The Seal

Baiye's assault came like a furious storm, every slash aimed at a vital point. Flashes of steel wove a dense net between them, sending sparks flying. Aizen's blocks remained precise, but he could feel the force traveling through his blade steadily increasing. With the Eight Gates active, Baiye's speed and strength had completely surpassed his own at the same level of Reiatsu.

"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō."

Six rods of light closed in from six directions. Baiye dodged with Shunpo, skimming past their edges, and slashed horizontally at Aizen's waist. Aizen blocked, his fingers twitching as a second Kidō gathered at their tips.

"Bakudō #63: Sajo Sabaku."

Golden chains shot up from the ground. Baiye crushed the end of a chain underfoot and used it to launch himself into the air, bringing his Tachi straight down. Aizen raised his sword to block, and the blast of air from the colliding blades swept up the rubble on the ground.

"Hadō #63: Raikōhō."

Lightning exploded at point-blank range. With the Eight Gates active, the Chakra was exceptionally violent. Even after taking the attack head-on, Baiye suffered nothing more than his left sleeve turning to ash and his skin being scorched black. He didn't even frown. Driven by the increasingly violent Chakra, his Shunpo grew faster and faster, and his sword strikes grew stronger, forcing Aizen back again and again.

Another slash sent Aizen flying. The continuous, rapid-fire attacks made it impossible for Aizen to keep blocking with precision—at least, not with his current Reiatsu. Baiye had intended to pursue him, but the searing pain in his body slowed him by half a beat.

Though he had slowed only a little, it was enough for Aizen to reset his stance.

"It seems this move of yours forcibly draws out your body's potential." Aizen adjusted the cuff of his sleeve, which had been cut by the blade. "A move like that should have its limits."

Baiye didn't answer.

"You must have noticed that the Reiatsu I can use right now is limited. If I exceed that limit, it would be easy to attract the attention of the 'god' behind you. That's what you're trying to achieve, isn't it?" Aizen looked at him, his tone still gentle. "That boost in power has reached its peak too, hasn't it? Your strength is starting to decline. Baiye, you've done your best."

"Looks like I was just a little short of succeeding."

"Oh?"

"If I could make you say something like that to persuade me to give up, I must have performed somewhat better than you expected, teacher."

Aizen paused, then nodded. "I see. It seems the limits on my own power have amplified my negative emotions. After all, it's been a long time since I last experienced being this weak."

Baiye felt a little offended, but this wasn't the time to dwell on it.

Whether he succeeded or not would depend on this attempt—he could barely open the fourth gate, and it would last only a short time. But he had no other choice.

Chakra gathered in his chest and erupted.

Fourth gate, Gate of Pain, open!

Even stronger Chakra burst from his body, which trembled on the verge of collapse under the intense pressure. A pale blue Chakra aura appeared over Baiye's skin, and the surrounding air hummed as the escaping energy shook it.

Aizen frowned slightly. Baiye's power could grow even stronger, but fortunately, he could see how unstable it was.

This power can't last much longer. I just need to hold out a little...

The next instant, Baiye's assault was upon him.

Their swords began to clash again. Although Baiye was considerably stronger than before, Aizen still managed to withstand the blows.

But he felt no relief. Instead, his instincts were screaming a frantic warning of danger.

Clang!

Baiye's sword flew high into the air, and Aizen's expression changed.

Not good!

The instant Reiatsu Detection merged with Chakra, Baiye gained insight akin to precognition.

Letting go of his sword at the last instant before their blades collided, Baiye had already flashed to Aizen's side with Shunpo and kicked him into the air.

Reverse Lotus!

Baiye's figure flickered through the air at high speed, striking from all directions at once. Fists, elbows, knees, feet—every attack landed precisely on Aizen, and every impact burst with a dull thud in the air. The immense, frequent impacts left Aizen unable to move, the shock waves from the successive blows trapping his body in midair.

