"Then, prepare yourself, Ichigo!"
"Otherwise, with the next move, you will die!"
Facing Kyoya's warning, Ichigo naturally didn't dare take it as a joke.
Immediately, Ichigo extended the Zanpakuto in both hands forward, his Reiatsu surging up.
"Bankai—"
Boom!
The white Reiatsu on Ichigo's body turned black. His Shihakusho also changed from the loose sleeping robe mode into a slim-fitting long robe.
Additionally, the short sword in Ichigo's left hand transformed into black-red Reiatsu, covering Ichigo's face, forming a Hollow mask.
The top left corner of this mask had a demon horn resembling a bull's horn. The mask itself was mainly white, with two black lines vertically descending from the eyelids, looking like black paint applied on the mask.
Boom!
Enormous Reiatsu erupted from Ichigo's body. Outside the barrier, Orihime, Tatsuki, and the others, upon seeing Ichigo's new form, were all startled and took several steps back.
"K-Kurosaki-kun?"
"This... is Ichigo?"
If they hadn't seen Ichigo transform with their own eyes, they would never have believed this terrifying existence was the childhood friend they knew.
"So strong, Ichigo!"
Although Chad didn't step back, cold sweat couldn't help but bead on his forehead.
As for Uryu, watching Ichigo's current form, the figure of his father, Ishida Ryuken, flashed in his mind again, along with what he had said.
"Uryu, I don't want to be a Quincy because I have no interest in it."
"But you… you have no talent!"
"Talent?"
Facing his father, Uryu could still be stubborn, saying that through hard training, he would surely surpass Ryuken in the future.
But seeing Ichigo, who in just a few months under his eyes went from an ordinary person to this level, Uryu truly understood for the first time what talent was, what a gap was.
This was a level he could never reach no matter how hard he tried.
'Was this the so-called gap in 'talent'?'
"Tensa Zangetsu!"
"Not bad."
Seeing Ichigo's current form, Kyoya nodded slightly.
As he expected, Ichigo's dual-sword Bankai was Bankai + Hollowfication.
In this form, Ichigo's own Reiatsu had already surpassed the Shinigami's limit, ascending to a higher level.
A level only a handful of individuals in the Bleach World could attain.
And undoubtedly, every powerhouse who reached this realm left their mark in the Soul Society's history.
The servant who served the Soul King, bestowed the title [Monk Who Calls the True Name], Hyosube Ichibe'e.
The son of the Soul King, born from the Soul King's Quincy power… the progenitor of the Quincies, Yhwach.
The former king of Hueco Mundo, the Vasto Lorde who single-handedly fought his way to the Soul King Palace… Ikomikidomoe.
And, the founder of the Seireitei's Gotei 13… Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni!
Undoubtedly, now Ichigo was added to that list!
"Then, I'm coming!"
Seeing Ichigo was prepared, Kyoya stepped forward, seemingly slow but actually fast, instantly appearing in front of Ichigo. The Zanpakuto in his hand slashed down at Ichigo.
Boom!
Ichigo raised his sword to block. The clash of their Zanpakuto directly shattered the barrier set up by Kisuke and Tessai.
"Bakudo #81, Danku!"
"Bakudo #81, Danku!"
"Bakudo #81, Danku!"
"Santen Kesshun, I reject!"
In that instant, the expressions of Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai changed drastically. They immediately cast the #81 defensive Kido, Danku, releasing three pale yellow light screens in front of everyone.
Even Inoue released her defensive ability.
Bang...
Bang...
Bang...
After destroying the barrier, the aftershocks of Kyoya and Ichigo's battle directly broke through the Danku released by Kisuke and the other two one after another, finally being blocked by Orihime's Santen Kesshun.
Although Danku's defensive power was strong.
However, this was only the incantation-less version released by Kisuke and the others, so its true defensive power was less than one-third of the complete Danku.
When the dust settled, everyone saw Ichigo in the air, holding the Zanpakuto in both hands, in a stalemate with Kyoya.
