Chapter 184: The ladder of progress is forged through suffering.
Pure white.
That was the first thing Ichigo perceived when he regained consciousness.
A boundless white expanse stretched in every direction. There was no sky and no ground, no sense of up or down, left or right. Only warmth, a gentle current flowing into his body like sunlight through closed eyelids.
It was nothing like spirit particles, that sharp, uncomfortable pressure that still carried the excuse of protection. This energy was different. It did not scrape at his soul.
It embraced him.
As the power surged inside him, Ichigo felt something he had never felt before, not even once.
Freedom.
Not the childish freedom of skipping school or winning a fight. It was deeper than that, like the first breath after years of drowning. As if mastering this power would make him capable of anything, whether it was protecting his family or taking one more step forward.
The feeling was foreign to him precisely because he had never owned his own destiny.
Rules. Seals. Invisible hands. Someone watching, someone deciding. It had always been like that.
There had always been a hollow space inside him, something missing, something he could not name. That emptiness still existed, but now it no longer felt like a wound.
It felt like room.
Like pain separated from the heart and placed at a distance, leaving behind a quiet satisfaction that was impossible to explain.
If he were alone, Ichigo thought he could stay here forever.
Then a magnetic male voice spoke beside him.
"It seems you like this power. That's perfect."
Ripples spread through the white, as if the world itself had become water. Aizen stepped out of the distortion in casual clothes, glasses catching no light because there was no light to catch. He looked at Ichigo and adjusted them with the same unhurried composure as always.
"Since I didn't feel any resistance at the start, it means chakra is already circulating in your body. I assumed I would need to regulate it personally, but it seems you are more outstanding than I expected."
Ichigo blinked, still trying to anchor himself.
"Here is…"
"This is a spiritual space created by fragments of power you leaked," Aizen said.
He stood with one hand in his pocket, gaze steady on the boy who looked half awake, half drifting.
"In this space, the time outside is essentially frozen. A moment out there can become an eternity in here. The power you are releasing right now can sustain you here for six months."
"Fragments of my leaked power?"
"Ah," Aizen said, tone mild. "Fragments of your leaked power."
Ichigo rubbed his temple. "What does that mean? Sorry, I'm… I'm confused."
"It's normal. This is my first transformation experiment of this kind. The sensations you're experiencing could simply be side effects of chakra circulation. Chakra is, essentially, the energy of everything. If you are exhausted, your instinct will rest, and chakra will provide the best environment to recover."
"So that's how it is…"
Aizen's voice remained calm, matter of fact, almost soothing. Ichigo listened, and the vast white began to press down on his thoughts, not with fear, but with sleepiness.
Maybe Aizen was right.
Maybe he had been tired for a long time.
He had carried guilt for his mother's death. He had carried the helplessness of wanting to protect his family while being unable to truly control anything. He laughed, he joked, he acted normal, but his heart never stopped aching.
And now, after learning the truth, the pain did not disappear.
It sharpened.
His father was not the enlightened, modern doctor Ichigo imagined. He was a man shaped by Seireitei, rigid and conservative, the head of a noble family with a Shinigami's warped sense of right and wrong.
Even people Ichigo had begun to call friends treated killing and being killed as routine, as natural as breathing.
That tore at him.
And the cruelest part was that his mother's death was not even some grand conspiracy that could be cleanly blamed on one villain.
It was a chain of events.
Coincidences.
A series of choices that ended in tragedy.
And responsibility still found its way back to him.
If he had not been tempted by that illusion, his mother would not have thrown herself in front of him.
That day, Yhwach activated Saint Berg, draining the power of Quincy. When her Blut Vene failed, she died to the Hollow.
If there was anyone directly responsible, Ichigo could not escape the conclusion.
Himself.
And Yhwach, the progenitor of the Quincy.
The realization left him hollow and furious at the same time.
He thought, for a moment, that if he had never been born, maybe his parents would have lived. Maybe none of this would have happened.
