"Kyoka… Suigetsu?"
The scene remained frozen for roughly five seconds.
Only then did the hundreds of millions of Soul Reapers fans waiting in front of their screens finally come back to themselves. And in that instant, everyone understood. There could not be another explanation. There was no second possibility.
It was Sosuke Aizen's zanpakuto ability.
Kyoka Suigetsu.
The reactions exploded all at once.
"I remember now! Ichigo Kurosaki is the only one there who has never seen Kyoka Suigetsu's release!"
"So that's why he looked like that just now. In his eyes, the person his father cut down was Momo!"
"What the hell is going on? Didn't they say Aizen couldn't use Kyoka Suigetsu while using the stolen Bankai?"
"Was Kisuke Urahara's analysis wrong?"
"Damn it, there are too many comments on-screen. I'm turning them off so I can actually watch!"
The global fandom erupted.
Because what Aizen had just done was far too shocking, far too outrageous. Since when had he switched places with Momo? At what point had the illusion begun? And hadn't Urahara already said it clearly? When someone used a stolen Bankai, they could not release their own zanpakuto at the same time.
That rule had already been supported before. When the others used Bankai, they had been unable to return to their original released forms.
So then… what exactly was happening?
Suddenly, on the ground, the vice-captain of the Fourth Division who had been treating Momo and Izuru Kira, the vice-captain of the Third Division, were struck by blades at almost the same moment.
Only as they collapsed did they realize that the figure standing before them had never been Momo at all.
It was Aizen.
"What… what is going on? Since when…?"
Even Kisuke Urahara, usually so calm and composed, was completely stunned for a moment. He stared in disbelief at Aizen standing on the distant ground, as though the very logic he had relied upon had been overturned in front of him.
"When did you use Kyoka Suigetsu!?"
"When?" Aizen repeated, as if the question itself amused him.
He held his sword in his right hand, while his left remained casually tucked in his pocket. His posture was still impossibly calm, still carrying that effortless, arrogant air of someone who had never truly considered anyone around him an equal.
Then he lifted his head and asked in return.
"In that case, let me ask you something as well."
The camera gave Aizen a cinematic close-up. His handsome face filled the screen, and with it, the coldness and unfathomable depth of a true final boss were magnified without limit, pressing themselves into the eyes of every viewer watching.
"When did you get the illusion that I hadn't used Kyoka Suigetsu?"
That long-awaited legendary line returned.
And the moment it did, countless viewers felt goosebumps rise across their bodies.
Although Soul Reapers was never as obsessed with creating memes and iconic lines every single episode as something like JOJO, Aizen was different. Whenever he opened his mouth, his words carried that overwhelming, untouchable aura. A single line from him could feel like a verdict handed down from above.
No one could match his presence.
"Holy shit! My scalp is tingling!"
"So Aizen had everyone under Kyoka Suigetsu's hypnosis from the very beginning. He never changed zanpakuto at all!"
"I kept saying they needed to watch out for Aizen's mind! Even Yamamoto died because he got trapped by him!"
"The scariest thing isn't just his intelligence. It's how ruthless he is. Damn, I thought Aizen spared Momo because of some trace of old feelings, but his method was even crueler than I imagined."
"The most miserable one is Peter, right? He killed the person most precious to him with his own hands. That's not just killing someone. That's destroying the heart."
Sure enough, the very next shot moved to Peter.
The young girl, pierced clean through in two vital places, had grown even paler. Her eyelids fluttered weakly, sinking little by little, as if even keeping them open had become impossible.
"Peter… why…?"
After those words left her lips, her delicate hand fell powerlessly to the ground. Her head tilted to the side.
And her eyes closed forever.
Momo, the strongest human shield in the original work, had fallen.
In the final moment of her life, she looked at the boy who had grown up beside her. There was no blame in her eyes. No hatred. No resentment. Only a faint, fragile confusion, as though she still could not understand why the person in front of her had done this.
But that gentleness became the sharpest blade of all.
It stabbed straight into the softest part of Peter's heart.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH - !"
