"Are you afraid?" Aizen scrutinized Rukia, who was slumped on the ground. "Or is it that you are completely immobilized, suppressed by my Reiatsu?"
Perhaps it was both. In truth, he hadn't released an excessive amount of his Reiatsu; otherwise, Ichigo and Renji wouldn't have had the courage to draw their blades against him. But for Rukia, a captain-class Reiatsu was still too much to bear.
"Actually, you don't need to be afraid. If you could stand on your own, it would make things a bit easier for me."
Saying this, Aizen pinched the collar around Rukia's neck, lifting her up as if leashing a small dog.
"Let... let go..."
Ichigo struggled to stand, but at this moment, even making a sound was incredibly difficult for him.
"You're still conscious? How pitiful." Aizen looked at Ichigo, offering kindly advice. "When one's vitality does not match their strength, it becomes a flaw instead. Right now, your spine is likely only barely holding itself together. No matter how much you want to stand, it is futile. This isn't a matter of willpower; structurally, it is simply impossible. Therefore, it would be best if you didn't push yourself too hard."
If such rational advice actually worked, Ichigo probably wouldn't have come to Soul Society in the first place—let alone the fact that Aizen, the one delivering this speech, was the primary culprit behind all of this.
"It truly is strange. I am quite curious—what exactly did Urahara Kisuke tell you? To make you carry out his orders so thoroughly."
"What orders?"
"Hmm? Did Urahara Kisuke not order you to take back Kuchiki Rukia? Judging by your expression, it seems you understand nothing at all." Aizen adjusted his glasses, a faint smile appearing on his lips. Despite his words, he didn't look surprised in the slightest.
"Suffering without reason is truly a pathetic thing. We still have a little time, so allow me to enlighten you."
Shinigami possess four basic methods of combat: Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kidō, and Shunpo. These four combat methods largely determine the disparity in strength between Shinigami. However, each method has a maximum limit—in other words, the absolute peak a Shinigami can reach.
Although he couldn't completely comprehend it, Ichigo could grasp the gist of what Aizen was saying. Everything seemed to make sense, right up until the man began discussing whether there was a way to break past those limits...
"There is a method, of course, but only one. And that is the Hollowfication of a Shinigami."
*'The Hollowfication of a Shinigami?'* Ichigo subconsciously thought of the white figure within his own consciousness. Was that Hollowfication? To break his limits, he had to turn into something so terrifying?!
Aizen didn't seem to notice Ichigo's abnormal reaction. "The Hollowfication of Shinigami, and the Shinigamification of Hollows. By removing the boundary between these two extreme entities, one can evolve toward a higher state of being. In theory, this method has already been proven viable."
"And I was particularly focused on the Shinigamification of Hollows. On several occasions, I sent out Hollows that closely resembled Shinigami. However, it was far too early to call them a new species." Aizen's expression gradually grew somewhat sorrowful, his tone dropping. "Whether out of ignorance or ethics, everyone else either blatantly obstructed my work or sabotaged it from the shadows. In the end, I couldn't find a single viable method."
"Only Urahara Kisuke succeeded. A century ago, he created a substance capable of instantly bridging the boundary between Hollows and Shinigami, completely defying the common sense of Soul Society. He named it the Hōgyoku."
"It is an incredibly dangerous substance—or at least, I assume that was what he thought. Because of that, he attempted to destroy the Hōgyoku, but ultimately failed. Left with no other choice, he came up with a solution: to place a protective barrier over the Hōgyoku and hide it deep within another soul."
Hearing this, both Rukia and Ichigo's expressions changed drastically. Although it lacked explicit confirmation, the location of the Hōgyoku was already glaringly obvious.
"You understand now, don't you? The hiding place he chose back then was you, Kuchiki Rukia." Aizen glanced at Rukia and continued, "But that alone wasn't enough. Even if you hadn't entered the Seireitei when he hid the Hōgyoku, finding you wouldn't have been difficult."
"To that end, he went so far as to seek out Kōe Shihouin—someone who had left the Seireitei long ago and was also searching for a way to surpass the limits of a Shinigami. He had Kōe return to the Seireitei to indirectly protect you, even preparing him to forcibly take you out of the Seireitei if necessary."
*'What? Big Brother Kōe was here to protect me?'*
"You look as though you don't believe it." Aizen looked at Rukia. "In the seventy-two years since Kōe Shihouin left the Seireitei, he never found a way to break past a Shinigami's limits, because he was looking in the wrong direction from the very beginning. Therefore, it isn't strange at all that he would accept Urahara's request."
"So, Big Brother Kōe wanted me dead from the very beginning too..."
Aizen nodded. "Kōe's desire for the Hōgyoku is no less than my own. However, he refuses to share it with anyone. To achieve his goal, he didn't hesitate to restrain Shiba Miyako and collude with me to send Shiba Kaien into the Maggot's Nest. All of this was to conceal your existence until he could find a way to extract the Hōgyoku from your soul."
Before Rukia could react, Ichigo started cursing. "Bastards, you're all a bunch of bastards!" Kuchiki Byakuya, Kōe Shihouin—these two men whom Rukia called "Big Brother" were worse than the last. Did they even understand the responsibilities of an older brother?
"It is perfectly reasonable for you to blame him. After all, if it weren't for him, you wouldn't be here. But Kuchiki Rukia, you should be feeling a sense of gratitude." Aizen turned his head, continuing to address Rukia. "Because of Kōe's interference, by the time I found you, you had already disappeared into the World of the Living."
"Ordinary Gigai are composed of high-concentration Reishi, which allows the Seireitei to track their every movement. If you couldn't be found, it could only be Urahara Kisuke's doing. He developed a Gigai devoid of Reishi to shield you from the Seireitei's detection. At the same time, the Reiryoku of any Shinigami who entered it would continuously degrade, until their soul completely lost its Reiryoku, turning them from a Shinigami into a normal human."
Aizen sighed with emotion. "You were so close to surviving, Kuchiki Rukia. For me, that would have been an eternal regret, but for you, it should be something worth giving thanks for."
Gratitude? Rukia's eyes were currently devoid of life. Recalling everything that had happened in the World of the Living—the first time she met Urahara, the moment he extended a helping hand—it turned out that all of it was merely a path he had designed for her.
In fact, since a time she couldn't even pinpoint, her path had been entirely orchestrated by this group of strangers...
Even her very life had been manipulated by these people without her knowing a thing.
Thinking back to how she had once wanted to give up her life, Rukia found it somewhat laughable. *'From the very beginning, my life never belonged to me. Whether I live or die, it is not up to me. How selfish.'*
*'Just like a bird in a cage.'*