Bleach: The Strongest Shinigami, Hitsugaya Toshiro

After hearing Hyorinmaru's words, Toshiro couldn't help but fall into hesitation.

Hyorinmaru was, after all, Toshiro's own Zanpakuto and wouldn't lie to him. So, what she said should be true.

However, if using the Hogyoku would truly result in the situation Hyorinmaru described, then using it might not be worth it.

After all, if breaking through with the Hogyoku resulted in low combat power and limited growth potential, it would be too unworthy.

Seeing Toshiro's troubled expression, Hyorinmaru immediately comforted him, "You don't need to worry. The so-called Shinigami's limit doesn't actually exist for you. Even without using the Hogyoku, you can still break through through your own training."

"How so?" Toshiro asked.

"A Shinigami is composed of soul and Reishi. The so-called Shinigami's limit is essentially the soul's limit. Generally, each soul has an upper limit to its strength. When a Shinigami's power grows to the limit their soul can withstand, they reach the so-called Shinigami's limit. At that point, the Shinigami's power stagnates."

"To break the Shinigami's limit and step into a higher level, the most crucial thing is to break the limit of the soul's strength. Once that's done, breaking through to a higher level happens naturally."

"And you, Toshiro, are a new existence formed from the fusion of two souls. Your soul's strength is far greater than that of other Shinigami. Therefore, the Shinigami's limit that other Shinigami, even Yamamoto Genryusai, cannot break, is not as difficult for you as you imagine. As long as you train step by step, you will break through eventually." Hyorinmaru explained to Toshiro.

"So that's it. No wonder..." Ever since his last breakthrough to the Demigod-level, although his power growth was very slow when he trained again, Toshiro hadn't experienced the near-stagnation that Yamamoto had described.

Yamamoto once said that when one's strength reaches his level, they fall into a near-stagnant predicament. No matter how much they train, there's hardly any growth.

But after Toshiro broke through to the Demigod-level, although his progress was extremely slow when training again, he could feel his strength indeed increasing bit by bit. Although the increase wasn't much, it wasn't nearly stagnant as Yamamoto had described.

"But if I train step by step, how long will it take for me to break through?" Toshiro asked.

"Hmm... that... probably fifty years," Hyorinmaru said after some thought.

"Fifty years?!" Toshiro couldn't help but frown.

The threats of Aizen and Yhwach were imminent. Where would he find fifty years to train properly?

"Don't be ungrateful, Toshiro," Hyorinmaru said, displeased.

"Your current level is Demigod. Breaking through from here would mean reaching the true God-level. The true God-level is an existence that transcends mortals, essentially becoming a true god."

"So, in any world, the true God-level can be considered a strong existence. Even in your previous life's Earth, during the era when countless gods still existed, the true God-level meant transcending the world, enjoying eternal life. If you truly break through to the true God-level, you could truly stand at the pinnacle of the Bleach World." Hyorinmaru said.

"The pinnacle of the Bleach World..." Toshiro felt somewhat yearning.

"But the most important thing right now is to defeat Aizen and Yhwach, right? If that's the case, even if I could break through through my own training within fifty years, it would still be too late. So, with just my current strength, defeating Aizen and Yhwach would be quite challenging..." Toshiro complained to Hyorinmaru.

"Well, that's true. If it were just Aizen, and Aizen didn't have the Hogyoku, your chances of victory against him would be quite high..."

"But now, although you obtained Urahara Kisuke's Hogyoku, Aizen still has the one he created himself. Even without fusing with yours to form the final Hogyoku, it shouldn't be underestimated. Not to mention Yhwach's strength is probably greater than Aizen's, possibly even..." At this point, even Hyorinmaru's expression couldn't help but turn grave.

"So, Hyorinmaru, do you have any method to help me break through quickly?" Toshiro looked at Hyorinmaru expectantly.

The current Hyorinmaru was already different from the original story's Hyorinmaru, even inheriting the ice dragon's legacy memories, making her incredibly mysterious and knowledgeable about many secrets Toshiro didn't know. So, if anyone could help Toshiro break through quickly, it was Hyorinmaru.

Indeed, upon hearing Toshiro's words, Hyorinmaru showed a thoughtful expression.

"If you want to break through quickly, it's not without a method..." Hyorinmaru said hesitantly.

"What method?!" Toshiro immediately grabbed Hyorinmaru's hand excitedly.

Hyorinmaru opened her mouth, wanting to tell Toshiro the method she knew, but hesitated and didn't speak.

"What's wrong? What is the method? Hurry up and tell me, Hyorinmaru," Toshiro said somewhat urgently.

Hyorinmaru glanced at her hand, tightly grasped by Toshiro in his excitement, and finally spoke, "The method lies with the Ice Dragon Pearl."

"The Ice Dragon Pearl is the legacy left by that ice dragon upon its demise. It contains not only the ice dragon's divine power and [True Dragon's Eye] but also the laws the ice dragon comprehended throughout its life."

"The reason the true god-level can transcend mortals and be called gods is most importantly because they have mastered laws. Every world, heaven and earth, the universe… all exist within laws."

"Although the forms of power vary in each world, like martial arts, battle aura, magic, etc., they ultimately converge. Training to a certain level will eventually involve the issue of laws."

"In this Bleach World, Shinigami power exists in the form of Zanpakuto. As a Shinigami's strength grows to a certain point, they gradually begin to vaguely touch upon laws related to their Zanpakuto's attribute. Only by truly comprehending laws related to their Zanpakuto's attribute can they master greater power, reaching the true God-level."

"But the power of laws is too ethereal. Without sufficient soul strength, comprehension is impossible. This is why soul strength becomes the key limiting factor for Shinigami breaking through to the true God-level."

"For example, Yamamoto Genryusai's Zanpakuto is the fire element. For him to break through to the true God-level, he must master laws related to fire. But due to the limitation of his soul strength, he has yet to break through."

"As for you, Toshiro, since I, your Zanpakuto, am of the ice element, for you to break through to the true God-level, you must master laws related to ice. Although your current soul strength is far greater than other Shinigami, it's still insufficient to comprehend the [Law of Ice]..."

"But now there is a shortcut. Since the ice dragon itself was of the ice attribute, the laws it mastered were the most authentic Law of Ice. And within the Ice Dragon Pearl remains the ice dragon's comprehension of the Law of Ice."

"So, as long as you can comprehend the Law of Ice within the Ice Dragon Pearl, you can naturally break through!"