Chapter 188: Aizen's Plan
The Hogyoku.
A tool created jointly by Aizen and Kisuke, a device said to grant wishes, to push evolution without limit, to turn thought into reality.
That description was convenient.
It was also, in the strictest sense, a lie that only sounded true because no one dared to measure it against the world itself.
A fragment could not surpass the whole.
The Three Realms were built upon the Soul King and the scattered remnants of his power. Yhwach, Fullbring, Quincy, all of it, no matter how different it appeared, was ultimately an extension of the same source. To believe a piece of the Soul King could allow one to transcend the Soul King was a fantasy wrapped in scientific language.
True transcendence through the Hogyoku was so improbable it was almost meaningless.
But that was precisely what made it useful.
Others did not understand the ceiling. They only saw the ladder. In the documents Aizen and Kisuke had produced, the Hogyoku became a substance capable of limitless evolution, the kind of treasure that would drag anyone who touched it into disaster.
And Aizen's plan began there.
Originally, it had not been much different from the route history remembered.
He would send his clones to slaughter every member of Central 46, fabricate a perfect alibi, return to Soul Society, speak with those he needed to move, then stage his death once again. The goal was not just chaos, but a specific kind of tension, a nervous pressure that would lock the entire Seireitei into suspicion.
Rukia's case would have been treated as inevitable by the nobles.
But Aizen's death would be too much.
The noble families did not enjoy turning the table over and swinging blindly. They were old, cautious, and obsessed with continuation. Their instinct was always to preserve bloodlines, exchange interests, and keep the game running. A sudden, violent overturning of the board did not match their atmosphere.
So the atmosphere had to be created.
By sealing off Central 46 and leaving a vacuum, by letting the shadows of internal conflict among the great families surface indirectly, the nobles would hesitate to intervene. With Tokinada Tsunayoshiro involved, the true villains among them would even welcome it. In the end, the result would be a Soul Society where the Gotei 13 handled external duties, while the captains watched each other like enemies, each step taken with suspicion.
And once that stage was set, Ichigo could appear.
This time, he did not need a group.
He did not need allies storming the gates beside him, voices shouting, hearts racing like a festival.
Ichigo alone was enough.
The more people you brought, the easier it became to pick them apart. The original story had been full of restraint, captains and vice captains holding back for political reasons, some not even releasing Bankai, some barely using Shikai, performing duties rather than finishing fights. That was the reality of Soul Society, a place where power was everywhere and courage was always weighed against consequences.
But now, under Aizen's manipulation and Ichigo's insistence, it became a solo operation.
Ichigo's heart was too kind to gamble on whether his friends would survive.
After hearing Aizen's analysis of how ugly Soul Society truly was, and how much unused power it held, Ichigo refused to drag anyone into it. Kisuke believed more people meant more chakra spread, but Ichigo rejected it so firmly the idea died before it could breathe.
So the plan simplified.
On the surface, Ichigo would attack Seireitei.
In secret, he would plant the Divine Tree's seeds in Rukongai and give its people something they had never been offered, a sliver of hope.
Without confirming large scale Hollow losses, Seireitei could not simply erase multiple districts of Rukongai. Shinigami might occasionally wander down and kill for amusement, but those acts did not overturn the system. They were cruelty, not collapse.
Ichigo's task was to plant the Chakra God Tree in every district, to ensure each area gained chakra users, and that chakra spread far enough to matter. It had to reach a point where Shinigami would not dare slaughter Rukongai's residents indiscriminately, not without risking the balance of the Three Realms, not without risking consequences they could not predict.
If the cover was maintained well enough, if Ichigo made multiple trips between Seireitei and Rukongai within a single day, then the commotion in Seireitei would swallow the quieter changes below. With Kaname Tosen and Gin Ichimaru inside Seireitei, and Aizen himself steering events from the shadows, they would help conceal the truth. Among the nobles, Kisuke had promised to influence Yoruichi.
Once the number of chakra users in Rukongai reached scale, they would become part of the world's ecology.
Like symbiosis in a textbook, two energies could coexist because neither could be removed without damage.
That was the theory.
But the plan carried problems that could not be ignored.
