Chapter 254: Beyond Grudges and Debts (Part 3)
"The Sternritter are being retrieved. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads are being retrieved," Aizen said, still smiling as if he were reading a harmless report. "From the results, the Thirteen Court Guard Squads still hold the advantage over the Sternritter, especially after obtaining their Bankai. So, you two are the final victors. Any thoughts?"
"…That's a joke you can't even laugh at."
Shunsui stared at the man before him, that calm, pleasant smile that never seemed to crack. His legs finally gave out. He sank to the ground as if the floor had pulled him down, then forced a bitter smile through blood and exhaustion.
It had felt like fate itself guided them.
They met in the sky before the Soul King Palace. There was no negotiation, no grand declaration, no time for mutual understanding. With the leaders of both sides gone, the Captains and the Sternritter fell into a chaotic brawl, attacking on instinct the moment they saw an enemy.
The end was ugly.
Shunsui unleashed that ominous Bankai, Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū, Dangyo no Fuchi. Coupled with Urahara's reconstructive healing, they ground the remaining Sternritter down by force, wearing them out until they died one by one.
Each Sternritter carried an ability that felt unfair, even absurd. Yet none of them understood, not until the moment their lives snapped, why such a Bankai could exist. Shunsui and Urahara survived to the end by clinging to spiritual pressure control, and sheer will.
They did not even have the luxury of celebrating.
The moment victory settled in their bones, the world shifted.
They were no longer outside the Soul King Palace.
They were inside it.
From beginning to end, it had been like an exhibition match staged for a god seated above the heavens. Their struggle, their desperation, every choice and every scream, all of it had unfolded under the gaze of Aizen Sōsuke and the Soul King.
In the end, these two victors were permitted to return here with their spirits intact.
A viewing area.
The instant they arrived, Shunsui felt it. Urahara felt it. It seeped up from the bottom of their souls like cold water.
The Soul King had become active.
The true god of this world, the one who held omniscience and omnipotence within the structure of the Three Realms, was watching his subjects butcher one another for legitimacy and a future, each side hiding its own agenda, all of them still marching toward extinction.
It was… interesting to him.
Or rather, ever since the outsider Aizen Sōsuke had arrived, every moment the Soul King witnessed had become entirely new.
Shunsui looked at the Soul King's expression, that faint, fascinated interest, and slowly lowered himself to one knee. He let out a long breath that tasted like ash.
His expression twisted into something tangled, confusion and melancholy braided together in a way he could not explain.
He had served the Soul King's order for so long. He had done his duty until his hands were stained and his bones were hollowed out.
And now the truth sat in front of him.
The Soul King had been watching from above.
Watching them struggle.
Watching them reveal every ugly corner of themselves.
Watching them bleed.
Amused, even, as if this were a rare play performed for his benefit.
Shunsui bowed once to the Soul King and once to Aizen, then collapsed fully onto the floor. He did not care about posture anymore. He did not care about dignity. He was simply too tired to pretend.
Urahara, stitched from shoulder to waist, his body exhausted past its limit, felt the same conflict.
By now, the truth had surfaced.
From start to finish, it had been a farce, orchestrated by Aizen under the Soul King's instruction.
Urahara had once studied within the Zero Division. He understood better than most what a being like the Soul King represented. He also understood what it meant when such a being awakened and began to move.
Everything had entered a realm beyond their control.
For the Shinigami, this was already the end.
Their legitimacy was built on the Soul King system. The premise of that system was that the Soul King would not intervene, and that he would support the Shinigami's actions by remaining silent.
But now the Soul King had awakened and begun addressing Shinigami and Quincy alike.
No matter what happened next, the Shinigami could only accept it. There was no room to bargain. What followed would be what they deserved.
Somewhere inside that realization, Urahara felt something he had not expected.
Relief.
He had once run himself ragged for this system. He had burned his mind down to embers trying to patch holes that should never have existed. But now that the creator of the system, the incarnation of the world itself, stood before him, what else could he possibly say?
All that remained was to wait, and face the consequences.
"His Majesty the Soul King generally does not speak much," Aizen said lightly, adjusting his glasses. "So if you have thoughts, bring them to me. I will kindly answer your questions and doubts."
His tone remained almost friendly.
Almost.
"However, in the coming period, Seireitei and the Wandenreich may collide. I set the time for their confrontation. So Judgment Day is likely today. If you do not ask quickly, you may end up simply watching the final battle between Captain Commander Yamamoto and Yhwach."
