The Greatest Distance

"Captain Aizen, are you still alive? Weren't you supposed to be dead..." A girl's voice rang out. Aizen, who had been dead, was now standing alive in front of her. She could hardly believe it.

"Ah, it's been a long time, Hinamori. As you can see, I'm still alive~" Aizen said.

Hinamori trembled, not from fear but from joy. She had only one thought: Captain Aizen was still alive. That was wonderful. She didn't care at all why Aizen had been resurrected, or why he had faked his death.

Hinamori slowly walked towards Aizen, clutching his clothes as if afraid he would disappear. After confirming his presence, she threw herself into Aizen's arms and sobbed. Aizen stroked her head to comfort her.

"I'm sorry for making you worry," Aizen stopped Hinamori. "I'm truly sorry for hurting you so deeply, but I hope you can understand. I had things I had to deal with, which is why I faked my death..."

"Don't say anymore, just the fact that the captain is still alive is enough for me..."

Aizen hugged Hinamori even tighter. "Thank you, Hinamori. It's so wonderful to have a subordinate like you. Thank you so much." Aizen paused, then continued, "Goodbye..."

Hinamori stared in disbelief as the person opposite her Zanpakuto into her body. Even as she collapsed, she couldn't believe her eyes. When she looked up at Aizen again, he was no longer the warm and gentle man she knew. His face was cold and stern, and he looked at Hinamori as if she were an ant. This was Aizen she had never seen before.

"Let's go, Silver!"

"Yes, Captain Aizen."

The two walked out slowly, only to encounter Tōshirō, who was rushing over. Toshiro looked at Aizen in surprise. "Aizen? Are you really Aizen?"

"Of course. As you can see, it's me. Speaking of which, it's earlier than I expected," Aizen, looking at Gin with a questioning tone.

"Sorry, it seems Kira's delaying tactics didn't work," Gin replied.

"What are you talking about?" Tōshirō, puzzled.

"It's nothing. Just a basic tactical discussion. Isn't separating the enemy's fighting force the most basic tactic?" Aizen answered Tōshirō's question indifferently, as if he didn't take him seriously.

Sure enough, Tōshirō looked around and asked, "Where's Hinamori? Where is she?" Then he saw the house behind Aizen, and with a Shunpo, he saw Hinamori lying on the ground, covered in blood.

"What a pity, you found me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. At the very least, I should have disposed of the body to prevent you from finding out," Aizen said nonchalantly.

Tōshirō clenched his fist. "Aizen, Ichimaru, when did you two become allies? Before you faked your death?"

"Of course, it's been from the very beginning. Since I became the captain, I've never thought of anyone other than him as captain," Aizen said matter-of-factly, simply stating a fact.

"So, you've been deceiving everyone all along?" Tōshirō's body trembled slightly, revealing his anger.

"I didn't mean to deceive you~ It's just that none of you understand my true nature." Aizen was still smiling at this moment, but his face no longer had its usual gentle expression; instead, it exuded the aura of a superior.

Sōsuke Aizen is a king, a born king. How could he possibly settle for being just a captain in Soul Society? What he desires is unparalleled power, to make the entire world tremble beneath his feet, to be the one at the very top of the sky!

"Don't understand? Hinamori joined the Thirteenth Division because she admired you. She trained relentlessly to be able to help you, and finally became the lieutenant."

Aizen replied, "Of course I know that, which is why I recommended her to be my subordinate. People who have aspirations are the easiest to control. There's something you should remember, Captain Hitsugaya: Aspiration is the emotion furthest from understanding."

Tōshirō was instantly enraged. He drew his Zanpakuto and shouted, "Bankai! Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!" Instantly Tōshirō was covered in frost, looking like an ice dragon coiled around him, and the temperature in the air plummeted.

Unlike before, Tōshirō's Bankai is now nearly complete. The twelve Ice Flowers on his head that symbolized the time limit have disappeared. After all these years, he has finally completed his Bankai training. The time limit issue has been eliminated.

However, at that moment, two people entered through the door: Unohana and her vice-captain, Isane Kotetsu. "Wait Captain Hitsugaya, you still..." But before he could finish speaking Tōshirō rushed forward without thinking.

He wouldn't listen to anyone now; he had only one thought in mind: to kill Aizen and Gin Ichimaru. Only in this way could he quell his anger.

Tōshirō stabbed Aizen with his sword, everything seeming to happen too easily. Then, Unohana shouted, "Watch out behind you, Captain Hitsugaya!"

