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"Hmm…"
"To freeze all elements, huh?"
"What a domineering ability. No wonder it's his ultimate trump card."
Though the usual foxlike grin still lingered on his face,
inside, Ichimaru Gin felt genuine shock.
The final move of Hyōrinmaru—
he couldn't help but fear it.
Yes.
Thanks to the immersive nature of the ranking video,
Gin had just experienced the battle as if he were there himself—
from a god's-eye perspective, feeling the full weight of those words:
"Freeze everything."
If he himself were in Valkyrie's place,
facing Hitsugaya's fully unleashed Bankai…
The result would be the same.
He would have been frozen solid,
killed instantly inside that four-step radius.
That was Gin's honest impression.
And from the bottom of his heart,
he acknowledged the overwhelming strength of Hyōrinmaru.
Rank nine—completely deserved.
But—
Aizen did not respond to Gin's comment this time.
Instead, he ignored it and calmly shifted the conversation.
"Gin…"
"You heard it too, didn't you?"
"What the future Hitsugaya said—'Pureblood Quincy.'"
At those words,
a faint, intrigued smile curved across Aizen's lips.
"Just as I suspected," he continued smoothly.
"I had already guessed that those two strange invaders… must be connected to the Quincy lineage."
His black eyes gleamed with intellect.
As the man who had deceived the entire Gotei 13 and ruled from the shadows,
Aizen knew much of Soul Society's hidden history—
including the ancient legend of the Thousand-Year Blood War,
the conflict between Shinigami and Quincy.
He had long been gathering information about the Pureblood clan.
So this revelation didn't surprise him at all—
it only made him more interested.
In truth, his fascination had doubled.
The Pureblood Quincy…
Aizen's interest was unmistakable.
"Yes, Lord Aizen," Tōsen Kaname spoke up, his tone grave.
"I heard it as well. It seems clear now—the Pureblood Quincy have been plotting for a long time, planning an invasion of Soul Society."
"Should we consider them a potential threat?"
Unlike the sly and deceitful Gin—
whose every sentence carried a layer of falsehood—
Tōsen was sincere to the point of fanaticism.
Much like Hinamori Momo years ago,
he had been completely swayed by Aizen's charisma and rhetoric.
His devotion was absolute.
In his mind, Aizen's justice was true justice.
So upon hearing of the Pureblood Quincy's strength
and their future invasion,
Tōsen's instinct was immediate hostility—
and the urge to destroy them.
But—
Aizen merely shook his head, his expression calm.
"Tōsen," he said lightly, "you seem to be forgetting something."
"Right now, all we know is their name. We still lack information about the Pureblood Quincy's real structure."
"Their numbers. Their strength. Their hiding places. And—"
"Most importantly…"
"That man—"
"The one called the progenitor of the Quincy."
"Yhwach."
"Is he still alive? Has he awakened?"
"All of this remains unknown."
His voice was low and deliberate.
These words shocked both Gin and Tōsen.
Yhwach.
The King of the Pureblood Quincy.
A name ancient and forbidden.
If not for Aizen,
they would never have even known it.
And now, thanks to the ranking video,
the existence of the Pureblood Quincy had been exposed prematurely.
"So, Captain Aizen," Gin said, narrowing his eyes with a faint smile, "you seem awfully calm about this."
"Calm?"
Aizen chuckled softly.
"Why shouldn't I be?"
"There's no need for tension or fear."
"At this moment, Gin…"
"The ones who should truly be panicking—perhaps even trembling with rage—"
"are not us."
"It's Yamamoto Genryūsai."
In truth,
Aizen was correct.
The words "Pureblood Quincy"
had reached the Captain-Commander's ears as well.
And, as expected,
he was furious.
"Humph…"
"Utter nonsense!"
"The Pureblood Quincy—those failures I personally eradicated a thousand years ago—"
"How could they possibly return in the future,
much less destroy Soul Society?!"
Yamamoto's roar shook the barracks.
His long beard flared upward with his anger,
and the ancient might of the strongest Shinigami erupted.
In an instant,
the desk before him shattered,
along with every scroll and document upon it,
blasted to ash.
The entire office shook violently,
splinters of wood flying through the air.
The Captain-Commander's rage had reached its peak.
He had already been heavy-hearted after seeing so many Shinigami injured and killed in the future footage.
Now—
with the revelation of the Pureblood Quincy—
his fury finally exploded.
For the first time in centuries,
the old man was truly, utterly enraged.
(End of Chapter)
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