First, Soul Society had surveillance and personnel in Rukongai. There was no guarantee the change would not be detected immediately.
Second, it was still uncertain whether souls could awaken chakra naturally through atmosphere alone. Did they need to be nourished first, filled with it, given a base understanding before training could begin?
If wandering spirits could not awaken on their own, the only method left would be physical contact, spirits repeatedly touching the Divine Tree so it could convert them. That would slow everything. And if time ran short, concealment would collapse.
In that situation, Ichigo would be forced to fight on every side.
It could become a ridiculous scene where wooden clones battled captains while the real Ichigo stayed in the old districts, doing the work that mattered.
Even if captains held back, sending clones against them was still dangerous.
Not because Ichigo would be captured.
Because captains were not fools.
If they sensed something wrong, they would investigate Rukongai and Seireitei. If they found traces of Aizen, Gin, Tosen, and the rest, Aizen would have no choice but to return openly, to complete the disguise that kept Kisuke hidden as the final traitor in the narrative.
Because the three of them were, in truth, aligned.
Ichigo was the open card.
Aizen was the hidden card.
Kisuke was the most cautious, the most secretive, the only one who could plausibly deduce and act, using Yoruichi's words to push the noble families where they needed to go.
If Kisuke was exposed completely, the chakra conversion operation would collapse, forcing Aizen to conduct experiments in Hueco Mundo.
And honestly, who would choose Hueco Mundo if they had any other option.
There was nothing there.
Hueco Mundo was emptiness and hunger made into a world. If chakra took root there, the consequences could be unpredictable. The Three Realms might be called equal, but all three men present agreed that Hueco Mundo did not belong in that category.
A former Shinigami.
A substitute Shinigami.
An exiled Shinigami.
All three came from lives defined by killing Hollows. None of them would choose that path unless forced.
And Hueco Mundo carried another risk.
Yamamoto Shigekuni could respond with an expedition, unleash Bankai, destroy Hueco Mundo's ecosystem in one burning sweep, erase Rukongai, then use the Hollows stored within Seireitei to restore the balance by brute force.
As for the human world, that was the last resort, the final foundation, the beginning and the end. If the human cycle malfunctioned, there was no other mechanism to catch it.
Soul Society and Hueco Mundo could be re established through the flow of spirit particles.
The human world could not.
If something went wrong there, then everyone could only pack up and run. There would be nothing left to argue about.
With the Soul King's will uncertain, and no second world waiting as a safety net, they analyzed until the plan felt less like a gamble and more like a blade honed by necessity.
Even then, Ichigo still had questions.
"What about Dad."
He raised his hand like a student who had listened properly, and that alone felt strange. He was Ichigo Kurosaki, not a classroom model. Yet here he was, asking carefully, earnestly.
"From what you said, Dad used to be very strong. What am I supposed to do about him. Do I explain everything to him, or do I keep it from him."
Aizen's answer was calm.
"It is up to you."
Ichigo blinked.
"Huh."
Aizen looked at him, eyes gentle behind the glasses.
"You have no reason to walk this path with us. I released a portion of your power, but everything you have done since then has been your own will. Your father is the same. It is your decision."
The smile Aizen wore was the smile of an elder who understood exactly where the knife was placed.
Unlike the Ichigo of the Thousand Year Blood War, the Ichigo who had learned the taste of loneliness, betrayal, death, and cycles, this Ichigo was still at his purest. He did not crave power. His seals had kept his life relatively safe. His mother's death and his father's revelation had shattered him, but they had also given him a desperate longing to protect.
More important than experience were choices.
The choice now would become the experience later.
"You are the one who decides your future," Aizen said. "Compared to the boys in the world I visited, your life is already gentle. They made choices like killing fathers, families, sacrificing loyalty. That world was pushed beyond its limits, twisted and diseased."
His gaze sharpened just slightly.
"Because I witnessed the end of such a world, I hope you choose what you truly want. No one is forcing you. It is your decision. Once you choose, you must walk that path without wavering."
He paused.
"Your choice matters. But it is not the only pillar holding the world up. Even if problems arise, I will take responsibility. You only need to choose."
