Bleach Can't Fear Your Own World translation

By shadow_liepard

[] - translator notes
[*] - uncertain translation
Please don't steal. Free use otherwise.

"You must not seek beauty in waging war. You must not seek virtue in dying in battle. You must
not think of only your own life. If you wish to protect the king and five governors [*], slaughter all
your enemies from the shadows."
- Excerpt from Shinou Academy Textbook, Shinigami Informational Encyclopedia, older
edition

"Don't seek beauty in battle. Don't seek virtue in death. Don't think of only your own life. If you
want to protect what must be protected, strike down your enemies from behind."
- Excerpt from Shinou Academy Textbook, Shinigami Informational Encyclopedia, newest
edition

Prologue 1

The battle between the ones who called themselves the gods that govern death and the ones
who had exterminated evil souls was great.
At the end of the grudge crossing one thousand years, the chaos caused by the loss of both
'kings' had just ended.
The relationship between shinigami and quincy, through the great losses sustained, became an
opportunity to welcome a new era.
That the same one person killed both kings, that he is an existence neither shinigami nor
quincy, such a truth was only known by a few.
That the leader of the army that had invaded soul society, the Wandenreich, was killed by an
outsider to the Gotei 13, a substitute shinigami — this piece of news, along with the
proclamation that he had defended the Gotei 13 and royal palace was spread in Soul Society.
In the end, the death of the soul king, the root of Soul Society, was to be covered up for
perpetuity in order to prevent chaos.
The inhabitants of Soul Society who were starting to become ordinary soldiers mostly believed
even now that the soul king was enshrined within the soul king palace.
Even those who knew a limited truth - some of the captains and higher government officials, and
possibly some who held important offices in Seireitei, did not dare to disrupt the peace of the
people by exposing it.
And so, the reconstruction of a destroyed Seireitei began.
Whether this decision from the higher ups to rectify the people's stolen trust was right or not
would be decided by the history of tens, hundreds, of years ago.

Meeting the end of this thing, which would later be called 'the great battle to protect the soul
king', were a series of disturbances.
Time goes back to immediately after the war's conclusion.

Soul king palace main shrine, greater soul king palace

At the place where the former soul king was enshrined, the palace's divine soldiers were moving
around without hurry.
One of the zero squad members, the monk who calls the true name, Hyousube Ichibe'e, was
staring silently at the 'thing' in the center while stroking his beard.
An breezy voice came from behind him.
"My, is that the new soul king, monk?"
When the monk turned his head, there a man with an eyepatch over his right eye - Kyouraku
Shunsui - was standing.
"Oh, you can move already? Yes, for someone who could become the captain commander of
the Gotei 13, that is to be expected," the monk says back with a cheerful smile.
He doesn't return Kyouraku's gaze, and while turning to the space in the middle of the Divine
Soldiers' work, answered the other's question.
"Teacher [*] should already know. There is no such thing as an old or new soul king. Only the
fact that the thing we call the Soul King continues to exist here has meaning."
"Aren't you the one who says names hold all power?"
Kyouraku continues to drop honorifics from his words, as he speaks with a complicated look on
his face.
"...In the worst case scenario, Ichigo-kun would have wound up being sealed by that 'name',
wouldn't he?"
"Isn't it good that didn't happen?"
Of the possibility that, depending on the situation, Ichigo would have be turned into the
existence called 'Reiou', the monk spoke of carelessly. However, there seemed to be no
emotion in those words.
Furthermore, he spoke of Kurosaki Ichigo while openly smiling.
"I am also glad with the way things turned out with that boy. If it became that he couldn't even
speak, it would've been a bit lonely, wouldn't it?"
"More than anything. With this, even I would feel guilty for Ichigo's friends' lack of resentment."
"Ah, we've given the soul tickets, haven't we? Central 46 will have to stay quiet [*]"
"...No way, you can't foresee that, monk."

