The gloomy underground shifted once more. A stone chair rose from behind Kōe, and bending his legs, he plopped down onto it.
The Senkaimon that had previously sunk into the ground reappeared. Lying haphazardly beside it were about thirty-odd people dressed in tattered clothes.
"They are the ones I just used to cast Ittō Kasō. Originally, there were fifty of them, but now there are only thirty-nine. Speaking of which, you still owe me something."
Azashiro Sōya pointed at the people lying on the ground. Judging by their attire, they were all vagrants from the Rukongai. However, unlike ordinary vagrants, these people possessed Reiryoku, roughly equivalent to the level of lower-to-mid-tier members of the Gotei 13.
But Kōe didn't understand. What exactly did Azashiro Sōya want with these people? Furthermore, it looked like he was planning to take them to the World of the Living. Was he short on servants to pour tea and fetch water?
Azashiro Sōya saw the confusion in Kōe's eyes. Another stone chair rose up, and sitting down across from Kōe, he slowly said, "I selected these people from the Rukongai before you were even born. However, the fact that I didn't discover you back then is truly a great loss."
"Then I'm truly lucky. If you had found me, I would have been doomed," Kōe replied with a calm expression. If Azashiro Sōya had discovered him back then, he might have been the one serving as a sacrifice for Ittō Kasō just now.
Azashiro Sōya understood the meaning behind Kōe's words. Perhaps the other party was a genius who surpassed him, but he was no mentor who took pleasure in nurturing prodigies. Therefore, if Shihouin Kōe had truly fallen into his hands, he certainly wouldn't have achieved what he had today.
Although Kōe would have been treated differently from these vagrants, it would only have been a matter of when he was eventually discarded. He could never treat Kōe as his own flesh and blood like Yamamoto did. Of course, if the Azashiro family hadn't suffered that tragedy, he might have been that kind of person, but back then, he had no intention of becoming a Shinigami.
Thinking of this, Azashiro Sōya shook his head helplessly. Perhaps some people were simply never meant to cross paths from the very beginning. Even if circumstances shifted to create millions of possibilities, the outcome would remain the same.
"Death is a topic none of us can avoid, and that holds especially true for them." Azashiro Sōya leaned back against his chair and casually stabbed his Zanpakutō into the ground before continuing, "They all hail from the most impoverished districts of the Rukongai. Without my intervention, they likely would have died much earlier—either at the hands of their own kind, or more likely, in the jaws of a Hollow."
"But I imagine they wouldn't want to die at the hands of the Shinigami who guided them to Soul Society either! That's simply too ironic!" Kōe pointed out.
"Now I understand once again why you were able to befriend a Quincy." Azashiro Sōya smiled, his gaze suddenly turning sharp. "You're right. We brought them to Soul Society, yet we left them to fend for themselves. Whether in the World of the Living or here—in Soul Society, the very stronghold of the Shinigami!—they are still subjected to the harassment of Hollows!"
"This..." Kōe was momentarily stumped. If Shinigami were likened to angels guiding people to heaven, then to those living beyond the 60th District of the Rukongai, Soul Society was no heaven at all. In their eyes, the actions of the Shinigami likely seemed more like gross irresponsibility.
"Have you ever experienced the despair of being torn apart by a Hollow?"
"Huh?" Kōe froze. *'Weren't we just talking about the Shinigami's issues? Is he trying to highlight the Shinigami's incompetence by contrast? There's no need for that, is there!'*
"I suppose you haven't, but I feel as though I've experienced it firsthand!" Azashiro Sōya said, his eyes softening. "You left the Seireitei in your twenties, but compared to you, I was actually much luckier and much happier. Because of my older sister, Kenichi, I was able to do the things I liked. I was able to be a coward... who refused to become a Shinigami."
A warm smile crept onto Azashiro Sōya's lips. This was the first time Kōe had ever seen him look like this. However, there was a glint of moisture in the corners of his eyes. Could such an emotional person really be the eternally ice-cold Azashiro Sōya he had known?
"She was a gentle, strong woman. She looked after her two unambitious younger brothers and considered it her greatest happiness."
Azashiro Sōya tilted his head back and let out a long sigh. Beside him, Azashiro Kōzō sat on the ground with his head bowed, his body trembling slightly. Although no sound could be heard, Kōe figured he was probably crying too.
Hateful people often have pitiful pasts. Perhaps it was just as Azashiro Sōya had said: 'When a person loses their home, they change.' He likely never imagined he would end up the way he was today.
"But even someone like her, in the split second before she was torn to shreds by a Hollow..." Azashiro Sōya took a deep breath, steadying his voice so it wouldn't tremble, and continued, "I will never forget her despairing expression. I will never forget the apathetic Shinigami standing atop those high walls. And I will certainly never forget those hideous masks! Or their laughter, which seemed to mock the sheer incompetence of the Shinigami!"
Azashiro Sōya waved his hand, and an image abruptly materialized in the air before Kōe. The scene depicted a scorched expanse of land where two or three Gillian stood, accompanied by countless ordinary Hollows craning their necks left and right as if searching for something.
"It was these beasts. My sister actually died at the hands of these beasts. It was the ultimate insult to the Shinigami identity she so deeply revered!" Azashiro Sōya suddenly stood up from his stone chair and said angrily, "Such lowly, hideous beasts shouldn't even exist!"
"That is why, after becoming a Shinigami, I joined Squad 11—the primary combat squad that invests the most in the desire for slaughter! I swore that one day, I would lead Squad 11 into Hueco Mundo and eradicate every last Hollow there, leaving not a single one alive! I will drive those beasts who brought shame to my sister to complete extinction!"
As Azashiro Sōya spoke, he waved his hand and shattered the suspended image. At the same time, a cluster of stone spikes suddenly erupted from the ground above them, piercing through all the lingering Hollows in the area and reducing them to dust! It turned out that the location in the image was the very mountain where Kōe and Azashiro Sōya had just fought.
"But even if you invade Hueco Mundo, wiping out all the Hollows is impossible." Kōe swallowed hard. Seeing that Azashiro Sōya wasn't lashing out, he continued, "And even if you slaughtered every last Hollow in Hueco Mundo, driving them to extinction is impossible. After all, their true origins lie in the World of the Living."
"I know that, and the Seireitei knows it too. That's why, over the past thousand years, offensives against Hueco Mundo have become increasingly rare. From the time I was born until now, there hasn't been a single one!" Azashiro Sōya turned his head, a rare flush of color appearing on his sickly pale face. "That's how I came to understand that a Shinigami's primary duty is to maintain the balance of souls. As long as that balance is sufficient, they are content with the status quo—this abnormal status quo of living 'amicably' alongside the enemy!"
"Either I take the initiative to change things, or I force the Seireitei and the Shinigami to change!" Azashiro Sōya pointed at Kōe and continued, "And since the latter failed because of you, I am now returning to my original plan. I will change it all by myself."
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