Chapter 91: vs Aizen 2
Chapter 91: vs Aizen 2
*Clang*A loud sound echoed over the forest Yuna and Aizen were currently in as the duo's swords collided, resulting in a powerful shockwave. Surprisingly, after the duo's attacks collided, Yuna slit backward a few meters while Aizen held his position.Unbothered by that, Yuna continued attacking, this time synchronizing her sword swings with the movement of her tail, resulting in a total of eleven attacks flying toward Aizen, who still showed a calm demeanor.He swung his blade at lightning speed, blocking Yuna's sword while dodging her tails, allowing him to counterattack.
Yuna blocked the powerful strike with her own blade, but due to Aizen's overwhelming strength, she yet again slid back a few meters.
"Hahaha, what power! This is going to be fun!"
Hearing Yuna's crazed words, Aizen could only shake his head as he prepared himself for the next clash.
"How pitiful. I assumed you to be someone who fought calmly with every single move being calculated, but it seems like you are similar to that fool Kenpachi, who only knows how to charge his enemy like a wild beast.
Honestly, by now it should be clear that you can't beat me, so why do you continue fighting? Are you truly just a crazed animal, incapable of discerning the truth?"
The moment Aizen stopped speaking, Yuna couldn't help herself but start chuckling in amusement. However, said chuckling quickly turned into full-blown laughter as Yuna did her best not to fall to the ground due to laughing too hard. Obviously, Yuna laughing about his words caused Aizen to frown, clearly unhappy with Yuna's reaction.
"What are you laughing for? You are about to die, yet you laugh? Can you not comprehend the situation you are in."
"Hahaha, sorry, sorry, it's just so funny how unaware you are of your situation."
"Unaware of my situation? What do you mean? I'm fully aware of my situation, and no matter how I look at it, you stand no chance against me."
"HAHAHA, SO YOU REALLY DON'T GET IT!!!"
Yuna laughed even harder, and the more she laughed, the angrier Aizen became. He was just about to continue fighting when Yuna took a few deep breaths, calming herself down.
"Phew, that was a good laugh. Anyway, since you don't get it, I might as well explain it to you. Clearly, you are rather proud of what you have achieved, and I have to admit, your current level of power isn't too bad.
However, why are you so smug about it? Why are you proud that you are stronger than me? What's so great about that?
Hehe, if you didn't have the Hogyoku, an external item that you didn't even create yourself, you would currently be groveling on the ground, begging for forgiveness, and yet here you are acting all smug.
Additionally, even ignoring the matter of the Hogyoku, why do you think you are so special? Do you think it's amazing how you can barely overpower a young woman not even a fraction of your age?
In front of my existence, the talent you have and are so proud of is meaningless. You are just a big fish in a small pond."
As Yuna continued speaking, Aizen anger increased, while the strength behind his Spiritual Pressure grew in tandem with his anger. It was clear that the Hogyoku was reacting to Aizen's anger as the more furious he became, the more it started glowing.
"I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO MOCK ME ANY FURTHER, HUMAN!!!"
The Hogyoku started shining even more as Aizen's Spiritual Power climbed to unapprehended heights, resulting in another transformation.
This time, the wings on Aizen's back fused into a single pair of leather-like white wings, while the single Hollow hole he previously had turned into three.
Additionally, it looked like the skin on his face was peeled back, revealing a grotesque face with a huge face-splitting smile.
Feeling himself getting even more powerful, Aizen could help but laugh out loud as he was now certain that Yuna stood no chance against him.
"It's finally time for you to die, human."
As he said that, he vanished from his position and appeared in front of Yuna, who barely managed to block the sword that was descending on her, resulting in her being sent flying away.
As she was flying away, her back crashing through multiple trees, she felt a spatial fluctuation behind her before something started shining behind her.
She quickly scanned the situation and immediately got what was going on, turning around and blocking yet another attack from Aizen, who had just teleported behind her.
"Hahaha, sorry, but I'm rather adept at reading spatial fluctuations."
