It seemed Yoriichi had discerned the complex emotions swirling in Aizen's eyes.
Yoriichi slowly lowered his hands, his voice as calm as an undisturbed lake: "It's merely reishi manipulation."
"Everything in this place is my Bankai, including those two blades."
Aizen coughed softly twice, the sound unusually clear in the silence.
He tried to use Healing Kido to regenerate his body, but the effect was negligible.
Although the injury didn't appear severe on the surface, the fact that his body's defenses were completely breached was undeniable.
Since birth, this was the first time he had encountered such an unexpected injury.
reishi manipulation?
Even someone as powerful as him had yet to fully master this ability.
After all, Shinigami and Quincy are two completely different races, with differences as vast as heaven and earth.
For a Shinigami to learn reishi manipulation is as difficult as asking a literary scholar to solve the Goldbach Conjecture.
Machines could achieve similar effects, but that was merely external force, unrelated to the Shinigami's inherent abilities.
Now, seeing this ability on Tsugikuni Yoriichi, and hearing him speak of it so casually, Aizen was at a loss for words.
He gritted his teeth slightly, a complex emotion surging in his heart.
In everyone's eyes, they said that Aizen had betrayed the Shinigami.
But in Aizen's view, Tsugikuni Yoriichi was the true anomaly.
Although he himself had made contact with Hollows, he at least used Shinigami abilities, but Tsugikuni Yoriichi was different…
Phew…
His heart felt as heavy as a colossal stone, and Aizen took a deep breath, trying to lift his spirits.
One hand clutched his chest tightly, and dark red blood flowed from the wound, gradually soaking his clothes.
He slightly raised his gaze, his eyes simultaneously scanning his surroundings, and one thought in his mind vanished.
Another, more audacious thought, solidified with the appearance of his injuries and the decline in his mobility.
…
…
Outside.
Boom!
The black blade, wreathed in roaring flames, struck down the last Menos Grande with the force of a thunderbolt.
Yamamoto Genryusai descended from the sky, feeling an unprecedented sense of relief.
Though he was unsure of Tsugikuni Yoriichi's current situation, the domain remained intact, indicating no extremely severe problems within.
This aligned with his perception of Tsugikuni Yoriichi; that young man wouldn't act rashly without absolute certainty.
Speaking of which…
"Bang!"
Yamamoto Genryusai landed steadily, and the moment his feet touched the ground, the entire earth seemed to tremble slightly.
He quietly observed the hundreds of meters-wide domain space before him, and a hint of doubt flickered in his narrowed eyes.
Was this truly Hell?
If so… what about the blade in Tsugikuni Yoriichi's hand?
For a million years, Hell had been a realm difficult for Shinigami to control.
Although Zanpakuto appeared ten thousand years ago, the fact that no Zanpakuto related to Hell had emerged in ten thousand years spoke volumes.
That is, the probability of its existence was not zero.
Furthermore.
The mysterious Sword God had not appeared.
Otherwise, no matter what, this blade would have to be sealed to prevent the imbalance of the Three Realms.
Due to this potential hidden danger, Yamamoto Genryusai had even prepared to be at odds with Squad Zero before.
However, everything was normal so far… He silently prayed in his heart that it would continue to be normal.
Phew…
Ryujin Jakka remained firmly in his hand, just as Yamamoto Genryusai was feeling emotional.
Visibly, the Bankai domain in the distance suddenly rippled and slowly dissipated.
The 'lid' overhead was lifted, and a stream of dragon-shaped reishi instantly crashed into the Kido barrier covering the sky.
Boom!
Without even lasting a second, the barrier maintained by hundreds of Kido Corps members shattered with a loud crash.
The immense sound seemed to shatter the entire world.
The ground, like a rolling dragon, immediately began to tremble violently.
Amidst the earth-shattering roar, Yamamoto Genryusai frowned and looked.
The heaviness in his eyes almost solidified.
If he wasn't mistaken, that was…
—Hado #99, Goryūtenmetsu?!
Such a powerful Hado… What exactly happened in that space?
Because the situation changed so suddenly, he even overlooked the detail that only one of the five dragons remained.
As half of the domain dissipated, Yamamoto Genryusai's pupils reflected Aizen clutching his abdomen, coughing incessantly.
Each cough brought up large gouts of blood.
Some flesh was missing from his waist, his reishi had drastically decreased, but at the same time, it was strangely recovering, the recovering reishi sustaining his life.
For a normal Shinigami, facing such injuries would have meant collapse long ago, yet Aizen could still stand.
