This doubt surfaced in Momo's heart, but immediately, she no longer had any extra energy to ponder it.
Unohana was very fast.
If she didn't exert all her effort, she would probably be left behind by Unohana soon.
"Wait for me, Captain Unohana!"
Along the way, to accommodate Momo, Unohana limited her speed to a level Momo could keep up with.
"Not good!"
Suddenly, Unohana let out a low exclamation.
Then, both Unohana and Momo could feel an exceptionally powerful Reiatsu erupting from Aizen's direction. The biting coldness made even Unohana and Momo, who were still quite far away, feel chilled.
"My apologies, Lieutenant Hinamori."
After apologizing to Momo, Unohana reached out, grabbed Momo's hand, and flew towards the source of the Reiatsu conflict at an even faster speed.
"Huh?"
"Huh huh huh huh huh..."
Amidst Momo's exclamations, Unohana's body cut through the sky, creating waves of air as she charged towards the place where the Reiatsu erupted.
Rushing as fast as they could, Unohana and Momo finally arrived at the place where Aizen and Hitsugaya were fighting.
However, the scene that greeted them made both women freeze.
Aizen was clearly pierced through the heart by Hitsugaya's sword, pinned firmly against a tall building.
"Ah, ah ah ah ah ah ah..."
"Captain Aizen!"
…
"This guy is really strong!"
Although releasing his Zanpakuto gave Hitsugaya a significant advantage in his battle against Aizen, when Aizen displayed his Swordmaster-level swordsmanship, he managed to turn the situation around.
Even judging purely by attack strength, Hitsugaya's ice was slightly inferior to Aizen's slashes.
Against Aizen's attacks, Hitsugaya only needed to swing his sword lightly, and the sharp slashes could shatter the ice.
Whereas Aizen's slashes required Hitsugaya to use more ice to form barriers for defense.
If not for Hyorinmaru's inherent ability to manipulate moisture and condense it into ice, Hitsugaya might truly have been unable to withstand Aizen's attacks.
When Hitsugaya sensed Momo's and another unfamiliar Captain-level powerhouse's Reiatsu approaching rapidly, he knew his time was running out.
No matter how confident Hitsugaya was in himself, he didn't think he could defeat two Captain-level powerhouses working together at his current level.
Immediately, Hitsugaya took a deep breath and raised his Zanpakuto high.
Boom-
Blue Reiatsu enveloped Hitsugaya, spinning and absorbing large amounts of surrounding Reishi, rapidly boosting Hitsugaya's Reiatsu.
A few seconds later, the Reishi Sphere dispersed, revealing Hitsugaya's new form.
Now, Hitsugaya had an additional pair of ice wings on his back. Ice spread along the dragon wings, covering Hitsugaya's arms, forming ice armor resembling dragon claws.
Additionally, behind Hitsugaya, there was a tail condensed from ice.
Hovering above his head was an ice flower, its four petals spreading out in a diamond shape.
"Bankai-"
"Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"
A slightly childish voice came from Hitsugaya's mouth.
The freezing cold air, as Hitsugaya spoke, could freeze the moisture in the air around him into mist.
After completing his Zanpakuto's Bankai, Hitsugaya looked at Aizen.
Through the previous battle, he had gained a concrete understanding of Aizen's strength.
If Aizen still didn't release his Zanpakuto, Hitsugaya was confident he could defeat Aizen within three minutes.
The boost in Hitsugaya's strength before and after Bankai was that significant!
Clang-
This time, facing the slash Aizen unleashed, Hitsugaya merely waved his hand, instantly condensing an ice wall in front of himself.
Boom-
The slash that could previously cleave through a several-dozen-meter ice mountain now failed to break through this thin layer of ice wall in front of Hitsugaya.
Of course…
After Bankai, Hitsugaya's control over moisture and his mastery of ice underwent a qualitative improvement.
This thin layer of ice wall alone contained moisture equivalent to a hundred-meter ice mountain in his Shikai state.
It's just that in his Bankai State, Hitsugaya compressed and condensed it into this thin layer of ice wall, making its defensive power naturally far superior to the previous ice mountain.
Aizen's slashes were indeed strong.
But Hitsugaya's Hyorinmaru was the strongest ice-type Zanpakuto, comparable to Ryujin Jakka.
Although Hitsugaya couldn't yet unleash Hyorinmaru's full power, the portion he could wield was enough for him to stand firm among the many Captains.
Just like in the original work when Hitsugaya first fought Gin, Hitsugaya won by freezing one of Gin's hands.
Gin also had to release his Zanpakuto and attack Momo to get the chance to shatter the ice and escape.
In Hitsugaya's several battles with Aizen in the original work, if he hadn't been affected by Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu, the outcomes wouldn't have been instant defeats every time.
Moreover, Hitsugaya, who received targeted training from Kyoya, was much stronger than the 10th Division's Captain from the original work.
Whoosh-
Hitsugaya flashed and appeared in front of Aizen, swinging his sword to release an ice dragon that charged at Aizen.
Aizen crossed his sword to block. However, the impact force of this ice dragon unleashed by Hitsugaya far exceeded Aizen's expectations.
Even though white slashes emanated from Aizen's Zanpakuto, they only barely managed to shatter the ice dragon's charging body.
But Aizen himself was forced back by this immense force.
Crash-
Finally, the slashes attached to Aizen's sword were worn away by Hitsugaya's ice dragon, while this ice dragon still had a tail remaining.
The remaining impact force directly blasted Aizen against the wall. The ice from the dragon's tail completely froze Aizen's entire body, leaving only his head exposed.
"Aren't you going to release your Zanpakuto yet, Captain Aizen?"
Hitsugaya slowly flew to the front of Aizen and asked solemnly.
This assault by the Revolutionary Army on the Seireitei was a 'training exercise' conducted by Kyoya.
