How could this be…
Ichigo's expression changed when his full-power Getsuga Tensho had no effect on Aizen, and he instinctively chose to distance himself from Aizen.
Aizen did not stop him, merely shaking his head:
"You are even more pathetic than I expected."
"If this is all you amount to, then it seems waiting for you here was a mistake."
Waiting for me?
Ichigo was startled, a look of confusion appearing in his eyes. He then observed his surroundings, and his expression changed when he saw everyone lying on the ground.
Aizen glanced downwards, seeing a figure emerge from the ruins, gathering all the heavily injured individuals and examining and treating them one by one. Aizen couldn't help but smile at the sight.
Everyone below still had a breath left, meaning that if they received timely treatment, they could all be saved.
But if they weren't treated immediately, everyone present would gradually die.
Several Captains, several Vice-Captains, plus the Visored and Arrancar—for one person to sustain the lives and provide emergency treatment for so many Captains would not only require immense effort and time but also a huge amount of Reiatsu.
Therefore…
Unohana now had only two choices.
Either fight him and watch everyone he had just heavily injured die.
Or immediately sustain everyone's vital signs and then provide emergency treatment one by one.
Unohana's choice was clearly the latter, exactly as he had expected.
Since that was the case, her threat to him naturally no longer existed.
Shaking his head slightly, Aizen no longer observed the situation below. Leaving those people with a breath was part of his plan, so he naturally wouldn't stop Unohana's rescue efforts.
As for whether letting them live would cause him trouble in the future?
That was absolutely impossible!
Because once his plan succeeded, they would be utterly incapable of posing any threat to him, and he wouldn't even need to lift a finger.
"Your performance has been quite disappointing."
Aizen turned his gaze back to Ichigo, saying flatly, "However, that's understandable. Most of the opponents I arranged for you were disrupted for various reasons."
"You… what did you say?"
"Didn't you understand?"
Aizen smiled faintly, about to say something, when he suddenly stopped, raising his right hand and pressing it into the void!
This press was without warning.
But the moment his right hand's tiger's mouth closed, an incredibly sharp slash descended from the sky, precisely striking Aizen's right hand's tiger's mouth.
Clang—!
Impact surged. It was a Zanpakuto with a simple pattern carved on its guard, two tassels attached to the end of its hilt, and blazing flames burning on its blade.
The sudden change caused a flicker of confusion on Ichigo's face.
And when he saw who it was, the confusion on his face didn't dissipate; instead, it grew even thicker.
"Many old friends are appearing today."
Aizen looked at the person in front of him and smiled faintly: "Aren't you going to continue observing from the shadows? Or have you and Urahara figured out a way to stop me?"
"No."
The newcomer shook his head: "I just felt you were talking too much, so I really couldn't resist the urge to cut you."
"Dad?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Ichigo finally reacted. He looked at Isshin, clad in a shinigami uniform and exuding powerful Reiatsu, and couldn't help but ask, "You…"
Boom—!!
Before he could finish, Isshin, who was in a stalemate with Aizen, unleashed a burst of flames from his Zanpakuto. Isshin retreated to Ichigo's side, directly pulling him away from their original position.
"I'll explain later."
Seeing this, Aizen raised his right hand, intending to press it in the direction the two had left.
But…
A figure suddenly appeared between Aizen and the Isshin father and son, causing Aizen to lower his hand.
"Are you ready?"
"You, aren't you being a bit too arrogant?"
Ishikawa looked at Aizen, who had an 'I've been waiting for you' expression, and couldn't help but speak. Although Aizen certainly had reason to be confident now, being too confident bordered on arrogance!
"Please!"
On the other side, Isshin pulled Ichigo to a stop and said to Ishikawa, "We'll be back as soon as possible. Before then, we're relying on you."
Ishikawa didn't reply, only nodding.
Hearing this, Ichigo no longer cared why his father was here and hurriedly said, "Dad… shouldn't we help Ishikawa a…"
"You staying here now would be no help at all."
Isshin interrupted, "Don't just focus on Aizen; look down below."
What's wrong below?
