A red whirlwind rose from the earth, a pillar of flame linking up into the sky above.
This was Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's taimatsu (Torch).
Not his strongest move—but for the Aizen in front of him right now, Yamamoto had already decided it was enough.
Watching Aizen burn inside those flames, Higashino Shuuichi slowly walked in his direction.
At the same time, reishi gathered silently under his control.
In theory, Aizen—now possessing the complete Hōgyoku—would not truly die.
Because the Hōgyoku had already fused with him.
Unless Aizen himself genuinely wished for death, the Hōgyoku would exhaust every option to bring him back.
It was just that the way it "saved" him… was a little special.
In the original course of events, Aizen could still shamelessly rely on the infinite regeneration granted by the Soul King's nail fragment fused into the Hōgyoku.
But now that fragment had already been intercepted by Higashino Shuuichi long ago.
So the only method Aizen's Hōgyoku could lean on was—
Evolution.
Because his power was sealed due to the soundwaves?
Then it would cut off sound, rendering all soundwaves unable to affect him.
Because the high temperature of the flames brought him close to death?
Then it would evolve fire resistance, making those flames unable to threaten his body ever again!
On the surface, it looked almost unsolvable.
But in truth, there was no such thing as a completely unsolvable ability in this world.
If something felt "unsolvable," it was only because you didn't know the solution yet.
For Aizen, unfortunately—
Higashino Shuuichi happened to know one of those solutions.
Evolution might have no upper limit, but the direction of evolution had constraints.
Once the Hōgyoku, under external pressure, chose the wrong evolutionary path for Aizen…
That meant Aizen would have a hard time turning back later—
Or might not be able to turn back at all.
In the original story, Aizen nearly died because of his carelessness, when Ichimaru Gin used a Bankai he had hidden for a very long time—Kamishini no Yari.
That near-death pushed Aizen into an "incorrect" evolution.
If things hadn't been corrected afterward, there might never have been that shining moment later where Aizen outplayed Yhwach.
But right now…
Ichimaru Gin was not someone Higashino Shuuichi could count on, and the special trick Kamishini no Yari used had already been shown earlier when Gin fought Higashino Shuuichi.
Higashino Shuuichi had no idea what kind of "gift" that genius might still be secretly preparing for Aizen on this timeline.
So he could only step in personally.
"Promise me… just do this—become a perfect Quincy specialist, alright?"
Higashino Shuuichi lifted his eyes to the flames above and spoke in his heart.
Then, the moment the fire was torn apart from within by Aizen—
Ryōiki Tenkai (Domain Expansion).
"Seiiki Raisan (Sanctuary Hymn)!"
A massive cross-shaped star crest rose once again over the soil of Soul Society.
That gorgeous reishi outer wall wrapped both Higashino Shuuichi below and Aizen Sōsuke above inside it together.
Then came an unending storm of sacred reishi arrows, and explosions that never stopped.
Shurifuto (Schrift) ability—E: The Explode.
A power modeled after that Sternritter whose temperament was as explosive as her letter—Bambietta Basterbine.
Of course, for Higashino Shuuichi to be "constructing" it with his own Shurifuto (Schrift) meant one thing:
Bambietta had not yet actually been granted her Schrift on this timeline.
Under Higashino Shuuichi's nearly infinite barrage of sacred arrows, the battered Aizen didn't get angry—
He looked strangely excited.
Because of the information gap, even Aizen himself hadn't realized that the Hōgyoku's way of saving him was to make his body evolve toward solving the present threat.
He simply assumed the Hōgyoku—like it had done before against the Dangai—was using its own power to help him resist Higashino Shuuichi's attacks.
But the truth was this:
Only when the Hōgyoku judged that Aizen would face a threat to his life if he did not evolve, did it choose evolution for him.
In the Hōgyoku's eyes, the earlier danger from the Dangai had never reached the level of "life-threatening" for Aizen.
So Aizen not only had no desire to blame Higashino Shuuichi—
He practically wanted to applaud him.
More.
Not enough!
He, Aizen, could still take ten of them!
He wanted to see where the Hōgyoku's limit truly was!
Or rather—
Maybe the Hōgyoku had no limit at all.
"That Quincy… is helping us?"
Outside Seiiki Raisan (Sanctuary Hymn), Soifon stared at Higashino Shuuichi—still wearing Kabuno Takuya's face—and spoke in disbelief.
