[Soul Society, Afternoon]
When Rosse led the Hollow army to invade the Wandenreich, Soul Society was still as calm as usual.
But at this moment, that calm shattered, like the surface of a lake smashed apart by a massive boulder.
Buzz!
A huge shadow, pitch black like ink, rose up without any warning from the darkness beneath Seireitei.
Yhwach had descended upon Soul Society without any sign.
In an instant, a terrifying spiritual pressure far beyond the understanding of all the captain-class Shinigami swept across the entire Seireitei like a tidal wave.
The clear sky suddenly darkened.
The clouds hung low as if filled with lead, as though the sky itself was about to collapse.
Under this pressure that could freeze the soul, all Shinigami below captain level, even those usually arrogant seated officers and vice-captains, were slammed to the ground in an instant, stripped of even the courage to raise their heads.
"C-Captain!"
Inside the Fifth Division barracks.
The girl who was usually frail now burst out with astonishing willpower.
Hinamori Momo's face was deathly pale, her forehead covered in cold sweat. Her body trembled like a leaf in the wind, yet relying on the concern she held for her captain, she staggered into the captain's room and collapsed in front of Aizen.
"Are you alright?"
Aizen frowned slightly, but deep within those gentle eyes there was not the slightest ripple of emotion.
He reached out to help Hinamori up, placed her in a chair, and spoke softly, "Rest here for a while. It's a bit chaotic outside. Don't go out."
After saying that, he took the white captain's haori from the rack, draped it over his shoulders with practiced ease, and stepped out the door.
At that moment, his expression control was flawless.
Like a completely unaware and dutiful captain, stepping out at the first sign of trouble to take charge.
Standing in the corridor, Aizen tilted his head slightly upward.
In his view, that shadow belonging to Yhwach had already turned into a streak of black light, breaking free from the restraints of the sky, heading straight toward the place even he longed for, the Royal Palace.
"So impatient."
A faint smile curved at Aizen's lips, "Even if I'm not the first to go up, I really don't think highly of how this will end for you."
Yhwach might show off for a while, but the real show had only just begun. In the end, he was nothing more than a piece Rosse used to test the waters.
Buzz!
Not long after the disturbance caused by that black shadow subsided, ripples appeared in the space within the shadows of the Fifth Division courtyard.
Ishida Ryuken appeared like a ghost, bringing Kyoraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jushiro, and Hirako Shinji with him.
"Mr. Ishida, long time no see."
Aizen turned around, pushed up his glasses, his tone as familiar as if greeting an old friend.
Yet this seemingly ordinary greeting instantly made the expressions of Kyoraku and the others turn extremely ugly.
"Damn you, Aizen!"
Hirako Shinji, who had been in a weakened state, finally couldn't hold back after hearing those words.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the man he had hated for a hundred years, his voice hoarse, "You bastard, since when did you start getting mixed up with that soldier Ishida Ryuken?"
"Oh my, Captain Hirako."
Aizen raised his brows in mock surprise. That innocent expression made people want to stamp their shoe soles onto his face, "After all this time, you're still as straightforward as ever. But…"
He looked around, his tone carrying a hint of deliberate confusion and mockery, "Why don't I see your other Visored friends? Could it be they think the air in Soul Society isn't good, so they don't want to come back?"
Boom!
Those words became the final straw.
"Aizen! You filthy piece of shit! I knew it!"
Hirako Shinji completely snapped.
Hiyori's death. Love's tragic state… Scene after scene exploded in his mind.
He no longer cared about the bigger picture. Gripping his Zanpakuto, he charged at Aizen like a wounded beast.
This time, Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro didn't even try to stop him.
They understood too well.
The only reason Hirako was still alive wasn't because he had any role in Rosse's script, but because of Aizen.
This man wanted to keep Hirako alive, so Rosse had spared him and sent him back as a "gift."
Clang!
Facing this strike filled with a century of hatred, Aizen didn't move his feet at all.