Ichigo was startled, subconsciously looking at the ruins of Karakura Town below him, his eyes filled with confusion, but then he froze.
Because in the ruins, a gate had appeared, which was clearly a Senkaimon.
And in front of that Senkaimon, Cirucci and Starrk were working with Unohana to transfer the injured. In this short time, many of the people who had been lying in the ruins had already been moved.
"That kid's Bankai might not be suitable for crowded places, or it might be an indiscriminate attack."
Isshin glanced at Ishikawa, who was confronting Aizen in the air, and continued, "When you appeared, he took advantage of Aizen talking to you to have the Arrancar next to him help move the injured."
"Then why do we also have to leave?"
"I'll explain in detail once we enter the Dangai."
Isshin didn't answer but said gravely, "I'm not sure how long that kid can stall, so I must take you into the Dangai immediately. I hope we can make it in time!"
…
Aizen didn't pay too much attention to what was happening below, only looking at Starrk and Lilynette, who were transferring the injured along with Cirucci, and said:
"Are you also deciding to betray me?"
Although his voice wasn't loud, it clearly reached Starrk's ears.
Starrk looked up at Aizen upon hearing this, his expression becoming even more listless:
"Sorry."
Starrk looked at the heavily injured and unconscious Harribel and others, and continued, "I suddenly realized just now that I don't seem to be alone." With that, he took Lilynette, who was frowning next to him, and continued to move the injured Arrancar, clearly not intending to argue with Aizen any further.
Although Aizen had instructed the Espada not to trust or rely on each other, so he had no real feelings for the other Espada, seeing his companions, with whom he had spent day and night, die or be heavily injured still shook him. His already minimal desire to fight was completely lost.
He no longer wanted to continue fighting.
Aizen didn't care in the slightest about this.
Ishikawa, however, looked at the injured being transferred on the ground, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes.
He couldn't defeat Aizen, nor could he even stall him until Ichigo's ultimate power was unleashed.
Ishikawa had already analyzed this earlier in the protective barrier.
But if…
Physique: Top-tier (867742 / 1000000) If he could break through his physique to 900,000 for a transformation, then there would be a glimmer of hope.
And now, his physique was only a little over 30,000 experience points away from breaking through. If he could gain a bit more experience…
Ishikawa looked at the injured being transferred below, truly not knowing how to obtain those 30,000-plus experience points.
After all, he couldn't just tell them, "If your favorability towards me increases, I can hold off Aizen." In this situation, if Ishikawa really said that, everyone might think he had gone wonderful from fear of Aizen…
What should he do?
Ishikawa's gaze swept over Unohana, Soi Fon, Lisa, Hiyori, Cirucci, Nel… and the other individuals, finally settling on Soi Fon.
Over 30,000 experience points was not a small number, and he only had one chance. If he used it on the Visored members whose favorability was relatively easy to increase, it would be difficult to gain so many experience points.
But it was different with Soi Fon, whose favorability towards him was already at max. As long as he could get her to break through the 60 mark, he would gain enough experience points for the upgrade.
Most importantly…
Among all the female Captains present, Soi Fon was the only one who was heavily injured but still conscious.
Sorry, Captain Soi Fon.
Ishikawa silently apologized in his heart. The current situation made him disregard what might happen later, as there would be no later if he died here.
Thinking of this, Ishikawa looked up at Aizen opposite him and said:
"Do you mind if I go down and say my last words?"
Aizen smiled noncommittally and did not stop him.
Ishikawa didn't wait for his reply. Almost as soon as his words fell, he vanished from his spot, reappearing in front of the Senkaimon.
Seeing Ishikawa suddenly appear, all the conscious individuals present showed confusion on their faces.
Ishikawa didn't speak, but instead went directly to the fallen Soi Fon, meeting her gaze with a smile so gentle it could almost wring water:
"Captain Soi Fon…"
Soi Fon frowned, a hint of confusion in her eyes. She truly couldn't understand why Ishikawa had suddenly left Aizen to come to her, and with such a strange smile.
"I…"
Ishikawa's eye twitched almost imperceptibly. He knew his smile might be a bit much right now, but he had to give it his all, no matter what, to increase Soi Fon's favorability towards him!
