Chapter 86: Aizen and Urahara
Hueco Mundo, Las Noches.
The moment Aizen stepped out of the Senkaimon, the long waiting Kaname Tosen immediately lowered himself into a half bow.
"Lord Aizen, I must apologize. My earlier attitude was too disrespectful. Ichimaru, kneel as well."
"Huh? Me too?" Gin Ichimaru leaned lazily against a stone pillar. His shinigami uniform and captain's haori were gone, replaced by a loose white robe. The cunning, predatory aura that once clung to him like a snake and a fox had thinned into something hazier, more unreadable. "Did we not all act according to orders? I thought I played my part beautifully, and I was hoping Captain Aizen would praise me."
"No need, Tosen." Aizen walked forward at an unhurried pace. "You both completed your tasks well. There is nothing to apologize for."
He smiled, eyes calm and deep.
"More importantly, you brought back the true culprit, did you not? I do not expect an apology from him, but I am curious what he will say to me."
Tosen nodded in silence and led the way. Gin followed at the very back, still unhurried.
They moved together, yet never truly side by side.
Even when they reached their destination, the distance between them remained.
"After Urahara was locked up, I planned to use certain methods to make him obedient," Tosen reported as he approached a sealed stone door. "But the moment he entered, he fell asleep and ignored everyone. Still, it achieved the intended result."
With that, Tosen opened the door and pointed inward, toward the back wall.
A man should have been hanging there, bound in chains like a discarded dog.
Aizen said nothing. He simply looked.
His gaze felt like it could peel away skin, pry open bone, and expose the gears of deceit hidden in a soul.
"Lord Aizen," Tosen asked carefully, "shall I wake him?"
Instead of answering, Aizen raised a hand and tore through the air with casual ease.
Not the void itself.
A Kido curtain.
A veil meant to conceal the truth.
The moment it shredded, the scene behind it mocked Tosen's report.
Cables covered the cell floor like creeping vines. Tables and benches had been overturned. Unfamiliar potions sat beside computers. Papers scrawled with messy handwriting littered every corner. The sharp stink of chemical reagents still lingered in the air.
And Kisuke Urahara, who should have been chained to the wall, was very much alive and moving.
Startled by Aizen's presence, he stumbled over a cable, dropped several books, then winced and rubbed his backside as he bent to pick them up. When he looked up at the three of them, his smile was awkward, almost sheepish.
"?!"
"…."
"Wow, this is truly spectacular," Gin murmured, peeking around the doorframe with open amusement.
His voice was a blade.
Even though Tosen was blind, he could sense everything. The layout, the smell, the scattered tools, the sheer insult of it all.
His body trembled with fury.
"Urahara, you bastard."
"Sorry, sorry." Urahara scratched his cheek, chuckling. "The supplies here were far more abundant than I expected. I lost control for a moment. I will clean it up right away."
That only made Tosen's anger surge harder.
Being fooled was one thing.
Being made a fool of in front of Lord Aizen was another.
"Tosen, stand down."
"…Yes."
Tosen gritted his teeth and retreated out of the cell, forced to swallow the impulse to draw his blade. He took position at the doorway with Gin, standing guard.
Aizen ignored the stench in the air. He walked forward, righted a chair, and sat. Then he casually picked up a sheet of paper and glanced at it.
"An environmental survey of Hueco Mundo?"
"That's right." Urahara righted another chair and sat as well, meeting Aizen's eyes with calm composure. "It is my first time visiting the Hollows' main stronghold. A rare opportunity like this should not be wasted. Who knows when it might prove useful."
The atmosphere did not resemble a captive facing his captor.
It felt like two scholars talking in a laboratory.
Except they were not discussing research.
They were dissecting intent.
"Just as I thought." Aizen's smile remained perfectly composed. He tossed the page aside, letting it flutter back to the floor as if that was where it belonged. "You allowed yourself to be captured on purpose."
"Others may not notice, but I know your capabilities well. Escaping back there was not impossible for you."
"You did not even try."
"Failure would have been understandable. Not attempting anything at all is the true flaw."
Urahara did not flinch at being seen through. He simply sighed.
"What a pity. I could not hide it from you. Otherwise, I would have preferred to infiltrate and gather firsthand intelligence."
Aizen's eyes drifted across the chaos.
"The way you behave does not resemble a prisoner. It resembles someone who expected recruitment and is enjoying privileges ahead of time."
"After all," Urahara said quietly, "you are no different."
Aizen's gaze sharpened slightly.
"From the moment I stepped into Soul Society, I realized you had no intention of killing me. Not once did I sense a genuine attempt. So I concluded you wanted to use my existence for something."
"Since that is the case, why would I worry? You want to bring me to Hueco Mundo, and I want to know why you are bringing me to Hueco Mundo."
He smiled, the warmth never reaching his eyes.
"As for recruitment, do not joke, Aizen. If you said such a thing, I would only look down on you."
"Indeed." Aizen's smile turned faintly appreciative. "For you, the only conclusion I reached, after exhausting all my wisdom, was to crush you head on with unmatched power."
"But that was my previous attitude."
"Oh?" Urahara leaned forward slightly, attentive.
Aizen's voice remained gentle, almost conversational.
"Shimiya Takeru. Kurosaki Ichigo. You are not unfamiliar with those two, are you?"
"Of course." Urahara's answer came smoothly. "Poisoned by your ideology, led astray, and blessed with talent not inferior to yours or mine."
"Astray." Aizen repeated the word, amused. "Do you truly believe that?"
"I did before," Urahara answered, matching Aizen word for word.
Aizen showed no surprise.
