"Toshiro, you really aren't dead? That's great!"
Among Yamamoto's group, Kyoraku's emotions were somewhat stirred upon seeing Toshiro. Ukitake beside him also looked very happy, but Ukitake, being of a calm disposition, didn't express it as directly as Kyoraku.
Honestly, Toshiro had a very good relationship with Kyoraku and Ukitake. The two had always been very considerate towards Toshiro.
Moreover, since Toshiro had once studied Kendo under Yamamoto, he could be considered a junior fellow disciple to Kyoraku and Ukitake, so the three of them had always been very close.
That's why Shunsui had been so furious upon hearing that Toshiro was 'killed' by Aizen, wanting to kill Aizen to avenge him.
"I'm sorry. I faked my death earlier to deceive Aizen. I'm really sorry for causing everyone so much worry."
Toshiro said apologetically to Kyoraku, Ukitake, and the others.
"Well, forget it. The important thing is that you're alright."
Ukitake waved his hand.
Then Ukitake looked at Aizen.
"Aizen..."
Facing Aizen, his former colleague and now enemy, Ukitake Jushiro's emotions were very complex. He didn't know what to say.
"Sigh! Anyway, it's all over, Aizen. Dying by Toshiro's sword might not be a bad ending for you."
Ukitake said with some emotion.
"Heh... hahaha..."
Aizen suddenly laughed.
"Hmph! What's so funny?"
Toshiro, standing behind Aizen, snorted coldly and abruptly twisted the Zanpakuto piercing Aizen's body.
"Ugh..."
Aizen couldn't help but groan in pain.
"Heh, I'm laughing at you all. Do you all really think that I, Aizen Sosuke, will die like this?"
Aizen said mockingly.
"Oh? Aren't you going to? I said before, your Kyoka Suigetsu has no effect on me. So I can be sure that the one I stabbed is you, Aizen Sosuke, not some illusion. And judging by your injuries, you can't survive, can you?"
Toshiro frowned.
Toshiro was certain that when he attacked Aizen earlier, although Aizen subconsciously twisted his body, Toshiro's Zanpakuto still pierced Aizen's body and even damaged his heart.
Although Aizen's subconscious movement caused Toshiro's blade to only graze the outer layer of his heart when piercing through, even with this kind of injury, no matter how strong Aizen's body was, unless he was an immortal being, he could at most hold on for a few more minutes before eventually dying.
However, although his words were confident, upon hearing Aizen's words, the bad premonition in Toshiro's heart grew even stronger.
Aizen's expression turned sinister: "Hey, Toshiro-kun, you said before that I was too careless and that's why you succeeded in your surprise attack. That's not wrong. In fact, I did let my guard down, relaxing my vigilance the moment I was about to extract the Hogyoku, allowing you to seize the opportunity and severely wound me. But this time, I'll also say this to you..."
"You were too careless! Hitsugaya Toshiro!"
Aizen's words made Toshiro's heart skip a beat, and his bad premonition reached its peak.
So Toshiro decided not to waste any more words with Aizen. He made a prompt decision and abruptly withdrew the Zanpakuto piercing Aizen's body.
"Squelch!"
Toshiro's sudden withdrawal of his sword caused Aizen's wound to spurt out a large amount of blood like a fountain.
Then Toshiro swung his sword towards Aizen's neck.
No matter what tricks Aizen still had, Toshiro didn't believe he could still live after he cut off his head!
However, to Toshiro's surprise, despite being severely wounded and losing a lot of blood, Aizen still acted as if nothing was wrong. He lightly stepped and instantly dodged Toshiro's attack.
Although Toshiro's speed could be said to be unmatched, Aizen, being a same-level opponent, dodging one or two of Toshiro's attacks wasn't too difficult. But that was under the condition that Aizen was completely unharmed and at the peak of his strength.
Logically, with such a severe injury, Aizen should either die immediately or be completely weakened, with barely a fraction of his strength remaining. Yet now he easily evaded Toshiro's attack.
"Aizen, what the hell is going on with you?"
Toshiro's expression turned ugly.
"Heh, Toshiro-kun, didn't I say? You were too careless, making the same mistake I did earlier."
Aizen chuckled lightly.
"If, after piercing my body with your sword, you had immediately followed up with a few more strikes to my vital points, then no matter what, I would have died. Unfortunately, you didn't do that, which is why I had the opportunity to temporarily suppress my injuries with the power of the Hogyoku."
Saying this, Aizen took out a blue-black orb from his bosom.
"Damn it! I should have thought of that!"
Toshiro was furious with himself.
Although the Hogyoku created by Kisuke that was inside Rukia had already fallen into Toshiro's hands, Aizen also had his own self-created Hogyoku.
Considering intelligence and scientific research level, the Hogyoku created by Kisuke should be far superior to Aizen's. Otherwise, Aizen wouldn't have gone to such lengths to obtain Kisuke's Hogyoku.
But even so, Aizen's Hogyoku was still a Hogyoku. Regardless, it possessed abilities unimaginable to ordinary people. Even if it couldn't make Aizen immortal, spending some time to temporarily suppress, or even heal, his injuries wouldn't be difficult.
The reason Toshiro hadn't thought of this initially was because the original work didn't describe in detail what special abilities Aizen's Hogyoku had before merging with Kisuke's.
So Toshiro had also subconsciously overlooked this point.
It was a case of 'success and failure both hinge on this one factor'. Toshiro had always been able to anticipate the enemy's moves by relying on his knowledge of the original story, but today, because he paid too much attention to the original plot, he overlooked certain things, causing his surprise attack on Aizen to end in failure.
'Yare yare, this world is, after all, a real world, not just a simple anime. Anime has limited space and can't describe everything in detail.'
Toshiro smiled bitterly in his heart.
Seeing Toshiro's annoyed and bitter expression, Aizen couldn't help but feel pleased and said: "Actually, I understood your feelings at that time. Earlier, when I initiated a conversation with you, it was just to buy time to use my own Hogyoku to treat my injuries."
"Instead of thinking much about it, you nonchalantly chatted with me and even teased me. In fact, I knew very well that you were just showing off at that moment… showing off your intelligence, your strength, showing off that you could defeat me and trample me underfoot. That's why you said some unnecessary words. Isn't that right, Toshiro-kun?"
Aizen asked.
"Ah, that's right. This time, I indeed became proud."
Toshiro admitted frankly.
Just as Aizen said, seeing the original work's great villain on the verge of death under his own scheming, Toshiro couldn't help but feel a surge of pride, and thus lost his vigilance.
"Is that so? Then it seems we are somewhat similar, because when facing an enemy, I also can't help doing this."
Aizen said with a sense of mutual appreciation.
"Hmph, enough of this useless talk. Although you got lucky and escaped once, I won't be careless this time, Aizen!"
Toshiro pointed his sword at Aizen, his expression extremely serious.
"Oh? Is that so? But in a head-on confrontation, not a surprise attack, I'm not afraid of you, Hitsugaya Toshiro!"
Aizen replied forcefully.
Instantly, the atmosphere between them became tense, as if a great battle was about to erupt at any moment.