Aizen Sousuke's escape route was far too bizarre; no one had expected this guy to flee into the depths underground, which also made it impossible for the Soul Society to continue the pursuit.
Aizen Sousuke had escaped.
Uchiha Madara naturally had no interest in staying either.
What's more, this was originally part of Uehara Naraku's plan; only when Aizen Sousuke realized the gap between them was widening would he become even more obsessed with how to obtain power.
And it just so happened…
Orochimaru could help him.
If he wanted to achieve his goals, Aizen Sousuke had to make himself stronger, strong enough to suppress the entire Soul Society!
Of course, besides figuring out how to contend with Uchiha Madara, Aizen Sousuke was also considering a peaceful solution to the matter between him and the Uehara Race; on that front, he might be able to make use of that simple-minded Uehara Naraku.
It was just a bit of a shame.
The Uehara Race easily cracked his Caja Negacion and rescued Uehara Naraku back to the Soul Society, which finally allowed the entire Quiet Spirit Court to relax.
If Uehara Naraku had been captured…
Who would suppress those Deadguard Seat Officers as fierce as wolves and tigers!
The situation in the Quiet Spirit Court was faintly shifting.
The previous Shinigami Hollowfication incident was thus fully cleared up; the Masked Shinigami who had once served as Captains of the Shinigami were, after this incident, readmitted by the Quiet Spirit Court, and Yamamoto Shigekuni even personally met with Hirako Shinji and the others once.
Because the Uehara Race had dispatched Deadguard Seat Officers multiple times, faintly revealing power that the Quiet Spirit Court could not contend with, Yamamoto Shigekuni had to find a way to maintain the balance between the Guardian Court Thirteen Squads and the Uehara Race.
Just in time, the Masked Legion could return.
Since there were not many Captain vacancies, with Ichimaru Gin and Aizen Sousuke having defected together, only the positions of Captain of Squad 3 and Captain of Squad 5 were left.
Hirako Shinji led the Masked Legion to Squad 3, taking the post of Captain of Squad 3; Sarugaki Hiyori and the others respectively served as Vice Captain and Seat Officers, while only Yadomaru Risa returned to Captain of Squad 8 Kyoraku Shunsui's side to serve as his Vice Captain.
According to common sense, Hirako Shinji should have returned to his original post as Captain of Squad 5, but unfortunately someone else got there first.
Senju Tobirama and Yamamoto Shigekuni had an all-night talk; in addition to discussing the Guardian Court Thirteen Squads and the Uehara Race joining forces to hunt down Aizen Sousuke and pursue Orochimaru, they also discussed the affiliation of Uehara Naraku.
In the end.
Uehara Naraku became the new Captain of Squad 5.
In a sense, Uehara also became the youngest Captain Level Shinigami.
The upper echelons of the Quiet Spirit Court did not have much objection to this; they knew very well the power of the Uehara Race, and they also knew this was a step in the Uehara Race integrating into the Quiet Spirit Court.
Ever since Aizen Sousuke's defection, the situation within the Quiet Spirit Court had instead, because of that farce, become faintly more united; the strength of the Guardian Court Thirteen Squads was also greatly bolstered by the return of the Masked Legion.
Life in the Quiet Spirit Court became somewhat calm and uneventful.
Apart from occasionally dispatching Squads to hunt down Hollows invading the Mortal World, most of their energy was spent on gathering intel on Aizen Sousuke and Orochimaru.
Urahara Kisuke and Shihoin Yoruichi did not return to the Quiet Spirit Court; the two of them went back to the Mortal World, guarding it to defend against incursions by Arrancar Hollow into the Mortal World.
During this period, nothing particularly special seemed to happen, except that the long-delayed return of Captain of Squad 10 Shiba Ishin caused a good deal of concern; yet according to information from the Mortal World, Shiba Ishin had also stayed to guard the Mortal World.
Time flew by.
In a flash, decades had passed.
Many things had happened over these decades.
