Chapter 388: Interlude 28
Sōsuke Aizen POV
It was in this moment of falling that I was able to contemplate what exactly led to this entire situation turning out as it did.
Which one of my plans failed so spectacularly that I found myself falling, what felt like, sideways through what appeared to be shadows.
It was rare to find myself humbled in such a way. I can admit that there are others that are my equal in an aspect or two. Urahara Kisuke is someone I recognized as matching my intelligence, and The Captain Commander is someone I can accept as an opponent whom I would not fight without many plans to counter. I will even acknowledge Captain Unohana for her mastery of the healing arts, even if I never placed much emphasis on them.
That being said, I find myself confused.
Why am I falling?
I logically knew why, of course. Even if the specifics of what is happening is something I am unfamiliar with. Such as this.....space that seemingly exists mirroring Soul Society that went completely unnoticed by not just everyone else but myself.
I thought about my plans again, what I set up to lead into the next stage. I knew that Kisuke Urahara hid the object inside the soul of Kuchiki Rukia when her powers did not return after giving them to Kurosaki Ichigo for months. It was obvious that he had a hand in keeping her powers from returning. It was easy enough to deduce his plan from there and produce a counter plan to retrieve the object in question.
It was a simple matter of using my Zanpakutō's perfect Hypnosis ability to turn the Central 46 into my pawns and condemn her to certain death via the Sōkyoku. The holy execution blade would have burned away everything, even her soul, leaving only the object I sought due to its nature of being nigh indestructible.
I even took into consideration some foolhardy attempts at a rescue, researching Urahara Kiskue's old notes and reproducing the method in which he is able to interact with the soul without causing damage. I had nearly cracked the method used, as ingenious as it is. It did take me a fair bit, but that is to be expected with a man I recognized as being my equal in intelligence.
I was prepared to make my move. All my pieces were in place and I would have declared myself and moved to take my rightful place. I had my Hollow Soldiers ready for battle in Hueco Mundo, and I had my fellow conspirators ready to leave me with and betray the Gotei 13.
Yes, my plans had been going perfectly for decades at this point.
That was until one little incident.
I knew about all the going ons in the mortal town of Karakura. Not just because of Urahara Kisuke, but his presence there did make things more convenient. But the amalgamation that is Kurosaki Ichigo demanded attention from one such as myself. My spirit of discovery and scientific advancement would accept no less than to note his presence and record his life.
I knew that he was currently wielding Kuchiki Rukia's Shinigami powers, a facsimile of a true Shinigami while his real powers lurked beneath the surface.
Yes, that's why it came as such a shock to hear that a Ryoka by that name had invaded Soul Society.
For what reason did they use that child's name? Was it intentional in an attempt to grab my attention or was it merely happenstance? For the first time in a very long time, I found myself confused.
The intruder's presence did not last long, less than a day in its entirety, but in that time frame, he somehow created more questions than answers.
It was reported that he had a very strange Reiatsu. While Captain Kyōraku's reports can be.... questionable at times, his Lieutenant mirrored his words, and she would not put up with his nonsense in a genuine report.
And that was not even the most eye-catching report I received about the intruder that day. Nor was it the fact that Captain Kurotsuchi was defeated.....with a brick.
I admit no small amount of amusement at the thought of such a scene happening. That Captain is.....humorous to watch as he tries to chase the coattails of his betters. He mastered Kidō to a degree because Urahara Kisuke was a Kidō Master. He achieved his Bankai in near record time because Urahara Kisuke owned the record at a three-day interval. And he constantly tries to surpass his former Captain at every opportunity.
To watch him constantly run after the level by which we stand has always been an enjoyable experience to pass the time.
I once more admit to being surprised at his defeat as well. Despite the Captain being one of the weakest to hold the seat of Captain, he rarely lets others get the better of him, oftentimes through sheer pettiness. That isn't to say I thought he – or by extension – the other Captains were beyond reproach of outside forces. Far from it in fact. However, the surprise came from a complete stranger defeating one of my 'peers' through such ridiculous means that I am utterly flabbergasted even after reading the reports multiple times.
