"Heh, you really think highly of me, Aizen."
Toshiro said with a bitter smile.
Due to being too superstitious about the original work, Toshiro had subconsciously assumed that Aizen and Ichigo were true rivals, believing that Ichigo wouldn't be hypnotized by Aizen. He never expected that in Aizen's mind, he himself was the greatest threat.
Because of that, Aizen no longer cared about someone like Ichigo.
Now, not only had he been thoroughly proven wrong, but he had also lost the Hogyoku he had obtained. Toshiro was so angry he wanted to slap himself.
"Well then, Toshiro-kun, I've obtained the Hogyoku. If there's a chance, let's talk again next time."
Aizen's physical condition was not ideal. He had been severely wounded by Toshiro's surprise attack and had only forcibly suppressed it with the power of his own Hogyoku.
Afterwards, he forcibly fused with it and engaged in a fierce battle with Toshiro, during which he was injured multiple times.
With severe injuries, coupled with the aftereffects of forcibly fusing with the Hogyoku, it was already impressive that Aizen could stand and talk to Toshiro without collapsing.
So Aizen didn't want to stay in the Soul Society any longer. If any accidents occurred, with his current strength, it would be difficult to ensure his safety. Thus, Aizen had already thought of leaving.
"Hmph! What do you think this place is, Aizen? Do you think you can come and go from the Soul Society as you please?"
Sui-Feng snorted coldly.
After the barrier of the Space Stabilizing Pillars shattered, Sui-Feng, Yamamoto, Unohana, Kyoraku, and Ukitake re-entered the scene.
"Heh..."
Hearing Sui-Feng's words, Aizen did not refute, merely scoffed disdainfully.
Sui-Feng frowned and said, "What's so funny? Although the barrier of the Space Stabilizing Pillars has shattered, with your battered body, you shouldn't have the ability to cause any damage to the Seireitei anymore, right?"
In Sui-Feng's view, although the strength Aizen had just shown was even more powerful than she could have imagined, and if not for the barrier, the battle between Aizen and Toshiro would have certainly caused severe damage to the Seireitei's environment…
But now Aizen was severely injured and weakened. Even if he wanted to cause damage to the Seireitei, he lacked the strength. Not to mention everyone swarming him, Sui-Feng felt that she herself could defeat Aizen at this point.
"Aizen, surrender!"
Sui-Feng warned again.
And as she spoke, Sui-Feng walked towards Aizen, intending to capture him.
"It's time."
Aizen suddenly chuckled lightly.
As if thinking of something, Toshiro suddenly shouted, "Step back, Captain Sui-Feng!!"
Hearing Toshiro's shout, Sui-Feng abruptly stopped in her tracks.
Boom!
A golden pillar of light suddenly fell from the sky, enveloping Aizen inside.
Then everyone followed the golden pillar of light upwards and saw a huge black rift suddenly appear in the sky. Then, white bone claws tore at the rift, reaching out from within.
The black rift was torn wider and wider, becoming a huge black hole, revealing the densely packed figures of Hollows.
"How..."
"How can this be..."
"Gillian!"
"Just how many are there?!"
"No, there's something else inside!"
Seeing this, the Captains and Lieutenants present were all shocked.
Boom! Boom!
Two more golden pillars of light descended, landing on Gin and Tosen.
"What a shame..."
Gin said with his back to Rangiku.
"I wish I could have let you hold on a little longer..."
"Goodbye, Rangiku."
Finally, Gin turned back to look at Rangiku one last time, a sad expression on his face: "I'm sorry..."
Rumble!
The ground shook violently. The area covered by the pillars of light detached from the ground of the Sokyoku Hill, carrying Aizen, Gin, and Tosen upwards.
"It's floating!"
Omaeda exclaimed in shock.
"Are they trying to escape?"
Iba asked.
As he spoke, Iba was about to rush forward to stop Aizen and the others.
"Stop it!"
Yamamoto suddenly spoke, stopping him.
"Captain-Commander?"
Tetsuzaemon Iba looked puzzled at Yamamoto, who had stopped him.
