Chapter 216: Aggregation
For all their flaws, the Quincy possessed an almost frightening talent for turning a bad situation into a worse one.
Whether it was a defect buried inside Yhwach himself, or a loophole in the Quincy power system, Aizen could not say with certainty. What he could confirm was far simpler, and far more unsettling.
The power Yhwach distributed could be reclaimed.
Not only reclaimable, but inevitably so. The accumulated strength of Quincy cultivation flowed back to the main body, along with their souls, their memories, their lives. That was the price of his sleep, and the reason it was necessary. Yet in that very mechanism lay a deeper rot. Yhwach was not merely receiving power, he was reading countless souls, tasting countless lives, then swallowing them as nourishment.
Once, long ago, that Son of the Soul King had possessed something resembling warmth. He could show concern for his subordinates, even affection. In those years, he might have passed for a leader people could follow without shame.
Now, he felt like an empty shell, carved out by vengeance.
Attacking Seireitei, killing the Soul King, turning the world over, it all read as pure revenge and rage, utterly at odds with the lofty words he used to justify it.
Under those circumstances, Aizen could only reach one conclusion.
Yhwach himself had a problem.
And because the Quincy were extensions of Yhwach, they were his eyes and ears, then his power after death. That was why Aizen and Ichigo never intended to kill Quilge Opie outright. Killing him would not end the issue, it would only feed it.
So the question became practical.
What place could serve as a spoiler, force people to gather, and still resist without collapsing instantly?
There was only one answer.
Seireitei.
It was already tangled in disputes and rumors, but at its core it was still Soul Society, an internal struggle between Shinigami. It had nothing to do with other worlds.
Yhwach and the Quincy were different.
"Are we going to use this guy to persuade the Shinigami?" Ichigo asked.
"Not persuade," Aizen replied calmly. "Only inform them of what truly exists in this world. Seireitei is weak right now, but the Quincy are not invincible. Several of the Soul King's organs are still being calibrated, so this is not an ideal time for an assault."
He fastened Quilge's sealed body onto a white cross, making the Quincy look like a suffering icon from some old religion. Then he spoke as if he were discussing a routine piece of work.
"Compared to the Shinigami's ugliness, the Quincy are the ones who truly need to be considered for interference, and if necessary, extermination. Their origin is Yhwach. Only when Yhwach is completely dead can the Quincy be liberated."
Aizen's eyes remained indifferent.
"But the Quincy inherit through blood and genes. No matter what you do, Yhwach's soul spreads through them. Unless he severs it personally, they can never be free."
"…Is that so," Ichigo murmured.
"Therefore, if you want to save your friend, you can only let Yhwach awaken your friend's ability, and bestow the Schrift."
While speaking, Aizen sealed Quilge's eyes and ears, shutting down every sense, burying him in absolute darkness. Shinigami power and chakra moved under his hands as naturally as breathing. Ichigo had watched him countless times, yet still could not imitate that calm precision.
It was like watching a master chef work, or a veteran warrior dismantle an enemy. Aizen's wounds had already cracked, spiritual pressure and spirit particles leaking faintly from the seams, yet Ichigo had no doubt that if Aizen wished it, Quilge could be crushed into dust without effort.
As if to emphasize what the Quincy represented, azure flames lit across the cross, one by one, quietly burning.
Aizen nodded in satisfaction, then looked back at Ichigo.
"However, it is not time for that yet. Yhwach is still asleep. He woke nine years ago and used Auswählen on the mixed blood Quincy, but their power is still insufficient. He knows now is not the time to attack Soul Society. They still cannot win."
"So the Quincy hide, and gather information," Aizen continued. "Take Quilge as an example. If he uses his ability properly, any Shinigami trying to report through the Senkaimon would be trapped forever in the Dangai, then crushed into dust by the closing walls."
Aizen's tone stayed even, almost conversational.
"With the other Schrift abilities, they can collect intelligence without suffering losses themselves. By now, you understand that many things were not my doing. In Soul Society, there are too many things that should have died long ago."
"Don't be… disrespectful… to His Majesty…"
Quilge's voice was still leaking out, thin and stubborn, even while pinned to the cross.
Aizen blinked once, then smiled faintly.
"My apologies. I forgot to seal his mouth."
He snapped his fingers.
The flesh on Quilge's face twisted as if it had gained its own will. His lips pressed together, fused, then stitched themselves shut in a horrifying line, sealing every word behind skin.
Even Ichigo, who had faced monsters and death without flinching, felt a chill crawl up his back. He shivered with disgust, not fear.
His feelings toward the Quincy were complicated. There was pity buried under his anger. In a way, they were humanity's resistance, and their desire to hunt Hollows did not feel wrong. If you did not know the truth, what was wrong with killing monsters that threatened the human world?
From that angle, the Shinigami looked like villains, preventing people from saving themselves, forcing them to accept death as law.
But this was not a simple argument about right and wrong. It was the foundation of the world itself. No matter what anyone chose, someone would be crushed beneath the system. In a world flawed at its root, the harder people struggled, the more it made Ichigo feel hollow and sad.
He wanted to plead for them.
He could not find a reason.
