The King of the Quincies Slowly Emerged

"Was No. 4 a Shinigami...?"

The captains knew nothing of Kurosaki Masaki's thoughts. When they heard that the 4th Espada was a Shinigami, all of them, Aizen included, looked shocked and doubtful.

Aizen truly knew nothing about the Espada's internal affairs.

But he had assumed that even with the Soul King's power, Kurosaki Masaki was merely a mass-produced fighter due to her foundations, nowhere near as strong as the higher-ranked Espada.

Aizen knew perfectly well that Ross would not give them false information about something like this.

In other words, the 4th Espada was very likely indeed a Shinigami, and a member of the Gotei 13 at that.

After all, a member of Zero Division should have held the same position as Senjumaru, rather than settling for a place among the Espada.

The 4th Espada... four... could it be her?

Aizen's eyes flickered, his gaze drifting casually toward the First Division.

The battle over there seemed to have gone on a little too long.

Even if Captain-General Yamamoto had only just recovered, Unohana should not have been able to hold out this long with her strength.

So... could it be her?

"All right, I won't waste any more words on you. I hope you can put up a decent fight when the King of the Quincies arrives with his army. He won't be as merciful as I am."

After those final words, several threads of spirit particles flew from Kurosaki Masaki's fingertips, wrapping the unconscious Kurosaki Ichigo completely within them.

Then her figure vanished from the battlefield in an instant.

If not for the devastation covering the ground, the others might have thought she had never been there at all.

"It's finally over..."

Tōshirō's relieved words voiced what all the other captains present were feeling.

It had been far too