XX-level Hokage

The explosion of the spirit bomb was silent. The Grim Reapers in the other areas, who had no idea what had happened, stood there stunned, looking up at the sky, only feeling a wave of heat coming from above.

Accompanying the hot winds came flames that blotted out the sky—the sun in all its glory.

The rapidly expanding and surging sun seemed poised to engulf everything, burning everything to ashes. Faced with the sun's descent from the gates, these death gods, with nowhere to escape and no way to stop it, could only stand helplessly in place. Silent death descended, and all things returned to equality.

In the few seconds before death descended, the entire world was eerily silent. "Fire City—!!"

Suddenly, what tore through this darkness was a roar, born of extreme anger yet utterly helpless, squeezed from the depths of the throat. It was as if the roar was a direct confrontation with the setting sun.

Like a phoenix spreading its wings, golden flames surged from the ground into the sky, spreading out in mid-air, or as if the World Tree had grown in an instant, protecting everything under its shade.

It is no surprise that the entire world was completely reduced to scorched earth when flames collided with each other.

Surprisingly, the scorching heat that had previously made their faces, hair, and clothes feel like they were about to spontaneously combust transformed into a gentle warmth like the winter sun. The city of flames surged above all the Grim Reapers, writhing as if in struggle.

But the city walls were ultimately not breached. The city walls, as warm as the winter sun, seemed to protect everyone below until the threat was completely over, preventing them from suffering any harm.

The fiery battlefield shifted from the ground to the sky in an instant; the flames that had transformed into a fiery hell had already risen into the heavens.

It was completely removed the moment before.

While the flames surged in the air, the ground here cooled rapidly, with only the previously scorched ground turning black and solidifying. "This means that you have made your choice."

Aizen put the Kyoka Suigetsu back into the scabbard at his waist.

Chapter 137: Zhenyang Underground Prison

Looking at Yamamoto Genryu Shigekuni, who had shielded the entire First Division from the falling sun by blocking the Flame Castle above the two thousand members of the First Division, a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, his eyes blazing with fury as he stared at him.

Aizen said with a mixture of respect and contempt, "Just as I thought, you've become weak, Yamamoto Genryu. You were never worthy to be my enemy from the very beginning."

Aizen turned around and thought that Yusuke had vanished like a mirage.

And my goal has been achieved. Boom!!

With the sound of flames drawing in oxygen, a pillar of fire erupted from a location very close to the First Division's base.

That direction leads to... the Central Underground Prison!

Zhenyang underground prison.

This is a place in Soul Society used to imprison the most heinous criminals who have committed grave crimes.

The problem is that, for the Soul Realm and the Shinigami, no matter what kind of enemy it is, if it truly threatens the peace and survival of the three realms, they will kill it without any reason.

Therefore, for whom was this so-called underground prison built?

The answer is that only those who cannot be killed by ordinary means in the Tokage world, as well as those who are extremely dangerous in their thinking and have done things that have harmed the Gotei 13's ideals, are put into it.

Depending on the severity of the crime, they will be imprisoned in different levels of jail.

The Central Underground Prison, as its name suggests, is located in the Central District, but its actual location is somewhere within the First Division and is jointly managed by the First Division and the Detective Corps, which is specifically responsible for managing the underground prison.

Its location is so secure and its position so secluded that it is not a place that ordinary people can reach. It can even be said that even if there is no safe place in the Soul Society, this place must still have the most basic imprisonment capabilities. At this moment, the prison guards responsible for guarding the underground prison raised their heads in fear and looked up at the sky.

Moments ago, something resembling the sun fell for unknown reasons, nearly incinerating everything on Earth. But before that, a fiery city rose from the ground to fight back.

This has exceeded the limits of what ordinary death gods could imagine, and has entered the realm of mythology.

Or rather, both are almost equivalent to natural phenomena beyond human control. And all they can do is look up again.

Perhaps, even if the sun really sets, nothing will happen to the underground prison, but at least those responsible for guarding it will turn to ashes and vanish into thin air.

It was precisely because they kept their heads up, gazing at the sky, closely watching its changes, that they worried whether Fire City would ultimately emerge victorious.

That's when they noticed that somewhere above them, beneath the fiery city walls, a strange color had suddenly appeared.

It was a white thing. Because it appeared so suddenly and disappeared so quickly, even the person with the best eyesight could only barely make out that it looked like a swirling white cloth strip.

Then, beneath the fortress formed by flames, something twinkled and fell like a bright star falling from the sky.

If they had known that before the sun that terrified them, rendering them paralyzed with fear, set, a similar shooting star also fell from the sky, they wouldn't have remained calm and curious enough to simply observe what that falling star was.

By the time they finally saw what the falling star actually was, it was too late.

It was much smaller than the first sun to fall, but it was still able to completely extinguish them before they even realized what was happening to them.

