The Ichigo duplicate summoned by Rosse was far stronger than Bull-Headed Hollow Ichigo.
With neither side possessing self-awareness, the duplicate Ichigo completely crushed Bull-Headed Hollow Ichigo with ease, to the point where the latter could not even manage to escape.
Seeing the situation on the field, all the captains understood that the battle was already decided.
Kyoraku Shunsui looked deeply at Rosse, and began evaluating his combat power in his heart.
He did not know Rosse's other identities, and was only assessing Rosse's strength from the perspective of a Shinigami.
In theory, a Shinigami's strongest technique was Bankai.
But after the Bankai was activated, he could sense that the change in Rosse's spiritual pressure was not particularly large. The spiritual pressure displayed by the duplicate Ichigo even exceeded the level Rosse himself was currently showing.
From this point, Kyoraku Shunsui guessed that Rosse's Bankai must be very special, with the increase in spiritual pressure being applied to the duplicate rather than to Rosse himself.
However, after Rosse activated his Bankai, he had not taken any action at all, nor had he joined the battle, so Kyoraku had no way of knowing whether the Bankai state affected Rosse's own combat strength.
Moreover, because there was only a single enemy this time, he also did not know whether Rosse's Bankai could create multiple duplicates.
But in his view, even if multiple copies were possible, the spiritual pressure of each would be reduced. It would be impossible for every single one of them to reach a level above captain class.
Even so, relying on a single duplicate that surpassed captain level, plus Rosse providing support from the rear, his personal combat strength was absolutely not inferior to Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
For Kyoraku Shunsui, Rosse possessing this kind of strength was both reassuring and unsettling.
What reassured him was that on the Gotei 13's side, aside from Squad Zero, there were finally two combatants above captain level, making it unlikely for things to turn into a one-sided slaughter.
But what unsettled him was this.
Last time, when Captain-Commander Yamamoto was injured, if nothing unexpected had happened, Rosse should have already mastered Bankai by then.
At that time, Rosse's combat power was no weaker than it was now, yet the strength he displayed was only about on par with Kyoraku himself. That made him feel uneasy.
Still, it was only unease.
After all, before Captain-Commander Yamamoto's final strike, whether it was Kyoraku or Squad Zero, their performances had all been rather casual. Rosse being slack was understandable.
No one had expected that Captain-Commander Yamamoto's strongest attack would fail to kill Shutara Senjumaru, and that he would instead be killed in return.
In that situation, even if they wanted to save him, it was already too late.
Afterwards, with Captain-Commander Yamamoto heavily wounded, they could only let Shutara leave, with no chance at all for Rosse to show his strength.
So in Kyoraku Shunsui's heart, reassurance still outweighed unease.
In his view, Rosse was still one of their own. Right now, they were merely using an internal clash of ideals as a pretext, mainly targeting Aizen hidden in the shadows and the other Hueco Mundo infiltrators.
'This time, will you make a move?'
Kyoraku Shunsui casually swept a glance at Aizen from the corner of his eye, his gaze filled with wariness.
Compared to Rosse's seemingly conventional Bankai, Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu was, in his eyes, the truly unbeatable ability.
The power to manipulate the five senses was simply too absurd.
To break Aizen's ability, he could only think of one method: physical contact, locking onto his position through spiritual pressure sensing.
Other than that, once an actual fight began, they would not even be able to find Aizen's position.
But grabbing Aizen's body in the middle of battle was also impossibly difficult.
To be honest, even if Aizen were to make a move to save Kurosaki Ichigo, Kyoraku felt that even if he and Rosse joined forces, they probably would not have any way to stop him.
On the other hand, he was still hoping that Aizen would make a move.
Because in a battle at the limit of captain class, even if Aizen wanted to intervene to rescue someone, he would have to go all out, and would most likely expose himself.
Only then could they openly reveal Aizen, without being confused by Kyoka Suigetsu.
Shinigami battles were battles of spiritual pressure.
With Rosse having activated a Bankai whose spiritual pressure exceeded captain level, it would be pure delusion for Aizen to think he could manipulate Rosse's five senses with just his Shikai.
If Aizen really had that level of power, Kyoraku Shunsui felt that he would not bother hiding at all.
If he could cut down captains one by one, suppress Rosse and Captain-Commander Yamamoto in their Bankai states with just Shikai, then what was the point of hiding?
While Kyoraku Shunsui was lost in these scattered thoughts, Bull-Headed Hollow Ichigo finally fell, unable to withstand the duplicate Ichigo, and was beaten down to the ground.
Even his spiritual pressure and regenerative ability had their own limits.
For him, having come into contact with Shinigami power for such a short time, this outcome was inevitable.
If he were allowed to grow for a few more years, even if he could not defeat his future self, at the very least he could have forced the duplicate Ichigo to reveal its full strength, and would not have lost so quickly.
"Whew! It's finally over. That human kid was pretty impressive, huh."
Kyoraku Shunsui looked at Kurosaki Ichigo, who had reverted to his human form and collapsed on the ground, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. His words carried a teasing tone, as if he had completely relaxed.
But only he himself knew that this was the moment when his attention was at its most focused.
'Aizen, are you going to make a move?'
"As expected of Acting Captain-Commander Rosse. That kind of strength is probably something I'll never reach in my lifetime," Standing beside Kyoraku Shunsui, Aizen voiced his own sigh of admiration.
'That's it?'
'Just a single comment?'
Kyoraku Shunsui was puzzled. He had never expected that Aizen would merely offer a brief remark and do nothing else.
Something was off about Kurosaki Ichigo's strength. That was the intelligence Urahara Kisuke had passed to him.
And given that no one on their side had been in contact with Kurosaki Ichigo, the fact that Ichigo's strength had suddenly skyrocketed, and that he had suddenly mastered Shikai, meant that someone had secretly taught him.
Whether it was Urahara Kisuke or Kyoraku himself, they both suspected that it was Aizen who had been guiding Kurosaki Ichigo from behind the scenes.
The reason was simple.
When Kurosaki Masaki was taken away before, Aizen had happened to be in the Human World at that time. There was no way Aizen would not have known about the abnormalities in the Kurosaki household, nor would he have failed to pay attention to Kurosaki Ichigo.
Since he had been paying attention, secretly approaching him to teach or lay out a scheme was entirely possible.
But after laying plans and teaching for so long, was he really just going to watch Kurosaki Ichigo get captured by them and then executed?
"Captain Rosse, at this point, shouldn't you be giving this boy the final blow?", Not far away, Ichimaru Gin, his hands tucked into his sleeves and smiling like a fox, suddenly made the suggestion.
'Wait, why is it Ichimaru Gin making this suggestion?'
A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Kyoraku Shunsui's heart. Ichimaru Gin was clearly on Aizen's side.
Judging by what he just said, it sounded like he completely did not recognize Kurosaki Ichigo at all, and actually wanted to kill him.
"Based on the damage Kurosaki Ichigo has caused to the Seireitei, and the fact that he just used Hollowfication, his crimes deserve death," Rosse nodded calmly.
Almost at the same time, the duplicate standing beside Kurosaki Ichigo raised the twin Zangetsu blades in its hands, and stabbed heavily toward Kurosaki Ichigo's heart.
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