In the Human World, Hokkai Prefecture.
Just as the battle on the other front was reaching a fever pitch, the Shinigami stationed here had no choice but to send a distress signal to Soul Society in the moments before their deaths.
No one knew where these creatures in front of them had come from—things that were neither truly human nor truly Hollow, and certainly not Shinigami.
They ate humans. They ate Shinigami. It was as if any living being that could be swallowed could become their food, yet they still possessed ordinary human bodies.
Their spiritual pressure leaking out wasn't particularly high, and yet their combat power far exceeded what that spiritual pressure should have suggested.
Worse still, each of them had some ability akin to a Shinigami's Zanpakutō release.
Since most of the Thirteenth Division's main force in charge of the Human World had already gone to another location in the Human World by this point, the distress signal from this lone Shinigami naturally ended up in the hands of Twelfth Division captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri's response was to calmly watch, through surveillance footage, as his Kaizō Konpaku (Modified Souls) toyed with the Thirteenth Division's rank-and-file Shinigami in the Human World while he finished recording his data.
Only after confirming that these modified souls all possessed strength far superior to ordinary Shinigami—enough to reach the level of high-seated officers—but simply lacked reason, did he lazily forward the report to the Captain-Commander.
For now, these first-generation modified souls could only be called a modest success.
They were clearly still a good distance from genuine perfection, so these "failures," whose data had basically already been collected, were best left for the other Gotei 13 captains to dispose of.
After all, their corpses would be sent back to him in the end anyway. A nice tidy loop.
Faced with this new plea for help from the Human World, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's expression turned dark.
Coincidence?
He didn't believe it.
A backup plan—that sounded more like it.
Yamamoto Genryūsai would much rather believe that the mastermind behind the scenes was worried that the first disturbance might not be enough to draw Shiba Kaien over, and had therefore set up this second incident. That way, once most of the Shinigami were bogged down in the first quagmire, Shiba Kaien—as the Thirteenth Division's lieutenant—would be compelled by duty to head out and deal with the second one, no matter how reluctant he might be.
Only, Yamamoto Genryūsai had no intention of satisfying that mastermind's expectations.
He would show that person what it meant to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice.
On this rare day that saw a second captains' meeting convened within a single day, Yamamoto Genryūsai did not solicit opinions from the remaining captains this time.
Instead, he directly announced that the new Human World incident would require at least two captains to deal with it and asked the remaining captains to volunteer.
What surprised everyone was that Fifth Division captain Aizen Sōsuke was the first to step forward.
"This incident is truly heinous in nature, Sōtaichō. Please let me go."
Aizen held in one hand the report Kurotsuchi Mayuri had so thoughtfully compiled, his brows slightly furrowed.
And when he saw Aizen step forward, Third Division captain Ichimaru Gin—who had only become captain after Urahara Kisuke and the others' defection, promoted from his former position as Fifth Division third seat on Aizen's recommendation—immediately followed suit.
"If Aizen-taichō is going, then for that second spot, I suppose I'll just have to volunteer, hm~? It's been such a long time since we fought side by side, Aizen-taichō~"
Ichimaru Gin spoke with eyes narrowed into slits, his expression unchanged, making it impossible to read his true feelings.
"Now that you mention it, ever since you became a captain, it really has been a long time since we've fought together, hasn't it~?"
Aizen turned his head to look at Ichimaru Gin and nodded to him lightly.
As for the other captains, seeing that two volunteers had already stepped forward, naturally none of them had any intention of standing up to give themselves extra trouble.
And so, the task of heading to Hokkai Prefecture in the Human World fell neatly into the hands of Aizen and Ichimaru Gin.
The second captains' meeting of the day ended just as hastily. Aizen and Ichimaru Gin had a Senkaimon (World-Piercing Gate) opened for them by the Twelfth Division and passed through to the Human World.
Shortly after the two captains departed, a massive Garganta (Black Cavity) tore open above West Rukongai, District 1 outside Seireitei.
From within, countless horrifying presences poured into Soul Society like dumplings falling into a pot.
These suddenly appearing Menos Grandes and Arrancar had only one target—
Invade Seireitei!
"Hahahahaha! Yamamoto brat, Baraggan has returned!"
Watching his Arrancar subordinates practically stroll into Seireitei without any resistance, Baraggan hovered proudly in midair, shouting arrogantly toward the center of Seireitei.
In an instant, every Shinigami still within Seireitei knew that the ruler of Hueco Mundo had led his Hollow army in an invasion of Soul Society!
Inside Seireitei, in the clan head's bedroom at the Kuchiki estate, Kuchiki Sōjun—who had barely slept all night thanks to being repeatedly summoned to captains' meetings—naturally heard Baraggan's狂妄声.
"Sōjun, are you going out again?"
