"No, Inoue, this time I came to Hueco Mundo, partly to protect you."
"On the other hand, I also wanted you to help Aizen fuse the Hogyoku."
"What?"
Kyoya's words not only left Orihime dumbfounded, but even Tosen, who was leading the way ahead, nearly doubted if his ears were playing tricks on him.
'Captain Kyoya actually wanted to help Aizen-sama fuse the Hogyoku?'
'Was this right?'
'Wasn't Captain Kyoya Aizen-sama's enemy?'
'Why would he help Aizen-sama?'
"Why?"
Orihime asked in confusion.
"Kyoya-sama, isn't Aizen our enemy?"
"Why should I still help Aizen increase his strength?"
"Indeed, the current Aizen is our enemy."
"But whether it's our side or Aizen's side, the ultimate enemy is Yhwach, who will seize the world in the future."
"If we win, then the main force resisting Yhwach will be the Seireitei."
"If Aizen ultimately achieves victory, then naturally, the force resisting Yhwach will be the Hueco Mundo faction led by Aizen."
Although both the Seireitei side and Aizen want to resist Yhwach's invasion, the paths they choose are not the same.
The Seireitei side, with the Gotei 13 as the main force, Yamamoto has absolute confidence in his own strength. Therefore, he has never thought about relying on forces outside the Gotei 13.
Aizen is different.
He believes that if Quincy power can completely extinguish Hollow power, then conversely, Hollow power will be the Quincy's nemesis.
Therefore, he took control of Hueco Mundo and established the Las Noches force led by the Espada.
Of course, the most important thing is that Aizen wants to rely on the Hogyoku to evolve to a higher level.
The Quincy group led by Yhwach can only be considered defeated after Yhwach himself is defeated.
If Aizen does not have power comparable to Yhwach's, then everything he does is meaningless.
Kyoya knows Aizen cannot succeed.
Even if he ultimately fully merges with the Hogyoku, he is no match for Yhwach.
The reason Kyoya wants Aizen to fully merge with the Hogyoku is not only because he wants to fight the Hogyoku-merged Aizen but also to test whether defeating Aizen could grant a new achievement.
Aizen, this character who defeated the Gotei 13 and nearly completed the creation of the Oken to break into the Soul King Palace, if translated to the One Piece World, would probably be someone like Rocks D. Xebec, who raised the butcher's knife against the Celestial Dragons.
Once Kyoya defeats Aizen in his complete state, it is highly likely he will complete a new achievement.
"Uh..."
Orihime's face showed a conflicted expression.
She also knew that if you want to resist a stronger enemy, if you cannot weaken the enemy, then increasing the strength of the side fighting against it is the best method.
Clearly, in resisting Yhwach, Aizen and the Gotei 13 stand on the same front line.
"Relax, Inoue."
"In this battle, whether it's the Aizen side that wins or the Seireitei side that wins, neither will annihilate the other."
Kyoya reached out and ruffled Orihime's hair, comforting her, "After all, they all know Yhwach's power. When fighting Yhwach, they might need each other's help."
This point, Kyoya could still guarantee.
On the Seireitei side, Yamamoto never placed his hopes on others. He himself was the Seireitei Gotei 13's greatest confidence.
Kisuke, on the other hand, wanted Ichigo to grow up.
According to Kisuke's research, if Ichigo could fully unleash the power within him, he would undoubtedly reach a level second only to the [Soul King].
At that time, whether it's Aizen or Yhwach, they would no longer be a problem.
As for Kyoya, his goal has never changed.
To break through the shackles of the Bleach World and ascend to the true [God] realm.
Before that, Kyoya wants to completely exploit all the resources of both the Bleach World and the One Piece Achievement System to increase his foundation.
On the contrary, with Ichigo's strength, he could play a decisive role in the battle against Yhwach.
"Besides, isn't there still me?"
"I can guarantee you that Aizen, after fusing with the Hogyoku, will not cause the slightest harm to you or your friends."
"Mmm, I understand."
Orihime nodded.
'Indeed, as Kyoya-sama said, everything was still up to him.'
