It was the first time Aizen had been so frank.
Yoshio replied, "Above the Soul King? I don't follow."
"The Soul King was born with a mission," Aizen said, then paused. "Are you familiar with Demiurge?"
"I've heard of it…"
The Demiurge is a god in Gnosticism. They identify him with the God of the Old Testament—an ignorant god.
Gnosticism posits that a higher God created the Demiurge, but the Demiurge, unaware of his own origin, believed himself the one true God. He created the world but knew nothing of himself.
The world he made is steeped in sin—a prison fashioned by the Demiurge.
Aizen's mention made Yoshio grasp his intent.
The Soul King is the god of the three realms—but merely a Demiurge.
He was set in motion by some higher will. He possesses unimaginable power but lacks true agency, and was ultimately outplayed by a swarm of ants.
The world he created is likewise riddled with sin.
If the Soul King is the Demiurge, then somewhere above him is the remote God. Aizen's words implied Yoshio is an avatar of that remote God—or otherwise connected.
Indeed, perhaps the Soul King's birth was driven by something else.
In that distant chaotic epoch, a Hollow King was fated to arise; to prevent it, the world birthed the Soul King as a counter.
Aizen had once thought Yoshio was a fragment of the Soul King, a concretization of Soul King power fallen from the palace.
But after seeing Yoshio create the Mind-Rending Blade, split out the Hollow King's left hand, and then devour it—he changed his mind.
Not Soul King—something higher.
Even for Aizen, this was a first. He only had conjecture.
Whether there truly is a realm beyond the Soul King—he had no way to know.
After all, at present, he was still merely a Shinigami.
"Let's leave it," Yoshio said. "Soul King, Demiurge, world will—none of that concerns me much."
Feeling the power coursing within, he added, "All I know is I probably can't return to Soul Society for a while."
Seeing Yoshio unwilling to linger on the topic, Aizen didn't press.
It was, for now, too distant for him.
To prattle about transcending the Soul King when he hadn't yet transcended the Shinigami—was arrogance, even folly.
Until you reach a higher plane, you never know the view above.
"Need my help?" Aizen asked.
"Let me think…"
Something occurred to Yoshio—one of his abilities.
"Hold on."
He snapped his fingers. A vortex opened before him.
Or rather, a portal like a spatial whirlpool!
From it stepped a slightly dazed man.
"Um…"
The instant he emerged, he was struck by the wicked reiatsu and blanched in alarm.
He first saw Yoshio wearing a Hollow mask and…
Aizen Sōsuke!
His pupils shrank.
"Aizen?!"
Aizen studied him. "You know me?"
Of course he did.
Yoshio had just activated "Two of Me!"
That was Rukia's updated soul ability—summon another version of oneself.
Yoshio had always thought it useless; since he himself, without soul abilities, was just an ordinary Shinigami, a randomly generated second self wouldn't be of much use.
But now it seemed handy.
At least someone could stand in for him in Soul Society while he stayed away.
Aizen didn't know Yoshio had "Two of Me," but he could see the essence of this other Yoshio.
The soul signature was similar, but far inferior in both quality and quantity.
"Who wouldn't know you?!" Second Yoshio's hand slid to his Zanpakutō. "How did you escape Muken?!"
Aizen glanced at Yoshio.
Yoshio walked over.
"So, Captain Aizen, seems in another world you lost."
"Another world…?" Aizen murmured, amused. "Interesting. I didn't expect you to possess such an ability.
"You intend for him to stand in for you?"
"That's right." Yoshio looked at his counterpart. In a flash, Second Yoshio's eyes bulged; he choked, foamed at the mouth, gasped and collapsed.
Moments later, he was unconscious.
"So rough with another world's you?" Aizen smiled.
"Just a temporary tool," Yoshio said, crouching and placing a hand on the man.
Accelerate!
Yoshio forcibly accelerated the other's reiatsu growth. Under the Hollow King left hand's effect, Second Yoshio's power swelled rapidly.
There was, of course, a ceiling.
This second self was, at best, fifth or sixth seat material; under acceleration he barely reached Lieutenant-class before capping out.
Any further, and his body would fail.
But that was enough for now. With Aizen's touch-ups and cover, he could pass for Yoshio as Tenth Division Captain.
When Yoshio recovered, he'd send the other back.
He explained the plan; Aizen saw no issue.
"And you? Looking like this… not ideal to be seen."
"Then I'll lay low," Yoshio smiled. "Plenty of people are looking for me. I won't meet them."
With Yoshio's identity confirmed, Aizen's attitude shifted again.
He nodded, then vanished with Second Yoshio.
