"Aizen Sōsuke…"
"In just a few minutes of talking, he managed to interfere with my senses…"
Beneath his black hair,
Yhwach frowned involuntarily.
Nearly half of his body was already shrouded in black shadow.
It was obvious—
the time he could remain in Soul Society was running out fast!
Right now,
even if he wanted to make another move and execute Kurosaki Ichigo on the spot…
after being interrupted once, he no longer had the same interest as before.
And the moment this scene was revealed by the ranking video,
it instantly caused an uproar!
Viewers all over the world,
while letting out a huge sigh of relief for Kurosaki Ichigo,
also became wildly excited, immediately recalling the previous ranking—
back in the Thousand-Year Blood War,
that same "savior" identity,
and those overwhelmingly invincible, swaggering performances!!!
"Mm…"
"So we're relying on Aizen to cover the ending again?"
Inside Squad One,
the old Captain-Commander's aged eyes were filled with complicated emotion.
Deep down,
he even felt a trace of humiliation—
as if Aizen had stepped on his head again.
Yes.
From beginning to end,
Kurosaki Ichigo had been completely isolated and without support.
He desperately needed a reliable partner at his side.
But on the Gotei 13's side,
including the old man himself…
not a single captain could stand up and help!
Only Aizen—
even without showing himself—
even though he was imprisoned in Muken,
still managed to save Kurosaki Ichigo across space,
using the power of his Zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu!
Otherwise…
if that strike had landed,
Kurosaki Ichigo really would've been killed on the spot!
That was why the Captain-Commander felt such loss and self-blame!
His presence in the future…
wasn't even worth a single strand of Aizen's hair!!!
"Sigh…"
"Whether it's this scene right now, or the final battle against the Soul King Yhwach…"
"the only partner beside Kurosaki Ichigo who can participate in that high-level game…"
"is still Aizen alone."
Kyōraku Shunsui shook his head, as if resigned to fate, and sighed with a complicated expression.
No matter how much hostility and prejudice they had toward Aizen,
they had to admit—
that man, and his Zanpakutō Kyōka Suigetsu…
were destined to stand above the entire Gotei 13!
And after this scene played,
Aizen even became Kurosaki Ichigo's lifesaving benefactor!
At that point,
from the protagonist's perspective…
who was the "outsider," really didn't need to be argued anymore.
It even made Kyōraku Shunsui feel a faint sense of crisis!!!
———
Meanwhile,
inside Las Noches.
The viewing atmosphere turned fanatical.
Every corner was filled with worship and adoration for Aizen!
"Long live Lord Aizen…"
"His Zanpakutō 'Kyōka Suigetsu' absolutely deserves to be second place on the list!!!"
The dark-skinned Espada, Zommari,
shouted feverishly, kowtowing in devotion, emotions surging.
Even though this time,
the video didn't show any extra footage about the "Blood Armor" topic—
whether it was Zommari or the other Hollows and Arrancar…
in every one of their minds,
a scene still surfaced—
Aizen sitting calmly on his prison chair in the darkness of Muken,
controlling everything with effortless composure.
And the fact that he helped Kurosaki Ichigo,
and stopped Yhwach,
only proved even more—
Aizen would forever be that powerful man worthy of Hueco Mundo's following!!!
"Captain Aizen…"
Beneath the throne,
Ichimaru Gin said with a smiling squint:
"Not only did you nurture Kurosaki Ichigo's growth, you even saved his life at a critical moment!"
"I think when he sees this, he'll probably completely change his view of you…"
"and finally treat you as a truly reliable companion, won't he?"
Ichimaru Gin smiled as he spoke.
"Possibly."
On the throne,
Aizen was very satisfied with this plot reveal.
The corners of his mouth lifted,
and he wore a faint smile:
"No matter when, I welcome him to Hueco Mundo at any time."
"In the future, as long as I join hands with Kurosaki Ichigo!"
"My Kyōka Suigetsu, together with his Zanpakutō Zangetsu…"
"then no one before us will be able to stand against us!!!"
———
And in fact,
Ichimaru Gin really did call it!
Once Yhwach's words hammered the fact into place—
that Aizen had stepped forward to save him again—
reality itself…
in Karakura Town's city district,
inside a high school campus.
Under his orange bangs,
Kurosaki Ichigo's eyes burst with intense light.
He clenched his fist excitedly, stared at the screen, and said with gratitude:
"Aizen…"
"I really misunderstood him before!"
"This man isn't a villain at all!"
"From my personal point of view, he's actually a good person!!!"
Kurosaki Ichigo flashed a row of white teeth and looked toward the people around him—
Arisawa Tatsuki, Sado Yasutora, and even his wife Inoue Orihime.
Then he actually took the initiative,
making a suggestion and invitation:
"How about…"
"when the ranking video ends, we go find Urahara Kisuke for help!"
"Have him take us to Hueco Mundo!"
"Honestly, I want to meet Aizen face-to-face…"
"to really understand him, and have a proper talk with him!!!"