Watching the girl leave him forever, Peter threw his head back and unleashed a heart-rending roar. It was not simply grief. It was collapse. It was the sound of a soul being torn open by guilt, despair, and a reality too cruel to accept.
There was no doubt that if Peter had Saiyan blood in him, this would have been the exact moment he transformed.
That scene had taken the young actor seven or eight attempts before he finally delivered the effect Alex wanted.
But hearing that grief-stricken scream, seeing Peter's twisted expression, even through a screen, billions of viewers around the world could feel the agony crushing him at that moment.
He had killed the person he cherished most with his own hands.
It hurt.
It hurt too much.
"Poor Peter…"
In the Nirvana in Fire production crew's room, Melissa, who was staying with Emily, covered her mouth with one hand, her face full of pity.
"I think you're the pitiful one," Emily said, glancing at her.
After all, the person who had just died on television was the character Melissa played.
But when she thought about it from another angle, Peter's current pain was probably worse than death. Even Emily had to admit that Alex really was a demon. Only that bastard could come up with such a vicious way to stab the audience in the heart.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Having completely lost his reason, Peter charged toward Aizen with no regard for anything else.
"Wait! Peter!"
Isshin Kurosaki, the former captain of the Tenth Division, shouted in alarm.
But it was already too late.
Peter had been swallowed whole by rage.
Naturally, Isshin could not just stand by and watch his former subordinate run straight to his death, so he rushed after him at once. The sudden shift had also thrown everyone else into confusion. Almost instinctively, they followed behind the two and launched their attack together.
"Hey, wait!"
Kisuke Urahara, the only one who had managed to recover from the shock, tried to stop them.
But he was too late as well.
"All of you are full of openings."
Aizen spoke coldly.
Facing Peter, who reached him first, Aizen raised his blade with almost insulting ease and brought it down in a simple vertical slash.
The strike severed Peter's left arm and left leg outright.
"Damn you, Aizen!"
Isshin's rage erupted. He roared furiously.
"Bankai - "
Before Isshin could release his zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu pierced through his abdomen.
Just like the strike he had delivered to Momo moments earlier.
"Dad!"
Ichigo Kurosaki, who had only just returned from training, saw the scene and his expression changed drastically. Without thinking, he tried to rush forward.
Urahara had failed to stop the others, but he absolutely could not allow their final hope, Ichigo, to run to his death as well. He immediately lunged over and pressed down hard on Ichigo's shoulders.
"Don't be reckless, Ichigo! If you charge in now, you'll be killed too!"
And as Urahara spoke, Aizen had already begun withdrawing Kyoka Suigetsu from Isshin's abdomen.
But he did not pull it straight out.
Instead, he twisted the blade halfway inside the wound, then ripped it out horizontally.
The cut nearly split Isshin's body in two.
Then, one slash.
Two slashes.
Three slashes.
Yoruichi, Shinji Hirako, Kensei Muguruma, Rose Otoribashi…
Every one of them was gravely wounded in a single strike.
Their lives and deaths unknown.
"Heh."
At the end of the episode, the screen gradually darkened, freezing on Aizen's face, on that contemptuous, faintly raised smile filled with disdain.
In the lower-right corner, a line of text appeared.
To be continued.
And in front of their televisions, almost no viewers still had the mood to send comments or type reactions.
Some held their heads with both hands. Others crossed their arms tightly around themselves, as if trying to shield their bodies from the chill crawling over their skin.
Terrifying.
Too terrifying.
Sosuke Aizen was terrifying.
At that moment, everyone once again felt the shock they had not experienced in a long time - the same impact that struck them when Soul Reapers: Soul Society Arc first aired and Aizen revealed his betrayal.
It was the feeling of an entire era being overturned in silence.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Additionally, more chapters exclusive content are available on Patreon: https://patreon.com/ImmortalEmperor?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
- CHRONICLES OF THE ICE SOVEREIGN
-PLAYING ANIME LEGENDS
-THE OTHER WORLD'S ANIMATOR
Join now and help shape the future of the story while enjoying special rewards!