Chapter 186: This is the result.
…
Deep beneath Urahara Shop, in that wide underground space of bare yellow earth, a man in a green and white striped hat sat cross legged in silence.
Kisuke did not look like someone meditating.
He looked like someone waiting for a verdict.
Yoruichi had already left on her own. Whatever tension existed between them was not the kind that could be solved by arguing, and neither of them belonged to the other. The Visoreds, upon hearing that Aizen had returned, were furious and were already preparing their next move. They were not Kisuke's subordinates, so he could not command them, and they were not his captives, so they could not restrain him either.
So Kisuke was left with what he always relied on.
His mind.
In front of him, the small compass sat quietly, its surface glinting with an unnatural sheen. Kisuke stared at it as if it might blink back. Light and shadow crawled over his face, shifting with every thought.
Then he sighed.
"…Since you're already here, just say it directly."
His eyes did not move from the boulder's shadow.
"The barrier already sensed someone's presence. And you're probably the only one who can use chakra to teleport."
A soft voice answered from the darkness, almost amused.
"As expected of the former director of the Technology Development Bureau. You created a rudimentary barrier that can respond to chakra already. Truly, you are the first genius."
Kisuke's expression did not soften.
Instead, the muscles around his eyes tightened, as if the praise itself disgusted him.
Aizen's voice continued, smooth and warm.
"It is fascinating. This energy feels all encompassing. If we wield it properly, opening a new world, even creating a brand new universe, does not sound impossible. You've convinced me, Aizen."
"That would be an honor."
The figure stepped out from behind the boulder, as if he had been standing there the entire time.
Sosuke Aizen wore casual clothing and that same gentle smile. Even underground, even in a place built for secrets, he looked like a man arriving for tea.
Genius.
Kisuke Urahara was a genius, that much was true.
He had only brushed against chakra, only observed it indirectly, and he had already begun building methods around it. Without special techniques, without being handed the answer, he used intuition and sheer intellect to give chakra a place to exist, a presence that was not swallowed by spiritual power's perception.
And that meant something else too.
It meant Kisuke had already stepped into the trap.
Kisuke's face was ugly now, the kind of expression he never showed when he was unsure. When Kisuke hesitated, he became unreadable. When he decided, he became cold.
And right now he looked decided.
He had hidden from Yoruichi, distanced himself from his old allies, and started walking the road of chakra development in secret. His face reflected that choice, heavy and grim, like someone mourning what he had just buried.
Kisuke's voice dropped.
"You weren't lying. This power is different from spirit particles and spiritual energy. I tested it on some human souls, the result was that those souls became something completely different from Shinigami and Hollows. Then I tried it on stored Hollow souls and Shinigami souls. Same result."
His fingers curled slightly around the compass.
"You knew that would happen. That's why you showed me, right?"
Aizen's smile did not change.
"How could that be. I simply believe chakra can help our Soul King escape his tormented cycle of reincarnation. Isn't that a good thing for all of us."
Aizen's eyes were gentle, but there was a sharpness buried inside them, like a blade hidden in velvet.
"For us, the Soul King is both a stairway to our ascent and a veil that protects us. If this were truly something the Soul King despised, then Squad Zero would already be standing here, wouldn't they."
Kisuke's gaze narrowed.
"…Just how much do you know, Aizen. You definitely didn't know any of this before."
"I only know what I know, Kisuke."
Aizen spoke as if he were stating the obvious, his smile steady even under Kisuke's hostility.
For Aizen, this was good.
Kisuke could not resist.
No one at the top of this world could.
The original sin of the five noble families did not merely stabilize the Three Realms. It poisoned everything. It hardened Yhwach's belief that the world was born wrong, that it should return to chaotic origins. Those who learned the truth either broke, or rotted, or numbed themselves with debauchery and apathy. Even Squad Zero remained sealed in their branch halls, guarding a cruel secret like statues.
For Seireitei, which dared to call itself legitimate, it was a mental catastrophe that never healed.
If given the choice, no one besides the five noble families would willingly maintain such a grotesque system.
