"Did he win?"
A figure appeared beside Urahara Kisuke and Ichimaru Gin, muttering as he looked at the three intersecting sword-shaped objects, "Did Ishikawa really defeat Aizen?"
"Yes, indeed~"
Urahara Kisuke's expression was also somewhat complex upon hearing this.
The reason he hadn't appeared until now was precisely because he hadn't found a way to counter Aizen, or even seal him.
Until…
The moment he saw cracks appear in the Hōgyoku in Aizen's chest, he suddenly felt that there might be a possibility of sealing him.
But did he really win?
As one of the Hōgyoku's creators, he was well aware of how difficult it was to destroy the Hōgyoku.
Rather than saying Ishikawa destroyed the Hōgyoku, it was more accurate to say the Hōgyoku collapsed on its own.
Because the Hōgyoku, which possessed its own will, could no longer allow its master to advance further, coupled with Aizen's own doubts about the Hōgyoku, this led to the Hōgyoku's collapse.
Although this collapse temporarily left Aizen incredibly weak, but…
Whether the Hōgyoku's collapse was physical or functional, the energy within the Hōgyoku had now completely integrated into Aizen's body. Urahara Kisuke didn't even know what changes this would bring to Aizen.
But Aizen would absolutely not stop there!
However…
Urahara Kisuke looked at the unconscious Ishikawa, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.
To be honest, after witnessing the battle between Ishikawa and Aizen, he even considered sealing both Ishikawa and Aizen at one point.
Because, in some ways, he and Aizen were far too similar.
And the fact that he could allow the Arrancar created by Aizen to achieve a second Cero meant he would inevitably become the new king of Hueco Mundo after Aizen. Even if he had no such intentions, the Hollows he had modified would elevate him to that position, just like those villains in Rukongai.
Most importantly…
Was the second Cero truly the limit?
The upper limit of Hollows was no lower than that of Shinigami; in fact, in some respects, the upper limit of Hollows was even higher than that of Shinigami. If Ishikawa allowed the Arrancar he modified to gain the ability of a third Cero, it would absolutely not be a good thing for Soul Society.
It could be said that after Aizen was sealed, the greatest threat to the Three Realms was actually Ishikawa, who was currently unconscious.
Although Ishikawa had never displayed Aizen's ambition, who could guarantee that he wasn't hiding himself, secretly waiting for the opportune moment like Aizen, waiting for the Gotei 13 to defeat Aizen, and then becoming the next Aizen?
One must know that Ishikawa reached his current stage not by relying on external forces like Aizen, but entirely through his own efforts.
Just as he had told Aizen, power gained entirely through one's own efforts was completely incomparable to power gained through external means!
Relying on the Hōgyoku versus training oneself, these were two fundamentally different concepts!
Ishikawa, this person, seemed to have no limits whatsoever.
Urahara Kisuke was somewhat afraid to gamble…
To gamble that Ishikawa wouldn't harbor the thought of replacing the one in the Soul King Palace, like Aizen.
Because he knew very well that whether it was Aizen or Ishikawa, as long as they achieved that point, the Squad Zero, as the final line of defense, would not oppose them, but would only serve them as their master.
Unless both of them wanted to destroy the Three Realms, returning them to their original chaos.
But just like the ancestors of the Five Great Noble Families, no one wished to be a wedge maintaining the stability of the Three Realms, possessing their own consciousness and being able to make the current world disappear at any time, including Urahara Kisuke.
At this thought, Urahara Kisuke's gaze towards Ishikawa became somewhat dark and uncertain.
"Hehehe—"
Ichimaru Gin, who was beside him, glanced at Urahara Kisuke and suddenly let out a strange laugh.
But he didn't say anything more, instead sitting down amidst the ruins.
"Kisuke."
Yoruichi, who was nearby, frowned and was about to say something when a gust of wind swept past her.
A gentle breeze blew, and a tall figure appeared without warning beside the three of them.
This was a figure with medium-length orange hair, wearing a long shinigami uniform, with his Zanpakuto fused to his right hand, and carrying a person on his shoulder.
This person was none other than Ichigo, and the person on his shoulder was Isshin.
Upon Ichigo's appearance, Urahara Kisuke withdrew his gaze from Ishikawa and instead looked at Ichigo with a somewhat complex expression.
Originally, in his prediction, Ichigo was the last hope, which was why he had Mr. Isshin take Ichigo to train in that technique.
As a result…
Yoruichi, who was nearby, also looked at Ichigo with an extremely complex gaze; she was naturally aware of Isshin's training.
