"Ah, that's right, it's me."
Toshiro's voice came from behind Aizen.
In fact, Toshiro had arrived not long after Ichigo got there.
However, Toshiro had been hiding in the shadows, not revealing himself. In order to find an opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Aizen, even though he saw Ichigo and Renji being thoroughly beaten by Aizen, and Komamura being defeated in one blow, Toshiro forcefully restrained himself from acting hastily.
He waited until the moment Aizen was about to extract the Hogyoku from Rukia, when his mind was relaxed, his vigilance lowered, and an opening appeared. Only then did Toshiro exert all his strength, instantly bursting forth at the fastest speed of his life, delivering a fatal and earth-shattering strike against Aizen.
Thud!
Rukia fell from Aizen's hand, collapsing to the ground.
With Aizen's body pierced by Toshiro's Zanpakuto, his body weakened, and he naturally lost the strength to support Rukia, whom he was holding.
"Rukia, are you alright?"
Toshiro asked with concern.
"I... I'm fine. But you... weren't you killed by Aizen..."
Rukia looked at Toshiro with great confusion.
"I'll explain this to you later. You should go over to Ichigo and Renji for now."
Toshiro said.
"Th... then alright. Be careful yourself."
Having said this, Rukia staggered towards Ichigo and Renji, who were lying on the ground not far away.
Although Rukia was weak now and her Reiatsu hadn't recovered, she could still walk a few steps. The reason she couldn't move before was simply because Aizen's Reiatsu was too overwhelming.
Now that Aizen was severely wounded by Toshiro, and Toshiro had shielded her from the influence of his Reiatsu, although her steps were unsteady, she could barely walk.
"Cough, cough... So you really didn't die after all, Hitsugaya Toshiro..."
Aizen couldn't help but cough up mouthfuls of blood, speaking intermittently.
"Oh? Judging by your expression, did you perhaps anticipate that I wasn't dead?"
Toshiro asked with some curiosity.
"I wouldn't exactly say I anticipated it... It's just that, in my view, your strength and intelligence are among the most top-tier in the entire Soul Society..."
"Yet, during our earlier fight, you were easily killed by me..."
"Although Kyoka Suigetsu's [Complete Hypnosis] is flawless, and you 'didn't know' about Kyoka Suigetsu's abilities, it's not impossible that you were killed due to carelessness. However..."
"It was too easy!"
"You are, after all, the Vice-Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, an existence whose strength rivals Yamamoto Genryusai's. Being killed like this inevitably felt a bit unreal."
"Moreover, if the opponent's strength is too great... even if they still cannot shake off the influence of Kyoka Suigetsu, when attacked, they might, more or less, sense a little abnormality. Otherwise, I wouldn't have delayed taking action due to fearing the strength of you and Yamamoto Genryusai… I would have eliminated the Gotei 13 long ago..."
"But your performance earlier seemed to perceive no abnormality at all, and you were easily 'killed' by me. So, deep down, I still had some doubts about your death."
"However, just as I was about to carefully examine the 'corpse', Captain Unohana's arrival was earlier than I anticipated, so I couldn't continue inspecting your 'corpse'."
"And besides, I only had a shred of doubt… I didn't truly believe you were still alive. After all, Kyoka Suigetsu's ability is flawless, and you had been hypnotized by me back in the Shin'o Academy. In theory, it should have been impossible for you to deceive me and feign death..."
"Now it seems, I ultimately placed too much faith in Kyoka Suigetsu's ability, which allowed me to be fooled by you and end up in this situation..."
"Hey, Toshiro-kun, why were you able to deceive my eyes and feign death to fool me?"
Having said this, Aizen couldn't help but turn his head with difficulty and look intently at Toshiro behind him.
"Hmph, that's of course because I have a way to deal with your Kyoka Suigetsu, so your [Complete Hypnosis] has no effect on me at all!"
Toshiro snorted coldly.
"I see, so that's how it is..."
Aizen said with understanding.
Aizen wasn't too surprised by Toshiro's statement, because only if Toshiro was unaffected by Kyoka Suigetsu could he deceive Aizen's eyes and feign death.
Otherwise, no matter how brilliant Toshiro's method of concealment, if his five senses were manipulated by Kyoka Suigetsu, it would have been impossible for Aizen not to perceive any abnormality.
"So, when did you obtain the method to counter [Complete Hypnosis]? And what exactly is this method?"
Aizen suddenly asked with a serious expression.
Speaking here, Aizen couldn't help but think back to the brief fight he had with Toshiro in the Living World back then.
About twenty years ago, Aizen was conducting Hollowfication experiments in the Living World, which led to the death of the 10th Division's member stationed there.
At that time, the Captain of the 10th Division, Shiba Isshin, secretly went to the Living World to investigate, and Toshiro followed closely behind. As a result, they had a brief fight with Aizen, who was in disguise.
During that fight, Aizen used Kyoka Suigetsu's ability, believing he had influenced Toshiro's five senses and that Toshiro's attack wouldn't hit him. He then calmly prepared to leave. However, just as he turned around, he was hit by Toshiro's attack.
At that time, Aizen had wondered if Toshiro could counter Kyoka Suigetsu's [Complete Hypnosis]. But because Aizen believed too much in Kyoka Suigetsu's ability, and Toshiro had used a large-scale attack technique, Aizen didn't think much of it, assuming Toshiro had just gotten lucky. But now that he thought about it...
And if Toshiro had been unaffected by Kyoka Suigetsu since then, then Aizen couldn't help but think that his subsequent series of actions, and even his earlier feigned death, had been clearly seen by Toshiro...
But if Toshiro had been able to counter Kyoka Suigetsu's ability as early as twenty years ago, then why hadn't he revealed the truth to the Soul Society? Could it be that he had some deeper scheme?
Thinking of this, Aizen couldn't help but feel a deep sense of dread rising from the bottom of his heart.
Previously, Aizen had feared Toshiro more for his strength. But now, compared to Toshiro's strength, Aizen feared his intelligence even more.
In Toshiro, Aizen seemed to see Kisuke, the only man who surpassed him in intelligence.
And Toshiro's strength was far greater than Kisuke's. Exceptional intelligence, immense power, and unaffected by Kyoka Suigetsu.
With so many factors combined, Aizen's fear of Toshiro reached its peak, surpassing that of any other existence.
Consequently, Aizen desperately wanted to know when Toshiro had obtained the method to deal with Kyoka Suigetsu, and what exactly this method was.
Toshiro, on the other hand, hadn't expected Aizen to imagine so many things.
He had possessed the method to deal with Kyoka Suigetsu since his time at the Shin'o Academy. As for why he didn't immediately expose Aizen's true colors, it was naturally because he knew that doing so would be meaningless.
At that time, Toshiro's strength was far inferior to Aizen's. Even without Kyoka Suigetsu's [Complete Hypnosis], Toshiro was no match for Aizen. Yamamoto, on the other hand, had the strength but couldn't shake off the influence of Kyoka Suigetsu.
So, in this situation, it was better to let things develop naturally. At least this way, he wouldn't disrupt the development of the plot, and Toshiro could maintain the advantage of foresight.
"You ask me when I obtained the method to counter Kyoka Suigetsu, and what that method is? Alright, listen carefully, Aizen..."
Hearing Toshiro's words, Aizen's expression became serious, ready to listen attentively...
"Listen carefully, the method to counter Kyoka Suigetsu is... I'm not telling you!"
Just as Aizen was listening intently, Toshiro suddenly burst out with a scoff.