A purple light pillar erupted from his body, instantly shooting into the sky!
Around the pillar, boiling air waves swept outward.
Gin, who was closest, couldn't even maintain his footing after being hit by this massive impact!
Only after quickly retreating several steps did he barely stabilize himself.
At this moment, Aizen's pierced chest suddenly began rapid regeneration, finally forming a cross.
At the very center of the cross... was unmistakably the Hōgyoku!
Gin's gaze jumped as he quickly opened his hand to look.
The Hōgyoku that had just been in his grasp was now only an empty shell-like orb of light.
Then, from within the light pillar ahead, Aizen's indifferent voice suddenly emerged:
"Gin... in the end, I still won."
"The Hōgyoku you seized through such crude methods, whether inside my body or not... its will and power belong to me."
After speaking, he slowly stood up. The purple light pillar around him began rapidly contracting, tightly surrounding him.
Finally, it formed a complete set of white clothing that covered his entire body.
The moment the covering completed, a crisp shattering sound suddenly rang out!
Crack!
The white mask-like hood instantly shattered, revealing his face.
His brown hair had now extended to his waist, and his pupils emitted an eerie pale purple glow.
His spiritual pressure had also become completely different.
Seeing this, not only Gin but everyone below froze completely.
That level of fatal injury... he hadn't died... instead he'd completely recovered!
And this appearance... what was happening?!
Just standing there... they could feel an overwhelming sense of oppression...
Gin's eyes widened slightly as he stared at Aizen.
Aizen slowly stood up. His gaze lowered, back turned to Gin:
"During the gap when I wasn't using Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis, you aimed for my heart and delivered a fatal blow with your Bankai..."
"And during withdrawal, you left fragments of your Zanpakutō in my heart, causing that toxin to flow throughout my body and begin corroding my cells..."
"Well done, Gin."
"Although I knew this day would come from when I first took you in, I must admit..."
"What you accomplished exceeded my expectations considerably."
"If your assassination target hadn't been me... no, that's wrong."
"Rather, if it hadn't been me after successfully making the Hōgyoku submit, then... this battle would have ended long ago."
"But unfortunately, the Hōgyoku's power has long surpassed your understanding."
"This level of damage and toxin is utterly useless against the current me."
After speaking, Aizen slowly turned around to look at Gin.
But just then, Gin's eyes flashed as he launched another attack without hesitation.
"Kamishini no Yari: Butō Renjin!!"
Whoosh!
Massive, numerous white sword lights surged toward Aizen. The surrounding wind pressure even formed brief vacuums.
But Aizen's expression didn't change at all. The instant before the blades made contact, he vanished and appeared directly behind Gin.
What...?!
Gin froze. This speed... completely exceeded his understanding!
If Aizen attacked now, he'd have no room to dodge!
But just as Aizen raised his blade, suddenly several massive white spiral wind storms appeared with a roar, crashing toward Aizen!
Aizen narrowed his eyes slightly, raising his sword to dispel the storms with a single swing.
But in that moment, Gin gained an opening and quickly used Flash Step to reach Shigure's side.
He quickly crouched down, looking toward Aizen ahead.
However, blood began trickling from the corner of his mouth, and his breathing became irregular.
Because in the moment before that Flash Step, his back had still been slashed by a trace of spiritual pressure from Aizen's sword swing!
Gin stared deeply at Aizen, his heart filled with shock.
Aizen's current power couldn't be described with simple words like "strong"—this was already beyond his comprehension!
Beside him, while Shigure's expression remained unchanged, his eyes flickered slightly.
Because when Aizen had stood up just now, he'd sensed that Gin's premature sneak attack had caused Aizen's evolution to... skip directly past an intermediate stage.
This meant his power had begun climbing to a completely different level.
At this moment, Aizen raised his eyes to look at both of them:
"...After your assassination plan failed, you want to try a frontal assault... fine."
"But what's wrong now... why are you still standing there?"
Aizen spoke while carrying his blade, taking slow steps toward the two.
"I advise you, if you want to make a move, do it now."
"Because next, I'll dismantle every one of your attacks before killing you."
"So continue attacking... Gin Ichimaru, Segawa Shigure, and still hiding in the shadows..."
"Yoruichi Shihōin."
?!
As his words fell, Urahara in the distance felt his heart jump violently, pupils contracting.
He'd clearly set up an absolute concealment barrier around Yoruichi beforehand, yet now... Aizen had discovered her directly...?!
However, just then, Aizen, with his back still turned, spoke again as if he could see Urahara's reaction directly:
"No need to look so surprised, Kisuke Urahara."
"After all, the Hōgyoku you created has long surpassed what you could understand."
"So next, please stay quiet in that lightning cage and just watch."
"I'll show you how Segawa Shigure, in whom you placed such high hopes..."
"Will be killed by me."
After speaking, Aizen wore a faint smile as his figure abruptly vanished!
Without any trace of spiritual pressure movement, as if directly ignoring the distance between them, he stepped forward and appeared directly in front of Shigure!
Then came an extremely oppressive sword strike!
Slash!!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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