If the world created by the Soul King is the upright Tree of Life, then by crossing Hell, one could reach the inverse, the world of the cursed Tree.
For millions, even billions of years, they had received no information whatsoever from any other world. The reason for that was precisely the barrier known as "Hell."
Hell was an extremely mysterious place, a special realm even the original Soul King was helpless before. In the end, he could only use himself as a wedge, propping up the world, creating the Three Realms, and sealing them all under the cover of Hell.
At this moment, Aizen was becoming more and more interested in Yoshio's true identity.
The power that Yoshio possessed was no longer limited to the Three Realms, nor merely to the primordial chaos before their formation—it came from an even broader world.
This line of thought had largely been sparked by the existence of the Hollow King.
Yoshio had used the Blade that Rends the Heart to divide off another Aizen. But a power capable of separating the Hollow King from the Soul King should have long since surpassed the Soul King himself.
It was precisely Yoshio's existence that had allowed Aizen to glimpse that broader world.
Killing the Soul King alone would not solve everything.
If there were no Soul King in this world, there might well exist another being of equal or even greater transcendence.
So Aizen's earlier thinking had changed.
His ultimate goal had been to free himself from control and transform the world with his own hands.
But now, what he'd once considered his ultimate liberation was at best the first step.
"Maybe so," Yoshio replied with a smile. "But no matter what the case is, there's no point talking too much about the future. It's better to focus on the present."
"Rukia has been captured. What should we do next?"
Aizen's earlier analysis was proof that Yoshio's plan had successfully taken its first step.
In truth, he knew very well that the so-called gods behind the murals—tsunamis, time-beaches, and whatnot—were all fabrications.
If you want others to truly believe in the existence of higher beings, the best proof is to accomplish something that, in their eyes, is utterly impossible.
To make Tokinada Tsunayashiro this strong in such a short time was not particularly shocking—many people could have done that.
Aizen himself could have as well, had he been willing to pour resources into it and ignore all consequences. It wouldn't have been difficult to force a Captain-level Shinigami like Kyōraku Shunsui up to the level of Yamamoto Genryūsai.
But splitting the Hollow King—no one could have done that. No one in the Three Realms could even truly comprehend it.
And to comprehend the incomprehensible, people naturally start believing in an "incomprehensible power." That power, to them, is nothing less than divine.
So if you want people to believe in gods, there's no point reciting scriptures or preaching about divine greatness. The best method is to rain down sulfur and fire like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—to demonstrate a miracle.
In a sense, it could be said that miracles came first, and then people began to believe in the existence of "gods."
The current situation was exactly the same.
The "Hollow King" split off by the Blade that Rends the Heart was itself a miracle. Through that miracle, people would naturally begin to believe that there were beings beyond the Soul King in this world.
And no one was exempt from vulgar desires—not even Aizen.
At that moment, Aizen turned and began descending the stairs. Yoshio also turned and followed behind him.
As their footsteps echoed along the white staircase, the quiet reverberated in the still, silent space.
Once they reached the bottom, what spread out before them was a hellish scene.
The Central 46 Chambers were the highest judiciary authority of Soul Society, composed of forty sages and six judges from across the entire realm. They ruled Seireitei below.
Once a resolution was made, even a Captain of the Gotei 13 had no right to oppose it.
Without permission from Central 46, even a Captain was not allowed to enter the Seijōtōkyorin, the Tranquil Forest of Residential Towers where they resided.
Yet at this moment, these forty-six mighty figures lay dead in pools of blood.
They had slumped over their tables, as if just an instant earlier they'd still been diligently working for the Seireitei, only to fall into a deathly terror the next.
Yes. This was none other than that place like no other: the Tranquil Forest of Residential Towers's sacred ground, the Seijōtōkyorin itself.
"To be honest," Yoshio couldn't help but remark as he surveyed the scene, "keeping the Central 46 around is actually the biggest loss for the Seireitei."
Aizen had wiped out the entire Central 46, and the result was that a whole herd of pig-headed comrades had vanished from the Shinigami side.
If it were Yoshio, even if he'd needed to impersonate the Central 46 to control the Gotei 13, he wouldn't have killed them all.
Instead, he would have preferred to frighten them into a psychological shadow, secretly control them, and lock them all away in one place.
Then, once he escaped, he'd release them again—still traumatized by their near-death experience—and use that trauma to pull the entire Central 46 over to the side of death.
Of course, Aizen cared very little about such matters.
His original intent had been to use the Hōgyoku's fusion to force the Gotei 13 into a decisive battle.
Only under external pressure in an extreme battle could his soul be reforged to surpass that of a Shinigami.
However…
This time, things were clearly different from the original.
The Gotei 13 alone might no longer be able to push Aizen to his limits.