The soul king's seat. Here, Kyouraku considered whether one of the worst possible endings for
Kurosaki Ichigo was really completely unacceptable.
Looking at the 'thing' before him, Kyouraku carved it again into his heart.
In preparation for that worst possible situation, Kyouraku had sent the special spirit tools known
as Soul Tickets to Kurosaki Ichigo's acquaintances in the living world.
Being tokens that allow free travel between Soul Society and the living world, as the technique
used by the living humans of Karakura Town to travel to Soul Society was still being reformed,
they were a substitute for its practical implementation.
Kyouraku quietly looked down, as the time he told Ichigo's friends about the possibility of Ichigo
not being able to return because of his power resurfaced in his heart.
Facing himself who had said 'I'm not here to tell jokes', despite it being the greatest joke, the
youth had said with eyes filled with deep anger, "If you're not joking, then how can you speak so
easily of a farewell?"
Beside he who was showing true anger for Ichigo's sake, the black-haired teen with calm eyes
continued to firmly believe in Ichigo, and the girl had been more concerned for Ichigo's family
than even himself, holding deep anxiety and sorrow for Ichigo.
— Sado and Orihime, Ichigo is certainly blessed with good friends, isn't he?
— No, those children were attracted to Ichigo, weren't they?
Thinking about the youths from the human world, Kyouraku, opening his eyes, spoke to the
monk as to his relief for the key player who had ended the war, Kurosaki Ichigo's safety.
"More than anything, I'm glad Ichigo didn't try to kill you guys.[*]"
Kyouraku spoke these strange words smoothly.
Neither denying or confirming this, the monk patted his bald head while laughing.
"Because we aren't Yhwach, we can't see the future. Well, truthfully, it's less like Kurosaki Ichigo
won, and more like he didn't lose."
"Monk…"
"Then it's fortunate for the boy that because Yhwach completely obtained the Soul King's power,
despite Ichigo's victory, Soul Society had already escaped its destruction.
While saying this, the monk faced the 'thing' in the middle of the palace and clapped his hands
together.
From behind the monk who had closed his eyes with the sound of clapping his hands together
in prayer, [*] Kyouraku asked
"Monk, is this the will of the soul king?"
"Hmm…"
"Or, is it… the five great noble houses' founders' 'last wish'?"
To Kyouraku who had dropped the honorific from a slip of his tongue, the monk answers airily.
"Now… shouldn't we show respect to our honorable founders? Hide your animosity. Do you look
at Kuchiki Byakuya or Shihouin Yoruichi the same way?"
"I'm not thinking of them. They're my comrades in the Gotei 13 and valued friends."
Shaking his head with a bitter smile, Kyouraku continues.
"Our ancestor's actions have nothing to do with them, but, conversely, you can't say they think
their ancestors were free from sin. Isn't that so, monk?"
"Even saying that, in the first place, everyone left of the five great noble houses' founders
already…" [*]
As the monk said that, a dull explosion echoed through the palace.
"!"
Kyouraku turned to the source of the noise, from where a heavy reiatsu, different from a
shinigami's, could be felt.
Before his eyes, in a section still joined with a part of the Wandenreich, one section of wall was
destroyed and smoking.
Also, from inside the wall, the shadows of white human figures appeared.
All the Divine Soldiers guarding the palace simultaneously made as if to draw their swords, but
were stopped by a command from the monk.
"Ah, it's fine, it's fine. There aren't enemies who can defeat us."
Then, one of the white shadows who was already leaping towards them clicked his tongue
maliciously.
"Chi… what. We can't fight you?" [*]
This white shadow who gave the impression of a wild beast — Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, glared
at the monk and Kyouraku upon landing.
"But, you guys with your swords sheathed isn't a reason for me to retreat…"
Bang

Grimmjow turns around as something hits him on the head. There the female arrancar who had
come to Soul Society with him, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, was pointing a hand at him as if she
had just shot him with a bala.
"Damn you, Nelliel!"
"Picking a fight? Now that the Quincy king is defeated, Soul Society's biggest outsiders are us."
"So what? If you're feeling scared, you can take that dead weight and run away into a garganta."
What Grimmjow had called a dead weight was the female arrancar carried on Nelliel's shoulder.
She was the Espada bearing the same number as Nelliel, 3 - Tier Harribel.