"With your intellect, nothing can be hidden as long as you set foot in Soul Society. That must also be why you came to Hueco Mundo with such confidence."
Urahara's expression tightened.
"I originally thought your goal was the Hogyoku. I thought you wanted to use it to overturn what is currently stable."
"But gradually, I sensed something. The goal appears unchanged, yet something has shifted. It sounds contradictory, but even if it is only a feeling, I must confirm whether it is true."
"For that, taking risks is acceptable. After all, if I come here, you will definitely tell me."
"And you are convinced that by doing so, I will definitely come to Hueco Mundo, and be persuaded by you."
Aizen shook his head.
"There is no need to wear the face of a loser so I can feel satisfied and relax my guard."
"I will tell you, and I do intend to use you, but it is not because I hold the initiative."
"It is because I firmly believe you will make a move."
"And you must make a move."
"Whether you choose to destroy, or choose to cooperate."
Aizen's eyes settled on him like the weight of law.
"From the moment you came to Hueco Mundo, you cannot go back."
"…"
Urahara fell silent, as if accepting it without saying so.
Aizen stood and looked down at him.
"Enough small talk."
"Let us speak plainly."
"Urahara, what do you think of Orihime Inoue?"
Urahara frowned, about to answer, when Aizen added, "I am not asking about her strength or abilities. I am asking what her existence as a person means to the world."
Urahara's eyes narrowed.
"Aizen sensei, have you gotten addicted to being a teacher? You are starting to care about the future of a mere human girl."
"How can someone you use as a pawn be described as mere?" Aizen's tone stayed calm, but each word cut cleanly. "A human who wields a Zanpakuto. A human whose ability resembles a Menos Grande's Negacion."
He did not pause.
"If I am not mistaken, you intend to use her as a spare for the Soul King. Do you not?"
Urahara's expression tightened.
Aizen did not give him room to deny it. He continued, voice unwavering.
"Whether you do or not, there is no need anymore."
"Even if the current Soul King dies, and you cultivate a new one, it will not change the world's ultimate demise."
"The method by which this world was created is flawed. A flawed beginning can only end in destruction."
"Everything you have done is nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst."
"Buying time is meaningless."
His eyes sharpened, a quiet dominance that did not need anger.
"My disciples, Shimiya Takeru and Kurosaki Ichigo, and even Orihime Inoue. Their births are the best proof."
"If they rise to deny the Soul King's existence, to establish a correct order, would you still try to stop them?"
Urahara's silence deepened, conflicted and heavy.
Aizen showed no triumph, only certainty.
"Urahara, rather than letting them be the villains, why do we not overturn every flaw, establish the correct order, and then entrust it to capable, trustworthy people to protect?"
"I will become the new god."
"And you, Urahara." Aizen's voice softened, almost gracious. "If you are concerned, then become the new Zero Division."
"I will keep the position of the Monk Who Calls the True Name open for you."
Urahara's pupils contracted.
He stared at Aizen as the man turned, brushed his sleeve, and walked out of the cell.
"What did you just say…?"
His judgment had not been wrong.
Aizen's objective had changed.
But why?
Did Aizen truly believe those words?
Outside, Tosen moved to close the door, but Aizen stopped him with a casual wave.
"The temporary cell in Las Noches cannot hold him."
"For someone like Urahara, words and thought are the only confinement that matters."
"Lord Aizen, I still do not believe Urahara can be trusted," Tosen said, offering sincere warning.
"Trust is unnecessary." Aizen did not even slow. "Whether he wants to destroy our plan or sees hope in it, he must join."
"Otherwise, he would not have come to Hueco Mundo."
Gin, standing nearby, smiled lightly. "Is this what you call letting him walk into the trap?"
"You have good insight, Gin."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"If you want more compliments," Aizen said as if making casual conversation, "bring out the Hogyoku now."
Tosen froze.
"Ichimaru… did you not say it fell into the Garganta?"
"It did fall into the Garganta," Gin replied with an innocent shrug. "But did I not retrieve it? I was just about to give Captain Aizen a surprise."
From his sleeve, he produced a strange crystal.
"Indeed." Aizen accepted the Hogyoku and examined it. "You gave me a fine surprise, especially when you took it upon yourself to release Arturo Plateado."
"?!"
Tosen turned sharply toward Gin, rage flaring. "Ichimaru. You told me all of this was Lord Aizen's instruction."
"That's right." Gin spread his hands, smiling as if it were obvious. "Captain Aizen instructed me to report Rukia."
"And then I thought, since we were going to stir everything up and withdraw from Soul Society anyway, saving an Arrancar could boost our fighting power."
"You…" Tosen's disgust was raw.
"Enough, Kaname." Aizen's tone cut through it. "I have no intention of blaming Gin."
"In fact, my attitude was clear the moment we met."
Aizen put away the Hogyoku and looked at Gin with a deep, unreadable smile.
"The power of the Blazing Water Mirror exceeded my expectations."
"This divine artifact showed me a more distant, more beautiful future."
"That is why I said you both completed your tasks very well."
With that, Aizen patted Gin's shoulder and walked away without looking back. Tosen hurried after him.
Aizen's final words drifted back, calm and absolute.
"Guard it well, and do not lose it again."
"I look forward to you, as the ostensible leader of Las Noches, giving the Gotei Thirteen, who will soon invade Hueco Mundo, a surprise."
When they were gone, Gin remained alone.
He stared at his empty palm.
If only what he had just touched had been another Hogyoku.
Snap.
His hand closed into a fist.
At some point, the smile had vanished from his face, leaving only calm and hard determination.
It did not matter if he had been seen through.
That magnanimity, the kind that believed it controlled everything and therefore tolerated everything, would eventually be pierced.
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