Chapter 273 273 Hyorinmaru's Dissuasion
According to Yamamoto, aside from the Soul King, he had never discovered the existence of any other true God-level beings.
If Toshiro had to train on his own, forget whether he could break the Shinigami's limits and become a God-level being. Even if he could truly achieve it, who knows how much time it would take.
Therefore, if there was a shortcut, Toshiro wouldn't mind using the Hogyoku.
"Can the Hogyoku really fulfill wishes and help me break through?" Toshiro murmured to himself.
"Of course it can't!" A voice suddenly rang in Toshiro's ear, startling him.
"Huh!" Toshiro looked and saw it was the human-form Hyorinmaru speaking by his ear.
"Hyorinmaru, it's you! I thought the Hogyoku was talking!" Toshiro said, surprised.
Originally, in the cell, besides Toshiro, there was only the unconscious Rukia. A sudden voice made Toshiro think the Hogyoku was speaking to him, since, based on the original work, the Hogyoku possessed its own consciousness.
"Hah, the Hogyoku talking? You're overthinking it. Have you forgotten? The Hogyoku in your hand isn't complete. Originally, there were two Hogyoku. One is the one in your hand, unintentionally created by Urahara Kisuke. The other was created by Aizen himself. These two Hogyoku fused to form the final, complete Hogyoku."
"With just the Hogyoku in your hand, although it possesses some consciousness, wanting to talk is impossible. Only after the two Hogyoku fuse, forming the final Hogyoku, could its consciousness possibly grow to the point of communicating with people. Otherwise, any single Hogyoku alone cannot directly communicate with people. At most, it can sense strong desires in the hearts of those nearby but cannot engage in direct communication." Hyorinmaru shook her head.
"Is that so?" Toshiro said, understanding.
"By the way, Hyorinmaru, why did you suddenly appear? Can Zanpakuto materialize at will?" Toshiro asked, puzzled.
So far, Hyorinmaru actively materializing and appearing in the real world had only happened during Toshiro's first battle with Zaraki and for a very brief period after that. But that was because Toshiro had just reached the peak of Lieutenant-level and could begin Bankai Training.
Upon reaching the Lieutenant-level's limit, when one can begin Bankai Training, basically all Shinigami's Zanpakuto can materialize.
"Hmph, who do you think I am? I am Hyorinmaru! Don't casually compare me to those ordinary Zanpakuto." Hyorinmaru smiled gracefully, speaking with some pride.
"Alright, alright, you're amazing, okay?" Toshiro said helplessly.
However, Toshiro had always felt Hyorinmaru was very mysterious, so it wasn't surprising she had unknown abilities.
"But why did you appear this time, Hyorinmaru?" Toshiro asked.
Hyorinmaru first materialized in the outside world to help Toshiro defeat Zaraki. After that, aside from Toshiro's Bankai Training, Hyorinmaru never materialized again, indicating she wouldn't appear casually without a reason.
Hyorinmaru nodded slightly, then looked at Toshiro with her ice-blue eyes. "I appeared this time to advise you not to place your hopes of breaking through on the Hogyoku."
"Oh? Why? If I don't use the Hogyoku and rely solely on myself to break through, the difficulty is too great, isn't it? You know, Genryusai-sensei used over two thousand years and still hasn't broken the Shinigami's limits, taken that final step into the divine realm. Even if my talent is higher than Genryusai-sensei's and I can take that final step, it's not something that can be accomplished in a short time, right?" Toshiro asked.
"The reason I advise against using the Hogyoku mainly has two points." Hyorinmaru extended two slender, pale fingers.
"First, with your current immense strength, wanting to break through again cannot be achieved with just the Hogyoku in your hand. Unless you can also seize the one Aizen possesses and fuse the two Hogyoku into one, then it might help you break through again."
"Second, and most importantly, even if you just seize the Hogyoku from Aizen, which may be very difficult, but not impossible, the key issue is that seizing Aizen's Hogyoku and then fusing the two, while indeed able to assist your breakthrough, comes with significant side effects." Hyorinmaru said with a serious expression.
"Side effects?!" Toshiro's heart skipped a beat.
"Correct. Using the Hogyoku to break through to a higher level, while indeed possible, is ultimately achieved through the Hogyoku, not trained step by step by yourself. Therefore, even if you ultimately break through to the true God-level, you would be the weakest among true gods." Hyorinmaru explained.
"So that's it. No wonder Aizen, after fully fusing with the Hogyoku and even evolving to a higher level, was still easily defeated by Ichigo." Toshiro suddenly understood.
It's like in those Chinese cultivation novels, where characters forcibly break through using pills, resulting in unstable foundations and low combat power.
"And if that were all, it might be acceptable. Although combat power is low, at least one becomes a god. However, using the Hogyoku has side effects beyond just that." Hyorinmaru continued.
"If you use the Hogyoku to break through, further progress after the breakthrough becomes essentially impossible. You'd be stuck at that one level for life."
"After all, although the Hogyoku is indeed somewhat extraordinary and can assist breakthroughs, in the end, it's just something invented by Urahara Kisuke and Aizen. Placing too much faith in it isn't a good thing." In her words and demeanor, Hyorinmaru showed no regard for the Hogyoku that Aizen had painstakingly sought, treating it as if it weren't precious, just an ordinary gemstone.