Monk

Dreamlike Collapse – I believe no one watching this battle will forget this name.

Seeing that he had achieved his goal of showing off in front of everyone, Aizen nodded in satisfaction. He then turned and glanced at Ōetsu Nimaiya and the others under his control, a hint of disdain on his face. It was time to go and embrace the throne that belonged to him.

Aizen slowly flew towards the sky, watching the Zero Division's Residence below shrink smaller and smaller. With a casual wave of his hand, he showered a shower of black and purple fire upon Ōetsu Nimaiya's Zero Division's Residence.

It was called a rain of fire, but each Sōkatsui was as big as the Sōkatsui, except that Aizen had modified it, infusing it with the power of the Hogyoku and Hollows, and turning a small portion of the Sōkatsui into Meteor Shower of Fire.

The booming sounds were incessant. Ōetsu Nimaiya's Zero Division's Residence was quickly engulfed by dark purple flames. The sea of fire was devouring everything in Zero Division's Residence where Ōetsu Nimaiya was located. Without Ōetsu Nimaiya's support, Zero Division's Residence gradually could not hold on and began to collapse.

Aizen flew straight towards the pestle-shaped palace in the very center, the location of the Soul King, the Inner Palace.

As soon as Aizen flew to the lowest level of the Inner Palace, he saw a kind-looking, bald man with a large beard sitting cross-legged there, waving to Aizen with a smile.

"Sosuke Aizen, welcome to the Soul King Palace."

Looking at this kind-faced guy, Aizen couldn't help but feel that he was hypocritical, and he had an urge to punch him.

"Are you Hyosube Ichibei, the actual leader of the Zero Squad?" Aizen asked the Monk.

Upon hearing his name, the Monk immediately stopped smiling and instead warned Aizen with a serious expression, "You can call me Monk, Hyosube Ichibei is not someone you can address as such!"

Aizen knew the Monk's name; he hadn't just studied the Great Spirit Library Corridor for nothing. As someone who wanted to storm the Soul King Palace, he would naturally pay attention to information about the Zero Squad. However, the information he could find was limited; he only knew the name and the number of people.

In this brief meeting, Aizen realized that Hyosube Ichibei was not an easy opponent. He was strong, stronger than the other Zero Squad, which was why he was confident enough to sit here calmly to greet him.

"Stop your hypocrisy! You don't think you can fool me with this kind of falsehood, do Hyosube Ichibei!" Aizen retorted without any politeness.

At the same time, a powerful spiritual pressure, along with Aizen's words, rushed towards the Monk. Under the impact of the massive spiritual pressure, a huge "Illusion" character appeared behind the Monk, and the Inner Palace palace behind him also underwent changes.

It is no longer a vertical palace, but has instead become a palace with a distinctly ancient style.

Aizen's gaze swept quickly across the area below, and he immediately understood what had happened. One of the five Zero Division's Residence was missing. It seemed that this Monk had used his Zero Division's Residence to switch with the Inner Palace.

The Monk didn't show much emotion when Aizen discovered his Illusion. On the contrary, Aizen calling his name provoked his dissatisfaction more. His eyes turned pure white, and he glared fiercely at Aizen.

"If you keep calling that name, your voice will go hoarse!"

Aizen, of course, did not believe the Monk's words. Just as he was about to continue probing, he found that he could not make a sound.

"I told you not to say my name!"

The Monk's voice came from behind Aizen. He raised his hand and slapped it down hard like swatting a fly. A huge hand formed from spiritual pressure appeared above Aizen's head and slammed Aizen down onto the ground of the Zero Division's Residence.

"Senri Touten Palm!"

Looking at his enormous hand formed from spiritual pressure, the Monk calmly left a name, the spiritual pressure disappeared, and a huge handprint was left on the ground, just like the one left by the Tathagata Palm.

There was no trace of Aizen in the center of the handprint. As Aizen had taken back the power of Kyoka Suigetsu, he was constantly releasing the charm of Kyoka Suigetsu.

Realizing something was wrong, he immediately used Illusion to hypnotize the Monk's senses, while Aizen's true form appeared in the air further away.

Aizen pinched his throat with two fingers; being unable to speak was truly unpleasant for him. He loved taunting his enemies while fighting, and his primary task was to restore his voice.

After merging with the Hogyoku, Aizen's options for maneuver increased significantly. Since the Monk had taken away his voice, he would create his own!

A purple light flashed across his two fingers, and using the creativity of the Hogyoku, Aizen created his own voice on his throat.

He opened his mouth, about to mock the Monk, but remembering his own unpleasantness at not being able to speak, he decided to listen to the other's advice instead.

"Monk, right? Your moves seem ineffective." It was still taunting, but without the Monk's real name, the tone was noticeably weaker.

"Just dodging one move makes you so proud? Young people these days are really..."

The Monk suddenly disappeared, and when he reappeared, he was already in Aizen's location. He pulled out the huge brush from his back and swung it at Aizen. That was his Zanpakuto, Ichimonji.

The radiance was transmitted to the Monk's hand through the Ichimonji, and in that instant, he realized that he had made a mistake again.

As expected, the Ichimonji swept across Aizen's face, and Aizen instantly turned into a mirror, revealing that he was not actually in that position.

