"Aizen, you'd better be a good person, okay? I really don't want to see you again in hell!"
Standing at the main gate of Shinō Spiritual Arts Academy, Naraku Sora looked at the brown-haired boy in front of him and spoke with heartfelt seriousness.
"If your idea of what a 'good person' is uses yourself as the standard, Naraku, then the odds are we're never going to meet again in this life."
A faintly helpless look crossed the brown-haired boy's face.
They were about to graduate and join their respective posts, yet this guy was still this unreliable. At this rate, he'd probably end up as "disposable fodder" in no time.
Naraku Sora was one of the very few real friends he had made at the academy, and Aizen really didn't want to see him die young. So there were some details he had to say out loud.
"The Central Great Underground Prison is nothing like the Gotei 13. It's way more dangerous down there. Once you're assigned, you absolutely can't keep messing around the way you did at the academy."
Even now, Aizen still couldn't figure it out. Back when Naraku Sora had just enrolled, he already had the strength of an ordinary Shinigami foot soldier. Very few students could compare to him.
By graduation, he'd basically reached the level of a seated officer. There was still a bit of a gap between them, but he was already an exceptional talent.
And yet, instead of joining one of the Gotei 13 squads like any promising Shinigami would, he turned around and chose to throw himself into the arms of the Central Great Underground Prison.
It really made no sense.
Aizen had asked Naraku Sora what he was thinking. The guy would always answer with some bizarre lines.
Things like "cleaning the filth of Soul Society" and "justice in this world must be defended."
Seeing that he wasn't joking, Aizen actually felt that this guy was even sicker than Soul Society itself.
"Don't worry, Aizen. I know what I'm doing," Naraku replied with total confidence. "As they say, 'If I don't go to hell, who will?' There's no place more perfect than the Central Great Underground Prison for me to clock in every day."
The truth was, just like Aizen, he also had secrets he couldn't tell anyone.
A few years ago, Naraku Sora had transmigrated into Soul Society. With the innate talent of having full spiritual power from birth, he successfully became a new student at Shinō Academy.
He'd thought his future would be smooth sailing. Even if he couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder with the truly broken monsters, just snagging a seated officer or vice-captain position would be enough to call this life worthwhile.
But to his surprise, the timeline had gone off the rails. This wasn't any point in the story that he knew.
Even the future final boss, Aizen, was just a freshly enrolled academy student right now.
When he learned that, Naraku had almost burned out on the spot and turned into a pile of pale ash.
With his current talent, he could bully the other first-years, sure—but in front of Aizen, he wasn't even qualified to be a meat shield.
Even if this guy usually acted gentle and harmless, like a model honor student…
Naraku knew better than anyone what he was really like inside.
Just when he was drowning in despair, his cheat finally showed up—fashionably late.
[Justice System]
[As the saying goes, "My heart and my actions are as clear as a polished mirror. Everything I do is for justice." In this world whose very roots are steeped in sin, you must strike down crime and return Soul Society to a clear, bright sky.]
In plain language: depending on the target's sin value, if he successfully subdued a criminal, he could extract a corresponding ability from them.
Things like swordsmanship, hand-to-hand skills, movement techniques and kidō, cultivation insights, special talents, spiritual body toughness, spiritual pressure stats…
But that brought up a brand-new problem: as a mere academy student, where was he supposed to find criminals? And even if he caught them, where was he going to suppress them?
For this, Naraku had specially consulted the all-knowing Aizen, and finally reached a conclusion.
The place best suited for his cheat to shine… was the Central Great Underground Prison under the jurisdiction of the Central Court.
Ever since Soul Society was founded, all the most vicious, heinous criminals had been locked away there—among them even offenders on the level of captains.
And for some unknown reason, executions were extremely rare in Soul Society.
Even reactionary groups that had assassinated nobles were only sealed away on some floor of the underground prison.
With sentences that easily ran into the hundreds or thousands of years, it wasn't that different from a death sentence.
Shinigami did live longer than humans, but that only applied to the strong. The lifespan of ordinary Shinigami was nowhere near that exaggerated.
Most of the criminals would spend agonizingly long years rotting in the underground prison until their lives finally ended.
Once he understood that, Naraku did feel a bit disappointed—but at least he now had a goal to move toward.
Rather than becoming a standard Gotei 13 Shinigami, he might as well join the Central Great Underground Prison directly.
Even if subduing a few vicious monsters wasn't enough to launch him straight to the top of the world, it would still give him some power to protect himself.
Besides—
If he remembered correctly, in the original story Aizen was sentenced to twenty thousand years and sealed in the eighth level of the underground prison, Muken, the Hell of No Light.
If he were the one to suppress Aizen back then… just what kind of terrifying ability could he extract from him?
Time for a little daydreaming.
Naraku had, in fact, considered the idea of "preemptively suppressing Aizen." But the gap in combat power between them was just too big—and right now Aizen basically had no sin value at all.
Even if he somehow did manage to subdue him, he wouldn't get anything useful out of it.
So he could only drop the idea.
Besides, Aizen counted as one of the very few friends Naraku had. Asking him to backstab the guy was a bit too much.
Now that he'd successfully graduated, it was time to head to the underground prison and really let his cheat ability go to work.
Naraku was full of confidence.
Aizen looked calmly at the boy in front of him, trying to catch even a hint of a crack in those eyes.
But all he saw there was the purest conviction—unyielding and untouched by any hesitation.
Seeing that, Aizen gave up on trying to talk him out of it. He smiled and said:
"I understand."
Right then, the Shinigami assigned to escort the new graduates to their posts arrived at the academy gates. After checking the list, a Shinigami with a perfectly average, forgettable face walked up to the two of them.
Unlike the Gotei 13 Shinigami, his black shihakushō bore the insignia of the Central Court.
He was here for Naraku Sora.
"Guess this is where I head out, Aizen." Naraku looked like he was still a bit uneasy and stressed the point again: "You really have to live as a good person, okay?"
Aizen: "…"
Even though he was absolutely sure this guy didn't know anything, hearing that earnest reminder still gave him a strange, guilty feeling.
As if someone had seen straight through his secrets.
…Better be even more careful with certain plans.
Under the Central Court Shinigami's impatient urging, Naraku waved at Aizen, then turned to follow him, heading toward the inner parts of Seireitei.
Watching his friend's back grow smaller in the distance, a barely noticeable twinge of melancholy flickered through Aizen's eyes.
That academy life filled with warmth and friendship was just a tiny, insignificant segment of a very long journey.
Friendship bought with a carefully crafted façade was fake from the start. It was destined to shatter one day.
Maybe by the time that happened… there wouldn't be anyone left at his side.
Pushing away the last stray feelings, the brown-haired boy turned to the Fifth Division member walking toward him and smiled.
"Hello. I'm Aizen Sōsuke…"