A pillar of fire ascended, and the earth shook to its foundations.
Behind them lay an endless, scorching purgatory. A violent roar erupted from beneath the ground, sounding like the overlapping explosions of countless artillery shells. Heatwaves rolled in, making the scalp tingle with dread.
A scene akin to the apocalypse emerged from within the mountain forest. Foehn winds swept through, annihilating everything within sight. This included the corpses of the Gillian-class Hollows and several Soul Reapers lying in heaps outside the woods.
Visible fissures continued to expand like the gaping maws of hideous beasts, wantonly devouring everything upon the earth.
Aizen remained silent, focusing entirely on pulling Naraku Sora along as they fled.
Just before this apocalyptic scene erupted, he had barely managed to deduce the source of the crisis.
The underground.
Long before they had arrived at this forest, someone had already planted triggered, high-sequence, multiple Hado spells several meters beneath the surface. As long as the nearby spiritual pressure reached a preset threshold, the Hado would instantly detonate.
Just as he had anticipated before setting out, the Great Noble Houses had already begun clearing the obstacles from the path ahead. Such triggered Kido—which even he had difficulty detecting—was most likely the handiwork of the Five Great Noble Houses.
"The big one is coming," Naraku Sora warned.
As Aizen was lost in thought, the lava behind them had already surged toward the heavens. The violent, high heat instantly charred the ground beneath their feet, releasing bursts of pungent, thick smoke. Intense danger brewed from all directions; death felt as though it were within arm's reach.
Aizen gauged the distance and determined that his current speed wasn't enough to get both of them out. He simply stopped in his tracks and, without looking back, spoke to the youth behind him.
"Naraku, no matter what happens next, please keep my secret."
"?"
Before Naraku Sora could respond, a brilliant spiritual pressure erupted like the sun, and a massive pillar of light shot into the sky.
For a brief moment, the roaring in the forest, the falling dust, the surging winds, the rising magma, and the cracked earth all came to a standstill. It was as if they had been frozen by some powerful force.
In the next instant, several fine marks spread from beneath Aizen's feet, extending straight toward the sky until they reached the edge of vision.
Aizen's pupils flickered with electric blue light as his spiritual pressure surged to its limit. Standing amidst the endless waves of magma, his expression was calm, like a deity looking down upon the world.
"Bakudō #81. Dankū."
A high-sequence Bakudō, released with Incantation Abandonment!
The ground let out an overburdened moan as one solid, invisible barrier after another rose from the earth, sealing off every direction and isolating the terrifying heatwaves outside. He did not even neglect the ground beneath them; a flawless, zero-dead-zone defense was instantaneously constructed.
Naraku Sora watched everything unfolding before him with a look of shock.
Is it on?
He thought he had overestimated Aizen as much as possible, but it turned out he had still underestimated this 'cheater.'
What do you mean, a rookie Soul Reaper starting with Fourth-Class Spiritual Power?
What do you mean, releasing a six-sided, high-sequence Bakudō with Incantation Abandonment?
What do you mean, the enemy's careful planning is useless before Sosu-Doraemon?
Standing before the Dankū barrier that pierced the clouds, the surging lava was mere inches away, as if it could swallow them at any moment. Yet, no matter how hard it churned, it could not cross that heavenly chasm by even a single step.
Beside him, Aizen's expression was solemn and complex.
He had always hidden his talent and strength. From the day he entered the Shin'ō Academy, he had perfected his disguise before others. He did this because he realized he was on a completely different dimension compared to other excellent, or even genius, Soul Reapers.
He was a true outlier.
In the history of the Soul Society, no Soul Reaper had ever achieved such heights during their time at the Academy. Setting aside his spiritual pressure talent, the Kido spells that normal Soul Reapers struggled and puzzled over were nothing more than simple techniques he could master with ease. The same applied to all other fields.
However, now, because of an unexpected crisis, he had exposed his secret prematurely to a friend.
What would Naraku think? Would he become distant because of the deception? Or would he make the secret public?
If it truly came to that, there might no longer be a place for him in the Soul Society. Those nobles would not tolerate an existence completely outside their control, nor would they tolerate a Soul Reaper who deliberately hid his true self. Should that happen, he might have no choice but to abandon everything in the Soul Society and head for the World of the Living or Hueco Mundo.
Aizen took a deep breath and looked at Naraku Sora. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the other boy clicking his tongue in wonder.
"Truly worthy of being the Dragon of Documents!"
Aizen: "?"
What did he mean by bringing up that incredibly embarrassing title again in this situation? Is this the time to talk about paperwork? Is there something wrong with him?
Aizen exhaled deeply, trying his best to calm his wildly fluctuating state of mind to prevent himself from drawing his sword and slashing the nonsense-speaking fellow beside him.
"Seeing all this, do you have nothing you want to say?"
He pointed at the Dankū barrier enveloping them and the materialized spiritual pressure swirling around his body.
"Say what? Didn't I tell you long ago that I am the one who knows everything?"
Naraku Sora widened his eyes. "Besides, who doesn't have a few secrets? Do you see me bragging to you for no reason about how I've already apprenticed under Yamamoto, and will soon rise to the position of Head Captain to dominate the Soul Society?"
Aizen: "..."
Although the guy was just playing the fool, the atmosphere between the two instantly relaxed after his antics. Seeing how quickly Naraku Sora accepted that his friend was a top-tier powerhouse, it seemed he had been mentally prepared for this all along.
An absurd thought surfaced in Aizen's mind.
*Everything he just said... couldn't actually be true, could it?*
While he was lost in thought, the lava outside gradually solidified, and the blistering heat seemed to fade rapidly. A strange, powerful spiritual pressure entered their perception.
"Tsk, to think you survived an impact of this level. I really did underestimate you a bit."
The newcomer was also a Soul Reaper, but he did not wear the standard uniform of the Gotei 13 or the Onmitsukidō. He was a retainer of a Great Noble House.
Though his words were full of contempt, the flash of horror on the man's face revealed his true feelings. Clearly, what Aizen had displayed had completely shattered his worldview.
"A truly rare genius of a Soul Reaper."
A sickening smile appeared on the man's face. "I just wonder... how much longer can you hold on?"
So what if he was a genius? The upper limit of spiritual pressure was fixed. After blocking an impact comparable to a volcanic eruption, his spiritual energy was likely exhausted. It was time to end this farce.
The man slowly drew the Zanpakutō from his waist. A sharp aura surged, and visible spiritual pressure agitated the air. He stared coldly at the two in front of him.
"It's time to send you on your way."
Aizen's expression shifted slightly. The opponent's spiritual power was around the Fourth-Class—the man was definitely a Lieutenant-level Soul Reaper. Just as the man said, the defensive barrier earlier had indeed consumed a significant amount of his spiritual power. Naraku Sora was no match for an enemy of this caliber.
This time, things looked truly dire...