Earlier, due to the intensity of the battle, she had completely forgotten about Isshin taking Ichigo to train.
"…"
Ichigo looked at the distant sealing pillar, then at the unconscious Ishikawa on the ground. His originally cold and serious expression now showed a slight blankness.
It's over?
It's over!
Ishikawa has already defeated Aizen?
Aizen being defeated should have been a cause for joy, but…
At this moment, Ichigo simply could not feel happy.
Finally, after looking at Ishikawa for a long time, Ichigo turned his gaze to his father on his shoulder, a hint of resentment subtly appearing in his eyes…
"Uh… that…"
Seeing Ichigo's reaction, Urahara Kisuke pulled out his folding fan from somewhere, covering his face. After thinking for a long time, he finally said:
"You've worked hard… Kurosaki-kun…"
Although he didn't participate in the battle, the training process could indeed be described as arduous.
Moreover…
Urahara Kisuke was well aware that once Ichigo entered his current state, it was irreversible.
…
When Ishikawa woke up, it was already a week later.
His battle with Aizen had a huge impact on the Human World. Although Urahara Kisuke was stationed in the Human World and, upon realizing the situation was dire, immediately moved the Reigai pillars originally located at the four corners of Karakura Town to the basement of Urahara's Shop, preventing the true Karakura Town from becoming a battlefield.
However, Ishikawa's battle with Aizen still caused immense destruction, leading to various anomalies in the Human World, which the Shinigami Research and Development Institute had been urgently working to repair.
Furthermore, the topography of Karakura Town was completely altered. If it wasn't restored, Karakura Town in Rukongai would not be able to be transferred back to the Human World. This led to most of the Gotei 13 being dispatched to the Human World to begin extensive restoration work.
And while Soul Society was tirelessly busy, Hueco Mundo was not idle either.
Harribel and the others did not linger in Soul Society after helping to transfer the wounded; instead, they returned directly to Hueco Mundo after Ishikawa and Aizen's battle concluded.
They did not trust the Shinigami, and even Harribel was no exception.
The only person they trusted was Ishikawa. Obeying Ishikawa's orders did not mean they would obey Soul Society's orders.
The two sides were destined enemies; it was only because Ishikawa was in the middle that they hadn't attacked each other.
That being said…
Captain Unohana did not watch the Espada, who had been severely injured by Aizen, die. Instead, she treated them and saved their lives.
So, among the Arrancar who returned to Hueco Mundo, besides Harribel, Roka, and Nel, there were also Starrk, Harribel and her three Fracción, and Ulquiorra. Virtually all the Arrancar who came to the Human World survived.
According to Kurotsuchi Mayuri, who had been frequently traveling between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society recently, Las Noches had already begun restoration work, but the specific internal situation was unknown.
Apart from Kurotsuchi Mayuri's spoils of war—Szayelaporro's laboratory—all other areas were off-limits to Shinigami.
As for Soul Society, Ichimaru Gin did not take the opportunity to escape; instead, he chose to return to Soul Society and voluntarily accept punishment.
There was still no definitive conclusion regarding his treatment. It was said that the sages of the Central 46 had been discussing it. Although he followed Aizen and committed many illicit acts, even resorting to slaughtering comrades to gain Aizen's trust.
However, he played a significant role in Aizen's successful sealing.
Therefore, the specific verdict was still under deliberation.
It could be said that apart from Ishikawa, the entire Soul Society was in a state of busyness.
As for Ishikawa…
At this moment, he was staring blankly at the familiar ceiling.
Perhaps because Ishikawa contributed greatly to this battle, although many Captains, Vice-Captains, and Visored members were severely injured, Ishikawa was the only occupant of this intensive care unit.
However, Ishikawa could actually be discharged immediately.
Because his injuries had already healed on their own, he didn't need any treatment at all.
It was just that Ishikawa temporarily didn't want to leave here. After waking up, he had already heard from Isane about what happened after he lost consciousness.
Who knew if, after he left here, Commander Yamamoto would send him to lead the Gotei 13 to undertake some Human World reconstruction work.
Most importantly…
Ishikawa wanted to quietly ponder his future path.
Because…
Upon waking up, when Ishikawa saw the current experience on the system interface, he immediately fell into a daze, leading Isane, who was checking on him, to believe that Ishikawa had suffered some after-effects from his battle with Aizen.
Ishikawa had never before received such a massive amount of experience points in one go.
