Chapter 219: Aizen, I know your weakness
In Soul Society, tearing open space with a casual grab was almost unheard of.
Most of the time, it required a medium, a ritual, or at least a catalyst, something to bridge the gap between what a Shinigami could imagine and what the world would actually allow. Among all known methods, the closest equivalents were a Hollow's Sonido and a Hollow's Negacion.
Even then, Sonido was only movement, speed to the point of distortion, a body slipping from one point to another. It did not truly manipulate space. True spatial interference was a far more delicate matter for Shinigami and Quincy alike, and that difficulty was the reason the Research and Development Department existed, along with barrier squads that treated the structure of reality like an occupation, not a miracle.
These things were rare, but not nonexistent.
People wanted to understand the world they lived in. They wanted certainty about the ground beneath their feet.
Hollows, Shinigami, Quincy, three different powers, three different directions, three different schools of thought. To researchers, they were all priceless references, and even then, no one dared claim the essence of the world had been fully understood. There was still a vast blank space in their understanding, a void that refused to be filled. The politics surrounding the Soul King system did not feel fragile at all to most of them.
After all, daily life worked. Reishi could be manipulated. Barriers functioned. Souls cycled.
So how could there be a fundamental problem?
To them, saying Soul Society was sustained by the sacrifice and goodwill of a single being sounded like saying the universe ran on kindness, and then one day everyone died because the kindness stopped. Absurd. And if everyone died together, then what was the problem, right?
That was the logic people clung to.
Which was why behavior like Aizen Sosuke's looked insane to the majority.
And behavior like Yhwach's, wanting to return everything to chaos because maintaining this world felt too dangerous, could not even be described as dangerous. It was madness. It was lunacy.
In Yamamoto's mind, that madness had been burned away long ago.
It had died with Yhwach, buried under flame and hell. Zanka no Tachi should have evaporated Yhwach's existence from the world itself.
But now, Yamamoto watched Aizen slice through space time as if it were cloth, and in the pale, icy white corridor revealed beyond, he finally saw the figure seated on the throne.
A man resting his head on one hand.
Calm. Still. Watching.
"Yhwach…"
Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni tightened his grip on Ryujin Jakka until the wood beneath his feet seemed to groan. Hostility surged through him, old and deep, a hatred carved into bone by a thousand years.
Aizen's existence, in a sense, was internal conflict. A Shinigami tearing at Shinigami structure, cruel in impact but not tyrannical in posture. Even now, Yamamoto could not easily label Aizen's actions as simple slaughter.
But the man before him was different.
This was the Quincy king, the eternal enemy of Seireitei. The one who had summoned an entire race to war, the one who had driven Soul Society into the most brutal conflict since the founding of the Gotei 13.
The Thousand Year Blood War.
It had ended in Yhwach's death, and the complete annihilation of the Quincy force that had dared march on Seireitei. Centuries later, Soul Society had answered with genocide, hunting down the remnants to prevent history from repeating itself.
The hatred between them was an ocean.
And in that ocean, Aizen was only a ripple.
The moment Aizen exposed Yhwach's existence, Yamamoto's anger toward Aizen, in some strange and bitter way, weakened. Because no matter how sharp the argument, both were Shinigami. Both still claimed they wanted this world to endure.
But Yhwach?
Yhwach was a true enemy.
A foe that could not be negotiated with.
Aizen's torn corridor showed the throne clearly now, and Yamamoto did not hesitate. He set both hands on the hilt, poured his spiritual power into Ryujin Jakka, and the blade answered with a roar.
Flames surged like a flood, dyeing the world dark crimson. Heat climbed so high it felt as if space itself might char. Spiritual pressure exploded outward, rolling over Seireitei, forcing every Shinigami who could sense it to look up at the red clouds smothering the sky.
"Bankai…"
"There is no need to unleash Bankai directly, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni."
The voice came from the throne.
Yhwach remained seated, cold gaze shifting briefly to Aizen, who stood nearby with glasses and a gentle smile that looked far too calm for a man standing beside a monster.
