Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Please Take Care of Me, Lieutenant Aizen
Chapter 30: Please Take Care of Me, Lieutenant Aizen
Hueco Mundo, a fractured and mottled land.
Sosuke Aizen halted his steps, looking at the handsome boy opposite him.
...The feeling of his Spiritual Pressure has changed.
Is it Bankai?
No, that’s not it.
His Rei-i level is somewhere between Class 6 and Class 7. Even compared to an ordinary Lieutenant, he is more than a notch below.
With this level of Spiritual Pressure, it is absolutely impossible to perform Bankai.
So it is... a "Multi-Stage Shikai"?
"You truly put me in a difficult position, Yato-kun."
Aizen spoke, still using that gentle tone that felt as soothing as a spring breeze.
"It seems I need to readjust and crush you with non-lethal force."
Yato Uchiha didn’t reply. He merely gripped his Zanpakuto tightly with both hands and charged once more.
He didn’t use the fire-based Kido he was so proud of, and Aizen didn’t use Danku. The two simply collided head-on.
Rumble...
The ground beneath their feet wailed. Akame and Kyoka Suigetsu pushed dead against each other, neither willing to yield a single inch.
Right at that moment, the space surrounding Yato suddenly underwent a transformation.
Ribs as thick as an adult’s thigh grew out of the void, wrapping the boy inside like a cage of armor, burning with a purple, searing aura.
A similarly massive skeletal arm extended from the side of the ribs. Raising high into the air, it clenched into a fist and viciously smashed toward Sosuke Aizen’s undefended head!
Aizen didn’t retreat half a step. Instead, he switched to holding his sword with one hand, raised his free hand over his head, and forcefully met the fist of Susanoo head-on.
Bang!
The mellow and elegant man paused slightly, looking down at his feet, revealing a look of surprise for the very first time.
Just a moment ago, when Aizen had erupted with his tyrannical Spiritual Pressure to extinguish the black flames, this patch of desert had sunk several meters, becoming incredibly compact and hard.
But now, after blocking Susanoo’s arm, countless tiny cracks had splintered beneath Aizen’s feet.
"I see. A power worthy of respect, Yato-kun." Aizen looked at the six-pointed Mangekyo in the boy’s eyes and sighed admiringly:
"However, this is where it ends."
As he spoke, Kyoka Suigetsu’s blade swung violently to the side, knocking Akame away, before slashing swiftly downward toward Yato Uchiha!
A completely different echelon of power burst forth from the blade.
The skeletal frame of Susanoo was like paper, severed in an instant.
Kyoka Suigetsu followed through, slicing into the boy’s chest and ruthlessly pinning him to the ground!
Amidst the rampaging Spiritual Pressure, the excruciating pain was unbearable for Yato. Unable to maintain Susanoo’s initial state, the skeleton and arm vanished without a trace.
He gasped heavily for air, grasping Kyoka Suigetsu’s blade with both hands, but he couldn’t pull it out no matter how hard he tried.
Slowly, Yato stopped struggling.
Because he realized that aside from the agonizing pain and a temporary inability to muster his strength, he seemed to be mostly fine.
Yato quickly understood what had happened.
When Sosuke Aizen blocked Susanoo’s arm, he had precisely gauged the upper limits of Susanoo’s initial state.
Then, he added a mere fraction of force on top of that limit—just enough to cleanly break through the skeletal armor. He had intentionally avoided all vital organs, allowing the blade to pierce through his body along the gaps.
It could be said that this was a completely one-sided, crushing defeat. If he had wanted to, Aizen could have chopped Yato into pieces in a thousandth of a second!
But he didn’t.
"I’ll pin you here for a while." Aizen let go of the Zanpakuto’s hilt:
"After all, young people nowadays are far too impulsive."
"Hmph... Lieutenant Aizen, kill me or torture me, do as you please."
"Don’t be so careless with your life, Yato-kun." The man casually adjusted his black-framed glasses, suddenly asking with a hint of curiosity:
"Is it only a skeleton and an arm?"
Yato froze slightly, realizing what Aizen was asking. He thought for a moment before replying:
"My Spiritual Pressure is insufficient. I can’t harness Susanoo’s full power. With a Class 7 Rei-i, I can only manifest a few ribs and an arm."
"Oh? There is more to come?"
"That’s inevitable, isn’t it? Just like a human, right now it’s only bones. Later on, it will grow flesh, blood, and a nervous system, and finally, it will don armor... I just don’t know what level of Rei-i that will require."
"I see."
Aizen nodded thoughtfully. Seeing that Yato had no intention of resisting, he swiftly pulled Kyoka Suigetsu out with a schwing.