The enormous fireball expanded rapidly near the ground, mercilessly engulfing everything in its path. Everything was annihilated within the massive fireball. At the moment it reached its limit, the fireball exploded with a deafening roar, transforming into a towering pillar of fire that surged into the sky, even carving a hole in the fiery city above.

However, the blocked flames above the fiery city walls did not surge through the breach created by the explosion, relentlessly devouring everything below.

Before that, at the location where the breach was created, the pillar of fire that had surged into the sky suddenly collapsed inward for some unknown reason, and a huge, circular, blood-red arc unfolded in the sky.

The unparalleled gravitational pull had been instantly emptied, turning the area where the original underground prison once stood into flat ground.

Click! Click! Click!

Built countless years ago, and having imprisoned countless horrific criminals over the centuries, unsettling sounds emanated from the surface of this seemingly impregnable underground prison.

The entire ground bulged upwards as if it had been raised.

The cracks spread across the raised ground, rapidly expanding at an unstoppable speed, until a huge cross-shaped fissure finally appeared.

And so, under the influence of the immense gravitational force from above, the ground was torn apart, splitting into four crimson arcs that rose towards the sky. This completely exposed the previously sealed underground prison beneath.

Countless shattered boulders flew into the sky, heading towards the blood-red arc above.

The ground collapsed and the rock veins shattered. Whether it was the destroyed Shinigami District or the Shinigami Underground Prison that was forcibly pried open, this was the worst event in five hundred years for both the Soul Society and the Seireitei.

At the very top of one of the raised sections of ground, a figure dressed in white suddenly appeared. He raised his hand, as if pressing down...

It's like a switch.

The crimson arc that had spread across the sky receded inwards in an instant, disappearing completely within the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, the boulders that had been lifted into the air by gravity, now deprived of their gravitational pull, fell like a meteor shower, causing secondary damage.

Fortunately, there was no life left here when that little sun exploded and devoured everything, so there's no need to worry about how much damage this secondary meteor shower will cause.

The figure standing atop the raised edge of the earth, Aizen, cast his gaze downwards towards the area below that had been forcibly pried open. He looked towards...

"Waiting for life on the first floor of the True Central Underground Prison."

The only part that was torn apart was the surface of the Central Underground Prison, so it is conceivable that only the first level of the underground prison was exposed.

However, this was enough for Aizen Sousuke.

The first level of the True Central Underground Prison, the Hell of Living Beings, is a place that resembles a river of blood. In an area so vast that it could be mistaken for an infinitely extending expanse, crimson liquid covers everything on the surface.

The calm, still sea of ​​blood cannot bring peace; all that remains is a profound sense of horror and terror.

Large amounts of rubble crashed into the sea of ​​blood through the torn opening, splashing up waves like a surging waterfall, causing ripples to spread across the blood-soaked surface. And above the continuously rippling sea of ​​blood, as far as Aizen Yosuke could see...

A single fringe falls across her forehead, her short hair curls at the back, and she is dressed in all black. The petite Grim Reaper, with her eyes tightly closed and completely unconscious, floats here, slowly turning over as she is pushed by an unseen force.

I've finally found you, Rukia Kuchiki.

Chapter 138: The Hogyoku (Part 1)

"Who could have predicted that the elusive Rukia Kuchiki would end up trapped in the heavily guarded Shinigami Underground Prison?" A subtle and eerie ripple spread across the dark and deep sea of ​​blood.

Aizen's figure descended gracefully from the heights like a ghost, his toes lightly touching the bottomless, blood-red ocean as if walking on flat ground, without the slightest sign of sinking.

With each step he took, he trod steadily on the viscous and unsettling surface of the sea of ​​blood, creating only tiny ripples that spread silently outwards, as if the sea of ​​blood itself had submitted to his power and dared not resist in the slightest.

He seemed oblivious to the suffocating stench of blood that permeated the surroundings, as if this gloomy and terrifying prison were nothing more than his own backyard.

As if no one else was around, the moment Aizen forced open the sturdy gate and stepped into the first level of the Great Prison of the Central District, he had already locked onto his target and was slowly and deliberately approaching the person he had been plotting against for so long.

"Who would have thought that the most difficult step in the plan would be so close to you, Rukia Kuchiki?"

Even the deep-thinking Aizen couldn't help but let a genuine smile appear on his usually gentle face. This smile carried a hint of relief and a sense of triumphant satisfaction.

He slowly raised his hand and reached into the seemingly ordinary lining of his clothing. With a light touch of his fingertips, he carefully removed a tubular capsule that looked like a precision instrument.

"But you probably can't hear me now, which makes me feel like I've lost a little bit of fun." Aizen's tone remained calm, as if he were just stating a trivial matter, but a cold, eerie light flickered deep in his eyes.

