Revealing the Future

Unohana gazed at Liu Hao, her eyes thoughtful and assessing. The spatial barrier in the room shut out everything beyond it, making their conversation absolutely private.

"So the only way to counter it that you can confirm," Unohana said slowly, sorting through what she had just heard, "is to touch the blade in the instant before Kyōka Suigetsu is released. Only then can you avoid falling under Complete Hypnosis. Is that right?"

"Yes." Liu Hao nodded, then shifted the subject. "But honestly, none of that is the most important part. What matters most is that Aizen's own strength has already reached a terrifying level. In the entire Gotei 13, he's probably second only to Captain-Commander Yamamoto."

He paused, then added, "As for which of you is stronger, I don't know. But in the original course of fate, even though you were under his hypnosis for a long time, you did notice that something was amiss."

Unohana's eyes flickered. Being considered someone to watch out for by a man like Aizen was a form of recognition in itself.

"Then," she continued, "is his only goal to surpass the limits of a Soul Reaper and become the strongest?"

Liu Hao shook his head, his tone growing grave. "No. If all he wanted was to become stronger, then with Aizen's talent and strength, he would naturally reach the very top given enough time. But the problem is, his ambition goes far beyond that."

He took a deep breath and revealed the shocking truth. "He believes the Seireitei has rotted away and that the existing order is wrong. So his true goal is to replace the Soul King and fundamentally change the order of Soul Society, and even the entire Three Worlds."

The moment he said it, even Unohana, whose composure had been tempered over a thousand years, felt an indescribable shock.

Replace the Soul King?

That supreme being, regarded as the cornerstone of the Three Worlds and the one who maintained the balance of the worlds?

This was no longer ambition, but... madness.

"Then... did he succeed?" Unohana asked, disbelief in her voice.

Liu Hao shook his head with a bitter smile. "How could he? Even if he ultimately fought his way to the Soul King Palace, Aizen would be a pushover before those five members of the Zero Division. He just doesn't realize it himself."

He used a somewhat strange term, but his meaning was clear: before the truly powerful, Aizen was nothing much.

"Besides," Liu Hao continued, "although he defeated the vast majority of the Gotei 13's captains, in the end... he lost to Captain Isshin Shiba's son, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Captain Shiba's child?" Unohana was taken aback. "But why would the son of the Shiba Clan's branch family head be named Kurosaki?"

It was a reasonable question. As the head of the Shiba Clan's branch family, Isshin Shiba's children should have borne the Shiba name.

Liu Hao fell silent for a moment, then began telling the complicated story. "It all started with another of Aizen's experiments. He'll create a special Hollow called White and release it into the World of the Living. This Hollow will kill and injure a great many Soul Reapers stationed there, prompting Captain Shiba to investigate on his own."

His tone grew serious. "But how could Aizen stand by and watch his test subject be destroyed? So, at a crucial moment in Captain Shiba's fight with White, Aizen attacked him from behind and slashed him."

Unohana frowned deeply. "Wait. You said Aizen ambushed Captain Shiba? With Captain Shiba's strength, how could he have failed to notice?"

"He only knew that a Soul Reaper had attacked him," Liu Hao explained. "He didn't know who. That's because, during the Hollowfication experiments a hundred years ago, Aizen obtained a black cloak from Kisuke Urahara that could completely conceal its wearer's presence and Reiatsu. He, Kaname Tōsen, and Gin Ichimaru wore those cloaks when they appeared on the battlefield in the World of the Living. Captain Shiba couldn't detect them at all."

"I see..." Unohana nodded slowly. Kisuke Urahara had indeed developed similar equipment before; the Research and Development Institute had records of it.

Liu Hao continued. "After that, the badly wounded Captain Shiba was caught in a desperate fight. At the critical moment, he was saved by a Quincy girl named Masaki Kurosaki. White was struck a fatal blow by Masaki Kurosaki, and before it died, it used a special ability. I don't know exactly what it was, only that it transferred certain Hollow traits into Masaki Kurosaki's soul."

His tone grew complicated. "When Captain Shiba went to the World of the Living again, he happened to encounter Masaki Kurosaki, who was dying from soul suicide. With Kisuke Urahara's help, Captain Shiba used his own powers to suppress the Hollow power inside her. But the price was that he lost all his Soul Reaper powers and had to remain in the World of the Living permanently."

"Over the next twenty-odd years," Liu Hao said, his voice carrying a sense of how cruel fate could be, "Captain Shiba and Masaki Kurosaki married and had children. But later, because of Yhwach's Auswählen, Masaki Kurosaki suddenly lost her powers while fighting a Hollow and was ultimately killed."

"Yhwach?" Unohana's pupils contracted sharply. "He's still alive?"

That name carried a particular weight for her, having lived through the great war a thousand years ago.

Yhwach, the progenitor of the Quincy, was the terrifying being who had nearly destroyed Soul Society a thousand years ago. That war had ended in Captain-Commander Yamamoto's victory, but at a heavy cost.

