After the commotion, everyone continued discussing serious matters.
"Ichigo, did those two Arrancars yesterday say anything about why they were specifically targeting you?" Toshiro asked.
"Hmm... I remember they only said their target was me, but why they were targeting me, or who sent them, I don't know." Ichigo thought for a moment.
"The mastermind is undoubtedly Aizen. He's the only one who could command those Arrancars. But the question is, why target you?" Toshiro frowned, pondering.
If following the original work's plot development, it wouldn't be strange for Aizen to target Ichigo, because Aizen had been paying attention to him from the very beginning.
After all, someone like Ichigo, who possesses the powers of a Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy all in one, is very rare, and his potential is immense.
And Aizen, feeling the 'loneliness of the strong', had even shown a tendency to mold Ichigo into his own rival to some extent.
But previously, in order to snatch the Hogyoku created by Kisuke from Toshiro's hands, Aizen had no choice but to use Kyoka Suigetsu's ability to hypnotize Ichigo, allowing him to seize the Hogyoku from Toshiro.
And once hypnotized by Kyoka Suigetsu, no matter how great Ichigo's potential, he would lose the qualification to be Aizen's 'rival' and would no longer be valued by Aizen.
Toshiro, whose strength is at the pinnacle of Shinigami and who can also break the hypnosis of Kyoka Suigetsu, is undoubtedly more qualified and capable than Ichigo to be Aizen's 'rival'.
Logically, under these circumstances, Aizen shouldn't have targeted Ichigo like in the original work. Yet Aizen still sent people.
'Aizen, what are you thinking...'
Toshiro became even more wary in his heart. After all, the unknown is always the most terrifying...
…
Hueco Mundo, Las Noches.
"Aizen-sama, we have returned." Ulquiorra and Yammy knelt on one knee, reporting to Aizen.
In fact, they had returned to Hueco Mundo yesterday, but Aizen happened to be busy researching the Hogyoku and didn't have time to see them, so it was delayed until now.
"Welcome back, Ulquiorra, Yammy." Aizen sat on his throne atop a platform, looking down at the two.
"Now... show your compatriots the results of your mission." Aizen glanced around the hall at Gin, Tosen, the other Espada, and their attendants.
Ulquiorra responded calmly, then, without changing his expression, gouged out his left eye.
Crack!
Ulquiorra crushed his left eyeball in his hand.
"Everyone, please look." Ulquiorra said.
The crushed eyeball transformed into Reishi, condensing into an elliptical light screen.
Everyone in the hall looked towards the screen, which showed the battle from yesterday between Ulquiorra, Yammy, and Ichigo.
Or rather, it was more appropriate to say it showed Yammy's battle with Ichigo, as Ulquiorra had never truly engaged from start to finish. It was just Yammy dominating Ichigo.
"I see. You believed that someone of his level wasn't worth killing specifically, correct?" Aizen said with a light laugh.
Ulquiorra replied, "Yes. Because the order received earlier was 'kill him if he interferes with us', and besides..."
"Hey! You're too kind, aren't you? Although someone of his level could be killed by me in one blow and indeed poses no threat, there's no need to kindly spare him because of that, right?"
"After all, he's still an enemy. Even if he's not worth killing, there's also no reason to let him go. And judging by Yammy's pathetic state, it seems less like he wasn't worth killing and more like you were too weak to kill him, weren't you?" Grimmjow, ranked sixth among the Espada, suddenly accused.
Ulquiorra glanced expressionlessly at Grimmjow, who was provoking him, then, to everyone's surprise in the hall, nodded and said, "You are correct. I indeed cannot kill him."
"What?!" Everyone exclaimed in surprise.
They had expected Ulquiorra to strongly rebut the provocation from Grimmjow, who was ranked lower than him, but instead, he admitted he couldn't kill Ichigo.
"I truly do not have the strength to kill Ichigo, because..."
Ulquiorra's gaze turned back to the screen. "...that man appeared."
At that moment, the screen showed Toshiro arriving just in time, saving Ichigo, then toying with Ulquiorra and thrashing Yammy.
"Someone like me was lucky to escape from that man with my life. I indeed had no remaining strength to kill Kurosaki Ichigo." Ulquiorra said calmly.
Grimmjow asked in shock, "That man is..."
"—Hitsugaya Toshiro!" Aizen's eyes suddenly flashed with sharpness.
"I didn't expect him to appear in the Human World so soon." Aizen said, his expression unreadable.
"That's Hitsugaya Toshiro?"
"I didn't expect the man Aizen-sama calls a great enemy to be so... 'young'?"
"But his strength is indeed terrifying. Yammy had no power to resist in front of him, and even Ulquiorra dared not engage him."
A flurry of discussion broke out in the hall.
When Tier Harribel, the Tres Espada, saw the figure on the screen, her mind was instantly shaken.
'Hitsugaya Toshiro!?'
'C-Could it be... him?!'
'B-But... why has he become smaller?'
Harribel could never forget when she and her companions were defeated by Baraggan's subordinate, Pedro, fell into a desperate situation, and were about to be killed by him.
In that moment of pain and regret, that man had descended from the sky, saving her and her companions.
He didn't discriminate against them or ignore their plight simply because of the hostile relationship between Shinigami and Hollows.
But in the end, Shinigami and Hollows weren't compatible. After saving them, he didn't stay long, said a few simple words, and left.
All she knew was that his name was Hitsugaya Toshiro and that he was a Shinigami. Beyond that, she knew nothing.
After that incident, Harribel never saw the man named Hitsugaya Toshiro again.
To increase her strength, to have the power to protect her companions, Harribel had chosen to join Aizen's ranks.
Decades passed in the blink of an eye. The events of that time should have faded away, yet for some reason, Harribel could never forget that figure.
She would think of the Shinigami named Hitsugaya Toshiro from time to time.
Earlier, when Aizen had defected from the Soul Society and returned to Hueco Mundo, he had mentioned a Shinigami named Hitsugaya Toshiro to the Espada, speaking of him with considerable caution.
Hearing the name 'Hitsugaya Toshiro' back then, Harribel had suspected whether it was the person who had saved her and her companions. But with only a name, she could never be sure.
Now, after seeing Toshiro's image on the screen...
She still couldn't be sure!!
Because when Toshiro had saved Harribel back then, he had been in his Bankai state.
So Harribel had seen Toshiro after Bankai, in his adult form.
But the Toshiro on the screen now was in his normal state.
If the adult Toshiro looked like a university student, the normal Toshiro looked like an elementary school student.
Well, at most a sixth grader, definitely not yet a middle school student.
So now Harribel was somewhat shocked and uncertain, unable to confirm whether the Hitsugaya Toshiro on the screen was the Hitsugaya Toshiro who had saved her.
'If it was him, then how could decades have passed, and not only has 'Hitsugaya Toshiro' not grown up, he's actually become smaller?'
Tens of years had passed, but instead of getting bigger, Toshiro had regressed from a 'university student' to an 'elementary school student'. That was simply unbelievable.
But if it wasn't him, then the Hitsugaya Toshiro on the screen looked too much like the 'Hitsugaya Toshiro' who had saved her!
Apart from the apparent age difference, everything else was identical to the 'Hitsugaya Toshiro' who had saved her back then, even the name was exactly the same. It was practically a miniature version of the 'Hitsugaya Toshiro' she had met.