"Lord Aizen..."
Before Ulquiorra, who was kneeling on one knee, could finish his sentence, Aizen interrupted him. "You did well this time, Ulquiorra. Step down for now."
"Yes!"
Maintaining absolute calm in the face of any situation—this specific trait made Ulquiorra worthy of being entrusted with heavy responsibilities. Even though he hadn't made a move until the very end, he had indeed executed his mission flawlessly.
Waiting until Ulquiorra left, Aizen turned and walked over to Ichimaru Gin and Tōsen Kaname, who were sitting slumped against the wall. "Is your Reiatsu still dissipating? At this rate, it should take another half day. Rest for a day to observe."
"Thank you for your hard work, Gin." Aizen nodded, then shifted his gaze to Tōsen. "There is no need to be impatient, Tōsen. Your wish will surely be fulfilled."
The two seemed unable to speak at the moment, only able to respond through subtle micro-expressions.
"Take them down to rest."
"Yes! Lord Aizen."
Recovery, preparation—seizing the Hōgyoku was a crucial step. Only from this point forward would everything else be granted the possibility of success. And this process required time.
It was also from this point forward that stopped time would move ahead once more. With a squeeze of his fingers, the transparent barrier surrounding the Hōgyoku completely vanished in Aizen's hand. This iridescent Hōgyoku was the future.
...
"Did you see that? I beat the hand sweat right out of him. But now, it probably doesn't matter anymore..."
Compared to Hueco Mundo, the Seireitei right now felt more like it was shrouded in eternal night. For the first time, Kōe's sharp tongue didn't provoke anyone's disgust. Because, compared to what they had just done, such words were far too mild.
So much so that when the 3rd Seat of Squad 4 arrived with his team, the squad members present felt a bit out of place. For the first time, they felt they were being too loud—it was truly bizarre.
"Captain Komamura, are... are you injured anywhere?"
"I-I'm fine. Am I in your way standing here? I am truly sorry."
"N-No!"
Captains, lieutenants—everyone was being incredibly polite, to the point where it felt eerie. Although no one appeared to have sustained major injuries, the squad members felt they all needed a psychological evaluation.
"Master Genryūsai..." Shunsui lowered his voice, wanting to ask about something, but before he could finish, Yamamoto spoke up.
"First, go and detain all of Squad 5, as well as Central 46. You and Jūshirō handle this immediately."
"Understood."
Shunsui and Ukitake exchanged a glance and departed from Sōkyoku Hill separately. To Yamamoto, this clash was a miserable defeat. He had obtained answers but failed to deliver a result. Putting an immediate end to the chaos was what he should have accomplished; failing to do so was a disgrace.
Fortunately, he never lacked the courage to keep moving forward. As Shunsui left, he realized his previous thoughts had been absurd. If Old Man Yama had simply collapsed like that, *that* would have been truly laughable.
"Sasakibe, go notify Kurotsuchi Mayuri. Conduct a thorough investigation of all spatial fluctuation records around the Seireitei for at least the past year leading up to this moment. He has two days at most."
"Yes, sir!"
"Although Aizen Sōsuke has left, to prevent him from taking advantage of our vulnerability, the Seireitei must remain on high alert. Squad 2 and Squad 7 will take primary responsibility for this matter!"
Yamamoto's orders made Suì-Fēng and Komamura feel as though a heavy burden had been lifted. They responded in unison before leaving to execute their respective duties.
"I leave the arrangements for the wounded and the Ryoka here to you, Kōe," Yamamoto said. His gaze then shifted to Yoruichi, his tone noticeably milder than before. "It has been a long time. Come to Squad 1 tomorrow and speak with me. Come with Kōe."
"That will be all. You and Kōe must have much to discuss as well, so I shall take my leave."
Kōe and Yoruichi bowed in unison. Only after Yamamoto had left did the two raise their heads and exchange a look.
"Tomorrow... are we going?" Yoruichi asked hesitantly. No matter how she looked at it, Yamamoto was going to settle scores with them.
"Did you expect Old Man Yama to visit you at the Shihouin estate? I certainly wouldn't dare ask that of him."
That was the truth. Yoruichi's eyes darted around as she seemingly thought of another possibility. "Do you think the old man's words just now were a hint? Or... a probe?"
A hint meant the two of them could lie—for instance, claiming they never knew something like the Hōgyoku existed. This wouldn't be to convince anyone, but to save face for both sides.
A probe was different. They could lie, but the lie couldn't be too obvious. The goal wouldn't be to just have an excuse, but to determine exactly how much of a threat she, Kōe, and Urahara posed to the Seireitei.
Yoruichi wasn't entirely sure which of the two possibilities it was. If Urahara were here, he would definitely be able to figure out Old Man Yama's intentions. Of course, it didn't matter that he wasn't, because there was someone right here who understood Yamamoto's mind even better than he did.
"What do you think, dead-fish eyes?"
After a long moment of silence, Yoruichi turned her head in confusion. Kōe was nowhere to be seen. *That bastard actually dared to ignore me!*
"Lieutenant Abarai's sword wounds are primarily on his back and shoulders! That kid's spine is probably broken! And finally, Captain Kuchiki has the most wounds, so handle him with extra care!"
The advantage of constantly running to Squad 4 was finally showing. Although Kōe couldn't use Kaidō, his judgment of injuries was absolutely on par with Unohana's. Of course, this could also be attributed to his exquisite swordsmanship.
However, where this knowledge came from wasn't important. What mattered was that his assessments were indeed saving the Squad 4 medics a lot of trouble.
"Lieutenant Abarai has completed the sixth stage of surgery and is ready for transfer!"
"Did we not bring the spinal fixation tools?!"
"Not yet!"
"Then get more people over here to help! We can't let him move anymore!"
It seemed there was a lot of trouble on Ichigo's end. Kōe quickly hurried over, white threads of Reiryoku surging from his hands and connecting to the boy's exposed spine.
"Is this enough?"
"Yes, it is! You've been a great help, Lord Kōe!"
But that didn't seem to be quite enough. Kōe looked at Ichigo, who was twitching slightly from the pain. He could tell the boy was trying his best to endure it, but when it came to pain, sometimes physical methods were required.
"There, that should be absolutely fine now."
"Lord Kōe!"
The nearby Squad 4 members cried out in unison. Was it really okay to hit him like that? They wouldn't have to crack his skull open too, would they?
"Relax. With this guy's control, he just knocked him out cold. At most, he'll get a bump on his head. It's no big deal," Yoruichi said, having arrived and looking accustomed to this. For people like them, beating someone to death was easy, but beating someone *without* killing them was also very easy.
"Can we start preparing for tomorrow now?"
"What's there to prepare?" Kōe retorted before walking off in another direction, leaving Yoruichi stunned in place.
*When did this guy turn into a benevolent doctor? Could it be... this is his preparation for tomorrow's probe?! Isn't he being a bit too deliberate!*