Goddess of Ice: Corrupting Bleach - Chapter 88: Aizen Evolves
***Author Note***
You can read up to chapter 9 in my One Piece fic on my Pat reon.
***End of Author Note***
Just like that, Aizen and Isshin started fighting as well, while Ichigo decided to face Gin, who hadn’t participated at all yet, and after a few quick exchanges, Gin activated his Bankai.
His Zanpakuto elongated, making it hundreds of meters long, and after swinging the long sword once, large parts of the artificial city in half.
Following that, Gin started telling Ichigo how long his sword was during its Shikai and Bankai states, and while he was doing so, he could have sworn someone was yelling about him compensating for something, but Gin was sure that was just his imagination.
Meanwhile, Yuna and Yamamoto were clashing again and again, and the more they clashed, the more astonished Yamamoto became, as Yuna actually was actually more skilled with the sword than him, and the only reason they were still in a stalemate was that Yamamoto was stronger and faster.
As another clash happened, the duo’s blades yet again repelled each other due to the different temperatures, but this time, Yuna used the momentum of being repelled to turn around to stab the tip of her tails toward Yamamoto, who barely dodged the attack by using [Shunpo].
However, as if she had predicted that move, Yuna’s Zanpakuto was already descending on the place where he had moved, causing his eyes to widen. Despite the surprise, Yamamoto still managed to block Yuna’s sword, but due to his unstable posture, Yamamoto staggered back a step, allowing Yuna to attack him more aggressively while he tried to fix his stance.
‘Shit, this monster has already adapted to our swords repelling each other after every clash.’
Yamamoto managed to regain his bearing after a few more clashed, bringing him back to the rhythm of the fight, but unfortunately, while doing so, Yuna managed to land a small hit on him, resulting in a small gash on his upper body.
More time passed, and Yuna and Yamamoto were currently standing opposite of each other, around ten meters apart.
Feeling his current condition, Yamamoto couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. He couldn’t really put his finger on it, but his instincts were telling him so.
He quickly scanned his body, and his senses quickly wandered to the small wound Yuna left in his skin, and seeing it, he couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
‘It’s covered in ice? How can that be?’
Of course, he wasn’t surprised that Yuna’s attacks would freeze what they cut, but he was surprised that the ice was still there. After all, he had his Bankai active, and the temperature, especially this close to him, was extremely hot.
‘Why doesn’t it melt?’
Seeing confusion briefly appearing on Yamamoto’s face, Yuna smirked, and she started talking.
“Oh? Seems like you finally noticed~ Hehe, while the terrifying part of your Bankai is the ridiculous heat of your weapon, the temperature is actually not the main focus of my ability.”
Hearing Yuna’s explanation, Yamamoto started frowning, and moments later, he realized what was going on as his gaze landed on his Zanpakuto, and when he realized what was going on, he couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
‘My Zanpakuto actually has cooled down a little? Impossible! As long as my Bankai is active, the temperature shouldn’t change!’
Seeing the confusion on Yamamoto’s face, Yuna’s grin twisted even further, making her look less and less like a human.
“Hehe, you see, the most dangerous thing about my ice is that it can freeze everything and will continue freezing everything for as long as I want. Whether it is water, fire, time, or space, there is nothing that can not be frozen.”
As these words left Yuna’s mouth, a chill went down Yamamoto’s spine as he realized that if he were to fight Yuna for an extended amount of time, she might actually freeze his Bankai. Of course, that was only the case if her words were entirely true, which Yamamoto couldn’t be too certain about yet.
‘Truly monserous.’
Meanwhile, Ichigo continued facing Gin, but before they could fight any further, Rangiku appeared next to Ichigo, staring at Gin.
“Sorry to interrupt, but this is something personal, Ichigo.”
Hearing Rangiku’s words, Ichigo obviously got curious about what she meant, but in the end, he decided to let her do her thing. After all, it was not like he held much of a grudge against Gin.
Seeing Ichigo stepping back, Rangiku sighed in relief and stepped forward, but before she could speak, Gin started talking to her.
“Oh? It looked like you suffered a mutual defeat, but you actually can still fight, Rangiku?”
“*Cough* Well, let’s just say I got a second wind.”
Gin’s eyebrows rose after hearing that, but after getting a closer look at Rangiku, she indeed seemed to be in a good condition, as a healthy glow was clearly visible on her skin.
‘What happened to her?’
While Gin was wondering how Rangiku managed to get back on her feet so quickly, Rangiku could only scoff in disdain.
