Chapter 67

Chapter 67

t/n : Be blessed with a long chapter! 

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*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

Across the windswept wasteland, two figures clashed fiercely as they chased one another. Every collision of their Zanpakutō sent shockwaves rippling through the air.

Goken Kenpachi grinned, tilting his head. "Not bad. No wonder you managed to kill the Seventh Division's Vice-Captain."

"You're not half bad."

The moment the words left his mouth, he suddenly increased his speed, unleashing a flurry of five slashes in quick succession.

Aizen barely blocked three of them, but the remaining two struck his body, sending him flying backward. He crashed into a small hill with a thunderous impact.

Hovering midair, Goken Kenpachi shook his head, a hint of regret on his face. 

Before arriving, he had prepared several contingency plans for various scenarios. 

Yet none of them had been necessary. 

The gap in power between him and his opponent was too vast. 

Though Aizen had some clever tricks, raw strength was not something that could be bridged so easily. 

"What will he do next?" Goken wondered. "A desperate last stand? Or another futile attempt to escape?"

As if to answer his question, a figure darted out from the swirling dust, leaving a trail of debris in its wake.

"Foolish. You couldn't escape me before when you were unharmed. Now, after taking two of my strikes, you still think you can run?"

Shaking his head slightly, Goken Kenpachi resumed the chase.

Beneath the shifting shadows that cloaked him, Aizen's expression remained calm, showing no sign of tension despite being pursued. He glanced down at the places where Goken's strikes had landed.

During his retreat, he had set several pre-triggered shields at key points on his body. 

The shields were calibrated to match Goken's strength perfectly: just enough to shatter and leave a superficial wound without causing real harm. 

This small deception allowed him to feign weakness without actually being injured.

Aizen mused silently.

"If Kaelith Yurei knew the techniques he taught me were being used against the Gotei 13, what would his reaction be?"

He imagined Kaelith's wide-eyed look of betrayal, pointing at him in disbelief and anguish. The thought amused Aizen for a moment.

But then his expression darkened slightly as if that mental image annoyed him.

Distracted by the thought, he nearly lost control of his speed, almost leaving Goken behind. Snapping back to reality, he quickly feigned the effects of injury, slowing down again.

Behind him, Goken Kenpachi had been startled moments ago when the Shadow Killer had suddenly accelerated, outrunning even his full-powered Shunpo. 

Just as he began questioning his own abilities, the Shadow Killer stumbled slightly, slowing down again.

Goken let out a small breath of relief. "Looks like that was just a last-ditch effort."

With a few more flash steps, the distance between them closed.

He aimed for Aizen's back, raising his Zanpakutō and slashing down.

At the last moment, Aizen slightly increased his speed, causing the blade to miss by a hair's breadth. 

Goken hesitated, stunned. 

"Coincidence?"

Annoyed, he pushed himself harder, speeding up again and swinging his blade once more. 

This time, Aizen seemed prepared, casually flipping his Zanpakutō behind his back to block.

*Clang!*

Goken's blade struck Aizen's Zanpakutō, sending Aizen flying forward from the force of the impact. 

Goken couldn't help but laugh in frustration. 

"You bastard! You've got plenty of tricks up your sleeve, huh?"

The two continued to clash and chase, their battle dragging on for nearly half an hour. 

Unknowingly, they had moved from the 70th district to the 74th district.

The prolonged game of cat and mouse had worn Goken's patience thin. Spotting an opening, he raised his blade high.

"Cut him down! Rikū!" (Rift Sky)

As the release command echoed, his Zanpakutō began to emit a strange, distorted glow.

Aizen glanced back, his peripheral vision catching the light.

The Eleventh Division's captain, Goken Kenpachi. 

He had done some research on this man.

Formerly the Eleventh Division's Vice-Captain, his strength was decent—but only decent. 

He had inherited the title of Kenpachi after the previous captain violated the law and was imprisoned in Muken. 

Because of this, few knew the details of his abilities.

As Aizen observed with mild curiosity, Goken swung his blade from a considerable distance.

"That far away? Kidō-based, perhaps?"

The thought barely crossed Aizen's mind when a sharp sense of danger jolted him.

Instinctively, he flipped midair, slashing at the empty space in front of him with his Zanpakutō.

*Rip!*

His blade hit nothing, but his robe tore open, revealing a long gash along the fabric.

Aizen raised his eyebrows slightly. 

"So, an attack that ignores space and distance?"

"How... interesting."

Seeing his attack land, Goken sneered. 

"Nothing special after all."

He gave Aizen no chance to recover, swinging his Zanpakutō repeatedly to unleash a series of invisible slashes.

In mere moments, Aizen's body had been struck seven or eight times. Unable to maintain his position in the air, he plummeted to the ground.

Goken followed closely, landing with a crash. 

Before he could advance further, a soft murmur reached his ears.

"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."

"…?"

Goken froze for a moment before his entire body tensed. 

His opponent had released his Zanpakutō.

Aizen gripped his Zanpakutō in reverse, smiling faintly at Goken Kenpachi. However, the anticipated attack did not materialize.

"What's going on?" Goken wondered. "Is this guy bluffing?"

