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Silence!
Inside the Repentance Palace, Ichigo, who had barely recovered some mobility under Hanatarō's treatment, swallowed hard.
Although he had some understanding of Aizen's power when he faced him earlier, the intensity of the current battle still far exceeded his imagination, making him feel as if he were dreaming.
"Did Ishikawa win?"
Hanatarō glanced at the direction Aizen was sent flying, then looked at Ishikawa, who stood rooted to the spot.
At this moment, Ishikawa's Onmitsukido uniform had completely turned into shredded rags, and even the dark fabric couldn't conceal the bloodstains on it.
But what was strange was...
On the skin exposed by the shredded rags, there were no wounds, as if the blood on his clothes hadn't come from his own body.
Kaido?
But even if he used Kaido while fighting, it shouldn't be possible for his injuries to heal so quickly, right?
As the Seventh Seat of the Fourth Division, although Hanatarō always believed he wasn't worthy of the position, he had some confidence in his ability to assess injuries.
The injuries Ishikawa had sustained since the battle began...
Normally, he would have died countless times over.
Yet, not only was he not dead, but Ishikawa still didn't have a single scratch on him, as if he were immortal!
Hanatarō, however, didn't know that the Ishikawa he saw as immortal had already exhausted his 'immortality.'
Current Experience: 0
The glaring number on the system interface made Ishikawa's eye twitch.
Aizen's final strike had almost split him in two, and under such severe injuries, Ishikawa could only pour all his experience into his physique in one go.
Physique: Top (313749 / 1000000)
Looking at the number after 'Physique,' Ishikawa's expression grew more solemn.
It wasn't that he regretted the experience points; after all, he had already planned to invest them into his physique.
Rather, having no experience points meant that in the upcoming battle, he would have to try his best to avoid vital areas.
As for...
Dodging attacks and avoiding injury.
Fighting Aizen with such an unrealistic idea was tantamount to suicide!
Having made up his mind, the azure halo around Ishikawa's eyes slowly rotated as he stared in the direction Aizen had been sent flying.
Ishikawa couldn't be sure what effect his full-power strike would have.
He was only certain of one thing, and that was...
His punch had, for a fleeting moment, penetrated Aizen's Reiatsu defense and landed squarely on him.
Looking out, all that could be seen was a cloud of smoke billowing from where Aizen had been sent flying.
Although he couldn't see clearly, Ishikawa could vaguely make out a figure slowly standing up within the smoke-shrouded area.
Buzz—
Almost at the moment that figure rose.
Time seemed to freeze!
After a roar...
A soaring Reiatsu tore through the smoke, sweeping tens of thousands of tons of dust into the sky, and the entire area instantly became clear again.
A profound, deep-sea-like pressure appeared out of nowhere, and the immense force caused Ishikawa's body to bend unexpectedly.
Terrifying!
Ishikawa endured the pressure, looking up ahead, only to see Aizen, who had risen, no longer wearing that relaxed smile. Instead, his face was grim and filled with killing intent.
And the glasses he had worn since the start of the battle, their lenses had shattered into countless fragments. As Aizen stood up, the frames also broke into several pieces, sliding down his face.
Clatter, clatter, clatter—
The sound of the glasses falling wasn't loud, but it was incredibly clear in the silent environment.
After Aizen stood up, he didn't move but slowly raised his hand and wiped the side of his face with his thumb.
Where he wiped, a trace of crimson slowly seeped out.
As his thumb wiped across it, that trace of crimson immediately vanished, as if everything had just been an illusion.
Just a graze?
Upon seeing this, Ishikawa's expression was somewhat grim, but he wasn't surprised.
Although his punch had breached Aizen's Reiatsu defense, the power carried by that punch had almost been completely expended in the process of penetrating the Reiatsu defense.
It could be said...
The damage was minimal, but for Aizen, who had never truly considered Ishikawa an opponent, the insult was extreme!
Thinking of this, Ishikawa's nerves instantly tensed.
The lightning and flames that had previously subsided around him surged forth again.
Although he no longer had experience points to protect him, the increase in his physique had significantly improved Ishikawa's tolerance for his current state. Short-term use would no longer place too much burden on his body.
Almost as soon as he finished his preparations, a sudden premonition of danger arose in Ishikawa's mind without warning.
Ishikawa, fully on guard, reacted with almost instinctive speed.
