The Pomade Hand
How could Toshiro Hitsugaya Bankai? Aizen Aizen glared at him, Toshiro suddenly felt as if he were enveloped by something invisible, unable to advance an inch further.
"Aizen!!!" Unable to move, Toshiro could only cough up blood in a fit of impotent rage. The more he exerted his spiritual pressure, the more severe his injuries became.
"Captain Hitsugaya, wait until you've secured your position as the strongest Ice Style Zanpakuto before you start arguing." Aizen's gaze towards Toshiro was full of disdain. "A mere, incomplete Zanpakuto..."
Aizen didn't explain much. As his words fell, the space around Toshiro shattered into several mirror-like surfaces. With each shattered surface, several more wounds appeared on Toshiro's seemingly intact body. Toshiro and Hyōrinmaru fell to the ground together, unable to get up again.
Aizen dispelled the Illusion, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Yoruichi, and Urahara realized that they had been deceived by Aizen again. However, the power of Kyoka Suigetsu made them wary and they dared not act rashly again.
"Aizen! Hand over the Hogyoku! We can let you leave!" Hirako suddenly said to Aizen.
Everyone looked in the direction of Hirako and the others, and saw that the Visored had captured Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen. Gin Ichimaru had two swords held to his neck, while Kaname Tōsen in a worse state, lying on the ground with each of his limbs guarded by a Vice-Captain, ready to prevent him from going berserk at any moment.
Because of the existence of Kyoka Suigetsu, the only ones who can currently attack Aizen are the Ryoka and the Visored. This is a private matter of Soul Society, and the Ryoka will not intervene, nor are they strong enough to do so. Visored, unless all eight of them work together, Hirako really has no confidence in dealing with Bankai Aizen.
Once Hirako and the others join forces, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen will inevitably cause trouble under the cover of Kyoka Suigetsu, thus putting Hirako in a dilemma.
Having communicated with Urahara beforehand, Hirako knew just how powerful the Hogyoku was. Although he desperately wanted Aizen to be brought to justice, he couldn't help it. Faced with the safety of the world, Hirako felt he should put aside his personal hatred and take the Hogyoku back from Aizen first.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto glanced at Hirako with surprise. He hadn't expected that Hirako Shinji hadn't been completely blinded by hatred and still had a sense of the big picture. Even though he didn't know what Aizen was holding, he was right to stop Aizen, based on the principle that whatever Aizen wanted should be destroyed.
Aizen laughed, as if he had heard a hilarious joke, and burst into laughter. "What makes you think their lives can be compared to the Hogyoku?"
"Aizen, you..." Hirako was about to question Aizen, this heartless guy, but when he saw Momo Hinamori still lying behind Aizen, Hirako understood that having too much emotion with Aizen would render his Zanjutsu ineffective.
"Hey, aren't you going to try and talk your boss out of this?" Kensei couldn't stand it anymore, and the blade went a little deeper into Gin Ichimaru's neck, blood already trickling down the blade.
"I have no objection. As far as Lord Aizen is concerned, our usefulness ends here," Gin Ichimaru said with his usual sly smile.
As for Kaname Tōsen, he was even simpler, completely ignoring the provocations of the Visored, as if he had already given up on his life.
"Hirako Shinji, I have a request." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's words broke the brief silence.
All the Visored stared in astonishment at Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. "Request"—these two words actually came from this old-fashioned man? It was truly an eye-opener.
"Ahem, Genryūsai, please speak." Hirako unconsciously used honorifics.
"You can see Sosuke Aizen's true form, right? Tell me his location. I'll take him down in three moves!"
His short words were filled with boundless killing intent. Three moves were also a limit that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto for himself. In order to minimize the damage to Soul Society, he had to defeat Aizen within three moves.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was naturally aware of Aizen's plans, but Aizen intended to let Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto succeed, as he still had a great use for him in Soul Society.
Aizen raised his head and silently broke a device. A black rift suddenly appeared in the sky above Sogyoku Hill. The rift gradually opened, resembling a sawtooth pattern, creating a Garganta. Aizen opened Garganta in Soul Society that connected to Hueco Mundo.
The next moment, dozens of Gillian faces crowded into the Garganta, as if they were attracted by something, and they desperately tried to squeeze out of the Garganta.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's hand, gripping Ryūjin Jakka, trembled. Rebellion, Hollowfication, and now even the invasion of Soul Society —Gillian Sosuke Aizen was provoking Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's bottom line time and time again. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto drew his sword at Aizen.
Matsuaki, Ryūjin Jakka's sword-drawing technique, a towering fiery tornado envelops Aizen, only dissipating when the enemy is burned to ashes or there is nothing left to burn.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had already decided to kill Aizen first. As for the consequences of these Gillian invading Soul Society, he would leave that to the other Bleach in Seireitei. The pine torch was a technique Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto used to trap Aizen.
"Hirako Shinji, get ready..." Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto reminded him. The flames on Ryūjin Jakka were gradually decreasing, as if they were being absorbed into the blade, the flames were receding.
