The cavern was still. Aizen sat cross-legged near the fire pit, methodically sorting through the coded fragments they had extracted from the Tsunayashiro estate. Akira paced nearby, his brow furrowed, tension thick in his shoulders. He hadn't slept in days—not because of fear, but because of pressure, both political and spiritual.
Something inside him had been… building.
The system had been silent for the last few hours, which was rare. Too rare.
[SYSTEM STATUS: Core Stability at 96%. Unknown variable detected: Spiritual Synchronization Threshold Imminent. User is advised to remain stationary.]
He paused mid-step, chest tightening. His fingertips trembled.
"Something's wrong," he muttered.
Aizen looked up sharply. He didn't need further explanation. The shift in Akira's spiritual pressure was immediate and violent. Like a fault line giving way, the air buckled around him. Raw, searing spiritual energy pulsed outward in chaotic waves, shaking the very rock around them.
"Akira—control it," Aizen said quickly, rising to his feet. "You're going to draw every sensor in Seireitei if—"
But Akira didn't hear him.
[SYSTEM ALERT: Mastery Threshold Achieved. Initiating Inner World Synchronization. Warning: External consciousness disconnected. Protective barrier deployment initiated.]
Akira's eyes rolled back. He collapsed.
Aizen caught him before he hit the ground, lowering him gently, already weaving Kidō in layered rings. "Bakudō #26: Kyokko. Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui—mask and distort."
The blue surge of reiatsu was smothered, then scattered. Aizen raised Kyōka Suigetsu, whispering its release. Illusion wrapped the cavern in a false vacuum of silence, cloaking Akira's flaring power just enough.
Barely.
Aizen's jaw tensed. "Foolish timing... but maybe inevitable."
Inner World
Akira stood not on stone, but on a mirror. The sky above was an endless aurora, gold and black light rippling like wind through water. Mountains rose in the distance, jagged obsidian ridges gleaming under ethereal stars.
A cold wind brushed his skin, and then came the voice—clearer than it had ever been.
"You have reached the threshold, Akira. The blade you carry is no longer a sword. It is a verdict."
Zhuoyin stepped from the horizon like a shadow peeled from the dusk. His form was fluid—a humanoid silhouette draped in radiant veils of both darkness and blinding light, neither side overpowering the other. In his left hand, a blade of pure golden severance. In his right, a scythe forged from void.
Akira's breath caught. "Is this…?"
"The trial of Bankai."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Bankai Pathway Engaged — 'Soul of Eclipse.' Initiating Trial Protocol. Objective: Manifest Zhuoyin's Core Duality.]
The air cracked, and the world shifted. The sky split into opposing halves—one sunlit and still, the other cloaked in a storm of endless night.
Zhuoyin raised both weapons.
"To wield balance, you must face imbalance. To command power, you must be powerless. Defend yourself—or be consumed by what you've become."
Seireitei – Elsewhere
Shunsui Kyoraku's head snapped up from the scroll he'd been reading.
"So… something stirred," he said quietly.
Ukitake frowned. "Did you feel that spike? It was brief, but…"
Shunsui nodded. "It was him. Or something like him. But it vanished almost instantly. Like a breath held and swallowed."
They exchanged a look.
"I'll speak to Kisuke," Ukitake murmured.
Back in the Cavern
Aizen stood vigil over his brother's unconscious form, sweat beading at his brow as he maintained the layered barriers.
"I don't know what you're facing," he whispered. "But come back with more than just power. Come back with purpose."
The spiritual pressure began to shift again—no longer violent, but resonant. Harmonizing.
A pulse.
A beacon.
Far above Seireitei, clouds began to stir, unnoticed.
[SYSTEM UPDATE: Bankai Trial Progress – 12%.]