Harribel was, in the Wandenreich's attack on Hueco Mundo, the first to face them in battle.
However, before Yhwach's overwhelming strength, she was rendered powerless, and in order to
gain control over Hueco Mundo, she was taken prisoner.
In remodeling the soul king palace, Yhwach had naturally added a jail, and the prisoner had also
been taken there.
Whether to serve as an example to the arrancar, or to make her one of the Quincy army,
Yhwach's reasons for keeping her as prisoner were unknown after his death.
But the one sure thing was that she's still alive, and now freed by Nelliel who had come along
together with Ichigo.

Truthfully, Nelliel, despite having saved Harribel, the new queen of Hueco Mundo, held
complicated feelings about the current situation.
For the subordinates of Aizen, who had wanted to reach the soul king palace at all costs, to be
standing here where he couldn't felt bewildering, but Nelliel spoke to Grimmjow, who was still
facing the Shinigami with hostility.
"Quarreling with opponents who are exhausted from battling the Quincy? Is that a satisfying
fight for you?"
"...Chi. You're sentimental. Do you really think these shinigami will overlook us? It'd suck if you
were stabbed in the back when you're leaving."
The bald black-bearded old man responded to this
"Oh, for teacher, I'd be able to overlook any number of things. If you'd like, we can see you off to
Hueco Mundo."
"Ah? Who are you? Don't take us lightly."
With how wounded they were, they didn't seem like threats.
Saying this, Grimmjow glared at the bald old man while his entire body overflowed with killing
intent.
However, his opponent brushes it off easily, saying unconcernedly,
"No, no. At any rate, teacher, even with countless times heavier intent than this hollow, if we
were to purify or kill you, without being careful with this situation the balance of the three worlds
will crumble." [*]
"..."
Grimmjow was momentarily silenced. Coming to a compromise, he suppressed his killing intent
and clicked his tongue.
As for him, more than wanting to mess around here, he wanted to decide things with Kurosaki
Ichigo as soon as possible.
Nelliel guessed as to this, thinking about whether he would stop his surprise attacks and return
to Hueco Mundo without being dragged. Suddenly, Harribel on her back spoke.
"...Is this that which you call the 'soul king'?"
The words were said to herself in a whisper.
She looked at the thing enshrined in the center of the palace behind the shinigami.
"Something like that is the root of soul society?"
"Ah, arrancar girl. Can saying such things be permitted?"
At the words of the bald man stroking his beard, Harribel shook her head slowly.
"Right now I am only a defeated soldier. I don't have the right to say anything. However, I've
understood the implications of our former king's hatred for that."
Harribel slipped down from Nelliel's back to stand on her own, turning her back to the shinigami.
"We've caused trouble, haven't we? Someday, I shall repay this debt."

"Ah, good, good. As for that, if Hueco Mundo doesn't cause trouble, that'll be sufficient. In any
case, it's not us you should thank, but Kurosaki Ichigo."
Kyouraku, saying this, sent the arrancars off, and the girls so left the imperial palace.
The male arrancar said "Oh, is that so… so my debt to that Kurosaki bastard still isn't paid,
huh?", speaking of a different meaning of 'debt' than Harribel. Hearing this, the ram-horned
arrancar girl said "Settling things with Ichigo when he's injured all over - is that your wish?", in
the same way she had said last time.
"My, my, Ichigo certainly is popular, isn't he? ...Oh?"
Beside Kyouraku who had just muttered that, the monk once again stepped towards the outside
of the palace.
"Where are you going, monk?"
"Well, shouldn't the other members of the zero squad be awakening soon?"