"Ichigo... blocked it?"
Seeing this, the pupils of Kisuke and the others contracted sharply.
Earlier, Kyoya had said he would use attacks equivalent to Aizen's power after fusing with the Hogyoku to attack Ichigo.
Now that Ichigo blocked Kyoya's attack, did this mean the current Ichigo possessed the ability to fight Aizen after his fusion with the Hogyoku?
However, their joyful mood didn't last long before being broken by Kyoya's voice.
"Not bad, Ichigo."
"The attack I just used was from Aizen's first evolution after fusing with the Hogyoku."
"The next attack is from Aizen's second evolution—"
Kyoya's judgment of Aizen's strength: the first stage was after complete fusion with the Hogyoku, instantly defeating multiple Captains.
The second stage was when Aizen's entire body was encased in a Hollow shell, easily defeating Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Isshin.
"Be careful!"
Boom—
This time, Ichigo couldn't block Kyoya's attack and was directly forced back.
"So strong!"
Ichigo's pupils couldn't help but tremble.
After using Bankai and Hollowfication, Ichigo thought there was no enemy in this world he couldn't withstand.
But just this one attack from Kyoya made Ichigo feel strained.
"Ichigo, next is Aizen's third evolution!"
Raising his Zanpakuto high, Kyoya slashed down at Ichigo—
Boom!
With this move, Ichigo was directly slashed down from the air, smashing into the ground, creating a large crater.
The third-stage Aizen was the one who, after being sneak-attacked by Gin and nearly killed, broke out of his cocoon in fear, transforming. His strength was far beyond his previous two forms.
As soon as Ichigo got up from the deep crater, Kyoya had already appeared in front of him again. The Zanpakuto in his hand slashed down at him once more—
Boom!
The ground churned. The aftershocks of Kyoya and Ichigo's battle spread outwards from the two as the center, expanding the area of Kisuke's underground training ground even more.
Even the sky dome set up by Urahara Kisuke showed crack after crack under the battle aftershocks of Kyoya and Ichigo.
Looking up from the ground, it seemed as if the sky had been damaged by Ichigo and Kyoya's battle, cracked open.
Crackle, crackle crackle crackle...
Ichigo half-knelt on the ground. The Zanpakuto held in both hands trembled wildly under Kyoya's sword.
Even the mask on his face developed cracks. More than half of the mask turned into fragments and dissipated, revealing half of Ichigo's face.
"Too strong..."
Ichigo's mind and spirit were shaken.
He never expected that even after using all his power, in Kyoya's eyes, he still wasn't Aizen's match.
And this was only Aizen's third evolution.
According to what Kyoya said, Aizen after fusing with the Hogyoku could evolve five times.
Moreover, from the three leaps in strength displayed by Kyoya, Ichigo could feel that each evolution of Aizen increased his strength far more than the previous evolution.
For Aizen's first evolution, Ichigo felt he only needed to use Bankai to deal with it.
For the second evolution, with Bankai + Hollowfication, he was slightly at a disadvantage.
For the third evolution, he had almost no ability to fight back!
"Do you feel the gap now, Ichigo?"
With one hand suppressing Ichigo, Kyoya bent his index finger and flicked it lightly against Ichigo's forehead—
Boom!
Crash!
Ichigo was directly flicked away, his body carving a deep groove on the ground as he slid several dozen meters away.
Clang!
When Ichigo's body finally stopped, a Zanpakuto stabbed into the ground beside his neck, its edge resting next to Ichigo's throat.
"How is it?"
"This is Aizen's strength after his third evolution."
"For the fourth evolution, Aizen's Zanpakuto ability will fuse with himself, allowing him to perfectly use his Zanpakuto's ability even without the sword."
"For the fifth evolution, Aizen's Reiatsu will reach an even higher level."
"By then, there will only be two or three people in this world who can surpass Aizen."
Among these three, Ichibe'e counted as one, Yhwach counted as one, and Kyoya counted as one.