The boy hissed, drawing in a sharp breath of cold air, but he didn’t express any dissatisfaction, nor did he try to run. Instead, he simply sat on the ground, took out some ointment, and applied it to his wound.
Watching Yato Uchiha’s performance, Aizen felt a growing sense of satisfaction.
The annihilation of the Horiuchi clan a year ago had been handled by a team he personally led. That night, Aizen had discovered a Spiritual Pressure that, although weak, was incredibly resilient and untamed.
Following that, he investigated in secret and successfully traced the source of that Spiritual Pressure to Yato Uchiha.
After a long period of observation, Sosuke Aizen had planned to visit Hueco Mundo in person to conduct a comprehensive test on Yato.
The results far exceeded his expectations.
After entering Hueco Mundo, Yato had killed many Menos Grande and seemed highly interested in the power of Hollows.
When his act of helping a Vasto Lorde was exposed, he immediately revealed a chilling killing intent, preparing to silence his classmates from the Shin’o Academy without hesitation.
In his clash with Aizen himself, he had displayed an astonishing Multi-Stage Shikai. Furthermore, upon recognizing the sheer, insurmountable disparity in their power, he didn’t foolishly choose to flee. Instead, he respectfully referred to him as "Lieutenant Aizen" at every turn.
Thus, a complete character portrait of "Yato Uchiha" was finally sketched out in Aizen’s mind.
A highly talented young man destined to become a Captain-class figure, perhaps even capable of catching a glimpse of Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s zenith. Someone who harbored no reservations about using the power of Hollows to elevate himself.
He possessed absolutely no loyalty to the Seireitei. He dared to shatter rules and slaughter anyone who stood in his path, yet he also understood the shifting tides, was remarkably intelligent, and had concealed his boundless ambition flawlessly while at the Shin’o Academy.
—Yato Uchiha: an incredibly rare and sharp blade; a peerless steed seldom seen in this world!
Aizen was never afraid of his subordinates being too strong; his only fear was that those beneath him were too weak and dull-witted to keep up with his footsteps.
Currently, although he had amassed a large group of pawns willing to die for him, almost none of them were truly worthy of his gaze.
Even the blind Kaname Tosen was merely considered mediocre in Aizen’s eyes—a tool he forced himself to use while holding his nose.
Of course, the sharper the blade, the easier it was to cut oneself; the faster the steed, the more likely it was to buck and kick.
Amidst a myriad of swirling thoughts, Sosuke Aizen reached out his broad, welcoming hand to the boy sitting on the ground:
"I am Sosuke Aizen."
"Someday in the future, I will ascend to the heavens and sit upon the throne."
"I hope that when that time comes, I will have someone like you standing behind me."
Heaven and earth seemed to fall utterly silent at this moment.
Such treasonous, world-shaking words failed to elicit a single trace of panic or cowering from either of them.
In this world, countless living beings were destined to be mere stepping stones; only a select few truly possessed the audacity to be kings.
Yato Uchiha didn’t make Aizen wait long. He reached out and firmly grasped the other’s hand:
"Captain Aizen..."
"Ah, Yato-kun, you must call me Lieutenant." Aizen smiled warmly, pointing to the Lieutenant’s badge on his arm:
"Following the rules of the Seireitei is our solemn duty as Soul Reapers, is it not?"
"Naturally." Yato smoothly adapted, stepping back half a pace and bowing slightly:
"Please take care of me from now on, Lieutenant Aizen."
Aizen gently patted Yato’s shoulder, signaling that he didn’t need to concern himself with empty formalities.
From beginning to end, Sosuke Aizen never explicitly stated what his grand plan was, nor did he detail the bloody, treacherous path that following him would entail.
When dealing with ambitious and intelligent men, some things simply didn’t need to be said out loud.
However...
The mellow, handsome man’s mind flashed with the image of the boy’s dark, fathomless eyes.
Yato Uchiha, where exactly will your ambition stop?
Captain-class? Or perhaps even higher?
Or, like me, do you also covet that throne in the heavens?
If you also desire to become the king of this world, then perhaps one day, the very blade I have so carefully cultivated will turn around and thrust itself toward my heart.
But it is truly strange. Even when considering such a possibility, I don’t feel the slightest trace of resentment.
If such a future truly exists...
Sosuke Aizen’s long, powerful fingers gently trailed across his Zanpakuto. Kyoka Suigetsu let out a melodious, clear ring—akin to the elegant sound of a lute, yet vibrating with the heavy cadence of a war drum.
I look forward to that day, Yato Uchiha.
☆☆☆
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