"Sensei, that is how it went. I have already become that so called Shinigami assistant. Once I get familiar with her, I should be able to go to the Soul Society to help you too, right."
The next day, in the underground training grounds, Kurosaki Ichigo excitedly told Aizen everything that had happened yesterday, putting special focus on how smartly he had handled it.
In his eyes, he had been clever as hell.
Before, he could only train in the shadows. Now he could do it out in the open.
"The idea is not bad, but unfortunately, this road will not work," Aizen still wore that calm smile on his lips, but what he said made Ichigo feel awful.
"Sensei, how does it not work? I think it is very doable. With that stupid woman's brain, she would never suspect that there is anything wrong with me," Ichigo argued in confusion.
They say you become like the people you spend time with.
After hanging around Aizen for so long, Ichigo had also been slowly influenced, starting to lean toward Aizen's way of thinking.
The difference was that he still carried a kind heart.
As long as someone around him had a problem, he would be the first to reach out and help. He would never look down on someone because they were weak and refuse to treat them as a friend.
"Kuchiki Rukia indeed will not suspect you. But according to the rules of the Soul Society, passing Shinigami power to an ordinary soul is a serious crime. With a crime like that on your head, how are you going to survive in the Soul Society?", Aizen asked with a smile.
In truth, he had played no small part in yesterday's big show.
If it were not for him, Kurosaki Ichigo would have sensed Rukia coming much earlier, and either pushed her away or cut down the Hollow with a single slash.
Even if Ichigo had not acted last night, Aizen would still have pushed things in that direction.
But in that case, to make Ichigo enter the game perfectly, the acting would have to be even more convincing.
Luckily, Ichigo had thought the same way, which saved him a lot of trouble.
"Huh? What kind of stupid rule is that. The more people with power, the better, right. Is there really no way around this kind of rule?", Ichigo muttered in dissatisfaction.
"For a normal and healthy system, having more people with power who also follow the rules is of course a good thing. But if the ones in power to begin with were a bunch of mediocrities, then making rules like this is nothing unusual," Aizen said with a smile.
"Sensei, you mean those rotten nobles in the Soul Society, right? You mentioned them when you told me about Soul Society history. They should have been thrown into the trash heap of history long ago," Ichigo curled his lips.
"Now it is more or less like that. As long as Captain Commander Yamamoto, that old fossil, does not wake up, under the leadership of the new acting Captain Commander, the Soul Society is already very different from before," Aizen said casually.
"Oh? Then by your meaning, Sensei, if I go look for that new Captain Commander Rosse, he might not make things difficult for us?" Kurosaki Ichigo asked with interest.
"Maybe he would not. But that Captain Commander Rosse gives me a very strange feeling...", Aizen hesitated a little, as if unsure whether he should say it.
"How is he strange?", Ichigo did not think that far and asked directly.
Aizen often told him all kinds of Soul Society gossip, including the nobles and the origins of the Gotei 13.
The more he listened, the more he admired Aizen.
Aizen was like someone who knew everything. No matter what Ichigo asked, he could always give some kind of answer, like a living encyclopedia.
"That person suddenly appeared in the Soul Society, and then suddenly took over the Tenth Division and became its captain. After that, when Captain Commander Yamamoto fell into a coma, he took the opportunity to become Captain Commander, and almost completely overturned the old rules of the Soul Society," Aizen objectively described Rosse's feats in the Soul Society.
After hearing it, Ichigo felt even more confused, "Sensei, there is nothing wrong with this guy. From the way it sounds, everything he did was good. He sounds like a really good person."
"That is exactly why there is a problem. Do you think this world really has true saints?", Aizen asked back.
"Uh... probably not. Everyone has their own little schemes," Ichigo scratched his head and gave an answer straight from his heart.
"Exactly. I also think they do not exist. Then what is Captain Commander Rosse really doing all this for?", Aizen asked again.
"This..."
Ichigo could not answer that, since he did not even know the guy.
"There is something else you might not know, and even most of the captains in the Soul Society do not know it," Aizen took a deep breath and said each word slowly, "According to my private investigation, the time when Captain Rosse appeared out of nowhere is very close to the time when the Hollow King Palace appeared in Hueco Mundo. The difference is less than a year. And Captain Commander Yamamoto was injured by people from the Hollow King Palace, and has not woken up to this day."
"Gasp!"
Ichigo's eyes went wide as he stared at Aizen in disbelief.
He was not stupid. With just a little hint from Aizen, he understood.
"Sensei, you mean that Captain Commander Rosse might be from the Hollow King Palace? And maybe even someone high up?"
"It is not impossible," Aizen nodded slightly, his expression serious, as if he were discussing something about the life and death of the Soul Society.
"If that is true, then is not your Soul Society finished? Even the highest level has been corrupted by the Hollow King Palace," Ichigo could not sit still anymore. The Hollow King Palace was also his enemy. Kurosaki Masaki was still being tortured there right now.
"That is not quite the case. Seireitei is the core of the Soul Society, but above it there is still the Royal Palace and Squad Zero. That is the real foundation that has allowed the Soul Society to exist for so long," Aizen said to reassure him.
"Whew! As long as there is something even stronger, I can relax. If even the Soul Society is finished, then we really would have no one to rely on," Ichigo let out a breath, patted his chest, and looked like he was still shaken.
"Ichigo, you cannot be like this. You are a miracle born of this world, and perhaps also our last hope to resist the Hollow King Palace. Even if the Soul Society and even the Royal Palace fall, I do not want to see you make that face. In the future, you will definitely stand at the very front of everyone," Aizen suddenly turned serious, looking at Ichigo with a solemn face, like he was giving final instructions.
"Haha! Sensei, do not worry. If that kind of situation really comes, even if you do not say it, I will still step forward," Ichigo laughed and straightened his posture.
What he felt just now was that such a situation would be terrifying, but that did not mean he was actually afraid.
Even if something really happened to the Soul Society, he would fight to the end.
After all, his family was still suffering in the Hollow King Palace.
For that reason alone, he could never reconcile with the Hollow King Palace.
Still, Ichigo kept Rosse's matter in his heart.
Aizen had spoken vaguely, but Ichigo trusted Aizen's judgment.
In his mind, Rosse had already been labeled as a spy of the Hollow King Palace.
One day, he would find that man's flaw, and with his own strength, drag him out into the light.
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