The footage began to play.
What first came into view, however, was a pitch-black barrier space, hanging there like a curtain.
Inside it,
several figures were trapped.
Buried in darkness, their faces twisted with panic as they shouted:
"Lisa…!"
"Rose…!"
"And Hiyori!!!"
In the chaotic, disordered scene,
Love Aikawa stood there, captain's haori draped over his shoulders, Zanpakutō in hand.
Beneath that explosive afro of his,
his whole expression was contorted as he screamed himself hoarse, eyes filled with bewilderment.
And the moment this scene appeared,
because it was so unexpected—and because it involved the masked captains—
it instantly
set off a huge uproar throughout the Seireitei!
The Shinigami of the Gotei 13—especially the captains gathered in Squad One's barracks—were all stunned.
"This is…"
"If I'm not mistaken…"
"That black barrier we're seeing is the Bankai of Tōsen Kaname's Zanpakutō, 'Suzumushi'—that dark realm that appears after Bankai is released…"
As the man who had once considered himself Tōsen's closest friend,
Komamura Sajin recognized it at a glance.
This was unquestionably the Bankai of Suzumushi.
Moreover,
back during the countdown segment for the Zanpakutō "Nozarashi," Tōsen had also tried to rely on that same Bankai to defeat Kenpachi Zaraki.
He had simply ended up completely hard-countered
by the Barbarian King of "plain slashes."
"When did this happen? Could this be from a hundred years ago?"
Ukitake Jūshirō was shocked.
Right now, in the footage,
Love Aikawa and the others
were all still wearing Shihakushō, as well as the white haori symbolizing the status of "captain of the Gotei 13."
Clearly,
this was a battle that had taken place at least before the Visored captains defected.
But back then,
aside from a handful of people who were directly involved,
no outsider had any way of knowing what really happened on the scene. Yet now, it was being exposed by the ranking video!
"It should be that night…"
The Captain-Commander lowered his eyes. His clouded pupils grew gradually more complicated.
"That night I later referred to as the 'Hollowfication Incident'!!!"
When those words fell,
Squad One instantly fell into absolute silence.
Including Unohana Retsu, Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, Soi Fon, and the others who had already been captains at the time—
every one of them wore a solemn expression,
their thoughts dragged back, one by one, to that night.
That night,
because of the incident,
the entire Seireitei and the Gotei 13
did not sleep. Every Shinigami spent the night restless and on edge.
Because the place where the incident had occurred—a remote, outlying district on the fringes of Rukongai—was extremely far from the Seireitei,
no one really knew what had happened at the scene back then.
Nor, afterward,
did anyone know why so many captains
ended up entangled with "Hollowfication."
Everything about it was a complete mystery.
To the low-ranking Shinigami and seated officers,
all they knew was that from that day onward, nearly half of the Gotei 13's captain positions suddenly became vacant.
And that, as a result, the safety of Seireitei
faced an unprecedented crisis—something that hadn't happened for hundreds of years.
As time went on,
what followed gradually faded away.
Those captains who had "defected" were slowly forgotten by most people. They became little more than "those who left the Gotei 13" and nothing more…
On top of that, they were branded, shamefully,
with labels like "traitors," "colluding with Hueco Mundo," "fallen to Hollowfication," and other such negative tags…
But looking at it now,
just this one scene that was being exposed
was enough to clear the Visored corps' name entirely—to completely wash them clean!!!
"Aizen-sama…"
"So it was back then!!!"
"At that time, I used Suzumushi's Bankai to trap Love Aikawa and the others one by one, right when they were about to subdue the Hollowfied Kensei Muguruma. The footage we're seeing is from that battle!"
On the right below Aizen's throne,
Tōsen Kaname spoke with an indifferent expression, respectfully confirming the authenticity of the footage.
By taking the initiative to claim the credit,
he naturally earned Aizen's praise.
"Tōsen…"
"Nicely done…"
"It was precisely because of your outstanding performance that night… that Hirako Shinji and the others could be taken down so easily in one fell swoop."
Aizen's lips curved in a faint smile,
his thoughts likewise drifting back to a hundred years ago.
Everything that was about to play out was as clear in his memory as if it had happened yesterday.
Especially…
that moment when, inside Suzumushi's Bankai, the "Enma Kōrogi" dark realm,
Tōsen cut them down one by one.
The expressions the masked captains wore
as they collapsed into pools of blood, seething with unwilling rage…
Thinking back on it now,
Aizen couldn't help but let the corner of his mouth curl into an amused arc.
From the standpoint of a "viewer," he was delighted to re-immerse himself in it,
caring not in the slightest
that the truth of what had happened that night was about to be laid completely bare!!!
——
At the same time,
the video continued to play.
Sure enough,
everything unfolded exactly as Aizen remembered.
"Shff—!!"
"Shff—!!"
"Shff—!!"
Every swing of the Zanpakutō Suzumushi
was accompanied by a spray of blood and another figure toppling over.