Seeing her husband, who had only just returned to bed and not even had the chance to lie down and close his eyes, his wife looked at him with worry and asked softly.
Unlike Kuchiki Sōjun, his wife was just an ordinary noble lady whose spiritual pressure wasn't even on par with that of a regular Shinigami foot soldier.
As the wife of the Kuchiki clan head, she rarely interfered with Shinigami affairs and spent most of her time at home, looking after the household and teaching the children.
So the name "Baraggan" didn't evoke any concrete concept in her heart.
But as head of the Kuchiki clan and captain of the Sixth Division, Kuchiki Sōjun knew all too well what that name meant.
"Mm. Both Soul Society and the Human World are anything but peaceful today. It's very likely we won't have a moment's rest all day.
Once I leave, you'd best hide together with Byakuya and his wife."
Feeling the countless turbulent spiritual pressures that had already penetrated Seireitei, Kuchiki Sōjun spoke to his wife with deep concern.
"Ah? It's that serious?"
Hearing that her husband wanted her to hide with their children as well, his wife finally realized the gravity of the situation.
"It should be very serious. Seireitei's fighting strength is hollowed out right now—nearly half of the captains have gone to the Human World.
That ruler of Hueco Mundo picked a good time."
Kuchiki Sōjun's expression was grave.
"I understand. Go, Sōjun—do what you must."
Once she'd heard this, Kuchiki Sōjun's wife no longer held him back. She waved him on, urging him to hurry.
But just as Kuchiki Sōjun stepped out of the bedroom, he discovered that his son was already standing outside.
Looking at this boy whose temperament was nothing like his own and far closer to his grandfather, Kuchiki Ginrei, Sōjun didn't need Byakuya to say a word.
The bond between father and son alone was enough to tell him what Byakuya wanted to do.
So Kuchiki Sōjun simply shook his head.
"No, Byakuya. Fights at this level are still far beyond you, when you haven't yet mastered your Zanpakutō's Bankai (Final Release).
It's enough that I go."
Without hesitation, Kuchiki Sōjun crushed his son's desire to help him.
He knew Byakuya had always wanted to prove himself.
Back when Byakuya's grandfather Kuchiki Ginrei passed away, he hadn't managed to achieve Bankai in time for his grandfather to see it with his own eyes.
That had become a wound in Byakuya's heart that he would never forgive himself for.
So now he desperately wanted to help his father, whose health was not the best.
Sōjun could understand that feeling—but he would absolutely not allow it.
"Your father may be frail, but I'm still a bona fide captain, you know."
After ordering Kuchiki Byakuya, in no uncertain terms, to remain at home—and giving him an argument he knew his son couldn't refuse, namely "you must protect your mother and your new wife"—Kuchiki Sōjun finally left the Kuchiki estate.
By then, the street outside the Kuchiki compound was nearly empty thanks to Baraggan's high-profile invasion with his Hollow army.
The minor noble families who lived around the Kuchiki estate had learned their lesson from the Kasumiooji clan's rebellion.
The moment they felt those feral Hollow spiritual pressures pour into Seireitei, they immediately scrambled to find places to hide.
Some even packed up their entire families and fled straight to the First Division barracks.
On the now-deserted street, only a single Shinigami's back remained in sight—and that back looked oddly familiar to Kuchiki Sōjun.
Because the man was wearing a white captain's haori.
And embroidered on the back of that haori was the number "5."
"Aizen-taichō? Why are you here?"
For a moment, Kuchiki Sōjun didn't sense anything amiss. He simply remembered that Aizen should have already gone to the Human World with Third Division captain Ichimaru Gin.
Could it be that the Human World incident had already been resolved?
It wasn't impossible. After all, they'd dispatched two captains in one go, and according to Kurotsuchi Mayuri's report, the ones causing trouble in Hokkai Prefecture weren't all that strong.
"I've been waiting for you, clan head of the Kuchiki."
Aizen didn't turn around.
Instead, he lifted his head slightly, watching the cherry blossoms flutter down from the roadside trees, his tone almost melancholy.
"Waiting for me? Well then, perfect. Let's go greet the ruler of Hueco Mundo together."
Kuchiki Sōjun still didn't sense anything wrong with the unusual way Aizen was addressing him.
In his mind, he was already thinking that if he had the Fifth Division captain fighting at his side, the coming battle would be a bit easier.
Yet just as he started toward Aizen, the latter suddenly turned around.
A wave of pitch-black spiritual pressure surged out, instantly forcing a gap open between the two.
"Together? No, clan head of the Kuchiki.
To be precise, right now, in all of Seireitei, only you are truly facing the ruler of Hueco Mundo."
Aizen clasped his hands inside his sleeves, the old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses framing eyes that narrowed ever so slightly.
