After straightening out all the complex, tangled situations, I found myself with absolutely nothing to do.
It's not that I was being lazy and ignoring work; I truly, genuinely had no tasks left to perform.
That's because intellectual labor was Urahara's specialty, and strategic planning was Aizen's.
You might ask, shouldn't there be more to do when you're planning the treasonous act of slaying the Soul King, rather than just planning some vacation?
I thought so too.
But the two men acting as the left and right brains of our lineup said...
"You need not do a single thing. Urahara Kisuke and I can prepare everything required for the plan."
"Please, I beg of you, just stay still and behave until the preparations are perfectly complete."
They said it politely, but the gist was: 'You staying still is the best way you can help.'
Well... to be fair, situations did tend to get complicated whenever I stepped in. And when handling intricate matters, it's often more helpful for others to stay far away and keep quiet rather than hovering nearby. I understood.
Besides that, another reason was that my movements naturally drew everyone's attention.
In this Soul Society, I was treated as little more than a walking natural disaster.
For the record, I only recently found out that I was being called a God of Calamity.
How did I find out?
My daughter told me. Since Squad 9 is in charge of the press where all news converges, she must have heard it naturally.
The shock I felt then was truly...
"Ugh, those ungrateful bastards. After all the help I gave them, 'natural disaster'? Really?"
Anyway, as Aizen and Urahara requested, I spent my days doing nothing and killing time.
And just like that, seventy-eight years passed. Now, only about twenty-one years remained until the start of the original story... but due to everything I had built up until now, the 'original' plot had been completely shattered.
First off, since Aizen joined my team, he pivoted his research away from the Arrancars. Consequently, those twisted, deformed Hollows didn't emerge.
What did this mean? It meant that Shiba Kaien, who died in the original story, was still alive.
Currently, Shiba Kaien is the head of the Shiba Clan.
Next was Kuchiki Rukia. Well, there... there wasn't much to say.
She was on good terms with Shiba Kaien and was a standard member of Squad 13. Just about that?
There was nothing particularly special beyond that.
Finally... Ichimaru Gin.
Actually, I agonized quite a bit over whether to interfere here or not.
If it were a simple grudge it would be one thing, but Rangiku was involved, which made it complicated.
But still, what could I do? It had to be done.
"Go and apologize. You can use the research from those Hollow experiments to restore the soul piece you tore away, right? You can't? Well, make it happen."
"...."
Naturally, I made Aizen do it, not me.
Before the Great Undertaking, we had to clear away any obstacles, large or small.
When I explained it that way, he thought for a moment and then went to apologize.
Aside from that, nothing else had changed. Everything else followed the original path.
Oh, right. I almost forgot to mention the Quincies. Things had changed quite a bit on their side too.
Since Yhwach didn't strictly insist on blood purity anymore, the practice of inbreeding had vanished completely.
And thanks to the peace treaty from a thousand years ago, relations with the Shinigami weren't bad, leading to a significant increase in the marriage rate between Soul Reapers and Quincies lately.
What this meant was that Shiba Isshin and Kurosaki Masaki, who would have originally met while hunting the 'White' that Aizen created, ended up having a normal romantic marriage. In fact, it happened a year earlier than in the original. Even I was quite surprised by this.
How did I find out about their wedding? Unlike the other families, the Shiba Clan had been friendly with me from start to finish. We exchanged visits occasionally, and because of that connection, a wedding invitation flew my way saying, 'We're getting married!'
'I guess this actually works out.'
Oh, but when I heard that the bride, Kurosaki Masaki, was still a high school student, I briefly considered whether I should smash the whole wedding to pieces regardless of our plans.
But since they said it was an engagement rather than immediate marriage, I didn't flip the table.
Well... anyway, that was that. Seventy-eight years. For a human, it's a lifetime, but for me, it was as fleeting as a moment.
More things had changed in that fleeting moment than in the previous two thousand years.
'The world is changing so fast.'
Is this what they call a transition period or something?
Just as I was letting out a long yawn with those thoughts in mind, I slowly opened my eyes at a familiar presence outside the house.
"It's about time he showed up."
I waited while sipping tea, and sure enough, the one who came to find me was Aizen Sousuke.
Since becoming the Captain of Squad 5, his workload had increased, and his complexion looked much worse than before.
"You look terrible. Have you been sleeping lately?"
The moment I asked out of genuine concern, Aizen glared at me with venomous eyes.