And Tsugikuni Yoriichi, directly opposite him, was in perfect condition, though visibly, the white bones on his body were shattered into pieces.
On the other side of the white bones, there had originally been black, chilling flames, but now they were completely gone, seemingly entirely consumed.
Through their intermittent, brief conversation, Yamamoto Genryusai roughly understood everything.
Aizen had lost his mobility due to his injuries.
He had no choice but to go all out.
To that end, he swallowed a medicine, boosting his reishi at all costs.
Dozens of giant dragons furiously impacted everything around them, and the energy from the explosion engulfed even himself.
Facing an attack capable of destroying most of Seireitei, let alone Tsugikuni Yoriichi, even Yamamoto Genryusai using Bankai would struggle to emerge completely unscathed.
Ultimately, the absorbed reishi reached its limit, and Aizen broke free, paying the price of severe injuries.
When he used Goryūtenmetsu, he knew that this battle would not end in a draw.
Medicine was not omnipotent.
Severe backlash would follow.
Furthermore.
The erosion of those strange energies from Hell.
Aizen's condition was worse than ever; he had a premonition that once the medicine wore off, the Hell Gate would appear and directly capture him.
Therefore, he unhesitatingly pulled out an item and crushed it directly.
Instantly, a small Black Cavity appeared beside him.
He had to retreat.
One failure didn't mean anything; as long as he lived, he would surely surpass the Shinigami, surpass everything, and reach the heavens.
And then, all doubts would vanish into thin air.
Aizen knew this well.
Dragging his broken body, Aizen instinctively moved towards the Black Cavity.
Yoriichi vanished from his spot.
Just then.
"Bakudo #81: Dankū!"
Aizen noticed this, and an air wall directly blocked Tsugikuni Yoriichi's path.
Yoriichi shattered it, his eyes reflecting the sight of Aizen stepping one foot into the Black Cavity.
Immediately, his breathing became rapid.
"Hiss—!" His arm suddenly tensed, and his Zanpakuto swung out violently, a crescent-shaped sword pressure of the blazing sun pouring towards Aizen with lightning speed!
The surrounding air emitted a piercing shriek, and the high temperature caused the surrounding space to twist and become oppressive.
Aizen slightly averted his gaze, seemingly not expecting Tsugikuni Yoriichi to still not give up at such a critical moment.
So, he chuckled softly twice: "You've already won, Tsugikuni Yoriichi, why are you still pursuing me?"
"You are strong, but I am not at a dead end, nor am I unprepared…"
Saying that, Aizen held Kyōka Suigetsu and swung it towards the attack: "Hado #78: Zangerin."
"Boom!" The two sword pressures collided, instantly neutralizing each other, stirring up gales that blew in all directions.
The moment the gale erupted, Aizen coughed up another mouthful of blood, feeling profoundly weary.
He couldn't stay here any longer; he would never forget this defeat…
…
…
Reviewing the reasons for his failure.
Aizen was acutely aware that it was all due to Kyōka Suigetsu's malfunction.
If not for that, he should have been able to make Tsugikuni Yoriichi and Yamamoto Genryusai fight each other.
Unfortunately, Yoriichi keenly perceived that Yamamoto Genryusai was not the real him.
Thus, that sudden Fuzan instantly woke Yamamoto Genryusai from the illusion.
The self-slaughtering drama thus came to an abrupt halt.
This outcome made Aizen feel terrible.
For him, who had long been accustomed to manipulating others' lives, he had never once imagined what kind of predicament he would face if his control failed.
Now, he deeply understood…
Precisely because of this, he felt Kyōka Suigetsu to be even more useless.
Compared to Kyōka Suigetsu's impotence.
What concerned Aizen more was that, imperceptibly, Tsugikuni Yoriichi had actually grown to a point where he had to exert all his strength just to barely contend with him.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi's physical prowess completely overwhelmed him.
And the advantage in reishi level had now become meaningless.
Aizen, who had always been aloof and in control of everything, found it truly difficult to accept such a vast disparity.
If it had been before his research into the Hōgyoku, when he had not yet reached the Shinigami's limit, his inner self would have remained relatively humble.
Even if he failed, his first reaction might have been relief, as someone had finally managed to catch up to him.
However, once he reached the limit, everything changed drastically…
Boundless oppressive emotions, like heavy dark clouds, tightly enveloped him.
The last image reflected in Aizen's eyes was the Black Cavity rapidly closing.
He would never leave himself without any escape route.