Aizen's smile sharpened by half a degree.
"I am not entirely sure what will happen then. If Yamamoto goes all out, he could destroy Seireitei completely. I would not want anyone raising questions while it burns. That would spoil the experience."
Shunsui's eyes narrowed slightly, more out of habit than strength.
"…In the end, everything is still within your plan, Captain Aizen."
"Does Captain Kyoraku still wish to call me 'Captain'?" Aizen asked, amused. "I thought I was removed from those ranks long ago."
"Not at all…" Shunsui propped himself up with both hands, staring at his blood soaked robes and the wounds crawling across his body. His smile was awkward, bitter. "Central 46 has yet to restore itself. It has not been confirmed whether you truly betrayed us. So the current thinking is probably that we still hope you will return to the right path, or perhaps that you will surrender whatever you have hidden. Something like that."
He exhaled and let his head tilt back slightly, as if he were trying to rest against air.
"But I did not expect the Soul King to wake up now and take control of everything. It makes us Shinigami look like fools for overthinking. If only it had been made clear, Seireitei would have obeyed His Majesty unconditionally…"
His eyes dimmed, and then sharpened again, as if the thought hurt.
"…No, that would not work. I see. This really is the only way. Otherwise grudges and fate would never be resolved. They would only pile up in the future."
"Yes," Aizen said, pleased. "A very good self reflection, Captain Kyoraku."
His voice remained gentle, yet every word pressed like a finger on a bruise.
"That is exactly the point. If it is not determined who is a friend, who is an enemy, who still harbors resentment, who remains unwilling, then for the sake of this world's future, it is better to have one final battle."
Aizen lifted his gaze, as if he were speaking not just to Shunsui, but to the palace itself.
"Hatred has accumulated in Soul Society for countless years. Hollows are mindless beasts, and even the Arrancar are little more than newborns. Their history is not worth tracing."
"But between Quincy and Shinigami, the hatred is deep. Over the years, internal pressure, external threats, and the rot of the nobles have ensured that Soul Society must undergo a complete release. Whether it comes from enemies outside or enemies within."
"If we wish to move forward, we must first clear the hidden dangers inside. Cleaning the house before welcoming guests is common sense."
Aizen's smile did not change.
"His Majesty did not want the alternative plan I proposed, hypnotizing everyone in the world and having the final war within their minds. So we chose this compromise instead. Through small scale fate guidance, and a certain degree of manipulation, every sharp contradiction is allowed to erupt within a short period."
"This gives the innocent Wandering Souls a breath of air, and it forces the true predators to realize where they came from, and where they are going."
"And so the result is what you see now. Mutual hatred, motives, and private thoughts emerging one after another. I believe you have experienced Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi's ideas. Sometimes, certain things must be dragged into the light and vented."
"…You're right," Shunsui murmured, then nodded slowly. "If His Majesty truly wants us to live in peace afterward, then these things are necessary."
Shinigami were stubborn.
Quincy were stubborn.
The hatred, contradictions, and conflicts between them could not be suppressed by majesty or by one man's power. Often, the only conclusion to such confrontation was death.
The hatred had to be settled.
The resentment and destiny between many captains had to be settled.
The crimes of nobles who feasted on status had to face a reckoning.
If not, anger would ferment inside everyone like poison in a sealed jar. Sooner or later it would become the fuse for destruction. As long as someone kept venting their resentment, what would be damaged was not just people.
It was the world itself.
So there had to be a channel.
If it was not released, then the future was obvious. Once the real Chakra fleet arrived, this world would tear itself apart. Even now, while Chakra was still only a rumor, while it was not yet a dominant ability, it was already spreading throughout Seireitei.
When the fleet came, at least a third of the Grand Cycle system, and the world itself, would be carved away.
Because the hatred was too thick.
Wandering Souls against Seireitei.
Wandering Souls against Hollows.
Shinigami against nobles.
Shinigami against Quincy.
Quincy against Shinigami.
Quincy against Hollows.
Tens of thousands of years of struggle had fermented these grudges until they had their own weight. Among them, the hatred of the Wandering Souls was the most widespread, the most intense. It was inevitable that they would demand a grand reckoning, a revenge that would stain the sky.
Only when blood and souls drifted upward, becoming footnotes beneath the Soul King Palace, could these grievances finally be settled.