'Kurosaki-kun's strength had improved tremendously because of Kyoya-sama.'
'Even Aizen probably was no match for Kurosaki-kun.'
"..."
Tosen breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
In front of Kyoya, his pressure was simply too great.
This kind of pressure was something even Aizen had never brought him.
Probably only Aizen, after merging with the Hogyoku and evolving to a higher level, could match Kyoya.
Sometimes, having senses that are too sharp is not necessarily a good thing...
"Captain Kyoya, Las Noches is ahead."
"Please follow me."
Tosen slightly turned sideways, making an inviting gesture to Kyoya. He only began leading the way after Kyoya started moving forward.
Kyoya's gaze swept around. Places that were not very clear before due to insufficient light were now laid bare before his eyes.
Following behind Tosen, Kyoya and Orihime passed through corridors, and under the gaze of various strange and bizarre Hollows, entered the main hall of Las Noches.
"Relax, it's fine."
Sensing the fear in Orihime's heart, Kyoya narrowed his eyes. Instantly, a strand of Conqueror's Haki spread out, and all the Hollows that had triggered Orihime's inner fear were knocked unconscious by Kyoya.
"Mmm."
Seeing this, Orihime breathed a sigh of relief and gave Kyoya a smile.
"Aizen, it's been a while. You've become much more composed compared to before."
Stepping into the main hall of Las Noches, Kyoya looked up and saw Aizen sitting on the throne and could not help but comment.
Indeed, although he had been badly frightened by Kyoya's strength and abilities before, Aizen quickly adjusted his mindset.
He was confident that once he completed the fusion with the Hogyoku, he would surely be able to trample Kyoya underfoot.
Now, seeing Kyoya again, Aizen was also startled in his heart, but then he stopped overthinking it.
If Kyoya wanted to kill him, he had no means to fight back.
His Zanpakuto's ability, Kyoka Suigetsu, was ineffective against Kyoya, and Kyoya's world-extreme speed also left Aizen unable to react.
Therefore, Aizen saw things very clearly.
"That's all thanks to Captain Kyoya."
Brushing past the matter of being threatened by Kyoya, Aizen got up from his seat and descended the steps.
"What brings Captain Kyoya to Las Noches?"
"..."
Kyoya gestured towards Orihime with his chin. "I'm accompanying this young lady."
"I know this young lady's ability is very important to you, and I do not mind you asking for her help."
"But your subordinates, each and every one of them, look quite frightening. I was afraid this young lady might get scared by your subordinates, so I came to be her bodyguard for a while."
"I see. That was indeed my oversight."
Aizen nodded.
He did not suspect Kyoya had any other motives.
After all, Kyoya's state of mind was something Aizen also had when he was young.
It was a mentality of 'I'm the best in the world, no one is worth my attention'.
With such a mindset, Kyoya might even help Aizen improve his strength.
"Then I'll entrust Inoue's safety to Captain Kyoya."
"Naturally."
"Let's go, Aizen."
"First, take us to the place where you fuse the Hogyoku."
"The sooner you complete the Hogyoku fusion, the sooner you can begin your evolution."
Kyoya waved his hand and said to Aizen.
"Nothing would please me more."
"You two, please follow me."
Aizen put one hand in his pocket and led Kyoya and Orihime deeper into Las Noches.
Opening the large door, the sunlight outside shone into the room through the doorway, adding some brightness to this dark room.
Seeing this, Kyoya let out a light chuckle.
Clearly, he guessed why Aizen placed the Hogyoku in a dark, lightless room for fusion.
In the Central 46 of the Seireitei, Kyoya demonstrated his [Light Perception] ability, which made Aizen quite wary.
Even though he knew it was almost impossible for Kyoya to come to Hueco Mundo, he still prevented the Hogyoku from contacting light to avoid it being destroyed by Kyoya.
But now that Kyoya had directly brought Orihime to Hueco Mundo, Aizen also knew that keeping it from Kyoya was completely meaningless.
After all, without Orihime's help, even Aizen could not be sure he could completely fuse the two Hogyoku.
