"I thought you'd be here soon. Did you guess it was here so quickly?" Aizen asked.
"A place completely forbidden entry for any reason. In the entire Seireitei, there's only the Seijotokyorin where the Central 46 Compound are located."
"You went to such lengths to create an elaborate 'corpse puppet' and hide yourself, so you'd definitely come to the safest, hardest-to-discover place in the Seireitei. Isn't that right, Aizen Sosuke?" Unohana asked in return.
However, Aizen shook his head and said: "Unfortunately, your judgment is quite sharp, but you got two things wrong."
"First, I didn't come here to hide."
"And second—"
"This isn't a 'corpse puppet' either."
Without any warning, in Unohana and Isane's line of sight, Aizen suddenly held in his hand an existence identical to himself, like a twin.
Unohana's eyes widened in disbelief: "!"
Isane was even more shocked: "You... when did you...?"
"When? What a strange question. I've been holding it all along, haven't I? It's just... until a moment ago... I didn't want you to see it." Aizen said indifferently.
Unohana: "..."
Isane: "This... what on earth is this...?"
Aizen said with a mocking expression: "Let me reveal the mystery for you. Watch closely, the mystery is about to be solved..."
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."
Crack!
As if glass were shattering, the 'puppet' identical to Aizen in his hand suddenly dissipated and transformed into the shape of a sword.
Seeing this, Unohana and Isane's expressions changed instantly.
Aizen slowly began to speak: "My Zanpakuto… Kyoka Suigetsu. Its ability is..."
"Complete Hypnosis."
Isane still couldn't believe it: "How can that be... As a Water-type Zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu... It uses the diffused reflection of mist and water flow to confuse the enemy, making them fight each other... Isn't that what you yourself said, Captain Aizen..."
"You even gathered us Lieutenants... and personally demonstrated it!" Isane exclaimed loudly.
"Heh!" Aizen scoffed contemptuously, as if mocking Isane's ignorance.
But Unohana understood: "I see... So that was actually the 'ritual' for the hypnosis?"
Aizen nodded: "Correct. [Complete Hypnosis] can dominate the five senses, causing misjudgment of appearance, form, mass, touch, and even taste, allowing you to perceive targets as 'enemies'."
"That means you can perceive a fly as a dragon, a swamp as a flower garden, or even the air as an enemy. And Toshiro-kun has already proven this with his life."
"But the condition for activating all this is... having someone see the moment Kyoka Suigetsu is released."
"Having seen it just once, from that moment on, you are hypnotized. Thereafter, every time I release Kyoka Suigetsu, you will fall into complete hypnosis."
Hearing Aizen's words, Unohana's heart stirred. She seemed to realize something, and her expression turned grim: "Having seen it just once..."
Aizen said with some surprise: "Oh my, it seems you've discovered it. That's right... having seen it once is enough to be hypnotized. And blind people... cannot see. In other words, from the very beginning..."
"Tosen is my subordinate!"
…
On a certain road in the Seireitei, Renji was desperately fleeing while carrying Rukia.
However, after turning a corner, Renji suddenly stopped.
"Ca-Captain Tosen? Why... are you here...?"
Renji became extremely nervous upon seeing Tosen suddenly appear blocking the road.
Without a word, Tosen directly took out a bandage and, with a flick of his wrist, wrapped himself, Renji, and Rukia inside.
…
Meanwhile, inside the Central 46 Compound.
Gin, standing beside Aizen, also suddenly took out a bandage. With a flick of his wrist, the bandage danced, enclosing himself and Aizen inside.
"Finally... I must compliment you, Captain Unohana. Due to your examination duties, you were the one in contact with 'my corpse' the longest. Yet, despite being under complete hypnosis, you still noticed the subtle problems with 'my corpse'."
Although his words were complimentary, Aizen's demeanor was arrogant, as if receiving his praise was an extremely fortunate thing.
"We part ways here. From now on... we shall never meet again..."
As he spoke, a dazzling light suddenly flared around Aizen and Gin.
"Wait...!!"
Isane gripped her Zanpakuto, wanting to rush forward and stop them, but the light faded, and Aizen and Gin had vanished.
After Aizen and Gin disappeared, Isane immediately began to use Kido, trying to track their whereabouts.
"Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain..."
"Bakudo #58, Kakushitsuijaku!"
"I've pinpointed their location! East 332, North 1566!"
"That location is... the Sokyoku Hill!!" Isane's expression changed suddenly.
"I understand. Immediately search for and lock onto the locations of the Captains and Lieutenants, then relay to them everything we know about Aizen Sosuke. At the same time... let the Ryoka know as well." Unohana remained calm and composed, issuing orders methodically.
"U-Understood!" Isane hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
Then Unohana spoke again: "I'll leave things here to you for now. I'll go and collect Captain Hitsugaya's remains..."
"No need for the trouble…"
Before Unohana could finish her sentence, a voice she found very familiar sounded leisurely.
Unohana followed the sound and saw a figure emerging from the ice wall.
"Captain Hitsugaya?!" Unohana was shocked, as this suddenly appearing figure was indeed Toshiro.
"If you are Captain Hitsugaya... then who was the one killed by Aizen earlier...?"
As she spoke, Unohana couldn't help but glance at the 'remains' of Toshiro that had been lying on the ground.
However, the so-called 'remains' had somehow transformed into a human-shaped ice sculpture.
"What on earth... is going on, Captain Hitsugaya?" Unohana asked, puzzled.
"Ah... how should I put it..."
Toshiro scratched his head and said: "In short, the one killed by Aizen earlier wasn't me. It was just an [Ice Double]."
"This is a newly developed technique. You know I have a move called [Ice Puppet], right? Well, [Ice Double] is an upgraded version of Ice Puppet, derived from it. But its effectiveness is far superior to Ice Puppet, to the point where it can almost be mistaken for the real thing."