Sousuke Aizen's Current Power Explained

Key recommendations

• Shunsui makes a deal with Aizen to help the Gotei 13 fight Yhwach for much needed help.
• Aizen, the post-Hogyouku fusion, is the most powerful Shinigami besides Ichigo, with transcendent abilities.
• Aizen's overwhelming power, mastery of Kidou, and immortality make him invincible and indestructible.

In the latest episode of Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood Warnewly appointed Captain Commander of Gota 13, Shunsui Kyoraku, enters the underground prison beneath Troop 1's barracks, 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 with Aizen shortly before releasing him from his seal to ask him to help the Gotei 13 in their fight against Yhwach. The Shunsui know that there is no one as strong as Aizen except for Ichigo, and they need all the help they can get.

It has been two years since Aizen was sealed away 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 aside from Ichigo and Yhwach. While Aizen was always a level above the average Shinigami, his fusion with the Hogyouku gave him transcendent power beyond anyone else in his world. Whitening.

Sousuke Aizen before and after 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 far above any other Shinigami. But he knew how to hide this and enrolled in the Shinigami Academy and joined Gota 13, serving as the vice-captain of Team 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 Team 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 member of the Central 46. He retrieved his Hogyouku and fled to Hueco Mundo with captains Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen.

From the very beginning, no one sat in heaven. Not you, not me, not even gods. However, that intolerable void has come to an end. From now on… I will stay in heaven.

During his battle with the Gotei 13 in the Fake Karakura Town arc, Aizen easily defeated every member of the force aside from former Captain-Commander Yamamoto. All this without using complex Kidou techniques, which he is an expert at, or even his Bankai if he has one. The only enemy Aizen saw close to him in terms of power was Yamamoto, and he created an experimental Arrancar called Wunderweiss Margera to deal with him.

He then begins to evolve into a transcendent being, merging with Hogyouku. He fights Urahara, Isshin Kurosaki, and Yoruichi Shihouin with ease, all while transforming. After reaching a new stage of evolution, his power is so overwhelming that he completely wipes out any human that comes near him. After being betrayed by Gin Ichimaru, he evolves again, and when he fights a newly evolved Ichigo, he reaches a final, monstrous transformation. He is hit by Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou ending: Mugetsu. And yet, he survives. He was 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 giving up the physical form of his Zanpakutou, Kyouka Suigetsu. When Yhwach went to see him during the First Quincy Invasion, he was able to use his Zanpakutou powers simply by having Yhwach look at him. Aizen became one with the Zanpakutou and the Hogyouku.

Aizen's current power

Invincible and overwhelming

Due to his fusion with the Hogyouku and his transcendent evolution, Sousuke Aizen is the most powerful Shinigami to ever exist aside from Ichigo Kurosaki, a completely different case. Aizen can manifest his powers easily without having to release his Shikai anymore. His hold over Kidou grew as well. He is 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.

In addition to his overwhelming strength, he is effectively immortal and indestructible. He can take any injury and survive. Aizen would need to be hit by godly power to take significant damage or even be close to death. Thanks to the Hogyouku, Aizen's already abnormal power tripled. When the Muken guard approached Aizen to restrain him, his hands disintegrated as soon as he approached. Aizen's spiritual pressure is so dense and powerful that anyone who comes near him will die immediately. The seals don't erase his spiritual pressure, they just keep it close to him.

I have to say… You really are a fun man. I'd like some fresh air, you ask? Would this be the fresh air of a Soul Society summarily crushed by Yhwach?

Also, Shunsui only unsealed three seals on Aizen: the mouth, left eye, and ankles. It means that most of Aizen's body is still sealed away. This is only a part of its full power. Yhwach previously revealed that Aizen is one of the special war threats. This is due to Aizen's almost infinite power and spiritual pressure. He is invincible, fused with Hogyouku, fused with his Zanpakutou and a refined version of his transcendent evolution.

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  Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood War

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  Based on Tite Kubo's shonen fighting manga, Bleach centers around Ichigo, a high school student who is dragged into the world of the Soul Reapers. The original anime ended in 2012, but was revived in 2022.