Despairing Kyōka Suigetsu

"This... is interest!"

Suddenly, Aizen Sōsuke swung the Zanpakuto in his hand from afar toward the falling spirit bodies of Urahara Kisuke and Zaraki Kenpachi.

"Boom!"

In an instant, a slash formed from compressed spiritual pressure countless times more exaggerated than Kurosaki Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho descended upon Urahara Kisuke and Zaraki Kenpachi at the same time.

In that lightning-fast moment, just as the terrifying slash was about to engulf both Urahara Kisuke and Zaraki Kenpachi...

Unohana Retsu suddenly appeared before Zaraki Kenpachi, and Minazuki slashed out!

"Screech—"

A teeth-grating sound rang out.

In the end, Unohana Retsu was forced back more than ten meters by the slash before finally neutralizing that outrageous attack, barely managing to save Zaraki Kenpachi, who had passed out and looked like a man drenched in blood.

However, on the other side... Urahara Kisuke was not so fortunate!

With Unohana Retsu—the only one in the current Thirteen Divisions who might have been capable of blocking Aizen Sōsuke's slash—choosing to rescue Zaraki Kenpachi, no one had time to save Urahara Kisuke.

One strike swept past...

Urahara Kisuke's figure was completely annihilated in the air!

Yet compared to the sacrifice of this former captain, who had been somewhat obscure in Seireitei's history, the Soul Reapers had no time to mourn Urahara Kisuke with the situation before them once again plunged into absolute peril.

"Unohana Retsu!"

Aizen Sōsuke looked down at Unohana Retsu, who had blocked the attack, and pronounced her name word by word. "You took away a friend I cherished. I will make you pay the price."

At that moment, everyone somehow read two words from Aizen Sōsuke's tone—"pain"!

It was an emotion that seemed to have truly arisen from the depths of his heart: the pain and fury of having a cherished friend taken from him