After that, the Reishi-rich environment around them, made dense by the battle, slowly dissipated together with that gust of wind!
Some people even discovered something even more shocking!
"Wait, this is-?"
"Those Hollow remains are disappearing?"
A Shinigami stared in shock at a corner not far away!
After a Hollow dies, its spirit body disperses, but the Hollow mask does not.
Hollow masks are extremely tough, stubborn like plastic pellets. Even when shattered, they only turn into white grains… this is precisely why Hueco Mundo has its deserts.
But now, if that Shinigami wasn't mistaken, at this very moment, a Hollow mask in the corner of the wall was gradually disappearing!
And this disappearance wasn't it crumbling into sand, but truly being restored into the most basic Reishi units!
"Look over there!"
Another Shinigami cried out in alarm. Following his pointing finger, everyone raised their heads.
A breathtaking scene appeared!
From all over Seireitei, especially from areas where the fighting had been most intense… countless brilliant, multicolored 'fireflies' flickered as they flew toward the sky!
Everyone knew those were not fireflies, but individual particles of Reishi!
Normally, Reishi is invisible to the naked eye.
But this time there was simply too much of it… so much that it could be seen directly!
From afar, it looked like several pillars of Reishi stretching straight up into the sky!
"Ichigo, what on earth are you doing?" Jing Bing, Xin Na, and the other players murmured to themselves as they watched the scene.
"…!" Rukia looked worried.
Because what Ichigo was absorbing this time wasn't just the Reishi produced by the Shinigami during battle, but also that of the Hollows!
She had no issue with him using Shinigami Reishi, but the problem was that Ichigo, who was also a Quincy, was absorbing Hollow Reishi… was that really okay?
"No problem!"
In the sky above Karakura Town, Ichigo looked at Aizen as he spoke.
Because Aizen, who had already understood what Ichigo was doing, had asked the same question.
"I'm not absorbing this Reishi into my body at all!!
"And have you forgotten that there's something called Hollowfication?"
Ichigo smiled faintly.
Under Aizen's astonished gaze, Ichigo's smile was gradually covered by a brand-new mask!
This mask was similar to Ichigo's original Hollow mask, yet also different!
Because if one were to remove Ichigo's mask now, take a photo of it, and magnify it ten thousand times, one would be shocked to discover that every single pixel on the mask was itself a Hollow mask!
In other words, countless Hollow masks together formed Ichigo's current Hollow mask!
"I wonder how the king of Hueco Mundo will react when faced with the subordinates he heartlessly abandoned and treated as expendable material?"
Ichigo teased as he looked at Aizen.
"It's all thanks to you. If you hadn't sent so many Hollows here to die, I wouldn't have been able to collect this much Reishi!"
"Hmph!" Aizen snorted coldly at Ichigo's words.
"So what? The weak are meant to be dominated by the strong. Whether I command them to die, or you command their remains to fight, it's all the same!"
"Kurosaki Ichigo, there's no difference between you and me!" Aizen said disdainfully.
"Is that so? Actually, there is a difference," Ichigo shook his head and raised a hand toward Aizen.
A string of special Reishi shot toward Aizen!
At first, Aizen thought this was some kind of special attack and prepared to block it.
But after taking a closer look, he realized what it was… it was similar to Ulquiorra's eye-extraction technique.
As a result, Aizen unfolded and processed this cluster of Reishi information.
Then his expression changed drastically!
Because all of this Reishi contained the memories and emotions of the Hollows he had sent to Soul Society, right up to the moment of their deaths!
"It hurts!"
"So regretful!"
"I don't want to come!"
"Aizen-sama, didn't you say the Shinigami of Seireitei were just lambs?"
"The Espada are nowhere to be seen! Damn it, those Shinigami Lieutenants are here again!"
"Organize them! Someone, organize those Gillians… ah!"
"Damn it, this was all a scam!"
The cries and emotions of countless Hollows flooded into Aizen's mind!
So many Hollows felt regret and resistance toward this large-scale invasion!
"So, do you understand now?" Ichigo said loudly as he looked at Aizen, whose expression had gone blank.
"I didn't dominate them… I accepted them!"
"Right now, your many subordinates want revenge against you!"
As he spoke, Ichigo gave a bizarre smile!
The expression on the Hollow mask turned into a grin, and the countless pixel-like masks that formed it also began to smile!
In Aizen's eyes, for an instant it was as if countless ghosts were standing behind him!
Even he couldn't help but take half a step back when faced with such an eerie scene!
Looking at Aizen, Ichigo smiled again.
"Don't leave, Aizen. You'll soon experience what your dead subordinates have given you!"
"Quincy Bow… Gather!"
Ichigo let out a low shout.
Behind him, the two hundred-meter-long wings began to fold inward, together shaping a gigantic longbow in front of him!
Then, the massive amount of Reiryoku Ichigo had gathered was poured into the spiritual arrow ahead!
Surging waves of power erupted from the arrow!
In the next instant, a red Cero was injected into it!
The pure white bow and arrow transformed into a crimson, sinister arrow of vengeance!
After pouring all the Reishi obtained this time into the arrow, Ichigo released the bowstring!
With Quincy power as its edge, and Shinigami and Hollow as its foundation, the terrifying arrow shot straight at Aizen!
Seeing this attack, Aizen revealed a level of seriousness never seen before!
Behind him, all the skulls gathered together!
Facing Ichigo's Quincy arrow, Aizen loudly chanted,
"Bakudo #81, Danku! Continuous Polyphonic Barrier!"
Vast, ocean-like Reiryoku erupted forth and countless transparent crystalline walls rose up in front of Ichigo.
But all of it was useless.
The Quincy arrow pierced through everything equally, striking Aizen directly!
Looking at the arrow embedded in his chest, Aizen couldn't understand it no matter how hard he thought!
"No… a Quincy's power, how could-"
Boom-!!
The Quincy arrow exploded!
Like the cellular disintegration of Shinso, but on a far greater scale!
An explosion like a nuclear blast erupted, easily melting away most of Aizen's body!
For a moment, Aizen was reduced to nothing but a head wearing a black mask!
Yet even then, he let out a roar:
"Hogyoku!"
Driven by unwillingness, Aizen underwent his fifth evolution!