Zero Squad.
These five people, including the monk, said to equal the entire power of the Gotei 13, were the
king's special elite bodyguard division.
Each member was a pioneer who had created such foundational things to the shinigami as the
zanpakutou or shihakushou, and could without a doubt be called the renowned people who had
built up the shinigami's entire history from zero.
But, before Kyouraku had came here, he had heard that all of the Zero Squad's members aside
from the monk had been defeated by Yhwach's subordinates.
But as Kyouraku tilted his head at the word "awakening" the monk immediately answered him.
"It's not just for show that our flesh and blood were made into the ouken. Those of us who were
given royal palaces have had our reiryoku fused with the spiritual pulse surrounding the palace.
As long as it is not completely destroyed, I can bring them back simply by calling their names."
"Then, it would really have been bad if Ichigo had not won, wouldn't it, monk?"
The Royal Palace had temporarily been restructured into "Wahrwelt" by Yhwach.
If Yhwach had remained alive, the last remains of the royal palace would have been destroyed,
and possibly the entire Zero Squad besides the monk would have been annihilated.
"Thus, the Zero Squad can easily meet with death and come back. This is our decided fate.
Well, even so, Ouetsu and the others should be taking their jobs more seriously from now on."
The monk said this airily and looked up to the sky above the soul king palace as he stroked his
beard.
"Because it feels like there are also children who used this battle to cause mischief."

1 hour later, soul king palace, Hououden

"...Oh. We were beat, huh?"
Nimaiya Ouetsu had been brought back from the border between life and death by the monk.
He was dramatically clutching his head at the sword [storehouse] in what would normally be the
bottom of the ocean deep underground in the zero squad palace.
Reflected in his glasses were the scattered remains of a boundary rope around a destroyed iron
gate.
Originally, a zanpakuto should have been sealed in there.
However, that seal had been thoughtlessly destroyed, and the zanpakuto was nowhere to be
seen.
A young girl standing by Ouetsu's side looking at the scene - a zanpakuto who was one of the
Nimaiya elite bodyguards, Hiuchigashima Mera - breathed a deep sigh.
"While Master got himself carelessly killed, this kind of thing happened. Jeez."
This sword storehouse was usually at the bottom of an ocean, so it would be difficult to access.
However, due to the reforging of Kurosaki Ichigo's zanpakuto, the entire bottom of the ocean
was now exposed.
"This is an emergency situation, isn't it?" [*]
Ouetsu said, looking around as he adjusted his glasses.
Here, where many men had been defeated, Tonokawa Tokie, Nomino Nonomi, and the others
of Nimaya's bodyguards were making repairs in every direction.
The ones who had fallen were those charged with protecting the storehouse.
"With the sea dried up, it was an open door. Even my Sayafushi was taken."
At that point, Ouetsu narrowed his eyes.
In contrast to his expression battling Yhwach's men, his eyes now held a quiet rage.
"And that scum took advantage of Soul Society's emergency situation to steal it, huh?"
Looking around at the materialized zanpakuto, something strange about their injuries could be
seen.
There were ones who had been burned, who had their bodies partially frozen, were twitching
like they had been struck by electricity, had been poisoned, had had holes pierced through their
bodies, or had their limbs crushed.
Looking at the guards who were covered with sword wounds, Mera clicked her tongue.
"Jeez, just who did this? With this kind of armed force, they could've turned the war around."
One of the zanpakuto who had just regained consciousness shook his head at her words.
"Wrong…"
"Oi, you alright? What do you mean, 'wrong'?"
"One person… the one who attacked us here… was just a single person."
"...?"
Mera tilted her head again at those words.
Even if his words were true, the various kinds of wounds left didn't match.
But Ouetsu had a different reaction.
His eyes narrowed behind his glasses, and spread his hands, nodding.
"I see, I see, well, well, well. Indeed it's as I understood [*]."
"Because I have a bad feeling about what this means, you can understand by yourself, Master."
"Tough, Mera-chan. Maa, with this talk, we've only narrowed down the criminal."
Ouetsu thought for a while, memories of a certain person resurfacing, while he picked up the
scattered pieces of the cloth seal on the floor.
While looking at a cloth that seemed to had been bitten off by something, he muttered,

"It's not a blade that can be held by weaklings… 'Ikomikidomoe' was from the start a blade that
couldn't be held by weaklings."
Muttering the name of the lost zanpakuto, Ouetsu glared into space with eyes filled with a
swordsmith's sadness and anger, as well as many misgivings.
"Then, who would be allowed to hold that guy? ...The four great noble clans."

