It’s just a third seat from Squad Six. Why make such a fuss?

Just as many lieutenants were overcome with worry, a voice—calm and composed—echoed through the room. Yet, the killing intent laced within it sent chills down the spines of every Shinigami present.

Shup.

Before anyone could react, Aiyan had already stepped forward. With one hand, he grabbed the materialized Kyōka Suigetsu. With the other, he pushed it back into the Zanpakutō that had pierced Aizen's body—right in front of all the lieutenants.

"Wait… you can do that?"

"He just restrained the out-of-control Kyōka Suigetsu... and returned it to its sealed state?"

"As expected of Captain Aiyan—the strongest prodigy Soul Society has seen in a millennium."

Watching this unfold, every lieutenant—and even many Gotei captains who had just been battered by their own Zanpakutō—stood stunned in disbelief.

"Brother… sorry for the trouble."

"Don't worry about me. Go suppress the Zanpakutō rebellion… and capture the sinner Kōga."

"And if possible… spare his life. Let Seireitei judge him."

Aizen sat collapsed in a pool of blood, his entire body and robes dyed in red.

"Alright. Hold on a little longer."

"It'll be over soon."

"Very soon."

Aiyan summoned Kanzaki Sayuri, lieutenant of the 4th Division.

After requesting her to stabilize Aizen's injuries, he rose and returned to the chamber.

"Aizen…?"

Yamamoto Genryūsai immediately approached.

He had just felt Aizen's spiritual pressure plunge into chaos, and knowing Muramasa's abilities, his heart dropped.

"His Zanpakutō was turned against him, but the 4th Division's lieutenant is attending to him now."

"He told me to put down the Zanpakutō rebellion first… and bring Kōga to justice."

Aiyan's voice was calm and even, with not the slightest hint of rage—as though the one injured wasn't his own brother.

"Outrageous!"

Yamamoto's beard bristled like a wildfire at sea.

But his anger wasn't directed at Aizen. On the contrary, hearing that his newly recruited disciple, even while bleeding and on the verge of collapse, still thought first of justice and order—Yamamoto felt admiration and heartache.

This was someone who revered the justice and laws of Seireitei like divine will.

And that meant… he honored the justice that Yamamoto Genryūsai himself had forged.

Such a disciple… How could he possibly be angry?

No.

All of that fury was aimed squarely at Kōga.

"Since it's Aizen's request, I'll save Kōga's life…"

"I won't reduce him to Reishi particles."

Aiyan replied flatly.

"Capture me alive?"

"Try me?"

"Suppress the rebellion?"

"Aizen—how can you say that? You couldn't even protect your brother!"

Kōga laughed, voice twisted with spite and contempt, every word meant to twist the knife deeper.

"I can."

Faced with Kōga's ridicule, Aiyan didn't show a flicker of rage. He simply walked forward.

"Kōga, too many Shinigami are present right now."

"If it were just Aiyan or Yamamoto Genryūsai, I wouldn't care."

"But the two of them together… That's tricky. Let's retreat for now. Aizen's already down, and you've made your point."

"We'll settle the score with Aiyan and Gotei 13 later."

Muramasa's voice rang beside Kōga, cautious.

After all, most of the captains were still being suppressed by their own Zanpakutō, and the lieutenants were too frightened of his Hypnosis to intervene.

But Aiyan… and Yamamoto… their Zanpakutō were unaffected.

Even without their blades, their Kido, Hakuda, and raw strength alone made them horrifying enough.

"Fine."

Kōga thought it over and nodded, then looked back at Aiyan with a mocking grin.

"Consider yourself lucky."

"I took your brother today. Next time, it'll be your turn, Aiyan."

He dragged a finger across his throat in a mock execution, smirking as he vanished into Shunpo alongside Muramasa.

The captains were all too entangled with their own Zanpakutō.

The lieutenants didn't dare interfere.

This was the true power of Muramasa's Bankai, when wielded in full by a captain-level Shinigami.

Not the weakened form sealed for a hundred years, stripped of strength and scarred by time.

"Order the Gotei 13 to pursue the criminal Kōga—dead or alive."

Yamamoto Genryūsai did not chase after them himself.

Just now, he had felt a shift in Ryūjin Jakka.

But thanks to his thousand-year Bond and towering strength, the change didn't take root.

That, too, was a reflection of Kōga's limits.

If it had been Aizen wielding Muramasa…

Even if all captains' Zanpakutō were Hypnotized at once, spreading the control thin—

Ryūjin Jakka might have still turned against him.

"Yes, sir!"

Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe stepped forward, ready to relay the order, but stopped short when he noticed Aiyan walking toward the chamber doors—blocking his path.

"…Captain Aiyan?"

Sasakibe blinked in confusion.

"Step aside."

"There's no need to mobilize the entire Gotei 13."

"It's just a third seat from Squad Six. Why make such a fuss?"

Aiyan glanced at the captains still locked in stalemates with their own Zanpakutō.

He shook his head.

And raised his right hand.

"Dark Hell—Hades."

The words had barely left his mouth—

When pitch-black smoke, like a tide of darkness, surged out.

In an instant, it swallowed the entire 1st Division.

Every guard captain, every lieutenant, and every Zanpakutō under Muramasa's Hypnosis—

All drowned in the abyss.

"Ugh…!"

"My body—won't move!"

"What is this… black mist?"

Trapped in this boundless void, Shinigami like Unohana Retsu and Yamamoto Genryūsai could still see.

But the Zanpakutō—those who had materialized under Muramasa's control—

Without exception, they felt their bodies crushed beneath some terrible, invisible force.

It was like a mountain of shadow pressing them to the ground—paralyzing their every limb.

"H-Holy hell!"

"It was just one move…"

"And eleven Zanpakutō… the same ones that had the captains fighting for their lives… are already completely suppressed?"

"Is this the strength… of Soul Society's greatest genius?"

"He's a captain too—but why is the gap so massive?"

The Lieutenants, also trapped in the black void, could only watch.

One by one, they gasped in disbelief, their faces paling with horror.

Just moments ago, they had seen firsthand how dangerous the Hypnotized Zanpakutō were—how even one-on-one, their captains struggled.

Some were even wounded.

Sure, they held back, unwilling to go all-out against their own Zanpakutō.

But even then, it had been a brutal, uphill battle.

And yet—

Aiyan had simply raised his hand.

And darkness—like a tidal wave—had swallowed everything.

The entire 1st Division was submerged.

And every Hypnotized Zanpakutō was crushed in an instant.