Everything for a Single Instant

As Aizen fled in disarray, the other Captains watching the battle, Ross included, had long since wisely retreated a thousand meters away, afraid of being swept up in the terrifying aftershocks.

Of all the Captains, Shunsui Kyoraku's expression was the ugliest, black as the bottom of a pot.

Although Ross had initially been moving toward the 12th Division, Kurosaki Ichigo had intercepted him along the way, so the battlefield had not shifted very far.

In other words...

The area being indiscriminately bombarded by that rain of arrows was precisely the Eighth Division's headquarters!

Watching the buildings turn to dust amid the explosions, Shunsui Kyoraku felt as though his heart were bleeding.

The only fortunate thing was that the division members had already been evacuated. Otherwise, after today, the Eighth Division might have been directly struck from the Thirteen Court Guard Squads' roster.

"Didn't you keep saying you wanted to test my strength? What, now all you can do is scurry around like a rat with your head in your hands?"

Kurosaki Masaki's cold voice, laced with suppressed irritation, echoed clearly through the center of the battlefield.

It was not loud, yet it pierced through the unending explosions like a heavy hammer crashing into everyone's chest.

That mocking question plunged every Captain watching into deathly silence.

No one thought Aizen had disgraced himself.

Faced with such an unreasonable monster, what else could he do but run? Stand there and wait to die?

Everyone present was a battle-hardened Shinigami with razor-sharp judgment.

They could see it clearly. Kurosaki Masaki's attacks were not merely fast and dense. Every Spirit Particle arrow she fired contained individual destructive power so terrifying it was outrageous.

If they had to quantify it somehow...

The ultimate technique Byakuya Kuchiki had used earlier, the White Emperor Sword unleashed through