Boom!

Facing Aiyan's ridicule, the dozens of sky-reaching fire pillars that rose from the ground seemed enraged and extended toward him wildly.

In the blink of an eye, all the fire pillars gathered together, and then, with an earth-sReiatsung roar, they turned into a sea of explosive flames that covered the sky and blocked out the sun, expanding in all directions and engulfing everything in their path.

First, there was the Amaterasu Bijūdama entrenched in the land of Seireitei. Then, Aiyan drives the Susanoo. Then the mountains, the land, the rivers, and even several buildings inside Seireitei — such as the Gotei 13 squad barracks.

Everything was enveloped, swallowed, and finally destroyed by the sea of flames, a mass of Reiatsu fire that reached six thousand degrees.

No one knew how much time had passed.

The boundless sea of explosive flames slowly receded, like the ebbing tide of the ocean, until it finally dissipated.

When the last ember vanished, the sea of clouds that once hung above Soul Society disappeared, burned away until not even a single wisp of cloud remained.

In Seireitei, a vast area had turned directly into scorched earth and magma, covered with char-like cracks and flowing rivers of lava.

As for the Sekkiseki barrier film, the terrifying pillar of fire from Ryūjin Jakka had long been extinguished into smoke.

At this time, figures slowly descended from midair — Aizen, Matsumoto Rangiku, Ichimaru Gin, and other Gotei captains.

Faced with such an explosion, they had not chosen to retreat.

To be precise, their king had not chosen to retreat.

"Thank you for your hard work, Wonderweiss," Aizen said, turning his head slightly to glance at the strange-looking Arrancar with a crown and glasses standing behind him.

"Ahhh—!"

Wonderweiss didn't seem to have much intelligence. Upon hearing Aizen's words, he only let out a shrill cry.

"He can actually absorb Ryūjin Jakka!"

"Incredible!"

"Aizen had such an arrangement prepared… but what about Aiyan? Did Teacher Yamamoto's attack work?"

Jūshirō Ukitake, being held in Shiba Isshin's hand, looked in disbelief at Wonderweiss's back.

The moment Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni had unleashed Ennetsu Jigoku, Ukitake had thought he was about to see the Soul King.

But to his shock, a strange-looking Arrancar had stepped forward from behind Aizen and absorbed the surging flames.

"How cruel… and ironic."

"The captain who established the Soul Society to enforce duty, uphold justice, and who always bore the burden of the Gotei's work… has now become the culprit who destroyed Gotei 13 himself."

"The two thousand Shinigami I painstakingly gathered did not die by my hand, or Aiyan's, but at the sword of the very Commander they followed."

"As the sinner defined by Seireitei, I… was the one who saved two of your disciples and former subordinates."

Aizen ignored Ukitake's shock and looked around calmly.

After the baptism of fire just now, it was not only the terrain and environment that had been destroyed. The two thousand Shinigami Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni had assembled were essentially burned to ash.

No—there wasn't even ash left.

"Who is righteous, and who is evil?" Aizen asked, his eyes shifting toward them. "Jūshirō, Kyōraku, Isshin… why don't you tell us?"

His words hung in the air, laced with interest.

Shiba Isshin, as well as Kyōraku Shunsui and Jūshirō Ukitake, all fell silent.

Especially Kyōraku and Ukitake.

They both knew the true culprit behind all of this was Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's Ennetsu Jigoku.

"A mere criminal dares to speak of justice!"

A cold, indifferent voice cut through the silence.

"Aizen, as your former teacher, I will give you one last lesson today."

"This is called: I would rather die to seek greater evil."

The three of them were speechless, their faces pale, but Yamamoto's voice was calm, even natural, as though it was only right.

Hearing this familiar voice, everyone turned their focus toward the Reiatsu and tracked it to the source — a charred basin.

There, kneeling on one knee with Zanpakutō in hand, was Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.

It was the same man who had been swallowed earlier by the Amaterasu Bijūdama.

Apparently, in the Kidō battle where he had suffered a disastrous defeat, the thousand-year-old man had revealed his cunning nature, and without hesitation had unleashed his strongest heat-type Zanpakutō: Ryūjin Jakka.

With one hand, Ennetsu Jigoku had devoured the Amaterasu Bijūdama, Susanoo, and Aiyan — but left Soul Society a scorched wasteland.

Like hell itself.

Of course, Yamamoto's own condition was dire.

Large swathes of his body were burned black, his skin charred like coal.

As the wielder of the strongest heat-type Zanpakutō, he had been burned by his own flames.

His body was covered in severe burns, his mouth dripping with scorched, blackened blood mixed with scarlet.

At this sight, every Gotei captain and Lieutenant present widened their eyes but remained silent.

Not a single word could be spoken.

The battlefield was engulfed in silence.

Only one thought echoed in every Shinigami's mind:

'Defeated completely in Kidō…'

They had known it the moment Yamamoto unleashed Ryūjin Jakka.

The strongest Shinigami in a thousand years had been utterly defeated in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō alike.

They just hadn't expected that even with Ryūjin Jakka, Yamamoto would still be beaten black and blue in Kidō combat against Aiyan.

"Is this the Commander of the Gotei?"

"Amazing… he buried all his subordinates with his own hands, yet still couldn't kill the enemy. It's almost reminiscent of the Sword Demon of a thousand years ago."

"You are the only one worth killing with my own hands."

Just when Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni thought the outcome was decided, a pillar of light as black as ink burst from the deep pit — like a black hole devouring all nearby light.

Out from that abyssal light stepped Aiyan.

One hand in his pocket, the other holding his blade, he strolled out leisurely.

His entire body was covered in a black sheen, glimmering like a figure cast in metal.

But in the next second, the armor-like Reiatsu coating his body quickly faded away.

Soon, his face and body were once again revealed before the Shinigami.

This sight shocked everyone.

Especially Jūshirō Ukitake and Kyōraku Shunsui.

For one reason:

Aiyan's state was beyond their comprehension.

He had been caught in Ennetsu Jigoku head-on. Even if he hadn't died, he should have lost limbs, at the very least.

But the result?

Aiyan was completely unharmed.

At the cost of two thousand Shinigami burned to death, and even the near-death of Ukitake and Kyōraku, Yamamoto's Ennetsu Jigoku had left Aiyan unscathed.

No—there was one effect.

"You…" Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni opened his burned eyes wide, staring at Aiyan in disbelief.

As the master of Ryūjin Jakka, no one knew its power better than him.

If its range wasn't deliberately suppressed, the destruction would have covered more than ten kilometers in radius — and could easily double or triple that.

"As expected of the strongest heat-type Zanpakutō," Aiyan said with a half-smile, meeting Yamamoto's disbelieving gaze. "Truly terrifying."

"You even managed to burn my captain's haori to ashes."

Indeed.

The only thing Ennetsu Jigoku had destroyed was Aiyan's captain's cloak, leaving him standing in his plain black shihakushō, Reiatsu hooks still shimmering faintly.