Like a cunning rabbit, he lowered his body and retreated.
As he retreated, Ishikawa clapped his hands together in front of him and quickly shouted:
"Bakudo #39: Enkosen!"
"Bakudo #81: Danku!"
A golden barrier and a transparent wall appeared almost simultaneously in front of Ishikawa.
But...
Bang! Bang!
After two successive crisp sounds, the two barriers shattered in less than a second after appearing.
A sword tip directly penetrated the barriers, aiming for Ishikawa's neck.
The sword tip came too fast; even with Ishikawa's full-force retreat, he seemed to be treading water in front of the attacking sword tip, and in an instant.
Seeing this, Ishikawa gritted his teeth slightly.
He stomped one foot on the ground, not retreating but advancing, twisting his body to actively meet the sword tip!
Pfft—
Blood splattered, and the sword tip instantly broke through Ishikawa's Reiatsu defense, piercing his top-tier physique.
Fortunately, when Ishikawa met the sword tip, he forcefully distorted his body in an instant with the momentum of the impact, avoiding a vital spot, allowing the sword to pierce his shoulder.
Although he avoided a vital spot, the Reiatsu carried by this sword wantonly destroyed Ishikawa's internal organs.
Ishikawa felt as if his internal organs were being shredded at that moment, and he opened his mouth, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Ignoring his internal state, a ruthless glint flashed in Ishikawa's calm eyes. He used the gap in his left shoulder bone to firmly trap Kyōka Suigetsu's blade, and his left hand also reached out, gripping the blade.
Almost simultaneously.
Ishikawa's right hand rose, his palm cupped, and faintly, airflow formed within his palm!
Although the blade was destroyed, just as Ishikawa had once predicted, once he reforged his Zanpakuto, the Asauchi form was no longer necessary for him.
Even if it was destroyed, it still required Reiatsu and time to reform, but having no physical form didn't mean it couldn't be used.
Ishikawa looked at the expressionless Aizen in front of him, a grin spreading across his face, revealing teeth stained red with blood.
Almost at the same time he raised his right hand, the dark blade fragments, which had been scattered across the battlefield due to being destroyed, gathered like bullets into Ishikawa's raised palm.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
In the blink of an eye, the fragments formed a broken blade in Ishikawa's right hand.
The lightning and flames around Ishikawa surged wildly into the broken blade, like a bursting dam.
Boom~
The instant the broken blade struck down, it exploded with a roar. The shattered blade fragments, already in pieces, completely vanished at this moment!
A violent impact immediately erupted between Ishikawa and Aizen, and the deafening explosion echoed above the Repentance Palace, lingering for a long time.
Previously, the Zanpakuto shattered due to Aizen's attack.
But this time...
It was Ishikawa who poured all the energy in his body—Reiatsu, lightning, flames—into the broken blade, forcibly expanding it until it burst!
Rumble—
The fierce wind raged. Although he didn't know if this self-destructive attack, which indiscriminately affected friend and foe, could harm Aizen, Ishikawa was inevitably caught in it.
The instant Ishikawa detonated the broken blade, he was sent flying like a kicked ball, finally crashing heavily into the Repentance Palace, causing the massive structure to tremble.
At this moment, he had completely turned into a bloodied man, his body covered in wounds as dense as scales.
The severity of his injuries even caused the Reiatsu Imprint within Ishikawa's body to dim at this moment, unable to absorb Reishi from the atmosphere to replenish his internal consumption.
Powerless, empty...
His body severely injured, his internal Reiatsu completely depleted.
Thump~
With a muffled thud, Ishikawa's body tilted forward, and he collapsed face down in front of the Repentance Palace.
Limit!
He couldn't even move a single finger, and waves of dizziness continuously assailed Ishikawa at this moment.
Can't faint—
Ishikawa called out in his mind, forcing his eyes open, and his vision was a blurry mess.
Vaguely, he could see Aizen still standing in place.
His upper shinigami uniform had several sword slashes, and his medium-length hair fell down, making him look somewhat disheveled.
But...
It still hadn't caused him any actual damage.
The gap was still too wide!
"Has your inexplicable recovery ability reached its limit?"
Aizen stood in place, not angered by his disheveled appearance. Under Ishikawa's suicidal attack, he had instead regained his previous composure.
He wasn't surprised that Ishikawa hadn't continued to recover from his injuries.
