The reason I came to see Aizen is simple.
There was a specific conversation we needed to have regarding his ultimate goal.
Of course, I didn't summon him just to say some bullshit like, 'Now that I think about it, your plan is too dangerous, so you have to die.'
If that had been my intention, I wouldn't have called him out separately; I would have just pinpointed his location and crushed him with my Spiritual Pressure.
Is that even possible, you ask?
When you spend a million years without Spiritual Power, obsessing over how to use even a single Kido spell until you can control the surrounding energy at the level of individual Spirit Particles, it happens naturally.
Anyway, enough about that. That's not what's important right now. I didn't come here to kill Aizen.
While I'm waiting, maybe I should practice controlling my output.
I took a seat in a reasonably conspicuous spot, practicing condensing Spiritual Power in my palm and then dismantling it into Spirit Particles over and over. Soon, I felt a familiar presence approaching.
"It's been a while."
"You've changed quite a bit, Director."
"Tenjin Shaku. I have a name now, so feel free to use it."
I infused some Spiritual Power with color to manifest the kanji for my name in the air. Aizen's Spiritual Power wavered, if only for a fraction of a second.
So, this is what it feels like to perceive someone through their power. Fascinating. If I'd known it was like this, I would have used it much sooner.
"That is a fine name. So, what brings you to me today? I heard you were filling in for administrative duties in the squads with vacant Captain seats. Did you come for that?"
Just as I was about to open my mouth to reply, Aizen continued with a thin smile.
"But if you were here to help our squad, you wouldn't have come looking for me; you would have gone straight to the Captain's office. The fact that you didn't suggests your visit isn't for something so mundane."
"Is it okay to talk so openly? Ah, I see. You were confident because of this."
"You've noticed already? Impressive, as always."
I chuckled and reached out to touch the thin, membrane-like barrier surrounding us. It felt a bit like silk.
This was likely that technical camouflage—something similar to the cloak Hirako Shinji famously used in the original story.
"A mysterious trick. Well, it makes things easier for me to talk, so I don't mind."
"So, did you come to offer some commentary on my plan? Or perhaps... you've come to join me?"
"You've read that far already? You really are something else."
"The surname 'Tenjin' (天因) means the 'Source of Heaven.' The Source of Heaven refers to the Soul King. As for 'Shaku' (釋), while it can mean to interpret... it also means to loosen, or to release. You are wearing your intentions so openly in your name; it would be more strange if I didn't notice."
"For someone who says that, you seem quite wary."
Aizen blinked slowly and gave a faint, knowing smile, as if to ask why I was even bothering with questions he knew I already had the answer to.
Right. I already knew he'd react this way.
Anyone would be suspicious if a man who had left saying, 'I won't get involved,' suddenly showed up again.
This isn't even a matter of intelligence; it's common sense. Especially when the matter at hand isn't just a rebellion, but an act of 'Defying Heaven' itself.
I chuckled and shook my head.
"I guess testing the waters like this really doesn't suit me."
"...I see. So that's how it is."
He seemed to have reached a conclusion within himself in that brief moment. Whether it was a final conclusion or just an inference, it didn't really matter.
"What did you figure out? Don't keep it to yourself."
I tossed the words out half-jokingly. Aizen stared at me for a moment before speaking.
"Have you... become human?"
He didn't even add a 'perhaps.' It was a statement of pure conviction.
"Huh."
I was genuinely surprised. I was actually curious how the hell he had deduced that.
Seriously, how did he know? Is his official 'Intelligence' stat really at 100?
"How did you know?"
"Do you believe an ant can truly comprehend the existence of a mountain?"
I thought about his cryptic, Zen-like question for a second before letting out a short sigh.
Ah, I get it. It was that.
—I've come because your Spiritual Pressure caused several Captains and members within the Seireitei to faint.
"It was my Spiritual Power, wasn't it?"
"That was part of it. But seeing a man like you, who always stayed one step back from everything, acting with such detachment and transcendence, suddenly move so erratically... it's easy to see that something fundamental has changed."
Fair enough.
As I nodded, Aizen let out a shallow breath.
