Having mastered the power of Fullbring, Soifon felt the newborn strength deep in her soul — a force that responded to her will as naturally as her own arm. A flicker of satisfaction crossed her eyes.
The mont she withdrew her Fullbring, the golden phantom hovering behind her dissolved into light and poured back into her body.
No one around her could see the apparition, but it was unmistakably clear — the faint, ever-present pressure that had been coiling around them all quietly receded.
Soifon was true to her word. She reined in every trace of her outward Spiritual Pressure and swept a calm gaze over the still-shaken mbers of XCUTION.
"I won't kill any of you. But Ginjō Kūgo — take the Enra Kyōkyoku the Tsunayashiro Clan gave you, and bring Dōhane Aura."
"I need you all as witnesses. You're coming back to Soul Society with ."
The Tsunayashiro Clan — that colossal presence that had squatted in Soul Society for centuries — had long since beco a malignant tumor choking the Seireitei's developnt. It was ti to cut them out.
"And after we've testified?" Ginjō Kūgo swallowed hard, his voice tight with tension.
"I guarantee your safety." Soifon shot Isane Kotetsu a glance; the latter drew her blade, twisted open the Senkaimon. "The Seireitei won't co after XCUTION in the future either — not as long as you keep your heads down and stay out of trouble."
On the road back to Soul Society, passing through the Dangai corridor, Soifon deliberately slowed her pace until she was walking shoulder to shoulder with Isane Kotetsu beside her.
Soifon spoke, a rare note of awkwardness in her voice. "I'm sorry, Isane."
Isane looked over at her, puzzled.
"I was planning to take advantage of this field assignnt to show you around Karakura Town…"
"I didn't expect it to get tangled up in the Tsunayashiro business. I'm sorry."
Soifon fixed her eyes on the retreating backs of Ginjō Kūgo and Dōhane Aura, and let out a quiet sigh.
Is she apologizing… for that?
A slow blush crept across Isane Kotetsu's fair cheeks. She shook her head gently. "Captain Soifon doesn't need to apologize. The Tsunayashiro matter is more important…"
She trailed off into a small silence, as if bracing herself, then added in a voice barely louder than a breath: "As for dates — there'll be plenty of chances later."
The words were so soft they were almost nothing — just the faintest tremor in the air. Soifon's ears twitched. Had it been anyone with a less powerful spirit body, even the Captain-Commander himself might not have caught it.
The truth was, in Isane Kotetsu's heart, what moved her wasn't so much that Soifon had been willing to sneak in a date during a mission in the first place…
What truly made her warm all the way through — light as if she were walking on clouds — was the simple fact that Soifon had thought to apologize for not taking her on one.
The Seireitei. First Division Barracks.
Soifon and Isane Kotetsu brought Ginjō Kūgo and Dōhane Aura directly here. After delivering a concise summary of the situation to Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, Isane followed Vice-Captain Chōjirō Sasakibe into the adjacent room to write up the detailed mission report.
Ginjō Kūgo stood with his head bowed, palms faintly damp with sweat.
Having been utterly cowed by Soifon's terrifying power earlier, and now feeling the Captain-Commander's volcanic Spiritual Pressure at close range, most of his resentnt toward the Seireitei had simply evaporated.
Can't win. Completely can't win. Even if I took Ichigo Kurosaki's Fullbring… it probably wouldn't matter.
A year — gone in the blink of an eye.
Less than a month remained before the Soul King's abdication. Yhwach's resurrection was imminent.
The Tsunayashiro Clan had beco history.
Faced with the evidence Soifon had supplied, the Central 46 charged the remaining core mbers of the Tsunayashiro Clan with "intent to subvert the Seireitei" and threw every last one of them into Muken.
That ancient family, which had once lorded over all, crumbled to dust in the space of a few short months.
And the one who absorbed the Tsunayashiro Clan's remaining assets and influence was the Soifon House.
Once a minor noble family, they now stood firmly in the ranks of the upper nobility.
In the streets of the Seireitei, the number of patrolling Shinigami had visibly multiplied several tis over. The Departnt of Research and Developnt blazed with light through every night; Captain Mayuri and Nemu Kurotsuchi worked around the clock, calibrating a constant stream of new equipnt.
