He's truly formidable.
As Ishikawa looked at the unharmed Aizen, he vaguely understood why Urahara Kisuke had not appeared.
Although he hadn't come here, Ishikawa was certain that Urahara Kisuke had been observing the battle from the shadows, racking his brain to find a way to seal Aizen.
His absence already indicated that even he had not found a method to seal the current Aizen.
Perfect!!
Ishikawa could only use these two words to describe the Aizen before him.
Unlike the Aizen in his memories, the current Aizen's evolutionary path was truly perfect. The natural fearlessness and intrepidity he exuded genuinely gave one the illusion of facing a god, and… from the moment he appeared, Aizen was already in the final stage of fusion with the Hōgyoku.
Even now, Ishikawa had not found any trace of the Hōgyoku on him, only vaguely sensing its presence.
As for why it was about sealing and not eliminating…
The reason was simple…
Ever since his Bankai, Ishikawa's analysis of Aizen had not stopped. Whether it was the brief Bankai during the protective barrier earlier or the intense confrontation now, Kokumei's analysis had not provided Ishikawa with a method to eliminate Aizen. Strictly speaking, it was unable to provide a method for Ishikawa to eliminate Aizen with his current strength.
"I take back what I said earlier."
Aizen looked at Ishikawa and said with appreciation, "The spiritual body's physical strength has dramatically increased. Although it's somewhat different from my choice, it cannot be called a failed path."
The previous intense confrontation with Ishikawa made him deeply experience the benefits brought by the dramatic increase in physical strength, as well as the rules that Shinigami could not possess.
No.
Rather than calling it a rule, it was more like a talent.
A talent unearthed from the body, inscribed upon the body, requiring no Reishi, no activation, no conditions—a talent that the physical body naturally possessed!
Although he couldn't be sure, Aizen vaguely felt that Ishikawa's body might not be as simple as just a spiritual body.
"Thinking back, this should be our third confrontation, shouldn't it?"
Aizen paused, and said seriously, "Each time, you've brought me many surprises, even making me feel an urge to let you go and await our fourth confrontation."
"I look forward to what new surprises you can bring me then."
"But on second thought, I gave up that idea."
Aizen gently shook his head, "Perhaps this isn't your limit yet, but a person is ultimately just a person. No matter how hard you try, that limit is right before you."
With that, he took a deep look at Ishikawa's bare upper body and continued:
"For example, your body, to some extent, has already encountered a barrier that no one can avoid."
Ishikawa's expression remained unchanged, still appearing cold as if devoid of any emotion, but his heart trembled. He was surprised that Aizen could see this point.
But then he didn't feel particularly surprised.
In this world, the two people who had studied the most about the spiritual body's ultimate barrier were Aizen, who was in front of him, and Urahara Kisuke, who had not yet appeared.
And these two, without any discussion or mutual notification, made the same decision by coincidence, and even created completely identical things without knowing each other's intentions.
The only difference was that the Hōgyoku created by Urahara Kisuke was more complete, while the Hōgyoku created by Aizen was slightly inferior.
But when the half-finished Hōgyoku in their hands fused, the resulting Hōgyoku was truly the perfect work they both desired.
This already indicated…
Their ideas for breaking through the spiritual body's ultimate barrier were no different. It was just that Urahara Kisuke ultimately chose to give up and felt apprehension about what he had created.
Ishikawa had thought before that the Hōgyoku continuously forging the host's body and allowing the host to evolve might be to completely fuse with the host, dedicating everything it had to its host.
But just now, Ishikawa suddenly had an idea.
Perhaps the Hōgyoku dedicating everything to its host and completely fusing with the host was just the beginning!
Or rather…
A qualification!
A qualification to devour the Soul King and take his place.
It was probably because he realized the ultimate goal of the Hōgyoku that Urahara Kisuke felt apprehension about the Hōgyoku he had created, and even continuously tried to destroy it.
The Soul King is the wedge; losing the wedge would lead to collapse!
But Aizen didn't care about that.
The world countless years ago was originally a world without life or death, neither progress nor regression. Even becoming a Hollow was part of the Reishi cycle.
But Hollows gradually began to devour humans, and from then on, the cycle completely stopped. If this continued, all souls would eventually become one giant Menos Grande, and the world would fall into complete stasis. At this time, the Soul King was born, using Quincy power to destroy Hollows, allowing the world to restart its cycle.