Aizen's subordinates were all far stronger than before, with many new ones as well. Aizen himself had grown stronger, and Yamiko too had improved.
In other words, Aizen himself, Aizen's subordinates, and Aizen's tools had all been powered up.
While the Gotei 13 had also become stronger, their growth clearly hadn't kept pace with Aizen's.
Most critically of all was the enhancement of the Hōgyoku.
As mentioned before, the more complex one's soul state, the harder it was to reforge it.
In the original story, Aizen had used Hollow elements to break through the boundary of a Shinigami's soul, merging it with his own and reforging it.
But now, Aizen was using both Hollow and Quincy powers to break that boundary, and another Quincy soul existed on top of that. This made the reforging process far more complex.
Therefore, he needed more pressure.
Although Aizen hadn't told anyone his true thoughts, they couldn't be hidden from Yoshio.
Yoshio had agents embedded in all three realms. From the movements of each faction, he could roughly infer what everyone wanted.
Of course, this had nothing to do with him personally. In the end, Aizen growing stronger was good for him too.
He also hoped Aizen would complete his fusion with the node as quickly as possible—so that he could be purified afterward.
Next, all of Aizen's team—
Aizen, Yoshio, Ichimaru Gin, Kaname Tōsen, Hinamori Momo, and Kira Izuru—would take turns impersonating the Central 46 to issue commands. Compared to the original three-man setup, this was far more… luxurious.
And the first command that was issued was—
"Imprison Kuchiki Rukia and await a verdict from the Central 46 after deliberation!"
The matter of Hollows had certainly touched the biggest minefield of the Seireitei.
From a hundred years ago to now, Seireitei had faced countless disasters because of Hollows, and had seen many Shinigami use Hollow powers to stir up chaos.
Even without looking further back, not long ago Tokinada Tsunayashiro had used Hollow power to devastate the Seireitei.
Even if Kuchiki Rukia belonged to one of the Four Great Noble Houses, they still had to deal with the Hollow issue.
In the past, Yoruichi of the Shihōin clan had been a member of the Great Houses, Captain of the 2nd Division and Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō. Yet because of that Hollowfication incident a hundred years ago, she had still been punished by the Central 46, hadn't she?
And that had been a century ago. If a judgment were to be passed down now, it would be even harsher.
Thus, this kind of command from the Central 46 was only natural, and at this stage, no one would suspect a thing.
The first person to impersonate a Central 46 member in Seijōtōkyorin was Yoshio.
After Aizen left, Yoshio sat alone amidst this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, feeling just the slightest hint of emotion.
Fame and fortune were all illusions. So what if one's position was lofty?
Even if you were a Captain, what difference did it make?
You could still be chopped into pieces like melons and vegetables.
This only reinforced Yoshio's belief.
Everything else was illusory—only one's own strength is real.
In other worlds, if you lacked the power to resist suffering, the weak would be used as experimental material, their souls devoured—or perhaps they'd be ordered to die a glorious death in the name of maintaining the balance of the Three Realms.
Behind the scenes, there would always be those old fossils treating you like a chess piece, forcing you to work yourself to death.
He did not want to become another Kurosaki Ichigo.
Yoshio took his seat at the highest position in the Central 46 chamber and slowly closed his eyes.
His consciousness slipped away into the Wandenreich.
…
The Wandenreich, Silbern.
The Schutzstaffel had been reassembled once more.
But this time, in the palace—besides the four Schutzstaffel and Haschwalth—there was another.
A being whose entire body radiated a faint golden light, with a halo of an angel above her head and golden wings unfurled at her back—Aiwass.
Within the Wandenreich, Aiwass was an extremely mysterious existence. Even the Schutzstaffel didn't know of her.
The only one who had ever seen Aiwass was Baelz, which was why he knew she existed in this world at all.
At this moment, Yhwach had become a far more unfathomable existence. After the end of his ninety-year slumber and nearly nine years of power recovery, his restoration was almost complete.
It would take another two years for Yhwach to fully reclaim all of his strength.
Even now, however, the power he had regained was something not to be underestimated.
Especially since Baelz had fused the Raven of Death's evil node into Yhwach's body. As the wicked plasma merged with him, Yhwach's power had become all the more immeasurable.
Once the Schutzstaffel and Haschwalth were assembled, Yhwach summoned them and spoke his first words:
"From today onward, the Schutzstaffel must be ready to engage in battle against the Shinigami and the Hollows."
"?"
This declaration left the Schutzstaffel stunned.
Lille Barro, captain of the Schutzstaffel, couldn't help speaking. "Your Majesty, weren't we going to launch our offensive in two years?"
Yhwach swept his indifferent gaze over the four below. Seeing the doubt in all their eyes, he turned to Lilie Barro and said:
"Lilie. Are you speaking of the future?"
