ONE PIECE: BLEACH SYSTEM

Near the end of the O'Hara incident, Sauro—encased in a colossal sculpture of ice—seemed to trigger something as it shattered before Hayden and Robin, scattering into countless glimmering shards.

The refracted ice crystals floated around them, reflecting the burning inferno of the forest. In that moment, destruction and beauty coexisted—tragic and mesmerizing.

"What!?"

Robin's voice cracked with disbelief. Her emotions swelled uncontrollably at Hayden's words.

"Hayden, aren't you coming with me!?" she demanded.

Her mother, the doctor, and Sauro...

One by one, they had all left her.

Now, even the last person by her side—her only remaining companion—was going to disappear?

Robin's mind froze, unable to process it all.

"Run!!!"

Hayden's sharp voice broke through her confusion.

He looked toward Aokiji, who was now drawing closer, and shouted, "Don't worry about me! I'll stop him here!"

He didn't know what would happen next if Aokiji reached them—but that no longer mattered.

Hayden shoved Robin back with all his strength, determined to buy her even a few seconds.

Robin stumbled, tears and snot streaking her face, but her legs moved on instinct.

She ran—toward the raft, toward survival, sobbing uncontrollably.

Now, only Hayden and Aokiji remained—two figures separated by an impossible gulf in strength.

Robin... you must survive.

Hayden watched her shrinking figure disappear into the trees. His heart clenched painfully, but if he could buy even a little time for her, it would be worth it.

Turning back, he faced Aokiji directly.

Now, with no more obstructions, Hayden could clearly see him:

Wearing the standard Marine uniform, a dark green sleep mask pushed onto his forehead like a headband, and round-lensed shades—

Aokiji's presence alone exuded an unnatural cold. Despite the wildfire surrounding them, Hayden could feel the air grow freezing around him.

At this moment, Hayden reached behind him and removed the monkey mask from his face.

He gripped the Zanpakutō he carried—Asada—with both hands, and faced the admiral without flinching.

Huh...?

Aokiji blinked under his glasses.

A kid? Standing in his way?

Truthfully, he didn't know what to make of the boy in front of him.

But this kid… he wasn't trembling. He had chosen to stand his ground.

To protect someone else.

"…A strong heart," Aokiji murmured under his breath.

Since the child had drawn a blade and taken a stance, Aokiji halted.

Out of respect, he would not bypass him.

Hayden's mind was racing.

Since awakening his Zanpakutō, he'd sensed a strange energy inside himself—spiritual power, a force unfamiliar in this world but undeniably real.

It was slowly growing, and he could feel that maybe—just maybe—he could fire off one more Kidō. After that, he had nothing left.

As for his swordsmanship… barely a few days of practice. Against a Marine admiral?

Hopeless.

Damn these five Zanpakutō…

He clenched his jaw. Desperation surged.

But then, something deeper stirred in him. An emotion that had long been buried.

"I've always been the dispensable one. Whether I exist or not has never mattered to anyone…"

"I don't even know why I was sent to this world… Maybe it'd be easier for everyone if I wasn't here."

"But still… just this once—"

"I want to make a difference."

"For Robin. For myself."

The moment he resolved himself, a strange calm washed over him.

His body felt lighter, his senses clearer.

"Hey!" Hayden called out loudly, taking his stance again.

"You're a vice admiral, right? Is this what justice looks like to the Marines now?"

"Killing children? Destroying civilians? Is that the 'righteousness' you preach?"

The deadness in his tone had vanished. He smirked defiantly—grinning in the face of certain death.

Hayden's voice rang out clearly across the battlefield.

Aokiji's brows furrowed slightly as he glanced at the boy. "This kid…"

There was nothing remarkable about Hayden's appearance—just an ordinary child. But there was something in his voice, his tone, that made Aokiji pause.

"Justice changes depending on your position…"

Aokiji murmured as if reflecting to himself. His eyes drifted toward the smoldering ruins where the refugee ship once stood. The sight stirred something bitter in his heart.

"Still… the scholars did break the law. There's nothing we can do for them now."

He spoke the words like a man reciting doctrine, but even he seemed to question them. Perhaps he had already said too much to a child who clearly knew more than he should.

There was a flicker of something within the Admiral—uncertainty, perhaps. A younger Aokiji, still bound by some personal sense of justice, hesitated.

But his heart? No one could truly know what lay buried there.

"...Damn it, you're pretty good at talking nonsense," Hayden muttered under his breath.

"Hm? Mouth-to-mouth combat?" Aokiji raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the strange phrase.

Apparently, when facing a monster like this, all Hayden had was his mouth—and even that felt powerless now.

Despite his bravado, fear crept in like frost. Aokiji stood just meters away—one of the Navy's future Admirals, and even now, twenty years before his promotion, a force few could hope to oppose.

Hayden felt it.

That pressure.

That unbearable weight of power.

His eyes dropped to Aokiji's right wrist—ice was forming.

The air around them cooled instantly. Aokiji wasn't bluffing.

Hayden's hands trembled uncontrollably as he gripped his blade—Asada. Even the Zanpakutō itself began to shake. It was laughable to think he could activate a technique now.

"Shit… stop! STOP!"

He shouted in desperation, voice cracking with raw emotion.

But Aokiji was unmoved. He advanced slowly, footsteps crunching on the frost-laced ground.

The fear twisted into anger. A burning survival instinct surged inside Hayden.

"Damn it—Zanpakutō! If you don't come out now, your master's going to die!!!"

His voice rang out like a plea and a command all at once. He wasn't sure if it made sense, but he believed it—Asada was forged from an Asauchi, born from his own soul.

Surely, some part of himself lived in that blade.

"Tell me your name!" Hayden cried. "I'll accept you—I'll be your master from this moment on!"

Silence.

A heartbeat passed.

Then, the voice came—calm, resonant, and cold.

"Very well… my master. If that's your will—then so be it."