"Don't get excited, don't get excited!" Rukia's intense reaction instead startled Ichigo!
Ichigo continued, "I'm indeed still fighting up there, but contacting you now is because I need a little bit of help."
"What help? If I can help, I'll do it immediately!" Hearing that Ichigo needed assistance, Rukia did not hesitate at all.
"Nothing much. I just want everyone in the Seireitei to immediately use all of their Reiatsu to fire Kido toward the sky as much as possible. Is that okay?" Ichigo stated his request.
"Alright!" Without caring how strange the request sounded, Rukia agreed right away.
Only afterward did she ask in confusion, "But what's the use of firing Kido toward the sky?"
"Uh…" Faced with Rukia's question, Ichigo did not know how to explain it for a moment.
So Ichigo threw out a joking explanation.
"All Earthlings, please lend me your energy'?'!"
"Energy… lend?" Listening to Ichigo's answer, Rukia was momentarily stunned.
But she quickly reacted. "Is it hard to explain? Alright, I understand. I'll go do it right away!"
By now, Rukia was already used to Ichigo occasionally saying strange things.
At the same time, she also had her own way of interpreting Ichigo's words.
"Energy, lend? Does that mean he needs our Reishi?"
Thinking this, Rukia walked out of the room.
"Bakudo #77, Tenteikura!!
"Attention all Captains, Lieutenants, Seated Officers, and Shinigami. There is another request for assistance from Kurosaki Ichigo. Please, everyone..."
Rukia's calm voice echoed out.
And then, in the sky, Ichigo's half-closed eyes opened.
Noticing that his consciousness had returned, Aizen's spirit lifted, and he prepared his defenses!
During the brief period when Ichigo was gone, he had also made preparations, continuously enhancing the surface defense of his body using the Hogyoku.
The current Aizen was confident that even Ryujin Jakka could not cut through his defense!
The unease in his heart gradually subsided!
But at that moment, Ichigo's voice rang out again.
"Oh? Is that so? You're that confident in your own defense?"
Hearing this, Aizen's gaze sharpened. He did not know how Ichigo had seen through his thoughts!
"It's very simple. Your thoughts are written all over your face!" Ichigo said. "This doesn't seem like you, Aizen."
As he spoke, Ichigo's tone carried a hint of teasing. "Am I putting that much pressure on you? Enough to make Aizen, who always hides his emotions, end up like this!"
"!" Ichigo's words made Aizen's expression drastically change!
But even now, while being fierce on the outside yet weak on the inside, he only let out an irritated cold snort and acknowledged his fear.
Still, Aizen was Aizen. Taking one step back meant he could immediately take one step forward.
"So what if that's the case? Acknowledge fear, overcome fear. Isn't that how humans move forward?"
"What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!"
"Kurosaki Ichigo, your Bankai doesn't seem to be doing much. Since that's the case, I'll go first!"
Aizen raised Kyoka Suigetsu, which had already completely fused into his body.
At the tip of the blade, an energy began to gather, similar to a Cero, yet more advanced than a Cero and even the previously used Fragor!
"This strike will pierce straight through your head!" Aizen said.
"Is that so?" Ichigo was completely unconcerned. "Too bad. I still want to let the bullet fly a little longer."
"Never mind. It's already flown here!"
"Flown here?" Aizen was startled. Then, with his extremely powerful Reikaku, he also sensed the disturbance coming from the Seireitei.
At the same time:
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams..."
"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm…"
"Carve a double lotus upon the wall of blue flames, and wait in the distant heavens for the abyss…"
"Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration…"
An overwhelming chorus of Kido incantations echoed throughout the Seireitei!
Just hearing these chants, the scene of numerous students lined up in the Kido class at the Shin'o Academy chanting Kido surfaced in Aizen's mind.
Subconsciously, he wanted to reveal a gentle smile, but it was immediately suppressed.
Aizen looked at Ichigo in confusion. "You gathered a group of Shinigami down there to chant Kido. What are you trying to do? Don't tell me those Kido can actually attack me?"
"It's useless, Kurosaki Ichigo. At my current level, sheer quantity no longer has any effect!"
"Even if I stood still and let all the Shinigami bombard me with Kido, not even the corner of my clothes would be disturbed!"
"Is that so?" Hearing Aizen's words, Ichigo's expression did not change.
"The combined power of all the Shinigami indeed can't do anything to you!"
"But what if, among them, there is a guide?"
"Aizen, you who have always looked down on ordinary Shinigami and regarded the masses as nothing… now witness the power that comes from ordinary people!"
As Ichigo spoke, his Reikaku expanded completely!
On the ground, facing the sky, Rukia finished her chant!
"Hado #33, Sokatsui!"
Her favorite, and most proficient, Hado was unleashed!
A pillar of azure flames shot toward the sky, carrying an unstoppable momentum!
But Rukia knew her own limits well.
The maximum range of her Sokatsui was only fifty meters. Beyond that, it would disperse.
'Was what Ichigo said about lending him energy really the meaning I had understood?'
Rukia's eyes looked up toward the sky.
There, the Sokatsui was about to reach the end of its range!
And under the influence of gravity, this time the end of Rukia's Sokatsui was coming even sooner!
Visible to the naked eye, the very front of the Sokatsui began to disperse!
"Now, Ichigo!" Rukia widened her eyes!
And just as she hoped, a faint, soft chuckle sounded beside her ear.
Then, as if Ichigo had arrived right in front of her, a voice came through. "Thanks for the support!!"
Then, under Rukia's gaze, as the tail end of the Sokatsui began to disperse, it did not fall downward!
Instead, the Sokatsui that had already reached its limit seemed to receive guidance from a new power. The dispersing Reishi began to rise toward the sky!
Just like a replay of the scene when Ichigo gathered power in his Vollstandig before!