Thus, with the ending of the fighting, the barrier to the soul king palace was once again closed.
In the remains of the battle, a freezing atmosphere could be felt, and the influence of the Soul
King, unchanged from before.
As well as the embers of many disasters.
And possibly—
The various "sins" Soul Society had held since its dawning, floating within the heavy reishi.

Prologue 2
In Soul Society, there was a man.
In admiration for the shinigami who had saved his life, he had aimed to walk the same path.
Despite being a Rukongai-born commoner, he had received excelling grades at the Shinou
Academy, and rose from seated officer to lieutenant.
He was faithful to righteous orders, unafraid to get injured for his friends, and would lay down
his life for the sake of the Soul Society.
Furthermore, he was heartless to his enemies, and despite preferring a fair match, would hide
himself in mud to strike down his enemies by surprise for the sake of justice.
Shinigami.
He was one who brought death to his enemies.
He was one who cleansed the dead of this world.
And also, one who changed the 'death' of those living in the material world into 'salvation'.
Undoubtedly, he could be called a template for the shinigami in Soul Society.
For better or worse, he was the embodiment of a 'shinigami of the Gotei 13'.

This shinigami's name was Hisagi Shuuhei.

Being the lieutenant of Ninth Division was enough to leave his name in Soul Society's records,
and he was also a strong warrior above ordinary soldiers.
However, there was a clear gap between being left in Soul Society's records and the ones who
would be remembered by thousands, like Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, Zaraki Kenpachi,
and Kurosaki Ichigo.
Even with that [*], those around had called him 'the example of a lieutenant'."
Whether it was praise or scorn, Hisagi himself didn't know.
What he did know what that there was no way to change his way of life.
He had already chosen his own way in life.
Was it when that shinigami had saved his life?
Was it in the Shinou Academy, that instant when he had held a zanpakuto for the first time?
Was it that time he had lost friends in a drill?
Was it when he had met the man he'd model his way of life after, and dedicated his life to him
as his deputy?
Or… was it when he had killed that man with his own hands?

At what time it was that he had accepted the life of a shinigami, no one can say.
Probably not even Hisagi Shuuhei himself, continuing to walk that path.

Seireitei, in front of the First Division barracks

"Well then, would you like to leave any parting words?"