However, the ancestors of the Five Great Noble Families, including the Shiba, did not approve of such a world. Their motives varied, but incredibly, they converged on the same goal—the separation of the Three Realms. To achieve this goal, they needed the Soul King's power.
However, when the ancestor of Shiba attempted to persuade the Soul King, the ancestor of Tsunayashiro took the opportunity to ambush the Soul King, sealing him within a crystal.
The Soul King, having seen certain futures, did not resist but chose self-sacrifice.
The five ancestors used the Soul King's omnipotent power as a wedge to separate this chaotic world.
The world of Reishi, the world of matter, and the desert paradise reached by the Hollows born from these two worlds—that is the current Three Realms.
That is to say…
Even if the Three Realms collapsed and returned to the chaotic world of countless years ago, it would not affect Aizen, who would become the Soul King, even if countless people would disappear as a result.
That being said, he had no intention of letting the Three Realms return to such a stable world; that was the idea of another person in Ishikawa's memory.
What Aizen wanted was only to change the status quo, not to destroy it.
To change it so that he would lead the cycle, he would change everything, he would become that god!
As the saying goes…
The victor focuses on what the world should be like, not what its nature is.
Ishikawa once said that in his heart, Urahara Kisuke and Aizen were not very different.
The reason they went their separate ways was simply because one wanted to maintain the status quo, and the other wanted to change it, nothing more!
As for Ishikawa, whether it was maintaining the status quo or changing it, if it were before, he actually wouldn't have cared.
As long as he survived, that was fine.
But now…
Ishikawa was more inclined to maintain the status quo.
"Hoo~"
Exhaling lightly, Ishikawa looked at Kokumei in his hand. He couldn't eliminate Aizen; he had already known this result from the brief analysis in the protective barrier.
But…
After the previous fierce battle, he was not without gains.
Because just as Aizen was studying Ishikawa and exploring the possibilities of Ishikawa's evolution, Ishikawa also did not stop analyzing Aizen's current level of evolution.
Accompanying this breath, Kokumei in Ishikawa's hand trembled slightly. The white ribbon connected to the hilt seemed to gain consciousness, suddenly twisting like a swimming snake, wrapping around Ishikawa's sword-wielding right hand.
"Hm?"
Aizen seemed to sense something, his gaze suddenly shifting from Ishikawa's body to his sword-wielding right hand, a look of surprise actually appearing in his eyes.
Because as he looked, the white ribbon completely wrapped around Ishikawa's palm, looking as if he was wearing a white glove, except this wrapping completely covered Ishikawa's right hand and the hilt.
At a glance, Ishikawa's sword-wielding right hand seemed to be completely integrated with the Zanpakuto.
Even Ishikawa's aura and the Zanpakuto's aura were gradually merging, slowly becoming one.
Ishikawa's purple pupils flickered, and the Zanpakuto in Ishikawa's hand changed with his pupils, as if trying to synchronize with Ishikawa.
Aizen's surprise grew even stronger, because Ishikawa's current state was incredibly familiar to him; he had even experienced something similar before.
Fusion!
Ishikawa was currently fusing with his Zanpakuto.
How exactly did he do it?
One must know that Aizen himself only succeeded in evolving to this stage through the Hōgyoku, yet Ishikawa reached this point after a brief battle with him.
Hm?
No!
Aizen looked at the Zanpakuto in Ishikawa's hand, recalling the previously deduced ability of Ishikawa's Bankai, and vaguely realized something.
It wasn't Ishikawa fusing with the Zanpakuto, but rather the Zanpakuto's inherent analysis ability, during the battle with him, analyzing his current evolution. By reverse-engineering his situation, it was like the Hōgyoku, autonomously initiating fusion with its host.
The initiator was the blade, not the person!
In short.
Ishikawa's current state could be described in one sentence:
He was crossing the river by feeling Aizen's stones!
Aizen, however, didn't know that this wasn't the first time Ishikawa had crossed the river by feeling his stones, so…
To some extent, it could be considered quite skillful.
From the very beginning of the battle, Ishikawa's analysis of Aizen was not to eliminate or seal him, because the brief analysis in the protective barrier had already yielded a result.