Despite those words, Yuna was still sent flying by the force behind the attack, which instantly sent her crashing into the ground, resulting in a huge crater and a massive dust cloud.
Despite being just sent crashing into the ground at high speed, Yuna easily got back up on her feet while she yet again felt Aizen teleporting behind her.
This time, unlike the other times she had clashed with Aizen, she didn't directly block his blow and deflected it instead, allowing her to hold her ground before launching a counterattack, which Aizen blocked with ease.
"Is that it? Is that all your strength amounts to?"
"*Sigh* So you are still acting like this, huh? Very well, LET ME TEACH YOU A LESSON!!!"
Feeling Yuna's power growing even further, Aizen couldn't help but frown, but considering the scale it was growing, he didn't care too much. Seeing his attitude, Yuna couldn't help but smirk as she resumed talking.
"Hehe, before I show you despair, let me say a few more words. Frankly, I thought the form you took after your self-proclaimed chrysalis phase was quite good. It had a lot of potential and room to grow as it balanced all the powers in your body perfectly.
Following that, your weird butterfly mode was a little disappointing, but still not too bad, as there was still quite the decent balance, but your current form..."
Yuna sighed deeply while shaking her head in disappointment before she resumed her explanation.
"What a failure. Although the power of your current form is greater than the two previous ones, it is an utter failure. All that potential you perfectly balanced Shinigami- Hollow form was wasted for the sake of more power. If you had stayed in that first form, you would have been able to reach much further than you currently do without looking like a freak, but now that you heavily lean toward the Hollow aspect of your power while disregarding your Shinigami aspect, I can only shake my head and lament your fate. The most important aspect of someone's power had always been balance, and you disregarded that balance for the sake of a temporal power bust. How disappointing."
Hearing Yuna's explanation, Aizen couldn't help but frown as some doubts appeared in his mind.
'Are those words true? Did I sacrifice my potential for power?'
However, just as quickly that question appeared in his mind, it disappeared.
'What nonsense. What could a random little human know about the power I currently wield, how it could evolve, and even how I got here? She is just trying to trick me into doubting myself.'
Before Aizen could issue any of those thoughts, a sneer appeared on Yuna's face as she raised her left hand, covering her face.
"I see that you have dismissed my words, and frankly, I'm not surprised. After all, that is just the kind of character you are. From the start, you have always considered yourself to be the smartest person in the room, dismissing the thoughts of everyone else as inferior.
That being the case, let me show you the truth. The difference between someone who's after balance and someone who discards it. Between the correct and the wrong path. And finally, the difference between a mere genius like you and someone like me."
The moment Yuna stopped speaking, she pulled down her left hand, resulting in a fox-like Hollow mask covering the upper half of her face, causing Aizen's eyes to widen in shock.
"Impossible. Hollowfication!?"
"Hehe, that's right, hollowfication. What are you so surprised about? Why do you think that even though Ichigo can use it, I can't?"
Obviously, Aizen was shocked when Yuna suddenly put on a Hollow mask, revealing her ability to hollowfy in front of him for the first time. However, hearing Yuna's question, a deep frown appeared on his face.
'Why did I think that even though Ichigo can use it, I can't? That's pretty obvious. I groomed Ichigo to have this ability from a very young age, so how am I supposed to predict that a random woman, who I didn't manage in the slightest, could do it?
The Visored were in a similar position, but they had the help of Urahara Kisuke and the Hogyoku during their transformation, so how could a normal human possibly reach the state of hollowfication by herself?
Additionally, Yuna seems to be in no hurry at all, which should indicate that she basically had no time limit on her hollowfication. Considering how much Ichigo was struggling with that, even after getting the help of the other Visored, how in the world did she do it?'
It took a lot of work from Aizen's side to get Ichigo where he currently was. Just how often did he have to adjust his plans to make sure Ichigo faced the perfect enemy? Just how much work had he put into picking the perfect opponent to guarantee that Ichigo's growth would go in the perfect direction?