Worth mentioning—
while Kurosaki Ichigo couldn't wait to voice his thoughts,
you could clearly see it:
on his neck, and on both sides of his cheeks,
blood-red markings appeared—
exactly the same as the ones in the video!
Yes.
It was Blut Vene!
Just now, because of the protagonist's "viewing bonus"!
His power synchronized with the future—
his pure-blood Quincy lineage awakened,
and he automatically learned Blut Vene!
Which meant…
as this round of the ranking continued,
up to this moment, in the real world,
the Kurosaki Ichigo who originally didn't even have spiritual pressure…
now—
just by standing there,
just by watching—
already possessed a terrifying power that stood at the pinnacle of Shinigami…
a four-in-one battle strength!
It was just a pity—
right now, aside from his companions,
there were no other outsiders present.
Otherwise,
if the powerhouses of the Bleach world learned this news…
their jaws would drop in shock!
They'd be stunned by Kurosaki Ichigo's current overwhelming combat power—
and the miracle of his lightning-fast leveling up within a single day!!!
———
Back to the video.
Before the audience could finish discussing it,
Yhwach's voice sounded again inside the footage:
"Forget it…"
"Haschwalth, don't dwell on it. We're leaving."
With his back to the camera,
his black cloak flared as Yhwach clearly prepared to depart.
However…
the enraged Kurosaki Ichigo
roared, insisting on stopping them:
"Wait… stop right there!!!"
"You've destroyed Soul Society like this!"
"I won't let you just leave!"
He rose.
Both hands gripping the hilt.
Kurosaki Ichigo staggered forward,
swinging his blade in fury.
He tried to stop Yhwach before he stepped into the shadow!
"Can Kurosaki Ichigo do it?"
"The second-generation Zangetsu—backstabbing Yhwach and stopping him from leaving!"
"But… between them stands that Emperor's aide!!!"
Even though,
all this time,
the ranking video had never exposed
Haschwalth's specific abilities,
or his most famous battle scenes—
still…
just from his cold dominance,
and that unfathomable, mysterious aura,
no viewer dared to look down on
the personal attendant by Yhwach's side.
Maybe—
Haschwalth's combat strength was also terrifying!
Otherwise, he wouldn't repeatedly appear
in every key situation!
Sure enough…
the viewers weren't wrong.
Before the blade of the second-generation Zangetsu
could fully come down from midair—
at that moment,
Haschwalth glanced back.
As he stopped with indifferent calm,
his hand beneath the white coat reached down—
and he drew the sword at his waist.
"Shing—!!!"
One slash.
Sword-light flashed.
Before the audience could even react,
when Haschwalth completed that motion—
the next second,
the second-generation Zangetsu went clang—
and snapped cleanly into two pieces!
The blade fell.
In a dynamic close-up shot—
and in Kurosaki Ichigo's own desperate, vacant stare—
it stabbed into the heavily ruined earth of Seireitei,
letting cold rain pound endlessly onto it.
And when this happened—
once the ranking video transmitted it into the real world—
it immediately caused a massive shock!
Because the breaking of the second-generation Zangetsu
stunned the entire world!!!
"Holy—"
"No way…"
"The second-generation Zangetsu… actually…"
"it got cut in half just like that?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo lost way too miserably this time!!!"
Inside Squad One,
the Shinigami captains looked at each other.
Every single one of them was dumbstruck.
No one had expected this scene at all!
After all…
the Fullbring arc
had only finished playing not long ago.
And the upgrade of the second-generation Zangetsu
had once plunged the entire Bleach world
into shock and heated discussion for a long time!
But who would've thought…
the first battle after returning to Soul Society—
the second-generation Zangetsu, which the viewers had deemed a divine weapon—
and what's more,
it wasn't even Yhwach striking personally—
it was Haschwalth,
who casually cut it in half with a single slash,
like it was nothing!
Such an outrageous result,
naturally brought extreme shock.
The captains couldn't accept it at all for a while.
He couldn't even clear the first stage.
He even lost to Haschwalth.
Then later,
when facing that peak-level darkness—
the Soul King Yhwach…
the toughness of Zangetsu…
would it just be snapped again just as easily?
Just imagining that outcome
was enough to make anyone's scalp go numb!!!
"Sigh…"
Under white hair—
Hitsugaya Tōshirō shook his head and sighed regretfully:
"Kurosaki Ichigo did his best. He made every effort he could… but in the end, even his Zanpakutō broke!"
Watching the footage—
Kurosaki Ichigo standing like a statue,
both hands gripping the broken hilt,
that desperate, lonely silhouette…
Hitsugaya Tōshirō almost couldn't bear to keep watching.
From the bottom of his heart,
he felt pain for the protagonist.
"Yeah…"
Komamura Sajin felt the same and said:
"This situation is just too despairing."
"At this point, even if Kurosaki Ichigo's conviction is firm…"
"even if he desperately wants to protect Soul Society…"
"in the end he's powerless—there's nothing he can do at all!!!"