The head captain's words echo quietly around the criminal.
This was several days after the Quincy war.
The strange bird-like creatures that had fallen into Seireitei had finally been completely
eliminated, and the scent of death over the surroundings was fading, but before the first division
barracks, a centerpiece of the war was still strung with tension.
Spread out around head captain Kyouraku were the punishment squad managing the
underground prison's lowest level, Muken, as well as captain level shinigami in case of
emergency.
Aizen Sousuke, the traitor who had temporarily been released from Muken, was about to be
reimprisoned.
Presently, many shinigami were dead from the war with the Quincy, and most of the survivors
were still undergoing medical treatment.
With the help of Inoue Orihime, many shinigami were saved from the precipice of death, but her
Souten Kisshun's power was not suited for recovering reiatsu. Even if their wounds were
healed, until their base reiatsu was fully recovered, Orihime's power itself would not be able to
hold on to their lives.
Therefore, Orihime managed the heavily injured ones who no one else could save, and those
who were out of danger were treated by the fourth squad members.
Even Orihime's power which could bring an arrancar whose entire upper body was blown off
back to life had limits.
Those left with lethal injuries for too long, those whose souls had completely disappeared, and
those whom there didn't remain a trace of in the first place could not be saved by Souten
Kisshun.
The lives lost were many, the shinigami whose hearts were rent by their powerlessness were
many, however, the news of their final victory was sufficient for the Gotei 13 to regain its spirit.
Though it seemed that before Aizen Sousuke, there was no 'perfect setup, they still guarded
over the place where he would be reimprisoned with the utmost vigilance.
Even so, in the end, only Head Captain Kyouraku would enter the middle of Muken.
Kyouraku was inquiring about parting words, but he knew that chatting carelessly with Aizen
was dangerous. Even bound to a chair with his entire body sealed, the criminal could still invoke
Kido, and it was quite possible that any words he said would just be another one of his plots.
Being asked this, as if guessing that Kyouraku was thinking about having to seal his voice if he
said anything threatening, Aizen smiled unfazed and shook his head.
"Unfortunately, the one who would leave words of any value is not here. You included,
Kyouraku Shunsui."
"Certainly so, isn't it? What you would consider a worthwhile thing to say, others would consider
misfortune."
"I had wanted to speak with Kurosaki Ichigo a bit more. Urahara Kisuke prevented me." [*]
Right now, Ichigo was staying, along with his father Kurosaki Isshin and Inoue Orihime, in the
Rukongai at Shiba Kuukaku's residence.
Even though it would be better to have Ichigo's strength at the place where Aizen was about to
be sealed, they had to take precautions in case Aizen was able to somehow exert influence
over the hollow within Ichigo.
"Because Ichigo was originally an outsider, huh? Besides, aren't you already finished with
whatever you were going to say to him?" [*]
As he spoke seemingly deceptively, Kyouraku adjusted his hat, looking down at Aizen with his
uninjured left eye.
The seals had been strengthened by Urahara Kisuke, but even so they weren't unprepared. But
Kurotsuchi Mayuri, who had just come out of his lifesaving equipment, had said "Can we really
rely on Urahara Kisuke's methods?" and had tried to make his own additional bindings, but
there hadn't been time to wait for that.
"Well then, shall we go? After your sentence is over, I hope you will support Soul Society."
"You don't really mean that."
With a smile that seemed to see through everything, Aizen kept talking without looking at
Kyouraku.
"Do you really believe Soul Society will still exist by the end of my sentence?"
"Of course. Ensuring its continued existence is our job, after all."
"You've seen it too, at the Soul King Palace, haven't you? The root of Soul Society's original sin.
"..."
Somehow, Aizen had used the same expression as his former subordinate, Harribel.
Kyouraku knew.
What he was speaking of, he had seen himself in the imperial palace of the royal realm.
However, he did not respond to Aizen's words, and like that he lead them to the entrance of
Muken.
He had decided that even if he would answer Aizen's question, it would be best to do it within
Muken, where the other captains' voices could not reach.
Aizen was not expecting an answer, but he spoke cynically as if he could see through
Kyouraku's, or possibly all of the surrounding shinigami's hearts.
"You're tight-lipped. Are you afraid of our conversation causing betrayal among the shinigami?
Like Tousen Kaname?"
At that moment, an anger-filled voice rang out in front of the first division barracks.
"Don't joke around!"

The one who had shouted wasn't Kyouraku.

It was an out-of-breath shinigami who looked like he had run all the way there.
He was young, with scars and a tattoo on his face — the lieutenant of ninth squad, Hisagi
Shuuhei.
He was covered in bandages and looked like he had just snuck out of the fourth squad facilities.
Truthfully, he was still covered with wounds.
Shot by one of Yhwach's elite guards, Lille Barro, he had sustained injuries to his saketsu and
hakusui, the heart of a shinigami, and had been dying.
However, because of the precision of Lille's X-Axis, he wasn't damaged aside from the holes
pierced through him, and miraculously survived.
Orihime's treatment could heal his wounds, but not as easily restore the reiatsu he'd lost from
the damage to his soul sleep, and he had been mostly unconscious for several days.
And despite not yet being fully recovered, he has come to the re-sealed Aizen
One reason why he had been compelled to run there was his duty as the ninth squad lieutenant

