XX-level Hokage

A horrific wound split open on his chest, blood staining his white mist wings crimson, and for the first time, his cold indifference was replaced by shock. "Is this... your limit, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Aizen murmured softly, his voice hoarse.

Ichigo stood quietly, his spiritual pressure dissipated, and his body swayed precariously, yet there was no wavering in his eyes.

"Aizen, you've lost." His voice was deep, yet as resounding as a hammer striking the ground. Aizen's gaze flickered slightly.

Indeed, that attack didn't completely kill him, but he could clearly feel the agitation and fear within the Hogyoku—the trembling in the face of true power. "Defeat...?" Aizen chuckled, a hint of weakness in his voice. He raised his hand, only to find his arm unable to fully extend, a powerful tremor emanating from deep within his body.

An unprecedented sense of heaviness.

"Ichigo-kun...it seems we'll have to change our plans." High in the sky, Mashiro gazed at the battlefield and muttered to himself.

At the edge of the battlefield, Captain-Commander Yamamoto struggled to sit up, his gaze fixed on Aizen. "Indeed... I saw it too... This brat's slash has already surpassed your level."

Kisuke Urahara slowly revealed a weary smile, "I didn't expect... it actually succeeded, Ichigo-kun."

Yoruichi gritted her teeth, tears welling in her eyes, "You stupid brat... what did you sacrifice..." At this moment, Kurosaki Ichigo's spiritual pressure had almost completely disappeared.

His body stood upright, yet seemed as if it might collapse at any moment; but the unwavering look in his eyes shone brighter than any other force.

Aizen's body swayed slightly, his expression a mixture of arrogance and resentment. He looked at Ichigo, his voice low and deep: "Why... you are clearly far inferior to me, yet you were able to do this?"

Ichigo gazed at him silently, his voice calm: "It's not because I'm stronger than you... but because I have people behind me who need to be protected. You'll never understand, Aizen."

Aizen confirmed it, and for the first time, a hint of Fan Ran flashed in his eyes.

At that very moment, the Hogyoku within Aizen's body suddenly trembled violently, as if sensing the wavering of its master's mind, its power losing its stability. The white mist wings cracked inch by inch, and terrifying spiritual pressure backfired within his body.

"What...what's going on?" Aizen's expression changed drastically. He pressed his hand to his chest, but he couldn't suppress the strange movements of the Hogyoku.

Kisuke Urahara squinted and murmured, "It seems... the Hogyoku is also making a choice. It rejects the true gods, but responds to that... heart of protection."

"Damn it!" Aizen roared, his body suddenly erupting with uncontrollable spiritual pressure, the surrounding space collapsing continuously. Kurosaki Ichigo stared at him, his eyes unwavering: "Aizen... this is the end."

The battlefield was once again engulfed by a terrifying storm of spiritual pressure, the heavens and earth trembled, as if the world was about to end with Aizen's destruction. Everyone held their breath, watching the two figures.

Mashiro whispered in the high sky: "Ichigo Kurosaki...you have reached the end of your destiny, but the legacy you left behind will be forever engraved in this world."

Chapter 253: God’s Throne (3)

After the devastating, dark impact of "The Last Crescent Moon Slash," the entire town of Pseudo-Karakura fell into an eerie, suffocating silence. The terrifying spiritual pressure that had previously dominated the world like a god, enough to make even the soul tremble, had vanished completely.

Aizen Kisuke—the man who stirred up a century of turmoil in the three realms—was ultimately bound completely by the sealing technique pre-set by Urahara Kisuke, transforming into a...

The Cross of Light heralded the end of his ambitions.

The sky was no longer shrouded in that despairing spiritual pressure; the leaden clouds parted, revealing the eternally unchanging, broken, pale moon of Hueco Mundo.

The moonlight fell like wine, illuminating the battlefield that had long since turned to scorched earth.

The streets and high-rises of the past are gone, replaced by huge craters and twisted, broken building ruins, as if they had just experienced an apocalyptic catastrophe.

The wind blows gently.

Without the roar of spiritual pressure, only the insignificant sound of dust being stirred up remained.

Kurosaki Ichigo stood quietly in the center of the ruins. His long, jet-black hair, which had grown to his waist due to the "Final Getsuga Tenshou," swayed gently in the breeze, and the black patterns covering his upper body still exuded a chilling aura.

He won.

He ended the war by burning himself out. However, the joy of victory did not linger in his heart for even a second. Instead, he was filled with an unprecedented and immense emptiness.

He could clearly feel that the immense power that had once filled his limbs, seemingly endless, was rapidly flowing away and dissipating from his body like a flood breaking through a dam.

The ocean of spiritual pressure that once surged and roared deep within his soul was drying up and drying up at a visible speed, eventually turning into a desolate desert.

