"Interesting."
Aizen gently set down the teacup in his hand. Behind the lenses, his eyes narrowed slightly, yet that unreadable smile still hung at the corner of his lips.
"Captain Kuchiki, why would you suddenly ask me such a question?"
He did not give a direct answer. Instead, he smiled and kicked the ball right back.
The Kuchiki Byakuya standing before him was not an illusion created by Kyoka Suigetsu, but the real thing.
Kuchiki Byakuya had just finished dealing with the Shihoin family and returned to his clan residence not long ago. He had not even had time to change out of the haori still tainted with the smell of blood before hurrying here without pause.
At this moment, Aizen perhaps understood even better than Rosse why Byakuya had come.
Because the wise men the Kuchiki family had planted inside the Central 46 had completely lost contact with the clan.
Or more accurately, they had lost contact forever.
And not long ago, the formal request submitted by Kuchiki Byakuya to enter the Central 46 chambers and meet the Kuchiki family's judge had also been coldly rejected by Aizen, speaking in the tone of those already dead members of the 46.
Judging by the timing, that rejection order should have only just been delivered back to the Kuchiki household.
Such an abnormal signal was enough for someone as sharp as Kuchiki Byakuya to sense danger.
The only thing that surprised Aizen slightly was that after noticing something was wrong, Byakuya did not immediately go to Rosse. Instead, he came to him first, the usual "invisible man."
The meaning behind that was quite worth thinking about.
"Then Captain Aizen, why did you deliberately hide your strength before?"
Kuchiki Byakuya did not answer Aizen's counter-question. His gaze was intense, his voice calm yet certain.
"The true strength you displayed yesterday likely surpasses even that of the veteran Captain Kyoraku."
His reason for coming in the middle of the night was actually very simple.
In his eyes, the conflicts within Soul Society had already reached the point where the blade was showing. The situation could explode at any moment.
But most of the pieces on this chessboard had already revealed their stance.
On Captain-Commander Yamamoto's side, Kyoraku Shunsui was utterly loyal. Ukitake Jushiro, though kind-hearted to a fault, would most likely grit his teeth and give up Rukia in the end, choosing to stand by his teacher to preserve the traditional order.
On Rosse's side, the lineup was just as strong.
Unohana Retsu, Hitsugaya Toshiro, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Zaraki Kenpachi. These four captains were almost openly supporting him. No matter their personal reasons, they had already boarded Rosse's chariot.
As for the remaining few, Komamura Sajin and Tosen Kaname held ambiguous attitudes, but would most likely choose neutrality.
As for Ichimaru Gin, who always squinted like a fox, his stance was unclear, but Byakuya did not believe his strength was enough to sway the overall situation.
Only Sosuke Aizen remained.
Only this man was someone Kuchiki Byakuya still could not see through, neither in strength nor in position.
Before last night, he might have subconsciously ignored this seemingly gentle and harmless good man like everyone else.
Back then, in his understanding, Aizen's strength was roughly on par with Ichimaru Gin. He had no great noble family backing him. Even if he had some reputation, he would not influence the overall direction of events.
But last night's battle between Aizen and Kurosaki Masaki had completely overturned everyone's perception, leaving the Shinigami of Seireitei stunned.
No one had expected that once this ever-smiling Aizen showed his fangs, his strength would be so terrifying.
Faced with Kurosaki Masaki, who could easily crush the others, the rest of the captains could not even get close.
Only Aizen could not only hold his ground for a while, but even launch effective counterattacks.
To be fair, when Kuchiki Byakuya replayed that battle in his mind, he had to admit he was not Aizen's match.
That flowing chain of high-level Hado spells in the 90s, the fully incanted Black Coffin seamlessly followed by Goryutenmetsu, that level of combination was something he absolutely could not endure.
In fact, just the fully incanted Black Coffin alone might already put him at risk of defeat.
Although Aizen still failed to injure that overwhelmingly powerful woman in the end, that did not mean Aizen was weak. It only meant the opponent was absurdly strong.
And a man with such strength, if he chose a side at a critical moment, would become the final straw that broke the camel's back.
"Captain Kuchiki, where is this coming from?"
Faced with Byakuya's questioning, the smile on Aizen's face grew even deeper, carrying a hint of innocent curiosity.
"What gave you the illusion that I was deliberately hiding my strength? And when did you start thinking that, as the captain of the Fifth Division, I would be weak?"
Those few light, casual counter-questions left Kuchiki Byakuya speechless.
Indeed, looking back carefully, in all of Byakuya's memories, Aizen had never truly displayed his full strength. Not even his Bankai had ever been seen.
Perhaps he had shown it during the captain promotion exam, but such examinations were performative by nature and held little reference value.
After all, even when Rosse had fought Kyoraku Shunsui during the exam, both sides had tacitly held back more than one trick.
And during Aizen's long years leading the Fifth Division, the man had never seemed to suffer any injuries.
No matter how troublesome the missions assigned by the Gotei 13, he always completed them with extreme ease, even perfection.
Judging from these details, no matter how one reasoned, his strength should never have been categorized as weak.
So what exactly had caused all of them to develop the collective illusion that "Aizen is weak, just a good guy"?
Was it that gentle smile he always wore?
Was it because his seniority was not as deep as Kyoraku Shunsui's?
Or because his temperament resembled Ukitake Jushiro, who was also gentle but harmless due to his frail health?
This kind of unconscious mental bias, the more you thought about it, the more frightening it became.
"My apologies, Captain Aizen."
After a brief silence and reflection, Kuchiki Byakuya lowered his head slightly, his tone sincere.
"It was my poor judgment. I was blinded by appearances and made an incorrect assessment."
Admitting mistakes when wrong, that was the noble code passed down for a thousand years in the Kuchiki family.
If he was wrong, then he would admit it openly and remember this mistake as a lesson.
"It's alright. After all, there should be quite a few in Seireitei who think the same way as you, Captain Kuchiki."
Aizen smiled generously, as if he did not mind at all. Then he took the initiative to return the topic to its original track.
"As for the question you just asked. Since you want to know so much, I'll speak plainly."
He lifted the teacup, gently blew away the tea leaves floating on the surface, and said casually, "If we speak from the standpoint of a captain of the Gotei 13, I support Captain Rosse."
Hearing those words, Kurosaki Ichigo, hiding in the shadows and eavesdropping, suddenly clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms.
Although Aizen had repeatedly taught him about restraint, and he was not reckless enough to jump out at this moment and ruin everything, the frustration in his chest still made it hard to breathe.
He knew this was a disguise his teacher had to put on to stabilize the situation, for the sake of a greater plan.
But even understanding that, watching the teacher he respected say good things about Rosse with his own eyes still made him feel a deep sense of pain and unwillingness.
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