Because Love was dealing with other matters, he didn't sense Zero's surging Reiatsu at first. It wasn't until Zero released his full power that the red Reiatsu beam that shot straight up the Sekimon became impossible to miss.
Compared to Love, who only sensed it now, the three Captains Kyōraku, Ukitake, and Kuchiki Ginrei sensed that Zero was chasing something much earlier, as well as Yama-jii, who ignored it.
Aizen sensed the three Captains rapidly closing in, which is why he planned to use Kidō to trap Zero before leaving...
After unleashing all his Reiatsu, Aizen's Binding Bakudō was shattered. Zero arrived with Shunpo before Aizen could react, severing Aizen's right leg with a single sword strike. He then grabbed Aizen's head with his left hand and slammed him to the ground.
"Whispering sound!"
Zero curled his lip in disdain, indicating that everything was over. He had already placed the Blood Drink against Aizen's neck and stepped on Aizen's right hand holding the sword with his left foot.
"Let me see who you are... huh???"
Driven by curiosity, Zero slowly pulled off the guy's mask with his left hand, but something happened that Zero couldn't understand: how could this smiling guy be just as handsome as himself?
No, this is actually myself!
"Hey, you bastard, stop pretending to be me and swindling people! Show yourself!"
Zero 1 slapped him hard, showing no mercy even when he was slapping himself.
"We're out of time! Captain Nangong, let's play again next time..."
The imposter, pinned beneath Zero, spoke with a faint smile. Before Zero could reply, a sound of space shattering rang out. Zero was now standing on nothing but a rotten log, which he had smashed to pieces.
"Illusion? Bastard..."
As Ling got up and tried to make a move, he found that he couldn't move at all. Looking down at his waist, he realized that he had been hit by the 'Six-Rod Light Prison'.
This wasn't the end. Then came the 'Chain Binding', followed by a transparent spatial barrier, and finally, six sides appeared, which was the complete manifestation of 'Dankū,' utterly isolating zero within it.
The Black-Clothed Man appeared openly before Zero, then sheathed his sword and vanished in Shunpo. Zero, trapped in the 'Dankū,' could only witness it all; from beginning to end, he never actually touched that bastard.
"Barrier of this strength... was it created after a chant? Judging by the time required for a chant, it must have started at least from when I released the seal. Mind-Type Zanpakuto are disgusting..."
Zero tried to break free by force, but found it wasn't working. He figured out when Aizen had started the triple incantation.
Thirty seconds after Aizen left, Zero forcibly shattered these Bakudō. Although the difference in Reiatsu was great, a fully chanted Bakudō could still cause Zero a lot of trouble, especially the Triple Binding Spell.
After completely disappearing without a trace, Zero did not pursue them. At this moment, Kyōraku and the other two finally arrived at the scene, only to find Zero standing alone, treating the wound on his chest.
"Captain Nangong, how is the situation?"
"As you can see, the opponent escaped, escaped unharmed, and even injured me."
Kyōraku's narrowed eyes had already guessed it, but he was a little unwilling to believe it until Zero admitted it himself.
Ginrei Kuchiki's eyes flickered as he pondered which other upper, middle, or lower-ranking noble families, besides the Five Great Noble Clans who could easily enter the Great Spirit Book Gallery, could possess such an expert.
"So strong that Captain Nangong couldn't stop him... and was even injured."
A few beads of cold sweat instantly appeared on Ukitake's forehead, and he recalled the sparring match that Zero and Kyōraku had had two years ago.
Kyōraku, whose competitive spirit had been ignited, was completely suppressed by Zero from beginning to end. He was outmatched in terms of slashing, Kidō, Shunpo, and Reiatsu. Kyōraku could only rely on his dual-sword skills to maintain his undefeated record against Zero.
Although Kyōraku later conceded defeat, Ukitake could sense that Kyōraku was somewhat unwilling, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't beat Zero, which solidified Nangong Kenpachi's reputation.
As for now, the fact that the opponent was able to escape from Nangong Kenpachi unscathed is hard for Ukitake to accept; it's unbelievable that such a master is hidden within the Seireitei...
"I really don't want to face such a master!"
After a moment of reflection, Kyōraku looked at Zero again and asked, "But judging from Captain Nangong's appearance, the other party must have escaped only because they possess special abilities, right?"
"Yes, Mind-Type Zanpakuto, the same as Kōga Kuchiki's Zanpakuto in prison, but stronger. I was just careless..."
Because Zero seemed indifferent, Kyōraku realized that his opponent was no stronger than Zero, and upon asking, he found out that this was indeed the case.
Then, Second Division Captain Yoruichi Shihōin, arrived first, followed by Love and Kensei. The other Captains, upon realizing that so many people had gathered, went straight to sleep.
The people present extracted the remaining Reiatsu from the battlefield, attempting to track the 'thief' using the Kidō and some kind of Spirit Worm. However, the 'thief' seemed to have been prepared, rendering the tracking ineffective.
In this situation, either the other party is too far away or is no longer in Soul Society, or their Reiatsu is being blocked by the Kidō...
After fleeing far away, Aizen returned to the Squad Barracks panting heavily. His brief exchange with Zero, coupled with the Kidō he used to shield his Reiatsu, had taken a heavy toll on him... If he knew Bankai, he would have used it.
Using Kyōka Suigetsu to deal with someone whose Reiatsu is stronger than your own will consume even more energy, especially if you forcibly turn a 'static' object like wood into a 'moving' person.
Generally speaking, it shouldn't be possible, but Zero thought that Aizen couldn't react and was successfully hypnotized, mistaking the wooden figure for Aizen.
