Chapter 259: The Greatest Director in Three Worlds
Matsushita Yusuke and the others stood where they were, watching the mushroom cloud rise and billow, the massive front of displaced dust and debris rolling toward them from the distance.
Their expressions were three entirely different things.
Tosen had gone somewhere past shock. At his current level, getting involved in a fight at that scale was essentially a guaranteed trip to the hospital. Watching from the side was the correct and only reasonable choice.
Aizen was looking at the slowly dispersing cloud with genuine interest, and said quietly:
"Good thing we prepared the coverage in advance."
True. Without Kyoka Suigetsu concealing the whole area, an explosion of that scale would have been visible from the Seireitei with no effort at all.
Beyond the practical concern, though, more of Aizen's attention was fixed on what Isshin's ability had actually demonstrated.
Getsuga Tensho: a technique that in the original story had belonged to Ichigo from beginning to end, and which Aizen was now seeing up close for the first time. As someone who had dedicated his life to Kido, he had a natural and deep interest in this specific way of using reishi. Particularly given that he was in a genuine bottleneck period of his own right now. If you wanted to push past a wall, you had to try some things that weren't in the obvious playbook.
As for Matsushita Yusuke himself.
He was standing with his arms crossed, looking out toward the distance with a slightly furrowed brow.
If he was honest, Isshin's sudden burst of that scale hadn't completely surprised him. Being the protagonist's father came with its own set of privileges, and pulling something extraordinary out at the last moment was one of them.
What was actually worrying him was the yield.
Please tell me that cloud didn't vaporize the alt entirely.
If it got completely deleted rather than just beaten, that was a whole different problem. Starting from scratch was one thing. Getting the account permanently wiped was something else.
The worry didn't last long.
As the dust settled and the cloud thinned, a shape emerged from within it.
Isshin, being carried by the scruff of his neck like a kitten.
The Hollow alt didn't look great either. Severe burns across its entire surface. Charred sections, split skin, jagged wounds of every shape and size. The kind of damage that on a normal body would make sudden death in the next moment perfectly understandable.
But this was not a normal body.
As it walked forward, every wound on its surface was moving.
Crackling sounds accompanied the process. The ruined sections of flesh fell away in chunks, sliding off as new tissue pushed up to replace them, building quietly from underneath, filling in the gaps, until the damage had simply ceased to exist.
It stopped in front of the three of them and, without ceremony, swung its arm and let go.
Isshin dropped to the ground like a side of meat and bounced once without making a sound.
Tosen moved forward, checked him briefly, and turned back.
"He's just unconscious. Nothing critical."
Holding back enough to keep Isshin alive, even through a fight at that level, meant the gap between the two sides was not close in any meaningful sense.
Aizen registered that with a thoughtful expression.
He looked at the Hollow alt, considered for a moment, then extended his right hand toward it in an open, welcoming gesture.
"I already thought you were something. I genuinely didn't expect this level. I'll admit it freely: I misjudged."
Then.
"Are you sure you have no interest in joining our plans?"
Nothing spelled out explicitly. But the intent was clear enough.
Aizen was offering the Hollow alt a place alongside the others. Effectively inviting it into the organization, the same role as the Espada would eventually fill.
Of course, that was the retrospective framing. In the original story the Espada had looked impressive right up until Fake Karakura Town, where the collapse had been comprehensive enough to carry entire conversations for years. But in the current context, Aizen did genuinely have expectations for that group, at least in terms of what they might become. Bringing in a Hollow at this level would meaningfully raise the ceiling.
So what was the answer?
Matsushita Yusuke didn't have to do anything.
The Hollow alt had already stepped back on its own, reached out to the side, and made a gripping motion at the empty air.
The space split. The alt stepped through without a sound. Gone in an instant.
Hollows always had the ability to open spatial rifts. It was simply a trait that expressed itself more clearly in certain individuals than others.
In fast, out faster.
Aizen's outstretched hand hung in the air, frozen at the moment of refusal.
"Well. Ungrateful."
Tosen, in his established role as loyal support, offered some verbal recovery on the boss's behalf. Matsushita Yusuke coughed a couple of times and added a few sounds of agreement.
Aizen straightened himself out and looked back at Matsushita Yusuke, the familiar composed smile back in place.
"Your friend has quite the personality, Matsushita-kun."
"Ha. It's just on the quieter side. If something comes up that needs it, I'll bring it out again."
Who goes and tries to poach someone else's alt in the middle of the workday? My secondary account still needs to level up. Who has time for your little Hollow army?
Because the truth about the Espada was this: for all that the group sounded impressive by the numbers, the one Aizen actually rated was Starrk at number one. And that particular individual was famously resistant to doing anything. He coasted through everything he encountered and ultimately went out without even forcing Kyoraku to use his Bankai. From a results standpoint, no wonder Aizen's first priority when he finally took the field himself was to clear the board.
That aside.
Matsushita Yusuke had never seen any particular value in the alt joining the Espada. It was Aizen's private organization, and being inside it meant navigating politics on top of everything else. His main account was already grinding away under difficult enough conditions. Sending the alt in to play subordinate on top of that was pointless.
As for why he had specifically set up the alt versus Isshin fight in the first place.
Two reasons: one was to give Aizen an operational result he could see and evaluate. The other was that the alt still needed experience points, and Isshin at his current level was exactly the kind of content appropriate for where the alt currently sat. Not too easy, not impossible.
The alt's growth had been decent.