Therefore, Ishikawa's analysis focused on analyzing Aizen's state of fusion with his Zanpakuto, in order to replicate it on himself using Kokumei's ability.
Buzz—
A strange fluctuation spread out centered on Ishikawa. The traces of the white ribbon wrapped around his right hand completely disappeared at this moment.
The white hilt, the sword-wielding hand, and the ribbon perfectly fused together at this moment.
Clap, clap, clap, clap…
A round of applause came. Aizen looked at Ishikawa's right arm, which was completely fused with the blade, a never-before-seen light appearing in his eyes.
"Using the blade to initiate fusion, while it has the suspicion of being a trick, I have to admit…"
Light bloomed from the six crystal-like wings on Aizen's back. The milky-white solid Reishi on his body gradually began to change. The milky-white solid Reishi on his chest was replaced by a deep, purple, cosmic-like void, and in the center of the cosmos, a crystal appeared, which was precisely the Hōgyoku.
After the crystal appeared, it began to extend upwards, downwards, left, and right, forming a cross-like substance on his chest.
"The current you truly makes me feel threatened."
As his words fell, Aizen's faint, fearless aura around him surged to its peak at this moment.
Even the atmosphere began to tremble under this aura, distorting with his every movement.
Just then, Aizen moved, taking a step towards Ishikawa.
Crack~
A sound like shattering glass echoed. Aizen himself transformed into a purple light, disappearing from his original spot the moment his foot landed.
A hint of solemnity flashed in Ishikawa's eyes. The gray blade, fused with his right hand, suddenly slashed towards the empty space in front of him.
The next second.
The descending gray blade suddenly froze, held by a hand, unable to advance an inch.
With the appearance of the hand, Aizen's figure gradually emerged before Ishikawa, as if he had been standing there all along.
Ishikawa tried to pull out Kokumei, but no matter how hard he tried, Kokumei remained motionless, as if clamped by iron tongs.
Aizen pressed down on Kokumei with his hand, pushing the blade down, and closed in on Ishikawa:
"Unfortunately, the fusion of the arm and the Zanpakuto is only the initial stage. True fusion is not led by the blade, but by the person, allowing the Zanpakuto, born from the soul, to return to its essence."
Aizen looked at Ishikawa's face, which seemed devoid of any emotion and was completely unmoved by the current situation, and shook his head slightly:
"You are merely completely surrendering yourself to the Zanpakuto, letting the Zanpakuto control everything about you. This can't even be called preliminary fusion."
Buzz—
Ishikawa didn't speak, because Aizen was right.
His current situation was one where he completely gave up resisting the Zanpakuto's influence, no longer controlling the Zanpakuto, but letting it unleash its abilities completely. This situation was basically similar to Ichigo in his memories, when he lost consciousness and transformed into a Bull-headed Hollow after being on the verge of death.
The only difference was that he was currently conscious.
Completely letting go of self-control.
His consciousness was clear, and his memories were vivid, but everything had turned into dust, neither people nor objects, life nor death, could cause him the slightest emotional fluctuation.
Only in this state could he achieve fusion with his Zanpakuto.
Getting back to the point.
After realizing that Kokumei could not be pulled out, Ishikawa's purple pupils flashed, and the gray blade, clamped by Aizen, immediately dispersed into Reishi.
Ishikawa tapped his toes in the void, and his entire body shot backward.
However, as soon as he retreated, Ishikawa noticed something was wrong. The void around him at that moment seemed to turn into a cosmos, filled with purple stars.
Buzz~!
If one looked down from the sky, they would find that the dark purple cosmos around Ishikawa was in the shape of a five-petaled flower, covering most of Karakura Town.
And at each corner of the petals, there was a deep void like a black hole.
Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz—
Inside the deep black holes, arms stretched out, reaching towards Ishikawa in the center.
Before the arms even arrived, Ishikawa already felt a terrifying pulling sensation from all directions, as if he was about to be torn apart.
Ishikawa's expression remained unchanged at the sight, but a purplish-black light bloomed from his body at that moment.
The moment this light appeared, the void around him became incredibly distorted, and the entire world seemed to fall into darkness. At the same time, a terrifyingly sharp aura descended.
"Oh?"
Aizen's surprised voice came:
"To fuse Kurohitsugi into your body, making yourself the Kurohitsugi, that's truly a crazy way to use it."