On the training grounds of every Division, Spiritual Pressure of every color erupted and soared at irregular intervals. The Gotei 13 had entered a state of full combat readiness.
The battle would take place high above, in the Royal Palace — but neither Soifon nor the Captain-Commander could guarantee that no accidents would occur on the day of the decisive clash. For instance, whether a certain thieving clown might escape his prison and co clambering up to the Royal Palace.
To eliminate the risk, Soifon had gone alone to Muken and executed Tokinada Tsunayashiro — accepting the price of sending one captain-level fighting force to Hell.
The Captain-Commander could only turn a blind eye.
Even so, after deciding to cover for Soifon, the Captain-Commander still summoned her to his office.
"I fail to understand," he said, "why Captain Soifon has always been so fixated on this Tokinada Tsunayashiro — to the point of executing him at this particular juncture."
The Captain-Commander had a feeling: the energy Soifon had spent taking down the entire Tsunayashiro Clan combined didn't hold a candle to what she had invested in dealing with Tokinada alone.
"You wouldn't understand, Captain-Commander."
Soifon took a sip of tea, preparing to enjoy the private pleasure of playing the sphinx — then glanced up to find the old man's temples visibly throbbing, and quickly changed tack.
"What I an is… soone as cunning and treacherous as Tokinada Tsunayashiro is simply beyond your imagination, Captain-Commander."
"You may not yet know — the Soul King fragnt embedded in Sōsuke Aizen's Hōgyoku was discovered in Tokinada Tsunayashiro's private courtyard."
"Honestly, the entire Tsunayashiro Clan combined didn't have a fraction of that man's brain."
Hearing Soifon speak this truth aloud, the Captain-Commander felt the scattered threads of dark conspiracies suddenly click into a coherent pattern.
Tokinada Tsunayashiro's Hollowfication had not been the result of power going to his head — it had been engineered by Soifon and Aizen.
The instant Soifon finished speaking, a wave of Spiritual Pressure that sent the heart lurching swept across all Three Worlds without warning.
That Spiritual Pressure… there was no mistaking it.
Inside the office, Soifon and Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni fell silent at almost the sa mont, and in perfect unison breathed a single na.
"Sōsuke Aizen."
"He succeeded… He has fully absorbed and assimilated Yhwach's remains, and set foot upon a higher path of evolution."
Right on schedule — exactly when the monk had told her it would happen.
At the sa ti, a quiet chill crept up Soifon's spine and spread outward.
The Soul King's prophecy was accurate to a degree that made the skin crawl. He had said two years — and it was exactly two years.
Yhwach's death, Aizen's evolution — all of it had been within that being's field of vision.
No — perhaps she shouldn't exclude herself from the equation.
Was it possible that even knowing fragnts of the future, even striving to change things, her every action and every thought remained visible to the Soul King?
The thought lasted only a mont before Soifon pushed it down. Now was not the ti to agonize over it.
Soifon raised her hand and drew a line through the air with one finger.
A pitch-black rift tore open inside the Captain's office, and two figures stepped into the Garganta simultaneously.
Hueco Mundo.
Las Noches, once reduced to rubble by Azashiro Sōya, had risen again from the barren desert. The Dankū barrier that had once shrouded the palace's uppermost tier was gone.
"Rebuilt rather quickly."
Soifon murmured the observation, but her gaze didn't linger on Las Noches. Her sharp spiritual senses swept toward a stretch of empty desert nearby.
A dreamlike ripple of space spread silently across the sand not far ahead — exactly where Soifon's eyes had been fixed.
Purple radiance coalesced before Soifon and the Captain-Commander, forming a human silhouette — Sōsuke Aizen.
"It's been a while."
"Captain Soifon… and Captain-Commander."
Aizen's voice was as asured and gentle as ever.
The Captain-Commander studied Aizen's current bearing and quietly ran his own ntal calculations — comparing their respective combat strengths. The conclusion was not encouraging.
