After receiving Aizen's command, Phoenix responded with a vague grunt, then his figure flickered and he instantly charged towards Toshiro.
"Hmph!"
Seeing this, Toshiro let out a cold snort, sheathed his Zanpakuto into the scabbard on his back, and then, just as Phoenix reached him, let out a loud shout and kicked Phoenix with tremendous force.
Bang!!
A dull sound rang out. The left half of Phoenix's body was directly shattered by Toshiro's kick, and he involuntarily flew backwards.
Boom!!
Phoenix's body crashed heavily onto the ground in the distance, even smashing a large pit dozens of meters in diameter into the sandy ground.
"Ah... uh..." Phoenix let out a series of cries like 'ah ah wu wu', and then the shattered half of his body squirmed and began to rapidly regenerate.
Whoosh!
When the shattered half of Phoenix's body had almost regenerated, his figure flickered and he once again fearlessly charged towards Toshiro.
Toshiro frowned, but did not choose to directly engage him again.
"Shunkuho!"
Toshiro's figure swayed and instantly disappeared from the spot.
Bang!
Phoenix's attack directly missed, hitting the spot where Toshiro had just been.
Whoosh!
After reappearing, Toshiro's figure flickered again, finally appearing before Aizen.
"Yo, Aizen, saying things like 'farewell'... aren't you looking down on me a bit too much? Did you think you could easily kill me just because my Zanpakuto's ability was sealed?" Toshiro said expressionlessly.
To be honest, although Hyorinmaru's ability was temporarily sealed, Toshiro was not panicked. Because even with his Zanpakuto's ability temporarily sealed, Toshiro could still fight, and his combat ability would still not be weaker than Aizen's.
The reason was that what was sealed was only his Zanpakuto's ability, not his Reiatsu. So, at this moment, although Toshiro could no longer use his Zanpakuto's techniques, his Reiatsu was in no way weaker than Aizen's.
With the boost from the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto, Toshiro's combat ability was solidly a notch above Aizen's. Without his Zanpakuto, although Toshiro's combat ability would be somewhat weaker, he could still contend with Aizen.
"Yare yare, you came over to my side. Really, Hitsugaya-kun, didn't you consider dealing with Phoenix first before fighting me? Otherwise, if Phoenix and I join forces, you might not be able to win." Aizen reminded with a seemingly kind expression.
"Hmph, do you think I don't know, Aizen..."
At this point, without turning his head, Toshiro reached his right hand behind his back, aimed at Phoenix who was charging at him again, and said: "Hado #88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!"
Boom!
A huge blue thunderous beam of light struck Phoenix, who was charging at Toshiro, blasting his flesh and blood flying, leaving him covered in gore. His body was once again sent flying backwards, crashing onto the ground in the distance.
"Not dead even after that? What tenacious vitality. Even if an Espada or a Captain took that Kido of mine, they probably wouldn't survive." Although he didn't turn around, Toshiro could sense that Phoenix's presence and Reiatsu had not disappeared.
"Oh my, Hitsugaya-kun, attacking directly with Kido... it seems you're somewhat wary of Phoenix getting close to you?" Aizen asked with a somewhat peculiar expression.
"That's exactly what I was about to say, Aizen." Toshiro said, his eyes fixed on Aizen's gaze. "Although my intelligence may not be as monstrous as Urahara Kisuke's, don't take me for a fool."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Aizen asked, seemingly puzzled.
"Hmph, didn't you say it yourself at the beginning? Flame Child was specifically created by you to seal my Hyorinmaru. However... your so-called 'seal' probably isn't just about preventing the ice-cold power from being generated and locking it inside the sword, is it?" Toshiro said with a profound expression.
"Oh? Is that so? What makes you say that?" Aizen's expression gradually faded.
"Because... if Flame Child could only seal my ice-cold power inside the sword, then... where did the ice layers within dozens of kilometers go?"
"Just now, an area dozens of kilometers around was frozen by me, turned into an ice and snow kingdom. But ever since my Zanpakuto was sealed by Flame Child, not only did the ice-cold power on the blade disappear, but the ice layers within dozens of kilometers also vanished. Therefore..."
"From this, it can be inferred that Flame Child is probably not only able to seal Hyorinmaru's ability, but also capable of absorbing the ice-cold power already released from the sword. Consequently... the ice that covered dozens of kilometers just now... didn't disappear, but was... absorbed by Flame Child, isn't that right?" Toshiro said with certainty.
After absorbing the immense ice-cold power from Toshiro that could freeze dozens of kilometers, Phoenix contained a vast amount of power within him, like a huge ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.
If the ice-cold power contained within Phoenix were to burst forth all at once, the terrifying scene that would result was beyond even Toshiro's imagination. So, he absolutely did not dare let Phoenix get close.
Hearing Toshiro's words, a flash of surprise crossed Aizen's eyes.
"As expected of you, Hitsugaya-kun, the man I consider my rival. I thought I had already given you enough weight, but it seems... I still far underestimated you. Just from a casual remark of mine, you can deduce so much. It seems you are not only powerful, but your intelligence is also no less than mine!" Aizen said gravely.
"Well then... enough talk! Let's truly settle this!"
Having said that, Toshiro let out a loud shout. His right hand, covered in immensely powerful Reiatsu, punched towards Aizen with the force of thunder.
Seeing this, Aizen directly swung his sword to meet it.
Clang!!!
Toshiro's fist and Aizen's Zanpakuto collided, sparks flying everywhere, producing a huge metallic crashing sound.
Drip!
A drop of blood fell from Toshiro's hand. Although Toshiro's body was extremely powerful, with a Reishi Density far exceeding ordinary people, even so, facing an opponent of Aizen's level, directly using his bare hand to clash with the opponent's Zanpakuto, Toshiro's right hand was inevitably cut by the blade.
However, although Toshiro did not have any super-speed regeneration abilities, his powerful physical constitution also gave him strong recovery capabilities.
Thus, this already minor injury had no effect on him whatsoever.
So, while blocking Aizen's Zanpakuto with his right hand, Toshiro suddenly extended his left index finger towards Aizen: "Hado #1: Sho!"
Bang!
A powerful shockwave struck Aizen, sending him stumbling backwards repeatedly.
"Hado #90: Kurohitsugi!" As Aizen's body involuntarily moved backwards, seeing that Toshiro was about to take the opportunity to attack, he directly used his most skilled Kido to stop him.
As Aizen's voice fell, a black light screen rose around Toshiro, then surrounded him from all sides, like a black coffin trying to completely trap him inside.
Facing Aizen's attack, Toshiro naturally would not just sit there and take it.
"Hado #91: Senju Koten Taiho!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless pink rays shot towards the not-yet-completely-formed Kurohitsugi.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After Toshiro's Senju Koten Taiho broke through Aizen's Kurohitsugi, several remaining pink rays still shot towards Aizen.
Whoosh!
Aizen's figure flickered, dodging the remnant power of the Senju Koten Taiho.
"Ha!"
Toshiro let out a loud shout, taking the opportunity to charge at Aizen again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sounds of Reiatsu collisions and metallic clashes rang out continuously. Toshiro and Aizen once again engaged in fierce combat, fighting intensely, unable to determine a winner for the time being.
Toshiro's Zanpakuto was temporarily sealed, so he couldn't use its techniques. Aizen's Zanpakuto, aside from its hypnosis ability, basically had no offensive capabilities.
Thus, Toshiro and Aizen could only rely on their powerful Reiatsu and the four basic Shinigami abilities of Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido to fight.
Therefore, with similar Reiatsu, both at the pinnacle of Shinigami, it was truly difficult for them to determine a winner in a short time.