But reality did not care what he wished for.
Things had already become what they were.
So the only thing left was to move forward. To kill the Hollow. To kill Yhwach. To end what began that day.
Ichigo also knew what it meant for impure Quincy when Yhwach drained the bloodline.
Ishida Uryu's mother had suffered the same fate.
Aizen watched him quietly, then spoke.
"If you want to rest, that's fine. This space belongs to you. It was formed by your power. Rest is your prerogative."
Ichigo inhaled, then shook his head.
"No. It's better now."
He stepped away from the gentle pull, forcing himself out of that warm embrace. His body manifested fully in the white world.
A plain black Shinigami uniform. A Zanpakuto that still looked oversized compared to most. Nothing glorious. Nothing special.
Just him.
Ichigo studied his own form for a moment, then looked at Aizen and bowed his head slightly, serious in a way that did not match his age.
"Thank you, Aizen. I don't think I have anything else to say besides that."
Aizen's gaze did not soften, but it did become more direct.
"No. For me, it is mutually beneficial. I also want to maintain and repair our relationship. I genuinely want a good relationship with you. That is the truth."
He spoke plainly because he understood Ichigo.
Deceiving him would gain nothing. Ichigo was kind to the point of breaking himself for others, but that same kindness came with a sharp instinct for betrayal. If Aizen tried to sugarcoat his intentions, Ichigo would pull away.
So Aizen kept it bare.
He was not a good person.
He was also not pretending to be a pure villain.
"I want you to grow without being disturbed by Soul Society or Hueco Mundo," Aizen said. "I want you to develop through your own thoughts and understanding. And I am not a good person. Remember that."
He adjusted his glasses again.
"I will say this in advance. My actions are often labeled villainous. I use souls and death in my experiments. But I hope you can understand something. Sometimes you must choose to move forward. What matters is not experience or age. What matters is the choices you make."
Ichigo nodded slowly.
"I understand. Even so, I'm grateful. You came and told me the truth. All of it. If you want to protect your family, you can't protect anything if you don't know anything. That's all."
His voice lowered.
"If I stayed ignorant, maybe I would have hurt people without even realizing it. No, I definitely have."
He remembered the Hollows he had cut down, the souls he had dealt with, the countless existences he had ended without ever fully understanding where they went afterward. Even Aizen could not say for certain, not in every case.
And Ichigo was not as gentle as he looked.
In the future, he would kill Ginjo. He would kill members of the Fullbring group. They were humans with powers, but they were still humans, and they still ended up in Soul Society.
If someone forced that choice on him, if they cornered him with no warning and no exit, Ichigo would not hesitate.
He would kill.
That was the calm core beneath the bright smile. The strength that made him frightening when he decided.
Ichigo clenched his fist, then relaxed it.
"But I won't regret this," he said. "Just like I won't regret choosing chakra. These were my decisions. I accept the consequences."
He looked at Aizen, calm, resolute.
"What do I need to do to become the person you described, someone who can protect everyone?"
"It may be much faster than you think," Aizen said, smiling faintly.
"Your true power is sealed by Yhwach's spiritual force. Yet even the power leaking through that seal was enough to establish chakra and form this space."
Aizen's tone remained clinical.
"There are still several large seals inside you. If we remove them immediately, I cannot guarantee the consequences. But it is possible at any time. For now, I used your leaked power and the Divine Tree aggregate to create this learning space."
He spread his hands slightly.
"Even the Divine Tree and the Tailed Beasts require a process of transformation and reinforcement. But rest assured, no one will be able to manipulate your destiny now."
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "How do we do it?"
"It is simple," Aizen said. "Shinigami power must be honed. But chakra can be learned."
Then Aizen clapped his hands once.
A sound that should have been small, and yet it echoed through the endless white.
In the next instant, books appeared.
Not one shelf.
Not one stack.
A mountain.
