Delusion (continued)

As the teacups were filled, rising steam slowly enveloped the two of them, blurring their vision.

Xuanxin stared silently at his reflection on the surface of the tea, the bloody truth of the Great Spirit Book Gallery flashing through his mind, and the commoners in Rukongai who were used as experimental subjects.

After a long silence, Xuanxin raised his head, his deep black eyes meeting Captain-Commander Yamamoto's aged yet sharp eyes. His voice was soft, but it resonated like metal striking the ground:

"Master, I still want... reform."

Upon hearing the word "reform," Captain-Commander Yamamoto's eyes narrowed sharply.

His brows, as withered as withered wood, furrowed deeply, and a heavy Reiatsu loomed in the quiet room. Then, the old man spoke in a stern tone:

"Reform? Xuanxin, do you know the weight behind those two words?"

"If you want to reform, you will inevitably touch upon or even overturn the existing foundation. For those vague and uncertain futures, you will shatter the order and peace that the Soul Society has maintained for millions of years... Are you prepared to let the entire Seireitei be drenched in blood?"

Despite the immense pressure, Xuanxin's back remained ramrod straight. Meeting Captain-Commander Yamamoto's gaze, he continued firmly:

"Precisely because I know the cost will be heavy, what I want is a slow reform."

"Slow reforms?" Captain-Commander Yamamoto's brow furrowed slightly.

"Yes, Master." Xuanxin took a deep breath and slowly unfolded his grand plan that he had been brewing for a long time.

"Radical purges will only bring destruction, but we can use time to dilute the contradictions. What one generation cannot do, let the next generation do."

The air in the quiet room returned to calm once more as Xuanxin finished speaking.

Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai quietly looked at the white-haired youth before him, at the flame of hope in his eyes, devoid of any selfish desire.

The old man's tightly furrowed brows began to slowly relax without him even noticing.

A hint of relief flashed in his eyes, which had seen through a thousand years of vicissitudes, along with an irrepressible expectation for the future.

"Use time to bury the old world...?"

Captain-Commander Yamamoto pondered in a low voice for a long time.

He neither said it was good nor bad; he simply picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and then said in a casual tone:

"In a few days, during your time off, call your two senior brothers and come to my place. We, master and disciples, will have a proper chat."

Upon hearing this, Xuanxin's eyes instantly lit up with wild joy!

He knew his master all too well, especially Captain-Commander Yamamoto, an extremely conservative and stubborn old man.

He didn't draw his Ryūjin Jakka on the spot to kill anyone; he even took the initiative to suggest calling Kyōraku and Ukitake to "have a good chat"... This attitude says it all!

At this moment, the strongest Shinigami of the millennium finally acquiesced to Xuanxin's outrageous act, which was enough to overthrow the Soul Society!

"Yes! Thank you, Master!"

Unable to contain his excitement, Xuanxin picked up the cup of tea in front of him, which was already a little warm, and drank it all in one gulp.

He then stood up, bowed deeply, and prepared to leave to process all the information he had gathered that day.

However.

Just as Xuanxin turned around, preparing to open the wooden door to the quiet room, Captain-Commander Yamamoto's voice suddenly rang out behind him again.

However, this time, the old man's voice lacked the authoritative air of someone who had been pointing out the flaws in the past; instead, it carried a strange... awkwardness and unease.

"That... Xuanxin."

Captain-Commander Yamamoto coughed twice, his gaze drifting somewhat as he looked at the ceiling.

"You're now a core pillar of the Gotei 13. While I can't interfere too much in your private life, you should... be more mindful of your public image in the future."

"Ah?"

Xuanxin's hand, which was reaching for the doorknob, froze in mid-air. He turned his head, full of confusion, to look at Captain-Commander Yamamoto:

"Master, what do you mean by that? I usually live a very simple life, going between home and work, and my conduct is very upright."

"Upright? Hmph."

Captain-Commander Yamamoto snorted coldly, and the bizarre scene that Sasakibe had told him last night about Retsu Unohana giving the kid a "lap pillow" involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

And then, in the grand assembly hall, the almost explosive exchange of glances between Yoruichi Shihōin and Retsu Unohana.

"In short, you better behave yourself! Stop causing trouble all the time, go on!" Captain-Commander Yamamoto waved his hand with a headache, directly issuing an order to leave.

"Uh... yes, I will remember."

Although Xuanxin was completely bewildered and didn't understand the old man's riddle at all, seeing the Captain-Commander's impending temper, he nodded repeatedly from the bottom of his heart and quickly slipped out of the quiet room.

The wooden door closed again.

In the empty, quiet room, only Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai remained.

The Captain-Commander for millennia, rubbed his temples with a sigh of resignation, and muttered under his breath:

"It's unbelievable. This kid is shrewd as a devil when it comes to serious matters, but he's as clueless as a blockhead when it comes to women. I don't know if he's genuinely stupid or just a born womanizer. How come he can pick up girls everywhere he goes? Sigh, can't I just have a normal apprentice...?"

The old man then shook his head, no longer paying attention to the young man's romantic musings.

He closed his eyes again, and began to carefully analyze the "slow reform" plan that Xuanxin had just proposed.

Meanwhile, at the Shin'ō Academy, far from the political center of the First Division.

Late at night, in the student dormitory area.

Sōsuke Aizen was sitting at his desk, intently studying the black notebook he had stolen from the Tsunayashiro Clan's underground laboratory, all under the dim light of a Reishi lamp.

"Still not enough..."

Aizen pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, his brows furrowing slightly.

