On the other side.
Toshiro quietly looked at Harribel frozen within the iceberg, then spoke calmly: "This iceberg is quite sturdy. In a sense, it's very safe inside. So you stay in there for a while. After this war is over, I will release you. And by then... I will also state my condition."
Whoosh!
Unohana's figure flashed, appearing beside Toshiro.
"Oh my, it seems there's something unknown between you and this Espada lady?" Unohana said with a teasing smile.
The two had returned together earlier, but Toshiro had arrived on the battlefield first to save Momo. Unohana, who had been a step behind, had watched from the rear.
However, after overhearing some of the conversation between Toshiro and Harribel, she had become very interested in the relationship between them.
"It's nothing. When I led the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force to conquer Hueco Mundo back then, I once saved her. That's all. There isn't as much to it as you're imagining." Toshiro saw the sly expression on Unohana's face and knew she had imagined many things that didn't exist.
"Is that so? But..."
"Let's not talk about that. Those two friends of Ichigo, the humans named Ishida Uryu and Sado Yasutora, seem to be seriously injured. You should go over and take a look at them. After all, they were injured fighting to help us, Soul Society."
Seeing that Unohana wanted to say more, Toshiro quickly found a reason to send her off.
"Well, true. I'll let it go this time. I'll go treat the injured first. We'll talk about you and the female Espada another time." Unohana said with narrowed eyes and a sly expression.
Then Unohana finally let Toshiro off and went to treat Uryu, Chad, and other injured personnel.
"Sigh, since when did Hana-chan become such a gossip?" Toshiro said with a headache, then, without even having time to say a word to Momo behind him, immediately walked towards Yamamoto in the distance.
Behind the battlefield.
After trapping Aizen with Jokaku Enjo at the start of the battle, Yamamoto had not made a move since. He merely sat at the rear, watching the battles between the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 and the Espada and their Fracción.
"You've come, Toshiro. I knew you wouldn't be trapped by Aizen." Yamamoto showed no surprise at Toshiro's arrival, as if he had believed all along that Toshiro would break free, even more confident than Toshiro himself.
"Ah, Genryusai-sensei, I'm back." Toshiro was somewhat moved by Yamamoto's trust.
"Come to think of it... that female Espada's strength was quite impressive. Even if I had personally fought her, it would have taken some effort to defeat her. But you were able to use such a powerful technique so effortlessly to defeat her. It seems that since breaking free and returning from Hueco Mundo... your strength has increased again?" Yamamoto asked.
"Indeed. My strength has improved a little. Thanks to Aizen for that, I suppose. But let's discuss that later. There's important information I need to tell you now." Toshiro said with a solemn expression.
"Oh? What information?" Seeing how serious Toshiro was, Yamamoto's expression also grew grave.
"Here's the situation. Earlier in Hueco Mundo, I had a brief clash with Aizen. But during that battle, I was ambushed by a special Arrancar under Aizen's command, resulting in my Zanpakuto's abilities being sealed..."
Within the flame wall formed by Jokaku Enjo…
As Toshiro walked to Yamamoto's side and began telling him about the sealing of his Zanpakuto, Aizen also turned his gaze over, a mysterious smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"...In other words, targeting my Hyorinmaru, Aizen specifically used the Hogyoku to create an Arrancar capable of sealing even the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto. But then it occurred to me: did Aizen create an Arrancar capable of sealing only Hyorinmaru?"
"Genryusai-sensei, you are called the Strongest Shinigami in a thousand years. Your immense power is also a great threat to Aizen. So since he created an Arrancar capable of sealing Hyorinmaru, there's no reason he would deliberately spare your Ryujin Jakka. And as I expected, Aizen himself admitted to creating another Arrancar named Wonderweiss, capable of sealing Ryujin Jakka..."
In the original work, Yamamoto's Ryujin Jakka was sealed by an Arrancar created by Aizen using the Hogyoku, and Yamamoto was subsequently severely injured by his own power.
So this time, to prevent Yamamoto from being schemed against by Aizen again, Toshiro immediately explained this matter to him.
"However... Genryusai-sensei, you need not worry too much. As long as you are careful and don't give that Arrancar a chance to get close, it naturally won't be able to seal your Zanpakuto," Toshiro explained.
"Hmm..."
"I see... I understand." A strange light flickered in Yamamoto's eyes, then he said calmly.
"Oh..."
Hearing Yamamoto's response, Toshiro felt somewhat strange. He felt Yamamoto's reaction was too calm.
Although Toshiro had said not to worry, actually seeing Yamamoto not worried at all still felt a bit odd.
After all, an Arrancar capable of sealing even the Strongest Fire-type and Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto like Ryujin Jakka and Hyorinmaru should at least cause some surprise.
But Yamamoto had been completely calm from start to finish upon learning this, as if it weren't that big a deal. This gave Toshiro a feeling that something was somehow off.
However, despite his doubts, Toshiro didn't dwell on it, simply attributing it to Yamamoto having weathered countless storms and being able to remain calm even if the world crumbled before him.
'As expected of Genryusai-sensei, to be so calm and composed. Such breadth of mind and depth of character are beyond my reach...' Toshiro secretly admired.
"So... Genryusai-sensei, what now? Do we just watch from here... or should we directly intervene and end this war?" Toshiro glanced at the battles in various areas and said to Yamamoto.
The battles still ongoing were between Sui-Feng, Omaeda, and Barragan... and between Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Starrk.
Moreover, the situation in both battlefields was extremely unfavorable for the Shinigami side. Sui-Feng and Omaeda, one Captain-level and one Lieutenant-level, faced a vast power gap against Barragan, an Espada Beyond Captain-level. Their situation appeared precarious.
Even on the other side, Kyoraku was being suppressed by Starrk. In the end, under the critical circumstances and disregarding pride, he had Ukitake join the fight, the two of them teaming up against Starrk.
Yet even so, Starrk still held the advantage. After all, neither Kyoraku nor Ukitake could easily use their Bankai for various reasons.
"No need to intervene. Just watch from here. After all... this is their battle," Yamamoto said in a deep voice.