The Hogyoku's enhancement arrived!
With only his head remaining, Aizen expanded once more!
However, it seemed he had realized that an oversized body was not viable. This time, he corrected the mistake, and an Aizen with the same appearance as his third evolution appeared before Ichigo!
"Are you really immortal?!"
Watching Aizen return like a bolt of lightning, Ichigo asked speechlessly.
"I already told you… so long as I possess the Hogyoku, I am invincible!" Aizen laughed.
Looking at him, even the viewers in the livestream couldn't understand.
"Aizen just completely ignores the law of conservation of energy, doesn't he?"
"No, seriously, where does the Hogyoku keep getting the energy to revive him from?"
Ichigo was thinking the same thing, but he had no intention of asking such questions anymore.
This Aizen was weaker than his original work's self, while Ichigo was stronger than the original Ichigo. Even now, Ichigo still had cards left to play.
"Bankai, Three Thousand Ruyi World!"
The Ruyi earring merged into the void, and control over space fell into his hands!
Seeing Ichigo activate Bankai once again, Aizen was shocked.
"So this is your second Zanpakuto?"
"But Kurosaki Ichigo, you think you can defeat me with just the Bankai of a second Zanpakuto? Are you overestimating your blade, or underestimating me?"
Aizen's gaze fell on Ichigo's hand, the one wrapped in a steel gauntlet formed by Tensa Zangetsu.
"You only reached your current level because you are completely fused with that blade."
"And I possess the Hogyoku. You're merely increasing your power by a multiplier… it won't have any effect on me!"
"At most, you can kill me one more time!"
"Come on, Kurosaki Ichigo… keep letting me evolve!" Aizen said fanatically.
Repeated resurrection after repeated resurrection had filled Aizen with extreme confidence.
He believed that as long as he had the Hogyoku, there was no way he could fail!
Likewise, the viewers who had been watching the stream all this time thought the same.
"Yeah, Aizen's confidence isn't fake. Whether the Hogyoku follows conservation of energy or not, if he says this, then Aizen can revive a second time, a third time!"
"Even if we exaggerate Ichigo's Bankai, at best it can only kill Aizen once!"
"With an Aizen like this, we just can't imagine how he could lose!"
"Yeah!"
"Aizen is truly terrifying!"
Faced with such an Aizen, everyone fell silent…
However, even a god's-eye view is not truly omniscient.
There are always things the audience does not understand.
"I really can only kill you one more time, Aizen!!
"But this time, that's enough!"
"Do you really think there's no way in this world to deal with you?"
"Aizen, what comes next for you has two possible outcomes!" Ichigo sneered.
One was the original work's ending: being cut back into an initial state by the Final Getsuga Tensho, then sealed by Kisuke's Kido.
The second…
The one who dealt with Aizen wasn't only Kisuke.
If Kisuke could leave behind his specialty, Kido, then couldn't Ichigo leave something of his own as well?
Yes, Ichigo had lied!
The slash that hit Aizen earlier wasn't an accidental miscut… it was deliberately aimed at the Hogyoku!
Because striking it directly would only allow Aizen, who had been killed by Gin, to successfully revive.
It can be said that the slash that struck the Hogyoku gave Ichigo himself an opportunity!
It had been said before: a person's blade conveys their resolve!
And this Aizen was far weaker than his original work's self!
"What do you mean?" Hearing Ichigo's words, an ominous feeling arose in Aizen's heart once more!
And this time, the sense of dread far exceeded the sum of all his previous unease!
Aizen had a premonition that Ichigo's words concealed something extremely important!
"Heh." Ichigo didn't explain, only shook his head.
Then, his eyes half-closed, his entire being entered a mysterious state, as if he were merging with the whole world, his perception spreading outward!
Spirit radiated from his small physical body, and through Quincy Reishi manipulation and Ruyi's enhanced control of space, it rapidly spread upward and downward, extending everywhere!
At the same time, below Karakura Town, in Seireitei, Rukia was directing post-disaster cleanup!
Ukitake wasn't there, and Ichigo wasn't there either. At the moment, all matters of the 13th Division rested on Rukia's shoulders.
Fortunately, Rukia herself possessed the talent of a captain. She handled everything in an orderly fashion, and she also had two people helping her.
"Jing Bing, Xin Na, please make another trip and deliver these to Sentaro and Kiyone respectively."
"Okay, Rukia-nee!" Jing Bing and Xin Na obediently accepted the order, took Rukia's documents, and left.
Although they were exhausted as well, the two of them knew that while Ichigo was still fighting above, only they could help Rukia hold things together for now.
Watching them leave, Rukia looked at the documents on her desk and let out a tired sigh, her eyes drifting blankly toward the sky.
"Sigh, the livestream appeared for a while earlier and then disappeared. Now we can only hear the sounds of battle from above… nothing else can be transmitted."
"To calm the people of Seireitei and keep them from panicking due to the unknown, Onii-sama took the lead and had everyone proceed directly with post-disaster cleanup."
"Luckily Xin Na and Jing Bing are helping. Otherwise, I might not have been able to mobilize the 13th Division."
Rukia knew that among the group of people, which are the Players in the 13th Division, Ichigo had tremendous prestige. So after Jing Bing and Xin Na took the lead, the others were willing to listen to her.
"At least that's one blessing amid misfortune," Rukia murmured. "It's just that…"
It was just that the busy situation could not hide the fact that Seireitei's very fate was now tied to others.
What Seireitei would become afterward all depended on the battle above.
"Before they left, I remember Onii-sama and the others were preparing to gather some of the less-injured Captains and go up to take a look. I wonder if they've found a way to get up there."
"And I wonder how Ichigo is doing!"
"Sigh!" Rukia let out a heavy sigh, preparing to continue working.
But just then, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in Rukia's mind!
"Yo, Rukia, already missing me?"
"Ichigo!!?"
"You're still fighting up there, aren't you?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Rukia suddenly sat bolt upright!