A few days later—
"Aizen-sensei, are you leaving?"
Inside the underground training ground, Kurosaki Ichigo wearily pushed himself up from the floor. He looked at Aizen in front of him with clear reluctance. The man was still standing straight and tall, not even a speck of dirt on his clothes.
Several months of time had made Ichigo sincerely acknowledge Aizen.
In his heart, aside from his parents and sisters, Aizen held the most important place.
Now, hearing so suddenly that the other was about to leave, how could that not make him feel miserable.
"There is no banquet that does not end. I have already taught you everything I can. The only reason you still cannot defeat me now is simply because your spiritual pressure is not as strong as mine. But as for methods and techniques, you already lack nothing. Once your spiritual pressure reaches my level, you will be able to defeat me easily," Aizen smiled as he walked up to Kurosaki Ichigo and gently rubbed his orange short hair, his manner so tender it was as if he were treating his own child.
"What are you saying, there's still so much I can learn. I haven't even learned many of those Kido spells yet," Kurosaki Ichigo lied against his conscience.
It was not that he had not learned many Kido. He simply did not want to learn them at all.
Now, just to keep Aizen here, he was saying anything he could.
"When we meet again officially next time, I will teach you some Kido. However, the next time we meet should be in Soul Society," Aizen smiled faintly.
"Huh? Has my situation already been decided? What did those old fossils in Soul Society say?", Kurosaki Ichigo perked up immediately.
Seeing the curiosity mixed with tension on Kurosaki Ichigo's face, Aizen laughed quietly in his heart.
This was a principle Rosse had taught him.
If you want to subtly change a person, what you need is not deception, but to keep telling them the most cruel truths.
It was just that these truths, even if every single sentence was true, could carry a completely different flavor when told from another angle.
"On Soul Society's side, the Central 46 has made its final ruling. Captain Kuchiki Byakuya of the Sixth Division will lead a team to bring Rukia back to Soul Society for judgment. As for you..."
Aizen looked at Kurosaki Ichigo and paused slightly before continuing.
"According to the Central 46, they are giving the Shiba family some face. Considering your young age, they will not pursue the matter further."
"Tch! Talking about considering my age. They're just afraid that Rosse would slaughter them. If that guy called Rosse really is from Hueco Mundo, then Soul Society is truly beyond saving," Kurosaki Ichigo curled his lips in dissatisfaction. Even from Aizen's retelling, he could feel the condescension in the Central 46's words.
He was not worried about Rukia's safety.
He had heard Aizen explain Soul Society's system before. Someone like Rukia, who came from a major noble family, would not receive any truly severe punishment.
He just had not expected that his old man's identity would actually play a role here.
'The Shiba family... heh!', Thinking of how Rosse had become his cousin-in-law, and still had to put on that fake protective act, Kurosaki Ichigo felt a wave of discomfort.
"It's not just Soul Society. Recently, I've also made a major discovery here in the human world," Aizen gently shook his head. When he looked at Kurosaki Ichigo, there was a trace of hesitation in his expression.
"Sensei, if you have something to say, just say it. You know my personality. I absolutely won't leak it to anyone else. If you tell me in advance, I can also be on guard," Seeing Aizen's expression, Kurosaki Ichigo knew something serious had happened.
He did not want to be treated like a child, so he hurried to ask.
"This time, Rosse may very well use your situation to make a move against me. I might be persecuted, or even be labeled by him as someone colluding with Hueco Mundo," Aizen said hesitantly.
"Hah? Sensei? Hueco Mundo?", Kurosaki Ichigo laughed out loud, 'Who on earth can link Aizen-sensei with Hueco Mundo? This is way too absurd.'
In his heart, Aizen simply could not be someone from Hueco Mundo.
Training enemies of Hueco Mundo to overthrow Hueco Mundo itself was not something a normal person would do to create trouble for themselves.
Still, he also knew that Aizen would not speak without reason.
After laughing for a bit, he reined in his expression and hurriedly asked, "Sensei, do you know how they plan to frame you?"
"I told you before about the Hollowfication incident that occurred in Soul Society a hundred years ago, didn't I?"
"I know. Back then several captains were affected. The mastermind was Urahara Kisuke, and that woman called Shihoin Yoruichi," Kurosaki Ichigo nodded.
Aizen had explained that period of Soul Society history to him in a very objective way.
He also knew that back then Aizen was only the vice-captain of the Fifth Division and had no ability whatsoever to participate in something of that level.
"Recently, I discovered Urahara Kisuke's whereabouts in the human world, and he seems to have quite a good private relationship with your father. If my judgment is correct, those Hollowfied captains are also all in the human world, and may have been misled by Urahara Kisuke as well. After all, with a hundred years of contact, how things are described depends entirely on Urahara Kisuke's mouth," Aizen said solemnly.
"Hah? Wait. That guy called Urahara Kisuke wouldn't be from Hueco Mundo, would he?", Kurosaki Ichigo raised an eyebrow.
He felt his guess was very reasonable.
Urahara Kisuke had caused the Hollowfication incident, and Hollowfication and Arrancar seemed to be similar things, both of which could be tied to Hueco Mundo.
Thinking about it this way, everything lined up perfectly.
If Urahara Kisuke was from Hueco Mundo, then he had been secretly observing him and those Hollowfied captains all along.
No wonder.
He had also heard Aizen mention his own special nature, but that had been discovered by Aizen unintentionally.
And speaking of it, his exposure had also been because the incident with Kurosaki Masaki caused a huge disturbance. Aizen had been nearby at the time and only then paid attention to him.
That time his exposure had been purely accidental.
Before that, Hueco Mundo must have already noticed them. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to forcibly take Kurosaki Masaki away that day.
Following this line of reasoning, Aizen only noticed him after that incident. On top of that, Aizen was a Soul Society captain who had to stay in Soul Society, so he definitely could not be suspicious, and the person monitoring him was not Aizen.
On the contrary, Urahara Kisuke had taken root in the human world a hundred years ago. Whether it was the Hollowfication incident or the Hollow attack on his parents, he would have seen it all.
Thinking this far, Kurosaki Ichigo had already reached a conclusion in his heart.
Urahara Kisuke was from Hueco Mundo.
"I can't give you an answer to this matter. You will need to investigate it yourself. I feel that they have already noticed me. This time they probably will not let me off. At the very least, they will aim their spear at me," Aizen gently shook his head and looked at Kurosaki Ichigo with a serious expression.
"Ichigo, no matter what my final outcome is, you must not step forward to speak for me. Some Zanpakuto possess very special abilities, even the ability to manipulate the five senses. I suspect that Rosse's Zanpakuto has a similar ability."
"But that kind of ability definitely requires some kind of medium to activate. So remember this. After leaving here today, what you see and hear may not be real. Be as cautious as possible and trust the judgments made by your own intuition."
"Sensei... I understand."
Kurosaki Ichigo clenched his fists tightly. How could he not know that Aizen was making a final farewell.
But even with hot tears welling up inside him, Kurosaki Ichigo still forced himself to endure it.
Their enemies were simply too powerful.
No matter what, no matter what happened to Aizen, he would carry that person's share with him and walk all the way to the final shore.
'Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, just wait for me.'
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