'How can you say that?' 'Whose mouth are those words coming from?' 'Who do you think made me like this?'
He didn't utter a word, but all those sentiments were condensed into that one expression.
"Right, well, health aside, as long as you're alive, it's fine. Isn't it?"
As I cleared my throat and vaguely shifted the subject, Aizen took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose.
"Well... seeing you here, it either means there's a problem or the preparations are finished. Which is it?"
"The latter. All the groundwork is complete. All that remains is the execution."
Aizen said as he adjusted his glasses.
At those words, I paused for a moment and scratched my head.
I wasn't about to say something like 'I don't think it's a good plan after all, let's stop.' Not now.
I was simply deeply moved.
"The next century will be more intense than the million years that have passed."
I chuckled and cracked my neck.
With several sickening yet satisfying cracks, I let out a deep sigh of relief.
"Are you ready to fight the world?"
"I was ready over a century ago."
Is that so? Then that's all I need to hear.
*
Squad 1 Great Meeting Hall.
This room was built specifically for what is known as the Captains' Council.
True to its name, this was a meeting where the Captains gathered.
However, the Captains of the Gotei 13 were never exactly idle men.
Thus, it was customary for a Great Meeting to be announced a week in advance via a written order detailing the schedule and time.
But this time was different.
The summons wasn't by letter but by word of mouth—specifically, an emergency order using Tenteikura. The Captains had no choice but to drop whatever they were doing and rush over.
Furthermore, since it was an exceptional summons that stressed 'at all costs and without fail,' even Ukitake, who was rarely seen due to chronic health issues, was present.
The only ones missing from their seats were the Captain of Squad 5, Aizen Sousuke, and the Captain of Squad 4, Unohana Yachiru.
As these two were usually the earliest to arrive and hold their positions on meeting days, the Captains already in the room couldn't help but express their doubts.
"Where are Aizen and Unohana?"
Kuchiki Byakuya, Captain of Squad 6, asked while looking at the vacant spots, but no one answered.
More accurately, they couldn't. No one knew where those two were.
After a brief silence, Shiba Isshin, who had been standing with his arms crossed, let out a groan.
"To be told to abandon assigned duties and participate... I don't think there's ever been a time like this. Has this happened before?"
At the words of Shiba Isshin, Captain of Squad 10, Kyoraku Shunsui, Captain of Squad 8, standing right next to him, tilted his hat slightly and shrugged.
"Who knows? At least during my time as Captain... maybe once or twice? Isn't that right, Ukitake?"
"Hmm? Ah, well. My own appearances at the Great Meetings are rare enough to be counted on one hand. Haha..."
"Well, there you have it."
At Kyoraku's words, Isshin made a wry face and scratched his cheek.
"That sounds like you're saying it has happened."
"Of course it has. How much time do you think has passed since the Gotei 13 was established? The world hasn't been so peaceful that such a thing would never happen. In the first place, the Gotei 13 was founded to protect Soul Society... well, I don't need to say more, do I?"
Isshin clamped his mouth shut and frowned at Kyoraku's words.
If what he said was true, this meeting had been convened for something so dangerous it only happened a few times in the thousand-year history of the Gotei 13. To Isshin, who had just celebrated his engagement, this was a profoundly heavy topic.
Kyoraku, looking at Isshin from beneath his straw hat, let out a breath and scratched the back of his head.
"Well, you probably don't need to be so tense. It might not be that big of a deal."
"Is that so..."
"Because, at the very least, it's not like we've been surprise-attacked without warning. That means we have time to prepare, and if so, we can overcome it this time too. Just as we always have."
Kyoraku said this while pulling his hat down low.
Contrary to his words intended to ease Isshin's tension, he was actually quite skeptical about the current situation.
'Seeing as Old Man Yama still hasn't taken his seat... something incredibly troublesome is about to happen.'
While he was thinking that, the doors to the meeting hall opened and Yamamoto Genryusai walked in.
His expression was more solemn than ever, and a heavy Spiritual Pressure betrayed Genryusai's mood. The ten Captains already present were forced to swallow hard under the pressure weighing down on the room.
Genryusai, taking the seat of highest honor, sat in silence for a while before letting out a deep sigh.
"...You have gathered well. Before we discuss the details, let me say this first."
The moment his low, sunken voice reached them, even Kurotsuchi Mayuri's expression stiffened.
"All of you, prepare a final will and testament."
Genryusai dropped the bombshell.