from all sides. Before Shinji could even turn around, he heard the screams of his allies. He immediately retreated.
Looking across the battlefield, he saw Kensei and Love had already been cut down by that same movement. He couldn't even bring himself to laugh at the absurdity of two former Captains being defeated in an instant.
"Afterimages...?"
"Hehe, I did a bit better that time. Thank you for your help."
The girl smiled, her sadism bubbling to the surface. It was a mental shift similar to the Visoreds' own Hollowfication. Unlike three days ago, when her heart was still that of a Soul Reaper, she now possessed the arrogance of a high-ranking Hollow.
That's the opening.
Shinji, still waiting for the secret move to activate, refined his plan step by step. He signaled his allies scattered across the fake Karakura Town and confirmed the Spiritual Pressure of their final comrade operating in the distance.
Any second now, Kisuke...
He just needed to hold the monster's attention a little longer. Then—after a strange smile crossed Momo's face—the effect Shinji had been praying for finally manifested.
The change was abrupt.
"Wh-what!? This is...!"
As the girl cried out in exaggerated surprise, the massive Spiritual Pressure that had been crushing the area suddenly plummeted. Their trump card had finally been triggered.
There was only one man capable of such a feat.
"Phew... looks like I managed to pull it off without getting caught."
Kisuke Urahara. The greatest inventor in the three realms. His carefully placed trap had finally snared the arrogant transcendent.
"What did you do to me?"
"Well now, hello there, Hinamori. It's been a while."
The suspicious man in the bucket hat appeared with his usual nonchalance. The monster's composure was gone.
"Hinamori, your Spiritual Pressure is immense. But normally, a Soul Reaper's power comes from innate talent or from training the soul through the four combat arts. You, however, obtained your power through a method different from both of those—and different from the Hollowfication used by Shinji and the others."
"..."
"Organ Tempering. For a hundred and fifty years, you used your own Kido to manipulate your spiritual energy, directly placing a burden on your Soul-Chain and Soul-Sleeve. Your spiritual circulatory system has become unnaturally enlarged to a point that is hardly healthy."
The signs had been there: specifically, her self-destruction during the previous battle. That hadn't just been the Hogyoku's influence; it was a collapse of the balance between her Spiritual Pressure and her soul. The moment her control wavered, her soul couldn't withstand the sheer volume of energy she had cultivated through years of recklessness.
Urahara explained that this was the opening he needed.
"Of course, Aizen wouldn't leave such an obvious weakness unaddressed. Your Spiritual Pressure didn't show any of that previous instability."
Urahara ignored her glaring gaze, his eyes sharpening beneath his hat.
"So... I did the opposite."
"The opposite?"
Despite her question, the girl's clever mind was already beginning to process the truth, her face pale with shock.
"All souls possess defense mechanisms to prevent self-destruction. In most cases, that means restricting one's own power."
This was especially true for someone like her, who had nearly died from a power surge. Her instincts would now subconsciously overreact to any rise in her Spiritual Pressure, attempting to suppress it. It was an instinctive lesson learned to prevent a repeat of her previous mistake.
"Wait... you don't mean...!"
"You asked what I did, Hinamori. It was actually quite simple."
Her own trauma had become her shackles.
"I tricked your spiritual senses into believing your own power was going out of control."
Momo spun around frantically, looking for a hidden technique. Even from the back of her trembling head, it was obvious her face was distorted with panic.
"That's impossible! How!? I didn't sense any spell or technique!"
"Is it really that surprising? We've faced off three times now. Creating a sensory-disruption barrier specifically tuned to your Reiatsu was easy."
Because of her previous trauma, Momo was now instinctively and desperately suppressing her own power. Her scrambled instincts couldn't realize that her actual power level was now below normal. Even if her rational mind realized the truth, her primal fear prevented her from releasing the restriction.
"You're... mocking me. You think you've sealed my power, but I haven't lost it. I can still take down two former Captains like you...!"
For the first time, Momo took a standard combat stance with her Zanpakuto. Despite her defiant words, the lack of her usual spirit showed she was desperate, clinging to basic swordsmanship as a last resort.
"Yeah, you're crazy strong... which is why Kisuke and I aren't enough."
Shinji Hirako smirked unpleasantly. "And that's why..."
"Ha! As if I'd be taken down by a brat who couldn't even finish off Baldy Shinji! Nice eyebrows, though!"
"That was quite the performance."
"Tch, I hate playing along with these farces."
"Really? You seemed to be enjoying your 'death' quite a bit."
Suddenly, the four who were supposed to be dead—Hiyori, Lisa, Kensei, and Love—stood up completely unharmed, surrounding Momo. In the spots where they had "fallen," strange golden dolls lay like decoys. Momo's mouth twitched for a fraction of a second before she gasped in shock.
"What...!? How!?"
"Did you really think it was weird? We lost to you purely on power last time. You think we'd come back for a rematch without a plan?"
If she had been thinking clearly, she might have noticed how cold their reactions were when their "friends" were cut down. Shinji laughed at the girl as she scanned her surroundings.
"The lady wants an explanation, Rose! Take it away!"
Responding to his call, three more figures appeared above them. The remaining Visoreds: Mashiro Kuna, Hachigen Ushoda, and the man holding a baton with golden dolls floating around him—Rose Otoribashi.
"Nice to meet you, young lady. Did you enjoy my performance?"
"Bankai: Kinshara Butodan!"
The long-haired man waved his baton. The golden dolls unraveled into ribbon-like shapes, surrounding Momo accompanied by a haunting melody.
"Is this... an illusion? Hypnosis via sound!?"
"Oh, you're Aizen's prize pupil. I suppose you're familiar with these kinds of abilities?"
Rose smirked proudly. "Exactly. I command music. A deception that captures the heart, charms the soul, and leads one to death."
"..."
"The 1st and 2nd Espada were taken by Captain Kyoraku and the others, so I had some free time. With Urahara's help, I set up this illusion in advance. It's no wonder you didn't notice—your spiritual senses are entirely under our control now."
Lightning, torrents, flames, and sand swirled around Momo. In the midst of this terrifying elemental storm, everyone except her stood calmly, their Spiritual Pressure exploding to its peak.
Simultaneously, they released their inner Hollow powers.
"Forgive us, kid. We have 'important business' with Aizen."
"—And we're done playing with the opening act."
"Alright, everyone. It's time for the counterattack."
The Visoreds prepared to make her pay for underestimating them.