Finally, he arrived beside Rukia Kuchiki, who was floating quietly on the sea of ​​blood. Without the slightest hesitation, Aizen reached out and grabbed Rukia with precise and accurate movements, firmly grasping her slender body in his hand.

The previously invisible and stable force was suddenly shattered with Aizen's intervention, and the balance that was maintaining Rukia Kuchiki's floating state collapsed instantly. Her body began to fall uncontrollably into the bottomless sea of ​​blood below.

However, before that, because Aizen was holding her tightly, she was ultimately held firmly in his hands, and even gently lifted up by him, like a lifeless, exquisite doll.

Aizen lowered his head, gazing at the unconscious Rukia Kuchiki in his hands, his smile widening. Without hesitation, he squeezed the tubular capsule he had taken from his robes, crushing it instantly.

The instant the capsule shattered, an invisible energy suddenly spread out. Centered on Aizen and Rukia Kuchiki, six sharp and rough wooden stakes, as if summoned by some mysterious force, burst forth from the sea of ​​blood below, piercing upwards at an incredible speed and angle. In the blink of an eye, they completely enveloped the two of them, forming a strange and closed cage.

At the same time, a strange liquid emitting a faint glow gushed out from the capsule that Aizen had crushed, quickly climbing up like a living thing and eventually completely enveloping Aizen's palm.

Surprisingly, after his palms came into contact with the liquid, they began to undergo a visible transformation. His originally fair and slender fingers were slowly and steadily transforming into a material like ancient wood. Deep and complex wood-like textures, like the veins of life, spread rapidly across his entire arm, filled with an unusual and powerful sense of strength.

Aizen's eyes were cold, without the slightest pity or hesitation. He ruthlessly pierced Rukia Kuchiki's fragile chest with the arm that had been completely transformed into wood.

Even though her consciousness had long since faded into darkness, rendering her unable to perceive anything around her, Rukia Kuchiki's face still showed traces of the sudden, intense pain.

A hint of pain appeared on her face, and her pale complexion made her look even more pitiful and heartbreaking.

However, if a third party were present at this moment and could observe this scene carefully, they would be horrified to discover that it was not Aizen's hard wooden arm that forcibly pierced Kuchiki Rukia's body, but rather, just before Aizen's arm was about to touch her skin, Kuchiki Rukia's chest was as if torn open by some invisible force, automatically opening a chilling gap. The edge of the gap showed an unnatural distortion, as if space itself had been forcibly torn open a crack, and Aizen's arm reached into this strange crack without any hindrance.

Inside Rukia Kuchiki's body, Aizen's arm seemed to be searching for something important. The smile that was already on his face became even brighter, as if he had found a precious treasure, full of unwavering confidence.

"However, compared to what I'm about to obtain, this mere obstacle is nothing!" Aizen muttered to himself, his tone filled with...

It was filled with contempt and disdain.

A moment later, Aizen slowly withdrew his arm from Rukia Kuchiki's body, his fingertips now holding a small, exquisite object.

It was a small, round sphere, radiating a bright green light, encased in a transparent polygonal device. It lay quietly on Aizen's fingertip, seemingly inconspicuous, yet it appeared to contain some mysterious power capable of overturning the entire Tokishin world.

"I am truly astonished, Kisuke Urahara. So the Hogyoku you regard as a priceless treasure is actually such a trivial thing." Aizen's aura was locked tightly on the emerald green sphere, his tone tinged with mockery and amusement.

The wood-grain-like substance covering his palm receded rapidly like the tide, eventually dissolving into the air and disappearing without a trace, as if it had never existed.

As these strange substances disappeared, the unsettling gap that had appeared on Rukia Kuchiki's chest was smoothed out by an invisible force, quickly closing and restoring her to her original state without leaving a trace.

Even someone as meticulous as Aizen couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly at this sight, a hint of surprise and admiration flashing in his eyes.

"The soul itself is completely unharmed. What superb skill, Kisuke Urahara. It's just a pity that you've become useless to me after I obtained the Hogyoku."

Aizen's words clearly show that from the beginning, his true target was not Rukia Kuchiki herself, but the mysterious and powerful Hogyoku hidden in her body.

Rukia Kuchiki was merely a pawn, a vessel, in order to achieve his goals.

Of course, despite this, Aizen's gaze fell once again on the unconscious Rukia Kuchiki. He paused slightly, as if he had suddenly thought of something interesting, and a malicious smile appeared on his lips again. His deep eyes narrowed slightly, flashing with a dangerous light.

Chapter 139: The Hogyoku (Part Two)

"Wait a minute, if we were to completely eliminate you here, right here in this True Central Underground Prison, I'd be quite curious why my friend, who always puts on such an act..."

What kind of interesting expression will this teacher, who exudes unparalleled arrogance and seems to have everything under control, display?