She'd thought that after seeing Nemu get "ripped open" by Aizen, this Quincy would've quietly slipped back to the World of the Living.
"Heh… don't overthink it. He's probably just mad that Aizen killed Nemu right in front of him.
He's one hell of a Quincy… with one hell of a personality."
Shihōin Yoruichi—still not fully recovered from being heavily wounded by Aizen's earlier strike—took one look and nailed Higashino Shuuichi's motive.
Compared to the shinigami here, Yoruichi had personally witnessed in the World of the Living how Higashino Shuuichi "talked circles" around Urahara Kisuke.
So when it came to analyzing Higashino Shuuichi's behavior, she had the most say.
Soifon thought back on what that Quincy had said and done before, and… yeah, it did fit.
But to be fair, Soifon also realized something:
This "Kabuno Takuya" Quincy was absurdly strong.
Seiiki Raisan (Sanctuary Hymn) actually managed to trap that Aizen.
…Did that mean, in their earlier fight, he'd been holding back on her?
That thought suddenly surfaced, and Soifon violently shook her head.
No. Absolutely not.
They weren't close, they weren't allies—why would he hold back for her?
It wasn't like he was going easy on her out of pity, was it?
Ignoring the direction Soifon's thoughts had drifted, once Higashino Shuuichi proactively eased the pressure for them, Kyōraku Shunsui quietly glanced toward the old man.
Good.
Yamamoto didn't seem especially resistant to Higashino Shuuichi's "overstepping."
It almost felt like after that secret battle with Higashino Shuuichi decades ago, the old man had become… smoother?
If it were the Yamamoto Kyōraku remembered from before, the moment a Quincy dared to use an ability in front of him, he would've cut first and asked questions never.
Yet here he was now—standing calmly outside with Ryūjin Jakka in hand, simply waiting to see what happened next.
Then again, Kyōraku suspected part of it was because Aizen's performance had become too abnormal.
One moment, Aizen was ragged, covered in injuries, taking Yamamoto's taimatsu (Torch) head-on—
And the next, when the flames faded, Aizen stood there completely unscathed.
If someone ignorant saw that scene, they might even think Yamamoto's taimatsu (Torch)—a move that should be able to instantly kill an ordinary Adjuchas-class Menos—was actually some powerful healing technique.
Even Higashino Shuuichi, with his own eerie recovery ability, couldn't have pulled off something like that.
"Maybe the old man also wants to see what Aizen's abilities look like now…"
Kyōraku glanced at Yamamoto's expressionless face and felt he'd read his intent.
Then he looked back at Aizen inside Seiiki Raisan (Sanctuary Hymn).
How badly he wished this mysterious Quincy could suppress Aizen in one move.
Yes—no need to kill him. Just suppress him.
They shinigami could handle the rest.
Unfortunately, forget suppressing him—Higashino Shuuichi's move, which was basically his full power in Quincy form, couldn't even injure Aizen.
In a very short span of time, Aizen's body—under the Hōgyoku's influence—completed three stages of evolution.
At first, Higashino Shuuichi's sacred arrows could still pierce Aizen's body.
But as time passed, those sacred arrows swirling inside Seiiki Raisan (Sanctuary Hymn) started looking more and more like toys in Aizen's hands.
Not only could they no longer harm him—
Aizen forcibly seized them and turned them into countermeasures.
Hundreds—thousands—of sacred arrows were re-launched by Aizen into the massive cross-shaped star crest surrounding them.
Then, accompanied by Aizen's low murmur—
"Perish."
Those sacred arrows tore open one gash after another across the giant crest, ripping it apart by force.
"Damn it—Yoruichi-sama, watch out!"
The instant Seiiki Raisan (Sanctuary Hymn) shattered, Soifon sensed danger and immediately unleashed Shunkō (Instant War Cry), calling winds in a surge to shield herself and the heavily injured Shihōin Yoruichi.
As for the other captain-class shinigami, each used their own methods—some defended with their Zanpakutō's abilities, others with high-level instant Kidō.
And some—like Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni—
Only casually swept his Zanpakutō across his front once.
Still, under the indiscriminate explosion of sacred arrows bursting outward like a scattering of flowers—
Some ordinary shinigami who hadn't escaped in time were struck.
