Noah's Ark was extremely fast, moving almost entirely under its own power. It was far more convenient than Shin carrying Aizen himself.
The figures behind them had long vanished from sight. Shin turned to Aizen and chuckled. "Looks like your injuries are serious. You still haven't recovered after all this time."
Aizen sat atop Noah's Ark, half his body completely gone, though the Hōgyoku remained embedded in his chest. He looked incomparably weak.
Aizen said in a low voice, "Ah... their final strike inflicted too much damage on me. Recovering will consume a great deal of spiritual pressure. I'm afraid I'll need to recuperate for quite some time."
"Oh!" Shin replied meaningfully, smiling without saying anything further.
If he had not been a transmigrator and had not understood the Hōgyoku's characteristics, Aizen might have fooled him at this moment.
But having once watched Soul Reaper and knowing Aizen's evolutionary stages and strength, he naturally would not be deceived by such an act.
With the Hōgyoku, let alone losing half his body—even if he were blasted into scraps, as long as the Hōgyoku still existed and still acknowledged him as its master, recovering would pose no difficulty at all.
To put it bluntly, Aizen was testing Shin. Just as Shin had never trusted him, Aizen had never truly trusted Shin either.
Perhaps there was even more to why he had allowed Shin to take him away... After all, his current state had not yet evolved to its peak. Even though Yamamoto Genryusai and the other two were powerful together, Aizen still had a very good chance of claiming victory through the Hōgyoku's power.
Yet under such circumstances, he chose to retreat with Shin and pretended to be weak. That made the situation all the more intriguing.
Seeing Shin's expression, Aizen maintained