As he delved deeper into this taboo knowledge, he increasingly realized that while the contents of his notebook were enough to overturn common sense, they were mostly just basic experimental data and conjectures.

The core underlying logic of "soul reconstruction" and the key algorithms of the core components are completely absent from this notebook.

"If I can't see a complete theoretical framework, my ideas will forever remain on paper." A hint of longing and frustration flashed in Aizen's eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, at this very moment, in the shadow of the dense cherry blossom tree outside his dormitory window, a hidden figure was silently watching his every move, like a ghost.

The figure was extremely well hidden, its Reiatsu completely blending into the night.

He looked at Aizen's focused and somewhat fanatical profile under the light, but had no intention of making a move, because now was far from the time to close the net.

And just a few days later.

An unexpected turn of events shattered Aizen's peaceful academy life.

A man dressed as a handyman at the Spiritual Arts Academy secretly found Aizen during a break between classes.

In the instant the two brushed past each other, the man skillfully slipped a sealed letter into Aizen's wide sleeve.

Aizen paused slightly, but his expression remained unchanged, still bearing that gentle smile, as if nothing had happened, and he walked straight back to his empty dormitory.

After closing the door, Aizen pulled the letter from his sleeve.

The envelope was unsigned, but a pattern sealed with special spiritual wax was printed on the closure.

The moment he saw the pattern, Aizen's pupils contracted slightly.

That's the crest of the Tsunayashiro Clan, one of the Five Great Noble Clans!

Seeing this, Aizen narrowed his eyes and tore open the envelope. The letter didn't contain much, but it conveyed a sense of restlessness and a deadly lure that Aizen simply couldn't resist!

It turns out that the new head of the Tsunayashiro Clan, who had just succeeded to the position in the shadows, was unwilling to let the family truly remain silent for two hundred years.

He knew very well that with the Shihoin Clan at its zenith, if the Tsunayashiro Clan truly went into seclusion for two hundred years, then when they reappeared, they would have no place in the entire Soul Society.

The family's top brass and elite forces are currently trapped in the main house, unable to openly interfere with the operation of Soul Society.

Therefore, he must find an "agent" and "helper" outside the body who will not be suspected by the Gotei 13.

Sōsuke Aizen, a commoner genius who has just made a name for himself in the Shin'ō Academy, has no background, and has recently become very close to Shihoin Genshin, perfectly caught the eye of this new head of the family!

In order to win over Aizen and make him willingly become the Tsunayashiro Clan's eyes and ears and force in the outside world, the new head of the family offered a bargaining chip in the letter:

Secret access to the Great Spirit Book Gallery!

Although the Great Spirit Book Gallery has been nominally taken over by the First Division.

However, as an ancient family that controlled that place for millions of years, the Tsunayashiro Clan left behind too many unknown back doors and secret passages in that vast space.

Therefore, even with the current tight security, the new head of the family is absolutely confident that he can use special means to allow someone to sneak into the outer area of the corridor without anyone noticing.

They could even use the remaining privileges of their family to tamper with some less important historical records in order to cover up traces of certain actions.

Looking at the words "Great Spirit Book Gallery" on the letter, Aizen's breathing became uncontrollably rapid.

There, he found all the ultimate knowledge he needed to complete his theory!

What Aizen didn't know was that the letter wasn't actually supported by everyone inside the sealed-off main house of the Tsunayashiro Clan.

In a dark, secret underground room.

The self-important new patriarch was smugly proclaiming his "genius plan" to several family elders.

At the very end of the long table sat a young man who was extremely thin and pale, looking like a sickly person who had never seen the sun.

Listening to the new patriarch's grand plan to control a genius with a little knowledge, Tokinada's pale face remained expressionless, but his sinister eyes flashed with undisguised mockery and ridicule.

What a bunch of idiots. They actually dared to try and control a monster whose background they didn't even fully understand. If that guy named Aizen were really just a dog wagging its tail for profit, that would be one thing.

But what if he's a wolf in sheep's clothing, intent on devouring the world? Handing the key to the Great Spirit Book Gallery to such a person... that's practically asking for the family's demise!

Tokinada wanted to stand up and yell at that foolish family head. But he knew that with his current position in the family, he had no right to speak.

"Fine, let these idiots play with fire and get burned. Only when they've ruined all the cards they have left will I... have a chance to gain real power."

Tokinada touched his pale cheek, a sickly smile curving his lips, choosing to coldly observe the farce that was about to unfold.

Let's return our focus to the Shin'ō Academy.

Clutching the letter that reeked of conspiracy, Aizen fell into a brief silence.

The first image that popped into his mind was Xuanxin's face, which always wore a gentle smile.

"Giving this letter to Teacher Shihoin and having him completely eradicate the remaining cancer within the Tsunayashiro Clan would undoubtedly be the safest course of action."

Reason was frantically reminding Aizen that contacting the Tsunayashiro Clan, a group of disgraced officials closely monitored by the higher-ups, was tantamount to dancing on a knife's edge.

"But..."

When his gaze swept over the words "Great Spirit Book Gallery" again, Aizen's fervor for knowledge instantly overwhelmed all reason and caution like a tsunami!

"I need that knowledge now; it's the ladder to the future."

Aizen's gaze instantly turned icy and resolute.

Late that night, under the cover of darkness, he...

Alone, Aizen followed the instructions in the letter and quietly arrived at a secluded, abandoned warehouse in Rukongai.

There, he met the secret envoy sent by the Tsunayashiro Clan to make contact.