Time passed like light through a crack, like a shuttle through the loom.
In the blink of an eye, twenty more years had slipped away.
Since Higashi Shuuichi had already revealed his true level of reiatsu before both Unohana Retsu and the Captain-Commander, there was no longer any need for him to hide his strength as he had in the past.
And given the sheer magnitude of Unohana's spiritual pressure—far beyond that of an average Captain—Shuuichi had gained enough legitimacy to stop pretending.
Over those twenty years, with Tōsen Kaname graduating from the Shin'ō Academy and, under Aizen's guidance, entering the 9th Division, the focus of Aizen's plans had shifted.
The main operative role once held by Shuuichi was gradually passed on to Tōsen.
That didn't mean Shuuichi got any rest.
Quite the opposite.
Yunoi Yōkaku from the Kasumiōji family had arrived soon after to keep him busy.
Yunoi, the mastermind behind the development of the Bakyōtō, harbored ambitions of his own.
His stated goal was to help the Kasumiōji clan craft soul-cutting weapons to rival zanpakutō, thereby pushing the clan to become the Sixth Great Noble House.
His true aim, however, was far more insidious—using the Bakyōtō's unique traits to create a force of Soul Reapers that would obey him alone, and through them usurp the Kasumiōji from within, turning the family into the "Yunoi Clan."
The problem?
The Bakyōtō was far from perfect.
Less than ten percent of Soul Reapers who participated in the experiments survived.
Senkiryuu, the expedition captain who had once wielded Raika with apparent success, had been a statistical miracle.
Unfortunately, before Yunoi could extract any useful data from him, Shuuichi—teaming up with Starrk—had killed him.
Thus, for the past two decades, Yunoi had been working both ends of the candle:
Using his noble status to force Shuuichi into hunting down Soul Reapers—labelled traitors or threats to Soul Society for conveniently opaque reasons—
While at the same time scheming to get Shuuichi to abandon his zanpakutō and accept a Bakyōtō.
Fortunately, Shuuichi had stayed cautious.
The Bakyōtō couldn't override a zanpakutō without the wielder's own consent—no matter how tempting or insidious the process.
If not for that, Shuuichi feared he might already have been turned into one of Yunoi's pet weapons.
"…Comparatively, Aizen might actually be the more ethical one," Shuuichi muttered to himself, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
In just these twenty years under Yunoi's thumb, he had killed more Shinigami than in all his decades working for Aizen—combined and doubled.
If it weren't for the Kasumiōji family's protection, he'd have been dragged to Sōkyoku Hill and sliced apart several hundred times by now.
Aizen, in hindsight, had shown restraint.
Not anymore, though.
Ever since shifting his research away from Reapers and toward the commoners of Rukongai—
And with Tōsen Kaname feeding intel from the inside—
Aizen had initiated massacres beyond counting.
In fact, in order to "ease the burden" on Soul Society and prevent them from worrying about too many Rukongai casualties, Aizen had generously rounded up batches of low-tier Adjuchas every month in the Forest of Menos…
So that Szayelaporro Granz could continue his important research.
Under such intense pressure, the Hōgyoku—the incomplete version—was finished a full decade earlier than it had been in the original timeline.
And this success?
Much of it could be traced back to Higashi Shuuichi.
Because it was he who had acquired access to the Great Spirit Book Archive via the Kasumiōji clan—
It was he who had discovered the identities of the Tsunayashiro clan members in charge of overseeing the Archive.
And it was from there that Aizen struck.
He set his trap.
Used Kyōka Suigetsu.
Complete hypnosis.
And just like that, the Great Spirit Book Archive became his private garden.
Though Aizen still needed to check in regularly at the 5th Division, which meant he couldn't linger long, it was enough.
It was enough for him to uncover everything recorded about the Soul King.
Enough to learn that Kisuke Urahara had successfully created the other half of the Hōgyoku.
At first, Shuuichi thought Aizen would try something akin to the original storyline—a dramatic incident, a Hollowfication experiment gone wrong, something to force Urahara's hand and seize the orb.
But no.
He had underestimated Aizen's ambition.
Because once Aizen had learned the true scope of the world—once the secrets of the Royal Palace were revealed—his gaze turned upward.
He wanted to see it.
The Zero Division.
The Soul King's Court.
As for Urahara's half of the Hōgyoku?
Unimportant—for now.
The records in the Archive confirmed Urahara had sealed it away, deeming it too dangerous, and likely only useful for causing Hollowfication.
And Aizen had yet to decipher how to remove the seals from his own half.
So, for the time being, letting Urahara keep it was… acceptable.
But Aizen wasn't complacent.
He made contingencies.
Even if he failed to retrieve Urahara's half, he continued harvesting spiritually viable souls from Rukongai—
Holding onto the slim hope that, just maybe, a second incomplete Hōgyoku could be replicated.
He had learned, after all, that Urahara somehow managed to keep his half from even appearing in the records.
Aizen didn't find that suspicious.
It merely confirmed that the Five Great Noble Houses had left themselves backdoors into the Archive.
All of this—
All these pieces—
Led to the message Aizen sent Higashi Shuuichi today.
In short: Find a way to force the Kasumiōji family into rebellion.
Aizen's goal was clear: the Soul King's Palace.
There were only two ways to get there.
One: earn a seat in the Royal Guard—
But even the Great Spirit Archive offered no details on what it actually took to be chosen.
It was a nebulous path.
Two: Hypnotize a member of the Zero Division—
And have them bring Aizen in directly.
The only challenge with the second plan was: how to get a member of the Royal Guard to descend to the Seireitei.
Aizen's answer?
Incite an unprecedented rebellion.
----------------------------------------
For this week I will do more release depending on the power stones !
100 Power Stones = 1 chapter (in addition to the daily update)
So give stones if you want mooooar !