.
Hisagi's superior and the ninth squad captain, Muguruma Kensei, in order to restore him from
his zombiefied state, was still in one of twelfth division's special recovery capsules.
So, despite barely being able to move, he had tried to keep watch over that scene.
Another reason was that, half unconsciously, he had wanted to confirm the imprisonment of the
man who had harmed his former superior Tousen Kaname with his own eyes.
Truthfully, he should have already known inside his heart.
If this would all be settled with Aizen's reimprisonment.
Even though he couldn't put his own grudge into words, Hisagi, clenching his fists, was trying to
judge for himself.
However, this resolution had crumbled upon hearing Aizen's words as he was running.
"Tousen-taichou… you want to say that his beliefs were twisted by your words?"
"What a strange thing to say, Hisagi Shuuhei."
Faced with Hisagi's anger, Aizen answered in a imperturbable manner.
"It seems you've never witnessed the moment of Tousen Kaname's change of heart. That's
because when you became a shinigami, Tousen Kaname was already one of my subordinates."
"...!"
"Shuuhei-kun, your anger is justified. Apologies, but could you hold it back for the present?"
"...Yes, I understand, head captain."
At Kyouraku's rebuke, Hisagi, about to reach for his zanpakuto, calmed his heart, and turned to
Aizen.
"Perhaps you defeated Yhwach together with Kurosaki, but even so, for me you'll forever be the
enemy of Tousen-taichou."
Revenge.
How many times had that word come to his mind, every time he heard Aizen's name?
But, whether it was affirmation or denial, these two meanings seemed to come simultaneously
into Hisagi's mind.
Within his heart, he undoubtedly hated Aizen for leading Tousen down the wrong path and to
his destruction.
On the other hand, his doubts and frustration for being captured by his own negative emotions
swirled within him.
For Hisagi, who had moved to stop Tousen who had been consumed by his vengeance and
taken the wrong path, to himself speak of that 'revenge', would be an insult to Komamura who
had fought alongside him, and more than anything Tousen himself.
As if he could see all that within his heart, Aizen smiled thinly as he spoke the cruel words
"Forever? I suppose that is not a thoughtless statement? After all, Tousen Kaname's beliefs did
not last forever."
"Tch! You would say such…"
Hisagi's angry words are cut off by Aizen continuing to speak.
"There seems to be one thing you got wrong."
His voice was quiet.
However, it was filled with a clear power that overwhelmed Hisagi's shouts.
"I did not act towards Tousen Kaname, one of the last members of my army, as punishment."
A single moment.
Aizen, at the bewilderment around him, uttered these short words
"Rather, it was my mercy."
These words froze the surrounding air.
Not only Hisagi, but also Kyouraku and the surrounding shinigami, could not immediately
understand the meaning of his words.
After a short silence, Hisagi speaks, his clenched fists shaking.
"It was… mercy?"
Facing Aizen who had said such shameless words, Hisagi was once again seething with anger.
It was not towards Aizen.
It was towards his own weakness which had caused Tousen to be killed that he directed his
anger.
"To what extent will you mock Tousen-taichou?"
Facing Hisagi, Aizen maintained his indifferent tone.
"If that situation had continued, either Inoue Orihime or Unohana Retsu who arrived afterwards
would certainly have been able to save him. However, what meaning this would have for
Tousen Kaname, it seems none of you understand."
"...?"
"If Tousen Kaname had continued to live like that, his heart would have been consumed by
despair. I could not allow the holder of such an admirable resolve to be further entangled and
killed by his own despair. For this reason I offered the most faithful of my subordinates a
merciful death. Such is what happened."
Shuuhei was not able to understand his words at all.
But it did not seem like Aizen was trying to deceive him with a convenient excuse.
Ignoring the bewildered Hisagi, Aizen turned to the surrounding shinigami.
"For you as well, a time will come when you understand. That this Soul Society... the thing
called shinigami, were formed by a dangerous illusion."
"Going so far? You are certainly talkative."
Cutting off Aizen's words, Kyouraku ordered the soldiers out, and made to take Aizen into the
entrance of Muken.
"Please wait, head captain! Just what did that Aizen bastard…"
Standing in front of Hisagi, who was still not able to understand, was the second squad captain,
Sui-Feng.
In an instant, she was behind him twisting his arm behind his back.
"That's enough! You're not the only one who's had their friends taken away by him!"
"Ugh! But, Sui-Feng-taichou…!"
"If the likes of you could defeat him, we would have issued judgment on him! Your foolish acts
will only cause chaos!"
"..."
Hisagi himself knew this truth more keenly than anyone.
Facing Aizen's power, there was nothing he could do.
Just what could he do, swayed by just those words from Aizen?
Despite his hatred for him, killing him was impossible. Even so, he could not forgive or allow for
what he had done. Such things, Hisagi had understood long ago.
Aizen, as his chair was being moved, glanced at Hisagi and inclined his head slightly towards
him.
"'Swinging a blade out of duty is a captain's job; swinging a blade out of hatred is nothing more
than base violence,' are the words Hitsugaya Toushirou once said to me."
"Gu…"
Hisagi could do nothing but remain silent at these words.
Though he was far from being able to hold the status of a captain, he had been considering
such a thing. He lowered his eyes, grinding his teeth instead of objecting.
But, Aizen denied Hisagi's shame.
"You should not worry. What you hold onto is not hatred. It is not more than sentimentality
towards the dead Tousen Kaname and his footsteps."
"What…"
"You should remember this. However strong your resolve is, you cannot take down someone
strong with only sentimental emotions."
"...Tch!"
As if to cut off this conversation, Kyouraku clapped his hands loudly.
"Alright, alright, shall we end this here? Do stop threatening kids with your reiatsu, would you?
Didn't you say there was no value in leaving words here?"
At these words, the shinigami refocused their attention on him. The people who were
transporting Aizen's chair were covered in sweat.
"It's just simple entertainment. I can spend the tedious times from here out pondering whether
these trivial words have the power to change the future of Soul Society."
"My, my, not a very good hobby."
The soldiers facing his released reiatsu were gasping for breath as they started walking forward
yet again.
Soon about to be locked underground, Aizen raised his voice which had been unchangingly
quiet from the start towards the gathered shinigami, as if as a test.
"If you should wish to see through the truth, it will be a struggle as if sacrificing your own flesh
and soul."
And his last words he directed to Hisagi, who was standing there shocked.
"At the least, that is what Tousen Kaname has done. Is it not also for you to know?" [*]

