"An ability like a child's prank... it truly is an annoying one."
The next moment, Aizen crushed his glasses in his hand. The gentleness on his face abruptly vanished, replaced by an arrogance none of the captains had ever seen before.
It seemed that as he swept back his bangs, the ambition he had concealed beneath that gentleness completely erupted at that moment.
As spiritual pressure nearly comparable to the Captain-Commander's surged upward, everyone in Silver Frame City involuntarily stopped moving.
Captains, Arrancar, even the Stern Ritters all stood frozen in place. At that moment, everyone's gaze turned toward Captain Aizen, dressed in a white haori. His face was familiar, yet the spiritual pressure he radiated now felt exceptionally cold.
Unlike the Captain-Commander's violent heaviness, unlike Asano Kiyoshi's gentle softness, Aizen's spiritual pressure felt like a volcano suppressed to its absolute limit. Beneath its silent exterior lay power enough to destroy everything.
Feeling that spiritual pressure, Shunsui lowered the brim of his hat slightly and looked toward Aizen. He was not particularly surprised. After the incident with the Visoreds, he had begun keeping an eye on Aizen. Later, during his conversations with Asano Kiyoshi, he had also vaguely obtained quite a bit of information. Thus, he had always harbored doubts about Aizen's strength.
But only now did he truly understand the level of power that even Asano Kiyoshi deeply feared.
What a terrifying fellow. At this level of spiritual pressure, he probably wasn't inferior to the Captain-Commander at all!
Over the past few years, Asano Kiyoshi's appearance had added much amusement to Aizen's once tranquil life. His heart, silent for so long, had slowly begun to awaken. He began seeking progress through another path. Although his Zanpaku, Hakuda, Kido, and Shunpo had all reached their limits, and his spiritual pressure