In this dark room, there was a transparent defensive barrier enveloping the two Hogyoku.
The two Hogyoku, emitting a blue glow, had already begun fusing a small part. From the outside, they looked like a horizontal '8'.
But upon closer inspection, one could see several very fine cracks at the place where the two Hogyoku were fusing.
If he continued to forcibly fuse these two Hogyoku, the cracks would likely grow larger and larger, eventually completely destroying them.
"Inoue, you can do it."
"Okay, Kyoya-sama."
Hearing Kyoya's words, Orihime stepped forward, extended both hands, and called out the name of her ability.
"Soten Kisshun… I reject!"
Two streams of yellow Reiatsu flew out from the blue hairpins on Orihime's head, forming an oval-shaped barrier outside the two Hogyoku.
Within that pale yellow barrier, the cracks at the fusion site of the two Hogyoku were disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Excellent!"
Seeing this scene, Aizen was overjoyed in his heart.
As expected, he knew that Orihime's ability could allow his Hogyoku to fuse completely, with a 100% success rate.
By the time Orihime withdrew the Soten Kisshun, the fused area between the two Hogyoku had been restored to its original state, with not a single crack left.
Aizen stepped forward, extended his hand over the Hogyoku, and Reiatsu surged as he began to promote the fusion of the Hogyoku.
Crack, crack...
With Aizen's actions, the two Hogyoku moved towards each other, forcibly fused together by Aizen's powerful spiritual pressure.
But precisely because of this, cracks once again appeared one after another at the fusion site between the two Hogyoku.
When he sensed that the fusion had reached its limit and continuing further would destroy the Hogyoku, Aizen stopped his actions and turned to look at Orihime.
"Hey, I say Aizen, that's about enough."
Kyoya walked up, blocking Aizen's view of Orihime.
"Inoue Orihime is just an ordinary human. Her Reiatsu is not enough to allow her to perform the Hogyoku restoration work multiple times in a single day."
"How about this: from now on, Inoue can restore the Hogyoku's state for you twice a day. The rest of the time, let Inoue rest and recover her Reiatsu."
"How about it?"
Aizen remained silent.
Although he wanted to complete the Hogyoku fusion in the shortest time possible, he also knew that Kyoya telling him all this now was not seeking his opinion but rather… informing him!
No matter how many times he promoted the Hogyoku fusion in a day, Kyoya would only let Orihime restore the Hogyoku's state twice.
"Fine, I have no objections."
"Good."
Seeing Aizen being so sensible, Kyoya turned to look at Orihime.
"Inoue, you have not been to Hueco Mundo before, have you?"
"Since you're here, how about taking a look at the scenery of Hueco Mundo?"
"I remember people from the Living World go traveling to other places during holidays."
"You're even more amazing than those people. They just go abroad, but you've come to another world."
Kyoya saying this was not entirely wrong.
Orihime had gone to Soul Society, which is the world of Shinigami.
Hueco Mundo is the world of Hollows, while the Living World is the world of humans.
Aizen kidnapped Orihime from the Living World to Hueco Mundo. Even with Kyoya by her side, Orihime could not truly relax completely.
Therefore, Kyoya had been downplaying the horror of Hueco Mundo for Orihime, instead letting her treat Hueco Mundo as a 'foreign country' of the human world.
This way, if Orihime regarded this kidnapping experience as a trip abroad, it would have a good stabilizing effect on her mindset.
Hearing this, Orihime was somewhat tempted.
But she still habitually glanced at Aizen.
After all, she was kidnapped to Hueco Mundo by that Tosen under Aizen's command.
Even with Kyoya by her side, could she really relax like that?
"Do not pay attention to him."
Kyoya waved his hand. "Inoue, you just need to answer whether you want to or not."
"As for Aizen, his opinion is not as important as yours to me."
"Mmm, I understand."
"Then let's go."
"Oh, by the way, Aizen."
"I'm not very familiar with Hueco Mundo either."
"Send a good-looking Hollow to be our tour guide later..."