Bleach Chapter 418 – Deicide 20
The twentieth deicide chapter, 418, was a little more action-packed, and a little less filled with dialogue than the recent chapters. Normally I wouldn’t mind this, but with all the recent questions raised I kind of want to know more about Ichigo’s secrets. Oh well, there will always be time for that later.
The chapter begins with Aizen resonating with Ichigo’s last words last chapter. Obviously he isn’t buying it. The main point of this chapter was to expose Aizen’s biggest flaw; egotism. He is so self-obsessed at this point that he is no longer using his most powerful ability – his wit. He believes himself to be so unbelievably powerful that he can throw away all caution, regardless of the opponent. Not the smartest thing to do, considering he just acquired these powers, doesn’t even know their limitations yet himself, and is fighting an opponent whose powers are also unknown.

There are multiple examples of Aizen’s egotism throughout the chapter, but the first is his misdiagnoses as to why Ichigo was able knock him around last chapter. Because Ichigo’s physical strength is so tremendous, Aizen believes that the only way another being could reach that level is by throwing away everything else, most specifically reiatsu. This could be true, but I honestly don’t believe Ichigo just threw away his reiatsu for physical power. I think that that is just a comforting thought Aizen is forcing himself to believe, but who knows, I could be wrong.
Immediately after Aizen’s speech he uses the same teleportation technique granted to him by the hougyoku that he used against Gin, to appear behind Ichigo. Ichigo notices though, and they clash swords. I massive mound of earth is sliced clean off the landscape in the distance from the force. Aizen immediately goes into a rant about how impressive what he just did is, and how much it gives him chubs to know that his power exceeded his own expectations.
They clash one more time, sending the landscape into frenzy. Aizen takes note about their zanpakuto. It seems that both of their right arms have, in a sense, “merged” with their zanpakuto. This is not to say that they couldn’t put the sword down, but the connection between them and their swords is stronger than others. I think we caught a glimpse of this before when Ichigo was able to summon Zangetsu to him from far away while fighting Ulquiorra. He was after all, “closer” to Zangetsu at that time; since it turned out that his hollow powers and zanpakuto powers were actually one all along.

And then once again, Aizen rants about how he could crush Ichigo in one blow if he wished it. The look on the next page is priceless, when he actually tries to do this, and Ichigo stops his blade with his bare palm. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as we learned when Ichigo fought Kenpachi, in order to stop another’s blade with bare hands, you must have greater reiatsu, no? If Ichigo was just physically stronger, the blade could still slice his tissue, it is the reiatsu that prevents it from doing so, much like an Arrancar’s hierro. (Also, isn’t Ichigo’s outfit in direct proportion to the amount of reiatsu he has left? He pretty much has a full outfit on.) Then we finally get a glimpse into Aizen’s mind, as he tries to figure out how this is possible. Like I said before, he has gotten so convinced that his power is absolute, that if anything doesn’t follow his logic he no longer has the sense to think about it reasonably. To me, the old Aizen was much scarier.
Ichigo tries conveying this message to Aizen himself. There is one scene where it almost appears that Ichigo launches Aizen back with just a flick of his hand. It may be that Aizen just jumped back, but the panel at the very top of the page makes me think otherwise. Aizen, still not able to cope with the fact that someone may just be stronger, decides to crush him through Kido.
It appears that no matter how strong he has become, the only thing that could improve his Kido brain-power, and studying the spells. Like I said before, Aizen’s brain is the one thing that hasn’t improved. So he recites the #90 spell, “Black Coffin” to crush Ichigo with the force of gravity.
One way or another, whether it is physical strength, or through means he hasn’t felt the need to explain to Aizen, Ichigo breaks the spell effortlessly. He reveals that he is without a doubt stronger than Aizen right now. It turns out the blade that fucked up the landscape when their swords collided at the beginning of the chapter was not Aizen’s but actually Ichigo’s. Aizen was too closed minded to consider that possibility, and after one swipe from Ichigo, it may be the end of him… Doubt it, but Aizen will probably have to revert to his zanpakuto’s powers to get any advantage on Ichigo at this point.


