Between strikes, the bandages wrapped beneath the right sleeve of Baiye's robe came loose. The white strips shot out like nimble snakes, wrapped around Aizen's body, and pulled him toward Baiye.

Baiye threw one final punch into Aizen's abdomen, blasting him from the air into the ground.

Boom!

Stone slabs shattered, sending fragments flying. When the dust cleared, Aizen stood amid the rubble, completely unharmed. A Reiatsu far beyond all his previous limits radiated from him, pressing down on Baiye until he couldn't move.

But Baiye smiled. He had succeeded.

[Malice toward the host detected from an Illusion character...%&*&]

The system's warning had barely sounded when it was disrupted, turning into meaningless static. Enormous cracks began appearing repeatedly throughout the world. The gray-white sky resembled a mirror about to shatter, fissures spreading from the edges of the arena across the entire firmament. Aizen looked up at the cracks, his voice as steady as ever.

"I originally didn't want to use such a crude method."

Aizen walked slowly toward Baiye.

"I told you, I borrowed some authority from Him. This can buy me some time."

"But sooner or later, you'll be found, won't you?"

"That's right... but by then, there will no longer be an Aizen trying to resist him."

"...I see. Assimilation?... You want to steal my existence?"

"To be precise, it's fusion."

"...Will the person after the fusion still be you?"

"It doesn't matter. After all, 'I' was created in the first place." Aizen looked at him. "Besides, there are still some differences between our souls. After the fusion, it will most likely—or rather, mostly—still be me."

"All right, Baiye. I don't have much time, so my methods may be a little rough... but you brought this on yourself."

Aizen pressed his hand to Baiye's forehead. The fluctuations around him began to change violently, and in an instant, the frequency of his soul shifted to the verge of synchronizing with Baiye's. Part of his soul followed the Reiatsu into contact with Baiye's soul and began fusing with his very existence.

"Ah!!!"

Baiye threw back his head as excruciating pain swept through his body from the depths of his soul.

Besides the pain, there was also a tearing sensation as another force invaded his existence, leaving Baiye in agony.

Aizen sighed as he watched his reaction.

"The assimilation hasn't reached perfection yet, so pain during fusion is unavoidable. Stop resisting. It will make you feel a little better."

Veins bulged on Baiye's forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot. He seemed to have lost most of his awareness under the unbearable pain.

But the hand hidden beneath his body began to move slowly toward his lower abdomen.

Baiye had enough tolerance for this kind of pain in his soul. After years of erosion by Transparent Release, he was no stranger to pain in his soul.

That pain had taught him one thing: to stay conscious through it.

Although he couldn't move freely, he hadn't lost the ability to move entirely.

At last, he completed the Hand Seals.

He curled his hand into a claw and pressed it against his abdomen.

"Four Symbols Seal."

A spiral-shaped black line formed on his abdomen, followed by eight lines of script appearing around the spiral in the eight trigrams formation. A powerful sealing force covered Baiye's soul, locking its core firmly in place. At the same time, it also locked down the part of Aizen's soul that had already infiltrated it.

The fusion instantly slowed to a crawl. Aizen's fingers trembled slightly, and for the first time, a visible shift in emotion appeared on his face.

His Reiatsu swept back and forth over the surface of the sealing formula, trying to analyze this utterly unfamiliar structure of power, only to find it completely different from the powers he knew.

There was no time left.

"You were hiding this kind of power too?"

"This was my last trump card." Baiye's voice was hoarse, and beads of sweat still covered his forehead, but his gaze had steadied.

Aizen looked down at the sealing formula on his abdomen and fell silent for a moment.

The surprise and anger in his eyes faded, leaving behind a deeper, indescribable emotion.

"That miraculous binding, the enhancement of your bodily functions just now, and that moment of insight—none of them are powers from this world. Is that the world where you truly belong?"

"Yes."

Aizen nodded gently. Then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, forming the faintest of smiles.

"Congratulations on graduating, Baiye."