Time was limited; he had to achieve his goal in the shortest possible time.
His strongest skill, honed over more than ten years, was finally going to be put to use at this moment!
Ishikawa secretly gritted his teeth, again apologizing to Captain Soi Fon in his heart. Then, he looked at Soi Fon with gentle eyes and spoke softly:
"Captain Soi Fon, I have admired you for a long time."
"Huh?"
Ishikawa's words made everyone present pause their actions, all looking at Ishikawa with strange gazes.
Soi Fon was stunned for a moment, but the confusion in her eyes didn't dissipate; instead, it grew even stronger.
She truly didn't understand what Ishikawa meant by the word 'admired'.
That confused gaze made Ishikawa's eye twitch again, but since things had come to this, Ishikawa was completely throwing caution to the wind!
"Captain Soi Fon."
Ishikawa paused: "Although it might be inappropriate to say this now, I always feel that if I don't say it now, I might not have another chance to tell you what's on my mind."
Soi Fon froze, then suddenly realized something, her pupils widening.
"If… I mean if…"
Ishikawa met Soi Fon's gaze and smiled faintly: "If I can survive, may I have the honor of having dinner with you?"
This time, not to mention the people around, even Aizen, who had been watching this scene with interest from the air, curious about what Ishikawa wanted to say, had a somewhat strange look in his eyes.
Suddenly, the originally tense atmosphere in the field became somewhat ambiguous.
Soi Fon stared blankly for a long time, then anger appeared in her eyes…
Yes, it was anger.
There was no sign of shyness or anything similar; there was only the rising anger at Ishikawa's inappropriate confession.
Under that gaze, Ishikawa immediately felt a little guilty. Could she have seen through my thoughts?
Just as Ishikawa was hesitating whether to say anything more, a prompt suddenly appeared on the system interface.
[Soi Fon Favorability +1, gained 102400 experience points, current Love Value: 61]
The system prompt in his mind made Ishikawa's eyes light up, and he immediately felt a surge of ecstasy.
I knew it.
Even if she had no feelings for him at all, a sudden confession should still be able to change his impression in her mind to some extent.
Although it only increased by 1 point, it was already completely sufficient for the current situation.
As for what trouble his words today would bring after everything was over, Ishikawa didn't care anymore. Only by surviving could he face trouble.
What's more…
He didn't say 'like,' but 'admire,' an admiration for his superior.
He also didn't invite his superior on a date, he just said he wanted to have dinner with his superior. Anyway, eating together in the Second Division cafeteria also counted as having dinner together.
As for whether Captain Soi Fon would misunderstand, what did that have to do with him?
This was called wordplay, his strongest skill, honed for over ten years!
Although after everything was explained, Soi Fon would most likely use her Bankai to blast him and the Everything Store away…
With the experience points in hand, Ishikawa's next actions could be described in four words.
Swift and decisive.
He completely ignored everyone's reactions and simply vanished from his spot.
"…" Everyone.
Boss (Captain) Ishikawa, was he really that carefree?
…
"Not going to chat anymore?"
Aizen looked at the returning Ishikawa and smiled, "A very interesting scene. I wouldn't mind giving you some more time."
"Less talk!"
Ishikawa met Aizen's gaze, a smirk on his lips: "Aizen, today I'll show you that power gained entirely through one's own efforts is not something external forces can compare to!"
As his words fell, Ishikawa immediately invested the newly acquired experience points into his physique.
However, after investing only 32,258 experience points, he could no longer invest more.
This did not surprise Ishikawa, as he had already vaguely sensed that…
Once the values surpassed 900,000 points, whether it was Reiatsu or physique, there would be a massive transformation, and also the final and most difficult barrier to break through!
Therefore, after realizing he couldn't add more points, Ishikawa added all the remaining experience points to his Reiatsu.
…
Name: Ishikawa
Race: Human
Level: First Stage
Physique: Top-tier (900000 / 1000000) [Cannot be increased]
Reiatsu: Top-tier (870984 / 1000000)