"Well, Hitsugaya-kun, although your combat ability does surpass mine, being stronger in combat doesn't necessarily mean you will win." Aizen said with a mysterious smile.
"What? Can't win against me with your own strength, so you're going to rely on the power of the Hogyoku?" Toshiro said with a disdainful sneer.
"Well, who knows." Aizen said noncommittally.
"Hmph, whether you rely on the Hogyoku's power or not won't change the fact that you will lose." Toshiro said coldly.
Regardless of whether he could truly defeat Aizen, at least he couldn't lose in terms of momentum.
Having said that, Toshiro was about to raise his sword and attack Aizen again.
However, Aizen suddenly showed an enigmatic smile and said: "Time's up, Hitsugaya-kun."
"What!?" Toshiro was startled, and then a bad feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.
"Hitsugaya-kun, do you know why I talked so much with you just now?" Aizen said with a smile.
"Hmph, it's nothing but to stall for time, to take the opportunity to recover from your injuries, right?" Toshiro said coldly.
"No, stalling for time is true, but it wasn't to recover from injuries or anything like that. After all, injuries of that level don't affect me at all and can fully recover in just a few seconds. The main reason I talked so much with you is because I specifically prepared a gift for you earlier, and now that gift... has arrived." Aizen said with a meaningful smile.
"Tch! Playing tricks!" Toshiro said with a disdainful sneer.
However, although he said this, for some reason, a strong sense of crisis welled up in Toshiro's heart.
So, although he didn't know what contingency Aizen had prepared, Toshiro was ready to strike first, not giving Aizen a chance to act.
"Ha!"
Toshiro let out a loud shout. The surging Reiryoku within his body frantically poured into his Zanpakuto. Then, he flapped his ice-frost wings and flew towards Aizen like a bolt of lightning.
However, Aizen looked confident and composed. Just as Toshiro's Zanpakuto was about to reach him, Aizen's body suddenly leaned to the side, avoiding Toshiro's blade.
After Aizen dodged, Toshiro's Zanpakuto directly pierced a frozen boulder behind Aizen.
Bang!
The frozen boulder instantly exploded into pieces.
However, after the frozen boulder was shattered, a figure suddenly appeared behind where the boulder had been.
Slap!
That figure suddenly reached out an arm and grabbed the blade of Toshiro's Zanpakuto.
"What?!!" Toshiro was shocked.
"Who are you!?" Toshiro demanded.
The newcomer had long, slender limbs, and his entire body was composed of white bones, clearly looking like an Arrancar in his Resurrección state. However, looking at this vaguely familiar figure, Toshiro felt even more uneasy.
"Ah... uh..." The newcomer did not answer Toshiro's question, only making incoherent 'ah ah wu wu' sounds similar to a baby's.
Toshiro's expression became unprecedentedly solemn and said: "He dared to directly grab Hyorinmaru's blade with his bare hands, and even the ice-cold power on Hyorinmaru has disappeared..."
Toshiro's Zanpakuto had been infused with a large amount of ice-cold power, so the blade was in an ultra-low temperature state approaching [Absolute Zero]. Even Aizen didn't dare to directly touch Hyorinmaru's blade with his bare hands. Yet this person directly grabbed Toshiro's Zanpakuto with his hand.
Moreover, after being grabbed by this person, the ice-cold power contained in Hyorinmaru's blade had completely disappeared, as if it had become an ordinary Asauchi.
This strange sense of déjà vu made Toshiro think of the scene in the original work where Yamamoto's Zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka, was sealed by the Arrancar created by Aizen using the Hogyoku.
'Could it be... this guy is...'
"Let me tell you!" Aizen's voice suddenly rang out.
Then, Aizen, with a confident and composed expression, stood not far from Toshiro and said: "Hitsugaya-kun, your Hyorinmaru is the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto. There's no doubt about that. To some extent, it's even stronger than Yamamoto Genryusai's Ryujin Jakka. Even if you remove the 'ice-type' qualifier, it could still be called the strongest Zanpakuto. So, even if my Reiatsu isn't weaker than yours, my combat ability is consistently below yours. If we really fight, I am indeed no match for you. However..."
"...if I abandon all other abilities and use the Hogyoku to specially strengthen a specific point against Hollows, I can resist your 'strongest'." Then Aizen looked at the suddenly appearing figure and spoke eloquently: "His name is Phoenix Margela. He is a modified Arrancar, and his Resurrección is called, [Flame Child]! He is an Arrancar I created to seal your Hyorinmaru!"
As Aizen's voice fell, not only did the ice-cold power on Toshiro's Zanpakuto disappear, but the ice layers within dozens of kilometers that had previously been frozen by Toshiro also completely dissipated.
Thus, Hueco Mundo, which had been turned into an ice and snow kingdom for dozens of kilometers by Toshiro, once again returned to its desolate desert scene.
Swish!
After seeing Aizen come over, Phoenix Margela also released Toshiro's Zanpakuto, and his figure flickered back to Aizen's side.
Then Aizen continued: "To obtain the ability to seal Hyorinmaru, Phoenix lost language, knowledge, memory... even rationality."
"Lost? More like taken away by you, right?" Toshiro sneered.
"No, all of this is the Hogyoku's will. Faced with the ability Phoenix gained by sacrificing everything, you are powerless, Hitsugaya-kun." Aizen said with a confident expression.
"Heh, is that so?" Toshiro said noncommittally.
Then Toshiro glanced at Phoenix beside Aizen and said: "A modified Arrancar that can seal a Zanpakuto's ability? You probably didn't create just one of these 'things', did you?"
A surprised expression flashed across Aizen's face: "As expected of the man I recognize. You saw through that too?"
"Hmph, isn't it simple? Whether it's me or Genryusai-sensei, our frontal combat abilities are both above yours. Since you specifically created a Zanpakuto that can seal my Hyorinmaru's ability, how could you possibly overlook Genryusai-sensei's Ryujin Jakka!" Toshiro said coldly.
"Correct. Phoenix also has a brother named Wonderweiss Margela. He was created together with Phoenix to seal Yamamoto Genryusai's Ryujin Jakka." Aizen admitted directly.
Then Aizen said nonchalantly: "However... even if you've figured it out, so what? You, Hitsugaya-kun, are destined not to leave here today. Of course, you won't have the chance to tell anyone else about this either. So Yamamoto Genryusai's Ryujin Jakka is also destined to be sealed just like your Hyorinmaru. And then, there will be no one left to stop me."
"Well then... Hitsugaya-kun, I still need to go destroy Karakura Town and create the Oken later. I don't have time to continue chatting with you. So... farewell, Hitsugaya-kun."
Having said that, Aizen waved his hand, signaling Phoenix beside him to 'take care of' Toshiro.