"Like this, everything is finally over!"
"Aizen, the thing you took from Rangiku's soul when you created the Hogyoku has finally been taken back by me!"
Gin murmured softly.
Hearing his words, everyone finally understood what Gin's motive was!
From beginning to end, it was all for Rangiku!
"Ichimaru Gin, is this the real you?"
Listening to Gin, Sajin looked at him deeply.
"Within you, there is a love no less loyal than mine!"
"Rest assured, Ichimaru Gin. As the one who eliminated the greatest enemy, everything in your past can be forgiven! Soul Society will pardon you!"
"You will be the great hero who noticed Aizen's conspiracy from its earliest signs, hid by his side all along, and finally succeeded!"
Komamura said solemnly.
"Hopefully so!" Gin replied noncommittally. "It's just that I didn't do all this for Soul Society in the first place!"
"From start to finish, it was all for her!" As he recalled Rangiku's appearance, traces of warmth surfaced in Gin's eyes.
"Hahaha, it's fine!"
Seeing Gin like this, Komamura laughed loudly.
"Didn't you know? Because of that guy Aizen's arrogance, he broadcast everything to all of Soul Society!"
"The Shinigami down below have all seen Captain Ichimaru's heroic figure in assassinating the villain!"
"That strike of Kamishini no Yari was truly god-killing!"
"Is that so…" Ichimaru Gin was a little confused, not quite reacting yet.
The very next second!
"So awesome! So awesome!"
From below Karakura Town, cheers from countless ordinary Shinigami reached Gin's ears!
However, hearing these cheers, Gin not only failed to feel happy, his expression instead changed drastically.
"Wait, why can they still see?"
"The ability of a Zanpakuto should disappear together with the death of its owner… huh!!?"
Gin's words abruptly stopped.
Because behind them, where Aizen had fallen on his back, a gigantic pink pillar of Reiatsu shot straight into the sky!
"Ahhhhh!" Aizen's roar rang out!
Along with his roar came an overwhelming surge of Reiatsu!
For a moment, the gathered Reiatsu felt, in everyone's perception, like a second sun appearing in the sky, dazzling beyond compare!
Just the pressure of that Reiatsu alone made some people feel like they were about to suffocate!
This was Aizen's Reiatsu, rated as a Special War Power. Under the effect of the Hogyoku, his limits were infinite!
Just feeling that suffocating pressure, Komamura was utterly confused:
"Wait, wasn't his heart pierced? Why?"
"Why is there someone who can still not die after having their heart pierced?"
Komamura could not understand.
Being able to move without a heart was a secret technique of the Wolfman Clan, but if just anyone could achieve such a feat, then what would the Wolfman Clan even be for?
At the same time, Komamura realized something.
"Whether Aizen is alive or dead, let's go and finish him off!"
Using Tengen Myo'o's flight, Komamura took the lead and flew straight toward Aizen's location.
But just at that moment!
Boom-
Aizen's Reiatsu suddenly surged another level higher!
That terrifying Reiatsu became almost tangible, sweeping out a massive shockwave!
The clouds in the sky were easily torn apart, revealing the clear blue heavens. At the same time, shockwaves exploded through the air below, producing a crackling series of sounds!
Aizen had actually shattered all the glass around him purely with his Reiatsu!
Then, a sound resembling a heartbeat echoed out!
Boom-
At the spot where Aizen stood, something shot straight into the sky. After that, the pink pillar of Reiatsu slowly dissipated!
Like a butterfly, Aizen, now possessing a pair of wings, stood high in the sky!
And on his forehead, there was an incredibly mysterious vertical eye!
At this moment, Aizen truly looked like a god!
This was the true breaking of the cocoon into a butterfly!
Gazing calmly at everything below like a deity, Aizen spoke evenly:
"Indeed, I realized the answer of the Hogyoku earlier than Urahara Kisuke, but I failed!!"
"To complete the Hogyoku, I plundered the souls of hundreds of Shinigami and residents of Rukongai who possessed Shinigami potential, and injected them into the Hogyoku."
"However, the Hogyoku showed no sign of being satisfied at all!"
"But judging from the experimental results, Urahara Kisuke's Hogyoku was not fully complete either!"
"So I took his Hogyoku and merged it into my own!"
"That is why the Hogyoku obeys me so well!"
"I won, Gin. My level of fusion with the Hogyoku has already reached the point where it can respond to me even when it is no longer inside my body!"
"Thank you. I have completed my third evolution!"
"Really, thank you very much!"
Seeing Aizen like this, everyone's expressions turned extremely grim.
"Having your heart pierced and still being able to call the Hogyoku to revive… what kind of monster is this?"
"So the Hogyoku really is omnipotent, huh?"
"They should have aimed for the head! Aim for the head and destroy the consciousness, I refuse to believe he could still call the Hogyoku then!"
"Yeah… sigh, this is tough." Faced with the current situation, everyone felt pessimistic.
At this time, after expressing his gratitude, Aizen naturally had to bestow his 'praise' upon Gin!
After searching for Gin's position, Aizen's body vanished like an illusion!
In the next instant, Aizen appeared ghost-like in front of Gin and Sajin!
Slash-
A brilliant blade light came down in an instant before either of them could react!
"Not good!"
Forcing himself to recover from his shock, Sajin raised his sword to block!
But while he could barely raise his sword in haste, Gin, who had just carried out the act of assassinating a god, had already exhausted all of his spirit and energy!
Even if he barely gathered his focus and looked at Aizen, who had already sealed the hole in his chest, Gin was unable to make even the slightest movement!
However, just as Kyoka Suigetsu's blade was about to strike Gin… an unexpected change occurred!
From Ichimaru Gin's shadow, a figure wielding strange twin great swords appeared!
"Taka Oni!"
"Wobbly Top!"
Swinging the massive twin blades, Kyoraku slashed out a whirlwind toward Aizen!
The rapid whirlwind met Aizen's slash first, producing a tremendous impact sound.
However, such an attack only slowed Aizen's blade by an almost imperceptible fraction before it continued on and collided with Katen Kyokotsu!