The deification of all mankind.
Should I call it the Human Instrumentality Project?
No, if I do that, the whole world might turn into orange juice the moment the plan succeeds. I'll pass.
Hmm... The Third Law? No, let's skip that too. Let's just go with the Divine Sanctification Tree of Mankind for now.
I thought of others like the Post-Apocalyptic Tree, the Song of the Stars Tree, or the Land of Steel Tree, but those all involve humans ceasing to be human, so I scrapped them all.
Running simulations with my limited brain, this is the most realistic path with the best potential outcome.
If someone smarter than me had made the plan, a better path to the future might have opened up.
But well, there isn't anyone else, is there?
Unless you count Jomon, Aizen, and Urahara—those three.
'Tch... maybe I really should have asked those guys.'
...Whatever. It'll work out somehow.
If those guys put their heads together, they'll surely come up with a better plan.
I trust their official 100-stat Intelligence.
"But why am I so anxious...?"
I set down my brush and crossed my arms.
I've had this strange feeling for a while now, and it's making it impossible to focus on work.
I know he's a genius, so he should do well, but...
I've been backstabbed before while trusting 'smart guys,' so the anxiety is real.
'Surely Aizen won't fail.'
I don't know. As long as Aizen doesn't roll a natural 1 on a d100 charisma check, it should be fine.
Is that too irresponsible? Well, what can I do from here? Go out there and persuade Urahara myself?
Then how would that be any different from grabbing two brawling elementary schoolers and saying, "Now, say you're sorry and shake hands"?
Except in this case, one of them is the victim. That would be a dick move.
In a situation like that, the right thing to do is beat the perpetrator until they apologize.
Is that too forced? Unreasonable? Correct. Humans are fundamentally unreasonable. Therefore, a God born from humans should be unreasonable as well.
With those thoughts, I picked up the brush again.
*
Meanwhile, in the World of the Living.
Aizen Sosuke looked down at Karakura Town, draped in a black cloak that shielded his Spiritual Pressure.
The reason he was in the World of the Living was simple: Aizen had already ruled out the possibility of Urahara hiding within the Soul Society.
—Go reconcile with Urahara.
'Since that man said "go," it won't be anywhere within the Seireitei.'
That monster with the power of a God, Tenjin Shaku, has a sense of distance that is clearly broken.
It was inevitable. For a man who traverses dimensions with his bare body, he wouldn't use the word "go" if they were in the same realm.
'He's a man who becomes oddly simple in strange places, but he is fundamentally brilliant. In this case, I must interpret his words with multiple meanings.'
By that logic, if Urahara was indeed hiding in the World of the Living, there was no better place than here.
Of course, if Urahara Kisuke had moved purely to hide, the number of possibilities would have expanded beyond Japan to the entire globe. But knowing that man, he wouldn't make such a choice.
So, where in Japan would Urahara hide?
The answer required little thought. It was Karakura Town, the designated Juyohchi of this generation.
The Heavy Spiritual Ground (Juyohchi) was a location where the Senkaimon—the path of the Soul Reapers—opened frequently to combat the constant appearance of Hollows.
Therefore, even if the Senkaimon opened a few extra times, it wouldn't draw much suspicion.
'He can monitor the Soul Reapers' movements and news while staying hidden, and he could even slip back into the Soul Society secretly via the gate.'
The problem was how to find Kisuke Urahara in this sprawling town.
Unleashing his Spiritual Pressure recklessly would make the search easy, of course. However, doing so would be equivalent to declaring an all-out war. More importantly, he couldn't use his Spiritual Pressure at will because of the Spirit Restraint branded onto his chest.
"What a mess."
To think he would encounter a man even more reckless than Shinji Hirako—if this wasn't a calamity, nothing was.
Sighing deeply at a plan that had twisted far beyond its original shape, he took off his glasses for a moment and massaged the bridge of his nose.
'But I will make use even of this.'
Buwi Jeonggyeong—I will prove that human will does not break this easily.
He had started this task with that very resolve.
Continuing his thoughts, Aizen marked several locations on a map of Karakura Town where Spiritual Particles were particularly dense to find Urahara's base.
'Exclude all of these. The meticulous Urahara would never hide in such obvious places. While one could argue he might try to strike from a psychological blind spot, that man wouldn't make such a move without a specific reason.'
They say if you want to hide a tree, do it in a forest, but it wasn't a choice he'd make if it meant risking discovery.