Kisuke, watching Ichigo's growing distress, lifted his paper fan to cover his face, voice light as if trying to soften the weight.
"High school students should act like high school students. Responsibilities are for adults. Since we dragged you into our mess, your choices are ours to bear."
"But it's important," Ichigo said, anxious. "If something goes wrong, what if…"
"If something happens," Kisuke cut in, lowering the fan, his expression suddenly serious, "it is the adults' responsibility."
His voice carried a strange sincerity, almost uncomfortable coming from him.
"Aizen pulled you into this. You joined without compensation, of your own free will. Whatever choices you make, whatever consequences follow, Aizen and I will bear them."
Kisuke's eyes did not look away.
"We are the adults who brought a minor into our ranks for our own reasons. You are fifteen. You can choose what you want. The responsibility is ours."
He inhaled quietly.
"Whether you win over Isshin or not, he is your father. We have no right to demand more. What matters is the choice."
He let the words settle.
"Aizen sees you as hope. I agree. Whether you carry it out depends on you."
Ichigo fell silent.
Am I really someone who can be trusted.
Someone who can protect others.
Standing between two adults who looked at him with that kind of certainty, Ichigo felt something unfamiliar bloom in his chest. From childhood to now, people asked him for things, demanded things, but rarely affirmed him. Rarely placed faith in him without conditions.
Now that faith came in a form so broad it could decide the fate of the world.
It left him dizzy.
Neither Kisuke nor Aizen gave him a clean answer about his father. But it was clear that Isshin was strong, and if he chose a side, he would become an obstacle to the other.
They could not kill Isshin.
They had no right.
Ichigo did not want his father to die for nothing.
But the plan involved hundreds of millions.
What if Dad told on them.
When Ichigo finally climbed out from beneath Kisuke's shop, plans set for three days later, that question gnawed at him more sharply than any enemy.
He had promised to explain himself to his father.
Yet he knew his father's roots were in Soul Society, and his actions would not be friendly to Seireitei as a whole.
So what do I do.
If this is what growing up looks like, then it's cruel.
Moonlight painted the road home in pale silver. Ichigo walked slowly, thoughts heavy, until he stepped into the house and saw his father waiting.
Not in casual clothes.
Not with that careless grin.
Isshin stood in the living room in a black Shinigami uniform, Zanpakuto at his waist, arms crossed, gaze fixed and hard.
"What's wrong," Isshin asked. "What did you talk about with Aizen."
Ichigo opened his mouth, then stopped.
Simply put.
Looking at his father's rigid face, the face of a man who was no longer pretending, Ichigo felt something settle in him, a decision forming like a sealed door clicking shut.
"I might be going to save the world, Dad," Ichigo said. "But I'm not telling you anything about the specifics. Not how many people are involved, who they are, or what the consequences will be."
Isshin stared.
"…Ah."
"I'm old enough to have secrets."
"Hey," Isshin snapped, anger flaring, "you brat, you have no idea how dangerous Aizen is. How can you keep something like this from your father."
"It's for your safety," Ichigo replied, tone calm. "After all, if we don't know anything…"
"You little brat…"
Isshin's teeth clenched. He lunged forward, furious enough to grab his son, maybe shake him, maybe pull him into a rough, desperate hug.
Ichigo vanished.
Silent.
Instant.
He reappeared behind Isshin under his bewildered gaze, as if distance meant nothing at all.
Then, almost casually, Ichigo patted his father's shoulder.
Isshin froze.
Ichigo looked at the shock on his father's face, then turned and walked up the stairs, leaving the powerless Shinigami who hid in the closet behind him.
If his father had kept Shinigami and Quincy from him, then Ichigo could keep chakra and Soul Society from his father. As for Rukia, if everyone insisted she would be fine, he would trust them. Most importantly, her identity was clean, and she would not be tortured.
So this is fine.
We can save everyone.
A world that treats soul shaping, cannibalism, and murder as normal is wrong. Completely wrong.
If people could understand each other, maybe those from Seireitei would come here someday like Aizen and that man with the wooden clogs and hat.
Ichigo clenched his hand once, as if gripping his resolve.
He had chosen.
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