Only then could the world take that step forward, walking through blood into whatever came next.
The chaos of the battle earlier had already shown it.
It had not only been Quincy against Shinigami. It had been Quincy against Quincy. Shinigami against Shinigami.
As if everyone understood, instinctively, that this was the final stage. Even the collective hatred between Quincy and Shinigami could not overpower personal grudges anymore. Abilities and killings crisscrossed the sky, then sank into the infinite ocean of spiritual power within Dangyo no Fuchi, dissolving into nothing.
The end of hatred seemed meaningless, a mutual vanity.
Yet for those who lived inside it, hatred was meaningful.
It was true for the Sternritter.
It was true for the Shinigami who arrived.
Even now, those still active outside seemed to be drawn toward Seireitei under some unseen guidance, pulled by a gravity that could only be called fate.
And it was not only them.
Rifts had begun to appear within the Menos Forest. The truly autonomous Arrancar, and the King of Hueco Mundo, had begun to develop their own ideas.
The final result was clear.
A Great Holy War, one that could drag everyone into its jaws, was approaching.
"…Should I call this mercy, or madness?" Shunsui listened to Aizen's calm theory of hatred, then nodded and sighed. He eased himself down again, exhaled, and let the weight leave his shoulders. "But if the Soul King says it's fine, then it must be fine."
His gaze drifted.
To Urahara, still lost in thought.
To Kurosaki Ichigo, who on the other side was practically glowing with excitement as he fiddled with a Chakra projector.
Shunsui's expression softened, and then became distant.
What he had believed in was the world described by Yamamoto, under noble leadership, where everything must operate according to the arrangements of the Shinigami. He had always doubted noble leadership, but he had never doubted the necessity of Shinigami order.
Because without the Soul King system, the world would return to gray chaos.
That was reality.
Shinigami represented order.
They maintained stability.
Shunsui had never considered himself righteous, but he had always believed he should do his best.
Now even the Soul King had stepped onto the field.
Now even the creator of the system had decided this reckoning was necessary.
So there was no reason left to keep struggling against it.
Perhaps it really was enough to sit here, in the best viewing seat, and watch the world change as the ultimate winner. As captains, they could sense the battlefield's shifts simply by feeling reiatsu. It all felt like ritual, like tribute to the operation of Soul King politics.
They had been suppressed by this distorted world for too long. They truly needed a war to end all long held hatred and buried wishes.
Even if someone was pushing it.
Even if many had realized there was a mastermind.
It changed nothing.
They needed a reason.
Just like in Rukongai, where everyone knew Chakra's spread could bring terrifying risks, yet the Wandering Souls accepted it gladly. They wanted power. They wanted to trample the Shinigami who had slaughtered regions and called it balance.
Ordinary Shinigami wanted the same.
They wanted strength, and they wanted to crush the nobles who lorded over them.
Those who had lived through tragedy, who carried grievances in their marrow, needed an ending that matched their hatred.
Even if they died with their enemies.
Even if they were beyond redemption.
They needed the power to settle it.
Shunsui did not understand such hatred, not fully.
But he accepted the fact of it.
As the heir of a noble house, even a minor one, he knew there were truths he did not know, and crimes he had not seen. He could not pretend to understand the resentment of those at the bottom.
So he would not reverse this.
He would not act.
His duty had been done. The Soul King had taken the field. The rest would conclude on its own.
And yet.
There was still a small doubt lodged in Shunsui's mind, like a splinter he could not ignore.
He looked up at Aizen.
"Speaking of which, Aizen."
"Hm?"
"You don't seem to have fought at all."
Shunsui raised an eyebrow, the gesture faint but sharp.
"It feels like you haven't fought anyone from the beginning until now. Are your injuries truly that heavy? Or has your fate already concluded? Are you here purely as the Soul King's mouthpiece, a loudspeaker with glasses?"
"Of course not," Aizen replied calmly. "My destiny will only be revealed at the very end."
"The end?"
"Yes. After Captain Commander Yamamoto and Yhwach, my destiny, and the actions I once took, must also face a reckoning. Otherwise, this world will never break free from my shadow."
Aizen's smile was peaceful, steady, almost gentle.
"A showdown, in the truest sense, is still needed."
He looked down at Shunsui, who was grimacing as he tended his wounds on the floor.
"I will also make you clearly realize what the destiny I face truly is."
.....
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