If Ishikawa could truly constantly self-heal his injuries, even those to vital areas, it would almost be equivalent to immortality.
He didn't believe that the current Ishikawa possessed such an ability!
Whoosh, whoosh—
Just then, two figures appeared almost simultaneously in front of Ishikawa, shielding him behind them.
These two figures were Yoruichi and Soi Fon.
They didn't rashly launch an attack, but instead formed a protective barrier with their Reiatsu, completely sealing off the area around Ishikawa.
Neither Yoruichi nor Soi Fon could be certain whether the Aizen in their sight was truly standing there.
All they could do was protect Ishikawa in this manner.
"Although there are still many questions unanswered."
Aizen straightened his clothes, ran a hand over his head, combing his hair back, with a lock of hair falling onto his forehead, his entire demeanor instantly changing.
And just then, two completely bandage-formed spheres suddenly appeared beside him.
"My apologies, Captain Aizen."
Ichimaru Gin's voice came from one of the spheres: "The two of us simply can't stall any longer."
As he spoke, the bandages on the two spheres fluttered, revealing Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tōsen within.
"No matter."
Aizen replied casually.
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, accompanied by a gentle breeze, figures appeared silently in front of the Repentance Palace.
Commander Yamamoto, Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake, Tōshirō Hitsugaya...
All the captains who had been trapped in the Central 46 were now present, looking coldly at Aizen and the two others.
"On the eve of our departure, to have so many familiar faces come to see us off is not necessarily a bad thing."
Kuchiki Byakuya glanced at Ishikawa, who was being protected by Soi Fon and Yoruichi, then looked at Kuchiki Rukia inside the Repentance Palace. After confirming she was unharmed, he withdrew his gaze.
Then...
"Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Pink flower petals soared into the sky, a sight that caused a look of surprise to appear on the faces of the captains around Kuchiki Byakuya.
Commander Yamamoto frowned but did not speak to stop him.
"Handsome, did you see that?"
Kyōraku Shunsui patted Ukitake beside him, whispering, "He really does care about his adopted sister, doesn't he?"
Ukitake didn't speak. Since arriving here, he had been trying to deduce the battle that had taken place from the surrounding environment.
From the time they were trapped in the Central 46 until now, it had probably been less than 10 minutes.
Because the ten-layered barrier outside the Central 46 had anti-peeping functions, they had no idea what exactly had happened.
It wasn't until Commander Yamamoto arrived outside the Central 46 and broke through the barrier that they suddenly sensed Aizen's Reiatsu.
However, the intensity of his Reiatsu was completely different from what they remembered.
And from the traces on the scene, the battle here must have been incredibly fierce.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Accompanied by a series of whooshing sounds, figures continuously appeared in front of the Repentance Palace. These were mostly Vice-Captains scattered throughout the Seireitei.
As for why it was 'mostly'...
It was because among these Vice-Captains, there were also the Eleventh Division's Third Seat, Ikkaku Madarame, and the Eleventh Division's Fifth Seat, Ayasegawa Yumichika.
Unlike the captains, these Vice-Captains had rushed from the headquarters located in the northern part of the Central 46, which was very far from the Repentance Palace.
As for why these people had gathered at headquarters, it was because of Ishikawa.
Before leaving, Ishikawa had instructed Hisagi to call for backup.
After some hesitation, Hisagi immediately sent out a distress signal, then went to District 1 to report. However, upon arriving there, he discovered that...
Almost all the captains were missing!
The only two captains whose whereabouts could be confirmed were the severely injured Captain Zaraki and Captain Mayuri.
All the Vice-Captains had gathered at headquarters, originally intending to report on the captains' disappearance, but then they discovered that Commander Yamamoto was also missing...
When they felt the fluctuations of battle coming from the direction of the Repentance Palace, all the Vice-Captains headed there together.
However, the Repentance Palace was located in the southern part of the Central 46, which was extremely far from the General Headquarters, and actually closer to the Sixth Division, also in the south. Therefore, these individuals arrived later than the captains.
Getting back to the main topic.
On the other side, a sea of cherry blossoms, like a tsunami, engulfed Aizen and the two others.
The other captains also prepared for battle at this moment.
However...
All of this was no longer relevant to Ishikawa.
Gazing at the vast ocean of cherry blossoms and the assembled captains, Ishikawa's tightly strung nerves finally relaxed.
His vision went black, and he directly fainted.
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