"Boom…!"
A blinding beam of light tore across the battlefield.
In that instant, the very fabric of space seemed to fracture—the first strike had already cleaved through the air, and before its afterimage faded, the second followed in flawless unison, sweeping across the ruined landscape in a searing arc.
The two attacks converged—and then, an explosion of cataclysmic force erupted.
"Such terrifying power…" Aizen Sōsuke murmured, his voice calm despite the inferno raging around him. He let the smoldering remnants of Feathertexture slip from his fingers, the scorched fragments drifting into the molten rim of the crater below. Even the hem of his Shihakushō bore faint traces of soot—a rare imperfection on a man who prided himself on immaculate control.
From a distance, Akira scoffed. "As expected of Aizen Sōsuke. Even caught off guard, you barely flinched."
A second voice cut in—dry, measured. "Indeed. Any other captain would've been obliterated before they registered the attack."
Aizen's lips curved into that familiar, knowing smile. "Unfortunately for you… I am not merely 'any' captain."
Akira chuckled, low and sharp. "What a coincidence. Neither am I."
Both understood the unspoken truth: this was the strongest opponent either had ever faced.
Aizen raised a hand, his reiatsu surging like a storm breaking over a silent sea. "If you can unleash such devastation… then let us see how you withstand a force you cannot comprehend, let alone break."
"Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō."
A blinding bolt of azure lightning—shaped like a coiling dragon—erupted from his palm.
At the same moment, Akira roared his counter:
"Sixty Million Volts—Thunder Dragon!"
A titanic serpent of raw electricity surged forth, its scales crackling with enough voltage to level a city. The two attacks collided in a cataclysm of light and thunder, swallowing the battlefield in a storm of annihilating energy.
But Aizen did not pause.
"Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi."
Instantly, a massive black prism materialized around Akira—four towering walls of cursed energy, sealing him within absolute darkness.
Yet Akira didn't flinch. A smirk played on his lips as he whispered, "A Kidō of this level… cast without incantation? Pathetic."
Golden light erupted from his core—pure, overwhelming power tearing through the void.
"Boom!"
Kurohitsugi shattered before it could fully compress, its structure collapsing under the sheer weight of Akira's reiatsu. The backlash ripped through the earth, carving another crater where Aizen had stood mere seconds prior.
But Aizen was no longer there.
He reappeared above the chaos, perched calmly in the air, his posture untouched by the storm below. "Of course," he said, voice smooth as silk, "I never expected Kurohitsugi alone to contain you."
His eyes gleamed with predatory satisfaction.
"However… I did expect you to lower your guard for just one moment—just long enough."
Akira's breath hitched.
That was when he saw it.
Kyōka Suigetsu lay abandoned on the scorched earth, its blade half-submerged in a shimmer of distorted air—nearly invisible amidst the lingering heat haze.
Aizen's voice dropped to a whisper, laced with chilling finality:
"When a warrior endures an overwhelming assault… the first thing they do upon regaining their senses is look—to assess, to reorient… to see."
He tilted his head, almost pitying.
"And in that instant… you looked at me."
Akira froze.
His vision blurred—not from injury, but from realization.
Aizen's smile widened, triumphant, serene. "You've already seen my Zanpakutō's release, Akira. You always have."
The world around him shifted—not in space, but in truth.
"It's over," Aizen said softly. "Thank you for the entertainment. But your role in this ends… now."
After finally suppressing his triumphant smile, Aizen reunited with Kyōka Suigetsu and drove the blade into Akira's heart.
A clean strike—solid, real. No illusions, no tricks.
Aizen felt a sense of relief. But as he lifted his gaze, he was met with an unsettling sight: Akira staring at him with an odd expression.
"Even you, Aizen… Do you talk this much when you think you've won?"
"What?!"
Aizen's pupils contracted. Just as he tried to step back, Akira's grip tightened around him like a vice.
"Impossible… I struck your vitals!"
Aizen struggled, a rare flicker of fear breaking through his usual composure. But in the next moment, a surge of electricity erupted from the blade embedded in Akira's chest, coursing through Kyōka Suigetsu and paralyzing Aizen's body.
"Look closely, Aizen. What did you actually pierce?"
Akira sneered as storm clouds gathered ominously above them.
Aizen looked down—and his eyes widened in disbelief. The point where his sword had pierced had transformed into pure, crackling energy.
"This ability… It's unlike anything I've seen before!"
Gritting his teeth, Aizen forced himself to stay calm. "No matter… Even if you survived the strike, you still fell under Kyōka Suigetsu's perfect hypnosis!"
At those words, Akira chuckled and spoke a line that once belonged to Aizen himself:
"Tell me, Aizen… When did you have the illusion that I was the one being deceived?"
As he spoke, his eyes gleamed with an eerie red glow. Slowly, three tomoe began to spin—the Sharingan.
Aizen's breath hitched. "What is this…? Another hypnosis technique?!"
A creeping sense of unease filled him. How had he never noticed those crimson eyes before? It was absurdly conspicuous.
Unless—
From the very moment their battle began, he had already been caught in the illusion of those red eyes, forced to overlook their presence entirely.
"Tch… A tricky technique," Aizen muttered, regaining his composure.
Akira smirked. "Your reiatsu is impressive, Aizen. The standard Sharingan alone wouldn't have been enough to fool you for long. That's why I let you think Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis had taken hold… to ensure you played right into my hand."
Above them, the swirling thunderclouds reached their peak, crackling with violent energy.
"It wasn't easy—even for me—to find the one moment when a man as cautious as you would let his guard down…"
Akira's grip tightened around Aizen's arms.
"But now, the time for talk is over." His voice crackled with the storm's fury. "The thunder has reached its limit—now it's time for you to lose your soul!"
"Raikage!"
With those words, the amassed lightning in the heavens reached critical mass, forming a colossal sphere of pure destruction. Then, like the wrath of the heavens itself, it descended—a meteor of raw, electrified annihilation.
Aizen's expression flickered—was that panic? "Wait—stop! Do you intend to die with me?!"
Akira's eyes gleamed with untamed power. "Did you forget, Aizen? You already pierced the thunder itself. My own lightning cannot harm me!"
As he spoke, the brilliant blue light of the incoming strike bathed the battlefield.
And then—
BOOM—!!!
The explosion's radiance split the sky, its deafening roar shaking the very foundations of the Seireitei.