At this time, on the middle finger of Ichigo's right hand, a dazzling white light began to gather!
This was the finger flick taught to Ichigo by Isshin.
His physical body indeed couldn't break through, but he could use a tiny amount of Reiryoku to condense extremely high Reiatsu on his fingertip, then explosively release it!
This way, the Reiryoku usage was low, causing minimal harm to the hand, but the Reiatsu was high, capable of touching and breaking Hyorinmaru's ice seal.
Thus, with a tap, the solid ice seal was shattered by Ichigo's finger flick!
"This, this is..." Watching this scene, both Hitsugaya and Rangiku were stunned. Hitsugaya's memory suddenly flashed back decades!
Back then, the 10th Division's Lieutenant was still Rangiku, but the Captain was Isshin, and he was just a Third Seat.
During a sparring session, an excited Hitsugaya showed Isshin a new move he had developed. Isshin, with his hand frozen, stubbornly refused to use his Zanpakuto's ability to dispel it.
He went to work with his right hand frozen like that, while pondering hard.
Then, a day later, Isshin found Hitsugaya again and demonstrated this finger flick technique!
"Hahaha, I got the inspiration from Byakurai. Your ice seal is good, but if I concentrate a point inside and cause an explosion, your ice is completely useless!"
"How about it, Toshiro? Impressive, right?"
Isshin laughed heartily.
"Tch!" Hitsugaya of that time clicked his tongue in displeasure.
He was very unhappy that his move had been countered.
However, not long after that sparring session, Hitsugaya received the news that Isshin had gone missing during a mission in the Living World!
Although the 10th Division's Captain and Lieutenant were both unreliable, leaving all the work to him, the Third Seat-
Undoubtedly, the days with a bold and hearty Captain, a beautiful and gentle Lieutenant, where he only needed to worry about division's affairs, were simple and wonderful.
Unfortunately, when Isshin disappeared, everything fell apart. Hitsugaya had to take up his still-immature Bankai and assume the position of Captain of the 10th Division, once again sheltering the division from wind and rain.
But since then, Hitsugaya had never given up paying attention to news about Isshin.
Who would have thought he'd see it here!
Looking at Ichigo who had broken the ice seal on his palm, Hitsugaya's eyes held a complex emotion.
He suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, Kurosaki Ichigo, I never asked what your Zanpakuto's ability is?"
"Like my Hyorinmaru is an ice-type Zanpakuto, capable of controlling weather, releasing cold air and ice crystals. What about yours? What's your Zanpakuto's name?"
"Huh?" Ichigo tilted his head, not sure why Hitsugaya suddenly asked this.
But it wasn't anything shameful, so he said directly, "My Zanpakuto is called Zangetsu. It's a direct-slash type Zanpakuto, and its ability is only one: Getsuga Tensho!"
"I can condense powerful Reiatsu on the blade and release a powerful slash!"
"Why do you ask?" Ichigo inquired.
"No, it's nothing..." Hitsugaya shook his head.
At the same time, he looked at Ichigo's face and asked again, "Has Rukia ever told you that you resemble someone?"
That person, Shiba Kaien, was already gone by the time Hitsugaya entered the Seireitei, but that didn't stop him from knowing about him.
As one of the top prodigies from the Shin'o Academy, and a prodigy from not too long ago, the two were often compared.
Hitsugaya hadn't remembered earlier, but after recalling the matter of Isshin, he now remembered. The more he looked at Ichigo now, the more Ichigo seemed to resemble Kaien!
"She hasn't mentioned that, but Kukaku did say I resemble her brother!" Ichigo replied.
Hitsugaya: "Kukaku?"
"Shiba Kukaku!"
"I see!" Hitsugaya nodded.
This way, he fully understood.
Calculating the time, it indeed seemed about right...
Then, to Ichigo's surprise, Hitsugaya raised Hyorinmaru before his eyes.
After asking those inexplicable questions, Hitsugaya directly entered his second release form!
A bone-chilling Reiatsu erupted.
"Bankai: Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"
The next moment, Hitsugaya appeared before Ichigo, with wings on his back, a dragon tail, and three ice flowers adorning his wings!
Immediately after, Hitsugaya launched a fierce assault.
"Guncho Tsurara!" (T/N: Icicle Birds)
Swinging Hyorinmaru, a dense barrage of ice bullets, like a flock of birds, shot towards Ichigo.
