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Isolated!
Ishikawa was now deeply experiencing what it meant to be isolated.
His Soul Binding injury had long since healed, but Unohana Retsu's incredibly gentle smile, filled with deep 'concern,' prevented Ishikawa from even thinking about secretly leaving the Intensive Care Unit.
Because he would die…
Although Unohana Retsu had sensed that something was amiss, she harbored a certain degree of suspicion towards Ishikawa until she could investigate thoroughly.
Ishikawa remaining at the Comprehensive Relief Station, while ostensibly for his protection, was in reality a form of imprisonment.
And most importantly…
Commander Yamamoto had never expressed any opinion regarding Unohana Retsu keeping Ishikawa at the Comprehensive Relief Station, as if he were completely unaware.
From this, it was evident that he clearly felt more at ease entrusting Ishikawa to Unohana Retsu's supervision than to the Golden Seal Association.
Internally, Unohana Retsu was supervising, and externally, the Onmitsukidō and the Tenth Division were jointly guarding him.
Under such high-intensity surveillance, Ishikawa naturally wouldn't invite trouble.
Even though Captain Unohana wore a gentle smile every day, if Ishikawa made even the slightest suspicious move, no matter how much he had contributed to the Comprehensive Relief Station, she would kill him for the safety of Seireitei.
From beginning to end, she had never trusted Ishikawa!
This was evident from the affinity level, which had never increased.
Regarding this, Ishikawa didn't feel wronged or resentful, because in his heart, his impression of Seireitei had never changed.
Putting aside individuals, Ishikawa had never trusted the Shinigami as a group, nor had he ever considered himself one of them.
Leaning back on the hospital bed, Ishikawa looked at the wall in front of him, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes.
It had been over ten days since he woke up, and the only people he could interact with during these days were Squad 4 Squad Members and Nayura, who was also under house arrest next door. He knew nothing of what was happening in Seireitei outside the Comprehensive Relief Station.
Staying here, he couldn't get any information about the outside world, and he wasn't even sure about his Everything Store in Rukongai.
However, he thought, nothing should happen.
Because the Everything Store was not only secretly protected by Sister Kukaku, but the Everything Store itself also possessed extremely strong combat power. As long as the Captains didn't move, basically no one could threaten the safety of the Everything Store.
And, if there were no accidents, Urahara Kisuke should have already made preparations.
It probably wouldn't be long before Seireitei would fall into chaos.
This made Ishikawa hesitate, wondering whether he should take advantage of the chaos to secretly leave the Comprehensive Relief Station.
His initial decision to come here was because he was severely injured at the time, and the safest place for Ishikawa in the entire Soul Society was the Fourth Division.
It could be said to be a last resort.
But now the situation had changed. Apart from the people who trusted him, whom Unohana Retsu allowed him to contact when he first woke up, she subsequently isolated everyone in Seireitei who might stand on his side, preventing them from having any contact or communication with him.
From this, it was evident that she had very likely received some instructions from Commander Yamamoto.
While staying here was certainly safe, as previously mentioned, Ishikawa did not trust the so-called Gotei 13; because for the Gotei 13, if eliminating Ishikawa was beneficial to balance, or if someone secretly made them feel that way, even if Ishikawa had done nothing, they would eliminate him in the name of 'justice.'
With no grasp of the outside situation, if he were secretly plotted against, he wouldn't even have the possibility of escaping Seireitei without knowing anything.
Unless…
He exposed that Tier Harribel was his person, and had her control the Gillian to release a Negative Mask to take him to Hueco Mundo.
But Hueco Mundo was clearly not safe either.
"Hmm?"
Ishikawa, who was feeling a surge of annoyance, suddenly froze, his expression somewhat blank as he looked at the system interface.
[Unohana Retsu Affinity +1, gained 1500 experience points, current Affinity: 3]
[Unohana Retsu Affinity +1, gained 1500 experience points, current Affinity: 4]
…
[Unohana Retsu Affinity +1, gained 3000 experience points, current Affinity: 10]
Looking at the system prompts in his mind, Ishikawa's eyes lit up, and the annoyance in his heart vanished.
Although he didn't know what had happened, the increase in Unohana Retsu's affinity already proved one thing: she believed him!
The reason Ishikawa hesitated about whether to escape earlier was because after he told Unohana Retsu the information, not only did her affinity for him not increase, but she continued to view him with caution, as an enemy.
