Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 101 - The Mighty Sosuke Aizen

"How... how is this possible?!"

Lisa Yadomaru's eyes went wide, arms locked around the spear's shaft. No matter how much force was poured into it, the spear didn't move an inch.

"What are you so surprised about?"

Aizen released it and reappeared behind Lisa in an instant, right hand raising the sword high. The smile at the corner of his mouth hadn't moved, but his eyes were utterly cold.

"Did you really think everything I am today was built on Kyoka Suigetsu?"

CLANG,

Flames burst along a blade as Isshin Kurosaki, Zanpakuto released, drove it sideways and intercepted the slash.

"Isshin Kurosaki..." The two stood facing each other, and Aizen's expression shifted into something unreadable. "It really has been a while."

"I'd rather never see you again!"

Flames surged straight for Aizen's face. Before they even connected, a wall of scorching heat came crashing forward. Aizen's expression flickered. He threw his weight into the blade, used the recoil, and hurled himself backward.

"Ha!"

The shout detonated beside his ear. Aizen's pupils shrank, Yoruichi Shihoin's heavy fist, wrapped in something unidentifiable, was already there, driving straight for his face.

CRACK,

Aizen shot out a hand and caught the blow. Yoruichi's pupils contracted in turn. Hairline fractures spread across the specially made gauntlet, then Aizen squeezed, and it shattered.

WHOOSH,

Before Aizen could follow up, a golden whip tore through the air. His expression didn't change. The sword swept out and knocked it aside.

"Uwahh!"

At that same moment, Yoruichi struck again. Right hand still caught in Aizen's grip, the only option was to attack instead of defend, the left fist swung forward.

Aizen released the right hand. He didn't dodge. He didn't retreat. The sword that had just come down swung again, meeting Yoruichi's left fist head-on, no flourish at all.

BOOM,

The impact rang out. The left gauntlet turned to dust in an instant. Yoruichi's pupils shrank, spiritual pressure erupting outward as the body surged into Shunko, the fusion of Kido and physical combat.

THUD,

Sent flying backward. A thin white mark cut across the knuckles. Yoruichi landed hard in the rubble. In that one moment, if Shunko hadn't kicked in, if the specially made gauntlet hadn't already eaten so much of the force, that left hand would be finished by now.

"Die!"

A pointed spike on the left index finger. Countless copies of Sui-Feng materialized in the air and launched a simultaneous assault.

"I remember your ability... two-hit certain kill, wasn't it." Aizen's tone didn't shift. "Useless."

The left hand extended. Spiritual pressure condensed in the palm, and a transparent light shield materialized and held. Sui-Feng's thrusts stopped cold against it.

"Then try something useful! Aizen!"

Gripping serrated blades in both hands, Kensei Muguruma had activated Bankai and donned the mask, no one had caught when. Spiritual pressure that had just barely cracked the threshold of the second tier of Rei'i pooled entirely into both hands, and a terrifying wind roared outward.

"The Visored, huh..."

BOOM,

Both fists crashed into the light shield. Aizen's expression didn't change, a faint smile still at the corner of his mouth. But the next instant, a massive blasting force poured out in a continuous stream from those twin blades.

BOOM!

Under the pressure, Aizen's body was driven back several paces. The light shield flickered, its edges guttering. Absorbing consecutive captain-level strikes had pushed it to its limit.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

"—!"

The moment Aizen steadied himself, a voice came from behind. Then spiritual pressure at the same second tier of Rei'i detonated, a high-density slash laced with scorching flames, released at point-blank range.

CLANG!

Every onlooker froze. So did Isshin Kurosaki, who had just thrown the attack. There at the back of Aizen's neck, a second transparent light shield had appeared, and compared to the one just produced in the left palm, it was superior in both scale and density by a wide margin.

"I originally prepared it for Yamamoto." Aizen turned around, raising his sword high. "I was afraid he might reach Karakura Town ahead of time and coordinate with all of you—seize the moment to unleash what he showed at Sokyoku Hill."

"I never expected you would be the ones to force it out. Be proud."

"Four Beasts Barrier!"

CLANG,

A quiet shout rang out nearby. A barrier of light bearing the heads of dragon, tiger, phoenix, and turtle rose up before Isshin Kurosaki and caught what would have been a lethal blow.

"A new Kido, developed independently. Worth praising."

CRACK,

As Aizen's spiritual pressure kept rising, the barrier shattered, but Isshin Kurosaki had already cleared the attack range, and the blow, after destroying the barrier, struck nothing.

"Uwah!"

A small white figure flickered into existence to Aizen's left. Mashiro Kuna, wearing a dragonfly-eyed mask, had built up a full charging dash and drove a kick straight into the abdomen.

"Too slow."

A slight sidestep. The kick, carrying captain-level force, missed entirely. Mashiro Kuna wasn't discouraged. The goal had already been accomplished.

"Uwaaaaaaaa!"

The enormous spiked club came crashing down again, blotting out the sky. Spiritual pressure gathered beneath Aizen's feet as he moved to evade, then a strange, sweet fragrance drifted to his nose.

"This is..."

Everything inverted. The club that had been descending from overhead was suddenly in front of him. Sui-Feng was dropping from above. Lisa Yadomaru clutched the great spear and thrust from behind.

Yoruichi, now in Shunko, wearing boot guards that matched the shattered gauntlets, kicked in from the left. Kensei Muguruma, gripping the serrated blades and trailing a howling gale, drove in from the right. Shinji Hirako, Zanpakuto swaying at the ready, watched Aizen from below with a mocking look, then launched forward as well.

BOOM!

Six captain-level Soul Reapers attacked at once. The spiritual pressure they unleashed seemed to crush the very air flat. And then something greater erupted, a pressure that dwarfed all six of them combined, surging up from Aizen and punching skyward.

"This... this spiritual pressure?!"

Isshin Kurosaki, who hadn't joined the assault, stared with wide eyes. Pressure of this magnitude, only ever felt from two people before. And Aizen's was still climbing.

The light shield reappeared at the back of his neck and stopped Lisa Yadomaru's thrust. The right hand swept out hard and shattered Love Aikawa's spiked club. The left hand reached out and closed around Sui-Feng's wrist.

"Even if you did land a hit, that so-called two-hit certain kill can be erased with spiritual pressure."

The left hand drove forward and sent Sui-Feng flying. At the same moment the right hand swung the Zanpakuto and drove Kensei Muguruma back, and right then Yoruichi's kick arrived. The now-free left hand caught it, wrenched hard, and crushed the boot guard to pieces.

"So this is your Zanpakuto's ability, Shinji Hirako."

The mocking smile was unconcealed. Aizen looked at the fury twisting across Shinji Hirako's face and simply shook his head.

"Too weak."

SLICE,

They crossed paths. Blood sprayed. A long gash opened across Shinji Hirako's back. Aizen stood where he was, unhurried. And with that, the six-on-one siege...

"Shiju no Saimon!"

A black barrier sealed around Aizen, all sides but one left open. And there, in that gap behind him, the one carrying the greatest spiritual pressure in the area aside from Aizen himself had been waiting all along.

Kisuke Urahara raised his hand.

"Scatter and fade into pure light... Hado #91—Senju Kotentaiho!"

➤ Next: The Hogyoku's Fusion