"Azashiro is much more familiar with the Muken than either of us. Presumably, he will find the most suitable place for Aizen. We don't need to linger here."
"Alright, since that's your intention, Captain Ailin, I have no objections."
Hearing what Ailin said, Jūshirō Ukitake relaxed his grip on his Zanpakutō's hilt.
He understood Ailin's point. Their task was simply to confine these powerful criminals within the Muken.
As long as they remained imprisoned, their activities within were not their concern.
Ukitake's acceptance, however, stemmed not only from Ailin's attitude but also from his knowledge of Sōya Azashiro's Zanpakutō ability.
Urozakuro allowed Azashiro to leave the Muken at will. More alarmingly, Azashiro possessed the capability to unseal all the prisoners, rally them under his command, and potentially overthrow the Gotei Thirteen.
Yet, Sōya Azashiro had chosen not to. Instead, he had voluntarily surrendered and entered the Muken. He had only emerged once in all these years—when Ailin inherited the title of Kenpachi—to uphold the tradition of battle between Kenpachis. After that single fight, Azashiro had returned to his imprisonment and never left again.
Rumble...
The massive iron door groaned open and shaft of white moonlight cut into the Muken's oppressive darkness. Moments later, the door slammed shut, plunging the prison back into blackness as Ailin and Ukitake departed, leaving the moonlight behind.
Sōya Azashiro watched them go before releasing his Bankai. He tugged the cord of light, leading the bound Sōsuke Aizen deeper into the Muken's recesses.
"Captain Azashiro, I've heard much about you."
Floating behind Azashiro with only his mouth and one eye exposed, Aizen smiled and greeted him.
"Oh? You know me?"
Azashiro glanced back. Before releasing his Bankai, his connection to the Soul Society through Urozakuro had granted him near-omniscience regarding its events, including the complex web of relationships involving Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Kisuke Urahara.
"Isn't that natural?"
Aizen's tone was surprisingly mild, reminiscent of his days as the unassuming Captain of Squad Five, stripped of the arrogance he displayed as the ruler of Hueco Mundo.
"My Zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu, holds the power of Complete Hypnosis. But I've always known that no ability, save for overwhelming spiritual pressure, is truly invincible. Before making my move, I had to eliminate any potential threats. When I learned of your Zanpakutō's power, Captain Azashiro, I realized my plans could never succeed as long as you were present."
Aizen explained, "I even feared you might materialize before me at any moment to expose or even kill me."
Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis, powerful as it was, could be broken by direct contact with the blade. Azashiro's ability to merge with his surroundings meant he was, in effect, constantly touching Kyōka Suigetsu whenever Aizen drew it, neutralizing its power against him. It was this perfect counter that had forced Aizen to remain cautious during Azashiro's time as captain.
Only after Azashiro's self-imprisonment did Aizen feel secure enough to proceed, believing no one else in the Seireitei could see through his illusions. Still, even then, Aizen had recognized the gap in power between himself and Captain-Commander Yamamoto, and Captain Ailin, forcing him to employ subtle tactics rather than direct confrontation.
"No," Azashiro corrected him with a glance. "I was aware of your actions back then. Had I followed my own inclinations, I would have intervened. However, I sensed the Soul King's will within you. I understood that you were, in essence, a manifestation of his will, and your ambitions were his chosen path. So, I merely observed, curious to see where the Soul King's choice would lead."
"The Soul King's will?"
Aizen closed his visible eye, falling silent. Any Shinigami who reached the pinnacle of spiritual pressure could faintly perceive the Soul King Palace and touch the Soul King's consciousness. Such contact inevitably shaped their worldview, compelling them to dedicate their lives to a chosen path.
Ichibē Hyōsube became the Soul King's protector, establishing the Royal Guard, yet passively observed the nobles' mutilation of the Soul King, believing it all to be the King's design. He reasoned that the Soul King, if he truly wished, could break free and annihilate his tormentors.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto formed the Gotei Thirteen, wresting military control from the nobility and creating a shield around the Soul King, preventing further desecration by families like the Tsunayashiro. Kisuke Urahara, accepting the Soul King's will, created the Hōgyoku but chose not to use it.