‘Pah, as if those three amateurs had a chance against me after I spent so much time with Yuna. If Yuna hadn’t joined the fray, I could have easily finished off all three of them.’
Unaware of Rangiku’s thoughts, Gin prepared himself to knock out Rangiku as he didn’t want to hurt his childhood friend, but before he could make a move, Rangiku said something that genuinely surprised him.
“Gin, you don’t have to do this anymore. I know you sided with Aizen to betray him, but that is no longer necessary.”
Hearing her words, Gin started sweating a little as he briefly glanced at Aizen, who, luckily, was too busy fighting Ishhin to hear the conversation happening between him and Rangiku.
“What are you talking about? I would ne…”
“No, you will. Yuna has told me about your intentions. She’s seen through you.”
Gin briefly faltered upon hearing Rangiku’s words, but moments later, a serious expression returned on his face as he pointed his blade at Rangiku and Ichigo.
“She really is a creepy woman, huh? However, that doesn’t matter. So what if she has seen my real intentions? That doesn’t change anything. I’ll kill Aizen, even if I have to get rid of you, Rangiku.”
Usually, there was no doubt that Rangiku would take Gin’s words personally, but Yuna had already told her everything she needed to know about Gin and why he acted the way he did: All he did was to kill Aizen because he took part of her Spiritual Power when she was just a young child, damaging her soul.
Additionally, not only did Gin want to put his life on the line for Rangiku, but there was more information Gin wasn’t even aware of yet.
“Gin, there is no purpose in doing this. Yuna helped me heal the part of my soul that was damaged all these years ago, and as for defeating Aizen, isn’t Yuna here? She will do it.”
Gin didn’t even hear the second part of Rangiku’s statement, as the moment he heard that Rangiku’s damaged soul was apparently healed, he froze in place.
“I-Impossible! Do you know how much I researched this matter!? How many things have I experimented with!? This is impossible!”
As Gin was finally losing his cool, Rangiku shook her head with a wry smile on her face and resumed talking.
“Maybe it’s impossible normally, but fortunately, Yuna is far from normal. Additionally, shouldn’t it be pretty obvious that I’m fully healed? After all, if I weren’t, how could I possibly use my Bankai?”
Gin’s eyes bulged as he realized that Rangiku’s words were indeed true. Reaching Bankai was an incredible feat only the most talented Shinigami could ever hope to achieve, so reaching that state with a damaged soul, a damaged potential? That should be impossible.
Despite that, he couldn’t help but think that it was true. After all, he dedicated his whole life to this, so even if someone else had solved the problem, how couldn’t he be happy about it?
“I-Is it really true? Are you healed?”
Seeing a genuine expression of concern on Gin’s face pretty much for the first time, Rangiku couldn’t help but smile as well.
“Yup, all healed up~”
Gin sighed in relief as a real smile appeared on his face, not the twisted snake-like version he usually displayed.
“That’s good. Very good. Mhh? Wait a moment. Why would Yuna even help you out like that? Pretty sure the first time you met, you were enemies.”
“Oh? Well, I kind of slept with her~”
Had Gin been drinking something, there was no doubt that he would have performed a splendid spit take, but unfortunately, there were no drinks in his mouth, so he could only look at Rangiku, utterly flabbergasted.
“Y-Y-You sold your body to hear!?”
This time it was Rangiku’s turn to do a mental spit take, while Gin was preparing himself to fight Yuna to the death. All his life, he had considered Rangiku as something like his little sister, so someone forcing themselves on her like that was unacceptable to him.
However, before he could do anything regrettable, Rangiku stopped as he hastily started explaining the situation to him.
“Stop it; I didn’t sell myself. *Cough* It was rather consensual, and after a few days together, she simply offered to help me before I could even tell her about my problems.”
After hearing Rangiku’s explanation, Gin sighed in relief as his stance relaxed.
‘I see, so it’s like that. Isn’t that fine, then? Rangiku is healthy. Rangiku is happy. So, I’m satisfied.’
While Rangiku sighed in relief that Gin was no longer rearing to fight, Ichigo couldn’t help but be dumbfounded, as the person he was supposed to fight was somehow overcome with words alone.
‘Seriously, he is one of the good guys? That dude looks shady as f*ck with those squinted eyes and eerie grin, so I can barely believe it.’
Simultaneously, Isshin was fighting Aizen and was actually putting quite a bit of pressure on him, as unlike the other people who fought him before, Isshin was not under the influence of Aizen’s Zanpakuto.
“What’s wrong? You are slowing down. Are you at your limit already?”