And yet here she was, right in front of him. A human that somehow, without his influence, without Kisuke's help, and without the help of the Hogyoku, reached the same level of being as Ichigo, whose growth Aizen had been regulating for a long time.
However, it didn't even end there, as Aizen could feel something else. Now that he had reached a transcended stage above being a mere Shinigami or Hollow. He could tell the difference between Yuna's hollowfication and Ichigo's.
'How is this possible? Now that I have reached this stage, I can easily tell how different the two are. Compared to Yuna's transformation, Ichigo's felt... imperfect. Although Shinigami and Hollow were supposed to be perfectly combined within Ichigo, now that I can look at the situation from a higher place, I can tell that that isn't the case.'
Realizing the situation, Aizen gritted his teeth so hard they almost shattered. Just how many decades had he put into his research? Just how many people did he sacrifice? How many outrageous things did he do to reach his current level of knowledge? Just how much time did he invest in Ichigo's growth?
Yet, now that Yuna stood in front of him, showing a better state of being than Ichigo, whom Aizen had invested all his time into, how could he not get angry? All his efforts over the years were utterly disregarded and surpassed by a single human woman, not even a fraction of his anger.
"Hehe, what's wrong, Aizen? Shocked that a little girl like me surpassed you in everything you have ever done? Not only did I improve one of your Arrancar beyond what you thought possible and gain strength that the normal you could only look up to, but I even surpassed your years of research by unveiling this hollowfication transformation that surpasses everything you have ever seen. Hehe, are you angry~"
The moment Yuna stopped speaking, veins appeared on Aizen's forehead as he gritted his teeth in utter fury. Realizing that he had been surpassed was one thing, but the other person rubbing it in was a whole different matter.
"SILENCE!!! Are you proud of what you have done? Are you proud that you evolved one of the Arrancar I kept as toys even further? Are you proud of the measly strength you developed despite it being no match for me? Are you proud of your Visored form that surpassed the toy I have been grooming?
SO WHAT!? I'LL LET YOU TASTE TRUE DESPAIR!!!"
Finishing his little speech, Aizen raised his left hand into the air as powerful Spiritual Pressure started covering the battlefield, going as far as distorting space itself. While Yuna was watching him curiously, wondering what he was about to do, Aizen started chanting.
"Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness. HADO 90: KUROHITSUGI!"
The moment Aizen finished his chant, black Spiritual power rose from the ground around Yuna, slowly covering her as she only looked at Aizen in indifference.
"DESPAIR!!! A fully chanted Hado in the nineties in my current form is enough to twist even time and space! Not even you will be able to get out of this!"
As space continued closing off around her, Yuna only shook her head as she readied her blade. The moment the black Spiritual Power had fully surrounded her, seemingly trapping her in place, she swung her blade.
Space itself trembled as her blade cut through the cage that was supposed to trap her, shredding it to pieces.
"Playing with space in front of me? Courting death!"
Feeling satisfied that she could use that line after quite some time of not being able to do so, Yuna wore a smug expression as she pointed her blade at the dumbfounded Aizen.
"H-How is that possbile."
Seeing Aizen's face twisting in disbelief and confusion, a shudder of pleasure went through Yuna's spine as a sloppy smile appeared on her face.
'Haa~ I just love crushing the confidence of arrogant people~'
[Your degeneracy is showing.]
'It can't be helped~'
Not minding her little conversation with Kurama, Yuna looked at Aizen, her face twisted in glee as she resumed mocking him.
"That's it, Aizen? An insignificant space lock? Let me give you a little warning: There is nothing that I can not cut, space included. That being said, come, god, show me more of your arrogance so that I can crush it even further."
Although Aizen was initially dumbfounded by Yuna so easily getting out of his Kido spell due to Yuna continuously mocking him, that feeling quickly faded as it was replaced with seething fury.
"DIE, HUMAN!!!"
Yet again, Aizen started transforming, causing Yuna to smile in excitement.
'Ohh, another form~ I'm looking forward to it~'
[Just let that man die and end his suffering.]
'Oh~ Is it just me, or is his chest getting bigger~'
[*Sigh*]