_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
The same kind of scene was playing out elsewhere in Seireitei.
"Captain, do you think…"
"Those three sealed by the Captain-Commander might include the two of us? After all, we've never appeared on camera," Ōmaeda said, staring at the sky-blocking wall of flames as a ridiculous thought crossed his mind.
"Idiot! What nonsense are you spouting?! If you want to be a mole, just say it. Don't drag me down with you!"
Soi Fon snapped and kicked him hard.
Her foot slammed into the right side of Ōmaeda's backside. Combined with the footprint already left on his left side earlier, his fat rear swelled up on both sides.
"Ow, ow, ow…" Ōmaeda clutched his butt and wailed, wronged. "I was just joking! Did you really have to hit that hard?!"
"Shut up. If you've got the energy to joke around, you'd be better off calming down and seriously thinking about who those three possible 'traitors' could be."
Soi Fon narrowed her eyes, her mind racing.
If she excluded herself, along with the captains who had already appeared in the True World Castle footage, then the most suspicious ones left were:
Ichimaru Gin.Tōsen Kaname.Komamura Sajin.And Aizen Sōsuke… as well as Ukitake Jūshirō.
Yes. From Soi Fon's perspective, Ukitake Jūshirō, who had just opposed the Captain-Commander and also never appeared in the final battle footage, was equally a major suspect.
"Captain, out of the five people you mentioned, we can rule out Captain Aizen right away, can't we?"Without even thinking, Ōmaeda blurted it out.
"Rule out Aizen… why?" Soi Fon frowned.
As the commander-in-chief of the Onmitsukidō, years of experience had ingrained a habit into her. Suspicion came naturally to her, and no one was exempt from it.
"Does that even need explaining?" Ōmaeda shot her a strange look. "Even a brand-new recruit knows that Captain Aizen is the Gotei Thirteen's certified good guy!"
"Kind, gentle, easy to talk to, always considerate of his subordinates. He pours his heart and soul into Squad Five and even teaches calligraphy at the Shin'ō Academy!"
"With a captain that well-liked, you seriously think he could be a traitor? Are you kidding me?"
"And what, just because he's such a nice guy, you're going to single him out and bully him now?"
His mouth rattled on like a machine gun.
In one breath, Ōmaeda listed every impression and virtue Aizen was known for, swearing up and down that Aizen's identity card was guaranteed to be a "good guy" one.
"I know all that," Soi Fon replied, her brow tightly knit. "But still…"
She hesitated.
Yes. Ōmaeda wasn't wrong.
Aizen was universally acknowledged as the kindest, most even-tempered captain in the entire Gotei Thirteen. There wasn't even a close second.
If not for one thing, she would never have suspected him.
The problem was that Aizen never appeared on screen.
No matter how she looked at it, that absence felt wrong.
Based on everything he'd shown in the past, Aizen should have been fighting shoulder to shoulder with the other captains during the Thousand-Year Blood War, even sacrificing himself if necessary.
So why was he missing from every crucial battle?
As that thought took shape, Soi Fon's mind instinctively tried to clear his name, supplying a possible explanation.
Perhaps Aizen had already died before the war even began.
Only that could explain all the inconsistencies.
"What? You're saying Captain Aizen might die in the future?"Ōmaeda was both shocked and furious. "So being an honest, decent person means you don't deserve to live anymore?"
———
Elsewhere.
Deep beneath Squad Five, in a hidden underground chamber.
"Whew… that was way too close."Ichimaru Gin patted his chest, still shaken. "If it weren't for those towering walls of flame, our identities would've been exposed on the spot."
Just moments ago, he'd nearly lost his nerve.
If things had gone the way Aizen warned and the camera had swung directly toward them, Squad Five would already be surrounded by traps and kill squads.
With the old man's temper, even a secret underground base wouldn't have saved them. He'd order every Shinigami to tear the ground apart until the traitors were dragged out into the open.
"Yeah… the timing was unreal," Aizen said calmly. "The camera switched at the exact moment the flames finished forming. It almost feels like luck is on our side."
He wasn't afraid of being exposed.Still, if he could keep up the disguise a little longer, he had no reason to refuse.
He had already prepared for the worst, ready to flee Soul Society at a moment's notice.
Instead, the situation flipped completely.
The timing was so perfect that even Aizen found it hard to believe. For a split second, he wondered if the person editing the video had planted a listening device right next to him.
"Captain Aizen, the old man has sheathed his blade. He doesn't seem to be planning any further moves," Gin observed. "Looks like we're safe for now."
He watched closely.
Once the Flaming Prison took shape, the Head Captain made no further movements. He didn't shout, didn't draw his sword again, and completely ignored the thirty Arrancar bristling with killing intent in front of him.
From past experience, Gin was certain this short segment was about to end.
And sure enough.
The moment his words faded, the image froze on the massive wall of flame, hundreds of meters high. Then the screen went black.
Aizen and the others, trapped inside, were never revealed.
Once again, the goddess of luck smiled on them.
But this time, things were different.
The blackout didn't last long.
The video fast-forwarded and abruptly cut into the next battle.
BOOM!!
The first thing to hit the audience was a thunderous crash, the sound of something massive being hurled through the air.
"Huh?!"
"Something's flying straight toward the camera!"
A heartbeat later, viewers watched in horror as a gigantic white figure was blasted forward like a bowling ball, rapidly filling the frame.
The realism was overwhelming. The sense of pressure rushing straight at them made it hard to breathe.
Once again, countless viewers froze in shock.
"Good lord, this part about the Head Captain is scarier than a horror movie!"
"If this keeps up, I'm going to have a heart attack before the recap even ends!"
"Wait, is that a released Arrancar?"
"No way. That thing thinks it can challenge the Head Captain?"
As the Shinigami stared in disbelief, the Fire-Extinguishing Prince emerged from the swirling dust, fully revealed.
Its entire body was white. Its limbs were thick and oversized, and its head jutted upward like the nozzle of a fire extinguisher.
When the smoke finally cleared, Wonderweiss let out his usual garbled cry.
"Waaaahhhhhh!"
It sounded like a scream, or a roar, or the wail of a crying infant.
Behind the hollow visor of his mask was a greedy grin, lit by the flames he had devoured.
The instant Wonderweiss was fully revealed, Aizen's eyes flared with brilliant light in the underground chamber.
"Gin… this is excellent news."
A confident smile curved across Aizen's flawless face. "It looks like Wonderweiss fulfilled his role in that war. He successfully sealed every last flame of Ryūjin Jakka."
"Indeed, Captain Aizen," Gin replied with a narrow-eyed grin. "What I'm really curious about is whether he can keep going and finish off the Head Captain now that Ryūjin Jakka is gone."
At that moment, the video seemed to answer him.
From across Wonderweiss, the Head Captain's voice rang out, deep and unfathomable.
"You think sealing Ryūjin Jakka is enough to defeat me?"
"Foolish. Childishly naive."
His fists clenched. Bones cracked.
As he spoke, the Shihakushō and captain's haori on his aged body exploded apart.
With a deafening bang, black and white fabric shredded into the air.
Beneath it all, an absurdly muscular body was revealed. Thick cords of muscle coiled and stacked like massive serpents, each line sharp and powerful.
The Head Captain's body tensed to its limit.
That frame was nothing like what anyone imagined a thousand-year-old man should have.
Then he roared, raw power surging through his voice.
"Even with my bare hands… I can still smash every last one of you!!"
"..."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________