Even though,
Kurosaki Ichigo's experiences up to now
had already told the audience countless times:
miracles always happened to him…
still—
a broken Zanpakutō
wasn't something you could joke about.
Unless someone had the ability
to repair it,
or to forge it anew,
only then could it be possible—
for the second-generation Zangetsu
to be reborn from nothing!
But Komamura Sajin believed
that at that point in time—
with the Gotei 13 already collapsing—
even just cleaning up the aftermath
was a desperate race against time.
How could they possibly stop in place,
or even have any method at all,
to help Kurosaki Ichigo repair his Zanpakutō?
Unless…
"Heh heh…"
"Don't worry too much…"
At that moment,
just as the atmosphere on-site
clearly became heavy and oppressive,
Kurotsuchi Mayuri stepped forward on his own.
He bared his teeth and reminded them with a grin:
"Don't forget Squad Zero…"
"The Blade God Ōetsu said—"
"the man who forged everyone's Zanpakutō…"
"with his ability and craftsmanship…"
"repairing Zangetsu, or reforging it…"
"is something he can do in minutes!"
As he said that,
Kurotsuchi Mayuri snorted,
deliberately emphasizing his certainty:
"Besides, Seireitei is about to be wiped out!"
"Squad Zero can't possibly keep hiding up there forever…"
"watching with folded arms and doing nothing, can they?"
Hearing that,
everyone present—
including the Captain-Commander—
froze for a moment,
then their eyes lit up as they agreed!
"If it's Ōetsu…"
"If he's willing to forge it personally, then it might even be possible…"
"for 'Zangetsu' to upgrade again!"
"to advance into the third-generation Zangetsu!!!"
Unohana Retsu's eyes flickered.
After thinking deeply,
she boldly proposed that possibility.
And those words
immediately caused another uproar!
Nearby, the captains were stunned:
"Huh?! It hasn't even been that long… Zangetsu can upgrade again?"
"The second-generation Zangetsu already fused Fullbring power!"
"Then the third-generation Zangetsu… don't tell me…"
"it'll even include the strongest Soul King power as part of it?!"
Blades of debate clashed.
Kuchiki Byakuya opened his eyes.
Even Zaraki Kenpachi wore an expression of disbelief.
Four-in-one by nature.
Multiple inner spirits.
If it also added Soul King power on top of that—
then the third-generation Zangetsu
would truly become a Soul King–class divine weapon!
Even its appearance and form
would inevitably undergo earth-shaking change.
Just thinking about that result
was enough to make people feel thrilled!!!
At the same time,
in the video footage—
as Yhwach and Haschwalth's figures
vanished one after the other into the black shadow,
this segment
temporarily came to an end.
However, the screen didn't go dark.
Instead, it immediately switched.
Very quickly,
after a flash,
a new segment began seamlessly—
the ranking video continued to reveal:
The sky
was no longer gloomy.
It wasn't raining.
And the location was no longer within Seireitei—
it shifted to the outskirts.
In the footage,
you could clearly see
Kyōraku Shunsui, Komamura Sajin, Soi Fon, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Hirako Shinji, and others…
the few captains who were still in good condition and not severely injured,
gathered together,
solemnly continuing to wait.
And Kurosaki Ichigo
was also there with them,
present and participating in this welcoming ritual!
"Heh heh…"
"So it's the few of us who are going to ride the Heavenly Pillar down to the lower world, huh?"
"As for Ōetsu—once his hint arrives, you'll be carrying an important mission."
"You have to repair 'Zangetsu' properly, no matter what!!!"
At that moment—
in reality,
inside the Royal Palace space,
everyone watching the footage was thrilled.
Even though in earlier rankings,
Squad Zero had already been revealed to the world
and was no longer a hidden secret…
before this,
only the "Eyed Monk" had appeared on screen.
And after that,
the Royal Palace had been invaded and heavily damaged—
so the scenes they should've had
never showed up again!
Squad Zero,
as the King's Special War Potential—
the spectacle they deserved!
Now—
the grand welcoming ceremony currently playing
finally delivered the proper "face" and grandeur,
letting Squad Zero's presence go straight to the maximum!
Only then did people finally feel satisfied.
They were extremely eager for what came next—
and for their own upcoming scenes!!!
After that,
it wasn't long before—
above Seireitei,
the air trembled.
A roaring rumble sounded.
Then,
all the clouds split apart!
In a bright, clear sky,
a gigantic crimson Heavenly Pillar appeared,
descending from the heavens!
"BOOOOM—!!!"
In the end,
under the audience's stunned gaze,
it crashed into the ground,
kicking up three successive massive shockwaves.
Squad Zero's five members appeared.
They officially made their entrance.
And it also signaled—
the third-generation Zangetsu
was about to be "reborn in nirvana,"
and revealed in shocking fashion
within the Royal Palace!!!
(End of Chapter)
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