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Fifth Division.
Underground chamber.
The vast space was deathly silent. If not for the flickering light screen, one might have mistaken it for a cold, eerie morgue.
"Power of miracles. Authority of the gods?"
Behind his thick, square-framed glasses, irritation flashed through Aizen's eyes.
Even seeing it with his own eyes, he refused to acknowledge such an absurd power. He even stooped so low as to disdain it outright.
In Aizen's worldview,
Power had always been built through accumulation. It was never something you gained overnight.
Even he had spent hundreds of years lying low, plotting and calculating every step, before achieving his current strength and building his forces from the shadows.
As for pure-blood Quincy?
They hadn't shown their faces for a thousand years.
The offshoots in the Human World had nearly been wiped out by the Soul Reapers two centuries ago.
A race that struggled just to survive.
What right did they have to suddenly rise overnight?
What right did they have to wield such ridiculous, incomprehensible power?
It was laughable.
"Captain Aizen, I get how you feel. To be honest, I don't like pure-blood Quincy either…" Gin Ichimaru said slowly, glancing sideways when he noticed the subtle change in Aizen's expression.
This time, there was no exaggeration, no provocation.
Gin truly meant it.
After watching several rounds of the tally,
He'd started out curious, genuinely impressed by the power of the Schrift.
But as one member of the Schutzstaffel after another revealed abilities that were more broken than the last, each harder to kill than the previous—
His curiosity gradually turned into hostility and irritation, until it finally became outright disgust.
If he had the choice right now,
Gin would rather wipe out the Quincy first, then take his revenge on Aizen.
That was his honest feeling at this moment.
"Gin, seeing this makes me think I need to reevaluate our relationship with the Gotei Thirteen," Aizen said suddenly, changing the subject.
"What?!"
Gin's pupils shook.
What did Aizen mean by that?
Was he having second thoughts? Was he abandoning the idea of betraying Soul Society?
Gin's heart started racing.
He was shocked, but also faintly hopeful.
If the shock of the pure-blood Quincy made Aizen change his mind on the spot, then the entire world of the Soul Reapers would descend into chaos.
"Lord Aizen, you mean…"
Before Gin could calm himself, a frightened voice sounded behind them.
It was Kaname Tōsen.
Unlike Gin, Tōsen felt nothing but panic and unease.
For him, Aizen's path was justice itself.
Everything Aizen did was, in Tōsen's eyes, the correct choice, the only guidance worth following. It was a belief he had clung to for over a hundred years, without question.
So when he sensed even the slightest wavering in Aizen,
It felt as though the sky were collapsing.
Even with his eyes covered, the veins bulging at his temples made his agitation painfully clear.
Aizen ignored Tōsen's intense reaction and replied calmly, "Kaname, there's no need to get worked up. It's just a passing thought. I'm not saying I've decided anything yet."
That was the truth.
Even if he felt shaken, it was only for an instant.
Aizen had no intention of abandoning his original goal, nor of cooperating with the Gotei Thirteen.
The emergence of the Wandenreich had simply disrupted his carefully laid plans, denting his confidence in absolute control, if only slightly.
By now, Gin had composed himself.
With his usual half-lidded smile, he tested the waters. "Captain Aizen, so you're planning to wait until your own tally comes up before deciding, right?"
"Exactly."
Aizen's lips curled into a confident, sinister smile. "More accurately, it won't just be me. The Arrancar in Hueco Mundo are probably thinking the same thing."
"If I'm not mistaken…"
"Ulquiorra alone can't keep those arrogant Arrancar in line. With a little instigation from one of the Espada, they're likely waiting for the tally about me as well."
"As for why…"
Aizen suddenly turned his head.
He met Ichimaru Gin's gaze with an unusually serious look and asked, pointedly,
"Gin, you should know, shouldn't you?"
"…"
Caught off guard by Aizen's sudden glance, the foxlike smile on Ichimaru Gin's face stiffened at once.
Behind his half-lidded eyes, his gaze flickered with unease.
Beneath his captain's haori, his back was instantly soaked, as if a waterfall of cold sweat had poured down his spine.
"That look from Aizen… Is he suspecting me?"
In a single heartbeat, countless thoughts surged through his mind.
Gin struggled to stay calm.
But the dryness in his mouth made him swallow instinctively.
Forcing himself to smile, Gin said through clenched nerves, "Captain Aizen, don't joke around. I'm not an Arrancar. How could I possibly know what's going on inside their heads?"
Finishing that sentence felt like holding his breath underwater.
It was as if he had used up every ounce of strength he had, teetering on the edge of death itself.
And all of this was caused by nothing more than a single glance from Aizen.
Just a fleeting look.
Yet it nearly scared the soul out of him.
"I suppose that's true," Aizen replied calmly. "With your personality, you probably wouldn't care to understand them anyway. After all, Shinigami and Hollows have always walked separate paths."
He withdrew his gaze, appearing not to notice Gin's abnormal reaction at all.
However, in the instant he turned away, a faint, chilling glint flashed deep within his eyes.
Clearly, that moment earlier had been nothing more than a deliberate test.
A warning shot.
As long as the intimidation landed, that was enough.
As for the Arrancar army in Hueco Mundo, Aizen had never truly taken them seriously.
Even the so-called plan to invade Soul Society never relied on the Espada as dependable combat power.
Arrancar or not.
Espada or not.
In Aizen's eyes, they were no more than expendable cannon fodder.
However…
Just as the atmosphere in the underground chamber grew strangely tense, the transparent light screen suddenly flickered, snapping the attention of all three of them back at once.
"A new ranking again?" Gin muttered.
"This time it's not going to be the Quincy again, is it?"
Staring at the glowing screen, Gin worked to steady his emotions, speaking with a hint of dry sarcasm.
"In truth," Aizen said thoughtfully, "across the three realms, there are very few individuals stronger than those royal guards."
Several faces flashed through his mind.
Himself.
The Commander-General.
The Quincy King, Yhwach.
And that large-eyed monk who had briefly appeared on screen during the ranking of Ōetsu Nimaiya.
Other than them…
There really shouldn't be anyone else.
What puzzled Aizen was the ranking number from the previous list.
Only seventh.
Which meant that above the four royal guards, there were at least six even stronger individuals.
But according to his deductions, there should only be four people left who qualified.
"Unless…"
Aizen frowned.
"Could it be that blond personal guard at Yhwach's side?"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, new text appeared on the screen once more:
[NO. 6]
[World Balance, Power Exchange]
[Leader of the Royal Guard: Jugram Haschwalth]
"..."
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