Aizen, however, rejected the Soul King's path. He believed the strong should rule, and that the Soul King should have crushed the treacherous nobles.
This conviction, born from witnessing the Soul King's passive acceptance of betrayal, fostered a deep mistrust of subordinates within Aizen. He viewed his Squad Five members, allies like Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru, and even his own creations, the Espada and Arrancar, as potential betrayers, unworthy of his true trust.
The god he aspired to be needed no followers who might turn against him. Thus, he watched impassively as his forces were decimated in the war against the Shinigami.
Aizen resisted the notion that his actions were merely expressions of another's will, yet he acknowledged that obtaining the Soul King's finger to create the Hōgyoku might have been influenced by that very will.
Then, a new thought surfaced—Ichigo Kurosaki. Perhaps he was the true manifestation of the Soul King's will.
Ichigo's birth, a tapestry of coincidences, had intrigued Aizen from the start. He hadn't sought to eliminate the boy, but rather to observe the heights this "miracle" child could reach.
Azashiro remained silent as Aizen pondered, continuing to lead him through the unending darkness.
Eventually, Azashiro stopped before a high wall. "We're here." He released the light cord, letting the wooden restraint holding Aizen settle before the wall.
"Thanks. This place is comfortable."
Even in imprisonment, comfort mattered. He found the spot Azashiro chose quite satisfactory.
Azashiro studied Aizen. Their paths diverged sharply. Faced with the truth of the three realms, Azashiro had submitted to the Soul King's will, abandoning his plan to exterminate the Hollows.
Aizen, though surely aware of the same will, had forged ahead with his own ambitions. Failure, brought about by Captain Ailin, hadn't broken him; it had seemingly refined him, making him fundamentally different from the man he was centuries ago.
Azashiro finally asked, "Aizen, regarding everything you've done, and your ultimate failure… do you have anything to say?"
Aizen opened his eye, meeting Azashiro's gaze. He saw a reflection of himself—a man with the resolve to reshape the world, yet one who had chosen inaction. Azashiro represented the path Aizen had rejected: to do nothing, change nothing, and leave the future to others.
"Captain Azashiro, many things aren't so simple. Even failure has its own meaning. But if you do nothing, then there truly is no meaning at all."
"The meaning of failure?" Azashiro repeated.
He considered Aizen's point. Aizen's failed rebellion had, paradoxically, altered the relationship between the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, fostering a tense cooperation against a perceived common enemy. Hueco Mundo, once chaotic, now had a semblance of order under the surviving Espada, who worked, albeit perhaps begrudgingly, within the Seireitei's framework for maintaining balance.
Azashiro, on the other hand, had meticulously planned his own world-altering actions, only to abandon them at the final moment. His inaction, while preserving the Seireitei from potential destruction, had left no mark on the world. His presence or absence had changed nothing.
"Failure also has its meaning?"
Lost in thought, Azashiro turned and walked away, disappearing from Aizen's perception.
Aizen welcomed the solitude. Though sealed by Urahara's Kidō, his fusion with the Hōgyoku remained. Defeat had reverted him to the fourth stage—integration of his Zanpakutō's powers into his being—a stage he didn't consider flawed.
Now, aided by the Hōgyoku, he would endlessly cultivate his spiritual pressure, aiming for complete fusion and transcendence, becoming the strongest existence in all three realms.
The Shinigami creed, "battles are won through spiritual pressure," remained his guiding principle. This was his final, "correct path."
…
Oblivious to the philosophical seeds Aizen had planted in Azashiro's mind, Ailin sped back towards his home with his thoughts consumed by a single purpose: retrieving a particular Zanpakutō from Unlimited Blade Works.
Seeing Azashiro had reminded him of another powerhouse who had once rivaled Yamamoto: the Seventh Kenpachi, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.
Kuruyashiki's strength had been legendary, his Bankai so devastating that Central 46 had forbidden its use within the Seireitei's core districts. If Ailin could now wield Kuruyashiki's Zanpakutō, the power it would grant him could potentially equal even Ryūjin Jakka.