A world where all joy was built upon the suffering and imprisonment of a saint, even if that saint accepted it willingly, still reeked of ugliness.
So Kisuke chose to trust the compass.
And what he found inside it was not merely interesting. It was an opening.
A small application, perhaps unattainable for others, but for Kisuke it was only the beginning.
"I have ideas for chakra's applications," Kisuke said at last. "You can provide me information and documents. But I need to see a complete manifestation of chakra energy."
"A complete display is impossible," Aizen replied smoothly. "There are issues involving divine magic. The link to Tens of Thousands of Mantras remains in its original world."
He lifted a hand slightly.
"However, I can demonstrate my personal power."
A muffled bang sounded.
The space around Aizen shattered without noise, like glass breaking inside a dream. Darkness peeled open, forming a jagged cavity that was not quite a portal and not quite a tunnel.
And from that broken void, a figure in a shirt stepped out.
"Oh, Aizen," the boy said naturally, like he had just walked in from the street. "And he's wearing wooden clogs and a hat."
Ichigo Kurosaki.
A high school boy who looked ordinary at first glance, except for the three black spheres drifting with him, one ahead, two behind, floating as calmly as moons.
He scratched his cheek, eyes bright, tone casual.
"On the way, I saw a few cats stuck in trees. I took a little time to get them down and calm them. I'm not too late, am I. How did your talk go."
"…Perfect timing," Kisuke murmured.
His eyes narrowed, not at Ichigo's face, but at the spheres.
Ichigo's spiritual power had once been only slightly above Kisuke's. He had not even known Shikai. He had fought using borrowed power, with more guts than skill.
Now he moved with ease, confidence, and a relaxed certainty that could not be faked.
Even Kisuke, whose chakra detection was still incomplete, could feel the threat.
Not from Ichigo's body.
From the three spheres.
They looked small, almost harmless, but the path they left behind was pure void. Not emptiness as a metaphor, but emptiness as an erased reality. Energy vanished where they passed, leaving only nothing.
Aizen noticed Kisuke's gaze and explained calmly.
"The Truth Seeking Ball, or rather, a slightly enhanced version I studied. It differs from the version in the world I experienced."
He spoke like a teacher lecturing a student, and he did not stop.
"Chakra is a near omnipotent energy. Strictly speaking, its extraction is traceable. Once the seed exists and begins spreading in this world, it automatically combines with and dissolves surrounding energy into chakra. In essence, chakra is extremely aggressive."
His finger lifted toward the spheres behind Ichigo.
"And the enhanced Truth Seeking Ball breaks everything down into basic particles. Aside from spatial attacks, the concepts of physical defense and offense do not truly exist before it."
Aizen's hand lowered.
"But to refine such a tool requires power comparable to a captain. An ordinary captain of the Gotei 13 could only produce one."
His smile deepened slightly.
"Yet Ichigo forged three, using only the spiritual power unlocked from ordinary seals. That is also his current upper limit of chakra."
He patted Ichigo's shoulder, as if proudly presenting a finished masterpiece.
Ichigo did not react. He seemed used to this. During those six months in the sealed space, he had learned what kind of man Aizen was, and what kind of arrangement this truly was.
A display.
A proof.
Ichigo's transformed abilities were the demonstration that chakra's potential was real. Not a fantasy, not a theory, but something that could be placed in front of Kisuke's eyes until the doubt suffocated.
Aizen's voice shifted into pure explanation.
"There are three kinds of seals inside Ichigo. The simplest was the Hollowfication seal, Hollow White, created by Kurosaki Masaki, Shiba Isshin, and myself. Using my methods, it integrated into Ichigo's body and has now been fully converted into chakra."
Kisuke's eyes sharpened.
Aizen continued, unhurried.
"I can convert the remaining two seals, but I cannot make Ichigo accept the power normally. Chakra requires body and mind to match. I am not skilled in converting chakra alongside the body, and in that regard, I am far inferior to you."
His tone remained gentle, but the request was firm.
"So if possible, Ichigo's subsequent training must be handled by you."
He leaned forward slightly.
"And I believe you can recognize Ichigo's potential. There is no time to hesitate. The sooner we break these chains, the better. Don't you think so."
