"Dorae-zen, it's like this…"
Under Aizen's increasingly unfriendly stare, Naraku swallowed and—looking a little guilty—gave a detailed account of what had happened in First Division.
Naturally, he added a few "seasonings," like how if he didn't come up with a plan soon, Yamamoto would train him into the ground until he was battered, broken, and barely standing.
After hearing him out, Aizen fell into thought. He looked at Naraku's guilty face again, and his instincts told him it wasn't nearly that serious.
From the information he'd gathered privately, Head-Captain Yamamoto might be dissatisfied with the nobles' behavior, but for the sake of the bigger picture, he usually chose to endure.
If today he finally let his frustration out, then the one "most deserving of credit" for that… was absolutely the boy in front of him.
And combined with Yamamoto's general reputation in Seireitei—
Harsh and strict on the surface, hot-tempered, but actually soft-hearted and deeply protective of the younger generation.
There was no way Yamamoto would ever tell a Genryū student to go take down Tsunayashiro, one of the Five Great Houses.
He would rather shoulder that pressure alone.
Even though Aizen could tell Naraku was lying for "personal reasons," he didn't press him.
Because, in a sense, it aligned neatly with Aizen's own way of thinking.
"Because of the internal turmoil, the Shihōin can't really provide any support right now," Aizen said, casually cutting off Naraku's "let's charge in" impulse. "So don't bring up that plan about teaming up with the Shihōin to eliminate Tsunayashiro again."
"Besides, even at their peak, the Shihōin might not have been Tsunayashiro's match. You can see that just from how influence is distributed in the Noble Council and the Central 46."
"And other than that… don't you have any different ideas?"
Naraku grinned.
"Are you testing my intelligence, Dragon of Documents? Then behold—of course I have a plan!"
The moment that shame-level nickname hit his ears, Aizen felt his gums ache.
When other people called him that, it came with a faint sense of pride.
But when it came out of Naraku's mouth, it somehow felt… off.
Aizen couldn't explain it.
"Divide and conquer. Slowly dismantle them."
Naraku proudly presented the plan he'd finally thought up, looking smug.
"Start with Tsunayashiro's vassal noble houses. Break their subordinate forces apart and crush them one by one—like the Yokota family—until that giant tree rooted in Soul Society starts to wobble, then deliver the final blow."
Aizen looked surprised, then nodded.
"Sora… I'm honestly impressed you got that far."
"But next time, don't."
Naraku: "?"
He felt his world-shaking genius had been insulted.
"Tsunayashiro has countless vassal houses," Aizen continued. "Nearly twenty of the Central 46 families alone. Are you going to march into the Central 46 next?"
He sighed, expression resigned.
"If that's the plan, we might as well just storm Tsunayashiro's headquarters directly. Procedurally, it wouldn't be much different."
"And this 'slow erosion' method will get Tsunayashiro's attention after only a few moves. Once they counterattack, your whole plan collapses."
"Otherwise, do you think Head-Captain Yamamoto would have tolerated them this long?"
As the guardian of order, Yamamoto couldn't move against nobles directly due to established rules—
But that didn't mean he couldn't influence noble infighting.
Taking Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō—both nobles—as students was itself a form of restraint.
Being on good terms with Kuchiki Ginrei was the same.
Within his constraints, Yamamoto had already done as much as he possibly could.
Hearing that, Naraku made a disgusted face.
"If you ask me, the simplest way is still to just cut them down one by one."
"Aizen—then what's your better plan?"
Aizen thought for a moment, then nodded.
"I do have one. It'll just take a little time."
"For now, we keep living the same way we have been—step by step."
Naraku raised an eyebrow.
Trusting Aizen, he didn't press further. If Aizen said he had a way, then he probably did.
"Oh right—recently I learned a new Kidō technique."
Naraku suddenly remembered. He raised his hand and began chanting.
"ye who reign, mask of blood and flesh, all things in the universe, flapping wings, that which bears the name of man!"
"scorching heat and strife, across the sea, surging south—step forward"
Aizen watched Naraku's raised palm with interest. As the chant flowed, thin strands of Kidō Reiatsu gathered and quickly traced a pattern in the center of his hand.
When the final line ended, a complex yet fragile sigil formed and settled.
Nothing seemed to happen—but Aizen could clearly sense a thread of destructive power contained within it.
When Aizen touched the sigil with a fingertip, scorching heat burst out instantly. A palm-sized fireball appeared out of nowhere and detonated.
The power wasn't large—he didn't even need to defend seriously.
A pulse of Reiatsu swept out and erased the Shakkahō at once.
"This is triggered Kidō," Naraku explained with a grin. "I learned it from Old Man. It doesn't really fit my fighting style, but I figured it might suit you."
In truth, triggered Kidō was the reward he'd gotten for killing Ishikawa Sāsuke.
Back then, Ishikawa had planted an ambush at Koi-Fushi Mountain—hiding multiple high-tier Hadō traps underground and triggering a disaster that looked like a natural calamity.
Later, Naraku found that to reach that level of effect took a lot of time and energy.
Maybe he could shorten the process with his perfect Kidō understanding—but at the end of the day, it still wasn't as satisfying as simply cutting things apart.
Aizen looked at Naraku for a long moment.
With his knowledge of Kidō, he could immediately see how valuable this technique was.
He wasn't sure whether Yamamoto had taught Naraku this or not, but the fact Naraku shared it without hesitation—this kind of trust—was genuinely moving.
But if he learned it, wouldn't he just end up owing Naraku even more?
Aizen thought of the Kidō-swordsmanship fusion he'd already learned from Naraku—the destructive style that really did patch some of his weaknesses.
"Hey, what are you spacing out for?"
Naraku turned and urged him. "You're not planning to learn this in the office, are you? If we blow the place up, Shinji will snitch to Old Man again."
Aizen looked up at that sunlit face—so straightforward, almost naïve—and sighed with a faint smile.
"Coming."
~~~
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