Aizen had managed to capture faint traces of the anomaly. He could confirm that an unseen entity was present nearby, but because it possessed no Spiritual Pressure whatsoever, he was unable to pinpoint its exact coordinates.
However, judging by the confident smirk on Uchiha Madara's face, this phenomenon was undoubtedly his doing.
"What a troublesome fellow," Aizen sighed softly.
Before he could process the situation further, Madara's figure charged right up to his face, driving a devastating punch straight toward his chest.
BANG!
Aizen hastily raised his Zanpakuto to block, but the immense kinetic force behind the strike knocked him flying backward through the air.
"Haha! Is that all you've got?!" Madara laughed mockingly. "If so, I'm going to be very disappointed!"
Having entered Six Paths Mode, not only had Madara's combat prowess reached unprecedented heights, but his desire for battle had also grown far more intense.
Without giving Aizen a moment to catch his breath, Madara launched a relentless, aggressive onslaught.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Although Aizen's speed was absurdly fast, Madara was not a single second slower.
Time after time, Madara caught up to Aizen, unleashing heavy, cataclysmic blows that slammed into Aizen's defenses with thunderous booms that echoed across the sky.
Aizen's expression grew increasingly solemn.
Originally, his Zanpakuto's absolute illusion, Kyoka Suigetsu, was his greatest asset. It made his attacks unpredictable and had allowed him to play the entirety of Soul Society like a fiddle.
Yet against Madara's Rinnegan, Kyoka Suigetsu was rendered completely useless—it simply could not affect him.
As a result, Aizen found himself locked in a thoroughly defensive position.
Even though he had absorbed a strand of the Hogyoku's power to boost his strength, he was still unable to suppress Madara in Six Paths Mode. Under Madara's overwhelming assault, Aizen was forced onto the back foot, completely suppressed and battered.
Aizen's eyes narrowed as thoughts raced through his mind. *'This man's power has transcended the boundaries of Soul Reapers. If I wish to defeat him, I must truly break past the absolute limits of a Soul Reaper!'*
Suddenly, Aizen felt the Hogyoku embedded in his chest begin to actively vibrate. A surge of powerful, divine energy flooded out from the crystal, coursing directly into his soul and limbs!
BOOM!
Aizen could distinctly feel the power within his body undergoing a rapid, miraculous evolution.
This sudden development caught Aizen off guard. He had always believed the Hogyoku was merely a key to breaking the boundary between Soul Reapers and Hollows. He had never expected it to possess such a miraculous capability—responding directly to the inner desires of its master!
*'Could this... be the true nature of the Hogyoku?!'* Aizen marvelled internally.
At that moment, Madara charged forward once again. Rapidly weaving hand seals mid-flight, he opened his mouth and unleashed a roaring vortex of flames.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
Four colossal dragons of roaring, white-hot fire erupted from four different directions, converging violently upon Aizen from all angles!
Suddenly, Aizen snapped his eyes open!
A wave of Spiritual Pressure, several times immense and terrifying than before, violently erupted from his body like a volcanic outburst!
He swung his Zanpakuto in a wide arc.
SWOOSH!
With a single horizontal slash, all four colossal fire dragons were sliced apart, dissipating into harmless embers!
The Soul Reapers observing the duel from below were frozen in absolute shock.
Even Head Captain Yamamoto, Shunsui Kyoraku, and the other veteran Captains gaped in disbelief.
From the preceding combat, they had already witnessed Madara's monstrous strength. What truly shocked them now was that Aizen's Reiatsu had suddenly surged by several fold in an instant!
How was this possible?!
The Reiatsu Aizen had displayed earlier had already far surpassed the vast majority of Captains. How could his power suddenly skyrocket to such a terrifying degree in the middle of battle?!
In contrast to the onlookers, Madara showed no shock at all.
Looking at Aizen standing not far away, Madara burst into thrilled laughter. "Haha! Looks like your power has grown quite a bit again! Excellent! Now *this* makes a battle worthwhile!"
"Heh. Then allow me to test my current strength on you!" Aizen sneered coldly.
Before his voice even finished echoing, Aizen materialized directly in front of Madara, swinging his Zanpakuto downward with catastrophic force.
BOOM!
Under the sheer weight of his slash, the surrounding space fractured into spiderweb-like cracks! The Zanpakuto descended like a falling mountain, aiming to cleave Madara in two.
Madara's expression turned serious. The Truth-Seeking Orbs floating behind his back instantly coalesced into a dense black shield in front of his chest.
BOOM!
A terrifying impact detonated between blade and shield, causing space itself to violently quiver while a massive crater ruptured into the earth thousands of meters below.
To Madara's surprise, the shield formed by his Truth-Seeking Orb actually developed a visible crack!
"You really did get much stronger! Come! Fight me!" Madara roared with intense excitement.
He surged forward once more, engaging Aizen in a violent, bloody melee.
As the two fought, millions of viewers across Soul Society watched the battle unfold through the live stream projection. Even though they weren't physically present on the battlefield, the sight left them trembling in sheer terror.
"So strong! He's literally slicing open space itself!"
"This is terrifying... Their strength has completely surpassed the Captain level!"
"This is practically the apocalypse! A single fight is almost enough to overturn all of Soul Society!"
Exclamations of horror and awe echoed across every corner of the world. The scale of this battle had completely shattered their understanding of combat. Many even wondered if Aizen and Madara were ancient demon gods in human form.
While everyone else was paralyzed with shock, Lin Xuan sat comfortably on his sofa, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
On his system interface, his Reputation Points were skyrocketing at an unprecedented rate!
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T/N:
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