When Aizen had appeared just monts ago, his own spiritual senses had registered no forewarning whatsoever. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't even have been able to pinpoint Aizen's exact location.
Soifon fixed her gaze on the peculiar Hōgyoku embedded in Aizen's chest and the crystalline butterfly wings spreading from his back.
"It seems Captain Aizen has successfully assimilated Yhwach's power."
"And… advanced along the correct path of evolution."
Hearing those words, even the presently serene Aizen felt a long-absent sense of joy stir within him.
To be acknowledged by Soifon — the one he had always been chasing — there was nothing that pleased him more than this.
So, while Aizen was still in good spirits, Soifon posed the question: did he intend to ascend to the Royal Palace now, and take the long-vacant throne of heaven?
As it happened, Sōsuke Aizen defied expectation and gave a quiet shake of his head. "There's no rush."
After enduring so many long years, now that he stood on the very threshold, Aizen found he wasn't nearly as impatient as one might expect.
Having resolved to beco a worthier successor than the current Soul King, he intended to bring every aspect of himself to its most perfect state first.
Aizen's gaze settled on Soifon, brimming with the will to fight.
"I have only just erged from my chrysalis. Every asure of my ability has yet to reach its peak."
"Perhaps… I'll need Captain Soifon's assistance."
Beyond simply wanting a worthy opponent to gauge the true level of his new power, Aizen also carried a stubborn, almost contrary determination — he refused to believe that after absorbing the Soul King's left hand and fully assimilating Yhwach's power, he could still be on the losing end every single ti.
An invisible pressure swelled between Soifon and Aizen; the hem of her captain's haori swayed in the slow current of wind.
Without a word, the Captain-Commander leapt high and landed atop the roof of Las Noches in the distance. He planted Ryūjin Jakka against the rooftop and watched the two figures squaring off in the desert below, one hand resting on the hilt, ready to respond to any developnt at a mont's notice.
Thud——
The instant Ryūjin Jakka tapped the rooftop, the space before Soifon ruptured again, and Aizen's purple-tinged silhouette appeared behind her without warning.
Purple spirit particles solidified into Kyōka Suigetsu, and Aizen brought it sweeping down toward Soifon in a clean overhead slash.
As the blade's wind parted the hair on her shoulder, she still hadn't moved.
Was she too slow to react — or simply too arrogant to bother?
The thought sharpened Aizen's downward stroke; he didn't need to read her state of mind. All he needed was to asure what level his own power had reached. That was enough.
In the next instant, pale golden threads surfaced from beneath Soifon's skin. The golden phantom appeared silently at her side, its expression utterly blank, watching Aizen launch his attack.
A sense of danger flashed at Aizen's flank without warning!
He could see nothing. His spiritual senses caught no anomaly whatsoever — but the instinct forged through countless battles made him leap backward without a mont's hesitation.
Whff——
An invisible current grazed his body, leaving a shallow red line across Aizen's chest.
In the span of a breath, his spirit body had already completed its automatic regeneration.
His gaze fell on the spot beside Soifon — that empty-seeming space.
Sothing is there.
He couldn't see it, couldn't sense it — but that strike had undeniably, unmistakably existed.
"It seems Captain Soifon has mastered yet another new power. I thought my own progress was already impressive…"
Sōsuke Aizen raised a hand to wipe the blood from his chest. As he took in the golden markings that had appeared on Soifon's body, genuine surprise crossed his face.
"Yes — it's Fullbring," Soifon replied, answering the question as naturally as breathing.
Aizen knew the power, of course. After fusing with the Hōgyoku, he had once attempted to cultivate it himself — and failed. He had tracked down a Fullbringer and used Kyōka Suigetsu to extract the key to their practice: finding the precious object that shares a soul-bond with you.
At the thought, Sōsuke Aizen's gaze drifted to the Fullbring markings connecting to Soifon's Shikai finger guards, and a quiet understanding passed through his eyes.
Ah… of course. Fullbring was never ant for him — it never could have been.
From the mont he had resolved to ascend to the supre throne, his Zanpakutō, his Kidō, his Hōgyoku — all of them were rungs on the ladder carrying him toward that seat of power. None of them could ever be the cherished, irreplaceable things that tethered him.