As the seventeenth seat, he had his own dormitory, which allowed him to act so recklessly. When Aizen returned to his dormitory, he pretended not to know anything about these things, and no one came to inform him that there was anything important.
The following day, the Gotei 13 held Captains' Meeting.
Yama-jii simply berated Zero, expressing his dissatisfaction that Zero had failed to capture the thief despite personally taking action. Zero couldn't refute him, as he hadn't expected the thief to be so capable.
The thief Aizen's power is no joke. According to the original timeline, Aizen was indeed judged to be dead on the spot, and then he continued to infiltrate using the ability of Kyōka Suigetsu.
He then continuously consulted various Reishi Arts materials in the Great Spirit Book Gallery, learning Reishi Arts with the intention of creating a weapon even stronger than Zanpakuto.
Then he messed around with things haphazardly, creating something called the Hōgyoku, which he could never get enough of. After that came all sorts of experiments and incidents, big and small.
But as luck would have it, there was a Zero in this timeline who was looking at the moon, which gave him a huge fright. He'll probably need some time to recover before he makes any further moves...
At the meeting, speculation about the thief was limited to the Soul Society, but when Kyōraku suggested, "Could it be Quincy spy?", everyone fell silent.
This situation is terrifying. Zero had reported that Yhwach was still alive before, which had angered Yama-jii.
They couldn't find a way to reach the Quincy's hidden space, so Yama-jii withdrew his forces. He believed that even if those clowns were given another chance... they wouldn't be of any use.
The fact that thieves were spying on the Great Spirit Book Gallery was a serious matter, but it wasn't to the point of requiring full police vigilance, nor was it deliberately investigated.
After all, the population living in Seireitei is quite large, including nobles, noble servants, Soul Reaper, retired Soul Reaper, and so on, totaling hundreds of thousands. How could they possibly investigate everything thoroughly?
Furthermore, the Seireitei is not entirely composed of buildings; it also contains large areas of wasteland and groves, making it extremely easy for someone to hide.
After the meeting, Zero planned to invite Kyōraku, a heavy drinker, for a few drinks, and also try to get information from him about Yama-no- Yama-jii's Bankai. Just then, Seigen, who was looking sullen, happened to pass by, and he was pulled along as well.
There was another uninvited guest, Shiba Kūsei, who was Great Noble, but he had very little Great Noble about him and never put on any airs.
After a few drinks, Zero finally learned the reason for Seigen's sullen mood: his sister's illness had been cured some time ago, but it had relapsed, and she could only stay in Unohana's Fourth Division for treatment again.
However, the Fourth Division is only good at healing injuries, not at treating illnesses. It seems that there is no advanced medical skill in this world. For minor illnesses, one can find someone to take a look, but for unknown and serious illnesses, the soul can only bear it on its own.
This has always been the case, whether it's Great Noble or an ordinary Pluses... Just look at Ukitake, the tuberculosis demon; for so many years, his condition has fluctuated, all because of his lung disease...
Seigen's younger sister Ika, also suffers from lung disease. He lamented, "Even Captain Unohana can't help with something like this..."
"If she's powerless, can't you find a way yourself? Like creating a Healing Kidō or something."
Zero looked at Seigen with a hint of disdain, then raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp. In Zero's view, anything was possible in this world; he just couldn't stand the dejected look on Zheng Seigen's face, who was such a doting brother.
As the Captain, he almost shed tears while drinking... Kyōraku expressed his understanding, as they were the only two remaining members of the fallen noble family, the Shisuna Family. They depended on each other for survival and neither wanted to lose the other.
"That kind of thing isn't something you can just create on a whim. The one who created the Healing Kidō has already become a legend. Captain Nangong, with your strength, if you could create another Healing Kidō, a promotion would be very possible!"
Kongqing took a couple of sips and started slurping loudly. Fortunately, the small private room had already been isolated by a small Kidō barrier to prevent the sound from spreading.
"Promotion? Zero Division? I have no interest in that kind of place. Right now, I just want to defeat Yama-jii and take over as Captain-Commander through sheer strength."
"Then go back and practice for a few hundred more years! When this old man can no longer lift his cane, I'll place my bet on you."
Zero blushed as he revealed his goal, only to be mercilessly slapped in the face by Kyōraku. Kyōraku dared to say that because, in all the events he knew, it seemed that only during the Quincy's attack on Soul Society in nearly two thousand years had Yama-jii used Bankai.
As for the other incidents, there were fewer than five that required Yama-jii's personal intervention. The Kōga incident doesn't count, because Yama-jii was planning to take action himself, but it ended before he could even do so.
It is said that Yama-jii's Bankai can destroy Soul Society. Compared to Zero's Bankai, Kyōraku never thought that any Soul Reaper could defeat Yama-jii.
After much rambling and speculation, Zero finally grasped some of the terrifying aspects of Yama-jii's Bankai, and thus postponed his plan to challenge Yama-jii...
Goodbye, I'm going home.
"Seigen, we have many servants; I can lend you a few so they can take care of things for you."
"Thank you, Captain Kongqing, but I won't trouble your family."
As the party was ending, Seigen said he had to go home to take care of his younger sister. He declined Shiba Kūsei's Seigen an Apothecary, Zero suddenly appeared behind him.
"Thinking back, your sister once looked after me! You don't mind if I go visit her, do you?"
Ling glanced at the herbs and realized that the traditional Chinese medicine techniques used there were from a bygone era; they were very outdated.
"Whatever you like... Boss, please prepare two more doses of the medicine."
Distracted, Seigen gave a perfunctory reply and then began buying those strange herbs.
With these conditions, it's probably only enough to cure a cough or a cold! I absolutely refuse to believe that a few herbs can cure Ika's relapsed lung disease.