"Otherwise," Yhwach continued, "you will fall into Aizen Sosuke's trap. He knows my plans and abilities, and naturally, he knows yours as well. If neither of us maintains control, everything will unfold exactly as he intends."
"Nonsense," Yamamoto growled. "A traitor like you should…"
"Then answer me."
Yhwach's tone did not rise, and that calmness made it worse.
"If I truly wished to tear Seireitei apart from within, why did I not have the Wandenreich assault you the moment the Ryoka arrived, throwing everything into chaos?"
Yamamoto's eyes narrowed, but his flames wavered, just slightly.
Yhwach's gaze slid past him, as if speaking to the room itself.
"When that Ryoka destroyed Mayuri Kurotsuchi's Bankai, I could have ordered my Sternritter to kill Mayuri, and kill Shunsui Kyoraku, who was nearby, then frame the Ryoka for it. Chaos would have spread like poison through your ranks."
His eyes sharpened.
"But I did not. Think, Yamamoto Shigekuni. Why did I not?"
Silence answered him.
And then Aizen spoke, as if politely adding seasoning to a dish he had already prepared.
"Indeed, Captain Commander."
Aizen pushed up his glasses, his smile gentle, almost amused.
"If you wish to maintain parity in this conversation, I recommend you do not use Bankai, Zanka no Tachi. If you do, Yhwach will dissolve it, absorb it, and you, the strongest Shinigami, will be removed from the board."
Aizen's voice remained mild. The content was anything but.
"And similarly, because of the power and unpredictability of your Bankai, even if Yhwach could barely use it after absorbing it, he still would not be able to counter my abilities. His Sternritter would have almost no resistance to the hypnosis of my chakra."
Aizen's smile deepened.
"In that case, both of you, leaders of the Wandenreich and Seireitei, would be silently killed here by me. A clone could conceal everything. My plan would be complete."
A beat.
"So, if you intend to use Bankai, at least wait until Mayuri Kurotsuchi's shadow stealing drug is fully developed."
"…"
Yamamoto stared at them.
For the first time in a long time, the Captain Commander truly did not understand what he was hearing.
He knew his Bankai was terrifying. Yhwach had witnessed it with his own eyes. Aizen somehow possessed information about it, information that should not have existed in any report.
But Yhwach was not the type to humble himself.
Treacherous, shameless, untrustworthy, fine, Yamamoto could accept that. But flattering another man to elevate himself? Impossible. Yhwach claimed to be the Soul King's son. In his own mind, he was the most noble being alive. Why would he act weak, why would he warn Yamamoto not to use Bankai?
And Aizen, whose actions were always layered with meaning, advised the same thing.
Two enemies, the same warning.
It made Yamamoto's mind snag, like a blade caught on bone.
Confusion spread through his chest, heavy and unpleasant, and for a brief moment, even his flames did not roar as confidently as before.
Yamamoto was confused.
But others were not.
Yhwach's cold gaze shifted from Yamamoto to Aizen, who looked almost pleased, as if the world had finally become interesting.
Yhwach's voice sank, darker, sharper.
"…Do you also possess the ability to foresee the future, Aizen Sosuke?"
Before Aizen could answer, Yhwach continued, tone thoughtful in a way that felt like a knife being slowly turned.
"You are remarkable. You possess abilities similar to mine, and ideas similar to mine. If that is the case…"
His eyes narrowed.
"Do you have any interest in following me?"
"Recruitment?" Aizen's smile did not change. "What a pity. I have no interest in playing games in Soul Society for long."
"Games?"
Aizen's tone was light.
"Ah. Games."
Yhwach leaned forward slightly, expression cold, yet carrying a strange malice, as if he had found the one thread he wanted to pull.
"If all of this is a game," Yhwach said, "then what are you, who has developed special properties within it?"
His gaze sharpened further.
"That boy called Kurosaki Ichigo, isn't he?"
Aizen's smile remained gentle, but his eyes became very still.
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Yhwach's voice lowered, each word placed with deliberate precision.
"That boy is your weakness. No."
He paused, and the pause felt like a verdict.
"A singularity you care about."
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