"That pillar of light is called 'Negación'. It's only used by Gillian-class Menos to rescue their companions. Once enveloped by that light, the inside and outside of the barrier become two mutually interfering worlds. Anyone who has fought a Gillian knows this."
"From the moment that pillar of light appeared, no one could touch a single hair on Aizen's head!"
Yamamoto explained solemnly.
"Step, step, step..."
Toshiro suddenly walked forward.
"As long as one's strength is sufficient, there's no such thing as 'couldn't touch'. Letting him go like this still makes me feel somewhat unwilling..."
The Negación is indeed a formidable thing; those inside and outside are in two different spaces and cannot attack each other.
But this is not absolute. After all, the ones using the Negación are only Gillian-class Menos. Although these Gillians are densely packed in terrifying numbers, as long as one's strength is strong enough to break space, there is naturally a way to attack Aizen inside the Negación.
This is not actually a difficult thing for Toshiro, after all, his ice can even freeze space.
Even Yamamoto might not lack a method. Not to mention his own power, there are forbidden techniques within the Soul Society's Kido that involve space, and even time.
In short, if one really wanted to break the Negación, it was not impossible. But Yamamoto had some concerns in his heart and did not intend to stop Aizen from leaving.
"Oh? Toshiro-kun, do you really want to stop me from leaving?"
Aizen, suspended in mid-air slowly rising, looked down at Toshiro.
"What's wrong? Are you afraid, Aizen?"
Toshiro retorted.
"Afraid? How could that be? Can your battered body really stop me?"
Aizen said, feigning nonchalance.
"Hmph, is your condition any better than mine?"
Toshiro snorted.
"Yes, my physical condition is indeed worse than yours. But if I were to fuse with the Hogyoku again, let alone defeating me, you probably wouldn't even be able to survive my attacks, right?"
Aizen held the Hogyoku created by Kisuke, threateningly.
As for the Hogyoku Aizen himself created, due to the forced fusion earlier, most of its power had been consumed. Now it was dull and lusterless, no different from an ordinary stone. It would take who knows how much effort to restore it to its original state.
"Hmph, I don't believe your current physical condition can withstand the power of the Hogyoku again."
Toshiro probed, expression unchanged.
But although his words were tough, Toshiro quietly stopped in his tracks.
"Heh, if you don't believe me, come and try it yourself."
Aizen said expressionlessly.
Toshiro frowned, caught in a dilemma.
Just as Aizen said, if he forcibly fused with the Hogyoku again, with Toshiro's current state, rushing up to stop Aizen would be suicide.
But letting Aizen leave like this, Toshiro couldn't help but feel unwilling.
Finally, Toshiro gritted his teeth and was about to charge forward to break the Negación and fight Aizen to the death.
"Stop it, Toshiro!"
Yamamoto suddenly spoke.
"But..."
"That's enough. You've done more than enough, Toshiro..."
Seeing Toshiro dragging his severely injured, bleeding body, yet still wanting to fight, desperately trying to stop Aizen, Yamamoto's expression softened. Even his perpetually stern and authoritative face showed signs of softening.
'As expected of the successor I personally chose.'
Looking at Toshiro's determined expression, Yamamoto couldn't help but feel emotional inwardly.
In fact, even if Aizen's current physical condition wasn't enough to forcibly fuse with the Hogyoku again, Yamamoto wouldn't let Toshiro fight Aizen another round.
Because although Toshiro's physical condition was slightly better than Aizen's, it wasn't that much better. If Aizen fought desperately, Toshiro would gain nothing good, and the most likely outcome was that both Toshiro and Aizen would perish together.
However, Yamamoto had placed too many hopes on Toshiro and was unwilling to trade Toshiro's life for Aizen's.
"Alright, come back, Toshiro."
Yamamoto said again.
Toshiro was seriously injured and couldn't fight well, while the others were under the hypnosis of Kyoka Suigetsu. If Aizen used Kyoka Suigetsu then, no matter how many people went up, it would be useless. So Yamamoto no longer planned to stop Aizen from leaving.
"Damn it!"
Toshiro cursed fiercely, and finally, helplessly, gave up the idea of stopping Aizen.