Sousuke Aizen's current power, explained

Key insights

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

In the latest episode of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood WarThe newly appointed Captain Commander of the Gotei 13, Shunsui Kyoraku, goes to the underground prison beneath the barracks of Squad 1, the Muken. While there, his best friend Captain Ukitake makes a deal with a god, Mimigahi, to save Soul Society, Shunsui makes a deal with the devil, Sousuke Aizen. Just before releasing him from his seal, Kyoraku speaks to Aizen and asks him to help the Gotei 13 in their battle with Yhwach. Shunsui knows that other than Ichigo, no one is as powerful as Aizen, and they need all the help they can get.

It has been two years since Aizen was sealed by Kisuke Urahara after his epic battle against Dangai Ichigo. And yet he is still a being on a completely different level than everyone else on the battlefield except Ichigo and Yhwach. While Aizen has always been a step above the regular Shinigami, his fusion with the Hogyouku gave him a transcendent power that surpasses all others in the world bleaching.

Sousuke Aizen before and after Hogyoku

An anomaly, a being beyond all others

When Sousuke Aizen was born, the balance of souls was disturbed. Aizen is an anomaly in every sense of the word. He shouldn't exist. Even at birth, he was a being far superior to all other Shinigami. But he knew how to hide this, so he enrolled in the Shinigami Academy and joined Gotei 13, where he served as vice-captain of Squad 5 under Shinji Hirako. After his Hollowfication experiments that ruined the lives of the Shinigami who later became the Vizored, Aizen became the captain of Squad 5 and later Momo Hinamori became 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 regained his Hogyouku and fled to Hueco Mundo with Captains Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen.

From the beginning, no one was in heaven. Not you, not me, not even gods. However, this unbearable vacuum is coming to an end. From now on… I will stand in heaven.

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

He then begins to evolve into a transcendent being and merges with the Hogyouku. He fights Urahara, Isshin Kurosaki, and Yoruichi Shihouin with ease while transforming. After reaching a new level of evolution, his power is so overwhelming that it completely obliterates anyone who comes near him. After being betrayed by Gin Ichimaru, he evolves again, and when he fights a newly evolved Ichigo, he achieves a final, monstrous transformation. He is hit by Ichigo's Final Getsuga Tenshou: Mugetsu. And yet he survives. He is locked away by Urahara and sentenced to 18,800 years in prison in Muken by the new Central 46.

There, Aizen remained fused with the Hogyouku, silently refining his powers and completely shedding the physical form of his Zanpakutou, Kyouka Suigetsu. When Yhwach visited him during the first Quincy invasion, he was able to harness Zanpakutou's powers simply by Yhwach looking at him. Aizen has become one with his Zanpakutou and the Hogyouku.

Aizen's current power

Invincible and overwhelming

Thanks to his fusion with the Hogyouku and his transcendent evolution, Sousuke Aizen is the most powerful Shinigami ever to exist alongside Ichigo Kurosaki, a completely different case. Aizen can manifest his powers with ease without having to let go of his Shikai. His mastery of Kidou has also increased. He is capable of casting extremely powerful Kidou spells without incantation. Such as Hadou 99: Kurohitsugi (Black Box) and Hadou 99: Goryuutenmetsu (Five Whirling Dragons of Destruction), one of the most powerful techniques in Bleach.

In addition to his overwhelming power, he is virtually immortal and indestructible. He can endure any injury and survive. Aizen would have to be hit by a divine force to suffer significant damage or even be close to death. Thanks to the Hogyoku, Aizen's already unusual power has tripled. As the Muken guard moved towards Aizen to restrain him, his hands disintegrated as he got closer. Aizen's spiritual pressure is so dense and powerful that anyone who comes close to him will die instantly. The seals do not erase his spiritual pressure, they merely keep it close to him.

I have to say… you really are an entertaining man. Do I want to breathe fresh air, you ask? Would this be the fresh air of a Soul Society that is unceremoniously crushed by Yhwach?

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

• 

  Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War

• 

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