After clearing out all the fellows clogging the river channel alongside Black Jeanne, Aizen was slightly startled and looked up toward the south.
Is someone really coming?
Suzuki Makoto arrived, travel-worn and covered in dust, and immediately fixed his gaze upon the cloaked Aizen.
"Who are you?"
"Can we speak alone?"
"No need. There are no secrets between her and me."
Suzuki Makoto's words did not surprise Aizen; rather, it was Black Jeanne who had a larger reaction to this statement. The young girl's cheeks turned flushed with shame and indignation, and she feigned anger as she shouted at Suzuki Makoto.
"Who wants to listen to your discussions! Just tell me where the next target is so I can go continue killing people!"
Suzuki Makoto paid no mind to Black Jeanne's petty temper and simply continued to stare at Aizen.
The man thought for a moment, then took off his hood. That face, wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking completely harmless to humans and animals alike, caused Suzuki Makoto to pause involuntarily.
Aizen keenly perceived this.
"Have we met before, Suzuki-kun?"
"No, I am just very surprised. To think that the guy even Jeanne finds tricky actually looks so friendly."
"Who finds him tricky! I'm just worried about accidentally injuring others! There is absolutely no way I am weaker than that guy! It's just that there are too many ordinary people around, that's all!"
"Yes, yes, yes, Jeanne listens to me the most."
Reaching out to soothe the shouting young girl, Suzuki Makoto continued to pretend he did not know Sosuke Aizen, maintaining his guard all the same.
"So then, this gentleman who claims to be from the Seireitei, for what purpose do you wish to see me?"
"The retreat of the nobles does not signify a victory for the Yellow Turbans. On the contrary, the most powerful army within the Seireitei has already begun to mobilize and has entered the Rukongai."
"You mean the Gotei 13?"
"Correct. Their duty is to protect the Seireitei. Now that the Yellow Turbans have proven they have the capacity to threaten the Seireitei, they will naturally move out. Even if this proof was forged by the nobles, the Captain-Commander who leads the entire Gotei 13 will not allow the further expansion of the Yellow Turbans."
Aizen obviously intended to proceed gradually with a friendly gesture of exchanging intelligence, but looking at the still calm Suzuki Makoto, he realized that the other party did not seem to care much about this information.
"If the Gotei 13 advances to District 70, then I will have the Yellow Turbans retreat to District 71. If the Gotei 13 enters District 79, then the Yellow Turbans will retreat to the Zaraki District. If the Gotei 13 is willing to completely take control of even the Zaraki District and reincorporate the people there into the embrace of order—then that would be truly wonderful. I wouldn't have to labor and worry over maintaining the Yellow Turbans."
This was Suzuki Makoto's true thought.
He had never viewed the Yellow Turbans as a tool for his own domination. He simply wanted to give these wandering souls, who were forsaken and unloved by everyone, a chance to survive in the Soul Society. If the Gotei 13 was willing to expand order back to the entire Rukongai, wouldn't that mean Suzuki Makoto's wish had been fulfilled?
Aizen fell into silence. He had completely not expected to hear such an answer.
Did the man before him really not have even a tiny bit of ambition?
"Could you really sit by and watch the Yellow Turbans, which you built single-handedly, be destroyed?"
"Would the Gotei 13 massacre every settlement that has ever flown the Yellow Turban flag?" Suzuki Makoto asked in return.
"That... they would not."
"In that case, if they do not want a second Yellow Turbans, or perhaps Red Turbans, to appear in the Rukongai, they must administer the outer districts. And as long as there is administration, then the Zaraki District will not return to its past state—this is my wish."
Aizen carefully observed Suzuki Makoto and Black Jeanne, and then he discovered with disappointment that these two showed absolutely no emotional fluctuation due to these words. Obviously, their demands really were nothing more than this.
For the first time, Sosuke Aizen felt somewhat at a loss as to how to utilize the man before him.
As the owner of an illusion-type Zanpakuto, he was naturally a master of playing with human hearts. The best way to utilize others was naturally to utilize their desires. The greater a person's desire, and the harder it was to achieve, the deeper he could utilize them—from Gin Ichimaru to Kaname Tosen, this was invariably the case.
He had intended to use the same method to deal with Suzuki Makoto, but when the other party laid out his desires, they appeared so... 'mediocre'.
The other party was not even aiming to overthrow the Seireitei, but simply wanted those ordinary people to survive.
"This gentleman from the Seireitei, you say you want to overthrow the current order of the Soul Society, correct?"
"Of course."
"Then, what happens after it is overthrown? Will you become the new order?"
"Yes."
"Then what influence and help will this order have for the Rukongai?"
Aizen could not answer this question. He wanted to replace the Soul King; naturally, he had only considered how to deal with the Gotei 13 and those nobles. As for the Rukongai...
"No one cares about them. Whether it is the current nobles, or you who wish to resist the nobles, you never care about the life and death of these wandering souls. Because in your eyes, there is only the power and authority within the Seireitei. Outside of that massive barrier, there is nothing worthy of your attention at all, right?"
Suzuki Makoto shook his head.
"That is why I never asked for your name, sir. Because I know we cannot become fellow travelers. I want the people of the Rukongai to live like human beings, working at sunrise and resting at sunset, not needing to steal for a bag of water, not needing to kill for a piece of bread. That is all. You will not pay attention to them, so I likewise will not pay attention to you."
"It seems we cannot reach an agreement then? You are unwilling to fight alongside me, Suzuki-kun?"
Aizen was somewhat disappointed. The spirit and ambition of this Suzuki Makoto were truly too small, so small that he didn't even have the interest to admonish him.
"I certainly do not see that you have any capital to overthrow the Soul Society. Up until now, you have never displayed anything of the sort."
Suzuki Makoto's hand rested on the hilt of his sword.
He said this intentionally. Aizen should just now be starting to truly prepare his army and power, and the conquest of Hueco Mundo had likely not fully begun yet. But the Aizen of this moment was already only one step away from the strongest Hogyoku form.
How could such an opponent not make him excited?
Aizen noticed Suzuki Makoto's movement, and he couldn't help but laugh in amusement—perhaps everyone who came out of the Zaraki District was in such a state? Whether it was Kenpachi Zaraki or Suzuki Makoto, it seemed the thing they cared about most was fighting against the strong.
"If Suzuki-kun can surprise me a bit more, I might just change my mind, who knows."
____
New Story: ZZZ: Mr. Ethereal Does Not Want to See a Tragedy
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