[Yoruichi Affection +1, gained 19200 experience points, current Affection: 60]
[Kotetsu Isane Love Value +1, gained 51200 experience points, current Love Value: 65]
[Soi Fon Love Value +1, gained 102400 experience points, current Love Value: 62]
[Harribel Love Value +1, gained 320000 experience points, current Love Value: 61]
[Harribel Affection +1, gained 1600 experience points, current Affection: 23]
[Nel Affection +1, gained 3800 experience points, current Affection: 32]
[Ise Nanao Affection +1, gained 5120 experience points, current Affection: 60]
[Lisa Affection +1, gained 640 experience points, current Affection: 16]
[Kuna Mashiro Affection +1, gained 1200 experience points, current Affection: 28]
[Hiyori Affection +1, gained 4800 experience points, current Affection: 46]
[…]
Besides these Captains and Vice-Captains who provided Ishikawa with a large amount of experience points, there were also many scattered experience points, most of which came from the Squad Members of the Gotei 13 and the Picaro. These experience points combined.
Gave Ishikawa an amount of experience points that left him stunned.
Current Experience Points: 840,600.
Unprecedented!!
Ishikawa had never obtained so many experience points in one go, especially Harribel. She alone provided him with a whopping 320,000 experience points, which indirectly indicated that her current strength had reached an extremely terrifying level.
However…
The increase in Kotetsu Isane and Captain Soi Fon's Love Value made Ishikawa feel inexplicably uneasy. Fortunately, both their Love Values did not exceed 65 points, so as long as he was careful, there shouldn't be any problems.
As for Harribel?
Arrancar understood nothing about love.
Harribel could be said to be the person Ishikawa was most at ease with. After all, Hollows inherently had very weak emotions in this regard, so even if it increased further, it wouldn't matter at all.
As for those ordinary Squad Members whose Affection exceeded 60, Ishikawa also carefully checked, and all of them were within the safe range of below 65, so there was no need to worry either.
Anyway, based on his experience so far, below 65 points probably meant they had a strong liking for him, and depending on their individual personalities, they might confess to him or they might not.
And it was entirely possible to lower it through various methods.
So Ishikawa didn't dwell on this too much and instead focused his attention on how to use this batch of experience points.
Physique: Top (900000 / 1000000) [Cannot be upgraded]
Reiatsu: Top (900000 / 1000000) [Cannot be upgraded]
Looking at the two attributes that had hit a bottleneck, Ishikawa couldn't help but feel a little lost.
Although he had encountered limit barriers before, he could break through them by improving his physique.
But now…
Ishikawa had even encountered a barrier with his physique, making it impossible to improve further.
The experience points were sufficient, but how to use them to break through the Reiatsu and physique barriers was a huge challenge for Ishikawa.
Of course, he wasn't entirely clueless.
The first time his Reiatsu encountered a limit barrier, Ishikawa had thought about ways to break through it.
At that time, he thought of learning from Aizen, changing his focus to the four basic Shinigami techniques: Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kido, and Shunpo, in order to break through the Shinigami's limit barrier.
But he was different from Shinigami. Besides these four breakthrough directions, Ishikawa had the physique attribute, and compared to these four techniques, physique required the least experience points to invest. So Ishikawa unhesitatingly chose to break through with physique.
But now, he couldn't even continue to improve his physique.
So the only options left for Ishikawa were Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kido, and Shunpo.
But how to choose was a problem.
However, if using the process of elimination, Kido could be directly excluded, because unlike the other three, the sheer number of Kido was simply too vast, and the experience points required to invest in them made Ishikawa's head ache just thinking about it.
But it didn't rule out the possibility that mastering one or several Kido to the extreme could break through the limit barrier.
Although 840,600 experience points were a lot, they still couldn't withstand such extravagance. For safety's sake, it was more appropriate to choose one from the other three options.
And most importantly…
Ishikawa had a premonition that between 900,000 and 1,000,000 proficiency, he might encounter several limit barriers.
This meant that no matter which one he chose, when it caught up to physique and Reiatsu, it might only increase the limit barrier of the former two by a few tens of thousands, rather than directly breaking through to the true limit.
But don't underestimate these few tens of thousands; each time he broke through a limit, it was equivalent to an evolution for Ishikawa, bringing about a huge qualitative change.
So what he was deciding now was only the order, not that he could only choose one, because eventually he would raise all techniques, including Kido, to their limits.
At this thought, Ishikawa couldn't help but murmur to himself:
"I still need to work harder to make friends!"