Soul Society, Research and Development Bureau.
"Ara ara, truly worthy of being the most talented student in the history of the Shin'o Academy. Despite being only Lieutenant-level, he managed to defeat a Captain-class Menos Grande. Captain Aizen, what should we do now?" Gin said.
Aizen frowned slightly. Just as he was about to speak, a Hell Butterfly flew and landed on his hand.
After receiving the information from the Hell Butterfly, Aizen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Let's go, Gin. Captain-Commander Yamamoto has personally urged us to rescue all the students, with priority given to ensuring the safety of Hitsugaya Toshiro. If we don't go now, suspicion will be aroused. Let's call off this plan and find another opportunity later."
With that, Aizen turned and walked out.
"Speaking of which, kids these days are really scary. To think he could defeat Alfred. Even when I first stepped into Captain-level, I wasn't confident I could defeat Alfred," Gin said as he followed.
"Oh? When you first stepped into it? Gin, are you implying you can defeat Alfred now? It seems your strength has progressed again," Aizen remarked with feigned surprise.
"Well, I just had another breakthrough in Reiatsu not long ago. I suppose I can be considered a bit of a genius too, though I can't compare to Hitsugaya Toshiro," Gin said, his eyes narrowed.
Although he was only the Lieutenant of the 5th Division on the surface, Gin had long since mastered his Bankai, reaching Captain-level. Not long ago, he advanced even further, reaching the mid-stage of Captain-level.
In terms of talent, Gin was among the very top few in the entire Soul Society. While he couldn't compare to the current Toshiro, he was certainly not much inferior to the Toshiro of the original work.
"Come to think of it, I never asked about the ability of your Bankai," Aizen suddenly stopped and looked at Gin.
"If you feel it's inconvenient, you don't have to tell me," Aizen said, putting on an indifferent expression.
"No, it's not inconvenient at all. I am completely loyal to you, Captain Aizen," Gin replied with a bright smile.
Then, Gin explained with his eyes still narrowed: "After my Zanpakuto releases Bankai, its extension and retraction speed becomes 500 times the speed of sound, and its maximum extension range reaches 13 kilometers."
"Is that so."
Aizen offered a noncommittal response and continued walking forward.
After Aizen turned his head, a glint of cold light flashed within Gin's perpetually narrowed eyes.
…
"Toshiro, are you alright?" Momo ran over as soon as the battle ended.
Renji and the others followed closely behind.
Seeing Toshiro covered in blood, Momo quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped his face.
"Don't worry, my injuries aren't severe. I just used up too much Reiatsu," Toshiro said, catching his breath after a moment. He was finally recovering a bit.
Toshiro wasn't entirely just comforting Momo. He truly hadn't sustained serious injuries.
Although he looked frightening covered in blood, it was mostly just blood loss.
The few wounds on his body weren't deep. With some bandaging and given Toshiro's physical constitution, they would heal in a couple of days. No internal organs were damaged or anything like that.
When you think about it, Alfred was only at the early Captain-level stage. The gap between him and Toshiro wasn't as large as one might imagine.
Generally speaking, when breaking through from Lieutenant-level to Captain-level, Reiatsu increases by five to ten times. That means, not counting new abilities gained after the breakthrough, the Reiatsu of an early Captain-level is five to ten times that of an ordinary Lieutenant-level.
But Toshiro was no ordinary Lieutenant-level. Not only did he have more Reiatsu than the average Lieutenant-level, but its density was also several times that of an ordinary person.
After offsetting each other with advantages in both quality and quantity, the difference in Reiatsu between the two wasn't actually that great.
As for abilities, although Alfred even brought out something like Gran Rey Cero, Toshiro's Hyorinmaru was the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto. Even though it was only Shikai-level abilities, they were definitely not inferior to some Captain's Bankai abilities.
Despite Alfred employing various methods, he never truly broke through the early Captain-level, remaining on the same general tier as Toshiro.
Therefore, defeating Alfred only cost Toshiro all his Reiatsu and left him with some light injuries.
"Hey, Hitsugaya, you monster! That was a Captain-level Menos Grande, and you actually defeated it!" Renji said incredulously.
Kira and Hisagi beside him showed expressions of complete agreement.
Toshiro shot a glance at Renji. If he weren't injured, Toshiro would definitely have gone over to punch him.
"Renji, Toshiro is not a monster! He's a genius!" Momo glared at Renji.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Renji said helplessly.
"But a Lieutenant-level defeating a Captain-level... I've never heard of such a thing," Kira also said, finding it unbelievable.
"Not hearing about it doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Throughout the countless years of Soul Society's history, it's not necessarily unheard of," Toshiro said indifferently.
And not to look far, just take Aizen for example. Even if he only used his Shikai, anyone caught in his Kyoka Suigetsu, even Captain-level, could be instantly obliterated by him.
Then there's that cheat Ichigo. He defeated Zaraki even before learning Bankai.
In those cultivation novels, if the MC can't fight above their level, they'd be embarrassed to show their face. As for opponents on the same level? They'd be defeated in droves.
Toshiro truly believed his achievements here weren't anything to boast about.
"Shuhei, hasn't the support from Soul Society arrived yet?" Toshiro asked, leaning on Hyorinmaru as he stood up.
If they hadn't arrived yet, it meant Aizen might still try something. In his current state, even a slightly stronger Hollow could finish Toshiro off.
"The Captain of the 5th Division in charge of the rescue operation just contacted us. He said they'll be here soon," Hisagi reported.
"Sigh!"
Toshiro let out a sigh of relief. Aizen's arrival meant this matter was coming to an end. Although he might look for other opportunities later, at least this particular incident was over.
Thinking this, Toshiro felt a bit of unwillingness. He was actually placing his hopes on the enemy not taking action.
In the end, it came down to his own insufficient strength. If he were powerful enough, he would have the confidence to handle anything that came his way.
"Let's go. First, let's check on the condition of the other students," Toshiro said to everyone.