"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen."
Aizen flicked his fingers, and a circular shield of yellow energy formed in front of him. Though it was just a prototype, it barely managed to block the blast's shockwave. He then turned his head toward the direction the golden laser had come from.
Even while surrounded in battle, Aizen's Reiatsu perception was always active, scanning the environment. The moment Aiyan's spiritual pressure appeared nearby, he had already sensed it. But seeing his brother simply watching like a spectator, he ignored it and continued to fight.
Unexpectedly, after just a moment, a single golden beam ended the entire fight.
"…You really took your time handling an opponent with that level of Reiatsu?"
Aiyan's voice reached him as their eyes met.
He lowered his hand, retracting the glowing finger still lingering in the air from his earlier shot.
"They were kind enough to give me a gift."
"In return, I only let them see the world—just a little more. That's the best return gift I could think of."
Aizen gave a soft laugh.
Even in front of his own brother, he refused to break character—never losing that composed, arrogant grace.
"You already know your Zanpakutō's name?"
Aiyan raised an eyebrow in interest, his eyes drifting down to the blade in Aizen's hand.
"Kyōka Suigetsu," Aizen replied with a slight smile, pointing the tip of his Zanpakutō at the ground.
"Its ability is Complete Hypnosis. Just seeing it once is enough—it permanently dominates all five senses."
"Also… it's the strongest Zanpakutō in the Illusion-type."
His voice was calm and rhythmic, almost like a melody. There was a faint sense of pride in it—one that only emerged in front of Aiyan.
Aiyan's smile grew deeper. Aizen hadn't held back at all. That alone said a lot.
From past experience to now, Aiyan could tell—the "Aizen Sōsuke" the world knew was calm, polite, even kind on the surface… but in truth, ruthless beneath. Yet with him, there was no mask. No performance.
Just a younger brother.
"…And what about you?" Aizen asked.
"When I expanded my Reiatsu perception earlier, I couldn't sense your spiritual pressure at all… Then suddenly, you appeared out of nowhere, and a golden flash faster than lightning followed."
"A Zanpakutō that controls light… Is that your power?"
Aizen was clearly curious. Aiyan's calm reaction to hearing about Kyōka Suigetsu's overwhelming power was unusual, even for him.
"As you guessed, my Zanpakutō manipulates light—both its speed and power."
"Its name is Kōfuin."
"Oh, and by the way—it's the strongest Zanpakutō in the Light-type."
Aiyan stared at Aizen with a half-smile.
But coming from Aiyan, they just hit differently.
Even though he knew Kyōka Suigetsu was peerless in its class, for some reason… he couldn't be happy.
Both of them stayed silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed together.
That kind of laugh—genuine and unguarded—only happened when they were with each other.
But it didn't last long.
Two new spiritual pressures entered their range of perception.
Even though their smiles remained, they weren't the same. Warmer, more polite. But not as sincere.
"What's going on here?"
The two had only just sensed them, but in mere seconds, the figures had already arrived.
Jūshirō Ukitake stepped forward using Shunpo, glancing around. Bodies lay scattered—some pierced by blades, others scorched by Kidō.
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, the old man with a cane-shaped Zanpakutō, said nothing. But his sharp gaze was locked on Aiyan, eyes as deep and unreadable as the ocean.
"It was an assassination attempt."
"After class at the Shin'ō Academy, Aizen and I returned to our dorms. As we opened the door, the world around us blurred—and then, we were teleported to separate locations."
"As you can see, in self-defense, Aizen and I were forced to kill all of our attackers."
Aiyan spoke as if casually commenting on the weather, his tone light despite the grim subject.
"Forbidden Spell—Spatial Transference."
"A fully planned ambush."
Genryūsai narrowed his eyes slightly, replaying everything in his mind. From Aiyan's few words, he had already reconstructed the entire event.
Like he had seen it himself.
"Oh—right. I haven't introduced him yet."
"This is the Head Captain of the Gotei 13. Also the founder of the Shin'ō Academy…"
"Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni," Ukitake said respectfully.
Aiyan and Aizen each addressed him differently.
That small difference caught both Genryūsai and Ukitake off guard.
Especially Genryūsai.
"'Headmaster'," he repeated internally.
He had lived for over a thousand years and rarely left the Seireitei, but that didn't mean he was ignorant of trends in the outside world. He understood the meaning behind such a title.
"Aiyan is bold and easygoing."
"Aizen is refined and polite."
"This pair of brothers… not bad at all."
Just from the way they addressed him, the old captain could already sense their personalities.
At least, their surface ones.
"…A pity that none of the attackers survived," Ukitake muttered.
"If any of them had, the Onmitsukidō or the Kidō Corps could have tortured out the truth easily."
"We'll get to the bottom of this."
"And when we do… the Seireitei will give you an explanation."
He knelt down beside one of the corpses, pulled back the hood, and revealed an unfamiliar face.
For ordinary Shin'ō Academy students, something would never escalate to the point where the Head Captain himself intervened.
Let alone offer a personal explanation.
But the Aiyan brothers were different.
They weren't just students.
They were the kind of geniuses who appear once in a hundred years.
Future captains, without question.
Likely to be fellow disciples, trained under the same roof as Ukitake himself.