The bitter irony wasn't lost on Harribel—Aizen hadn't forced them to sacrifice themselves. They had followed him willingly, charged into battle of their own volition, and offered themselves as sacrifices without hesitation or question.
And their reward? Today's cold, calculated betrayal.
All their bloodshed, their unwavering loyalty, their sacrifices for his cause—ultimately meaningless, discarded like broken tools once their usefulness had expired.
As consciousness faded, Harribel's mind drifted back to distant memories of floating on an endless sea of blood and corpses—the reality of Hueco Mundo, where only the strongest survived by consuming the weak.
This world, she realized with crushing clarity, was fundamentally built on sacrifice. Therefore, beings like herself were destined to be sacrificed—it was encoded in the very fabric of their existence. The world she had naively dreamed of—where happiness could be attained without sacrifice—had never existed outside her foolish hopes.
At the final moment, as Harribel's body began its inexorable fall toward the ground below, the words of Uehara Shiroha inexplicably rang in her ears with crystal clarity:
"Your life is mine, and no one can take it away."
Reflecting on this statement, Harribel suddenly understood that the enigmatic man had anticipated this exact scenario unfolding. Everything he had said was truth, and it was she, Harribel, who had been blind and foolish—not Uehara Shiroha with his warnings that she had dismissed.
So... did this mean she would not die after all? Did her life truly belong to that overwhelmingly powerful man as he had claimed? Was everything proceeding according to his calculations, even this betrayal?
Uehara Shiroha...
From his position on the ground, Hitsugaya Tōshirō witnessed the shocking betrayal and shouted with unbridled fury: "Aizen! Why?!"
Compared to the original timeline, his hatred for Aizen wasn't quite as deeply ingrained in this iteration of events. In that alternative course of history, Hinamori Momo had been brutally impaled through the heart by Aizen's sword, and then callously used as a human shield to block Hitsugaya Tōshirō's attack—Aizen's title as "master of the meat shield technique" had been well-earned.
It would have been unnatural if Hitsugaya Tōshirō hadn't developed an all-consuming hatred for Aizen after such manipulation. In that scenario, he had wanted nothing more than to slice Aizen into eight separate pieces.
However, this time, circumstances had unfolded differently.
Although Hitsugaya had still been defeated by Aizen in a humiliating one-second encounter, thanks to Uehara Shiroha's protective intervention, Hinamori Momo remained alive and unharmed, spared from Aizen's ruthless schemes.
Consequently, the young captain's hatred toward Aizen, while still intense, lacked the personal vendetta quality of the original timeline. His anger was more principled than visceral.
He primarily felt profound sympathy for both Hinamori Momo and Harribel. Neither woman had seen through Aizen's facade early enough—this beast masquerading in human skin, this predator wearing the mask of a mentor.
Such a cruel, ruthless, and fundamentally ungrateful creature was unworthy of the loyalty they had so sincerely offered him. Their devotion had been repaid with betrayal and contempt.
Despite his anger, Hitsugaya Tōshirō refrained from rushing forward alone to confront Aizen, acutely aware of the danger posed by Kyōka Suigetsu's perfect hypnosis. He was biding his time, waiting for a strategic opportunity that might never come.
Aizen, observing the young captain's restrained fury, spoke with leisurely confidence:
"It seems that you find my actions deeply unconscionable. In truth, I too am constrained by necessity. I explicitly warned them long ago never to trust anyone unconditionally—including myself. But such is the nature of the weak; they can only place absolute trust in the strong.
And those of us who bear the burden of such responsibility can only continue to grow stronger, eventually ascending to the highest throne of power. I act as I do to fulfill their expectations, to embody the absolute strength they worship. But clearly, they lack the capacity to comprehend the profound reasoning behind my actions."
If circumstances had permitted, Aizen would have preferred to retain the Gotei 13 intact. On one hand, he wished to avoid unnecessarily provoking Uehara Shiroha; on the other, he harbored a hope that these Shinigami captains might come to understand his painstaking efforts and willingly become his allies.
From Aizen's perspective, the Soul King's sacrifice stemmed from bearing too many expectations projected by the weak. But this arrangement was fundamentally unfair to the strong, who were eternally burdened by the needs of lesser beings.
So he had resolved to change the entire paradigm, though he recognized the slim chances of success.
Despite this pragmatic assessment, Aizen still clung to a faint hope that someone might truly understand his vision and the necessity behind his actions. He had once believed Urahara Kisuke possessed the intellectual capacity to grasp these complex motivations.
But reality had proven that even the brilliant Urahara fell short of this threshold of understanding. Perhaps only Uehara Shiroha, with his transcendent power and perspective, could genuinely comprehend the sophisticated reasoning behind Aizen's grand design.
If anyone possessed both the ability and strength to truly understand his plan, it would be that man—the anomaly who defied conventional limitations.
Meanwhile, in the Ice Palace of Hueco Mundo, Uehara Shiroha deliberately ignored little Neliel who had enthusiastically invited him to play. Due to excessive energy expenditure in her previous form, Neliel's body had regressed to its childlike state once again, her mental capacity diminished accordingly.
Uehara Shiroha merely gave the diminutive Arrancar a pointed look, and the previously boisterous child immediately became obedient, retreating to play by herself without further disturbance.
Adult Neliel might have interested him in certain recreational activities, but he had absolutely no interest in entertaining a child. It was already an act of considerable restraint that he hadn't disciplined the naughty kid for her presumption.
His attention turned to the ongoing situation in the pseudo-Karakura Town. By this point, Harribel had fallen to the ground, her life force ebbing as she awaited Unohana's potential intervention.
Tōsen Kaname was nearly defeated, his condition deteriorating rapidly. With his physical appearance reduced to such a pitiful state, his continued existence served no purpose—death would be a mercy.
In the world of Shinigami, aesthetic value and appearance correlated strongly with power levels. The more visually impressive one appeared, the stronger they tended to be. Conversely, degraded appearance typically signaled declining strength—and those with diminished power inevitably met unfortunate ends.
Tōsen Kaname would soon prove with his life that his strength wasn't limited by his blindness. Even with the sight he'd recently acquired through Hollowfication, his fundamental power remained inadequate—a fatal deficiency.
In the sky above, Ichimaru Gin and Aizen stood together in an imposing tableau, subtly restraining even the mighty Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni through their combined presence.
Neither made any move to rescue Tōsen Kaname from his impending doom. No one could interfere with his fated demise. Like Uehara Shiroha, they respected the inevitable course of destiny for others—particularly when intervention wasn't strategically advantageous.
On another front, after Wonderweiss had eliminated Captain Ukitake Jūshirō, the modified Arrancar had entered a passive "standby" state, childishly chasing butterflies with vacant fascination.
Wonderweiss's massive companion, Fura, opened its monstrous maw and disgorged a substantial number of Gillians and lower-ranking Arrancars onto the battlefield.
Having completed this deployment, the enormous Arrancar retreated from active combat, as if awaiting some specific trigger or command before engaging further. The air was thick with anticipation—the calm before an approaching storm