Chapter 632 - 632 Isshin Appears

"Wake up... Please, wake up quickly, Toshiro! If you don't wake up soon... it's really dangerous..."

Inside Toshiro's Inner World, Hyorinmaru stood atop an ice mountain, calling out anxiously.

Having lost consciousness after being defeated in the battle with Aizen, Hyorinmaru knew very well how dangerous this situation was.

"Why... All the conditions are in place... According to my estimates, Toshiro should have had a high probability of breaking through in his battle with Aizen..."

Hyorinmaru was very puzzled by the current result. In her view, Toshiro had already reached the Shinigami peak, even slightly surpassed it.

Moreover, after training while trapped in the Absolute Zero, he had also gained some understanding of the Ice Law.

So in Hyorinmaru's estimation, if Toshiro's improved trump card, Shikai Hyoketsu, could defeat Aizen, that would be best…

And even if Aizen, after fusing with the Hogyoku, was too powerful, and Shikai Hyoketsu could not defeat him, it wouldn't matter. Under the pressure of Aizen's powerful strength, Toshiro, already at the Shinigami peak, would likely break through to True God-level.

While Aizen was using Toshiro, hoping to feel fear during their battle to promote his own evolution, Toshiro was also using Aizen.

After all, Toshiro, at the Demi-God level with all the conditions for breakthrough already met, could break through to True God-level at any time under the pressure of a life-and-death battle with Aizen.

But now, events had developed beyond Hyorinmaru's expectations. Shikai Hyoketsu had not defeated Aizen, and Toshiro had not broken through under the pressure of battle.

"Why? Where exactly is the problem..."

Hyorinmaru murmured to herself in confusion.

"What a... tenacious guy... Pfft!!"

When he saw Toshiro fall and not get up, Aizen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. With this relaxation, the injuries he had been suppressing with his powerful Reiatsu suddenly erupted. Aizen's body swayed, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Clearly, although he had defeated Toshiro, Aizen was also considerably injured.

After all, during the previous fight, Toshiro had repeatedly severely wounded Aizen. Even with the Hogyoku's power, Aizen could not completely recover in a short time.

"Toshiro-kun, although I want to spare your life and let you witness me ascending to the Throne of Heaven, you are too great a threat. So... although it's a pity, please die..."

Aizen caught his breath for a moment, recovered somewhat from his injuries, then picked up his sword again and walked towards the unconscious Toshiro, clearly intending to completely eliminate him.

Then, Aizen walked up to Toshiro, raised his Zanpakuto, and was about to slash down on him.

Whoosh!

Just as Aizen was about to act, a Kenatsu powerful enough to threaten Aizen suddenly flew towards him.

Sensing the danger, Aizen instinctively retreated.

Boom!

After Aizen retreated, the Kenatsu destroyed several buildings, leaving a deep gash in the ground before disappearing.

Then a figure instantly appeared, shielding Toshiro behind him.

"Oh my? Isn't this Captain Unohana? How rare. You've finally decided to act?" Aizen said with some surprise, looking at the figure blocking Toshiro.

The one who had suddenly appeared to save Toshiro was Unohana, Captain of the 4th Division.

"Oh dear, I am still one of the Captains of the Gotei 13. Although the 4th Division is a medical squad, when the situation becomes this critical, I can no longer stand idly by," Unohana said with a smile.

"No longer stand idly by? Do you really intend to fight me? Heh, I'm not looking down on you, Captain Unohana. If it were me before obtaining the Hogyoku, you might have had a chance. But against the current me, even though I am considerably injured, you still have no hope of winning!" Aizen said contemptuously.

Although Unohana was at the peak of Beyond Captain-level, with her unparalleled swordsmanship, she had the power to threaten the Demi-God level.

If Aizen had not obtained the Hogyoku and did not use Kyoka Suigetsu's hypnosis ability, Unohana would indeed have had the strength to fight him. This was why Aizen had once been wary of Unohana.

But the current Aizen was in the third state of Hogyoku fusion, arguably the most powerful existence under the gods. Even Toshiro and Yamamoto were no match for him, let alone Unohana.

And as Aizen said, even though he was considerably injured from fighting Toshiro, Unohana still could not resist him.

"Indeed... as you said, I am no match for you. But sometimes, even when you know you're outmatched, you have to fight to the end."

As she spoke, Unohana turned her head to glance at the unconscious Toshiro behind her: "Captain Hitsugaya is our last hope. No matter what... I will not let you harm him!"

"Is that so? What a pity. Toshiro-kun is too great a threat to me. I must kill him," Aizen said indifferently.

Having said that, Aizen prepared to take care of Unohana first.

Seeing this, Unohana frowned.

She was not worried about being unable to defeat Aizen. The main problem was that Toshiro was behind her. If they started fighting, he would undoubtedly be caught in the crossfire. And she had no confidence that she could protect Toshiro while fighting Aizen.

Bang!

Just as Unohana was worrying, a figure fell from the sky again, landing between Aizen and Unohana.

"Yo, Aizen! If you want to fight, let me be your opponent!" The newcomer said loudly.

"How interesting. Shiba... no, you should be called Kurosaki Isshin now," Aizen said with interest.

"Captain Shiba? It's been a long time. You seem to have aged quite a bit," Unohana said to Isshin.

"Captain Unohana, 'Shiba' is in the past. I am now Kurosaki, Kurosaki Isshin."

Isshin explained, then said solemnly: "Captain Unohana, this is not the time for reminiscing. I'll hold off Aizen. I'll leave Toshiro to you."

"...Yes." Unohana hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

No matter who fought Aizen, it would undoubtedly be very dangerous. But Toshiro was now severely injured and needed treatment. So the best choice was for Isshin to deal with Aizen while she took the opportunity to treat Toshiro.

Having agreed, Unohana immediately picked up Toshiro and quickly retreated to a safe area behind, beginning to treat him.

Seeing this, Aizen tried to intervene, but Isshin instantly stepped forward, blocking his path.

With this brief delay, Unohana had already retreated with Toshiro to the safe area behind and begun treatment.

Seeing this, Aizen no longer insisted and looked at Isshin blocking his way.

"Hmph! Well then... I'll play with you," Aizen snorted coldly.

"Play? Perfect. We have some grudges to settle properly, don't we?" Isshin said coldly.

Isshin knew that his wife, Masaki's death, was significantly related to Aizen.

The Hollow named Grand Fisher that had directly killed Masaki back then had later become an Arrancar, created by Aizen.

And ultimately, if Aizen's Hollowfication experiments hadn't created a Hollow that injured Masaki, polluting her Quincy bloodline and turning her from a pure-blood Quincy into a mixed-blood Quincy, she wouldn't have had all her power taken away when Yhwach performed Auswählen, and wouldn't have died at the hands of a weakling like Grand Fisher.

So, truth be told, Isshin had quite a grudge against Aizen.

Therefore, upon seeing Aizen, Isshin felt a strong sense of 'seeing one's enemy makes one's eyes burn with special intensity'.

"Ha!"

Finally, Isshin shouted and struck first, bringing his sword down on Aizen's head with tremendous force.

Seeing this, Aizen casually swung his Zanpakuto to meet Isshin's attack.

Clang!

Aizen easily blocked Isshin's fierce attack.

But Isshin seemed to have anticipated this, showing no surprise. Instead, while their swords were locked together, he suddenly extended his left hand towards Aizen and flicked his finger.

Boom!

A powerful circular Reiatsu shockwave was released from Isshin's fingertip, slamming into Aizen and actually pushing him back a few steps.