Grasping Aizen

Nara Dan nodded.

"So, I still need to trouble you, Aizen-sama."

"You've anticipated this situation too, haven't you?"

"Or perhaps you've been waiting for me—waiting for me to break this deadlock."

"The current stalemate between you and the Hollowfication power inside you requires an external force to shatter the balance."

Aizen didn't deny it either, instead smiling.

"Come, then."

"This state is quite painful."

"We'll cooperate well."

Nara Dan gave a noncommittal shrug, took out the Hōgyoku, and immediately a hazy surge of power rippled forth. Though this power was extremely subtle, to Aizen, who had once merged with the Hōgyoku, it was all too familiar.

Instantly, Aizen's body began to change.

The white Hollowfication substance on his surface churned like boiling water, surging wildly, rapidly covering the other half of his body.

In the blink of an eye, aside from his hair, Aizen's entire body—including his head—was almost completely shrouded in the Hollowfied matter.

At the same time, his Spiritual Pressure swelled and surged, utterly unstable.

"The Reishi here is still too thin."

Nara Dan frowned.

The Reishi in the borderlands of the Soul Society was even sparser than in the Human World. If he waited for Aizen to complete his evolution and heal his injuries, it would take an eternity.

Thinking this, Nara Dan waved a single hand, and a stream of pure Life Essence surged out, plunging straight into Aizen's body.

Instantly, the Spiritual Pressure within Aizen absorbed this high-Rank energy, stabilizing.

The boiling white Hollowfication substance also calmed down.

On the surface of Aizen's body, it formed a smooth layer of white Hollow exoskeleton.

The surface of the white exoskeleton bore lion-shaped markings, like a human curled inside a cocoon.

"Shh."

Without warning, Aizen, who had been lying on the ground, shot upright like a zombie,