A Conversation Between Teacher and Student

If the Gotei 13 devoted all its resources to cultivating him, then two hundred years from now, that white-haired young man might well have grown powerful enough to control all of Soul Society!

Most importantly, that boy had no sense at all that, as a fellow noble, his own fate was bound to theirs.

That also meant that by the time the Tsunayashiro Clan could finally return to the center of power, they would face a Seireitei completely controlled by that teacher and student, united like a solid wall!

Suppressed by such absolute power, the Tsunayashiro Clan, abandoned by the times for two hundred years, probably would not even be able to muster the strength to resist.

They could only become an insignificant speck of historical dust in Soul Society's struggle for power, trampled underfoot by anyone!

It was not enough to kill; one had to crush the heart as well.

This "stalling tactic" was the true way to strike at the root, completely cutting off the Tsunayashiro Clan's future!

But now, everything had been decided, and nothing could be done to change it.

Over the following days, the loyal minor nobles under the Tsunayashiro Clan scurried about like ants on a hot pan, trying to rally support for their masters and overturn the verdict.

But the Kuchiki Clan, having made preparations, ruthlessly suppressed them through the law, while the Shihoin Clan's Stealth Force deterred them with the threat of assassination. In just a few days, those faint sparks of resistance were completely and cleanly snuffed out.

The cloud of gloom and fear that had hung over Seireitei for nearly a month finally dispersed completely.

After a harrowing reshuffling of power, Soul Society once again returned to its outwardly solemn and dignified peace.

At this moment, the head of the Tsunayashiro Clan was also filled with endless regret and fear. After all, throughout Soul Society's history, no head of one of the Five Great Noble Clans had ever been imprisoned in Muken.

If he really were thrown into Muken, then the Tsunayashiro Clan would truly never have another chance to recover.

And so, the old man, who had spent his life manipulating power and valued his dignity more than his life, ultimately chose to leave the last of his dignity as a noble behind in his prison cell.

Meanwhile.

At Shin'ō Academy, far from the center of political power.

Sōsuke Aizen sat alone on the wooden floor of a covered walkway. Lying flat across his knees was the small black notebook he had stolen from the underground laboratory.

His deep eyes, hidden behind black-framed glasses, gazed silently toward the entrance to the dojo. He knew that Teacher Shihoin, who had brought down one of the Five Great Noble Clans single-handedly, would surely come today.

Aizen pushed his glasses up his nose, a gentle, expectant smile curling his lips.

"Teacher, your student has so, so many questions now. I need to have a good... talk with you about them."

Chapter 52: A Conversation Between Teacher and Student

The conspiracy that had nearly dragged all of Seireitei into an abyss of eternal ruin had finally come to an unsatisfactory end, for the time being.

After the devastating purge, the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of the Five Great Noble Clans, had also completely abandoned its former arrogance and gone quietly into seclusion.

With the old clan head dead, the Tsunayashiro Clan selected a new head at a startling, oppressive speed.

He was said to be a young man who had always kept a low profile within the clan.

Since the previous clan head had just been declared guilty of rebellion by Captain-Commander Yamamoto, the new head's succession ceremony did not even include any outsiders. Behind the heavy vermilion gates bearing official seals, the handover was completed simply, amid a deathly, pallid silence.

Though the storm had been brutal, it brought an unexpected benefit to Seireitei's middle- and lower-ranking Soul Reapers and the civilians of Rukongai.

Ever since the Tsunayashiro Clan's affairs came to light, law and order and public conduct throughout Seireitei had visibly improved.

The young nobles who usually liked to take their retainers into the streets to stir up trouble, bully men and prey on women had all fallen silent.

They were terrified that one careless display of arrogance might bring down the Stealth Force's cold, merciless assassination blades, or the violent enforcement of the law by those barbarians from the 11th Division.

After all, even the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of the lofty and deeply entrenched Five Great Noble Clans, had suffered the miserable fate of losing its head and being ordered to seal off the entire clan for two hundred years.

If minor nobles like them dared to defy the tide at a time like this, they would probably be uprooted entirely, every trace of their existence in Soul Society wiped clean.

Yet another effect of the incident was that, before anyone realized it, the way everyone looked at Xuanxin had undergone a complete transformation.

Before, everyone had revered and feared Xuanxin because of his terrifying martial strength, enough to slay a Menos Grande, and his illustrious background as the Shihoin Clan's "prospective son-in-law."