Very soon,
driven by Tōsen's will,
when the black curtain of darkness finally dispersed,
all the Visored captains lay on the ground. Every one of them was gravely wounded.
They might not have been killed on the spot—
but they had lost the ability to fight for the foreseeable future.
The once-dignified captains of the Gotei 13
were now in such a miserable state that even some stray mutt passing by
could have wandered over and barked a few times at them without consequence!!!
"Too brutal…"
"So that's what really happened to Hirako Shinji and the others that night—it was this bloody?!"
"Because Tōsen ambushed them, they didn't even have any chance to fight back… The gap is just ridiculous…"
Soi Fon's eyes widened.
Her short hair framed a face filled with shocked disbelief.
As the Commander-in-Chief of the Stealth Force,
only now did she fully grasp that the information on file about that incident was completely wrong.
The truth exposed by the ranking video was far, far more horrific than anyone had imagined!!!
"Unohana…"
"If you had been there at the time, could you have healed them quickly enough?" Kyōraku Shunsui asked.
"I could have—however…"
Halfway through her answer, Unohana's beautiful eyes slid toward the right side of the screen, to the patch of bushes hidden in the night.
Then she warned in a low voice,
"Don't forget that Tōsen Kaname is in league with Aizen and Ichimaru Gin. I don't for a moment believe he was the only one present at the scene!!!"
Sure enough,
what followed in the video
proved her absolutely right.
——
At this moment,
in the footage,
after Suzumushi's Bankai was briefly lifted,
Hirako Shinji's hoarse shout rang out:
"Tōsen…"
"Why… you…!"
"Are you betraying your own captain—Kensei?!"
Shock.
Rage.
Collapsed on the ground, Hirako strained to lift his head.
Beneath that yellow "pot-lid" haircut, he grit his teeth and demanded an answer.
"Ah…"
"Back then, watching myself react like this really was just playing dumb…"
"I should have realized from the start that Tōsen was nothing but a dog at Aizen's side!!!"
Inside the abandoned warehouse,
the present-day Hirako Shinji smacked his forehead in regret.
At the same time,
he couldn't help thinking
that his old pot-lid hairstyle, paired with a captain's haori, made him look silly and totally unfitting.
Compared to that, he felt that his current suit looked far more flattering!!!
However…
on-screen, after Tōsen reached up and tore off the cloth covering his face—revealing his identity and confirming his betrayal—
he still said nothing.
He simply held his Zanpakutō in one cold hand.
Instead, from the nearby bushes,
came a voice that was familiar to almost every Shinigami and every Arrancar—
a voice that seemed to carry its own kind of spell:
"Captain Hirako…"
"I must correct you on one thing…"
"Tōsen has always been very loyal. The idea of 'betrayal' simply does not apply."
"It's just that…"
At that instant,
the camera suddenly spun around,
pointing straight at that patch of crooked, ominous brush under the night sky.
The viewers' backs went cold.
It was as if they could hear a sinister rustling from within.
"That bastard Aizen… Is he about to show himself?"
In Squad One's barracks,
Hitsugaya Tōshirō clenched his teeth, jade-green eyes filled with hostility.
Every time he heard Aizen's voice,
he could feel the overwhelming falseness in it—
and…
that highly provocative tone that so easily made people irritable and impulsive!
"It really is Aizen!"
Ukitake Jūshirō looked a little anxious.
"So, he was already moving from that early on… No—wrong!!!"
"It might have been even earlier! It's entirely possible that, from the moment he entered the Gotei, even hundreds of years ago, he was already wearing a false mask in front of everyone!!!"
"From that time onward, Aizen has been deceiving the entire Gotei 13!!!"
Ukitake's words sent a chill through everyone present.
Even old man Yamamoto's
aged frame trembled suddenly, his pupils shaking.
It wasn't just a hundred years!!!
He might have been pretending for several centuries?!
"Aizen…"
"His scheming and depth of mind are several times more terrifying than we imagined!!!"
With this evaluation from the Captain-Commander,
the video showed two familiar figures stepping out, one after another.
Both wore smiles as they walked out from the trees.
It was, of course, Aizen Sōsuke—at that time still just the lieutenant of Squad Five—
and…
Ichimaru Gin, who had only recently joined the Gotei.
Back then, he had been a prodigy who had killed the original Squad Five third seat shortly after joining and taken that position for himself!!!
"Sigh…"
"Gin really went through so much…"
"Thinking back on it now, he began lurking by Aizen's side at such an early point… all for my sake. That's no small sacrifice at all."
Among the crowd,
Matsumoto Rangiku's gaze dimmed.
Looking at the younger Ichimaru Gin on the screen, her heart filled with sorrow.
Though she had already mostly recovered and no longer broke into tears, she still couldn't help but feel deeply moved by Gin's unwavering resolve during his century-long undercover mission.