But now it seems…
She clearly believed… no, more strictly speaking, she confirmed the information he provided through some method.
If she was willing to trust him, then even if he continued to be imprisoned, Ishikawa would not feel uneasy because of it.
Because from Unohana Retsu's attitude these past few days, she was clearly not the kind of person who would easily change her mind, but rather someone who only trusted her own judgment.
What on earth happened outside?
The sudden change made Ishikawa wish he could immediately rush out of the Intensive Care Unit to see what was happening outside.
And just then…
Ishikawa vaguely felt a thread, or more precisely, a thread from a large net covering most of Seireitei, connecting with him.
This is…
Bakudo #77: Tenteikūra!
"To all Captains, Vice-Captains, and Acting Vice-Captains of the Gotei 13, I am Kotetsu Isane, Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division. The situation is urgent. Below is an emergency communication from Captain Unohana."
Kotetsu Isane's voice echoed in Ishikawa's mind.
"What I am about to say is all fact. The incident began before Ishikawa forced his way into the Central 46. Before he went to the Central 46, he sent a mass message to Captain Unohana, myself, and some Vice-Captains he trusted."
"The message content was… Amakado Nayura, the successor to the next sage, found him and said that the Central 46 might have encountered some unforeseen changes. Nayura even suspected that her father had already met with misfortune, so she hoped Ishikawa could take her to the Central 46 to investigate."
"This was the reason Ishikawa forced his way into the Central 46."
"Due to the uncertainty of this information, all of us who received the message were placed under an embargo by Captain Unohana, prohibiting us from disclosing the content of this message."
"And Captain Unohana has been secretly investigating during this time, and indeed found something amiss with the Central 46. After further investigation, it was discovered…"
The voice in his mind slowly narrated Unohana Retsu's investigation process over the past few days.
This made Ishikawa let out a sigh of relief.
No matter what, he should be safe for now.
But as he continued to listen, his expression couldn't help but change.
"After continuous investigation, it was finally confirmed that everything was indeed as Nayura had suspected: Sage Amakado had already met with misfortune, and the culprits were Squad 9 Captain Kaname Tōsen and…"
"Twelfth Division Seventh Seat, Inaba Kageroza."
Inaba Kageroza?
Ishikawa's face instantly darkened.
He didn't understand why he would hear Inaba Kageroza's name at this moment.
He was no stranger to this name, as the person was also one of the few mad scientists in Seireitei, even having once created the spiritual bodies of Gotei 13 Captains and Vice-Captains, and deceiving Commander Yamamoto with his created fake spiritual bodies.
But why would he be involved with Kaname Tōsen?
"The two joined forces. Kaname Tōsen secretly killed dozens of Central 46 sages, while Inaba Kageroza used special techniques to create spiritual bodies of these deceased sages, thereby controlling the discourse power of the Central 46."
"As of the moment I transmit this message, 29 sages, including Sage Amakado, and 4 judges have been killed and replaced."
"And in Inaba Kageroza's private research lab, even spiritual bodies of individual Vice-Captains and Captains were discovered…"
Replacing them with spiritual bodies?
The gloom on Ishikawa's face gradually faded, replaced by a thoughtful expression.
Aizen's interference?
No.
With Unohana Retsu's ability, if she initially sensed something amiss due to Kyōka Suigetsu's illusion, then even if she discovered the spiritual bodies, she shouldn't have immediately concluded that what she saw earlier were spiritual bodies.
Unless…
The Sage Amakado who walked out of the Central 46 at that time was not an illusion, but a spiritual body!
Only in this way could Unohana Retsu's investigation direction be skewed.
Ishikawa carefully recalled what happened in front of the Central 46 that day, and vaguely seemed to grasp something.
In fact, these past few days, Ishikawa had always been very confused about one thing.
That is…
How exactly did Nayura recognize at a glance that the person who walked out of the Central 46 was not her father?
Previously, Ishikawa had simply assumed that Nayura knew her father extremely well, which was why she felt something was off from certain details.
But now it seems that her perception at that time was very likely deliberately caused by Aizen.
After all, when Ishikawa fought against 'Tosen,' he didn't discover that the person he was fighting was fake. More strictly speaking…
The Tosen he fought was the Tosen in Ishikawa's impression.