Hearing Isshin’s teasing words, Aizen couldn’t help but smirk as he spread his coat, revealing the Hogyoku he had inserted into his chest.
“That’s right, I’m reaching my limit. My limit as a Shinigami~ It’s been a while since I gained the Hogyoku, but now, it finally starts understanding who I am.”
“What?”
Obviously, Isshin couldn’t understand Aizen’s cryptic words, and before he could ponder them any further, Aizen resumed talking as he grandly spread his arms.
“I’m not surprised that you don’t understand; after all, you are not even aware of the Hogyoku’s actual abilities. Is it the ability to break down the barrier between Shinigami and Hollow? Wrong. It’s the ability to read the hearts of the people around it and fulfill their desires.”
Following those words, Aizen explained how the Hogyoku’s power had manifested around the people involved in it, granting Kisuke the ability to break down the barrier between Hollow and Shinigami and how it was the reason why Tatsuki, Sado, and Orihime awakened their powers as well.
Finishing his grand explanation about the Hogyoku’s power and how he had known about it for a very long time, the Hogyoku in Aizen’s chest became active, causing Aizen to smile widely.
“Hogyoku, the break-down-sphere, what a fitting name. After all, it will break down the barrier separating the divine from the earthly.”
Suddenly, a white substance that looked like the same material a Hollow mask was made out of exploded out of the Hogyoku, attempting to cover Aizen’s body, but before that could happen, a red beam of concentrated Spiritual Power pierced through Aizen’s body.
However, instead of being shocked by the sudden sneak attack, Aizen could only smile as his gaze landed on the person responsible.
“Ah, Kisuke Urahara, so you have finally decided to show yourself as well.”
“It’s been a long time, Aizen. I see, so you have fused with the Hogyoku.”
“Rather than fused, I actually prefer the term subdued. Yes, I subdued the Hogyoku, you couldn’t subdue.”
Clearly, the atmosphere between the two geniuses was rather tense, but after exchanging a few more words, Aizen no longer deemed the conversation to be interesting, so he decided to finish things.
So, far faster than Kisuke could react, he appeared in front of him and stabbed him with his Zanpakuto, causing a smug smile to appear on Aizen’s face.
However, Urahara’s body popped like a balloon, revealing that it was just a decoy, while the real Urahara was already standing behind Aizen, ready to shoot multiple powerful binding spells.
“[Rikujo Koro]”
Six lightning rods slammed into Aizen, holding his in place, but seeing the type of Kido Kisuke used, Aizen could only smile lightly.
“So you really think such a weak Kido could hold me in pace?”
“Weak Kido? What makes you think I’m done? [Bakudo 63 Sajo Sabaku], [Bakudo 79 Kuyo Shibari].”
Kisuke shot two more binding spells at Aizen, holding him firmly in place for at least a few seconds, and quickly resumed casting another spell. However, this time, he didn’t use it without an incantation due to the time he bought himself with the previous binding spells.
“Limit of the thousand hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands, unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired. [Hado 91 Senju Koten Taiho]”
Just like that, Kisuke fired a Hado spell in the nineties, with a full incantation at Aizen, which was a force that could even surpass some Bankai. Uncountable blades made out of Spiritual power appeared around Kisuke and shot at Aizen, who still seemed to be unbothered by Kisuke’s action and moments later, the attack collided with Aizen, causing a massive explosion.
“Aizen, it seems you really let down your guard after fusing with the Hogyoku.”
“That I did.”
Kisuke’s eyes widened as he suddenly heard Aizen peaking directly behind him, causing him to retread quickly. However, Aizen was too quick for Kisuke, resulting in a gash appearing on Kisuke’s torso.
“I let my guard down, because it is no longer necessary for me to be on guard. Now that I have subdued the Hogyoku, even Hado in the nineties are no longer a threat to me, so why should I bother keeping up my guard?”
Hearing Aizen’s words, Kisuke could only smirk, as Aizen’s arrogance was exactly what he had planned on exploiting.
“You got that wrong, Aizen. I wasn’t telling you that you let down your guard because I managed to hit you with my Kido. I said so because you dared to touch me twice without a plan in mind. In the past, you would have never done that.”
Before Aizen could retort, yellow rings of Spiritual Power suddenly appeared on his wrists and surrounded his hands, causing Aizen’s eyes to widen in surprise.
“What is this?”
“Seals. I’ve plugged the Spiritual Power vent all Shinigami have on their wrists. So, now you will be burned from your own Spiritual Power from within.”
The moment Kisuke stopped speaking, a massive explosion engulfed Aizen, devastating large patches of land and creating a massive crater.