The Guardian Court Thirteen Squads and the Uehara Race jointly launched two expeditions against the Hollow World, only to be feinted by Aizen Sousuke and Orochimaru, who then slipped into the Mortal World and the Soul Society, leaving the Guardian Court Thirteen Squads in a sorry state; in fact, Captain of Squad 10 Shiba Ishin went missing in the last battle in the Mortal World, and was replaced by Hitsugaya Toshiro in his position.
Meanwhile, Uehara Naraku's friends from Shin'o Academy had graduated early: Abarai Renji joined Squad 6 and became the Vice Captain personally acknowledged by Kuchiki Byakuya;
While Kira Tsuru and Hinamori Momo both joined Squad 5, becoming the Vice Captain and a Seat Officer of Squad 5 designated by Uehara Naraku; they were all once Uehara's classmates…
By comparison.
Renji's childhood friend, Kuchiki Rukia, because of her noble status, was exempted from graduation exams and tests and joined the 13th Squad directly; this instead drew a lot of criticism, and Kuchiki Rukia inexplicably failed to receive any promotion for a long time.
Kuchiki Rukia, this Shinigami girl who had started from a rather high point, became the slowest to be promoted among that cohort of the same year, and was even dispatched to be stationed in the Mortal World.
In a certain sense…
A Shinigami being sent to be stationed in the Mortal World meant a kind of exile.
Uehara Naraku and his classmates went together to see Kuchiki Rukia off; after watching Kuchiki Rukia enter the Gate to the Mortal World and leave the Soul Society, the corners of his mouth slowly lifted in a faint smile.
"You're quite happy?"
"Yeah, I just remembered something pleasant."
Uehara Naraku smiled and nodded, speaking softly, "Actually, Rukia leaving the Quiet Spirit Court is also a good thing. I heard her brother Kuchiki Byakuya is very strict with his discipline… maybe in the Mortal World she'll be a bit freer!"
Uehara Naraku was of course pleased.
Because harvest season was about to arrive.
For him, this world was just getting started; of course, for Uehara Naraku, this was also the step that would soon lead to the end.
Now, with Kuchiki Rukia entering the board, was the present Kurosaki Ichigo finally about to formally begin?
Uehara Naraku glanced at his main quest.
His system actually hadn't surfaced in a long time…
Main Quest: Defeat the world's strongest cheater Kurosaki Ichigo and prove that you are the only cheater in this world (Completion: 0%).
Yes.
Whether it was Uzumaki Naruto or Monkey D. Luffy, compared to Kurosaki Ichigo's growth trajectory, both seemed far too slow; Kurosaki Ichigo was the true cheater…
Because the Bleach World was far too powerful.
Compared to the Ninja World and the Pirate World, the Bleach World involved life and death; the Shinigami here could toy with space at will, and even toy with rules.
This meant Uehara had to think of every possible way to complete his main quest, so he could draw the Bleach World into his Black Hole Universe.
In order to ensure Kurosaki Ichigo's smooth birth, Uehara Naraku really had worked tirelessly, having Orochimaru incessantly instill into Aizen Sousuke the idea that a fusion of Quincy, Shinigami, and Hollow might become another possibility for breaking through the limits of power.
According to Orochimaru…
Once this fusion experiment succeeded, Orochimaru could use the fusion of the Spirit King's body, Shinigami, and Hollow to fabricate a terrifying Gigai for Aizen Sousuke.
Aizen Sousuke was quite cooperative as well.
Although Aizen Sousuke very much suspected that Orochimaru might devour that Gigai, he still decided to go along with Orochimaru's thinking and gave his approval to this plan.
To this end…
Aizen Sousuke created a Vasto Lorde Level Hollow named White Hollow and implanted this Hollow into the body of a Quincy named Kurosaki Masaki, then secretly manipulated the love between Kurosaki Masaki and the Shinigami Captain stationed in the Mortal World, Shiba Ishin.
This year, Kurosaki Ichigo happened to be fifteen…
He had already grown to the age where he could awaken.
Moreover, Kurosaki Ichigo's growth trajectory had not changed in any significant way; Kurosaki Ichigo's mother had also left her son when he was still young.
Kurosaki Masaki had not died from a Hollow attack.
Because someone, at the moment of danger, saved Kurosaki Masaki; of course, under normal circumstances, this person didn't really like doing proper things.