However, the torch that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had placed such high hopes on disappeared after only circling twice, and the place where the torch had been was already beyond burning.
After the flames dispersed, a Aizen of yellow, transparent light appeared, with the other end of the beam connecting to the Garganta, seemingly a passage leading to Aizen.
Not only Aizen, but also Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen saw the same beam of light. As soon as the beam appeared, it forced the Visored that were controlling them out of the beam's range. Kensei tried to finish off Gin Ichimaru with a punch, only to find that his fist passed right through Gin Ichimaru's body and missed completely.
"Anti-Membrane."
Urahara immediately recognized the origin of the beam of light. Aizen's Garganta was not meant to lure the Gillian to attack Soul Society, but rather to guide them to escape from Soul Society.
The Anti-Membrane is Gillian to save their kind. The inside and outside of the light are isolated worlds. In other words, being enveloped by the beam is equivalent to being in another space. Therefore, Kensei's attacks cannot reach Gin Ichimaru.
The Anti-Membrane was Aizen's escape route, which is why he didn't care about Hirako's threat. He had already changed the identities of the three of them to be like the Gillian, so that the Gillian could open the Anti-Membrane to escape at the critical moment.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto Ryūjin Jakka, knowing exactly what the Anti-Membrane was. He knew that even if he burned Soul Society to the ground, he wouldn't be able to harm Aizen the slightest when Aizen and the others entered the Anti-Membrane.
The three of them slowly rose in the beam of light; apart from Aizen, the other two looked somewhat disheveled.
Aizen's gaze suddenly sharpened. He removed the glasses that represented his disguise, a mocking smile appearing on his lips. He slicked his hair back with one hand and spoke.
"Farewell, Bleach! From this day forward, I shall stand in the heavens."
When Aizen said this, he glanced at Tsuna. For some reason, he felt uneasy. Was the "support" this man named Sawada Tsunayoshi was talking about the moment he covered up Kyoka Suigetsu? Was it really necessary to explain such a small gesture to him?
"Genryūsai, take the captains and evacuate from Sogyoku Hill. We'll take over here from now on," Hirako Shinji said to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Not only that, he also instructed the other Vice-Captain of the Visored, "Hiyori, you help carry the people out."
"Hirako Shinji, that's Anti-Membrane; once encased, it forms an indestructible, isolated world..."
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto wanted to educate his former subordinate, who lacked theoretical knowledge, but Hirako interrupted him.
"I know! Captain-Commander, you don't think we came to fight this battle unprepared, do you?" Hirako's eyes were fixed on the smug guy.
Hearing Hirako's changed form of address, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto knew that Hirako Shinji was considering the Seireitei. He didn't say much, but after carrying Sasakibe on his back and giving Hirako a deep look, he said to the Visored who were helping him, "I'm counting on you, everyone."
Hiyori and the others were all stunned. The shock they had received today was too great. Could it be that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, who always kept his word, would actually say such a thing?
"Let's go help too," Ichigo said to his friends, having already reached Renji and carried Renji on his back.
The Anti-Membrane Anti-Membrane's ascent speed wasn't particularly fast. Because of its near-invincible escape method, coupled with its slow ascent, Aizen felt a sense of exhilaration, like the king of the sky looking down on everything. That's why he arranged this escape method.
But now, this speed of escape has become a burden. Aizen watched the people evacuating hastily from the foot of Sogyoku Hill, and for some reason, he felt uneasy.
No way, something can go wrong during the Anti-Membrane?
Thinking of this, Aizen's eyes once again turned to Sawada Tsunayoshi. Sawada Tsunayoshi was the only still person amidst all the movement on Sogyoku Hill; he had remained motionless in the same spot the whole time.
Even Hirako and the other three captains of the Visored had changed into a square formation, as if they were waiting for Aizen others to fall down.
Sawada Tsunayoshi, what exactly are you trying to do? Aizen was becoming more and more certain that his unease came from the calm guy below him.
After confirming that all irrelevant personnel had evacuated, Hirako and the others nodded to each other. Getting these people to leave was the best way to ensure that no one would be Tsukikage Kyoka Suigetsu become their enemy. As for the so-called Anti-Membrane, they had already prepared a way to break it.
"Tsuna, please!" Hirako shouted to Tsuna.
Having been familiar with the incident for a long time, how could Tsuna not tell Urahara about Aizen's escape route? Urahara later experimented with many ways to break the Anti-Membrane, and without exception, they all required breaking it from the people inside the Anti-Membrane.
The target of the hack is Sosuke Aizen. It was already difficult enough to use Hirako's blood to Aizen before. To install a reverse hacking device on Aizen without him Aizen is almost impossible.
Just as Urahara's research into cracking the Anti-Membrane was about to hit a bottleneck, Tsuna suggested trying his different types of flames.
The final experimental results were very encouraging; one type of flame effect did indeed achieve their goal: to diffuse and encompass everything in the vast sky.