Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 112 - The Serpent's Fang

"All Creation Annihilation, huh..." Uryu turned the name over for a moment, then nodded. "Fitting. An ability like that can cut through a lot of trouble."

"Well then, no time to waste, get moving to the World of the Living and go beat Aizen."

"No."

"I said no." Ichigo watched Uryu's blank stare and said it again. "I'm not going to the World of the Living."

"Wait—why not?" Uryu's mouth twitched. "What exactly is going through your head?"

"You're an idiot." Ichigo gave Uryu the look he reserved for particularly dense people. "If I head to the World of the Living right now, what happens if Aizen just happens to be on his way back from there at the same time?"

"That's..."

"Either way, Karakura Town is Aizen's target, right?" Ichigo crossed both arms over his chest. "Even when Karakura Town returns to the World of the Living, we're inside it, we'll go back with it."

"So why would I run back and forth at all? Wouldn't it be simpler to just wait right here?"

World of the Living. The fake Karakura Town.

"Farewell, Tosen."

The blade fell without mercy, cutting down the former Captain of Squad 9, Kaname Tosen, after Hollowfication.

"Aizen!"

Komamura struggled to push up from the ground, but couldn't manage it. Aizen had already severed the left arm, and blood poured without stopping from the stump. All Komamura could do was watch, helpless, as the eyes of a closest friend, eyes that had regained their sight through Hollowfication, lost their light once more.

'Don't grieve... this is the justice... I chose.'

Lips moved silently. Kaname Tosen never let the words out. But Komamura understood. Powerlessly, Komamura lowered his head, and great heavy teardrops fell, mixing with the blood.

"You should be glad for Tosen."

A layer of white substance covered Aizen's body. He looked like a chrysalis on the verge of breaking open. The Hogyoku's evolution had already advanced to its second stage.

"Tosen has seen this filthy world with his own eyes, and now will never have to see it again."

"Damn you!"

The roar tore out of Komamura's throat, but there was nothing to be done. All around lay fallen Captains.

"How pitiful!" Aizen swept his gaze across the scene and spoke slowly. "I had thought you might push me one step further. To think it only amounts to this."

"It seems the Hogyoku's enhancement has made the evolution it grants me correspondingly stronger as well."

In this cocooned state, Aizen had now truly set foot in the realm of the Transcendent. Not yet at the level of Trinity Ichigo on Sokyoku Hill, but those below Third-class Rei'i could no longer perceive his spiritual pressure at all.

"I still underestimated the Hogyoku." Aizen murmured to himself. "Had I known, I would have let the Soul Reapers all come together."

"At this level, facing Ichigo Kurosaki still feels a little... insufficient."

The people lying on the ground couldn't answer him. Even those who had begun to slowly regain consciousness lacked the strength to speak.

The evolution the enhanced Hogyoku had granted was simply too terrifying. Aizen stood far, far above any Soul Reaper.

"Isn't that right, Gin?"

"Quite so, Captain Aizen."

The only one still standing, apart from Aizen, was the former Captain of Squad 3, Gin Ichimaru. Rangiku Matsumoto lay unconscious at his feet. Their battle had ended the same moment Aizen's victory had.

"Open the Senkaimon." Aizen's voice was calm, almost gentle. "We go to the true Karakura Town, and claim the key to what lies above the heavens."

"Of course, Captain Aizen."

Gin plunged his short Zanpakuto into the space before him. Ripples spread outward, and an ancient-looking gate slowly materialized.

"Now then?!"

SHHHK!

The gate had barely appeared when Gin withdrew his Zanpakuto. The instant Aizen stepped forward, a blade suddenly extended and punched clean through his chest.

"To think you'd choose to act now..." Aizen lowered his head slightly, looking at the blade running through his own chest. "I had assumed you would wait until you confirmed Kyoka Suigetsu had no effect on you."

"That is to say, you'd make your move the moment you touched my blade."

"Yes, that was my original plan." The blade retracted. Gin smiled the same smile he always wore. "Only I had no choice, Captain Aizen. Your evolution was far too terrifying, well beyond what I had anticipated."

"I had to act now. If I waited until you reached the next stage, I wouldn't have had any confidence at all."

"As I expected." Aizen looked at the small wound on his chest and spoke slowly. "From the very beginning until now, I never once used Kyoka Suigetsu, partly to let my evolution proceed more swiftly, and partly to draw you out. After all, I very much wanted to know just how sharp the final fang of the one lurking at my side all this time truly was."

"And now I have my answer. It appears it only amounts to this much."

"By the way, does Captain Aizen know the true ability of my Bankai, Kamishini no Yari?"

Gin laughed softly and gave his blade a light swing. Aizen was puzzled. His eyes narrowed, and then he saw it: tiny gaps along the blade itself.

"It isn't what's been publicly declared, divine speed and reach, you know." Those long, narrow eyes opened slowly. "It's poison."

"Inside the blade of Kamishini no Yari, a violent toxin capable of dissolving cells is generated. When the blade is thrust and then withdrawn, a fragment of the blade remains inside your body."

"Kill him, Kamishini no Yari."

SHHHK!

"?!"

The moment Gin's quiet voice landed, a massive hole tore open in Aizen's chest. The white substance and flesh vanished as though swallowed whole, leaving behind only the Hogyoku, radiating boundless brilliant light.

"Gin..."

Only a fragment of the heart remained, yet Aizen could still speak. A single bead of cold sweat traced down his face from the pain, but the mocking smile at the corner of his mouth never left.

"A fine ability, I'll grant you that. But the timing was far too poor. At the previous stage, you might truly have killed me—but now? How could mere poison possibly stand against the power of the Hogyoku—?!"

The shock that tore through him was beyond words. Aizen's eyes went wide. The composed ease he always carried was gone. Reflected in those staring eyes was the Hogyoku itself, severed from its connection to him.

"I wanted to kill you at the previous stage too. But I truly didn't know whether you would use Kyoka Suigetsu." Gin spoke slowly, stepping forward until standing directly before Aizen. "Kyoka Suigetsu may not hold the overwhelming force of Ryujin Jakka, but its capacity to preserve your life is simply too formidable."

"I only had one chance. Only one."

"...What did you do?! Gin!"

"Have you forgotten, Captain Aizen?" Gin's hand closed around the Hogyoku shining with boundless light. Those pale blue eyes held nothing but killing intent. "The Soul King Fragments that were collected, most of them were delivered to you by Tosen and me."

"So it wouldn't be strange at all for me to have held a few back, would it."

➤ Next: Kyojitsu