Now, that awe was mixed with a deep wariness that sent chills down their spines.

As for Xuanxin himself, whose exploits had been embellished almost beyond belief by outsiders and who had even been portrayed as the "Captain-Commander's successor," he seemed to have put all the talk behind him.

He still led an extremely regular life, traveling between the same two places every day. Yet recently, within this seemingly uneventful routine, Xuanxin had encountered a "major problem" that made his scalp tingle, one he would even go out of his way to avoid.

That problem was the captain of the Fourth Division—Retsu Unohana.

For the past month, Xuanxin had been secretly investigating the Tsunayashiro Clan's conspiracy while also rushing around to unite various forces and arrange the operation to close the net.

He had been so busy that he had completely and utterly forgotten one life-threatening matter.

He had forgotten his plan to visit the Fourth Division's underground dojo every week for that lady's special swordsmanship training!

For someone else, missing a few lessons might merely mean slacking off. But to Retsu Unohana, Xuanxin's month-long absence without an excuse was practically a wild dance across her bottom line!

As a result, at the last few routine captains' meetings held by the Gotei 13,

the atmosphere in the meeting room had always been a little strange.

Retsu Unohana, seated near the front, still maintained her gentle, graceful demeanor on the surface, her hands elegantly folded before her.

Yet whenever Xuanxin spoke or happened to turn his head, he could always feel a gaze heavy with the aura of death fixed firmly on him.

Xuanxin even felt that if looks could kill, Sister Hana would have already sliced him to death with a thousand different sword techniques.

Thus, in Xuanxin's eyes, Captain Unohana's gentle smile was a hundred times more terrifying than Old Man Yamamoto in a rage.

Lately, Xuanxin had been like a mouse before a cat, not daring to set foot in the Fourth Division's territory.

Even when members of the 11th Division were injured, Xuanxin sent his lieutenant to take them to the Fourth Division while he himself stayed as far away as possible.

Whenever he recalled Sister Hana's meaningful gaze, Xuanxin, walking along a path at the Spiritual Arts Academy, could not help swallowing and silently lamenting:

I'm done for, I'm done for. Once this storm blows over and I'm dragged off to make up those lessons, I'm probably going to die in there!

Besides avoiding Unohana's "inspections," Xuanxin had another matter to attend to at the Spiritual Arts Academy: waiting for Sōsuke Aizen.

In fact, Xuanxin did not know that Aizen had secretly helped himself to a top-secret notebook in the Tsunayashiro Clan's underground laboratory that night.

As Xuanxin saw it, Aizen had merely witnessed the remnants and data of those experiments that defied common sense. His worldview had been shaken, and he needed time to understand and digest what he had seen.

He knew that a genius like Aizen, much like himself, could not be persuaded easily.

So Xuanxin did not probe or lecture him. He simply gave Aizen enough space to digest what he had seen for himself; Xuanxin only needed to correct him at the crucial points.

At last, Xuanxin received a response.

At dusk, in Shin'ō Academy's swordsmanship dojo, the bell rang to signal the end of class, and the students gradually filed out.

Moving against the flow of people, Aizen stood quietly in the dojo's shadows. Only when everyone around them had gone did he approach Xuanxin, who was putting his teaching materials in order.

"Teacher Shihoin." Aizen bowed slightly, his expression as usual.

Xuanxin put down his bamboo sword, dusted off his hands and turned to look at him. "Is there something you want to talk to me about? Come take a walk with me, then. It's been a long time since I strolled around the academy."

"All right, Teacher Shihoin," Aizen said, nodding.

The two walked out of the campus side by side and strolled along the flagstone path on the hill behind it.

A breeze rustled through the bamboo grove. Aside from that, all was quiet.

The two walked in silence, neither speaking, as though afraid to disturb the pleasant calm before them.

After a long silence, Aizen spoke first.

He pushed up his glasses and looked ahead. "Teacher, what do you think of the nobles and commoners in Soul Society today?"

It was a pointed question.

If he had asked Ginrei Kuchiki, the answer would surely have been "there is a distinction between high and low." If he had asked a low-ranking Soul Reaper, the answer would most likely have been complaints and resentment.

Xuanxin did not break his stride. "In my eyes, there's no essential difference between nobles and commoners. But the reality is that nobles do enjoy resources and privileges far beyond those available to commoners."

