Summary
In the latest episode ofBleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, the newly appointed Captain Commander of the Gotei 13, Shunsui Kyoraku, goes into the underground prison under the barracks of Squad 1, the Muken. There, while his best friend Captain Ukitake makes a deal with a God, Mimigahi, to save the Soul Society, Shunsui makes a deal with the Devil, Sousuke Aizen. Kyoraku speaks to Aizenshortly before freeing himof his seal to ask him to aid the Gotei 13 in their battle with Yhwach. Shunsui knows there’s no one as powerful as Aizen except Ichigo, and they need all the help they can get.
It has been two years since Aizen was sealed following his epic battle against Dangai Ichigo at the hands of Kisuke Urahara. And yet, he’s still a being on a completely different level than anyone on the battlefield besides Ichigo and Yhwach. While Aizen has always been a level above the regular Shinigami, his fusion with the Hogyouku granted him transcendent power beyond anyone else in the world ofBleach.
Sousuke Aizen Before And After the Hogyouku
An Anomaly, A Being Beyond Any Other
When Sousuke Aizen was born, the balance of souls was disturbed. Aizen is, in every sense of the word, an anomaly. He shouldn’t exist. Already at birth, he was a being way beyond any other Shinigami. But he knew how to hide this, and he enrolled in the Shinigami Academy and joined the Gotei 13, serving as the vice-captain of Squad 5 under Shinji Hirako. After his Hollowfication experiments that ruined the lives of the Shinigami who would become the Vizored, Aizen became the captain of Squad 5, and later Momo Hinamori was his vice-captain.Using his Zanpakutou, Kyouka Suigetsu,he faked his death and betrayed the Gotei 13, killing every single member of the Central 46. He recovered his Hogyouku and fled to Hueco Mundo with captains Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen.
From the very start, no one has stood upon the heavens. Not you, not I, nor even gods. However, that intolerable vacuum has come to an end. Henceforth…I shall stand upon the heavens.
During his battle with the Gotei 13 in the Fake Karakura Town arc, Aizen easily defeated every member of the force himself, besides former Captain-Commander Yamamoto. All of this without utilizing complex Kidou techniques, which he’s an expert at,or even his Bankai if he even has one. The only enemy Aizen saw as near him in terms of power was Yamamoto, and he created an experimental Arrancar called Wunderweiss Margera to deal with him.
He then begins evolving into a transcendent being, fusing with the Hogyouku. He battles Urahara, Isshin Kurosaki, and Yoruichi Shihouin with ease, all while transforming. After he reaches a new stage of evolution, his power is so overwhelming it completely erases any human who comes near him. After being betrayed by Gin Ichimaru, he evolves once again, and when battling a newly evolved Ichigo, he reaches a final, monstrous transformation. He’s hit by Ichigo’s Final Getsuga Tenshou: Mugetsu. And still, he survives. He’s sealed away by Urahara, and the new Central 46 sentences him to 18,800 years of imprisonment in Muken.
There, Aizen remained fused with the Hogyouku, quietly refining his powers, completely discarding the physical form of his Zanpakutou, Kyouka Suigetsu. When Yhwach went to see him during the First Quincy Invasion, he was able to use Zanpakutou’s powers simply by having Yhwach look at him.Aizen has become one with his Zanpakutou and the Hogyouku.
Aizen’s Current Power
Invincible and Overwhelming
Thanks to his merger with the Hogyouku and his transcendent evolution, Sousuke Aizen is the most powerful Shinigami to ever existbesides Ichigo Kurosaki, a completely different case. Aizen can manifest his powers with ease, without even needing to release his Shikai. His mastery of Kidou has also increased. He’s able to cast extremely powerful Kidou spells without an incantation. Such as Hadou 99: Kurohitsugi (Black Box) and Hadou 99: Goryuutenmetsu (Five Swirling Dragons of Destruction), one of the most powerful techniques in Bleach.
Besides his overwhelming power, he is effectively immortal and indestructible. He can sustain any injury and survive. Aizen would have to be hit by a godly power to sustain significant damage or even be near death. Thanks to the Hogyouku, Aizen’s already abnormal power has tripled. When the Muken guard approached Aizen to restrain him, his hands disintegrated as soon as he got close. Aizen’s spiritual pressure is so dense and powerful that anyone who comes close to him will immediately die. The seals don’t erase his spiritual pressure, they merely keep it near him.
I must say… You truly are an entertaining man. Would I like to breathe fresh air, you ask? Would that be the fresh air of a Soul Society being summarily crushed by Yhwach?
Shunsui also only undid three seals on Aizen: mouth, left eye, and ankles. Meaning that most of Aizen’s body is still sealed. This is merely a portion of his full power. Yhwach previously revealed that Aizen is one of the Special War Threats. This is because of Aizen’s nearly infinite power and spiritual pressure. He’s invincible, fused with the Hogyouku, fused with his Zanpakutou, and a refined version of his transcendent evolution.
Bleach
Cast
Based on Tite Kubo’s battle shonen manga, Bleach centers around Ichigo, a high school student who is dragged into the world of Soul Reapers. The original anime ended in 2012, but it was revived in 2022.