For example—
Hinamori Momo, vice-captain of the Fifth Division, whom Hitsugaya Tōshirō tried to protect but failed to. A sacred arrow pierced straight through his ice crystals and into her chest.
Poor Hinamori Momo had only just regained a trace of consciousness after being affected by Hitsugaya's Sennen Hyōrō (Thousand-Year Ice Prison).
She hadn't even had time to ask her respected, adored captain—Aizen Sōsuke—why he was doing this.
If the reason was convincing, she, Hinamori Momo, wasn't necessarily opposed to following Aizen and doing something big, either!
And yet she could only stare as a sacred arrow—thrown by Aizen himself—punched through her chest at point-blank range.
"Aizen… taichō…"
Hinamori looked toward Aizen, lips parting. She still wanted to ask her question, but her condition no longer allowed it.
She believed it had to be an accident. Captain Aizen must have done it unintentionally—
What Hinamori didn't know was that in the chaos at the center of the broken Seiiki Raisan (Sanctuary Hymn), Aizen, for a brief instant, had directed his gaze to her.
Earlier, he had used Hinamori as his substitute, letting other shinigami focus-fire her. That might make some of them "misunderstand" something.
But if Hinamori herself was also nearly killed by him in this battle…
Then surely no one would misunderstand anymore.
Aizen had always disdained the kind of act where you deliberately let someone take the blame for you.
Yes.
That was the reason.
And that choice of Aizen's lit the fuse on a chūnibyō boy's rage.
"Momo!
Aizen, you bastard!!!"
Hitsugaya Tōshirō snapped.
Part of it was fury at himself for failing to protect Hinamori while she was already wounded.
And part of it was because Hitsugaya knew how deeply Hinamori adored Aizen.
So he knew that what Aizen had done would hurt her far beyond the physical wound.
And he would avenge her.
A massive ice dragon surged into the sky. The heavens, moments ago burning under blistering heat, turned in an instant into a world of cutting cold winds.
"…No, seriously—shouldn't the first thing you do be to turn around and check whether Hinamori Momo can still be saved?
Having a childhood friend like you… I can't tell if that's Hinamori's luck or her tragedy."
Faced with Hitsugaya's dramatic offensive, Higashino Shuuichi didn't worry much about what would happen next. Instead, he couldn't help snarking internally about Hitsugaya's choice.
The reason Higashino Shuuichi had the leisure for that was simple.
First: he saw Unohana Retsu—the woman who had basically been "coasting" for the entire fight—finally appear behind Hinamori.
Second: Hitsugaya Tōshirō versus Hōgyoku-fused Aizen…
Higashino Shuuichi felt you didn't even need to think. Any isekai'd person would know the answer.
Even if Aizen had been tricked once by Higashino Shuuichi—so what?
Higashino Shuuichi casually formed a new sacred arrow in place, then watched with his own eyes as Hitsugaya, charging Aizen in the sky, was kicked back into the ground with a single foot.
Even the ice dragon behind him was kicked apart into powder.
"Young…
Sure, rage can make you 'power up'—but when you aren't the protagonist, you'll realize that sometimes a power-up doesn't mean a damn thing!"
Higashino Shuuichi fired his sacred arrow at Aizen, continuing his inner commentary.
Naturally, that arrow didn't do anything.
But Higashino Shuuichi's goal wasn't to harm Aizen.
He just wanted to force the other shinigami present not to act.
Because letting a Quincy help them fight Aizen was already humiliating enough—if they also coordinated with that Quincy…
Forget Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni—even reformists like Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō wouldn't be able to swallow that pride.
As for what Higashino Shuuichi truly wanted—
It definitely wasn't to keep butting heads with Aizen.
His objective—pushing Aizen into "incorrect" evolution—had already been achieved.
So next, it definitely wasn't time for Aizen to fight Kyōraku, Yamamoto, Ukitake, and the others—shinigami who, together, might actually be able to "correct" him.
Instead—
"I've stalled long enough. It's your turn to make an entrance~"
Higashino Shuuichi smiled.
At the same time, Aizen and Kyōraku and the others all turned their eyes toward the horizon.
There—
Several powerful figures appeared in overwhelming formation.
And at their head was the one who had previously fought Higashino Shuuichi in the World of the Living—
Saitō Furōfushi!