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"Oh hell… did the three of us just get exposed?"
Inside the Fifth Division's underground chamber, Gin's previously amused expression completely stiffened.
In its place appeared rare, unmistakable panic, along with a desperate hope that fate wasn't about to come crashing down on them.
Standing beside him, Aizen said nothing.
His expression remained calm and unreadable, as though he hadn't noticed Gin's fear at all.
In truth, the moment he heard the Captain-Commander's words, Aizen had reached the exact same conclusion.
"We've been exposed."
Looking again at the video's background, all he could see were heavily damaged buildings.
Instantly, Aizen identified the location.
This was Karakura Town.
The final battlefield between the Arrancar army and the Gotei Thirteen.
With that realization, everything fell into place.
The Captain-Commander's warning was clearly aimed at the three of them.
"Gin…"
"If we need to leave Soul Society," Aizen asked after a moment of thought, "the Negación should still be able to descend without obstruction, correct?"
"Lord Aizen… are you already preparing for the worst?"
Tōsen Kaname swallowed hard.
Shock rippled across the half of his face visible beneath the black cloth.
I never expected it.This day actually came so suddenly.
Because of that damn "ranking" video barging in out of nowhere, we were forced to defect to Hueco Mundo ahead of schedule.
"Then what did you expect?"
Aizen shot the blind man a cold glance. His tone was firm, his face unreadable.
"When the camera switches later, you'd better pray it doesn't cut straight to the three of us."
"Otherwise, with the Captain-Commander's temper and his absolute hatred of anything resembling 'betrayal,' I seriously doubt he'll keep sitting calmly in First Division watching the video."
You could hear it.Even someone as composed as Aizen had a trace of irritation in his voice right now.
That irritation wasn't aimed at the Captain-Commander.It was directed at the cursed creator of that video.
If not for that ranking video dragging everything into the spotlight, things would be very different.Kuchiki Rukia had already reached the human world. The plan was unfolding step by step without a hitch. All they had to do was wait a little longer, until Kurosaki Ichigo led the ryoka into Soul Society. Then the Hōgyoku hidden inside Rukia would be theirs for the taking.
What a shame.
A flicker of regret passed through Aizen's eyes.At the same time, he fully prepared himself to cut and run.
Still—
Inside the video, the camera really did switch.
Boom!!!
The Captain-Commander raised his hand again. The overwhelming spiritual pressure hidden within that ancient body poured down from above. Terrifying reiatsu exploded outward, almost forming a blazing volcano that rampaged freely across the already devastated battlefield.
"Again?!"
"Oh no… he's not seriously planning to wipe out the entire battlefield with one swing, is he?"
"That's terrifying. He's basically a walking sun!"
…
The scorching heat washed over them once more.Some viewers who had barely mustered the courage to stop running and keep watching immediately bolted outside again.
Are you kidding me?That nightmare just now was more than enough for a lifetime.
And sure enough—
The catastrophic scene repeated itself.
"Ryūjin Jakka. Incinerate the city!!!"
His tone was utterly plain.Yet the instant the Captain-Commander swung his blade, the tip of Ryūjin Jakka erupted with an endless sea of flames. Like a meteor shower, the fire tore violently across the sky, forcibly splitting the heavens above Karakura Town in two.
Half heaven.Half hell.
The flames were so vast that even the camera couldn't capture their full scale. It panned slowly, yet still couldn't find the end.
Guided by the Captain-Commander's will, those world-ending flames gradually took shape, forming an enormous wall of fire that blocked off heaven and earth, completely sealing the scorched space inside.
Anyone trying to break out from within would be burned alive by temperatures reaching thousands of degrees.
There was no escape. None at all.
"The three of you are now completely sealed inside by this old man…"
"Confess within the wall of flames, and watch as we wipe out the Arrancar one by one…"
He didn't call out any names.After leaving that warning behind, the Captain-Commander calmly sheathed his zanpakutō. Only when Ryūjin Jakka returned to its scabbard did the rampaging scene finally settle back into silence.
But—
What had just happened sent shockwaves of disbelief and speculation rippling everywhere.
"That's strange…"
"If I heard him right, the old man emphasized it twice. Inside that massive wall of flames, there are three people sealed within."
"So then… who exactly are those three mysterious figures?"
Inside the Thirteenth Division barracks, Kyōraku Shunsui frowned, keenly picking up on that crucial detail.
"Yeah. From the way he reacted, it looks like the old man was especially angry at those three," Kyōraku said.
"And from what I know of him, he only gets that furious when he's deeply disappointed. Just like that earlier scene when he confronted us."
Ukitake Jūshirō rubbed his chin and analyzed the situation calmly.
He could vaguely sense it. The Captain-Commander's tone wasn't aimed solely at enemies. There was another, unfamiliar emotion mixed in.
That was unsettling.
If the enemies were just the Arrancar army, there was no reason for the old man to lose his temper like that.After all, he was the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years.
Getting that worked up over Arrancar would feel beneath him. It didn't match the presence or dignity of someone of his stature.
So—
After ruling out all those possibilities, only one conclusion remained.
People he knew.
The three sealed inside the wall of flames had to be familiar faces. People the old man recognized.
"Hiss…"
Realizing this, Ukitake couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. A powerful sense of unease surged up from deep within.
Familiar faces. The Arrancar army.A war against the Gotei Thirteen.
When all those elements came together, the nature of the conflict changed completely.
This was no longer a simple battle between Shinigami and Arrancar.
It was a war to purge traitors.
The atmosphere instantly turned strange.
Kyōraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō both fell silent. Once they grasped the gravity of the situation, any trace of a carefree, spectator-like mood vanished. Worry showed plainly on their faces.
If this deduction was correct…
Then it meant there were infiltrators from Hueco Mundo hidden within Soul Society itself.
That was huge.An earth-shattering secret.
And just as the two of them were spiraling into that chilling thought—
Behind them, Ise Nanao, who had nearly passed out earlier from Ryūjin Jakka's pressure, suddenly spoke up, as if possessed.
"Captain Kyōraku…"
"Captain Ukitake…"
"I don't know if you noticed, but from the very first ranking segment until now, more than half of the Gotei Thirteen captains have already appeared on screen."
She frowned deeply, then cut straight to the point.
"Only the captains of the Second, Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Divisions…"
"These five haven't shown their faces even once, whether fighting the Arrancar or the pure-blood Quincy."
One sentence snapped them awake.
Hearing Nanao's words, Kyōraku and Ukitake's eyes widened in realization.
Could it be…
That among those five, three of them were the traitors?
"..."
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