That left two possibilities: the very center of the Juyohchi or the fringes barely overlapping its border.
The center was dismissed for the same reason as before.
Which left only the fringes.
'But would that man make such an obvious choice?'
The answer came with just a little more thought.
That only made him more suspicious.
'Let's verify it first.'
Agonizing over it would solve nothing.
After a brief deliberation, Aizen scouted the Karakura Town area based on the information obtained through reverse calculation.
The first and second locations were ordinary abandoned buildings. The third was a closed warehouse site, but nothing stood out.
And then, at the fourth location Aizen arrived at...
[Urahara Shop]
'Is he serious?'
It was a dilapidated building with a sign that blithely read "Urahara Shop."
There was no way that man would hide so loosely. Surely there was something more.
It was a perfect place if he just wanted to lay low. Even more so if it was thrown together in a hurry.
But no matter how you looked at it, he wouldn't have used his own name so overtly.
After an endless cycle of self-questioning, Aizen ultimately chose to enter the shop.
It was an uncharacteristically simple and blunt method for Aizen Sosuke, but...
—You will have to fight me.
He had no choice. The blade was already poised at his heart; there was no retreating.
'That madman would never grant a request for more time.'
With a deep sigh in his heart, just as he was about to step onto the shop grounds—
Aizen came to a dead halt right before the line separating the shop premises from the road.
'A sense of dissonance.'
It was a feeling of incongruity that only Aizen, who had distorted senses countless times through Kyoka Suigetsu, could perceive.
The moment he crossed this line, something would twist. Certain of this, he stopped his step. Then, the door of the Urahara Shop creaked open, and Kisuke Urahara stepped out in his wooden sandals.
"Oh my, oh my. Well, now. I wondered who it might be, but I never expected you to come in person. Mr. Sosuke Aizen."
"A sensory-distorting barrier, is it? Had I stepped in carelessly, I would have been seeing illusions. Though, I doubt it would have meant much. Was it a stalling tactic to buy time for an escape?"
As Aizen reflexively analyzed the barrier right in front of him, Urahara snapped his fan open with a sharp clack! and covered the lower half of his face.
"Well, you could call it something like that. If you're curious, why not step inside and see?"
"I shall decline. I did not come here seeking a conflict."
"Oh? You say the most interesting things. It wasn't that you just 'came' here; it was I who guided you, was it not?"
"Ho?"
"I have been roughly tracking your movements since the moment you opened the Senkaimon and entered this realm. Did you truly think I wouldn't be able to trace a cloak that hides Spiritual Pressure similar to the one I created?"
"Spare me the bluffs. I felt no such surveillance while coming here. In the first place, if such a thing were possible, you should have been tracking me since I was in the Rukongai."
"Haha, unfortunately, I was a bit busy back then."
"I do not recall you being the type to abandon your comrades just because you were 'busy.'"
Urahara squinted one eye behind his fan, while Aizen kept his face hidden deep beneath his hood.
After a moment of standoff, it was Aizen who spoke first.
"First, let us stop this probing. It does not suit me."
"...That tone. You didn't come here of your own volition, did you?"
"I appreciate your quick understanding. In that case, would you mind asking the former Grand Kido Chief hiding behind you to stop preparing his spell? His Spiritual Pressure is gathering in that direction. It has been a constant distraction."
"You're asking for a lot. When an enemy comes knocking at the door, isn't this level of vigilance only natural?"
"If I were an enemy, perhaps."
Aizen said this as he slowly pulled his hands out from beneath his cloak.
He wasn't gripping a Zanpakuto, nor was he preparing a Kido. His hands were empty.
Urahara's mind raced at the sight, and Tessai, the former Grand Kido Chief, monitored the surrounding spirit energy, prepared for any hidden barriers or spells.
Of course, there was nothing.
"...What is your angle?"
"I came to apologize. I would like you to listen to me for a moment."
""...""
Is that really the attitude of someone who came to apologize?
Urahara and Tessai could only blink in disbelief.
"I am sorry."
And they were even more shocked by the fact that those words were sincere.
"...Please, come in."
Urahara said this as he deactivated the Kido being prepared in the building behind Aizen. Aizen glanced back slightly with a faint smirk.
'As I thought, that side was the real threat. It's a good thing I was preparing a Danku just in case.'
And thus, the meeting between Aizen and Urahara began.
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