He'd brainwash him—make him believe he was this world's Yoshio.
The real Yoshio returned to the Hell Solitude.
Having a stand-in was nice; he could focus on research.
He didn't think suppressing the Hollow power would take long—and he didn't intend to keep the left hand forever.
It belonged with Angra Mainyu…
Angra was the Hollow. After he reached Transcendent, swallowing the left hand would make him even stronger.
Though… Yoshio's original plan was disrupted again.
"The bar just keeps rising," Yoshio groused.
Originally, he wanted to hit the racial caps as Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollow, then fuse.
But with Urahara devising a method for Angra to reach Transcendent, Yoshio raised the fusion baseline to Transcendent to keep the three paths balanced.
Now that he'd made the Hollow King's left hand—once Angra transcended and then devoured it…
He'd get even stronger!
Still, not by too much.
Even among Transcendents there are tiers. Aizen surpassed Shinigami upon Hogyoku Stage One—and Stage Two, Three, Four, Five were all still beyond.
If the left hand matches the Soul King's left hand, Angra won't reach Yhwach's level just from eating it.
Set a small goal…
All three avatars at Ichibē Hyōsube's level!
Three Ichibē-level selves, then a carefully prepared ritual—he couldn't even imagine how strong he'd be after fusion!
Of course, he also needed a path to Ichibē-level for himself.
Angra could rely on the Hollow King parts; Baelz could use endless atavism and shadow synergy. And himself?
Though he had no cap, merely breaking the Shinigami limit was already no small feat; reaching Ichibē-class by pure cultivation would be rough.
Time to use a bit of tech and trickery.
There were many ways to boost reiatsu—for example…
Sneak into the Soul King Palace for a reiryoku feast!
Those spiritual meals were part of the Royal Palace's ultra-reiryoku arts—though invented via Kirio Hikifune's tech, together with palace arts they became reiatsu food.
A single meal could skyrocket one's reiatsu.
Yoshio had the artificial soul tech and soul-insertion methods, but without the palace's arts, he couldn't manufacture the food.
So to eat, he'd have to infiltrate the palace…
Not simple.
He shelved it as a backup plan.
Besides, he currently contained the left hand of the Hollow King!
With its acceleration, he could speed his cultivation during this retreat.
Good…
With the plan set, Yoshio began training in earnest.
…
In a blink, three years passed.
He never left the Hell Solitude once.
But he knew perfectly well what was happening outside.
He had many surveillance methods—and Angra and Baelz were his eyes as well.
The Sternritter flooded into Hueco Mundo to search for him.
Urahara Kisuke delved into Hueco Mundo too.
Many Hollows in Las Noches, drawn by that feeling, searched as well.
But in the end, they found only the Black Sun domain.
Within that field of black flame, they found nothing—only the tidal wickedness and hellish heat.
Anyone below Captain-class would vaporize just approaching it.
Even Captains could only last a short while within.
They were sure the Black Sun was the mark of the newly born Hollow King of Hueco Mundo—but no matter how they searched, they found no trace.
Meanwhile, Soul Society acted as if nothing had happened; they knew nothing of Hueco Mundo's anomaly, and their investigation in the human world went nowhere.
Compared to other factions, the Central 46 looked like the very embodiment of incompetence.
Second Yoshio completely took his place over those three years, serving as Tenth Division Captain.
And after those three years, Yoshio finally broke the Shinigami limit!
The higher you climb, the harder further growth becomes.
At his current level, even a tiny increase took ages.
Even with the left hand's acceleration, it took him three full years.
In truth, that was terrifyingly fast.
If word got out that someone surpassed the Shinigami limit after only thirty or forty years of training, the envy would curdle into hatred!
After all, Yoshio did it purely through training his reiryoku—no external artifacts, no hybrid soul clashes.
And he wasn't only training; he also researched Kurosaki Masaki's soul and suppressed the left hand.
He'd made major strides in both.
He fully decoded Masaki's soul data and deepened his insights into Auswählen.
As for the left hand, Yoshio ground away the embedded Hollow King will until only a mass of power remained. He returned from Hollow to Shinigami.
When his soul broke the Shinigami limit, Yoshio felt he'd stepped into a brand-new world.
Everything was renewed. It was like gazing from a higher-dimensional vantage over reality.
Like a 3D being looking at 2D—he gained new abilities.
Chief among them was immortality!
As a Transcendent, the primary difference from Shinigami lay in undying.
Upon becoming Transcendent, you step toward godhood and gain resistance to Shinigami-type abilities—the stronger the Transcendent, the greater the resistance.
And beyond that resistance, their vitality becomes monstrously tough.