The current Ichigo didn't count yet.
"Is it over?"
When the ground's tremors ceased and the dust settled, Kisuke and the others saw Ichigo lying on the ground, and Kyoya's sword seemed to have pierced Ichigo's neck.
"Kurosaki-kun?"
Seeing this, Orihime's face changed drastically, and she immediately ran towards Kyoya and Ichigo.
"Hey, be careful, Orihime!"
Seeing this, Tatsuki quickly followed.
The underground training ground had already been made a mess by Kyoya and Ichigo's battle, uneven and rough.
If one wasn't careful, they might trip while walking, let alone run like Orihime.
As humans, neither Orihime nor Chad had techniques that could instantly boost their speed dramatically.
Chad was fine, as his physical strength was sufficient for him to master the Soru of the Rokushiki.
But as for Orihime...
In such a situation, Orihime running on the uneven ground was very likely to trip.
Sure enough, Orihime hadn't run far before she was tripped by a clump of raised soil, falling forward.
Fortunately, Tatsuki was right behind Orihime. She immediately jumped, catching the falling Orihime, then with a few leaps, landed beside Kyoya and Ichigo.
"Orihime, didn't I tell you to be careful?"
After putting Orihime Inoue down, Tatsuki still couldn't help but complain to her.
"Sorry, Tatsuki..."
Orihime hung her head. She also knew that if this were on a battlefield, her actions would purely be causing trouble for everyone.
"Just be careful next time."
Seeing Orihime like this, Tatsuki couldn't help but sigh, unable to bring herself to criticize her harshly.
"Let's go and see how Ichigo is."
"..."
Hearing Ichigo's name, Orihime immediately revived, quickly pulling Tatsuki forward a few steps.
Only then did Orihime see that Kyoya's Zanpakuto hadn't pierced Ichigo's neck… it was just stuck in the ground beside his neck.
"That's great, Kurosaki-kun is okay."
Although the current Orihime felt she could revive Ichigo even if he had just died, it was still best if Ichigo didn't die.
"Sorry for scaring you, Orihime."
Ichigo had now regained his composure and adjusted his mindset.
Seeing the expressions on Orihime and Tatsuki's faces, he immediately apologized to them.
Swish—
Pulling the Zanpakuto out from the ground and sheathing it at his waist, Kyoya said to Ichigo, "Ichigo, I think you should have felt the gap between yourself and Aizen after his fusion with the Hogyoku."
"Yeah."
Ichigo got up from the ground. The mask on his face dissipated into Reiatsu, and the Zanpakuto also returned to the form of a large two-handed sword.
"Kyoya-sama, can my strength still improve?"
Carrying the Zanpakuto on his back, Ichigo asked Kyoya.
For Aizen to create the Oken, he needed to sacrifice the souls of a hundred thousand people in a Jureichi.
This was something Ichigo couldn't accept.
In Karakura Town were his family, friends, teachers, classmates...
If these people were sacrificed by Aizen, Ichigo didn't know what his future would become.
He wasn't interested in what Aizen wanted to do.
In fact, if this century's Jureichi in the Living World weren't Karakura Town, whether Aizen would sacrifice a hundred thousand souls to create the Oken, Ichigo wasn't sure if he would even care.
Just as Zangetsu-san and the Hollow Zangetsu only wanted to protect him, Ichigo also only wanted to protect the people he cared about and maintain his daily life.
He had no grand ideals, no deep-seated hatred, and no ambitions to rule the world or save it.
He was just an ordinary high school student.
Now, and in the future, it would be the same.
"Hey, what are you thinking, kid?"
Kyoya slapped Ichigo on the back, making him stumble forward a few steps.
"Even I feel my abilities can still improve. How could you possibly not be able to?"
"Huh?"
Hearing Kyoya's words, not only Ichigo, but also Kisuke, Yoruichi, Tessai who had come over, and Shinji who had just come down from the shop above, were all stunned.