"No need to worry, Gin, Kaname. Just a minor injury, nothing serious," Aizen said nonchalantly.
Then, Aizen took out a blue-black orb from his person.
Light shimmered from the orb, and the massive wound on Aizen's body began to slowly disappear.
In moments, Aizen's wound had completely vanished.
Seeing Aizen's injuries healed, Gin felt somewhat unwilling but could do nothing, only patiently waiting for the next opportunity.
"Oh my, such a miraculous thing. What is this, Captain Aizen?" Gin asked with apparent concern.
"This thing, I call it the [Hogyoku]. Unfortunately, this is an immature Hogyoku. If I could obtain Urahara Kisuke's and fuse them, perhaps I could get the true Hogyoku," Aizen explained.
"I see," Gin said, sounding impressed though not fully comprehending.
"Aizen-sama, Hitsugaya Toshiro dared to injure you. This is utterly unforgivable. Please order me to pursue him," Tosen suddenly spoke up.
"No need, Kaname. With your strength, you're no match for him," Aizen stopped him.
"Aizen-sama, I know my strength isn't a match for Hitsugaya Toshiro. But since he dared to injure you, even at the cost of my life, I must make him pay. Please allow me to act," Tosen requested again.
"Kaname, I said no need. Are you trying to defy my order?" Aizen said somewhat displeased.
"Aizen-sama, I wouldn't dare!" Tosen immediately said, somewhat fearful.
"Kaname, I know your loyalty. But you needn't say more about Hitsugaya Toshiro. Let him continue growing. I want to see if, one day, when he reaches the peak of Shinigami, can he break the Shinigami's limits and ascend to a higher level by his own power," Aizen said with some expectation.
Shinigami have four basic combat styles: Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, Kido. But each has intensity limits. No matter how much they're strengthened, they'll eventually hit the barrier of the Shinigami's own soul strength. At that point, no matter how much a Shinigami trains, their strength won't increase further. That's the Shinigami's limit.
Hearing Aizen's words, although somewhat unwilling, Tosen respectfully replied, "Yes, Aizen-sama."
Satisfied with Tosen's answer, Aizen nodded, then looked back at Baraggan, frozen in ice flowers.
"Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral, huh? Truly a powerful technique," Aizen thought, sensing Baraggan's life force growing weaker under the ice's erosion.
"But rescuing Baraggan might be slightly troublesome," Aizen frowned.
Although with Aizen's strength, forcefully shattering the ice flowers wasn't difficult, Baraggan inside would undoubtedly be shattered into pieces along with them.
Although Aizen didn't really care about Baraggan, to control Hueco Mundo now, he still needed Baraggan's help as the former King. That's also why Aizen personally intervened.
"Seems I still need the Hogyoku's help," Aizen murmured.
Then, Aizen took out his Hogyoku again. This time, he spent considerable time using the Hogyoku to dispel the ice flowers freezing Baraggan without harming Baraggan himself.
After all, this wasn't the mature Hogyoku fused with Urahara's. Its miraculous abilities weren't yet perfected.
When the ice flowers were dispelled, they revealed the long-unconscious Baraggan inside. If Tosen hadn't quickly stepped forward to catch the unconscious Baraggan, he would have fallen from mid-air.
Currently, Baraggan was extremely weak. If Aizen had rescued him any later, he might have truly frozen to death within the ice flowers.
"It seems we can't use this place for now. Let's find another location first," Aizen said, glancing at the surroundings.
Because Toshiro used Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral during his battle with Baraggan, the area within a ten-mile radius had become an icy domain, with ice flowers blooming everywhere. They'd have to find a way to clear it later.
With that, Aizen's group left the area.
As for Toshiro, after the battle with Aizen, he continuously flew towards the outer circle of Hueco Mundo using his ice wings, stopping occasionally to recover Reiatsu before continuing.
He didn't know how long he'd flown or where he was.
Swish!
While passing a small hill in the outer circle, Toshiro couldn't help but land.
"Huff... huff..."
Toshiro gasped for breath continuously.
Currently, Toshiro's Reiatsu was almost completely depleted.
A flash of ice-blue light enveloped Toshiro. His adult form rapidly shrank, returning to his elementary school student appearance. Then, Toshiro went limp and collapsed onto the ground.
In full Bankai state, although the 'aging' side effect temporarily gave Toshiro an adult body with greater combat power, it was essentially forcing growth. Thus, it placed a heavy burden on his body and couldn't be maintained for long.
…
In a valley within the outer circle.
Since Toshiro went to Las Noches to deal with Baraggan, the Menos Grande Expeditionary Force had temporarily halted operations, stationed here.
Inside a central tent in the valley, the expeditionary force's corps commanders gathered.
"Commander Hitsugaya has been gone for quite some time. I wonder how things are?" Ando, deputy commander of the 1st Corps, said.
"Based on timing, Commander Hitsugaya should have defeated Baraggan by now. Maybe he's already on his way back," Amagai, commander of the 3rd Corps, said.
"Could something have happened to Commander Hitsugaya? Baraggan is, after all, the King of Hueco Mundo, with many powerful Hollows under him. If Commander Hitsugaya was surrounded, no matter how strong, he might not be unscathed," Kawano, commander of the 4th Corps, said worriedly.
At this, everyone fell silent. Kawano's words made sense.
"I believe in Commander Hitsugaya. He'll definitely be fine!" Ota, commander of the 2nd Corps, affirmed confidently.
Since hearing about Toshiro's legends in the Soul Society, Ota had become Toshiro's admirer, more confident in Toshiro's strength than Toshiro himself.
Just then, Ando's communicator suddenly rang.
Ando immediately answered: "Hello, this is Ando Akimine, deputy commander of the 1st Corps."
"Hello, this is Hitsugaya."