Countless books and scrolls dropped into existence like a landslide, piling higher and higher until they formed a small mountain range in front of Ichigo. Titles and pages flashed past his eyes.
Introductory chakra analysis.
The essence of chakra.
The seven primary attributes.
Theory after theory after theory.
It did not stop.
More appeared, layer upon layer, an endless flood until Ichigo's mental space felt buried under ink and paper.
Aizen gestured casually, as if presenting dessert.
"These are the hand seals for ninjutsu. These are the theories. Once you master them, you can advance to divine arts."
Ichigo stared, silent.
Aizen continued, voice steady.
"I currently have only one divine art, Tens of Thousands of Mantras, a technique capable of manipulating the world. But using it here is too dangerous. I do not want you to use it. Still, if you want it as a reference, I will assist your research."
Ichigo's eyes widened further.
"And for the early stage," Aizen said, as if he were describing a simple warm up, "I recommend practice first, then understanding. Here is the Shadow Clone Technique. Learn it, and you can create shadow clones using your own chakra and life sign. You will study with dozens of times the efficiency."
Ichigo's mouth opened, then closed.
Aizen looked pleased.
"It may fragment your understanding for a while. That is fine. I have solutions. You only need to keep learning and growing. You will become the person you want to be, the one who can protect your family."
Ichigo stared at the mountain of books like it was a Hollow wearing glasses.
No, wait. This is not what I expected.
His instincts screamed.
He had imagined making a decision, suffering a little, training hard, then growing stronger.
Not this.
Not six months of reading until he forgot what sunlight looked like.
He swallowed.
Then Aizen lifted his gaze and spoke, suddenly serious.
"You don't want to?" he asked. "Or do you want a shortcut?"
Ichigo's breath caught.
"Reaching that version of yourself is simple," Aizen said. "Acknowledge that all the power inside you is yours. Break the seals. You can become the you from that dream."
His voice lowered.
"But the consequences are exactly what I told you before. Without the knowledge to support that power, you will rely on constant output of spiritual pressure to build your kingdom through violence. You will be ambushed. You will be killed. Because that is how this world works."
Aizen's gaze was sharp behind his lenses.
"If you lack knowledge, you will be manipulated again, like a puppet."
He tapped the air lightly, as if the example was obvious.
"My Zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu. It manipulates the five senses and cognition through spiritual pressure. A simple ability, yet useful enough. The manipulated die without understanding what happened. If you want that ending, I won't deny your choice."
A pause.
"But I would feel regret. Because you are probably not that kind of person."
Ichigo grimaced, then tried anyway.
"So it's not possible to completely convert chakra using the Divine Tree?"
Aizen shook his head.
"Not until you learn to use your own strength."
His explanation was cold, precise.
"Spiritual power is a world creating force of the same nature as chakra. I can guide the Divine Tree to absorb your leaked power and form this space for cultivation. But your true power is near the Spirit King level. Converting it into chakra all at once will distort your body and mutate your mind."
Aizen's voice did not soften.
"Chakra is the fusion of physical and spiritual energy. If the difference in pure soul power is too great, imbalance follows. Even for me, immediate transformation would not be compatible. That is why this space exists, to familiarize you with the power."
He glanced at the mountain of books.
"It is only six months. Six months of absolute learning time here will allow you to understand chakra's essence and build a foundation."
Ichigo stared at the books.
Then stared at Aizen.
Then stared at the books again, as if hoping they would politely vanish.
Six months.
With only two people.
And a technique that involved splitting his mind into dozens of versions of himself, then forcing those versions to study faster.
It was too real.
Too cruel.
Knowledge is power, sure, but this felt less like destiny and more like a school exam designed by a villain with excellent handwriting.
Ichigo swallowed hard, eyes still fixed on the mountain.
Contrary to his dream of choosing a path and immediately changing the world, he was beginning to suspect he had chosen the hardest possible route.
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