"So, you decided to descend from the Throne of God to become human."
"The Throne of God isn't something you descend from or climb up to. You just find yourself there at some point. My becoming human is simply a change in mindset."
"A god with the will of a human... Hmph. It makes me realize once again how preposterous my own thoughts were."
I shrugged at his sighing voice.
I didn't feel great about accidentally becoming a negative example for him, but whatever.
"So, regarding that plan... how far along are your preparations? My past interference must have caused quite a headache for you."
"If one looks closely, there is always a gap to exploit. There is a path everywhere, so I am preparing accordingly."
"Is that so? Well, you're going to have to revise that plan quite a bit."
When I answered nonchalantly, Aizen froze and looked at me with a bewildered expression.
'Did I hear that right? Am I hallucinating?' His face said it all.
After hesitating for a long time with that expression, Aizen spoke cautiously.
"...Are you saying... you intend to participate in the plan to kill God?"
"Let's not use such violent words like 'kill.' There are much nicer expressions, like 'closing an old era and opening a new one.'"
Aizen frowned with an expression of pure disbelief. It was the first time he'd let his mask slip so thoroughly.
I suppose if I don't explain in detail, he'll just stay suspicious until the end.
"There's a lot I want to say... but I can't really summarize it easily. So I'll just give you a rough explanation. That okay?"
He didn't answer, as if telling me to shut up and get to the point already.
Wow, what an attitude...
"Once the Soul King is killed, the world will collapse. When the wedge supporting the Three Worlds disappears, everything will inevitably crumble. However, as you said, if all of humanity shares the burden of the world, it won't collapse. But... if that happens, humanity will soon break. Humans are not supermen."
A human finds even a single life to be an overwhelming burden.
Even I lived for a million years without knowing how to define my own life.
The human psyche can be tougher than anything else, but it is also the most fragile and brittle thing in existence.
"To kill God and create a world for humans—because humans do not need a god. However, humans need something to lean on. While they can lean on their relationships with one another, those who cannot... those who have nowhere to lean need a god. In that sense, saying 'humans do not need a god' becomes a contradiction. That's why I've refined the idea."
Humans do not need a manifested god.
"Whether it has a will or not, a manifested god becomes absolute simply by existing. That is the nature of the absolute. A god with a will is unneeded because it seeks to manifest its own desires. A god without a will is unneeded because it is used only as a means and an objective."
"The 'absolute' that humanity needs must be absolute in and of itself. Where does that absolute reside? Right within oneself. Ultimately, God is just the external manifestation of the self that a human wishes to become—of their own ego."
God does not exist; God is within man.
That is the conclusion I reached.
"Could it be... you intend to grant divinity to all of mankind?"
"I'm not granting it. I'm awakening it. Through the Hogyoku."
Just as I found and pulled out my own Spiritual Power.
I smiled, swallowing the last of my thoughts.
Aizen, who had been listening quietly, stared at me with an expression that suggested he'd just heard the most preposterous thing in his life.
"It will be a disaster. No, it will be a world far more chaotic than before."
"We'll just have to deal with that too. You can't expect success on the first try."
Aren't humans the type of beings who learn through mistakes and failures?
If you want change, you have to endure that much.
"So, I take it you are joining the current plan?"
"Yeah. How many times do I have to say it? I'm in. In that spirit, you need to do something for me too."
"To gain such a powerful ally, I suppose I must."
Good to see you've got some motivation.
"Go make up with Urahara."
"...Excuse me?"
"Don't pretend you didn't hear me, kid. Should I say it again? Go make up with Kisuke Urahara. Or, at the very least, convince him through any means necessary to join us."
I won't accept any excuses about how it's impossible or how it doesn't make sense.
Because I spoke so firmly, Aizen's pupils went half-vacant as they trembled.
"If you really don't want to, you don't have to."
As I said that, the light returned to his eyes.
"Instead, I'll pull out of the plan, and you'll have to fight me later."
"...I will go and secure a permit for the Senkaimon."
You should have just said that from the start.
Seriously, people only listen when you threaten to use force.