Ignoring the brick, regardless of how that sounds, there was then the Dragon.
I was able to see it from a distance for the brief time it appeared. It was not a mere 'construct' created from Reiryoku, but an actual entity brought forth through some unknown means.
Unknown to me.
There was the interesting confirmation from Captain Hitsugaya's own Zanpakutō spirit who happens to be a Dragon as well. And I think that only serves to make the situation even more mystifying.
I was completely and utterly without answers to questions and with no immediate means to satiate my desire to understand this unknown happening.
The Ryoka disappeared through means I was unable to track. He used methods that I was unable to replicate, and he used a name of a person that I was keeping a close eye on.
It almost caused me to alter my plans to accommodate this strange anomaly. I briefly considered backing Captain Sui-feng to track down this individual in the Human World as to further gather Data, but I quickly dismissed that notion.
I was too close to my true objective, I did not wish to possibly ruin plans that are centuries in the making over a.....curiosity.
There were plenty of conclusions to already draw from his brief appearance. First and most important, he did not appear to be aligned with Urahara Kisuke. That man would not allow a card such as that one to escape his grasp and enter my eyes after he would have hidden it so thoroughly from me.
This allowed me to push any other thoughts about the Ryoka to the side for the future. I could investigate later at my leisure once everything was finally achieved.
Though it appeared that more of my plans were seemingly unraveled by this strange person. When the Quincy living in Karakura town used that Hollow Bait of his, I was keeping track of the proceedings offhand and my subordinates used the opportunity to send a Menos Grande to test the young man.
Once more, things did not go as I envisioned.
Instead of a young Kurosaki Ichigo defeating the advanced Hollow or any other of the dozens of scenarios I envisioned, the Ryoka once more made an appearance. Dealing with the Hollow in such a fascinating way that I was quickly getting more and more interested.
I even made arrangements to make sure everything went smoothly with the capture of Kuchiki Rukia since it was clear this Ryoka was also staying in Karakura town. I used the Central 46 to initiate war-time protocols and allow Captains to enter the Human World without their seals and I added Gin as insurance. It was easy enough to convince everyone else, the Central 46 are known for reacting outrageously to perceived slights.
A Ryoka came in and caused problems, defeating one of our captains, then disappearing. An overreaction on their part would not be questioned to any meaningful extent.
It also served to dissuade Urahara Kisuke in the off chance that he decided to openly move. It was highly unlikely that he would do such a thing, but It's never a bad idea to have contingencies in place when that man is my opponent at this stage.
Yes, and it was a good move on my part as the Ryoka reappeared as predicted. I did not tell Gin or anyone else of my newfound knowledge on the Ryoka as to watch events unfold naturally. I don't know whether Gin intentionally initiated a conflict with him, nor do I particularly care, but I was able to learn more from their brief exchange.
Gin felt threatened enough to almost use his Bankai.
Only stopped by Captain Kuchiki, rightfully so I believe. It would have only caused problems for the plan if Gin used his Bankai in that scenario. Not to mention he almost killed the subject of my curiosity, Kurosaki Ichigo.
I can't get entirely angry at him, I never did reveal the extent at which I was interested in the amalgamation. But apparently the Anomaly came to his rescue, asserting a certain closeness with the subject that I was not entirely knowledgeable about. His presence in Karakura town had gone almost entirely unnoticed by me until the point of the Hollow attack.
But that was not the most interesting bit of information. No, that was how the Ryoka retaliated against Gin. A spear that Gin professed weariness at and not a Zanpakutō in the slightest. That is to say, he revealed other weapons capable of harming our kind, but Gin said he felt oppressed and genuinely threatened by the Spear that gave of a.....Holy feeling.
I had the small thought that perhaps he was a Quincy of some variation, but once more dismissed that as soon as I gave it an iota of consideration.