"

Ichigo let out a painful groan, feeling his body grow heavier than ever before. His waist-length black hair was visibly shortening, turning back into his original short orange hair.

The black, armor-like markings on his body gradually faded, revealing his scarred and bloodstained skin beneath.

The Tensa Zangetsu in his hand, its jet-black blade beginning to crack, seemed poised to shatter at any moment. "Ichigo!"

A familiar yet anxious voice pulled him back from the brink of reverie.

Rukia Kuchiki rushed over without hesitation, her face still streaked with tears, her purple eyes filled with worry and a... growing fear.

"Your spiritual pressure... your spiritual pressure is fading!" Rukia's voice trembled slightly. As the one who shared her Shinigami power with Ichigo, she was more sensitive to Ichigo's spiritual pressure than anyone else.

At this moment, she could clearly feel that the spiritual pressure on Ichigo, which had once been as dazzling as the sun, was rapidly decaying and disappearing in an irreversible way.

“Yes.” A bitter smile tugged at Ichigo’s lips as he looked down at his hands. The power that had once shaken the world now felt so unfamiliar. “This is the price I have to pay.”

"You did a great job, Ichigo."

A tall figure appeared behind him without him noticing. Kurosaki Isshin gently placed his hand on his son's shoulder. His usual nonchalant expression was gone, replaced by a complex mix of pride, heartache, and helplessness.

Kisuke Urahara slowly walked over, pressing down his signature green and white striped fisherman's hat. The shadow under the brim obscured his expression, but his voice remained as calm as ever: "The final Getsuga Tenshou is to transform oneself into a crescent moon and unleash the ultimate attack. The price for using this move is to lose all of one's Shinigami power."

His words, like a final verdict, brought a cruel end to Ichigo's fate.

On the other side of the battlefield, the Shinigami and Visored forces, who had fought desperately until now, finally recovered from the shock of Aizen's sealing away. A surge of immense joy and relief at surviving the ordeal welled up within them, but when they saw Ichigo swaying precariously, and the rapidly dissipating energy within him...

During spiritual pressure, this joy is replaced by a heavy emotion called "sacrifice".

Shinji Hirako deactivated his Hollowfication mask. Looking at Ichigo in the distance, a complex light flashed in his always half-closed eyes: "That kid..."

They really did it!

"But he also gave it his all." Yamaru Lisa's tone was slightly tactful.

With the help of Jushiro Ukitake, Captain-Commander Yamamoto managed to stand, his only remaining right arm gripping his cane tightly as he gazed into the distance at the figure...

The young man, a mere mortal, had vanquished a godlike enemy. In his aged eyes, there was a deep emotion and a hint of respect unseen for a thousand years.

Gin Ichimaru lay unconscious in the ruins not far away, but a faint, relieved smile played on his lips, as if his century-long undercover mission and revenge had finally come to an end.

Kaname Tosen stood quietly to the side, his blind eyes gazing at the sky. No one knew what he was thinking. Perhaps the "justice" he sought had been realized in a way he had never expected.

The entire battlefield was immersed in a complex atmosphere of victory and sorrow. However, there was one person who remained detached from the situation.

High above, the magnificent and comfortable recliner constructed by the Ghost Path still floats in the air.

She lay there leisurely, as if the fierce battle below, so devastating it would be recorded in history, was nothing more than a captivating drama unrelated to her. She quietly watched everything below—Aizen being sealed away, Ichigo losing his power, and her "colleagues" displaying either joy or sorrow.

There was no emotional fluctuation in her deep eyes, only an absolute calm that remained as still as a still well.

"Is it over...? What a wonderful performance," she murmured softly, her voice so faint that only she could hear it. Her own light first fell upon the sealed cross of light.

"What a disappointment, Aizen-kun." Mashiro's lips curled into a cold, enigmatic smile. "You did indeed possess the power to challenge the gods, and even glimpsed the supreme throne at one point. Unfortunately, your capacity was ultimately too small. You couldn't even fully contain the power of the Hogyoku, and were ultimately devoured by the power you created."

In her eyes, Aizen, who wanted to be Sousuke, her former student, the "experiment" she had indulged and even secretly supported, was ultimately just a lost soul.

A tool that failed, yet fulfilled its historical mission; its defeat was already destined when Mashiro "gave" him the incomplete Hōgyoku.

Then, her self-illumination shifted to the orange-haired boy below, who was swaying precariously.

And you, Ichigo-kun... the perfect fusion of Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy... capable of unleashing power exceeding the limits of the Hogyoku... truly... admirable.

In her view, Ichigo's "Final Getsuga Tenshou" was not a simple sacrifice, but the most brilliant possibility shown by the three powers under extreme conditions. He burned himself out, but also pointed out a brand new path to a higher realm for Mashiro.