With Unohana's reminder, Tōshirō instinctively Zanpakuto forward, perfectly blocking Aizen's attack. "Blocked? Captain Hitsugaya has grown, hasn't he? Or rather, Captain Unohana, you seem to have arrived earlier than I expected. Did you immediately realize it was here?"

"Captain Aizen, oh no, I can't call you captain anymore, you traitorous sinner Sōsuke Aizen!" Unohana spoke calmly, then stopped Tōshirō from continuing the fight, because it was obvious that Tōshirō was still some distance away from Aizen, and continuing the fight would only be a pointless death.

Unohana continued, "The only area in the Seireien where entry is prohibited for any reason is the Central Underground Prison. It's the hardest place in Soul Society to be discovered. This is all thanks to Ye Yang's repeated reminders to carefully examine the corpses; no matter how perfectly a corpse puppet is made, it will always be somewhat different from the real thing."

Aizen wasn't surprised, because Ye Yang knew about the abilities of Kyōka Suigetsu. He then adopted a look of eager interest in hearing more.

"Your corpse doll is indeed very perfect, but its biggest flaw is also that it is too perfect, because a corpse will never stay the same forever. As time goes by, a corpse will gradually turn into Reishi, while your corpse doll has always remained the same," Unohana explained.

Aizen clapped his hands and said, "What a pity. Although the judgment was completely correct, there are two mistakes. First, I didn't come here to hide. And second, this isn't a 'corpse doll'." Aizen was holding a corpse in his hand, and that corpse was none other than himself!

"What! When..." Isane exclaimed in surprise, even the usually calm Retsu Unohana was moved, she hadn't even noticed when Aizen had taken this "corpse doll".

But Aizen's next answer surprised them even more, "When... I've been holding it in this hand all this time, but until just a moment ago, I didn't intend for it to reveal its true form."

"Wh... what do you mean?" Isane in surprise.

Aizen replied, "You'll find out soon enough. Watch closely, it's about to be released. Shatter— Kyōka Suigetsu!" A jaw-dropping scene unfolded as the puppet in Aizen's hand suddenly transformed into his Zanpakuto!

This scene stunned everyone present. Tōshirō finally realized that he hadn't actually stabbed Aizen, but they just didn't understand.

Aizen seemed to relish the astonishment of others. He released his grip, letting his Zanpakuto plant itself in the ground, and said, "My Zanpakuto — Kyōka Suigetsu —possesses the ability of 'Complete Hypnosis'."

Isane asked, puzzled, "But Kyōka Suigetsu is a Flowing Water- type Zanpakuto that uses the chaotic reflection of mist and water to cause enemies to kill each other. Didn't Captain Aizen actually show us this by summoning our lieutenants?"

Unohana suddenly spoke up, "I see, so that was a hypnosis ritual, right?"

"Correct answer. Complete Hypnosis can control the five senses and make a person believe that the object's posture, appearance, mass, touch, and even smell are an enemy. That is to say, it can make a fly look like a dragon and a swamp look like a flower field. The condition for activation is that the enemy sees the moment the Kyōka Suigetsu is released."

Aizen paused, then continued, "Even someone who has only seen it once will fall into Complete Hypnosis from that moment on. From then on, whenever I release Kyōka Suigetsu, they will become a prisoner of Complete Hypnosis."

Unohana murmured, "Even if I've only seen it once..." Then she suddenly realized something and made a surprised expression.

Aizen smiled and said, "It seems you've noticed. Yes, that is to say, if you see it once, you'll fall into the spell; if you don't see it, you won't fall for it. In other words, from the very beginning, Tōsen has been my subordinate."

Suddenly, Gin pulled a white strip of cloth from his sleeve. He pulled it sharply, and the cloth began to spin around them. Aizen, standing inside, said, "Goodbye, Captain Unohana. I think we won't meet again." With that, a white light flashed, and Aizen and Gin disappeared from the spot. Isane, who went to stop them, missed.

Unohana said to Isane, "Now is not the time to pursue. Let's first find out where Aizen went."

"Yes!" Isane replied, then chanted. "Southern heart, northern eye, western fingertip, eastern heel, gather with the wind, scatter with the rain! Bakudō Fifty-Eight - Kakushitsuijaku"

"Detected! 332 East, 1566 North, ah? This is Sōkyoku!"

Unohana nodded. "I understand, Isane. Immediately notify all the captains and vice-captains of each division, informing them of everything we know about Aizen, and also tell the Ryoka that we need to treat Vice-Captain Hinamori first."...()