He simply extended two fingers lightly, like catching a falling leaf, and effortlessly pinched the sharp blade.
"Captain Hirako."
Aizen still wore that nauseating gentle smile, but his eyes were cold to the bone, "Even back when I was your vice-captain, killing you would've taken only a thought. A hundred years have passed, I've reached the summit, yet you… still haven't improved at all?"
"How disappointing."
"Forget it."
Aizen sighed softly, like a strict teacher lamenting an unteachable student, "Since you can't do it yourself, let me help you. I'll help you cross that threshold I already pushed you toward a hundred years ago, but that you still couldn't step past even after all this time."
Ding!
He flicked his finger gently.
Crack! Crack!
Under Hirako's horrified gaze, the Zanpakuto that had accompanied him for a hundred years shattered piece by piece into countless tiny metal fragments.
Immediately after, the Hogyoku hidden beneath Aizen's shihakusho lit up, bursting with dazzling and eerie seven-colored light.
"Merge."
With Aizen's low murmur, those shattered blade fragments seemed drawn by some force, stabbing directly into Hirako's body, following flesh and spirit pathways, forcibly fusing with his soul.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
A heart-rending scream echoed through the Fifth Division barracks.
The agony of his soul being torn apart and reassembled made Hirako's entire body convulse.
What was strange was that despite such a massive disturbance, Hinamori Momo resting in the adjacent captain's room, the patrol squads outside, even the entire Seireitei's sensory systems, all seemed to fail at once, with no reaction whatsoever.
Kyoka Suigetsu had already merged with his body.
With a single thought, he could control everything.
"Aizen! What did you do?", Kyoraku Shunsui shouted sharply.
"Nothing much."
Aizen looked at Hirako rolling on the ground in pain, a trace of satisfaction flashing in his eyes, "I merely helped Captain Hirako complete his evolution. It's a result I hoped he'd achieve a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, he made me wait in vain for a century."
"Heh! You still don't treat people as people, do you?"
Kyoraku Shunsui took a deep breath, suppressing the killing intent in his heart, "With abilities like yours, why stoop to doing something this vile? Right now, you're just making a wedding dress for Rosse."
He was trying to attack Aizen psychologically.
This was the last thing he could do.
If he could turn Aizen, even slightly shake him, combined with the combat power present and with Rosse absent from Soul Society, they might still have a slim chance to turn things around.
Thinking this, Kyoraku unconsciously glanced at Ishida Ryuken, who had been standing with his arms crossed, watching the whole time.
"Hah!"
Ishida Ryuken pushed his glasses, a cold glint flashing across the lenses, the mockery at the corner of his mouth undisguised, "I've read that file. Rosse once said that in Soul Society, aside from Aizen, you and Urahara Kisuke are the smartest. But now it seems you're nothing special."
"Urahara… died by your hand?", Kyoraku Shunsui's heart skipped a beat, instantly catching the implication.
"He schemed against me and Uryu. Shouldn't he die? He knowingly cooperated with Yhwach, the murderer of Katagiri. Shouldn't he die?"
Ishida Ryuken's voice was terrifyingly calm, yet carried a suffocating killing intent.
Kyoraku gave a bitter smile.
Yes. From Ishida Ryuken's standpoint, both he and Urahara Kisuke did deserve death.
"I won't deny that in this matter, we were indeed in the wrong."
Kyoraku sighed, his gaze turning firm, "But if you don't kill me, I will resist. As long as I still have a breath left, I won't watch this world fall into Rosse's hands."
"Resist?"
Ishida Ryuken let out a mocking laugh, as if hearing a joke, and for the first time looked directly at this disheveled captain, "Kyoraku Shunsui, do you really think the only reason I haven't killed you yet is because of His Majesty's orders?"
"To be honest, I can understand His Majesty's bad taste a little now."
He glanced at Aizen, who was still tormenting Hirako, a hint of amusement in his eyes, "Watching you struggle desperately in this kind of hopeless situation… it's actually quite interesting."