The report about Kurosaki Ichigo's actions did have me make my own preparations. Based on the profile I already designed for the young man, I could guess that he would try something ridiculous such as invading Soul Society to retrieve Kuchiki Rukia.
I planned accordingly.
He would appear, see the Walls down, and whoever accompanied him – the likely candidate being Shihōin Yoruichi – would undoubtedly use their close relationship with the Shiba clan and make use of their fireworks cannon to penetrate the barrier around the Seireitei.
Once more, I was surprised.
Surprised that the targets of my focus appeared so wantonly in front of me. Without causing a scene, and merely appearing in the middle of the Seireitei right as I was performing my 'duties' as the Captain of my Division.
I had expected them to attack, but not this quickly and not with subtlety such as this.
There were too many variables cropping up for my liking. As much as I disliked the idea of taking any spotlight at this crucial moment, I felt it necessary to discover what was going on.
As expected, Shihōin Yoruichi was with Kurosaki Ichigo and his group of children he decided to bring along with his rescue attempt.
Of course, and perhaps the most significant thing to occur, was the presence of another unknown variable accompanying the group.
I could not sense her.
Despite being within arms reach and trying my best, I could not sense her presence beyond any basic physical senses. I could not feel her Reiatsu in the slightest, and I could not gauge her overall presence.
It was as if the ambient Reishi made way for her with each step she took. The phenomenon that occurred previously made me question what this woman actually was, because it was obvious she was giving off a similar feeling at that moment. That with her existence, it felt as if Soul Society bowed to her.
I did not know what she was, and it made me wary. For the first time in many years, I found myself...uncertain.
Her mere presence made me almost unconsciously bow my head, an interesting first impression, but one I quickly threw off. And I was holding back the majority of my strength, keeping myself in line with the average power level of a Shinigami Captain.
I attempted to use my Zanpakutō to pry out the answers I desired; my sword having never failed me in the past. I originally did not intend to use my ability on Kurosaki Ichigo, I thought when he grew to his peak it would be a good test for myself. However, it would not make much of a difference in the long run. And much to my growing wariness, she did not merely throw off my own illusion, she was never affected in the first place.
My Zanpakutō was unable to affect her.
A miscalculation on my part.
One by which I now found myself falling sideways through the shadows of Soul Society.
A place I did not know existed until this very moment. It felt similar to traveling through the Dangai, but also more restrictive. I did not have much control of my own body, I could attempt to stymy my own 'fall' but I was unaware of what would occur if I did so.
I could vaguely feel that I was hitting a threshold and about to pierce this veil and land at my 'destination' so I bided my time.
As I got closer, my speed accelerated and I was then thoroughly pulled through the barrier between this place and the one I was intended for. I did not have any time to orient myself as I slammed into something hard, breaking it into pieces and something soft and.....aromatic hitting my face.
I could make full use of my body once more as my facilitates came back. And I pushed myself up off the ground, the darkness that covered my eyes was wiped away. And I looked down at my hand and it was.....food?
Perhaps the disorientation affected me more than I realized because I then became aware of the powerful Reiatsu that were all scattered around the room.....and all focused on me.
I looked at them, then at myself. I was covered in all manner of foodstuffs and a broken table was underneath my point of origin as well as a hole in the ceiling of the building I now found myself in.
However, that seemed much more immaterial compared to who was present in this room.
The dozen or so of Reiatsu that were at the very least on par with a Captain of the Gotei 13 were all looking at me.
A food hall.
I landed in someone's dinner.
Well, the person looked just as surprised as I was. Wearing a helmet reminiscent of some tribes native to the northern regions of Europe in the human world. But I could recognize their shared regalia immediately and felt myself experience an uncomfortable amount of uncertainty once more.
Quincy, stronger than I've ever seen insofar.
I stood up straight with a renewed grace, wiping myself off completely. "I apologize for my entrance." I regained my gentle expression. "Please carry on." I made way for the door.
The sudden intensity in Reiatsu pressing down told me that they did not in fact, carry on.
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