Tempering

A day and a night passed, and the sound of hammering from the Phoenix Hall still echoed in the Soul King Palace.

Looking at the target Ōetsu Nimaiya was striking, it had long since lost its human form and transformed into the shape of a red-hot blade.

Aizen disappeared, or rather, Aizen was turned into the shape of a sword by Ōetsu Nimaiya. This sword was somewhat peculiar. Its main body was based on the katana shape of Kyoka Suigetsu, but a bead was embedded in the center of the blade.

The excitement on Ōetsu Nimaiya's face had turned into joy. The Zanpakuto was almost finished, and there was only one last step: quenching!

"Hashihara Renka, Togawa Tokie, move out!" Ōetsu Nimaiya shouted to the two beautiful Zanpakuto as he brought down the final hammer.

Hashihara Renka and Togawa Tokie exchanged a glance. Togawa Tokie quickly summoned a large amount of seawater, while Hashihara Renka grabbed the Zanpakuto and threw it into the sea.

Boom!!!

The seawater at the edge of the cliff was completely churned up, swirling towards the Zanpakuto. The departure of the seawater revealed the dry ground, every drop of seawater contributing everything to achieve this tempering.

Puff!!!

The sound of water vapor bursting echoed throughout the Soul Society. In the Phoenix Hall, not only Ōetsu Nimaiya, but all the members of the Royal Guard were dumbfounded.

"Wow, this is really powerful, my new creation!" Ōetsu Nimaiya proudly put on his sunglasses, ready to quietly admire his new Zanpakuto, which had taken so long to develop.

As the thick mist gradually dissipated, Ōetsu Nimaiya walked to the edge of the cliff. When he tried to grasp the new Zanpakuto in his own hands, his smug expression froze.

With a wave of his hand, Ōetsu Nimaiya's powerful spiritual pressure instantly dispersed the mist, revealing the scene beyond the cliff.

High above the cliff, there was no trace of the Zanpakuto; the only thing left was the bead embedded in Zanpakuto.

Quenching failed?

This problem, which hadn't occurred in who knows how long, suddenly appeared in Ōetsu Nimaiya's mind. As the Sword God, he was no longer the apprentice he once was; how could he possibly have encountered a problem where the blade shattered due to a failed quenching?

Ōetsu Nimaiya's spiritual pressure swept rapidly across the dry land below the cliff, but there were no fragments of the shattered blade. This meant that his quenching process had not gone wrong; the problem lay with the bead in the sky.

"What's that? Ōetsu Nimaiya seems a bit strange. Shopkeeper, turn the camera over there!" Tsuna shouted as he approached Urahara Kisuke. The image on the screen was completely obscuring what was happening Phoenix Hall.

Urahara Kisuke, who was being rocked back and forth by Tsuna's shoulders, wore a wry smile and rejected Tsuna's actions.

"Don't even think about it. It's already impressive that we can spy on each other without being discovered. If we go any further, not only Ōetsu Nimaiya, but even those pretty girls will spot us."

Hearing Urahara Kisuke's earnest words, Tsuna didn't urge him any further. Instead, he zoomed in and focused his attention on other screens.

It wasn't just one Surveillance Spirit Bug that followed Aizen to the Soul King Palace; the other Surveillance Spirit Bug that hadn't entered the Phoenix Hall Phoenix Hall were waiting outside. Tsuna was searching for what he wanted to find on the other screens.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed across a screen in the corner. No one else noticed this information except Tsuna, who noticed the figure, but it was moving so fast that he couldn't immediately identify what it was.

"Kisuke, keep the recording from that screen in the corner. Analyze the shadowy figure that flashed by five seconds ago carefully afterward," Tsuna said to Urahara Kisuke.

"Is there a problem?" Urahara Kisuke operated the machine quickly. Tsuna rarely called him by his name, and knowing it was something important, he didn't dare to delay for a moment.

"It's nothing, maybe a little mouse sneaked into the Phoenix Hall. It's not important, we can deal with it after the Aizen incident is over." Tsuna smiled, he probably guessed who the mouse was.

"Wait, Tsuna, are you saying Aizen isn't dead?" Hirako asked in shock. He had witnessed Aizen being hammered into Zanpakuto, and he even felt a little smug watching it.

"Personally, I don't think Aizen would die so easily. Accepting his fate so simply isn't Aizen's style," Tsuna said, shaking his head slightly.

The process by which Aizen stopped resisting was too bizarre. Even if his Zanpakuto, Bleach powers, Kido, and Hollow's power all became ineffective, Aizen shouldn't have accepted his fate so easily.

Given Aizen's personality, even if everything else failed, he should have struggled with all his might like the pig. The fact that he didn't means that Aizen still has a trump card.

The Hogyoku is the most important thing hidden inside Aizen's body. He could have instilled his desire to escape into Hogyoku Hogyoku, making it respond to his expectations, thus allowing him to escape.

But Aizen didn't. Instead, he calmed down and accepted Ōetsu Nimaiya's beating. From that moment on, Tsuna no longer believed that Ōetsu Nimaiya could kill Aizen.

Returning to Ōetsu Nimaiya's side, he harbored doubts and anger towards the bead. He was certain that this strange bead was behind the outcome, and he was angry because he had exerted all his efforts only to receive a Zanpakuto.

