Chapter 157: I Crown You Crown Prince of Hueco Mundo!
Under the gaze of the two, several figures gradually appeared in the distant sky.
Three Menos Grande.
Two insect-like ones, and one resembling a pterodactyl.
Each was highly skilled at flying, moving at extreme speeds.
The direction they were flying from happened to be exactly where Satoru's sword had flown from earlier.
Almost instantly, Aizen reached a conclusion.
These Menos Grande had discovered Satoru's discarded sword and had been lying in wait there.
They just didn't expect that instead of Satoru coming, the sword had flown away on its own.
In their panic, they could only send those capable of flight to chase after it first and confirm the situation.
Unless something unexpected happened, the main force was following behind.
In the worst-case scenario, there might even be Vasto Lorde among them.
A few days ago, during that battle, Satoru had already displayed his power. Unless Baraggan had completely lost his mind, he wouldn't think a few Adjuchas alone could stop him.
With that thought, he waved his hand and closed the Garganta.
Soon after, the two returned to the Soul Society.
Along the way, he shared his speculations with Satoru.
"Hueco Mundo is now more dangerous than ever before."
"Baraggan already knows about us... no, he knows about your existence. If we encounter him again, he definitely won't underestimate you."
Aizen unhesitatingly distanced himself from the situation.
Only Satoru had been exposed, while he himself had remained perfectly hidden, so this had nothing to do with him.
"Additionally, the Tsunayashiro Clan harbors deep hatred for you. If they encounter you, they definitely won't let you off easily."
"Oh, and by the way, they hold absolutely no grudge against me. They don't even know I exist."
"Satoru, you'll need to be careful when going to Hueco Mundo from now on. Who knows, you might not make it back one day."
Aizen curled the corner of his mouth, as if already envisioning that celebratory scene.
Satoru nodded: "No problem, then I just won't go. I don't conduct experiments anyway, so I don't need to capture Menos Grande."
Aizen: "...?"
His smile gradually faded.
A difficult choice presented itself.
Should he give up on an excellent laborer and handle all future work alone?
Or bring along a helper whose aggro was off the charts, capable of drawing full-screen attention at any moment?
This was infuriating. Clearly, Satoru was the one causing trouble everywhere, so why was he the one suffering in the end?
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he said to Satoru:
"Satoru, earlier in the Garganta, when you suddenly looked in the direction those Menos Grande were flying from, was it because you sensed their Reiatsu?"
This matter weighed quite heavily on him.
If Satoru had truly detected those Menos Grande through Reiatsu perception, it meant his sensing ability surpassed his own by more than just a level.
He had always been completely confident in his Reiatsu perception ability, never expecting to be so far behind Satoru in actual combat.
Hearing this, Satoru shook his head.
"I hadn't sensed their Reiatsu at that moment. It took about half a second more before I felt it."
Aizen was puzzled: "Then why did you look in that direction?"
"Intuition," Satoru shrugged. "I felt like there might be some danger over there, so I took a look."
Aizen: "?"
Damn intuition.
For a moment, he wondered if this guy was joking with him.
Confirming that Satoru was serious, his mood couldn't help but become complicated.
Relying on some mysterious "intuition," he had actually detected the approaching enemies before him.
What kind of monster was this guy...
Seeing Aizen's silent expression, Satoru mistakenly thought he was worried about the situation in Hueco Mundo.
He reached out and patted Aizen's shoulder:
"Don't worry, Sōsuke, this is actually a good thing."
"Tsunayashiro Senzaemon has gone to Hueco Mundo, which means Enrakyōten is now ownerless. Once he dies, that sword will be ours!"
"Just a mere Tsunayashiro and a Baraggan—once you... once we grow stronger, they'll be nothing but paper tigers!"
"When I seize Enrakyōten and become the King of Hueco Mundo, I definitely won't treat you poorly!"
"Hmm, how about I appoint you as the Crown Prince of Hueco Mundo then?"
Aizen quietly looked at him.
At this moment, he suddenly wished he could be as shameless as Satoru—at least giving the other party a middle finger.
It must be said that sometimes, having manners is actually a debuff.
Sighing, he waved his hand:
"Alright, if there's nothing else, hurry up and leave. Don't get in the way here."
Satoru glanced at the eerie scene in the laboratory.
He said with concern, "Sōsuke, you should go out and get some sun occasionally. Staying in this kind of environment every day, I'm afraid it'll worsen your psychological issues..."
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly healthy mentally."
Aizen remained calm.
"People with fragile psyches only have two outcomes when they're around someone like you."
"Either they become resilient through hardship, or they go insane."
"Since I haven't gone insane, that means I'm the former."
Before Satoru could retort, he continued:
"I'll be quite busy over the next few days and might not be in the division."
"If anything comes up, try to handle it yourself first. If you really can't manage, go find Kisuke for help."
After giving these instructions, he shoved Satoru out.
Closing the door, Aizen gently placed his hand on the hilt of Kyōka Suigetsu.
Though he very much wanted to focus on his experiments and thoroughly study Kōga Kuchiki inside and out a hundred times over, there was something else that intrigued him more right now.
He wanted to investigate what exactly the Soul King was.
The history books at the academy were all quite ambiguous, and even the more detailed ones leaned toward mythological storytelling.
But now he had a better option than the academy.
The Soul Society's largest database, managed by the Tsunayashiro Clan.
The Great Spirit Book Repository of the Seireitei!
In the past, the Tsunayashiro Clan had always guarded this place strictly. Even with Kyōka Suigetsu, infiltrating wouldn't have been easy.
But now was different.
After the recent upheaval, the Tsunayashiro Clan was too busy dealing with internal affairs to properly manage the Great Spirit Book Repository.
If he wanted to make his move, it had to be now!
...
...
"Kōga Kuchiki? I don't know where he went... At the time, I fought with all my might, broke all my limbs, and barely managed to defeat him."
"But just as I was about to kill him, several Menos Grande showed up and took him away."
"That Kōga Kuchiki not only betrayed the Kuchiki Clan but also teamed up with Menos Grande—he's completely disgraced the Shinigami!"
"Oh, and he beat my respected senior into this state!"
"Teacher, we must come down hard on someone like that!"
In Yamamoto's study at the First Division headquarters.
Yamamoto, Ginrei Kuchiki, Shunsui Kyōraku, and Satoru sat facing each other.
After listening to Satoru's account, Ginrei sighed.
Even now, he found it hard to believe that Kōga would do such things.
Shunsui sat to the side, still wrapped in numerous bandages.
He too looked quite dejected.
Though it wasn't his true intention—being influenced by Muramasa—the fact that Katen had attacked him was truly heartbreaking.
Unlike these two's despondency, Yamamoto's focus was entirely different.
He looked at Satoru with bright eyes.
"Boy, you defeated Kōga Kuchiki?"