"You want to turn Aizen? Go ahead, try."
"I'm curious too. What kind of bargaining chip can you bring out to move a monster whose strength even surpasses mine."
"In His Majesty's evaluation, Aizen ranks No.1 in this world, standing above all living beings."
Ishida Ryuken's words made everyone present feel suffocated.
Standing above all living beings.
Just hearing that was enough to understand how highly Rosse regarded Aizen.
Yamamoto Genryusai, Yhwach, the Soul King, the Monk… none of them came close to Aizen.
This level of regard weighed heavily on Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro, left Hirako Shinji in disbelief, and even made Aizen himself feel a trace of surprise.
Aizen had always seen Rosse as someone walking the same path, both mentor and companion.
But that was only his own perception. He knew clearly that compared to Rosse, he was far behind.
Even the Espada casually created by the other had only just now been surpassed by him.
Even he himself had no confidence in surpassing Rosse at the final moment.
Yet he hadn't expected that Rosse would regard him as the most valued person in this world.
Aizen's lips curved upward unconsciously, a hint of pleasure surfacing.
"So, Captain Aizen."
Kyoraku Shunsui took a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore Ishida Ryuken's words and focus all his attention on the brown-haired man before him, who seemed to be in a good mood.
This was his final gamble.
"Why cooperate with Rosse? You of all people should understand that his very existence is the greatest obstacle on your path to the supreme throne, isn't it?"
"As long as he exists, you can only ever be second! You might not even be able to keep that position!"
Kyoraku's voice was full of persuasion.
He was betting that Aizen's extreme pride would never allow himself to bow beneath anyone.
"That's true."
Unexpectedly, Aizen didn't refute him. Instead, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, revealing an appreciative smile.
"Captain Kyoraku, it seems that after leaving Soul Society, you've grown quite a bit. At least you've learned to consider things from the bigger picture."
But his tone shifted, still calm as water, "However, if I cooperate with you, what would I gain?"
"Then what do you gain from cooperating with Rosse?"
Kyoraku immediately shot back, his tone urgent, "If you keep following him, whether he succeeds or not, you'll end up dead! He would rather let that madman Yhwach go up to the Royal Palace first than send you. Doesn't that already say everything?"
"In Rosse's chessboard, you're just a slightly more valuable expendable piece!"
As he spoke, Kyoraku suddenly raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through the ceiling of the Fifth Division barracks and stab straight into the sky.
Even from deep within Soul Society, any captain-level powerhouse could clearly sense that above the distant heavens, behind those layers of dark clouds, an earth-shaking clash of spiritual pressure was erupting.
That was the fluctuation of Yhwach battling the Zero Division.
The tremor came from the sky, even the air humming with it.
"Aizen! Are you willing to accept this? Watching someone else get ahead while you stand here like a watchdog?"
"Heh!"
Aizen suddenly let out a laugh.
It wasn't loud, but it carried a kind of tolerance and helplessness, as if he had just heard a child's naive words.
"Alright, it seems I need to take back what I just said."
He shook his head lightly, those deep eyes looking at Kyoraku like he was watching an immature child:
"Captain Kyoraku, you have grown. But not by much."
Before his words fully settled, Aizen stepped forward.
Buzz!
The surrounding space suddenly became like an ink painting soaked in water, the scenery starting to blur and distort.
The Fifth Division barracks, the stone paths, the corridors, all became vague and indistinct.
Replacing them was a grand palace complex floating above the clouds.
A massive floating disk, the towering Kirinden, and that black figure locked in a fierce battle with Nimaiya Oetsu, who wielded a Zanpakuto. Yhwach!
"This is… the Royal Palace?"
Kyoraku Shunsui's pupils shrank sharply, his heart skipping a beat.
He had never personally set foot there, but seeing this scene, those figures fighting, how could he mistake it?
There was no doubt.
This was the very place where Yhwach was fighting the Zero Division.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.