Watching the Captains leave, Aizen pushed up the glasses on his face and walked into the hall.
"Everyone's gone, you can come out now."
"Aizen, I need an explanation."
Haschwalth emerged from the shadows in the corner.
"Why didn't you just kill Rukia and escalate the conflict to the maximum?"
Aizen said, "That wasn't the best approach. Rukia being alive can serve as bait, simultaneously drawing Tatsuma and Ichigo to Soul Society."
"Furthermore, doing so also reduces risk, avoiding triggering any life-saving device on Rukia."
"Life-saving device?"
Aizen nodded. "As far as I know, the identity tags of Akatsuki members are engraved with teleportation magic circles, capable of summoning the Red Dragon Emperor when facing life-threatening danger."
"Rukia lived with the Red Dragon Emperor for a period, and this time she returned to Soul Society alone, there's a high probability she's carrying a similar device."
"Alright, I understand."
Haschwalth accepted the explanation.
"What is the probability of the plan's success?"
"Ten out of ten. As long as the Red Dragon Emperor comes to Soul Society, Captain-Commander Yamamoto is certain to be defeated."
"I hope everything you said is true."
Haschwalth reached out and opened the gate of the Wandenreich.
However, just as he was about to leave, Aizen's voice sounded again.
"Compared to Captain-Commander Yamamoto, I believe you should focus more on the Red Dragon Emperor's existence."
Haschwalth asked, "What do you mean?"
Aizen said, "The Red Dragon Emperor might not end up in a mutual defeat with him, there's also the possibility of a complete victory."
"To better clean up the aftermath, you'd best arrange some pieces near the Red Dragon Emperor in advance."
"...I will convey your words to His Majesty."
Haschwalth stepped into the shadows, disappearing from the hall the next second.
Seeing this, Aizen left the hall and came outside, looking up at the sky above.
Everything was ready. All that was left to do was wait patiently.
—
Wandenreich.
Inside the grand, enormous palace, Yhwach sat calmly on his throne, eyes closed in a doze.
Below him, two rows of figures stood neatly, all members of the Sternritter present.
After an unknown amount of time, footsteps sounded.
Under everyone's gaze, Haschwalth walked into the palace, came before Yhwach, and knelt on one knee.
"Your Majesty, I have returned."
Yhwach opened his eyes. "Report on the progress, Haschwalth."
"The plan started smoothly. As Aizen predicted, Rukia returned to Soul Society."
"However, in the subsequent battle, Rukia displayed strength far exceeding expectations."
"Ichimaru did not take down Rukia immediately, which led to Yamamoto personally arriving to stop the two, and he sensed that something was wrong."
According to Yhwach's request, Haschwalth recounted everything he had just experienced.
After that, he took out a glass bottle and presented it to Yhwach.
"Your Majesty, this is the Ophis' Snake obtained from Aizen as agreed upon."
"I have checked it. The quality of this snake is very high, and it has not been tampered with."
"Well done."
Yhwach took the glass bottle, and a surge of powerful Reiatsu fluctuation rose from his body.
The next second, a miniature five-pointed magic array unfolded, and the light of the Usurpation Altar enveloped the snake.
Under the effect of the Usurpation Altar, the snake inside the glass bottle slowly decomposed, turning into particles of Reishi and merging into Yhwach's body. After a while, the snake in the glass bottle completely disappeared, and Yhwach's aura surged significantly.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. With this, you can shake off your weakened state and return to your peak."
Haschwalth offered his congratulations immediately.
"No, not yet."
Yhwach crushed the glass bottle with a bang, and surging Reiatsu appeared on his body.
"I still need one month."
"Haschwalth, the Wandenreich will be under your management for the next month."
"Unless the Red Dragon Emperor and Ichigo arrive, do not let anyone approach me."
"Yes." Haschwalth replied respectfully.
Seeing Yhwach close his eyes again in a doze, he raised his hand and gestured downwards, leading the Sternritter members to gather in the side hall.
"Haschwalth, is something wrong?" Bazz-B leaned against the wall with one hand in his pocket.
When Yhwach was not present, most of the Sternritter members were quite casual.
Apart from Bazz-B, the others present were also doing their own things, their attitudes relaxed.