[Hollow Power Level: 89]
[Sonido: 88] [Cero: 91] [Hierro: 83]
Solid improvement over the years. The situation was similar to what Matsushita Yusuke had been dealing with himself not long ago: meaningfully ahead of the general field, but still some distance from the actual ceiling of what was possible.
The rough equivalent in practical terms: second-strongest in the world.
Grinding against regular Hollows in Hueco Mundo had stopped producing meaningful returns a while back. The remaining window before the main story kicked into motion needed to be used efficiently. More captain-tier content, while it was still available.
Both main and secondary account needed to level up.
And given that the story patch wasn't coming yet, the Gotei 13 was the most productive farming ground available.
Sorry about that, Captain-Commander.
Matsushita Yusuke rubbed his nose and collected his scattered thoughts, then turned his attention toward the other matter.
Isshin was flat on the ground, out cold, looking exactly as described.
Time to discuss what came next.
Tosen stepped forward and made a gesture that needed no verbal component.
"Should we finish it."
Before Aizen could respond, Matsushita Yusuke had already stepped forward and pulled him back.
Don't do that. Not now. Not here.
"I already worked this out with Aizen-sensei. Just watch."
If Tosen's instinct here went unchecked, the entire downstream plan evaporated. Everything Matsushita Yusuke had been quietly arranging, gone because of a hand chop at the wrong moment. He'd like to see Tosen explain that.
Tosen looked toward Aizen, uncertain. Aizen gave a small nod. Tosen stepped back without a word.
With no further internal disagreement, Matsushita Yusuke exhaled slowly, looked at Aizen for confirmation, and got it.
Then.
Everything in position.
Let's begin. Final preparations for the arrival of the most overpowered protagonist in three worlds.
Isshin Shiba's head hurt a lot.
His thoughts were foggy. The disorientation came in waves, the feeling of being on a boat that had lost its keel. It took a while before he managed to force his eyes open and push himself upright.
"Ugh..."
He had been planning to spring up all at once.
He quickly discovered that wasn't happening. There was no part of him that wasn't damaged.
The pain hit hard and immediately. His legs almost buckled under him. He caught himself, went down to one knee, and held that position, jaw tight, expression working through several unpleasant things at once. He forced himself to look around and take in his surroundings.
Where...
The environment matched his memory. Still in the Rukongai area. The craters left by his reiatsu output at full burst were still there nearby.
But where was the opponent?
Isshin scanned carefully, left hand running over his own body to check the damage, right hand holding the Zanpakuto inverted as a brace to keep him upright.
The fragmented memories came back in pieces. Bit by bit until the full picture reassembled.
He remembered losing. He remembered putting out everything he had and still being suppressed. And then the hit that ended it.
The image was burned in. He wasn't going to forget it, even if he wanted to.
He didn't understand why it had spared him. But given the current situation, this moment of being alone looked like the best exit window he was going to get.
He took a breath, steadied himself as much as possible, and started thinking quickly.
Where was Captain Matsushita?
Not nearby.
Maybe he had drawn the Hollow off somewhere. Bought time for Isshin to get clear.
That tracked. There were no signs of a secondary fight in the area, and if they had engaged somewhere close, the environment would show it.
To think ahead in a situation like this, to factor in the surroundings that far. No wonder the Captain-Commander had rated him so highly.
Isshin pressed his hand against his chest, looked around, and started working out how to get back to the Seireitei.
Had to get word out.
Coming back empty-handed and defeated, running to report it, was embarrassing. But compared to the duty it represented, embarrassment ranked well below the priority line.
He knew the difference between what mattered and what didn't.
He had just made up his mind when the sharp, stabbing sense of something nearby arrived before any decision could turn into movement.
Wait.
No.
He felt the space beside him shiver.
A moment later, two hands drove through it.
The bull-headed Hollow pushed its head halfway out of the rift, and in an instant its gaze locked onto him.
Cold sweat, immediately.
Why now. Why this moment specifically. Hollows could technically wander through all three worlds whenever they felt like it, he knew that. But this timing was a little too convenient.
You could have shown up a little later.
Isshin could feel the reiatsu rolling off it. At full strength, maybe he could have traded with it. Not now. Not in this state.
He started backing up and pushed out what little reiatsu he had left, stepping into shunpo.
Get back. Get reinforcements.
The thought had barely finished forming when a Cero punched straight through his shoulder from behind.
A clean hole, front to back. His already pale face dropped another shade.
He couldn't hold back the short, sharp noise of pain. The cold sweat dried up.
Running was not realistic anymore.
But he could still make one last move.
He gritted his teeth and pulled together what remained, then swung a Getsuga Tensho upward into the sky.
Did it miss?
It didn't.
The flickering arc of reiatsu climbed and climbed, and then detonated high above, sending the compressed energy spraying outward in every direction like a signal flare, brilliant and unmistakable.
At this distance, the Seireitei should be able to pick that up.
Should be able to.
"Aizen-sensei. Did you cover it?"
Matsushita Yusuke asked, like a director checking a shot.
"Of course. No problem."
Matsushita Yusuke rubbed his hands together with quiet satisfaction, then turned to Tosen.
Tosen gave a small nod, already on it.
"The channel is stable. Ready to open on your call."
The moment the words were out, roughly fifty meters from where Isshin was standing, a visible distortion opened in the space of the air.
Everything in place.
Matsushita Yusuke felt, in that moment, very much like the greatest director in three worlds.
Roll camera.
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