"Do you want me to get it back for you?" Hashihara Renka walked up to Ōetsu Nimaiya, and before Ōetsu Nimaiya could speak, her twin ponytails swung out.

"Wait!" Before Ōetsu Nimaiya could stop them, her twin ponytails were about to touch the purple bead.

With a quick pinch of her twin tails, she missed, Hashihara Renka's twin tails passed right through the middle of the bead. The bead seemed to be nonexistent, yet both the naked eye and spiritual pressure clearly told everyone that it was there.

"Kyoka Suigetsu?" Ōetsu Nimaiya Yue murmured. The bead's performance just now immediately reminded him of Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu.

Hashihara Renka turned to look at Ōetsu Nimaiya. She couldn't catch him, so what should she do? She needed Ōetsu Nimaiya to make arrangements.

"You guys, go and give it a try," Ōetsu Nimaiya said.

Ōetsu Nimaiya's female guards immediately sprang into action, each displaying their unique abilities to try and grab the bead. Despite their leaps and bounds, the bead seemed to possess a life of its own, easily evading their attacks.

Ōetsu Nimaiya's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. He thought of a potentially embarrassing possibility, "Aizen, you can hear me, right?"

This was stated with certainty. Ōetsu Nimaiya's words immediately stunned his personal guard members. Hadn't Aizen been smashed into Zanpakuto by Ōetsu Nimaiya with a single blow?

Aizen's confident and relaxed voice came from the bead, "Finally figured it out? Not too stupid after all."

A powerful spiritual pressure suddenly erupted from the Hogyoku, pushing all of Ōetsu Nimaiya's personal guards back onto the cliff. From Aizen's tone, it was clear that he was not only alive but thriving.

After exhausting all means, Aizen did indeed immerse himself in the Hogyoku, as he wanted to use Hogyoku power to escape his predicament.

But upon closer reflection, these members of the Zero Squad possess the Blood Oath Rotation System. If they can capture him once, they can capture him a second time. It's just a matter of rotating them again, which only takes a little more time.

Zero Squad has no shortage of time.

After figuring it out, Aizen rejected the idea of escaping. He would instead search for possibilities within the Hogyoku, possibilities that would make him stronger.

Just then, Ōetsu Nimaiya was forging his soulless Kyoka Suigetsu, which gave Aizen hope. He was forced into a desperate situation and abandoned everything, taking Kyoka Suigetsu with him and throwing himself into the Hogyoku.

Aizen accelerated this process by using the power of Ōetsu Nimaiya's hammer blows. When he completely surrendered himself to the Hogyoku, Aizen truly obtained the power of the Hogyoku, which was what he had always dreamed of: the fusion with the Hogyoku and his Zanpakuto.

The Kyoka Suigetsu Water Moon truly has no soul; it doesn't possess any sword spirit. But that doesn't matter. Aizen used the Hogyoku, which could respond to wishes, as his sword spirit. Taking this as an opportunity, Aizen, having gained the Hogyoku's approval, comprehended his own Beyond Bankai.

This also led to the creation of the sword Ōetsu Nimaiya was forging, a Hogyoku.

"You've been tricked, you idiot!"

The most furious of Suijima Mera, choked Ōetsu Nimaiya in the face. Ōetsu Nimaiya's expression darkened. Even though he was angry, he couldn't vent his anger on his personal guard. This was a misjudgment on his part. Aizen was ultimately different from that ancient Gillian.

"It's okay, if it doesn't work the first time, we'll try again. We'll train you for forty-nine days. If I can't do it, you won't change at all!" Ōetsu Nimaiya slightly pulled down his sunglasses, revealing his serious little eyes. "The Zero Squad has plenty of time!"

"Heh, Ōetsu Nimaiya, you don't think I'm still someone you can easily manipulate, do you?" Hogyoku's mocking voice came from the Aizen.

"You might not, but it's Kyoka Suigetsu ..." Ōetsu Nimaiya beckoned to the Hogyoku with his finger. He froze on the spot, realizing he couldn't seem to find the location of the Kyoka Suigetsu anymore.

Aizen let out a sneer. After completely Zanpakuto, he finally understood why his strike had failed to pierce through Ōetsu Nimaiya.

Essentially, as long as one is still using Zanpakuto, and the Zanpakuto itself is the Asauchi forged by Ōetsu Nimaiya, these Zanpakuto should obey the commands of the Sword God.

Even if Bleach learns Shikai or Bankai, they will ultimately not escape Ōetsu Nimaiya's punishment, because these abilities must be manifested through Zanpakuto.

Zanpakuto fusion is different; it's about officially returning the Zanpakuto's inherent power to the user. From that moment on, the Zanpakuto's existence becomes unimportant; what matters is that the user can freely manipulate its power.

It was only after this that the Zanpakuto truly belonged to its user, and the backdoor that Ōetsu Nimaiya had planted in Asauchi no longer worked!

"What? You don't think I'll come to you on my own just by snapping my fingers, do you?" Aizen asked with a deliberately playful smile.

"You're really naughty..." Ōetsu Nimaiya casually touched her hair, her sharp gaze piercing through her sunglasses. "Then I'll catch you one more time!"

Unfortunately, Ōetsu Nimaiya's gaze was completely wasted on the Hogyoku. Aizen didn't care about his threat at all and even manipulated Ōetsu Nimaiya Hogyoku to spin around in a provocation.

"Let's see if you can catch me first..."