Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 57 - The Shattered Negacion

"Trinity... what is that?!"

Horror spread across his face. Sosuke Aizen stared at Ichigo's current form in disbelief. The change in appearance was one thing, what truly terrified Aizen was the spiritual pressure that far surpassed his own. Spiritual pressure that had transcended the very limits of the Soul Reaper species!

"Simply put, it's the state where the power of the Hollow and the Quincy are pushed to their absolute peak through the Soul Reaper's framework." Ichigo kept it brief. "Beyond that, I can't be bothered explaining—you don't deserve to hear it."

Hollow and Quincy are naturally opposing existences. The two powers are fundamentally incompatible, each the other's born enemy.

But with the Human, origin of all things, as the foundation, the Soul Reaper's framework as the system of expression, and the powers of Hollow and Quincy serving as the primary Zanpakuto, two forces and four bloodlines each fulfilling their own role: even powers that stand in direct opposition maintain a balance in this state.

Under normal conditions, the Hollow and Soul Reaper powers manifest as a long blade, while the Quincy and Human powers manifest as a short blade. Four opposing forces inside Ichigo's body hold a miraculous equilibrium, each keeping the others in check.

Once that balance breaks, a runaway state becomes easy to trigger, Hollowfication, loss of control over spirit particles, whichever side grows too dominant will set off its corresponding rampage.

Three years ago, when Ichigo entered middle school, the normally steady growth of his spiritual pressure suddenly began skyrocketing at a geometric rate. Entering adolescence, the speed of its growth was beyond all imagination.

Reaching an understanding with the two blade spirits residing within him, both sides made every effort to suppress their own power in order to slow that growth, because left to develop freely, Ichigo would find it nearly impossible to keep his spiritual pressure under control, and falling into a runaway state would become all but inevitable.

In fact, the power Yasutora Sado awakened was a direct result of stimulation from the spiritual pressure Ichigo couldn't contain, leaking out beyond control.

Orihime Inoue, Tatsuki Arisawa, Keigo Asano, and Mizuiro Kojima were the same, only the time spent together hadn't been long enough. It wasn't until high school, when they ended up in the same class and were in close proximity, that they fully awakened or became high-spiritual-power individuals.

It was only shortly after the school term began that Ichigo, gradually maturing, no longer needed to worry about excessive spiritual pressure growth affecting his body. The two blade spirits lifted their suppression entirely.

Now, approaching full maturity, Ichigo had become capable of freely controlling the power within him. Even after breaking the balance, he would no longer fall into a runaway state. Instead, one force would drive another, fully igniting the powers of the Quincy and the Hollow, and together with the Soul Reaper power serving as the framework, that was Trinity.

...As for why it was Trinity rather than Quaternity: the Human power was simply too weak. In Ichigo's case it functioned primarily as a foundation and a harmonizing element, and didn't count as a power in its own right.

There were two ways to break the balance. The first was for Ichigo to control it himself, awakening a particular power at a deeper level, breaking the equilibrium by will alone, then letting it drive the other force into Trinity.

But that was beyond his current capability. The two forces existed in an extremely stable equilibrium for the sake of self-preservation, and breaking that balance alone was extremely difficult at his current level. Considerable further training would be required.

The second method was far simpler: use an external opposing force to stimulate one of the two powers. Having the two internal forces mutually stimulate each other was also possible, but the burden on the body was too great, his body as it currently stood couldn't endure it.

The long blade, representing Hollow and Soul Reaper, could be stimulated with Human or Quincy power. The short blade, representing Quincy and Human, could be stimulated with Soul Reaper or Hollow power. Either side breaking the balance was enough to enter Trinity.

In fact, ever since entering the Soul Society, Ichigo had been careful not to use the short blade against the Captains, precisely out of concern that continuous fighting would stimulate the Quincy power. He had fought exclusively with the long blade.

For one thing, there was no need to enter Trinity State just to bully the little ones, this was power on an entirely different level. For another, it was preparation for exactly this kind of situation, keeping a trump card in reserve. Someone like him loved nothing more than watching people make that stunned, terrified expression.

The above is the detailed explanation Ichigo gave to the Soul Reaper side after the battle. None of it was classified; any Soul Reaper who wanted to understand it was free to do so. But that fellow Sosuke Aizen, he truly didn't deserve to hear it.

"So then. Are you ready, Sosuke Aizen."

The twin blades swept out in a fierce swing. Not a shred of spiritual pressure leaked outward, nothing more than an empty slash, and yet the surrounding space seemed affected, groaning as though it could no longer bear the weight.

"What a... terrifying power..." Sosuke Aizen murmured, gaze locked on Ichigo. "Truly worthy of being called... a miracle of creation!"

Such thoughts weren't Aizen's alone. Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, who had quietly withdrawn from Bankai, thought the same. He stepped back several paces, and those ordinarily clouded old eyes fixed themselves deep and unblinking on Ichigo's back.

"Heh. Prepare to die, bastard!" Ichigo said with a cold laugh. "Right now I'm going to cleave that barrier apart, drag you down from the sky, and cut you down!"

"Feel free." Sosuke Aizen recovered his composure and returned the cold laugh. "I rather want to see just how strong the power of a Transcendent—one who has broken through the limits—truly is."

"Then watch!"

The two black blades crossed. Golden radiance bloomed at their tips. Two Getsuga arcs appeared, merged, and became a single larger arc.

The spiritual pressure that had transcended all limits erupted in that moment with a thunderous roar, a terrifying spiritual pressure that only Soul Reapers of First-Class Spiritual Rank could even perceive!

"Getsuga Tensho again." Sosuke Aizen narrowed his eyes. "Nothing more than a technique that uses spiritual pressure. Nothing special... wait. That is... what?"

"Is that a Cero... no! A Gran Rey Cero?!"

At the tip of the horn on his forehead, another terrifying spiritual pressure had gathered. Unlike the golden Getsuga arc, this was high-density black spiritual pressure condensing into form, a massive sphere. The highest-grade Cero: the Gran Rey Cero!

"Just what... is this?!"

The next instant, the Cero and the Getsuga arc merged into one. Gold and black fused together, transforming into a pale violet arc. Compared to the arc produced by the twin blades alone, the combined result had actually grown somewhat smaller, yet the aura of power concentrated within it sent a chill straight to the bone.

"Come down, Sosuke Aizen!"

The pale violet arc answered and surged forth. Its terrifying power warped the surrounding space, and the Negacion, renowned as absolutely inviolable, seemed to let out a groan.

BOOM!

Getsuga Tensho × Gran Rey Cero collided with the Negacion and detonated with a thunderous roar. Endless radiance lit up the sky above Sokyoku Hill.

Everyone present squinted against the light. What was unfolding before them surpassed all imagination. For the Captains, the activation of a Negacion was already a once-in-a-century event. Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's Bankai was nearly once in a millennium. And Ichigo, having transcended the limits of Soul Reapers entirely, was...

But what unfolded at this very moment made the Captains, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto included, go wide-eyed without exception.

The Negacion, which should have been absolutely inviolable, had been shattered!

➤ Next: Hogyoku!! Hogyoku!!