"Commander Hitsugaya! Are you alright?" Ando urgently asked into the communicator.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Toshiro said, touching the wound on his body.
In this battle, Toshiro only sustained one wound from Aizen. However, thanks to his strong physique, it had already begun healing and would disappear completely soon.
"That's great," Ando couldn't help but sigh in relief.
Moments ago, Ando and the others were worried about Toshiro's safety, even wondering if agreeing to let him go to Las Noches alone was a mistake. But now it seemed okay… Toshiro was fine.
"So, Commander Hitsugaya, where are you now?" Ando asked.
"Me? I'm on a small hill in the outer circle. I'll rest a bit, recover my Reiatsu, then return," Toshiro said.
"Oh, report your exact location. I'll meet up with you later," Toshiro added.
"Yes, Commander Hitsugaya! After you left for Las Noches, we halted operations, found a valley, and set up camp. The exact location is..." Ando reported.
"Mm, understood. I'll find you later," Toshiro said.
With that, Toshiro hung up the communicator.
"Ando, how is Commander Hitsugaya?" After Toshiro hung up, the others quickly surrounded Ando and asked.
"Commander Hitsugaya said he's fine and will return later," Ando replied.
"Great! Commander Hitsugaya being fine is what matters," The others said, also relaxing upon hearing Toshiro was okay.
"I told you Commander Hitsugaya would definitely be fine!" Ota said somewhat proudly.
Among them, he was the most confident in Toshiro's strength.
"By the way, did Commander Hitsugaya mention how the battle with Baraggan went?" Amagai asked.
"That... Commander Hitsugaya didn't mention," Ando answered.
Ando had been too concerned with Toshiro's safety earlier and forgot to ask about the battle outcome.
Ota confidently said, "Commander Hitsugaya definitely won. That's unquestionable. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said he'd return soon. Just don't know if Baraggan is dead or alive."
Everyone couldn't help but nod, agreeing with Ota's assessment.
Then, Amagai suddenly said, "However, if Baraggan died, Hueco Mundo would surely fall into chaos. That might not be good for us either."
Ota said indifferently, "It's fine. Even if Baraggan died, another Hollow would become the new King of Hueco Mundo. It won't have too much impact."
But Ota didn't know that Baraggan was no longer the King even before his defeat. The new King of Hueco Mundo was a Shinigami.
A Shinigami ruling Hueco Mundo... If not seen with their own eyes, probably no one would believe it.
…
On a small hill.
Toshiro lay there resting, recovering his Reiatsu.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, a Hollow's roar sounded.
A regular Hollow suddenly appeared not far from Toshiro.
Although not very intelligent, this regular Hollow instinctively felt the Reishi within Toshiro was extremely dense. If it devoured Toshiro, it would definitely evolve directly into a Menos Grande.
Seeing this regular Hollow treat him as prey, drooling greedily, Toshiro couldn't help but mock himself: "Hitsugaya Toshiro, look at your sorry state. Even a regular Hollow doesn't take you seriously."
Toshiro never imagined a day when even a regular Hollow would dare to target him. Back when he first awakened his Zanpakuto, he instantly crushed a Gillian. Now, a regular Hollow wanted to devour him.
"Falling to this state, you really look pathetic," Toshiro self-deprecated.
Thinking about this incident, Toshiro felt another wave of unwillingness.
Originally, after breaking through to beyond-Captain-level, his strength greatly increased, boosting his confidence. He even easily defeated Baraggan.
But unexpectedly, he encountered Aizen. Moreover, Aizen clearly didn't use his full strength yet easily suppressed Toshiro, forcing him to flee. This undoubtedly poured cold water on Toshiro.
"My strength still isn't enough," Toshiro sighed.
'But what level exactly is Aizen's strength at?' Toshiro wondered internally.
Toshiro was now at the mid-stage of beyond-Captain-level, but his combat power was extremely formidable. He could easily defeat late-stage beyond-Captain-level opponents. Even peak beyond-Captain-level opponents, without powerful abilities, might not defeat him. Yet Aizen easily suppressed him, and his relaxed, casual demeanor clearly indicated he wasn't going all out.
'Has Aizen's strength already broken through the limits of beyond-Captain-level, ascending to a higher level? But what lies beyond beyond-Captain-level?' Toshiro pondered.
While Toshiro was lost in thought, the regular Hollow gradually approached him, finally swiping a claw at Toshiro.
Toshiro seemed completely unaware, still pondering his questions.
The Hollow's claw got closer and closer to Toshiro but suddenly stopped within three steps of him.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Without warning, the Hollow's claw began to freeze, rapidly spreading across its entire body.
In an instant, the Hollow was completely frozen, becoming a lifelike ice sculpture.
Toshiro temporarily set aside his thoughts, stood up from the ground, and muttered to himself: "Well, my Reiatsu has recovered a bit. I should go meet up with the others first."
'As for whether there are levels above beyond-Captain-level, I'll ask Genryusai-sensei back in the Soul Society when I get the chance,' Toshiro thought.
As the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years, if there were higher levels above beyond-Captain-level, Yamamoto would definitely know.
Then, Toshiro looked at the Hollow frozen before him and said coldly: "Hey! Trash, remember this: even at my lowest, a mere ant like you cannot provoke me!"
With that, Toshiro turned and left, heading to meet the expeditionary force.
Crack!
The Hollow frozen into an ice sculpture behind Toshiro shattered into countless ice fragments, emitting ice-blue light like diamond dust.