Lilie Barro's heart jolted. He immediately dropped to one knee. "Your Majesty, please punish me!"
He didn't bother to justify himself.
Every Schutzstaffel member knew that Yhwach hated others talking about the future.
Because the power over the future rested in Yhwach's hands, peering into it or speaking of it had always been considered his exclusive privilege.
But Yhwach did not punish Lilie Barro. Instead, he said, "You are all aware of Aizen Sōsuke's movements."
"...Yes."
Lilie remained kneeling as he replied softly.
The other Schutzstaffel also nodded in turn.
From the shadows of Seireitei, it was only natural that they had observed Aizen Sōsuke's actions. While Aizen could hide his whereabouts, he did not always choose to.
When necessary, it was enough to simply stay out of others' thoughts.
Thus, they all knew Aizen was about to betray the Seireitei.
"Your Majesty, do you mean to take this opportunity to topple Seireitei as well?" Baelz asked coolly. "In my opinion, Aizen Sōsuke may be an even greater threat than the Seireitei."
"…You value him so highly?"
Yhwach's tone was mild.
Sympathy between scientists?
Baelz shook his head. "Absolutely not."
"Aizen Sōsuke intends to complete the fusion of three Hōgyoku, then use that power to step into the domain of the gods."
"If he succeeds, he may become a tremendous obstacle to our plans," Haschwalth added on Yhwach's behalf.
If it were only a fusion of Shinigami and Hollow souls, Yhwach wouldn't have cared too much. Even if one shattered the limits of a Shinigami's soul, it simply meant entering a new set of limits.
Even if he pushed to that new ceiling with the help of the Hōgyoku, Yhwach didn't believe Aizen could truly threaten him.
But once three different soul attributes were reforged into one, the situation changed.
Especially now, when Yhwach had yet to conceive of the plan to devour the Soul King—if Aizen truly completed that fusion, it might very well interfere with his designs.
So he prepared to intervene in Aizen's plans.
Baelz glanced sideways at Aiwass. He knew this woman must have put in quite some effort as well.
As an extension of Aizen's will, she had to know exactly what he aimed to do.
That was the unspoken understanding innate to them as the same person. There was no need for Aizen to risk anything to meet Aiwass in person. The two of them could link heart-to-heart and collaborate tacitly.
Yhwach continued, "Aizen Sōsuke has already obtained two Hōgyoku and is now entering the stage of collecting the last one."
"I see."
"Then we must make our preparations as well."
Yhwach revealed a satisfied expression. When this topic was done, he added something else.
"In addition to Aizen Sōsuke, I want you and the Sternritter to infiltrate Hueco Mundo and gather broken soldiers we can use as combat forces."
"Arrancars?" Baelz frowned. "Your Majesty, those Arrancars are Aizen's manufactured soldiers. And Aizen is still there. It's… unfortunate… but we wouldn't be able to use them, right?"
Was this… digging at Aizen's corner?
These two really were something else.
Aizen had dug into Yhwach's forces, ruining divisions and tearing away subordinates. And now Yhwach wanted to dig into Aizen's?
What did any of this have to do with Hell, again?
"They are nothing more than fallen souls," Yhwach replied, unconcerned.
What is a Hollow?
A fallen soul, a soul seeking instinct, a soul seeking evolution.
Aizen had been able to subdue them only because he had granted them power via the Hōgyoku.
Now, Aizen's promotion was complete, but Yhwach could continue to grant them further evolution. With that option in front of them, was there even a question of which side they'd choose?
Of course, it couldn't be denied that there were unusual cases among the Hollows. But the fact that they were unusual already demonstrated how rare they were.
With the situation in the Three Realms growing ever more complicated, Yhwach needed disposable cannon fodder to keep track of everything.
The Arrancar army Aizen had created was very well suited to this role.
Once they understood what Yhwach meant, the guardians all nodded faintly.
This task couldn't be left to the other three Schutzstaffel…
There was no need to even consider those three.
Pernida almost never spoke, and its language ability hadn't even fully evolved.
As for Gerard, he was a complete muscle-headed idiot. How could he possibly handle something so delicate?
Lille Barro was the same. Among the Schutzstaffel, he was the most prideful. In his own eyes, he was the messenger of God—how could he lower himself to negotiate with something as low and depraved as a Hollow?
Best to leave this work to a normal exterminator.
Which meant this mission landed in the hands of Haschwalth and Baelz.
Since Yhwach had decided to involve more of the Sternritter in the plan, they could at least find some ordinary ones among them.
Although…
There weren't many ordinary people in the Sternritter at all.
Thinking of this, Baelz couldn't help shooting Haschwalth a sideways glance. He shrugged, silently expressing his helplessness.
But still…
Whether they liked it or not, they would have to do it. And truth be told, it sounded quite interesting, didn't it?