Ask him to fight monsters and he'd manage just fine, but ask him to govern a nation—a nation rotted to the marrow—he simply couldn't do it.
Richest Man: "What about the Marquis?"
The Most Ancient Godslayer: "Not interested."
He and Esdeath were the same breed. He was a wolf. The law of the jungle had been carved into his bones long ago.
It was merely the Empire's nobility and ruling class oppressing commoners—not some interracial war between species. He had absolutely zero interest in that.
Most of the other group members felt the same.
Cult Leader Salvatore cared only about the Dragon Kingdom. How the people of other worlds suffered through fire and flood was none of her concern. Even within the Dragon Kingdom itself, she wouldn't intervene—she'd let its civilization develop on its own.
The Holy Lord was even less likely to care. He wasn't even the same species as humans—why would he concern himself with ordinary people's lives?
Minato Namikaze did have some thoughts on the matter, but he couldn't even handle Konoha's internal affairs without relying on Dark Naruto's Infinite Tsukuyomi. Compared to a thoroughly rotten empire, he was better suited to being a benevolent ruler—the Empire's difficulty level was beyond what he could handle.
In truth, most of the chat group had no real desire to save the people of Esdeath's world. They weren't the type to lose sleep over the suffering of strangers.
Every nation went through one or even several such periods. It was inevitable.
Those who wanted to help lacked the ability.
Those with the ability lacked the desire.
The chat group fell into a brief silence. Then, someone none of them had expected stepped forward.
Fifth Division Captain: "Since none of you are interested, allow me."
Aizen!
It was Aizen!
Ordinary Group Leader: "I honestly can't tell if I should be happy or sad for the ordinary people of Esdeath's world."
Ordinary Group Leader: "I never would've guessed Aizen would be the one to step up!"
Ordinary Group Leader: "I thought it'd be Uchiha Madara or Kamen Rider Decade."
Uchiha Dance King: "Other worlds are none of my concern."
Kamen Rider Decade: "Humanity's own choices."
Madara didn't care how people in other worlds lived, and Decade, as a Kamen Rider, could eliminate species like the Worms that invaded humanity, but he couldn't exterminate the ugliness within human hearts.
Anyone could see that attempting to reform this rotten empire required a top-to-bottom cleansing.
Even the sun could not burn away the ugliness in human hearts.
Cook Daigu Into Soup: "@Fifth Division Captain, you're not scheming something, are you?"
Richest Man: "Isn't that obvious?"
Richest Man: "Someone driven by pure goodwill to change a rotten empire would never succeed."
Richest Man: "Only people like Uchiha Madara, Aizen, or Marquis Voban can pull it off."
Richest Man: "Because they don't care how many people they kill, don't care how many will die because of their orders."
Richest Man: "Aizen definitely has his own agenda, but as long as the result is good, isn't that enough?"
Richest Man: "You don't doubt Aizen's capabilities, do you?"
Richest Man: "Even if he has his own plans, at least it'll improve the lives of ordinary people, right?"
Only a saint would disregard personal gain and selflessly help others.
But a saint could never change a rotten empire.
Aizen had the ability—yet someone like him would never do something without reason.
But did that matter?
As long as the goal was achieved, that was enough.
The process wasn't important. The result was.
Under Aizen's governance, how bad could it get?
At the very least, far better than what they had now.
Ice Queen: "Do you really think you're a match for me as you are now?"
Esdeath didn't care who stepped forward. What she cared about was Aizen's strength.
She admitted she was inferior to him in intellect, and her former self had been somewhat weaker in combat.
But now she had far surpassed her past self. This era's Aizen didn't seem to have reached his later-stage power after fusing with the Hōgyoku, and she hadn't heard of him drawing any exceptional talent or ability either.
Madara and Aizen had fought once, and Aizen had admitted defeat. That was only natural.
Against Madara—enhanced by both the Rinnegan and the Tenseigan, with his bloodline reverted to its ancestral state—Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu had been completely ineffective.
He couldn't deceive Madara's five senses, so Kyōka Suigetsu lost all its power.
Even though Aizen had reached the pinnacle of the Shinigami world in every other aspect of combat, he still couldn't match Madara.
Of course, losing to the current Madara was no disgrace. In the entire chat group, aside from Brandon, Angel Yan, and that mutt Thor, even Cult Leader Salvatore could only fight Madara to a draw. Marquis Voban and the Holy Lord had both lost to him as well.
But perhaps because Aizen had been too quiet, Esdeath's impression of him remained anchored to the Bleach storyline.
She didn't know—and couldn't guess—exactly how strong he'd become, but she didn't believe he was anything extraordinary.
Fifth Division Captain: "Without trying, how would we ever know?"
In the Soul Society, Aizen gently adjusted his glasses, a warm smile playing at the corner of his lips.
Yet that smile seemed to conceal something deeper.
"What a powerful world, Brandon."
"To think it could produce a talent like that..."
"I'm quite curious—in that world, how far can the person who obtained this ability go?"
Aizen chuckled softly, a virtual screen flickering to life before his eyes.
If Roxie and the others saw the text on it, they would have been utterly stunned.
**[Talent: Dream]**
**[Ability: Between reality and dream lies but a single thought]**
**[Note: One of the strongest Awakened abilities born of the spiritual-energy world, and also one of the weakest—it all depends on the person]**
Esdeath wasn't the only one—Aizen had also drawn an Awakened ability from Brandon's world.
Unlike Esdeath's Extreme Ice: Phoenix, which would gradually elevate its user to the world's apex even without training, Dream was like his Kyōka Suigetsu—its strength was inextricably tied to its wielder.
For Aizen, this ability was a perfect match.
He was also curious whether the person who possessed this ability in Brandon's world could see its potential, and whether they could use it to reach the summit of that world.
But the Throne of the Sky in that world had already been claimed. To defeat its occupant and become the new deity...
Aizen shook his head slightly.
Even for him, that would be impossible.
Unless the challenger also possessed something on the level of the chat group or a System—a rule-breaking artifact.
*Ding—Group member Ice Queen has opened the Virtual Battle Arena.*
Ice Queen: "I hope your strength won't disappoint me."
*Ding—Group member Fifth Division Captain has entered the Virtual Battle Arena.*
Fifth Division Captain: "I hope I can satisfy you."