"Ichigo, why are you back so late today?"
Yuzu, who was clearing the dishes, poked her head out, a gentle smile on her small face.
That smile carried a full sense of healing, making people subconsciously feel that this girl would definitely grow up to be a good wife someday.
"Ah! Today Keigo ran into something good, so Mizuiro and I went with him to eat some barbecue," Kurosaki Ichigo lied without even blinking.
Out there, he was hardly some well-behaved kid. To keep his family from worrying, he had told this kind of thing plenty of times before.
There were even times when he got injured fighting people, and he would pretend nothing was wrong, only sneaking downstairs late at night to use the clinic's medicine.
Now that he thought about it, all of this had definitely been noticed by the old man.
But this time, he definitely would not let his dad worry.
Since his dad had lost his own power and did not want him to step into that world, then he would just not tell him.
He was already sixteen now, old enough to make his own choices.
Kurosaki Isshin and the others did not doubt Kurosaki Ichigo's words either. It was not that Ichigo often did not come home for dinner, but every now and then he would come back very late.
.
.
.
[Night]
On top of a tall building not far from the Kurosaki Clinic—
The wind at night was strong, making Ishida Ryuken's robe rustle loudly.
He stood on the rooftop, calmly gazing in the direction of the Kurosaki Clinic.
"Are you here?"
Ishida Ryuken suddenly spoke, not even turning his head.
"Unexpected. I didn't think the one watching the Kurosaki family would be you," Aizen's figure slowly emerged from the shadows, a hint of surprise in his eyes as he looked at Ishida Ryuken.
After learning how formidable the Quincy were, he had conducted in-depth investigations on all the Quincy in the human world, so naturally he knew of this successor of the Ishida family.
However, according to the information he had obtained, Ishida Ryuken should have refused to be a Quincy and instead focused on running his own business in the human world.
He had not expected that the other party would be secretly watching the Kurosaki family.
The other party was also captain level, and on top of that had never been affected by Kyoka Suigetsu, so being discovered by him was only natural.
"Is it really that surprising, Shinigami? Or should I call you Captain of the Fifth Division of the Gotei 13, Sosuke Aizen?"
Ishida Ryuken spoke calmly, with no intention of taking Aizen seriously at all.
As one of the Espada, all information within Hueco Mundo was completely open to him.
Whether it was the truth of the Soul King, or Yhwach's and Aizen's ambitions, all of it was public and transparent information within Hueco Mundo.
The fusion of the three powers into the power of the Soul King was already something Hueco Mundo could freely study.
As someone who possessed Quincy power, he already had a natural advantage when it came to controlling reishi. Now, between him and the unification of the three powers, only the final fusion step remained.
Power was one of the few things he now sought.
In the past, he had disdained power because he simply did not need it.
But now, for the sake of revenge, he had to have enough strength.
"Mr. Ishida knows me so well, and your tone isn't aggressive. That seems to mean we're enemies, not friends," Aizen smiled.
Earlier, he had been guessing whether the other party belonged to Hueco Mundo or to the Quincy Wandenreich.
After just a few sentences, he already understood.
The other party was from Hueco Mundo.
Worthy of Lord Rosse. He had not expected Hueco Mundo's infiltration to have reached this level.
"Heh! I have no relationship with you whatsoever. Say it. What exactly do you want to do to Kurosaki Ichigo?"
Ishida Ryuken had no intention of beating around the bush and directly asked what he wanted to know.
His reason for confronting Aizen was also very simple. Both Rosse and Kurosaki Masaki had asked him to help keep an eye on the Kurosaki family, clearly knowing that someone would make a move here.
In fact, over the past two years, Ishida Ryuken had been watching Aizen disguise himself as various people and stir up trouble, but he had had no intention of interfering at all.
As for the Kurosaki family, his feelings were complicated, but there was absolutely no desire to help.
Kurosaki Masaki had not chosen him in the end, and she was not being monopolized by him now either. What did the life or death of her child have to do with him?
When his wife had been taken by Auswahlen, no one had come to save him.
So why should he take care of the Kurosaki family?
The only reason he was paying attention here was simply because it was Rosse's mission.
If Aizen had not taken the initiative to approach Kurosaki Ichigo today using his real identity, he would not have shown himself at all.
"I will become Kurosaki Ichigo's teacher and lead him down the fastest path of growth. Mr. Ishida can tell Lord Rosse that I will pour my heart and soul into Kurosaki Ichigo and let him see a different kind of possibility."
Aizen smiled faintly, maintaining his usual composure.
He had already asked Rosse for permission to make a move on Kurosaki Ichigo a long time ago. What remained now was just the final confirmation.
Based on his understanding of Rosse's capacity, the other party should be very happy to see different possibilities.
"I understand. I hope you succeed."
Ishida Ryuken nodded calmly. As a gust of wind passed by, his figure vanished without a trace.
That was the extent of his mission. Since he had already gotten his answer, it had nothing more to do with him.
As for whether Kurosaki Ichigo would be led astray, he did not care in the slightest.
He did not even want to bother with his own son, let alone someone else's.
"Such strong power… I wonder which Espada he is."
Aizen watched Ishida Ryuken disappear, a sense of urgency rising in his heart.
Compared to the pace at which Rosse was advancing, he was now somewhat too far behind.
He had almost reached the limit of a Shinigami. In a one-on-one fight, even without using Kyoka Suigetsu, he could defeat Unohana and Kyoraku Shunsui, and fight Yamamoto Genryusai in his normal state to a standstill.
But he was still very far from breaking the limits of a Shinigami.
Whether it was fusing Hollow power or Quincy power, he did not yet have absolute confidence.
Recently, experiments related to these had almost all ended in failure.
Left with no choice, he could only approach Kurosaki Ichigo, continuously train him, and then work backward to deduce a method for fusing the three powers.
As long as he could derive a rough plan, he could use the Hogyoku to carry out his first evolution.
It was a pity that his Hogyoku was not complete. If he could obtain Kisuke Urahara's as well, he could even forcibly carry out fusion evolution.
Now, he had to seize every second.
Otherwise, he would be left even further behind by Hueco Mundo.
"Ichigo, I hope you can give me a little surprise."
Aizen murmured softly, his gaze seeming to pierce through the windows of the Kurosaki house and land on Kurosaki Ichigo, who was lying in bed, unable to fall asleep.
He had truly decided to pour a great deal of effort into Kurosaki Ichigo.
If he wanted to deal with Rosse, relying on himself alone might not be enough.
After all, those people in Hueco Mundo who had originally been no more than ants had all grown rapidly with Rosse's help.
If he did not find some helpers on his side, he might not even get the chance to force Rosse to make a move in the end.
That was not the ending he had envisioned.
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