Upon hearing his words, Unohana Retsu let out a soft sigh. That kind of unwavering self-belief—she'd once had it too. But after being defeated by Yamamoto Genryūsai, her confidence had shattered, and her progress in strength stagnated.
That was… until she met him.
After that battle, she never became stronger again—not even a little.
Her once fierce, ambitious heart had been utterly crushed.
Now, looking at the fire burning in Ichigo's eyes, she couldn't help but think back to her former self—the girl who once believed she was invincible, who thought she could conquer the world.
"If you truly have that resolve, then keep getting stronger," Unohana said, a gentle but firm encouragement. "Become stronger than anyone."
She could sense that Ichigo held an immense well of spiritual power within him, but since he'd never gone all out in front of her, she couldn't yet grasp the full extent of his strength.
"Anyway, let's change the subject—you mentioned Aizen Sōsuke earlier, right?" Unohana's tone shifted. Ever since that morning, her way of addressing Aizen had changed.
No longer "Captain Aizen"—because no matter what his motives were, faking his death like that was not something a proper captain would do.
"Right. Retsu-neesan, what did your examination of the corpse show?" Ichigo asked.
"The body is no different from that of an ordinary Shinigami. Cause of death: blood loss due to a wound from a zanpakutō. If we want more information, I'd have to perform a full dissection," she explained.
"Anything off about it?" Ichigo asked.
"Plenty. The whole thing feels too perfect. Too much like a 'corpse.' As if it was placed there just for me to examine," she said with confidence. "Even if you hadn't told me it was a zanpakutō, I would've noticed something off in time."
In all of Soul Society, aside from Mayuri Kurotsuchi, there was no one who understood the spiritual structures of high-level Shinigami better than her.
After all, any Shinigami strong enough to preserve their spiritual body after death was always brought to Squad Four first—only after that would a funeral be held.
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "It looks like someone deliberately tried to keep me occupied."
Ichigo nodded. "Exactly. Which leads us to the real answer."
"Aizen Sōsuke… What is he after?" Unohana frowned.
Ichigo then launched into his theory. "Retsu-neesan, remember why Rukia was arrested and brought back to Soul Society?"
Unohana quickly caught on. "You're suggesting that Aizen's goal is Rukia? No… If he wanted to kill her, he wouldn't have faked his own death."
"No, that's not what I mean. You said before that it felt like Rukia's spiritual energy had been drained away by something. And now she's scheduled for execution, right as Aizen conveniently ends up dead... What if—" Ichigo's eyes sharpened.
"The thing Aizen's after is hidden inside Rukia's body—the very thing that's been draining her spiritual pressure!" Unohana's eyes lit up with understanding.
"That's why he faked his death—to disappear from public view, secretly retrieve the object inside Rukia, and then either leave Soul Society or publicly reveal himself and his goal!" she concluded.
Ichigo nodded. The logic held together.
But then Unohana shook her head slightly. "There's a problem. The order to capture Rukia came from Central 46. That group is made up of nobles from different families. It's impossible they'd take orders from Aizen."
Ichigo frowned. That was a critical flaw in their deduction.
If that didn't add up, then everything they'd theorized about Aizen remained just that—a theory.
Noticing his troubled look, Unohana gave him a gentle smile. "Don't be discouraged. I think we're already very close to the truth."
She poured Ichigo a fresh cup of tea and lifted one herself.
"If Aizen's goal really is to kill Rukia, then we'll just make sure he fails. That way, he'll have no choice but to show his hand. And when he does, we'll know exactly what he's plotting."
She said it with quiet but firm confidence.
Ichigo sighed. "So in the end, we still have to rescue Rukia, huh?"
"I was hoping we'd uncover the mastermind behind this and resolve the entire situation from the root," he added with a hint of frustration.
Unohana reassured him, "With Aizen's body lying right here, no one else is going to believe you. People only trust what their eyes see. So, instead of proving it, let's outplay him."
She took a sip of tea, her tone shifting again. "Ichigo, do you have a plan?"
"Me?" Ichigo pointed to himself.
"Yes. On the day of Rukia's execution, I need you to go to Sokyoku Hill and rescue her."
"Until then, we'll pretend nothing is wrong. Then, once you've saved her, I'll announce to all of Seireitei that Aizen has betrayed us. At that point, he'll have no choice but to emerge," Unohana said, her eyes flashing coldly.
"Alright. That was my plan from the beginning anyway," Ichigo nodded.
"But before that, we need to gather a few allies," Unohana mused.
"After all, we can't rely on just the two of us. Who knows if Aizen has accomplices?"
Ichigo nodded. "So who do we find? What about Rukia's brother? I don't believe Kuchiki Byakuya actually wants Rukia dead."
Unohana shook her head slightly. "Kuchiki Byakuya may qualify in strength, but he's too rigid. He doesn't know how to adapt. Roping him in might backfire."
"Then who? If her own brother won't help, who else would defy all of Soul Society just for her?" Ichigo asked, a bit deflated.
"There are still a few," Unohana replied, a faint mischievous smile creeping onto her face.
Ichigo had a bad feeling—someone was about to have a very bad day...
Meanwhile, back in the living world, the rest of Ichigo's squad had been completely wiped out.
Uryū Ishida had unleashed his final form using the Seele Schneider and defeated Mayuri Kurotsuchi—but that was the end of his line too...
(End of Chapter)
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