"The first thing, let's take a look at Captain-Commander Yamamoto's files."
Rosse gave a small smile, giving an answer that Aizen had already expected.
Since Captain-Commander Yamamoto was the Soul Society's combat pillar, anyone with a bit of sense would naturally start by checking his data. Aizen back then had done the same thing.
"No problem."
Aizen let out a light chuckle, tapped a few times on the console, and soon the device holding the documents started to operate. Countless documents gathered like a waterfall and finally flew toward the two of them.
"These files are made from reishi. As long as you send your own reishi into them, you can know all the information inside."
"Then logically speaking, doing that should leave something like a visitor record, right?", Rosse asked with interest.
"Of course it will, but with someone like you, Lord Rosse, I'm sure you can erase it yourself," Aizen smiled.
"It really isn't hard."
Rosse felt it out and reached that conclusion. Then he casually sent his reishi into the files.
In an instant, information about Captain-Commander Yamamoto appeared in his mind.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto's first appearance could be traced back to nearly two thousand years ago.
At that time, the Soul Society was still ruled by nobles.
He was born in Rukongai, and in that chaotic era without the Gotei 13, he stood out with unparalleled swordsmanship and strength.
Searching for opponents who could match him, Yamamoto created the "Genryu" swordsmanship dojo and began accepting disciples.
At that time, he was known as the "Sword Demon," cruel and merciless, doing anything to reach his goals, completely different from the Captain-Commander he was now.
After that, in order to resist the increasingly chaotic situation, he gathered the strong people under him into a group. This group became the predecessor of the Gotei 13, but in essence it was an assassin organization born for battle.
This part of history happened roughly between two thousand and one thousand years ago. It was also the period when Yamamoto lay dormant.
But even during that time, Yamamoto was already unmatched in the Soul Society.
After that, Rosse saw the records of the First Division Vice-Captain, Sasakibe Chojiro.
You had to admit, Sasakibe back then was also a genius. He learned bankai in just one month, and even left a cross-shaped scar on Yamamoto's forehead.
Around 1100 years ago, Yamamoto believed the Soul Society needed order, so he restructured his assassin group, officially founded the Gotei 13, and personally served as Captain-Commander and Captain of the First Division.
It was around that time that Yamamoto used force to push into Seireitei and forced the nobles to make concessions.
As compensation, the position of Captain of the Second Division was given to the noble Shihoin family.
If Rosse remembered correctly, the previous Second Division Captain had been Yoruichi of the Shihoin family. But because she defected, the Second Division was temporarily led by Sui Feng, who came from an affiliated branch family of the Shihoin.
The next part of the data was about the Quincy War.
Not long after the Gotei 13 was founded, Yhwach led his Quincy to invade the Soul Society.
But in the end, Yamamoto released his Zanpakuto and, without even using his full bankai, defeated Yhwach with overwhelming superiority.
After that, the Soul Society entered a thousand-year-long peaceful era.
During that time, Yamamoto founded the Shin'o Academy, continually recruiting talented civilians from Rukongai while constantly engaging in balancing acts and internal struggles with the nobles.
From a violent brute, he turned into a seasoned, calculating politician.
But after reading through everything, Rosse still felt that Yamamoto wasn't suited for politics. He had that kind of vibe where he was calculating but could never calculate quite right, which had a strange charm.
Looking at the development of that thousand years, it was basically nobles versus nobles, or civilians versus nobles.
With Yamamoto as a stabilizing pillar, countless strong people were worn down by internal conflict. Many people Yamamoto valued also died in those internal struggles.
You couldn't deny it. From beginning to end, the whole thing screamed irony.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto himself really is a walking history of the Soul Society."
After roughly going through everything, Rosse finally understood the Soul Society beyond a superficial knowledge of the original work.
"He is indeed the living history of the Soul Society, having witnessed two thousand years of its rise and fall. This era began because of him, but it is not a brilliant one," Aizen gently shook his head, giving his own evaluation.
"What does brilliance look like to you, Captain Aizen?"
Rosse looked back at him with a half-smile, clearly curious about his answer.
"If I were Captain-Commander Yamamoto, I would wipe out all the nobles, then use the Soul Society as the foundation to cultivate my own faction. After that, I'd lead my forces to storm the palace in the sky and take the Throne of Heaven."
Aizen lifted his head, his gaze seeming to pass through the walls and see the Royal Palace floating high above the Soul Society.
From beginning to end, his goal had always been the Throne of Heaven. It had never changed.
And he wouldn't deny that in front of Rosse.
If he had to hide even his ambition, he had no right to chase after the path of those who came before him.
"Not a bad idea, but you still aren't qualified."
Rosse smiled, "Those Zero Division members in the Royal Palace… you probably can't beat a single one of them."
"Oh? After joining the Zero Division, what's so special about them? Kirio Hikifune back then should have been below me in strength," Aizen asked with interest. As he spoke, he pulled up the data of Hikifune Kirio, the former Captain of the Twelfth Division, and placed it in front of Rosse.
Hikifune Kirio had been Captain of the Twelfth Division 200 years ago, when Aizen had just become a Shinigami and was still hiding his true self in the Fifth Division.
Back then, Hikifune was promoted to Zero Division because she invented the temporary soul, which made a huge contribution to the Soul Society. She ascended to the Royal Palace.
She was the most recent known example of someone becoming a member of the Zero Division.
"Hikifune Kirio, huh… From the data, her strength doesn't seem particularly special. But after ascending to the Royal Palace, their bodies are reshaped. You should know about the Royal Key, right?", Rosse asked back.
"Yes. It's the key to the Royal Palace, and only the Zero Division possesses it. Even the Five Great Noble Houses use other methods when contacting the palace," Aizen nodded slightly.
His goal was the Throne of Heaven. Of course he had studied all of this well.
"Only the Zero Division possessing it isn't exactly accurate. Their bodies are remade from the Royal Key. So each of them is a key to the Royal Palace," Rosse smiled.
"No wonder…", Aizen finally understood why Rosse said he wasn't their match.
According to the information he possessed, to form the Royal Key, you had to sacrifice an entire area of concentrated spiritual power, containing at least hundreds of thousands of souls.
Only hundreds of thousands of souls combined could form what was called the Royal Key.
And since the Zero Division bodies were remade from the Royal Key, that meant their spiritual pressure alone, in sheer quantity, was the combined force of hundreds of thousands of souls. Naturally, they were far stronger than him.
It would be strange if they weren't stronger.
But now, Aizen had a new question.
[T/N: New novel is up—🔥I Became a Character in Honkai: Star Rail🔥. Enjoy~]
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