Chapter Ninety-Four: Different Paths

"I never expected this? That is truly a headache..."

Hearing Byakuya's icy words, Aizen lifted a hand to his forehead in weary resignation.

"Is it because I did something that ordinary common sense cannot tolerate? Or is it... that you are so astonished because you believe the old Sosuke Aizen would never have done such a thing?"

Changing course, Aizen slowly walked toward Byakuya.

"Stand down, Yoruichi."

"Yes."

Tosen, who rarely questioned Aizen's commands, lowered the blade aimed at Byakuya and stepped back.

"Then let us continue our conversation from earlier, Captain Kuchiki."

Still wearing that gentle smile, Aizen said to the gravely wounded Byakuya, "Which reason is it that leaves you so surprised?"

"..."

Instinctively pushing the girl in his arms behind him, Byakuya's brows drew together slightly.

Though he did not know how strong Aizen was, Tosen's attitude alone made it clear that Aizen was far above him, and by a great margin at that. Now that he was severely injured, even moving was a struggle, let alone defeating the man before him, something utterly impossible. In such a state, protecting Rukia would be extremely difficult.

"No need to be so tense, Captain Kuchiki."

Aizen raised a hand and made a slight downward motion, signaling that Byakuya's careful protection of Rukia was meaningless.

"Since you've already saved her, there is no need to kill her."

What he had sought was already in his grasp. Her life had been, to him, from the beginning, a matter of indifference; the reason he had wanted her dead was only a passing whim. He would let her live this time. Besides...

Glancing at the man shielding the girl, Aizen smiled disdainfully.

Even with your protection, killing her would be effortless.

Of course, Aizen would never say such a thing. He would not waste breath on something so easily proven.

"Very well, then it is your turn to answer my question, Captain Kuchiki."

"Which one was it?"

"..."

Such a question was impossible to answer. Even before this, Aizen and Byakuya had been no more than colleagues. When Aizen had feigned death, Byakuya had shown neither surprise nor grief, meeting everything with that eternally expressionless face.

"What did I do wrong?"

Ignoring Byakuya's silence, Aizen went on speaking to himself.

"Was it the error of deceiving everyone after my feigned death? Or was it the mistake of trying to take the Hogyoku from Rukia's body? Or perhaps..."

"Was it an error to annihilate the entire Central Forty-Six Chambers?"

"..."

Byakuya's expression still did not change. The man before him had personally wiped out the Central Forty-Six Chambers. To be frank, that really might have been...

"If there was any mistake in what Captain Unohana just said, it would probably only be the matter of the Central Forty-Six Chambers. I did not kill them when Kuchiki Rukia was brought back, but when I first discovered her trace. But is that not what many Shinigami secretly desired?"

"Ah, for you, that may be an incomprehensible matter, Captain Kuchiki."

Aizen glanced at the man who never once deigned to reply, but paid him no further mind and continued speaking to himself.

"Why is it that when one eliminates those whom many cannot stand, one is not hailed as a hero, but instead is cast as a villain?"

"So, the human heart really is a complicated thing. I have often thought that if only one could break free of the 'heart,' how much better it would be."

"!"

"!"

Suddenly sensing two spiritual pressures racing toward them from afar, Aizen stopped speaking, and the furrow in Byakuya's brow eased.

"Clap."

"Clap."

Two soft sounds, and then two women were hanging directly from Aizen's body.

Well, perhaps "hanging" was not quite the right word. Still, if one ignored the blades in the women's hands, blades capable of taking a life with ease, then "hanging" was indeed quite apt.

"Do not move."

"Or I'll cut off your head."

"Oh, what a nostalgic pair of faces."

Aizen showed not the slightest concern for the killing intent Yoruichi and Soi Fon directed at him; his tone remained astonishingly light.

"Lord Aizen...!"

Tosen, who had intended to step forward to help, also stopped, because another blade had been pressed to his throat.

"You are not moving either, Captain Tosen."

"...Hisagi."

He had not expected his own movements to be sealed by his vice-captain. Fate truly delighted in making a mockery of men.

"Tosen!!!"

Before Hisagi could answer, another massive figure suddenly descended from the sky and landed heavily beside Tosen.

"What are you doing?"

"Komamura..."

Because the friend he had always trusted had suddenly betrayed him, Komamura's fury had already shattered every ordinary limit. At this moment, his body was utterly suffused with the aura of a savage beast.

"Do you intend to betray us?!"

His sharp teeth and thunderous roar were aimed directly at the former friend before him, but beyond calling his name, the other man said nothing.

"Nothing to say? Very well..."

Komamura had no intention of waiting for everyone to gather before deciding what to do. Since his friend had chosen the wrong path, he would bring him back to his senses in his own way.

"Then this old man shall personally correct your mistaken ideas!!"

"Get back! Hisagi! Bankai!!!"

Hisagi knew this was no longer a matter he could intervene in, so he leaped away from Tosen at once, leaving Komamura and Tosen to speak for themselves.

"Black Rope Heavenly Punishment Bright King!!"

The immense black warrior appeared once more. Compared with the battle against Chojiro earlier, this time it somehow gave off a slightly worn and aged impression.

"..."

Tosen had not intended to argue with Komamura, but with Aizen now restrained and himself entangled with Komamura, the only choice left was to defeat Komamura first.

"I have not betrayed you, Komamura."

Tosen's sightless eyes fixed upon the colossal figure he could not even see. Faced with that overwhelming Bankai, his voice remained utterly unchanged.

"From the beginning, the paths we walked were different. I understood long ago that, in the end, we would surely come to cross blades."

"Clang!"

He drew the Zanpakuto at his waist in a single motion, one hand resting on the ring at the hilt.

"So I feel neither anger nor hesitation."

"Bankai—"

"Shing!"

Suddenly, the ring on the hilt enlarged, and more and more rings appeared, dividing into ten parts to encircle both himself and Komamura, becoming a gigantic black lantern.

"Final Form of Suzumushi: Cricket of the Netherworld."

Thanks to the spacious area and the fact that Hisagi had retreated far enough, otherwise the injured Abarai, Ichigo, and Hisagi would surely have been dragged into the battle.

"Come, Komamura."

Within the world of darkness, Tosen stood quietly with Suzumushi in hand, so still that his calmness was almost chilling.

"We should bring this to an end."