Similarly, everyone in the Revolutionary Army knew that Kyoya wanted them to fight the Captains of the Gotei 13 to achieve better progress.
This required them to find opponents who were evenly matched with themselves.
Aizen was the opponent Kyoya had chosen for him.
In Hitsugaya's view, since Aizen was selected by Kyoya, his strength must surpass his own.
Otherwise, Kyoya wouldn't have him fight someone weaker than himself.
But until now, even after Hitsugaya used Bankai, Aizen still hadn't released his Zanpakuto. This level of strength simply didn't make Hitsugaya feel any pressure.
Hitsugaya simply didn't believe this was Aizen's true strength.
Rather than Kyoya misjudging, Hitsugaya preferred to believe Aizen was holding back.
"If you're still thinking of holding back your strength at this point, I won't show mercy anymore!"
This statement from Hitsugaya wasn't a threat to Aizen.
According to his Reikaku, that unfamiliar Captain's Reiatsu was approaching extremely rapidly.
Even if Aizen didn't want to use his true strength, Hitsugaya wouldn't put himself in a dangerous position.
Therefore, before that Captain arrived, Hitsugaya would severely injure Aizen first.
"Army Commander Hitsugaya, when did you get the idea that I haven't released my Zanpakuto?"
Under Hitsugaya's gaze, the corners of Aizen's mouth lifted slightly.
"What?"
Hitsugaya was shocked.
'You've got to be kidding?'
'This guy had already released his Zanpakuto?'
'When did it happen?'
'What is his Zanpakuto's ability?'
'How could I not have noticed?'
Just as Hitsugaya was puzzled, the 4th Division's Captain, Unohana, had already arrived here with Momo.
"Captain Aizen!"
"Ah, ah ah ah ah ah..."
The first thing that reached Hitsugaya's ears was Momo's heart-wrenching scream.
Next was a bone-chilling killing intent.
"Toshiro, how could you kill Captain Aizen?"
"Army Commander of the Revolutionary Army, you have gone too far!"
After setting Momo down, Unohana extended her hand towards Hitsugaya.
As a Captain from the same era as Yamamoto in the Gotei 13, Unohana understood Yamamoto more deeply than anyone.
She knew that without Yamamoto's permission, it would be impossible for him to remain inactive after the Seireitei was attacked by Ryoka.
This was a training exercise!
And the Shinigami later sent to the 4th Division confirmed Unohana's speculation.
After all, if they were truly enemies, at least seventy percent of the Shinigami sent to the 4th Division would likely be corpses, not like now where not a single Shinigami had died.
Of course, as a Captain at the pinnacle of the Gotei 13, Unohana also knew that even if it was just a training exercise, it was almost impossible for no Shinigami to die.
Unohana, and even Captains like Kyoraku and Ukitake, who guessed Yamamoto's intentions, had all accepted the consequence that some Shinigami might die in this training exercise.
However, Unohana never expected that the first to die wouldn't be an ordinary Shinigami, but the Captain of the 5th Division, Aizen Sosuke!
Looking at Aizen pinned against the high wall, and the blood flowing down the wall...
Just from the amount of blood loss alone, Unohana knew Captain Aizen was beyond saving.
"Hado #63, Raikoho!"
Boom-
Golden lightning erupted from Unohana's palm, transforming into a thunderbolt that assaulted Hitsugaya.
"Hey, what are you talking about?"
Facing Momo and Unohana's accusations, Hitsugaya frowned. "Momo, is there something wrong with your eyes?"
"Aizen is right here? When did I kill him?"
However, to Hitsugaya's bewilderment, Momo and Unohana seemed not to hear his words at all.
Momo screamed hoarsely accusing him, while the Captain brought by Momo attacked him without distinguishing right from wrong.
"Shinku Taso Hyoheki!"
Hitsugaya casually waved his hand, setting up an ice barrier in front of himself.
Boom!
The golden lightning struck the ice barrier. Apart from leaving a charred spot on the ice barrier, it didn't cause any significant damage to this layer of defense Hitsugaya had set up.
After all, the Shinku Taso Hyoheki could absolutely be considered Hitsugaya's strongest defensive technique currently.
Even Aizen's slashes failed to break through this layer of Hitsugaya's defense, showing how powerful it was.
A #63 Kido, even when released by a Kido Master like Unohana, still couldn't reach the level of a Swordmaster's flying slash. How could it possibly break through?
"How is this possible?"
Unohana was also somewhat surprised that her attack only achieved such a result.
Although Aizen's strength wasn't outstanding among the many Captains, he wasn't a pushover either.
'This person, although he looked very young, even called 'Toshiro' by Lieutenant Momo, his current form was his Zanpakuto's Bankai, right?'
'Moreover, being able to kill Captain Aizen, this youth simply couldn't have his strength judged by his age.'
Although she only used a #63 Hado to test, it still showed that the strength of that ice barrier seemed comparable to the #81 Bakudo, Danku."
With such defensive strength, even Unohana, without using her true strength, seemed unable to pose much threat to Hitsugaya.
Of course, like Danku, Hitsugaya's current Shinku Taso Hyoheki could only defend against attacks from one direction.
"Lieutenant Hinamori, although I know you're very sad, for now, please leave this place."
Since she had decided to fight Hitsugaya, Unohana naturally didn't want to involve Momo.
Although there was only one or two classes of Reiryoku between a Lieutenant and a Captain, the jump from 4th-class to 3rd-class Reiryoku was itself a qualitative change.
If Captains fully released their Reiatsu, Lieutenants and lower-ranked Shinigami would find it very difficult even to breathe.
And this was even more true for battles between Captains.
The Reiatsu conflicts at the Captain-level figures weren't something ordinary Shinigami could withstand.