And…
through everything that had happened,
it only made the unspoken, powerful feelings she had for him
that much clearer.
At the same time,
because of this footage,
inside Las Noches, Aizen and Ichimaru Gin were also talking.
"...asking for flowers…"
"Gin…"
"Have you ever regretted it?"
"If you had just stopped back then and chosen to leave me behind… the failed assassination and everything afterward wouldn't have happened…"
Sitting atop his throne,
Aizen brushed aside a lock of hair and looked over at Gin, deliberately asking with a playful smile.
Even now,
he had never truly forgiven Gin.
He had simply gotten used to it—and, compared to others, Ichimaru Gin was at least qualified to sit by his side and watch from three steps away
as they commented on whatever future plotlines the ranking video revealed.
Besides,
after the last segment
showed the battle between Yhwach and Ōetsu Nimaiya—those two "bosses"—
Aizen's focus had begun to shift.
As for Ichimaru Gin and the other Shinigami of the Gotei 13…
they were merely strong people below the true pinnacle of Shinigami. Aizen no longer cared to pay them any mind.
Only those who transcended that level—
the handful of truly transcendent beings you could count on your fingers—
were now worthy of Aizen's attention.
Thus,
with his perspective changed,
his attitude had become much broader.
Aizen no longer cared to settle accounts with Gin over the assassination attempt!!!
The response he received,
was Gin's unflinching, narrow-eyed smile:
"Now, now… Captain Aizen, why ask a question you already know the answer to?"
"If I were the sort to back down halfway, or to quit easily, I'd never have been qualified to stay at your side all those years."
"And there's no way I'd end up, at the end of the future Karakura battle, as the one person you personally took along to the real Karakura Town, right?"
The implication was clear.
Even if he could do it all over again a hundred times,
Ichimaru Gin would never regret the hundred-year undercover path he'd chosen.
"..."
Aizen didn't answer.
But the faint smile at the corner of his lips already revealed what he thought.
A moment later,
their conversation ended.
Both men's eyes turned back to the screen.
In the footage, after Aizen finally revealed himself,
Hirako Shinji immediately ground his teeth and spat out:
"Aizen!!!"
"So it really was you! You bastard!!!"
"Did you figure it out?"
The geta on Aizen's feet clicked softly on the sand as he walked toward the camera, stopping at the edge of the blood-soaked ground.
With a fake smile on his face,
he looked down at Hirako from above through the frames of his black-rimmed glasses.
"So then…"
"When did you first notice?"
That line
perfectly voiced what all the viewers were wondering.
Yes…
Judging purely by their exchange, it sounded like
Hirako Shinji had seen through Aizen's true nature at a glance.
And yet,
he still got completely played!!!
"Do you really have to ask?"
Hirako gave a cold snort.
Even lying on the ground, grievously wounded, his answer made viewers' jaws drop:
"Obviously, I already knew back when you were still in your mother's womb…"
The line crashed down like thunder,
shocking the entire world.
In Las Noches, the Arrancar and Hollows were all dumbstruck.
"…The hell?!"
"He's even cursing out the man's mother now?"
"This Hirako Shinji really is a madman!"
"Isn't he afraid Aizen will lose his temper and finish him off right there? Even Grimmjow, who's been pissed at Aizen-sama for years, only ever dared to swallow his anger in front of him!"
"When it comes to attitude… maybe we really should be taking notes from Hirako Shinji!!!"
The Arrancar were stunned.
They couldn't help but mentally project themselves onto Hirako's position and secretly feel a surge of satisfaction.
"So that's how it is…"
Tilting his head slightly,
Aizen let slip a devilish smile, not bothered in the slightest.
"That's the kind of answer I would expect from you, Captain Hirako."
"Aizen!!!"
Grinding his teeth, Hirako forced his anger down and spoke in a cold voice,
"From the very beginning, I knew it. You're a dangerous man—and not someone who can be trusted!"
"The only reason I chose you as vice-captain of Squad Five was precisely so I could keep you close and keep an eye on you!!!"
"Is that so?"
Hearing this,
Aizen's smile didn't falter.
Behind the lenses of his glasses, he still wore that same expression of absolute control.
Smiling faintly, he replied in a calm tone,
"Then I really ought to thank you, Captain Hirako, for suspecting me so thoroughly."
"Because it means you never realized…"
"Starting about a month ago, the person following you around every day wasn't actually me at all."
Slowly raising his hand,
he lifted his Zanpakutō.
Facing the camera and Hirako's incredulous stare,
Aizen spoke gently beneath the moonlight,
for the third time revealing, right to their faces, the true nature of his greatest power:
"This Zanpakutō of mine—Kyōka Suigetsu…"
"As I wish, it can make all phenomena in this world appear to change!"
"And by using its infinite power to induce hypnosis, I can freely control everything!!!"
As his ability was revealed,
the world was stunned.
In that moment, the entire Bleach world erupted in an uproar!!!
(End of Chapter)
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