"Then let me see..." Mashiro's gaze deepened and became distant, as if piercing through time and space to see the distant Spirit King's Palace. "When the appetizers of this grand drama are finished and the true protagonists appear, what interesting expressions will you so-called gods display?"

Chapter 254: God's Throne (End)

The Cross of Light floats silently in the center of the ruins of Pseudo-Karakura Town. The man who once stirred up the winds and waves of the three realms—Aizen Sosuke—is now completely...

With the seal broken, his spiritual pressure, powerful enough to make even gods tremble, vanished without a trace.

The war seemed to be over.

However, for those who had fought so valiantly until now, this moment of deathly silence was more suffocating than any mold. The price of victory was too heavy, heavy enough to crush the last thread of hope in their hearts.

Ichigo Kurosaki fell, sacrificing all his power to achieve this final victory. Captain-Commander Yamamoto was severely injured, losing his left arm and nearly exhausting his thousand years of cultivation. The other captains and Visoreds were also badly wounded and their spiritual pressure depleted before Aizen's overwhelming power.

The entire battlefield was permeated with an absurd yet heavy atmosphere, a mixture of victory and sorrow. "Is it over?"

Hirako Shinji struggled to his feet. He looked at the cross of light in the distance, then at Hiyori lying in the ruins, her life hanging in the balance. For the first time, a deep weariness and resignation showed in Hiyori's eyes, which were always half-closed.

They waited a century, plotted a century, and their final revenge ended in such a tragic way.

However, just when everyone thought that this catastrophe had finally come to an end, and that they could begin to lick their wounds and take stock of the sacrifices...

The sky, which had just begun to regain some peace, was once again mercilessly torn apart by several dark, twisted cracks! "What?!"

Hitsugaya Toshiro's pupils constricted sharply. He sensed an unsettling, ominous premonition in Mashiro's playful smile. "Black Hole!" Urahara Kisuke's expression changed drastically in an instant!

Three immense and terrifying spiritual pressures, enough to make everyone who had just experienced a catastrophe feel despair once again, suddenly descended from the two cracks!

The Tenth Espada, Koyatai Stark; The Tenth Espada, Yammy Rialgo

Immediately afterwards, the 20th Espada, Barragan Ruisenbon, also broke free of his restraints and came to their side.

"Stark?! Yammy?!" Toshiro Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto stared at the two familiar figures, their faces filled with disbelief and shock. Koyatai Stark, a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow, possessed the ability to infinitely Cero and split his soul into packs of wolves, and his spiritual pressure was incredibly powerful.

Yammy Rialgo, normally No. 10, becomes No. 0 after liberation. He can infinitely increase his strength by accumulating spiritual pressure, and his size and power increase with his anger.

"How could it be possible to film the burly figure of the village's left flank? Even he couldn't help but tremble."

"Oh dear, it seems like I'm not really going to be involved." Stark still looked like he hadn't woken up yet, yawning as Lilynette pouted in dissatisfaction beside him.

With an arrogant air of dominance, Barragán surveyed the wounded Grim Reapers below, his empty eye sockets gleaming with absolute contempt for life.

As for Yammie Rialgo, his expression was calm as still water, as if it were all just an insignificant interlude.

"What's going on... Wasn't Aizen sealed away?!" Renji roared, unable to understand why these enemies, who should have perished along with their lord's defeat, would reappear.

"It's very simple." A gentle voice, tinged with sadness, solved the mystery for them. Aizen thought to Yusuke.

No, to be precise, it was Aizen, the one sealed within the Cross of Light, who was slowly speaking. "What you have seen, what you have experienced, even... what you firmly believe in my failure." Within the Cross of Light, the figure's lips curled into a mocking smile.

"They're all just illusions, like flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water." "What?!"

This time, even Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Kurosaki felt a tremor from the bottom of their hearts. They finally understood.

From beginning to end, what they fought, what they defeated, and even what they sealed away was merely a perfect illusion created by a mirage.

The real Aizen had already slipped away unnoticed.

And what Ichigo's "Final Getsuga Tenshou," which burned away all his power, shattered was nothing more than a... false bubble.

This truth, which was enough to overturn the entire battle, was like the most vicious curse, completely extinguishing the faint flame of hope that had just been ignited in the hearts of all the Grim Reapers.

"What...joke?" For the first time, genuine despair appeared on Shinji Hirako's face.

“Then,” Kisuke Urahara began with difficulty, his gaze turning to the woman high in the sky who had remained calm throughout, “Mashiro…you knew from the very beginning, didn’t you?”

Mashiro did not answer. She simply watched her "colleagues" below, who were plunged into utter chaos and despair. In her deep eyes, a subtle, almost divine pity flashed.