"Though I fused with the Hōgyoku and evolved to a higher plane… Fullbring was never destined for ."
"Still, to witness its awakening in Captain Soifon — that is a kind of consolation, in its own way."
The corner of Sōsuke Aizen's mouth curved upward, carrying a hint of quiet acceptance. And then——
"Gran Rey Cero."
Utterly without sportsmanship, Aizen's ambush arrived in silence: a sphere of deeply compressed purple Spiritual Pressure reached Soifon's face in an instant——
The purple Gran Rey Cero was caught by Soifon's golden stand, which pressed both hands against it — then, with a sudden brutal squeeze, shattered the surrounding space and hurled the Cero into another dinsion like so much trash.
Again. Soifon herself hadn't moved; it was that invisible Fullbring that had neutralized his technique.
Soifon raised one finger in a pointing gesture. The golden phantom seed to receive a clear directive: it materialized at Aizen's side, and its arms exploded into a blinding cascade of afterimages, unleashing a howling, storm-force barrage of rapid-fire punches!
ORA ORA ORA——
Aizen's figure twisted and flickered between the fist-shadows. He couldn't see the trajectories of the attacks — all he had to go on were the vibrations in the air and the combat instinct hamred into him by a thousand battles.
But that only ant he took slightly fewer blows.
Each punch that connected sent a thread of golden energy burrowing into his spirit body like a parasite clinging to bone, suppressing the Hōgyoku's regenerative power from within.
The long, drawn-out battle ended at last. Sōsuke Aizen hovered in the air in stillness, eyes half-closed.
Every ti he had co up short against Soifon, Aizen had used the loss to refine another subtle flaw in his path of evolution.
Finally, after several days had passed, Aizen opened his eyes again — as if drawn by the pull of fate.
"It is enough."
He spoke quietly, the words half to himself, half a farewell to Soifon.
He raised his hand, and with a light sweep of five fingers, a Garganta leading to the Royal Palace yawned open.
He gave one last slight nod in Soifon's direction — a silent goodbye — and then stepped forward without hesitation, his figure swallowed by the black rift.
The Captain-Commander dropped down from Las Noches and landed at Soifon's side.
"For these fifteen days, you have remained here helping Aizen temper his strength and nd his flaws."
"Soifon — aren't you being a little too confident?"
"I can sense it… he has gone to the Royal Palace."
Had it not been for the fact that Soifon had kept Sōsuke Aizen on the back foot the entire ti, the Captain-Commander would never have been this composed about it.
Soifon pulled her gaze away from the vanished Garganta rift and turned toward the old man at her side. "Captain-Commander, the Soul King's defenses are not sothing that Aizen's half-baked previous power could have broken on its own."
"What?!"
The Captain-Commander's eyes went wide.
Hadn't it been agreed that the revived Yhwach would assu the Soul King's role — what was the aning of this…?
"Ah, well — Yhwach is still the Soul King's offspring, in the end. His power alone is not enough to kill the Soul King."
"So — after Yhwach absorbed a fully evolved Sōsuke Aizen, by seizing the hollow power within him, the Soul King's defenses could be fully broken open."
"Only then could Yhwach absorb the Soul King's power and qualify to beco the new [Linchpin]."
Since Aizen had already departed for the Royal Palace, Soifon had no fear of their conversation triggering any eavesdropping — so she laid the whole secret bare for the Captain-Commander.
She had to admit: she rather enjoyed watching the Captain-Commander wear that expression of pure, unadulterated shock.
A tongue of fla quietly licked free from the blade of Ryūjin Jakka.
"I will ask one thing, Soifon." His gaze burned into her. "Yhwach — after he has absorbed the Soul King — can you handle him?"
Soifon reached into her breast and produced a silver arrowhead forged from Still Silver. "Of course."
An arrowhead crafted from the silver blood clots collected from the hearts of Auswählen-afflicted Quincy — it could cause the abilities of anyone who had been chosen by Auswählen to vanish entirely for one second.
One second was more than enough for Soifon to kill Yhwach a thousand tis over.
____
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