Noblesse Oblige.

As Isshin continues to fight Aizen, Ichigo and Gin exchange words. Gin says its being a while since they fought, but Ichigo says he doesn't remember it. He explains that everyone who he has fought with conveyed their minds through the battle; however, Gin was different in that he didn't even look at him despite the fact they were fighting. Ichigo wonders what he was looking at instead and Gin responds he is a creepy kid. Gin next raises his reiatsu and asks Ichigo if he knew how long Shinsou can stretch - 100 sword lengths (approx 100 meters). Next he tells Ichigo to guess how long his Bankai is. Ichigo says he doesn't care, but Gin surprises him by revealing the sword can stretch 13km. Gin claims its hard to grasp how long that distance is, so he intends to show Ichigo by releasing his Bankai, Kamishini no Yari. The release of his sword immediately cuts down every building in sight horizontally and Gin follows through by swinging the sword at Ichigo. The attack pushes Ichigo back tremendously but he manages to block it and stop the momentum. Gin seemed surprised but Ichigo says its not uncommon for one Bankai to block another. Since Gin's sword is halted, Ichigo immediately unleashes a Getsuga at Gin. This attack made contact but Gin emerges with only a light wound. Gin responds that Ichigo is a creepy kid to have stopped his Bankai and he will fight Ichigo the old fashioned way to take care of him. Gin retracts his Bankai and Ichigo notices how fast he did it. Gin uses Shunpo and his unreleased sword to attack Ichigo relentlessly, while Ichigo tries to make sense of Gin's sword. Ichigo realized Gin's sword's power and that he's done for if Gin manages to point the tip of his sword at Ichigo. Just at the moment of this revelation, Gin Shunpos away and shoots out his Bankai, which instantly pierces Ichigo's shoulder. Gin follows with a vertical slash to which Ichigo manages to evade. The missed attack impacts with the ground and destroys the whole section where Ichigo was standing. While the debris was still flying in midair, Ichigo rushes Gin to close the distance. However, Gin had retracted his sword to counter Ichigo's assault and then distances himself again. Ichigo tells Gin he figured out Gin's sword's ability - it's not in the length, but rather how fast Gin can stretch his sword. The whole spiel making Ichigo guess the length of the sword was an attempt to distract him from its true power. Gin ascertains him and further demonstrates that his Bankai can contract at 500x the speed of sound. Considering its maximum distance of 13km, Gin can technically hit anything in a 13km radius in less than 80ms [(13 000 m) / (speed of sound x 500) = 76.4054189 milliseconds]. Gin says he told Ichigo this because Ichigo doesn't stand a chance in hell.

Meanwhile, Isshin is overtaking Aizen in their fight and he says that Aizen is at his limits. Aizen agrees that he is at his limit, but only for his shinigami self. Aizen claims that the Hougyoku has its own will and that will is now finally accepting Aizen's will (meaning they are merging). Isshin remains in the dark so Aizen explains that the Hougyoku's power is not the blurring of the line between Shinigami and Hollows. Instead, its true power is to read the minds of those around it and make manifest what it finds there. Aizen explains the reason why Urahara misidentified the Hougyoku's power as manipulating the boundary between Hollow and Shinigami is because that was his wish as its creator; the reason that Rukia transferred all her spiritual power to Ichigo and then lost her powers as a Shinigami was because she hadn't been given any relief from the pain of killing Kaien; the reason Sado and Inoue had their unique powers brought forth was because they detested their own powerlessness. Furthermore, Aizen elaborates that the Hougyoku doesn't completely work unless the subjects inherently possess the power to fulfill their desire. Their conversation is interrupted by Gin's attack sending Ichigo flying past them into a building. Gin apologizes for the interruption but Aizen says they are finishing up. As he said this, the Hougyoku envelopes more of his body, which indicates the speeding up of the transformation. Suddenly, Aizen gets shot through his shoulder: Urahara finally makes his appearance. Urahara notes the progress of the transformation, and Aizen says that he is mastering the Hougyoku that Urahara couldn't himself. Aizen Shunpos to Urahara and stabs him but Urahara's "body" pops. It turns out this was the inflatable substitute Gigai Urahara used on Yammy. Urahara appears behind Aizen and binds him with Bakudou 61 Six Rods Light Prison, Bakudou 63 Sajyou Sabaku, and Bakudou 73 Kuyou Shibari. Urahara finishes the combo with Hadou 91 Thousand Hands Bright Sky Cannon. Even though Aizen notes the danger of the level 91 Kidou, he does not dodge. Aizen emerges from the smoke unharmed and surprise attacks Urahara from behind; Urahara escapes with a shoulder injury. Urahara says Aizen's carelessness isn't like his old self anymore and Aizen explains this is because he is so strong he doesn't need to be. Urahara clarifies his statements meaning that the old Aizen would not let him try attacks one after another. As he says this, Aizen's hands become bound with reiatsu handcuffs. Urahara explains it is a seal that seals the flow of reiatsu out of one's palms so the victim would be blasted by his own reiatsu. Aizen proceeds to be enveloped by an explosion of light.

Thoughts on~
Gin: The revelation of Gin's abilities did not disappoint but did not impress. Considering Gin's Bankai, it is not very creative as it is just an extension of his Shikai (faster speed and longer length). However, it is very strong. Essentially, the speed and distance of his attacks make him the perfect sniper. If you are standing 13km away, you will have less than 80ms to dodge one of Gin's attacks. The problem here is whether Gin himself can even see his targets this far away (and his eyes being closed all the time doesn't help =P). Nevertheless, I was very satisfied with the spur of some great action pictures and poses for Gin form these chapters.

Aizen: I am very displeased with how Aizen is turning out. First considering his appearance, he is ugly and boring as hell. Aizen looks like a cross between Rudobon (leader of Exequias) and Tosen's Hollowfication form. Hopefully Aizen was right in saying mid-transformation is always ugly and what we see now is not a good representation of his final form. Next, considering his strength, Aizen became weak like a noob. Not more than a few chapters ago, Gin exclaimed on Aizen's insane strength and Aizen proved it by pwning all the captains with little effort and breaking their most powerful combined attacks and Bankais (and this was only with his Shikai). But ever since his bout with Yamamoto, Aizen has fallen from his pedestal of seemingly invincibility. For 390 chapters, Aizen never had more than a scratch on him. Even Yamamoto, who is the strongest Shinigami in 1000 years, only managed to burn his clothing and dirty his face with a self sacrificial high leveled Kidou. Then out of nowhere, Ichigo comes and somehow wounds Aizen with an unmasked Getsuga (remember even Ulquiorra could block this barehandedly). Then immediately after this, some minor comic relief character we haven't seen much of (no offense Isshin) comes in and start beating the crap out of Aizen with just his Zanpakutou - no release or Kidou. I demand the back story on Isshin soon or else I will stop believing in anything logical anymore. Either way, assuming Isshin was more powerful than all the Gotei 13 and Visoreds combined (seeing how all them barely injured Aizen), why doesn't Aizen reveal his true power and release his Bankai. Instead, he relies on the merged Hougyoku to heal him while he tells the enemy all about his plans. Urahara did the right thing and took this opportunity to wail on Aizen with high level attacks. Anyways my point is Aizen seems to have gotten weaker, which might be explained by the fact he is in mid-transformation and his abilities are limited. I don't buy any of this, hopefully we will get our explanations soon.

Urahara:
One word: epic.

Labels: Bleach, Manga