"…So it isn't an energy issue," Kisuke muttered. "It's the physical body. A completely different system from Shinigami and Quincy."
He stepped closer and began inspecting Ichigo directly.
Not politely.
Kisuke pinched at Ichigo's muscles, pressed along his shoulders, studied his posture, his structure, his density, his flesh, as if Ichigo were an important piece of equipment that might explode if mishandled.
Ichigo blinked, but did not resist.
Somewhere beneath all of this, the final seal was not truly a seal at all.
Both Kisuke and Aizen were wise enough not to say it out loud.
Because it was not something to hide, and not something worth debating.
That seal was Ichigo himself.
If Ichigo believed he could release his full power, if he decided the battle had truly arrived, then the seal would break naturally. He had always suppressed himself. Zangetsu, the other Zangetsu, the loss of his Shinigami powers, all of it, in a sense, was the same story repeated in different shapes.
Ichigo did not enjoy fighting.
This boy, whose talent was unmatched, hated conflict by instinct. He always tried to solve problems quickly, directly, never realizing how terrifying his true potential was.
So Aizen could break the seal.
But he did not need to.
Because once Ichigo recognized necessity, once he truly desired a world beyond this tragic cycle, the release would happen on its own. Even a Soul King level being was no more complicated than that.
Aizen believed it without hesitation.
Kisuke's eyes shifted, as if he understood the implication without it being spoken. After saying a few casual words to Ichigo, he led Aizen into a corner. A barrier bloomed around them, sealing the conversation.
The most intelligent man in Soul Society stared at Aizen, then spoke quietly.
"You have a lot of faith in that kid. Even if you saw a future, the future has already changed. How can you be sure it will still operate the way you claim."
"It's simple," Aizen replied. "I just correct it again. It is not difficult for me."
"Really," Kisuke said, flat. "In my opinion, Aizen, you can't."
Aizen's eyes lifted slightly. "Oh."
Kisuke leaned against the boulder, gaze cold.
"The severity of your injuries is probably beyond even my imagination, isn't it."
Aizen did not answer.
Kisuke continued, voice steady.
"To be honest, I was surprised. I always thought you were at your peak. Yet even now, seriously injured, on the verge of death, the power you've shown exceeds what I understood of you."
His eyes narrowed further.
"If your actions were not so strange, I wouldn't even have noticed."
Kisuke's tone turned sharper.
"The pressure of two worlds. Crossing time and space. Killing another version of yourself. Sealing and retraining after being expelled from Seireitei."
He did not blink.
"Do not underestimate my ability to detect spiritual pressure and energy. You are severely injured. I don't know how long you need to recover, but you do not have much power right now."
A pause, heavy.
"It's true you want Ichigo to grow. It's true you want to win me over so I can break the Soul King's chains. But part of it is also because you can no longer truly control everything."
Kisuke's voice remained calm, but it carried a blade.
"Am I right."
He tilted his head slightly.
"If traveling between worlds were truly so easy, you would have already used your divine magic, Tens of Thousands of Mantras, to drag the worlds together and shut us up with facts."
His eyes hardened.
"But you didn't. Which means you either cannot, or you lack the ability to create another world I can believe in."
Kisuke's gaze did not waver.
"The extent of your injuries will affect everything that comes next."
…
Aizen looked at him for a long moment.
Then he chuckled.
Not offended.
Not angry.
Almost pleased.
"Indeed," Aizen said softly. "As expected of you, Kisuke. Your judgment is absolutely correct."
He slowly unbuttoned his shirt.
Cracks spread across his chest and abdomen like a shattered shell. Crimson marks opened and closed within the fractures, like the eyes of a monster, watching, breathing, alive.
Kisuke's pupils tightened.
Aizen spread his arms slightly, smiling like a broken porcelain doll that still believed it was beautiful.
"I can no longer even activate this compass on my own," he admitted. "Traveling between worlds is far more dangerous than you can imagine. If I had not been lucky enough to be guided onto the traces I followed, I would have died long ago."
He held that smile, calm and unwavering, despite his ruined body.
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