Slowly entering Hueco Mundo, with a 'whoosh', he fell into a vast desert.
Ichimaru Gin waited silently not far away.
When he saw Aizen's incomparably miserable state, his pupils instantly contracted, his face filled with an expression of disbelief.
Although Aizen had told him to go ahead and he would follow shortly, he never expected the Aizen who followed to be in such a wretched state.
Anyone who didn't know would probably think Aizen had been brutally tormented by dozens of Captains in succession.
Aizen's formerly elegant and amiable demeanor had vanished without a trace, replaced by a face full of exhaustion and an occasional flicker of pain.
Even though Ichimaru Gin hadn't personally experienced Aizen's battle, nor had he witnessed the fight firsthand, just by seeing Aizen's current state, he could guess what kind of predicament Aizen had encountered.
Did Captain-Commander Yamamoto activate Bankai?
Harboring these thoughts, Ichimaru Gin quickly ran forward, feigning concern as he asked: "Are you alright, Aizen?"
Alright?
How could he be alright in this state?
If not for the Dangai isolating the influence of Hell, causing the mark on him to disappear, he would probably have already fallen into Hell…
Even so, his current state was truly not good.
Multiple fractures all over his body, missing organs, muscle dissolution…
Such injuries, if inflicted upon an ordinary Shinigami, would have meant death a thousand times over.
Pain, like countless ants gnawing at him, Aizen barely managed to lift his eyes and look at Ichimaru Gin.
Despite his extremely poor condition, he still spoke unhurriedly: "Take me to the base, Gin."
"It's just a little pain."
A little?
Ichimaru Gin's suspicious gaze fixed on Aizen, and the gushing blood stained his hands as he helped him up.
The sticky sensation left Ichimaru Gin silently speechless.
He had to admit, Aizen was Aizen; even in this state, he was still putting on a strong front, trying to interfere with his judgment.
If Ichimaru Gin were truly Aizen's loyal subordinate, he might have been deceived by Aizen's performance, but he wasn't.
In his heart, he had always been plotting how to take Aizen's life.
Now…
Ichimaru Gin slightly narrowed his eyes, slowly helped Aizen up, and the urge to act in his heart grew stronger.
His other hand quietly touched the hilt of Shinsō, contemplating whether to act now.
But then he thought, he hadn't gotten Rangiku's item yet, so he dismissed the idea again.
Time was still long, no need to rush.
Since Aizen could be severely injured once, there would surely be a second time.
By then, the item should be ready, and it wouldn't be too late to retrieve it.
Simply killing Aizen wasn't enough; he wanted to destroy all of Aizen's hopes at his most triumphant moment.
Slowly exhaling, Ichimaru Gin asked with a slight smile: "What exactly happened over there?"
"Why…"
"Don't ask, Gin." Aizen interrupted him, clearly having no intention of explaining.
He slowly glanced at Ichimaru Gin, then pulled out a regenerative agent from his body and injected it into himself.
A special kind of reishi instantly fused with his body, rapidly repairing the physical wounds.
This change made Ichimaru Gin's heart pound.
He immediately felt immensely fortunate.
Indeed, Aizen still had a trick up his sleeve.
If he had acted just now, he really didn't know what the outcome would have been.
Aizen didn't pay attention to Ichimaru Gin's attitude; he gently frowned, looking at his body, and suddenly realized that his injuries hadn't fully healed.
There were problems in two places.
One was his arm.
The other was his chest.
If he remembered correctly, these two places were precisely where Tsugikuni Yoriichi had inflicted wounds on him…
Were Hell's energies lingering there?
Truly troublesome.
Having never encountered Hell, Aizen didn't know how to remove these things.
He could only wait for the future to slowly find a method through research.
Thinking and worrying about these things now was meaningless… He only hoped these residual energies wouldn't have too profound an impact on him.
He would suppress them as much as possible…
"Let's go."
Aizen slowly stood up, letting out a long breath.
He turned and looked in one direction, pondering that although his injuries had improved, his reishi had not yet recovered, and he needed a period of recuperation.
At the same time, the backlash from the medicine was imminent, so he couldn't act during this period.
Once fully recovered, it wouldn't be too late to go trouble Baraggan and continue his Hōgyoku research…
"Rustle…" Stepping on the desert, the two gradually moved further away.
Occasionally, a conversation slowly drifted over, gradually breaking the surrounding silence.
"The plan is about to succeed, Gin, don't make the same mistake as Tōsen…"
"Menos Grande Arrancar…"
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi, Yamamoto Genryusai…"
"Hmph…"