But the instant Kyoka Suigetsu made contact with Ichigo's white sword wave, Aizen felt a tremendous force surge through his hand!
Even though Kyoka Suigetsu had already fused with his hand, it gave him the sensation that it was about to be knocked out of his grip!
This feeling involuntarily brought back Aizen's memories of the year he had just enrolled in the Shin'o Academy, during his very first Zanjutsu class, when he sparred with a noble student.
That time, having never trained before, he was mocked and easily knocked away, his bamboo sword sent flying by someone who had received elite education since childhood!
As for that noble's eventual fate?
It seemed that later, while carrying a sword and trying to bully a lower-year student, he happened to encounter a Hollow that had come from Hueco Mundo, and was bitten and devoured cleanly in ten bites?
That was also the moment when Aizen first used Kyoka Suigetsu!
That noble student could be said to be the first person to die under Kyoka Suigetsu!
What's more, Aizen had long since forgotten such trivial matters.
Yet at this moment, he even recalled his own thoughts as he stood aside back then, watching with appreciation, realizing that he had already become different from so many others… all of it resurfaced in his mind!
It was precisely from that incident that Aizen completely transformed.
And later…
'No, that's not right!'
Aizen violently shook his head, dispersing the memories in his mind.
For some reason, after taking Ichigo's strike, he had suddenly started experiencing a life-flashing-before-his-eyes sequence!
'Could it be that this strike has an illusion effect?' Aizen wondered in confusion.
But just as he was uncertain, the sound of rushing wind entered his ears!
"Hm?" Aizen's expression stiffened.
Only then did he realize that he was flying parallel to the ground of Karakura Town!
Everything around him was rapidly streaking past, and Ichigo was also quickly growing farther away from him!
He, Aizen Sosuke, had actually been sent into a life-flash state by a single brute-force sword wave casually swung by Ichigo!
Utter humiliation… this was absolute humiliation!
"Bakudo #33, Sajo Sabaku!"
"Bakudo #30, Shitotsu Sansen!"
Two Bakudo were cast instantly. The binding spell originally used to catch falling targets was fixed to the ground by Shitotsu Sansen, while the hammock-like Sajo Sabaku, like an aircraft's drag parachute, caught Aizen himself!
Bang!
His high-speed flight was forcefully slowed down!
Under the fixation of Shitotsu Sansen, the white Sajo Sabaku was stretched to its absolute limit!
But after all, Aizen was already in a transcendent state beyond Shinigami and Hollow, and the Kido he cast under such conditions was still extremely reliable.
Relying on these two Kido, Aizen successfully brought himself to a stop!
Stepping down from Sajo Sabaku, Aizen's face was extremely ugly.
"Damn it, Kurosaki Ichigo, what is that strength of yours?"
"Are you really not converting all of your Reiatsu into physical power?"
"If not, how do you explain all this?"
Aizen couldn't understand it, truly couldn't.
He and Kisuke were the two top intellects and top powerhouses of the Bleach World!
Because the two of them each created half of the Hogyoku.
There were many intelligent people in this world, many researchers as well, such as Mayuri, and the original 12th Division Captain, Hikifune Kirio.
But none of them created a Hogyoku!
It wasn't that they weren't smart enough… it was that they didn't have the need!
It was precisely because of such a need for power that the Hogyoku was born.
Yet now, the Hogyoku that was essentially completed through the combined efforts of two beings of top intellect and top strength, was actually inferior to Ichigo in terms of enhancing power and breaking limits!
How could Aizen possibly accept that?
"Hogyoku, give me more power!" Aizen roared!
From Aizen's chest, blue-black Hogyoku energy emerged once more!
This time, the blue-black energy surged around Aizen's body even more violently!
Under the Hogyoku's power, Aizen's already extremely pronounced muscle blocks began to expand at a terrifying speed!
In an instant, he went from a JOJO-style muscular brute to a Hokuto no Ken's character with a swapped blue Aizen head!
Holding Kyoka Suigetsu, now enlarged proportionally to match his body, Aizen swung his sword at Ichigo.
This time, an identical sword wave to Ichigo's earlier one was unleashed from Aizen's blade!
A sharp white flash streaked past!
Bang!
Ichigo calmly raised Tensa Zangetsu and caught Aizen's strike. The white sword wave slammed into Ichigo's blade, the solidified air shattered, and it dispersed into a raging storm!
Within the gale, Ichigo took two small steps back.
On the surface, this exchange didn't seem intense at all!
However, after blocking the strike, Ichigo turned his head to look to the side!
There, the storm released from Aizen's sword wave had turned into a rock crusher, slamming into a small hill not far from the two of them.
Under the shredding storm, the hill was pulverized into dust, turning into clouds of debris that scattered away!
Seeing such destructive power, Aizen burst into laughter:
"Did you see that, Kurosaki Ichigo? This is the Hogyoku… this is the power the Hogyoku gives me!"
"With just one exchange, the Hogyoku raised my strength to the same level as yours. This is my greatest trump card for becoming a god!"
"The body you take pride in… I've already caught up to it!"
"Kurosaki Ichigo, what are you going to use to fight me?" Aizen roared!
After saying that, he stared intently at Ichigo, wanting to see shock on his face!
But Aizen miscalculated!
From beginning to end, Ichigo showed nothing but calm… only calm!
"Is that so…" Looking at Aizen, who had gone berserk over such a trivial matter, Ichigo gently shook his head.
He sighed and said, "Aizen, it seems you still don't understand."
"Understand what?" Seeing Ichigo's composed expression, a sense of unease rose in Aizen's heart.
"My Reiatsu," Ichigo replied. "Didn't you notice? You don't understand my Reiatsu at all."
"What?" Aizen showed a shocked expression. "Didn't you convert all of your Reiatsu into physical power?"
Hearing that, Ichigo was utterly speechless. "No, did I ever say that from beginning to end?"
Looking at Aizen, who had become far uglier than before, Ichigo said helplessly,
"Aizen, have you never considered another possibility?"
"Isn't it possible that my Reiatsu has already surpassed yours, so you can't sense it at all?"
"!!?"
Aizen was completely stunned!
Looking at his massive body and still-handsome face, such an expression appearing on him created an overwhelming sense of contrast.
"Hahahaha, I'm dying laughing. Aizen, with his unbeatable aura, actually getting flexed on by someone else one day!"
"But Ichigo, you're really something else. We never even saw how you trained the Final Getsuga Tensho, and yet it's really this strong?"