The sound of flesh colliding, accompanied by exploding Reiatsu, was still echoing. From the perspective of the surveillance spirit insects alone, it looked as though neither the Monk nor Aizen could do anything to the other.
But in reality, Aizen's expression had already begun to shift slightly. The body the Monk used in battle was formed from the Soul King's power. In essence, it was still Reiatsu. Aizen, however, was different.
Aizen, who had magnified himself through dozens of lenses, was fighting with his actual physical body.
After repeated collisions, the one at a disadvantage was still Aizen. The damage caused by each clash of fists and feet was truly being inflicted upon his flesh, while that same damage had no effect at all on the Monk's Reiatsu-formed body.
In a battle between the strong, even the slightest change could become the first opening that broke the stalemate.
The Monk keenly noticed Aizen's discomfort. He simply abandoned defending his own body and focused entirely on attacking the position of Aizen's Saketsu—the very place where the Hōgyoku was located.
After merging with the Hōgyoku, the Hōgyoku-like mark on Aizen's chest was only decorative. Even so, he could not withstand the Monk's frenzied assault on the same spot again and again. The discomfort grew heavier and heavier.
Aizen also tried aiming at the Monk's own position and launching attacks, but they had no effect on him at all. There was no helping it. In a battle between a flesh-and-blood body and something like a mech, this was an obvious disadvantage.
As the discomfort inside him grew more intense, Aizen simply stopped attacking. After parrying one of the Monk's attacks, a massive concave mirror swept across Aizen's body, and Aizen chose to return to his normal size.
Once his body returned to normal, Aizen regained far more room to maneuver with his Reiatsu. Whether Kidō or Zanjutsu, he still had plenty of methods to continue fighting the Monk for several more rounds.
However, the Monk had no intention of pressing forward. Within the golden giant, he used his Reiatsu to control Ichimonji, writing the character for "giant" in front of the giant's body.
The golden giant's palm passed through the written character, and the hand swelled even larger, blotting out the sky as it reached down to grab Aizen.
Aizen immediately released various Kidō and sword slashes to counter it, but none of his attacks stirred even the slightest ripple on the palm. This time, it was Aizen's turn to become something held in the Monk's hand.
Aizen did not panic. Having tried giantification himself, he knew just how enormous the spiritual energy consumption was in that state. There was no way the Monk's sky-covering palm could trap him for long.
Sure enough, just as Aizen expected, after the giant hand caught him, the Monk's giant form rapidly shrank together with the palm. In the end, the Monk returned to normal human size as well, leaving only a Senri Tsūtenshō grasping Aizen.
"You cannot possibly think this kind of technique is enough to defeat me, can you?" Aizen showed not the slightest discomfort. Allowing the palm to hold him, he mocked the Monk with perfect ease.
"Of course Senri Tsūtenshō alone cannot…" The Monk revealed a mysterious smile. "But what if it is combined with yourself?"
The Monk's white brush, Ichimonji, suddenly stabbed toward Aizen's chest. That position was precisely where the Hōgyoku pattern was located.
Aizen certainly had not left the true Hōgyoku so openly exposed on his chest. But that was still the Hōgyoku's pattern, and it remained faintly connected to the Hōgyoku itself.
Through his continuous heavy blows, the Monk had discovered a small secret of the Hōgyoku. Thanks to his authority over names, he had keenly sensed that within this thing called the Hōgyoku, there were still certain impurities.
Those impurities had gone unnoticed even by Aizen, the one fused with it. The Monk intended to make use of that tiny little detail.
The power of names surged over Shirafude Ichimonji. The tip of the brush touched the Hōgyoku pattern, and the power to bestow a true name was driven into the impurities within the Hōgyoku.
At that moment, the impurities inside the Hōgyoku received true recognition. Their level of power was raised to the same level as the Hōgyoku itself, and they would no longer be suppressed by Aizen after his fusion with the Hōgyoku.
A trace of unease rose in Aizen's heart. He immediately erupted with Reiatsu and shook off the Monk's palm, but it was already too late.
A spike pierced out from Aizen's shoulder. Kyōka Suigetsu blossomed in his palm, and Aizen crushed the spike to pieces with one hand. But in the next instant, another spike drilled out from his chest.
Furious, Aizen crushed every spike that grew out from within his body, one after another. Yet no matter how hard he tried, the spikes continued to burst out of him.
What was this?
What kind of power was it?
When had it been hidden inside his body?
Aizen questioned the Hōgyoku, but the Hōgyoku gave no response. Why had the Hōgyoku, which had fused with him as one, suddenly begun to stab him in the back?
At the entrance to the Great Underground Prison beneath Shin'ō, Tsunayoshi and Urahara looked at each other. Both of them recognized it. What was currently troubling Aizen was precisely the sealing Kidō that Urahara had planted inside the Hōgyoku.
Tsunayoshi lightly nudged Urahara with his elbow and asked, "Wasn't that Kidō of yours only supposed to activate once Aizen weakened? He doesn't exactly look weak right now."
Urahara was also completely baffled. How could he not know the Kidō he himself had planted inside the Hōgyoku?
Kyūjūrokkei Kakafūmetsu, the Kidō he had prepared specifically for Aizen, was supposed to trigger when Aizen's body became extremely weak and the Hōgyoku's power could no longer sustain him.
Judging by Aizen's condition today, Urahara had even been prepared for the Kidō not to activate at all. So why had Kyūjūrokkei Kakafūmetsu activated while Aizen was still laughing perfectly well?