Ishikawa's eyes grew brighter and brighter, even though the development of events had completely exceeded his control.
But…
He finally understood where he had gone wrong.
Ishikawa had always regarded Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu as merely an illusion, but in reality…
Calling Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu 'illusionary art' is correct, but not entirely!
Because Kyōka Suigetsu's true ability is…
—Complete Hypnosis!
In other words, the illusion, although released by Aizen, produces effects that are condensed from the target's memory, senses, instincts, and other factors.
The reason why the illusions formed by Kyōka Suigetsu are terrifying is precisely because 'it' presents the 'state that the target believes it should present.' Because this 'state' is what the target themselves believe in their heart, they do not doubt it.
My initial research direction was wrong!
Kyōka Suigetsu's ability is not merely illusion, but rather based on the opponent's thoughts and memories to interfere with and guide the target's five senses, and to edit them.
(Is it Ichigo that you see in your eyes?)
This sentence, spoken by Aizen in the future, echoed continuously in Ishikawa's mind, making his eyes grow brighter and brighter, a brilliant blue light constantly emerging in his eyes.
"Without a care, coming and going… but the bright moon was never fully seen, so that's how it is…"
Ishikawa's murmuring continued, Kotetsu Isane's words in his mind completely ignored by Ishikawa.
A wrong beginning naturally won't have a correct ending.
As for how Inaba Kageroza was dragged into the vortex, it's not hard to guess; it's nothing more than being used by Aizen.
From beginning to end, the only person he had contact with was probably Kaname Tōsen, and Aizen might not have even used Kyōka Suigetsu.
Moreover…
Kotetsu Isane had already stated in her message that Kaname Tōsen and Inaba Kageroza had both been killed on the spot by Unohana Retsu for refusing to surrender.
Putting Kaname Tōsen aside for now, Inaba Kageroza should genuinely be dead.
However, in Ishikawa's opinion, if there were no surprises, Kaname Tōsen might also already be dead.
As for the remaining 11 sages and 2 judges, under Aizen's manipulation, they would certainly undergo extremely detailed examinations to confirm that they were their true selves and not replaced by spiritual bodies.
And Aizen would use this to completely clear himself of suspicion.
Although these were just Ishikawa's speculations, the facts should not be far off.
It must be said, Aizen's preparation truly caught Ishikawa a bit off guard.
And it made Ishikawa realize something…
That is, the people he trusted were very likely controlled without their knowledge.
Because, the preparations were too thorough!
Originally, Ishikawa's plan was to catch Aizen off guard, thereby forcing him to reveal a weakness.
But now it seems that his plan, from the moment he decided to use the third plan as a backup… that is, to transmit information to the people he trusted, was already destined to fail.
This, on the contrary, allowed Aizen to prepare in advance!
However, it cannot be considered a complete failure; at least Aizen's forces were weakened.
Although Kaname Tōsen's death was utterly insignificant to Aizen!
But one cannot conclude that Kaname Tōsen must be dead.
At least…
The blue light in Ishikawa's eyes grew brighter and brighter, at this moment, gradually condensing into a point, like a halo surrounding his dark pupils.
Before seeing Kaname Tōsen's corpse!
Facts proved that Ishikawa's guess was not wrong.
After several hours of cleanup, Kotetsu Isane personally came to the Intensive Care Unit and informed Ishikawa of everything that had happened outside these past few days, including the incident where Inaba Kageroza sent individual Vice-Captains and Captain spiritual bodies to attack Unohana Retsu.
Currently, the bodies of Inaba Kageroza and Kaname Tōsen are both stored in the Comprehensive Relief Station.
Unohana Retsu is examining the bodies of the two to determine if they are their true selves and not spiritual bodies.
As for the Central 46, under the joint inspection of Commander Yamamoto, Unohana Retsu, and Kurotsuchi Mayuri, it was confirmed that the remaining sages and judges were all their true selves and not impersonated by spiritual bodies.
Ishikawa was not surprised by this point.
Because after Aizen's death, it was also these people who conducted the examination, and as a result, only Captain Unohana detected a slight sense of incongruity during several consecutive days of examination…
Being able to detect the incongruity, in Ishikawa's opinion…
It was very likely due to her Zanpakuto's ability.
…
Special Skill:
[Without a Care, Coming and Going]: Advanced (0 / 100000)
…
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