Meanwhile, back at Central 46.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō, who had been cut down by that sudden slash, lay on the ground in complete confusion, as if the whole world had been turned upside down.
His eyes were filled with disbelief, and one question kept echoing through his mind.
'What the hell is going on?! I clearly froze Aizen solid inside that pillar of ice. So how did he suddenly appear and cut me?'
"Captain Hitsugaya, take another good look. Who exactly is inside that ice pillar?"
"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
Aizen released Kyōka Suigetsu's illusion at just the right moment, watching Tōshirō with a faintly amused expression.
Tōshirō struggled to stand and looked toward the ice pillar again.
But the scene inside struck him like a bolt of lightning.
The person trapped there had clearly been Aizen earlier — yet now, the one inside had become Hinamori Momo!
His childhood friend.
"MOMO!" Tōshirō cried out in shock.
He couldn't believe his own eyes, and moved closer to the ice pillar to look again.
The moment that clear figure changed from Aizen into Hinamori Momo, it felt as though lightning had pierced straight through his soul.
He remembered the attack he had launched without hesitation just now.
That strike had been meant to deal a fatal blow to his enemy. Instead, it had landed on one of the people closest to him.
'No… what have I done?!'
After suffering such a double blow, Tōshirō's vision went dark.
A surge of blood rushed up his throat, and he could no longer hold his body upright. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, then slowly collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.
In the final moment before he fainted, countless memories of his time with Hinamori Momo flashed through his mind.
Those beautiful memories had now turned into deep pain, lingering and refusing to fade.
Seeing Tōshirō slowly fall, Kuchiki Byakuya and Matsumoto Rangiku, who stood nearby, immediately felt as if they were facing a deadly enemy.
Every hair on their bodies stood on end.
"Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
"Growl, Haineko."
The two released their Zanpakutō at the same time.
The eerie scene just now had left them deeply uneasy. Both of them had clearly seen Aizen turn into Hinamori Momo.
"Does it seem strange? Are you surprised?"
And of course, Aizen couldn't resist explaining.
"This is the ability of my Zanpakutō. Once someone sees the moment Kyōka Suigetsu is released, from that point onward, they fall under complete hypnosis. Afterward, whenever Kyōka Suigetsu is released, they will enter complete hypnosis again. That is the power of my Zanpakutō."
As he spoke, he even thoughtfully demonstrated it once, leaving Byakuya and Rangiku stunned.
"Captain Aizen! Didn't you say Kyōka Suigetsu was a water-type Zanpakutō? That it disrupted enemies through the chaotic reflection of mist and flowing water, causing them to kill each other?!"
Rangiku loudly refuted him.
Aizen had demonstrated exactly that once, in front of all the lieutenants of the Gotei 13.
"My apologies. I lied to you."
As expected of Aizen. Even his apology sounded gentle.
Now that they knew the truth, neither Byakuya nor Rangiku dared to act rashly.
They couldn't be certain whether the person before them was truly Aizen, or perhaps the already injured Tōshirō, or Momo.
Every subtle movement and every tiny change in expression might contain a vital clue — but they could no longer tell the difference.
"To be honest, I am very curious. Captain Hitsugaya coming here and entering Central 46 was something I personally set in motion. But Captain Kuchiki, why did you come with him? Would you be willing to give me a reasonable explanation?"
Aizen's relaxed voice rang out, as though laced with some quiet temptation.
He was in no hurry — he knew very well that time was still on his side.
Besides, he could satisfy his own curiosity while he was at it.
Kuchiki Byakuya bit his lower lip tightly and swallowed, his mind churned, tangled and knotted.
Should he answer Aizen's question or not?
If he refused, then with Aizen's personality, the man might draw his sword and cut them down immediately.
That would place them in extreme danger.
But if he answered, perhaps he could buy a little precious time and wait for possible reinforcements.
Even if no one came, he could at least use the delay to look for a way to break through that strange ability.
His eyes flickered as he tried to make the wisest decision he could in that brief moment.
"Well, if Captain Kuchiki does not wish to say it, then forget it."
Aizen made as if he were about to raise his sword and strike.
"Wait!"
At the final moment, Byakuya chose to stall for time.
"I came to make one final appeal for Rukia. Because…"
He repeated the explanation he had given to Tōshirō earlier.
"So that's what happened... thank you for satisfying my curiosity. I will let you lie down a little more comfortably."
And having heard it, Aizen still swung his sword.
Byakuya instinctively controlled Senbonzakura to attack the Aizen in front of him.
"What are you doing, Captain Kuchiki?!"
Rangiku's anxious voice rang through the air, carrying a tone of disbelief.
Only then did Byakuya's focused gaze snap toward her, as if he'd just woken from a dream.
He hurriedly cut off Senbonzakura's fierce attack, forcing the storm of cherry blossom blades to change direction.
Almost by instinct, he shifted the entire offense, wrapping both himself and Rangiku inside the brilliant storm of blades.
It seemed like the smartest choice available in that moment — a desperate bid for survival and protection in a situation full of danger.
But in his haste, he had failed to consider one thing.
Was the Matsumoto Rangiku he saw with his own eyes truly Rangiku?
His heart began pounding fiercely, and his reason blurred for a moment.
Just as he realized this and prepared to shrink Senbonzakura's defensive range, a chill struck him without warning.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest, followed by a powerful numbness spreading through his entire body.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
The "Matsumoto Rangiku" who had attacked him was actually Aizen!
Aizen's face, forever wearing that unreadable smile, looked especially sinister now.
The words he had spoken earlier echoed in Byakuya's ear like a curse. He had indeed said he would let Byakuya lie down more comfortably.
And now, with just a light movement of his blade, he had instantly stripped Byakuya of the strength to fight again, as though his body had been hollowed out by a deep, endless exhaustion.
"Captain Kuchiki!"
Rangiku's hand began trembling uncontrollably around her sword.
That tremor spread through her entire body like an electric current.
Two captains had been defeated so easily by Aizen, right in front of her. As a lieutenant, she was filled with a crushing sense of powerlessness.
The feeling pressed down on her like a heavy cloud, almost suffocating.
She kept searching for something she could still do — anything — but every thought led into a dark abyss, without the faintest light of hope.
Defeat surged over her like a roaring tide, swallowing her whole and dragging her into despair.
"Only one left."
Those words pierced into her ears like an icy blade, making her body tremble on its own.
At that critical moment, just as Aizen prepared to deal with Rangiku as well, Ichimaru Gin stepped forward and decisively cut in.
"Captain Aizen, there's no need for you to trouble yourself over a mere lieutenant. Please leave her to me. As your subordinate, it doesn't feel right for me to keep standing here and watching from the side."
Gin's voice reached Aizen's ears.
Aizen quietly looked at Ichimaru Gin.
An unreadable light flickered in those eyes, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.
After a brief silence, he finally nodded slowly and agreed to let Gin handle it.
"Then I will leave her to you, Gin."
There was a faint trace of trust in his tone.
Rangiku's face was full of fear now, her eyes wide, filled with terror at the unknown fate awaiting her.