At those words, Kuchiki Sōjun's expression finally changed.
"What do you mean by that? Are you telling me you are the ruler of Hueco Mundo? That Baraggan is a fake?
Impossible. Are you saying Baraggan is actually… your subordinate?"
An ugly smile twisted Kuchiki Sōjun's lips.
In his heart, he desperately wanted to see Aizen Sōsuke open his mouth and say, "I'm just joking."
But from beginning to end, Aizen's expression never changed.
He didn't deny anything either—as though his silence were an admission.
In that moment, Kuchiki Sōjun remembered the incident more than ten years ago that had shocked all of Soul Society—the Shinigami captain rebellion.
He remembered what the current Great Blade-Hunter Chief, Higashino Shuuichi, had said through Soi Fon's mouth upon his return:
"Back then, not a single one of us was a traitor."
So Aizen Sōsuke really had been the traitor all along.
And it really had been Soul Society that was wrong—not Urahara Kisuke and the others…
Having understood that, Kuchiki Sōjun's face twisted into a bitter smile as he looked at Aizen.
"So now you're openly telling me all this.
If it's not because you plan to take Soul Society in one fell swoop and realize whatever unspeakable scheme you have… then it can only mean you don't believe I'll live long enough to repeat any of this, right?"
"This is a world that has already rotted.
It should no longer be ruled by a group of rotted men. Otherwise it will only grow ever more decayed.
I can bring evolution to this world.
You can only drag it deeper into its own festering corruption."
Aizen didn't answer Sōjun's question head-on.
But from those words, Kuchiki Sōjun heard all the answer he needed.
Today, only one of them was walking away alive.
"Hadō no 73: Sōren Sōkatsui (Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down)!"
Blue fire rushed forth, swallowing Aizen on the far side.
Kuchiki Sōjun prayed that the one who lived would be him.
If he survived this day, he would speak for the Kuchiki clan and join with the Shiba clan—who had always protested on behalf of Urahara Kisuke and the others—to clear the names of those former captains and lieutenants who had been falsely branded as traitors.
But less than three minutes later, Kuchiki Sōjun crumpled to his knees.
The focus in both his eyes was already fading.
His body was riddled with more tiny holes than could be counted—marks left by being pierced through by the purest spiritual pressure.
At his feet, the deep red pooling outward had nearly carpeted half the street outside the Kuchiki estate.
His blood had long since run dry.
Why… why was Aizen Sōsuke so strong?
Kuchiki Sōjun couldn't understand it.
They were both captains. He had unleashed his Bankai (Final Release) without holding anything back, yet Aizen Sōsuke hadn't even bothered to release his Zanpakutō.
With just a few Kidō (Demon Arts), some plain and simple hakuda (white-fist), and that unbearable-to-look-at spiritual pressure, he had left Sōjun with no way to fight back at all.
He remembered… he'd only just walked out of the Kuchiki estate's gate, hadn't he?
After a fight like that, surely Byakuya wouldn't come out to take a look, would he…?
*You must not come out, Byakuya.
Hide. Hide in the Human World if you have to.*
Go to Urahara Kisuke. If nothing else, go to the Great Blade-Hunter Chief Higashino Shuuichi. They're the only ones who know Aizen's true face…
All of a sudden, Kuchiki Sōjun realized there were so many things he wanted to say to his son.
Unfortunately, as his body finally toppled to the ground, not a single word reached Byakuya's ears.
After confirming that Kuchiki Sōjun was dead, Aizen Sōsuke glanced once toward the nearby Kuchiki estate.
He did not go in and start a massacre.
He knew Kuchiki Byakuya was inside.
Through his spiritual sensing, he could tell that—whatever the reason—Byakuya had suddenly started running toward the front gate.
But Aizen left.
Because the purpose of this operation was not to slaughter nobles.
To him, the life or death of nobles in themselves meant nothing at all. On the contrary, killing too many nobles would only reduce the amount of "material" available to him in Hueco Mundo.
The reason he had waited here for Kuchiki Sōjun was simply that, for the sake of his goals, a traditionalist clan head of one of the Five Great Noble Houses had to die.
Nothing more.
After Aizen departed, Kuchiki Byakuya finally reached the front gate of his home.
From just a short while ago, his heart had been pounding violently for no discernible reason, a powerful unease coiling tighter and tighter around his chest.
It had given rise to a terrible premonition: that he might never see his father again.
He refused to accept that outcome.
So ignoring his mother's protests, Kuchiki Byakuya had rushed out.
And there, at the gate of the Kuchiki estate, he saw his father's body—shriveled from blood loss and lying in a pool of congealing crimson.
"Father!!!"
Before the Kuchiki estate's doors, only a single cry of grief and anguish echoed, heavy with sorrow.
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