Seeing this, Ichigo could no longer speculate. Amidst the dense hail of ice bullets from Hitsugaya, Ichigo dodged left and right. The ice bullets landed around him, blooming into ice flowers on the ground.
But no matter how dense the barrage, Ichigo moved through them untouched, like an excellent Touhou player.
However, after dodging for a while, Ichigo sensed something was off.
'Why were the gaps between these ice bullets so large?'
As everyone knows, dodging well is not as good as having the bullets perfectly outline your body!
Hitsugaya's ice bullets were exactly like that!
On the bridge, Ichigo's dodging space should have been very limited.
Yet Hitsugaya's area-of-effect fire seemed to be grazing Ichigo.
If there was even a slight mistake, it wouldn't have missed entirely.
And this wasn't just one wave, but three consecutive waves of ice bullets, pushing Ichigo all the way to the front of the Sokyoku Hill, away from the suspension bridge!
After carpet-bombing the area, Hitsugaya was panting heavily, while Ichigo's injuries remained exactly as they were before!
Seeing this, the live stream audience, who had been very worried about Ichigo at first, typed three question marks.
"Something's off, Hitsugaya-kun's aim seems a bit questionable?"
"Right? If he had just missed a little, he would have hit long ago!"
"What's going on?"
Everyone was very puzzled.
But at this point, they just thought Ichigo was performing well, or Hitsugaya wasn't at his best.
However, Hitsugaya's next move was utterly indefensible.
Seeing Ichigo dodge his ice bullets, Hitsugaya said with 'great astonishment', "Well done! As expected of a Ryoka who defeated four Captains in a row. You really have some skill!"
"Then, how about this?"
After saying this, Hitsugaya once again gathered a large amount of Reiatsu on Hyorinmaru.
"Sennen Hyoro!" (T/N: Thousand-Year Ice Prison)
A circular freezing slash was unleashed. Hyorinmaru would freeze everything along the path of its blade tip, successfully freezing the air!
Then, seeing Ichigo 'dodge' the Sennen Hyoro, Hitsugaya immediately changed tactics.
"Sennen Hyoro: Zekku!" (T/N: Thousand-Year Ice Prison: Void Sever)
Hyorinmaru slid, and an ice pillar brushed past Ichigo from the left, crashing into the Sokyoku Hill!
Looking at Ichigo who hadn't moved from his spot the entire time, Hitsugaya made a displeased expression:
"Dammit! So you predicted I would attack from the left and simply didn't move? What a formidable Ryoka!"
"Then, how about this?"
Saying this, Hitsugaya's body once again gathered a massive amount of Reiryoku!
His icy wings flapped, and Hitsugaya rushed towards Ichigo at high speed, with freezing energy condensed on Hyorinmaru's tip.
"Ryusenka!" (T/N: Hail Flower Dragon)
Boom-
A huge cross-shaped ice crystal exploded!
However, this move also missed.
And at this moment, under everyone's strange gaze, Hitsugaya's clumsy acting was finally seen through.
Because Ichigo had simply jumped back once and done nothing else!
Even though he was in Bankai, which should be stronger than Shikai, Hitsugaya kept attacking empty air, exerting less pressure on Ichigo than he did in Shikai.
Then, as if realizing his acting was a bit too clumsy himself, a faint blush appeared on Hitsugaya's usually serious and earnest face.
He glanced at Ichigo's position, noticing Ichigo was not far from Unohana, and behind him lay the four other Captains.
A look of 'joy' appeared on Hitsugaya's face, and he shouted, "Damn Ryoka, dodging my attacks one after another! Don't you dare face me head-on?"
"Bastard, don't move!"
Flapping his wings, Hitsugaya charged towards Ichigo again!
Thus, under Ichigo's bewildered gaze, Hitsugaya ran straight into his Tensa Zangetsu!
"Ah!" Clutching the wound on his chest, Hitsugaya's expression was exaggerated.
"Damn Ryoka! You predicted my prediction again! Next time, we'll fight for real!"
With that, Hitsugaya staggered, clutching the wound on his chest, then wobbled precisely to Unohana Retsu's side.
He then lay down in the fifth spot.
At the same time, the first ice flower on Hitsugaya's back dissipated!
But if he was already gravely injured and fallen, how could his Bankai still be active?
Hitsugaya released his Bankai, felt the flat ground, showed a comfortable smile, and even adjusted his posture to lie more comfortably.