Chapter 41: Cooperation?
"You should know too, right? Lately, there have been many residents of Rukongai disappearing without reason."
Kensei sighed. "This matter's gotten pretty big. The scattered squads we sent to investigate earlier didn't find anything, so the higher-ups decided to send the entire 9th Division out — that's how it is."
Crap.
Before he could even react, a pop-up appeared in the corner of his vision.
[Main Quest: Visored Rebellion Arc Released]
[Description: Aizen Sōsuke's Hollowfication experiments have entered their final phase. Please uncover the truth and choose whether to assist or stop him.]
[Assist Reward: Talent 'Parallel Thinking']
[Stop Reward: Hollowfication Experience Card ×3]
Now it's confirmed…
Damn it. Things have already developed this far so fast…
"Any findings?"
Suppressing his inner thoughts, Mizuma played his role as a Fifth Seat seriously. "Didn't that incident happen a while ago? My captain approved me a short leave afterward — after living a bit of a wild life, I've become a bit unfamiliar with internal affairs."
"We just set out recently ourselves," Kensei shrugged. "We haven't found anything yet, but we did receive some reports of Hollows along the way. We're heading there to deal with them now."
"I see."
"How about it, Fifth Seat Watanabe — interested in joining us?"
"Thanks for the offer."
Mizuma shook his head. "But I'm a clerical officer after all. I've never really worked alongside the 9th Division. If I join a group operation, I'll probably just get in the way."
"That's true…"
Kensei didn't think too much about it. After hearing Mizuma's refusal, he scratched his head in embarrassment. "That's my bad!"
"…"
If it wouldn't seem rude, Mizuma really wanted to dig at his ear.
This guy was fine in every way except one — his voice was way too loud. It made his head ache.
"Well then, since you're not interested, we'll be off first."
Kensei called out to his subordinates in that booming voice, and a chorus of equally loud replies followed immediately.
"Take care, everyone."
Watching the group of brawny men storm off like a gust of wind, Mizuma's gaze darkened.
Rest time was officially over.
Since Aizen's plan had already begun, all he needed to do was quietly follow the 9th Division from the shadows — and naturally, he'd reach Tōsen and, through him, find Aizen.
The problem was… once he found Aizen, what then?
Just like last time, the mission gave him two options: Assist or Stop.
Obviously, he needed the "Parallel Thinking" talent he'd get from helping Aizen. It was like the system was handing him a pillow just as he got sleepy — how thoughtful.
From an ideological standpoint, he leaned toward assisting Aizen anyway.
Sure, Aizen performed human experiments, gaslit his subordinates, and promoted a predatory work culture in his organization (in Las Noches/Heuco Mundo), making him a bona fide villain — but he and Mizuma shared one major similarity:
They were both deeply dissatisfied with the state of Soul Society.
From a modern person's perspective, Mizuma naturally couldn't stomach the decay of Soul Society's system. If there had been any better alternative in that era, he wouldn't have stayed in Seireitei in the first place.
Still, causing chaos took time and effort, so after some thought, he chose the path of laying low — going with the flow. After all, the wages Seireitei paid were way too good to pass up.
Aizen's mindset, on the other hand, was more like: "Why should I, who am so powerful, have to indulge those fools? If the system's rotten, I might as well become God myself." Therefore, he cannot tolerate the Central 46 and the four noble families. Moreover, he has the ability to do so, which is why he could say bold statements such as "I shall stand upon the heavens." originally.
So, in essence, their goals didn't conflict. Mizuma was even happy to lend a helping hand when Aizen goes after Central 46.
Should he… choose to assist?
"…What a pain."
Mizuma rubbed his temples. "I really don't want to get involved in that mess…"
The reason was simple.
To go after Central 46 and the nobles, he'd have to first go through the Gotei 13.
And his friends and acquaintances were all members of the Gotei 13.
That made things… complicated.
The solution was clear enough: he just needed to use his clones to move between Aizen and the Gotei 13, manipulating the situation to stay under control while taking down those in power.
Once the table was flipped, even if the old man got mad, he'd have to accept it in the end.
That way, Aizen would get what he wanted, Mizuma could keep slacking off, and the Gotei 13 could continue guarding Seireitei. Everyone would get their happy ending.
It wouldn't even be that hard.
After all, not all the noble families were enemies. The Kuchiki, Kyōraku, and Ise families weren't as rotten as the Tsunayashiro. In fact, most old noble houses had already modernized — only Central 46 clung to its feudal relic act.
But since they had no real military power, taking them out would be easier than slaughtering chickens.
Still, it would be a long process. If he joined in, he'd inevitably have to cross blades with his friends.
As for negotiating with the Gotei 13…
Impossible.
The old man Yamamoto was stubborn as hell, and his cane hurt. Unless he struck first and explained later, Mizuma couldn't think of a way to convince him.
Pulling up the mission panel, Mizuma sighed, took a deep breath, then smiled with a kind of cheerful resignation.
That's life. If you can't resist it, just enjoy it.
"My friends, I'm sorry," he said, a glint flashing off his teeth. "It'll only hurt for a moment — then you'll feel much better!"
With that, Watanabe Mizuma sprinted back toward Seireitei, while Mizuma's clone shadowed the 9th Division in secret.
Operation start!
---
Meanwhile, in the living world — the abandoned village where Ainicht hid.
Mizuma pushed open the wooden door and descended the stairs.
Compared to a few months ago, the place had completely transformed.
Outwardly, it was still a simple mud-brick house, but that was only a façade — the tip of an iceberg. Underground, hundreds of cubic meters of soil had been excavated, replaced with stone and steel structures far too futuristic for the 20th century. Countless mechanical parts were neatly stacked on shelves like an automobile factory's warehouse.
All of it — the work of Ainicht alone.
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〔TL〕
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