Zaraki ripped off his black eyepatch. Endless Reiatsu erupted like a volcano, seemingly evaporating the surrounding rain.
"Still not planning to go all out? How irritating!" Seeing that Kōe still hadn't released his Bankai, Zaraki roared and swung his sword. The white Reiryoku parted the curtain of rain, slashing toward Kōe, threatening to cleave anything in its path in two.
"Bankai!"
The short sword swung out. The moment it made contact with that Reiatsu Slash, it had already transformed into a pitch-black sleeve. With a light brush, it stirred up a clap of thunder.
Inside the second-floor classroom of the Shin'ō Academy, gale-force winds wrapped in rain continuously invaded through the gaping hole in the wall. It felt as though a surging tsunami might arrive in the very next second, stripping the people inside of their final safe haven.
Yet, Hinamori Momo in the crowd wasn't worried at all. Looking at the tall, sword-wielding figure standing in front of them, she felt that Captain Aizen always gave people a sense of security.
As long as he was here, even if the sky were to fall, everything would definitely be fine.
"What terrible weather." Hearing a voice, Hinamori turned her head. The speaker was a man with short, light purple hair. He brushed the rainwater off his clothes as he walked forward, smiling as he passed them. "It's quite dangerous outside right now. Don't go running around."
Even Lieutenant Ichimaru Gin had arrived. Just like a year ago, they always appeared at the most dangerous moments. They were such warm people.
*'I definitely have to join Squad 5 in the future to be closer to Captain Aizen.'* This thought grew even firmer in Hinamori's heart.
Noticing someone approaching from behind, Aizen turned his head slightly. "You handled things well, Gin."
Meanwhile, Ichimaru Gin spread his hands and complained, "This kind of weather really isn't suited for strolling around Seireitei."
"Thank you for your hard work." Aizen smiled, turning back to look at the open grounds below. The oncoming rain battered against his glasses, but he didn't seem to care. How could mere rainwater obscure his vision? "But Zaraki looks quite happy. It always takes some effort to open the cage binding a wild beast."
Gin curled his lips, shrugging his shoulders in a noncommittal manner. Whether it was subtly leaking Shihouin Kōe's location to the Squad 11 members, or using Kyōka Suigetsu's ability to slip away to Squad 4, was it all just to open the cage trapping a wild beast? And to ensure it didn't bite people to death, or get killed itself?
However, as Gin looked at the man before him who was watching the scene below with keen interest, he certainly didn't think the other party was someone who enjoyed gladiator arenas and the like.
"You seem to have some doubts, Gin?" A deep voice suddenly spoke up. Gin froze for a moment. The man hadn't even turned his head, yet it felt as if he were constantly watching him. Gin smiled and shook his head. This man was as omniscient as ever—truly terrifying.
"I just feel that you're paying a bit too much attention to him." Gin slowly stepped forward, arriving at Aizen's left side. He pointed at Kōe below and continued, "How should I put it... he looks a bit... ordinary?"
In truth, Kōe, who was currently erupting with astonishing Reiatsu, could hardly be considered ordinary, but it depended on who he was being compared to. Gin understood that compared to the gentle and elegant man standing before him, Kōe couldn't be called stunning.
Aizen, however, held a different view. "I believe I mentioned yesterday that over a hundred years ago, he was the universally acknowledged genius of Seireitei."
"But I thought you never cared for that title." Gin turned his head, his light blue eyes looking somewhat cold. "Captain Aizen?"
"That is because, most of the time, the title is unearned. Reaching the apex among one's peers in a very short time can only be considered excellent." Aizen shook his head and continued, "If one does not break through the limits of their own vision, they will eventually lose their direction and stop in their tracks. Geniuses like Urahara Kisuke are exceedingly rare."
"Is he the same kind of person as Urahara Kisuke?"
"Essentially, yes, but their expressions differ." Aizen took off his glasses and wiped them. "He is Urahara Kisuke, or perhaps Aizen Sōsuke, but more likely, he is Shihouin Kōe—another stranger walking the same path as us."
"Oh?" Gin was also a bit interested now. His gaze pierced through the wildly dancing wind and rain, locking onto Kōe. Would a person like this also do things similar to Urahara or even Aizen? It was truly somewhat unexpected.
"You should have learned about the Quincy during your time at the Shin'ō Academy, right, Gin?"
Hearing Aizen's words, Gin nodded in confusion. "The clan that possessed the power to annihilate souls, and was therefore wiped out by the Shinigami?"
"And the ones who spearheaded that war were Head Captain Yamamoto and Shihouin Kōe. Though, in itself, it was just an utterly boring massacre." As Aizen spoke, his eyes shifted, glancing at Gin. "Interestingly, after the war, the captured Quincy were handed over one by one to Kurotsuchi Mayuri. This was Shihouin Kōe's own private endeavor, which included the 'comrades' he met while investigating the Quincy strongholds."
"My, my, what a cold-blooded person." Gin patted the back of his head, speaking in an exaggerated tone. However, the smile on his face grew even more pronounced. Not only did he show no intention of condemning it, but he actually seemed to highly approve.
"Only those on the same level can speak of cold-bloodedness. When dealing with ants, whether one shows mercy or not is neither right nor wrong." The gentle voice carried a tone of absolute certainty. At this moment, Aizen was like a sage, slowly expounding on the laws of salvation.
All living things had their own limits. Just as a tiger could not soar through the sky, and an eagle could not dive into the profound ocean. They might become overlords of their respective domains, but they could only ever commit themselves to that one domain. It was truly a great sorrow.
Shinigami were the same, and that sense of sorrow was perhaps even more intense. They fancied themselves omnipotent, only to realize in the end that they were capable of nothing. The sun and moon alternated as usual, the four seasons rotated endlessly; you were merely a tiny member of this known world, unable to escape its most basic and unbreakable rules.
Since they styled themselves as gods, they ought to possess the capabilities of gods. What magnificent scenery lay beyond those limits? Aizen wanted to know, and for that, he began his research into Hollowfication. Urahara wanted to touch it, and for that, he invented the Hōgyoku. As for Kōe...
Perhaps he had harbored this idea ever since he was old enough to understand. Using the war instigated by Yamamoto to begin his research on the Quincy. This act of capitalizing on the situation made it very hard for Aizen to believe that it was all just a coincidence.
Of course, these choices weren't necessarily correct. For example, choosing the Quincy as research subjects, or letting Mayuri conduct the research while he focused on his own training.
Without personally experiencing the existence of those limits, such research could never find the right direction. Although Urahara Kisuke had managed it, in the two-thousand-year history of Seireitei, there had only ever been one Urahara Kisuke.
But none of this affected his vision. Naturally, it could also be understood as Kōe's confidence—knowing exactly what realm he could reach and making preparations in advance. In this regard, he was even more outstanding than Urahara, who underestimated his own strength; he was just a bit impatient.
Later on, Kōe paid the price for his impatience. In Aizen's eyes, this kind of research, which involved altering the very essence of a Shinigami, was forbidden in Seireitei. Conducting such research out in the open was pure fantasy.
Hide your fangs before your wings are fully grown; only then can you deal a fatal blow at the critical moment.
"We are solitary walkers by nature. Though we walk side by side, we tread different paths. The word 'reliance' is far too naive." Aizen tilted his head up, the rain blooming like flowers before his eyes. "This is also the reason for our uniqueness—an inevitable, arrogant loneliness."