"Kisuke, was this your doing?" Kensei asked excitedly, throwing an arm around Urahara's neck. No matter what, he was happy as long as he could see Aizen suffer.
"Not really. This should have more to do with Squad Zero."
Urahara did not take credit for it. He knew very clearly that, given Aizen's current state, his Kidō should not have activated. Even if it did activate, it should not have been able to produce such a severe effect on Aizen.
At this moment, Aizen looked like a man standing amid countless thorns, both hands constantly swinging to cut away the brambles stabbing into his body.
The only difference was that all of Aizen's thorns were growing out of his own body.
Aizen waved both hands in a somewhat battered state and asked through gritted teeth, "What exactly did you do?"
"Nothing much. I merely raised the names of a few little things inside your body to the same level as you." The Monk spread his hands and looked at Aizen smugly.
"The same level? In other words, your little trick still cannot do anything to me!"
As he spoke, Aizen tried to attack the Monk again, but the spikes continuously growing from his body affected him at every moment. His movements were full of openings.
What followed was somewhat brutal. Because of that small interference within his body, Aizen completely became the Monk's plaything. Zanjutsu, Kidō, Hakuda—the Monk used them freely, and each time Aizen resisted, the Monk found another opening.
"Manager, I didn't expect you to still end up becoming the deciding factor against Aizen," Tsunayoshi sighed.
"I didn't expect it either," Kisuke Urahara replied, equally speechless.
The situation was already very clear. Aizen's defeat was only a matter of time. However, because Aizen himself possessed power surpassing Bankai, the Monk still had no way to take him down in one or two moves.
"Wait, Kisuke," Shinji said curiously. "Didn't you say the Hōgyoku responds to the wishes of its user? Can't Aizen make the Hōgyoku deal with the Kidō inside him?"
After all these years, Shinji had gained some understanding of the Hōgyoku as well.
Before Urahara could answer, Tsunayoshi rolled his eyes at Shinji. "You don't seriously think the creator of the Hōgyoku would overlook that kind of problem, do you?"
"Kyūjūrokkei Kakafūmetsu is hidden inside the Hōgyoku and uses the Hōgyoku's own power as its driving force. Relying on the Hōgyoku alone, there is no way to cancel this Kidō," Kisuke Urahara explained.
"So Aizen has no way to deal with this Kidō now?" Shinji asked curiously.
"Are you hoping Aizen wins?" Tsunayoshi teased. He had not expected to hear Shinji sounding so considerate toward Aizen.
"Curiosity. Just curiosity. I have done a fair amount of research into Kidō myself," Shinji explained.
"This Kidō has already entered its activated state. Either you prevent the Kidō from activating in the first place, or you withstand the sealing Kidō directly and then break free from the seal afterward," Kisuke Urahara said. After all, a Kidō powered by the Hōgyoku was not something so easily handled.
After hearing Urahara's explanation, Shinji gave up on the idea. Instead, Tsunayoshi came up with another question.
"Speaking of which, without your Kidō, Manager, which of those two would win?"
Tsunayoshi's curiosity immediately sparked a heated discussion among the others. At this point, Aizen on the screen was simply being beaten. Rather than watch that unproductive scene, it was far more interesting to discuss which of the two great powers was stronger.
"I still side with Aizen. That guy has far too many tricks, and he has a weapon of mass destruction like the Hōgyoku backing him up," Kensei said. This was purely because Aizen had beaten fear into him.
"Squad Zero's foundation is not to be underestimated," Retsu Unohana said. As one of the oldest Shinigami alive, she still held considerable reverence toward Squad Zero.
…
After the discussion went on for a while, everyone's attention ultimately gathered on Kisuke Urahara. As Aizen's old opponent, and as someone who understood the Hōgyoku so well, his opinion was extremely important.
After thinking for a moment, Kisuke Urahara said, "If Aizen were given enough time, then with the Hōgyoku's ability to gradually adapt to an opponent's power, Aizen would have a chance of victory."
Then his tone shifted.
"However, no one knows how long that time would take. One day, two days, or perhaps a month? The specifics would depend on the depth of Squad Zero's power."
"In other words, Manager, you still favor Squad Zero a little more, right?" Tsunayoshi picked up Urahara's implication. How many people could fight you for days on end? In truth, Urahara was still more optimistic about the Monk.
"There is no helping it. After all, Aizen only recently learned to surpass Bankai. Against an ancient Shinigami like him, he is ultimately still somewhat lacking."
As he spoke, Kisuke Urahara looked toward Yamamoto.
Even Yamamoto had been able to pull out a second-stage Bankai. It was hard to say whether the Monk still had a second-stage Shin'uchi hidden away, or whether he had perhaps already completed Zanpakutō fusion over the endless ages.
"This old man shares the same opinion," Yamamoto finally concluded. Having witnessed Squad Zero's power in person, he would never be stingy with the importance he placed on them.
After Yamamoto spoke, no one argued any further. Everyone's gaze returned to the screen. The outcome was about to be decided.
Aizen looked at the Monk with eyes full of unwillingness. He had already guessed that this was some little trick Kisuke Urahara had set up, but he no longer had the mental space to blame Urahara.
The goal of standing above the heavens was right before his eyes. How could he possibly fall here, before the throne?
"You are unwilling, aren't you? I can fulfill your final wish and allow you to pay your respects to the Soul King's throne."
The Monk's tone was filled with mockery. Far behind him, a massive character for "hidden" appeared. Behind that character lay the inner sanctum Aizen had always wanted to reach.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70+ chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789