"Kyoka Suigetsu, huh? You wield this sword quite skillfully." The Monk wasn't annoyed, and looked at Aizen, who had reappeared in the distance.

"My power lies in the Kyoka Suigetsu nature."

Aizen snapped his fingers, and the surrounding space transformed into a kaleidoscope made of purple mirrors. One after another, Aizen emerged from the mirrors, preferring to prove the power of the Kyoka Suigetsu Water Moon with facts rather than words.

"Just one compliment and you're already making a fuss, it's really giving me a headache."

The Monk clutched his head, feigning a headache, but his expression remained unchanged despite the dreamlike world before him, indicating that he had planned this all along.

The Monk raised Ichimonji and quickly sketched it in front of him. The two characters "truth" appeared under his pen, and then quickly shrank, directly imprinting themselves in the Monk's eyes.

"It's better this way, no need to see that messy scene." The Monk scratched his head, chuckled, and turned to his left.

A slight ripple stirred within Aizen. From the Monk's turning head, he knew the other had discovered his location. He had broken Aizen's Illusion with just two words—what was that brush, some kind of divine weapon?

It's no wonder Aizen was suspicious; Zanpakuto with such conceptual abilities is simply too overpowered.

"Are you looking at it?" The Monk noticed Aizen staring intently at his brush and gave a sheepish smile. "It's just a Zanpakuto, an Zanpakuto one, older than any other Zanpakuto."

"Tsuna, is that the Zanpakuto you mentioned, the one that existed before Ōetsu Nimaiya Zanpakuto?" Urahara Kisuke asked, who was watching the battle.

"That's right. That sword cuts names but not flesh, and has the power to rewrite names. Remember, never say the name of Aizen's opponent. He'll know immediately if you do."

Tsuna stared intently at the screen, not daring to look away for a moment. He hadn't expected that Aizen would actually reach the boss stage, which far exceeded Tsuna's initial expectations.

"What's the point of fighting if you don't cut flesh?" Unexpectedly, Kenpachi Zaraki retorted.

"Whether it's meaningful or not, I don't know, but this sword can make the name Kenpachi Zaraki," Tsuna said.

"Tsuna, do you mean everyone has forgotten the name Kenpachi Zaraki?" Unohana Retsu immediately thought of the consequences.

"Yes, everyone, including himself, didn't even know who he was..."

A simple sentence sent a chill down the spines of everyone present; even forgetting oneself—what a tragic ending!

"Old Man Yamamoto, have you ever fought him?" Tsuna asked, not needing to mention his name, he was referring to the Monk.

Upon learning that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had a past conflict with the Zero Squad, Tsuna guessed that he must have fought against members of the Zero Squad.

"I..." After a moment of contemplation, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto no longer concealed his intentions, "I was defeated by Ōetsu Nimaiya, just like Aizen's sneak attack. My connection with my Zanpakuto was abruptly severed."

Recalling that past battle, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was caught off guard Ryūjin Jakka suddenly went out, even though he had gained the upper hand. Since then, in addition to practicing Zanjutsu, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto has also honed his Hakuda- to-hand combat skills to the same level as his Zanjutsu.

"So, is it too late for us to switch to Flash Cry healing now?" Hirako asked with a smile, but his words did not liven up the atmosphere.

After what happened with Aizen, everyone could more or less guess that Ōetsu Nimaiya had a certain degree of control over his Zanpakuto.

"You think you can learn Flash Cry just by wanting to? Hirako, you idiot!" Yoruichi appeared on Hirako's head and punched him. Hearing Hirako's scream, the captains' solemn mood eased slightly.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto glanced at Yoruichi with admiration. As a Bleach had been searching for a way to break through Ōetsu Nimaiya's limitations, he had also felt delighted when Yoruichi created Flash Cry.

The problem is that the requirements for Flash Cry are too high. Hakuda and Kido abilities need to be top-notch to even begin. For most Bleach, it's much more effective to improve their Zanpakuto abilities than to waste time learning those two skills.

At the entrance to the Central Underground Prison, a tense atmosphere prevailed, yet emotions surged within the crowd. Meanwhile, at the Soul King Palace, for Aizen, this was a life-or-death battle.

The Monk, who Aizen. Aizen, naturally unafraid of the Monk's offensive, conjured a mirror-like blade in his hand and began to fight Ichimonji.

To Aizen's surprise, he didn't sense any lethality from the Ichimonji. It was as if the Monk was playing house with him using a stick, and Aizen's guard suddenly became less intense.

In that instant, Aizen's blade shattered with a crash, and amidst dozens of dazzling crystals, the tip of the Ichimonji swept towards Aizen.

With a whoosh, Aizen retreated quickly, but fortunately, his reaction was timely, and the Monk did not harm him.

But why was he unaware of the limits of his condensed blade's strength? Aizen even forgot to continuously inject spiritual pressure into the blade.

When did he forget the existence of the blade?

Fortunately, his body's instincts kicked in, and he dodged the attack from Ichimonji. No, did Aizen dodge Ichimonji, or was Ichimonji simply harmless?

Aizen stared wide-eyed, a series of thoughts racing through his mind. As he thought of this, he suddenly realized that his body seemed to be in a state of weakness.

Half of my strength has disappeared?