Aizen's gaze did not change at the first part. He had seen such grand-sounding words far too often in the Spiritual Arts Academy's textbooks.

However, what Xuanxin said next made Aizen glance at him.

Xuanxin stopped and looked Aizen straight in the eye. "Since nobles enjoy privileges, they must shoulder more obligations. Those nobles who only take without giving anything back are a malignant tumor in Soul Society and ought to be cut out. The Tsunayashiro Clan is the best example."

The blunt statement did not surprise Aizen. Back during the incident in Rukongai, he had already seen that Xuanxin treated all lives with extreme "impartiality."

He neither favored nobles nor blindly sympathized with commoners. All he valued were rules and justice.

Aizen immediately followed up with a second question. "Since that's how you regard the nobles, Teacher, what do you think of the current Central 46 Chambers?"

Privately discussing the Central 46 was a serious crime, but Xuanxin had no reservations and gave his assessment directly:

"Bloated and corrupt, nothing but a pack of selfish, self-serving rats." Xuanxin's voice was full of contempt, but then he changed tack.

"But there's no denying that this corrupt institution is still the hub that keeps Soul Society running. Disgusting as it is, it's the last line of defense for the existing order."

A gleam flashed in Aizen's eyes. Looking at Xuanxin, he pressed on:

"Since you see it so clearly, why did you compromise? You had irrefutable evidence, and even Captain-Commander Yamamoto intervened personally. You had enough force to crush them, so why didn't you take the chance to purge the Central 46 and wipe out the Tsunayashiro Clan completely? Why give them two hundred years of breathing room instead?"

In Aizen's view, the correct course was to pull the weeds out by the roots and reshape the rules with absolute power. A compromise that left future trouble behind was undoubtedly a sign of weakness.

Xuanxin looked at the young man before him and sighed. "It's easy to remove a tumor, but if you don't consider whether the body can withstand it, the only result is that both perish."

Xuanxin then fixed Aizen with a blazing gaze and said seriously:

"If we forcibly carry out a purge now, we'll inevitably shatter the fragile balance that has lasted a thousand years.

Once an all-out civil war breaks out, the ones who pay the price won't be the lofty nobles. It'll only be the defenseless commoners and low-ranking Soul Reapers beneath them."

"Sometimes compromise isn't fear. Besides, Soul Society as it is now isn't ready for a complete transformation. Before a new order has been established, dragging millions to their deaths for the sake of an idea isn't reform. It's a massacre."

Aizen fell silent after hearing Xuanxin's words. In truth, his own thoughts were entirely different from Xuanxin's.

In his eyes, which looked beyond the mundane, the civilians of Rukongai and even the vast majority of Soul Reapers were no different from weeds by the roadside. If those weeds were crushed by the aftermath of battle on his path to reshaping the world, it would be no more than a negligible loss.

Though he would not wantonly trample and destroy those weeds, neither would he ever stop in his tracks because a single weed had been broken.

But he did not argue, because he saw unshakable conviction in Xuanxin's eyes.

Xuanxin knew what he was thinking and added calmly, "Change doesn't happen overnight. Besides, Soul Reapers live long lives and are deeply set in their ways, so any change will be slow."

He smiled at Aizen. "But change will come. Two hundred years is enough time for us to do a great deal. Sooner or later, the seeds we've planted will overturn this corrupt soil."

Aizen turned sharply, unable to hide the shock in his eyes behind his lenses.

He finally saw his teacher's ambition clearly—this was not compromise, but a plan spanning two hundred years, a grand strategy capable of overturning Soul Society.

At that moment, Aizen's desire to understand Xuanxin reached its peak, and even the way he addressed him had gradually changed.

He suppressed the turmoil in his heart and asked his final question:

"Teacher, pure Reiatsu power, and the knowledge hidden away in those laboratories... which of these two paths is the right one?"

Xuanxin tilted his head back and looked at the bright moon in the night sky. "Power and knowledge are both right."

He lowered his gaze and said, "Without absolute power to back it up, knowledge alone leaves you a lamb at the mercy of others. And someone who blindly pursues power without enough knowledge to understand the nature of the world is nothing but a beast driven by instinct."

Neither knowledge nor power could be lacking.

Those two brief statements struck straight at Aizen's heart.