And so, the criminal who had defeated Yhwach with Kurosaki Ichigo disappeared into the
darkness.
Aizen's words did not seem to those around them to be far-seeing about the world, and many
shinigami were frowning and unwilling to admit defeat — but many captains had kept that
'though he is a man who will lie to deceive you, he is not a man whose words have no meaning'
in a corner of their hearts. [*]
Hisagi was not able to sort out his emotions even at the end, Aizen's words becoming a slow
poison that remained within his heart.

That poison would not distort Hisagi's heart, but would eat at his fate, and in the end lead him
into a single battle.
Or perhaps it was not a poison that Aizen had left, but a fate that he would have inevitably
arrived at as long as he pursued Tousen's path.

Hisagi Shuuhei was not a prophet or all-knowing, and there was no way for him to see his own
fate.
He was not a memorable hero like Kurosaki Ichigo.
He didn't have Zaraki Kenpachi's sheer power,
Urahara Kisuke's intelligence,
Kurotsuchi Mayuri's crafts,
Kuchiki Byakuya's status,
Hitsugaya Toushirou's talent,
Yamamoto Genryuusai's experience
Kyouraku Shunsui's flashiness,
Komamura Sajin's spirit,
Or Muguruma Kensei's valor.
Like at a drinking party when he was saying 'whether to aim to be a captain or to continue being
a lieutenant, there's countless things I'm lacking of' in self-deprivation - a quality not all possess.
[*]
That is, his pride as a shinigami.
Hisagi Shuuhei still didn't know.
That which was the Gotei 13's members' own foundations, in order to protect such a mundane
thing, would become a battle which carried the fate of the world.
He would have to face the truth of this matter only half a year after the end of the war.