Haschwalth said, "Everyone, I want to discuss the matter concerning the Red Dragon Emperor with you."
"The Red Dragon Emperor again?" Bazz-B frowned slightly, a bit impatient.
Counting carefully, this was already the fourth time Haschwalth had called a meeting to discuss the Red Dragon Emperor.
Bazz-B admitted that this generation's Red Dragon Emperor was very strong. Head-on, most Sternritter members were no match for Tatsuma.
However...
"Didn't we discuss the plan for handling the Red Dragon Emperor a long time ago?"
"Use Rukia as bait to make the Red Dragon Emperor and Yamamoto fight. After both sides are severely injured, we and Aizen will step in to finish things."
"The plan is already this detailed, what else do you want to discuss?"
Haschwalth replied, "I want to place two informants next to the Red Dragon Emperor to monitor his situation."
He had mentioned Aizen's suggestion to Yhwach during a recent retelling. However, Yhwach had no reaction to this and fell asleep again after absorbing the snake.
As the temporary administrator of the Wandenreich, Haschwalth could only handle this matter himself.
Scanning the crowd below, Haschwalth looked towards the graceful figures in the corner.
"Candice Catnipp, Bambietta Basterbine, the task of infiltrating and acting as informants next to the Red Dragon Emperor is entrusted to the two of you."
...
Seireitei, Thirteenth Division Barracks.
"Rukia and a Quincy joined forces to slaughter the Central 46 members?"
Listening to Shunsui's retelling, Ukitake couldn't help but be stunned.
But very quickly, he recovered from the sudden information and shook his head at Shunsui. "Rukia is not that kind of person, this matter must be related to Aizen and them."
Shunsui nodded slightly in agreement. "I have a similar view to yours."
There were a total of three people involved in this matter.
Ichimaru, Rukia, and an unknown Quincy.
The Quincy aside, Ichimaru, as Aizen's subordinate, was inherently very problematic.
And after that, Aizen even appeared personally at the Central 46.
Having understood Aizen's true ability from Ukitake, Shunsui was very clear about what this meant.
Shunsui voiced his guess, "Rukia was likely used, becoming a part of Aizen's plan."
"Ukitake, what do you think Aizen's purpose in doing this is?"
Ukitake thought for a moment and said, "It should be for the hōgyoku within Rukia."
"Hōgyoku... If I remember correctly, that thing has already been taken out by the Red Dragon Emperor, right?"
Ukitake nodded. "Yes, but Aizen probably doesn't know about this, which is why he specifically designed this to frame Rukia."
Shunsui said, "Then that makes it easy, the initiative is now in our hands."
Ukitake asked, "Do you have a plan?"
Shunsui replied, "Whatever Aizen does next, it will take some time. Before he acts again, we'll secretly tell the other Captains about Kyoka Suigetsu and get more people to join the anti-Aizen alliance."
"When everything is ready, we'll team up with the Red Dragon Emperor to take action and minimize the impact of this matter."
Ukitake asked, "Can you handle Yamamoto-sensei?"
Shunsui said, "I don't know, but I'll try to probe him first."
Shunsui sighed somewhat helplessly.
In fact, the biggest problem now was with Yamamoto.
As the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto was not only stubborn but also extremely xenophobic.
If he couldn't be handled properly, calling Tatsuma over could very likely make the situation even more chaotic.
Shunsui said, "Ukitake, I'll leave the negotiation with the Red Dragon Emperor to you. No matter what reason you use, you must keep him stable."
"...I'll try."
Recalling the information he had received not long ago, Ukitake started to feel a headache.
Someone who would fight their way into MAR at the slightest disagreement... his personality was easily imaginable.
Trying to persuade the other party to temporarily endure and not act rashly was a difficult task.
Separating from Shunsui, Ukitake returned to his room and took out a piece of parchment.
Anyway, let's contact Sirzechs first.
Time slowly passed.
Just as Soul Society was in turmoil and various forces began to play their game.
Kuroka, whose skin was itching, successfully provoked Tatsuma into activating his holy spear through taunting.
Nya nya cries echoed in the bedroom, and Kuroka successfully felt the gap in strength.
Encountering the Red Dragon Emperor in the bedroom, standing tall and strong like a monster, unable to be defeated even with all her might.