He could only watch Quilge being sealed, layer by layer, by Aizen's hands.
"By the way, Aizen," Ichigo asked quietly. "What are you going to do with him?"
"To push the Shinigami side forward slightly."
"What do you mean?"
"Without the Zero Division appearing, our existence cannot be disproven. Only if the Zero Division steps forward and declares us traitors will we become traitors in the eyes of the system."
Aizen's voice stayed calm, but each sentence was measured.
"But because of Captain Commander Yamamoto and the nobles, if we walk into Seireitei, they will use whatever means they can to force us into battle. And battle changes hearts quickly. Their stance shifts from equal opposition to survival."
His gaze sharpened.
"In that case, we lose."
He did not need to say the rest aloud. Ichigo understood it anyway.
Ichigo wanted to save people, not butcher them.
Aizen lowered his head for a moment, then snapped his fingers again. Brilliant lights wrapped around Quilge like a display meant for an audience. Patterns resembling Blut Vene spread across the bindings, and on top of them appeared markings like annotations, as if someone were presenting evidence in the clearest way possible.
If Quilge still had full consciousness, he would have cursed himself hoarse at being handled like a specimen.
Aizen did not care.
"If you want to save the wandering souls, and free the Shinigami from their duty, you must take the least harmful path," he said. "You are kind and just, Ichigo. That is why complex methods are necessary."
He looked at Ichigo directly.
"Only when we step forward and achieve a politically correct victory against enemies of Soul Society can we shift from unfamiliar guests to their own people."
"With the guarantee of myself, Kaname, and Gin, what we can achieve right now is only parity. If things continue as they are, the future becomes a division into ordinary regions, separated, unremarkable."
Aizen's smile was thin.
"I do not believe that is what you desire."
"Therefore, I want to use the Quincy to establish your legitimacy as a savior. I want you to achieve victory at the smallest cost."
Ichigo stared at him, confused.
To be honest, even after brutal cramming education, Ichigo still felt lost in this kind of classification. In his heart, peace meant peace. Shinigami, Quincy, wandering souls, it should have been possible for everyone to live without stepping on each other.
How the plan worked, how the world moved, that was still Aizen's territory.
So Ichigo did the simplest thing.
He chose.
"Just tell me what I need to do, Aizen."
He waved both hands, cutting off the explanation, his expression firm.
"If I can do it, I will. If it can free my family and friends from Hollows and Shinigami, I will do it. I trust you. Even if I don't understand you completely, I'm willing to trust you."
Aizen paused.
For a moment, it felt as if he should say something like, You should not trust me so easily. Keep your distance. Be colder. Be smarter.
But Aizen said nothing.
He only looked at Ichigo, that young man in the white trench coat, so different from the boy he once knew, yet somehow unchanged at the core. In the silence, Aizen's mind flashed back to beliefs he had once seen, carved into the clash of dark blades.
Perhaps from the beginning, this kind of child belonged at the highest place.
"…What you need to do is simple," Aizen finally said.
"You only need to drop this at a crucial location. Then I will declare war on the Quincy on behalf of a series of Shinigami."
He continued evenly, as if laying out steps in a lesson.
"Most Shinigami do not understand Soul King politics. But they know the Quincy story. They know the extermination. As long as the Quincy location is confirmed, and the Quincy problem is addressed directly, our relationship with Seireitei can ease."
"And once that happens, chakra spreads faster. Chakra can be cultivated alongside existing power, and to a degree it can be transmitted. So all you need to do is put on a show."
Aizen's gaze softened, just slightly.
"The rest is on me, Ichigo. The ideal world is not far."
"Okay," Ichigo said at once, no hesitation.
He lifted the cross onto his shoulder as if it weighed nothing, and nodded hard.
"Then where are we going?"
"Komamura's area first," Aizen said. "Komamura is upright. He will not attack you immediately."
"Understood. Let's go."
They nodded to each other, then vanished instantly.
Minutes later, a loud crash shook the district.
Komamura Sajin looked up at the sky and roared, rage spilling out like fire.
"Another attack? Criminal."
A calm voice answered him from above.
"There is more. Was the last time just an accidental overexertion that startled you?"
"What?"
Komamura's eyes widened.
In midair stood an orange haired young man, his expression cold, his posture steady.
Komamura's anger flared, instinct turning it into a roar.
"Attacking Seireitei again, Ryoka. Even if you have some connection to Aizen, repeatedly attacking Seireitei is a grave sin."
"A grave sin?"
Ichigo's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I'm the victim. This is Seireitei's security force, and an enemy from a thousand years ago is hiding behind their own world."
His voice did not rise. That made it worse.
"I don't know whether you kept them for betrayal, or whether you have some other plan. But these Quincy tried to attack me, and I found them."
He swung the cross off his shoulder.
The Quincy in the white military uniform, his life and death unclear, hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Ichigo looked down at Komamura, expression indifferent.
"You Shinigami solve your own problems. I'm here to save Rukia, and the tragic people of Rukongai."
"You…"
Komamura's breath caught. His pupils contracted as he felt the reishi leaking from the figure on the cross.
"…Quincy?"
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