For a moment, his vision blurred. When he refocused, he realized the figure before him had shed their cloaking Kidō. Now standing there was a middle-aged Shinigami in a slightly tattered Shihakushō, their body marred with numerous wounds—many of which Goken had inflicted.

"Looks like he sustained too many injuries to maintain the Kidō disguise," Goken thought with a grin.

He eyed the man up and down before sneering. "With all that sneaking around, I thought you were someone important. But it turns out you're just plain-looking."

"Why bother with the disguise? Even without it, no one would remember your face."

Aizen opened his mouth as if to reply, but blood spilled from his lips before he could speak. 

With a heavy *thud*, he fell to one knee. The wounds on his body were now bleeding profusely, staining the lower half of his Shihakushō deep red.

Seeing this, Goken's interest waned. "Looks like he's going to bleed out on his own. I don't even have to lift a finger."

Aizen, forcing a pained smile, rasped, "As expected of the... Eleventh Division's... Captain... I... lost." With those words, his eyes dimmed, and he collapsed to the ground. His body began to dissolve into particles of Reishi, as though fading from existence.

Meanwhile, Aizen, lying within his illusionary world, smirked inwardly. 

"After tonight, the Shadow Killer will cease to exist."

He had anticipated this trouble the moment he killed the Seventh Division's Vice-Captain. Even though the Vice-Captain was a rebel, the Seireitei would never let such an act slide, given their need to maintain appearances.

To permanently eliminate any risk, Aizen had devised a plan. He intentionally allowed his location in Rukongai to be discovered. Using Kyōka Suigetsu, he altered his appearance and lured his pursuers to witness his "death."

A simple plan, but sufficient to outwit the bloated bureaucracy of the Seireitei.

Just as Aizen was smugly entertaining these thoughts, he noticed Goken performing Kidō. 

"Wait... is that Kidō meant to prevent Reishi dispersion? To preserve a corpse?"

Aizen was momentarily dumbfounded. "What is this guy up to? Is he planning to keep my body for... desecration? How Kaelith of him." (t/n Xd he is even using Kaelith as a metonymy now) 

Shaking his head, Aizen shifted his strategy. If Goken merely wanted to mutilate his "corpse," he could handle that.

He'd create a false body, lead Goken into an illusion, and let him vent his frustrations. However, as Goken approached, Aizen overheard something unexpected:

"No-name fool, don't blame me," Goken muttered. "You killed too many rebels. The great one has long despised you."

"Once I bring your head back to him, I'll earn more power when he ascends to divinity."

"Since you're already dead, it won't hurt to borrow your head for a while, will it?"

Goken raised his blade, ready to strike Aizen's neck.

Aizen internally sighed. "I'm so tired of this..."

Using Kyōka Suigetsu to deceive Goken would work, but what about the "great one"? He hadn't hypnotized that individual, meaning a false head wouldn't hold up.

Realizing his plan was unraveling, Aizen slowly sat up.

"...?!"

Goken's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the "corpse" rising. Though startled, he quickly recovered, realizing Aizen had been faking his death.

Aizen dusted himself off, wearing an expression of mild exasperation. "I didn't expect the Eleventh Division Captain to be a rebel as well."

The term "rebels" confirmed Goken's allegiance. Aizen had heard it countless times from the lips of those he'd slain. 

"Still," Aizen continued, his tone growing colder, "this simplifies things. I'll eliminate you here and now."

As he spoke, a surge of dense Spirit Pressure erupted from him.

Feeling the overwhelming power radiating from Aizen, Goken's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Impossible... You were hiding your strength?!"

"This power... it's near a captain's level. No... it surpasses it!"

Aizen nodded calmly. "That's correct. Unlike you—a pitiful creature clinging to mediocrity—I have ascended beyond the limits of a mere captain."

Goken froze, his greatest insecurity laid bare. Mediocrity had haunted him his entire life. Now, hearing it from Aizen was suffocating.

Aizen, unperturbed, looked at him with a glint of curiosity. "Before I kill you, I want to ask one thing."

"Shinchira Renzosuke, Takada, and now you... What did the rebels promise to make you betray the Gotei 13? What could compel you to turn against it?"

It was a question that had lingered in Aizen's mind. While he usually avoided contact with captains, the opportunity to extract answers was too enticing to pass up.

Goken focused back and scoffed. "You fool. What do you know?"

"The so-called rebels are nothing but a label the Gotei 13 slapped on us."

"The real rebels... are the Gotei 13 themselves!"

Aizen's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You think the Gotei 13 exists to protect the Seireitei and the Spirit King? How naive."

Goken sneered. "The Spirit King is a puppet—nothing more than a tool controlled by the Five Noble Families and the Royal Special Forces!"

Aizen was stunned. "The Spirit King... a puppet?"

The notion seemed absurd. The Spirit King was a divine being of unimaginable power. How could mere Shinigami wield such control?

Before Aizen could press for more answers, Goken made his move.

"Bankai!"

"Rending Void Slaughterfield!"

A pillar of dazzling Spirit Pressure burst into the sky, illuminating the night as though igniting it. 

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