"Yes, he's still alive," Liu Hao confirmed. "Back then, 'that person up above'—probably the Soul King's left hand—used some ability to seal his Almighty, which allowed Captain-Commander Yamamoto to defeat him. But Captain-Commander Yamamoto... couldn't kill him."

Unohana fell silent. The truth of what had happened a thousand years ago was top secret, even among the captains. She knew only that Yhwach had been defeated, not the details.

"In other words," she said slowly, her voice grave, "Yhwach will appear again in the future, is that right?"

"That's right." Liu Hao nodded, his tone heavy. "And this time, he'll bring an even greater disaster. Captain-Commander Yamamoto... will die at his hands."

The words struck Unohana's heart like a hammer.

Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai: the strongest Soul Reaper in Soul Society in a thousand years, the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, and the cornerstone of all Soul Society. Unohana knew better than anyone what his death would mean for Soul Society.

"After that," Liu Hao continued, "Captain Kyōraku will take over as Captain-Commander. And he... will have you and Captain Zaraki fight to the death in Muken, under the pretext of having you teach Captain Zaraki Zanjutsu."

His voice dropped low. "In the end, you died by Captain Zaraki's blade. And he... cried like a child."

A long silence settled over the room.

Unohana stood there, her face expressionless, but a complicated light flickered deep in her eyes. After a long while, she sighed softly. "I see... so you don't want me to die at Captain Zaraki's hands."

She paused, then asked the crucial question. "Then, in the end... we defeated Yhwach, didn't we?"

"Yes." Liu Hao nodded. "Ichigo Kurosaki, Uryū Ishida, and Aizen joined forces and ultimately defeated Yhwach. But the ending... was ironic."

"Ironic?" Unohana pressed.

Liu Hao took a deep breath and revealed the shocking outcome. "After Yhwach was defeated, he was made into the new Soul King, becoming the 'linchpin' that stabilized the Three Worlds."

Unohana's pupils contracted sharply. "Yhwach was made into the Soul King?! Then what happened to the original Soul King?"

The question went straight to Soul Society's most closely guarded secret.

Liu Hao's lips curved in an ironic smile. "The original Soul King, Adnyeus, was made into a 'human swine' by the ancestors of the Five Great Noble Clans and sealed inside a crystal long ago, in the distant past. After Yhwach fought his way to the Soul King Palace, he controlled the Quincy power inside Ichigo Kurosaki to kill him, then absorbed the Soul King's power."

The information in those words was utterly earth-shattering.

The Soul King—the supreme being whom all of Soul Society regarded as the cornerstone of the Three Worlds—was actually a "tool" created in such a cruel manner by the ancestors of the Five Great Noble Clans?

Unohana felt dizzy. She had lived for a thousand years and weathered countless storms, but she had never imagined that Soul Society's most fundamental order was built on such a dark foundation.

"All these things you've told me today," she said slowly, her voice graver than ever before, "may I tell the Captain-Commander?"

It was a natural thought. Information this important ought to be brought to the highest decision-maker.

But Liu Hao shook his head. "I'd advise you not to."

"Why?" Unohana asked, puzzled.

"Because everything we do and say in the Seireitei can be perceived by Yhwach's Almighty," Liu Hao explained. "I can tell you this much now because the Imperial Princess used her spatial ability to isolate us from the world of the Seireitei. Otherwise, Yhwach might have noticed the moment I said these things."

The Almighty was Yhwach's most terrifying ability. In theory, he could see every possible future and know all information. Although Liu Hao didn't know the precise limits of the ability, caution was always the right choice.

Unohana fell silent for a moment, digesting the information. Then she asked another question. "Are we just going to stand by and watch Aizen and Yhwach do as they please?"

"At least... we have to wait until after the Aizen incident." Liu Hao gave her a point in time. "By then, Ichigo Kurosaki will have grown to a certain level, and Aizen will have evolved to a certain stage through the Hōgyoku. If we target Yhwach now, the chance of failure is too high."

It was a practical consideration. Against an opponent who could foresee the future, acting rashly would only lead to failure.

Unohana looked at Liu Hao, a thoughtful light flashing in her eyes. "I see... then should I simply act as though I'd never heard any of this, as though it had never happened?"

"You could wait a while first," Liu Hao suggested. "Watch and see whether the things I mentioned come to pass—for example, whether the Hollow called Metastacia appears, and whether Captain Shiba encounters White in the World of the Living. It won't be too late to decide once those predictions have been verified."

Unohana smiled, a trace of helplessness and understanding in her expression. "You're afraid I don't believe you. All right, I'll keep watch."

She glanced at Liu Hao's pale face, her tone softening. "Your body hasn't fully recovered yet, so rest here. I'll have someone bring you some food."

With that, Unohana turned to leave.

But the moment she stepped forward, she felt something strange.

She was clearly walking forward, but the floor beneath her feet seemed to move backward at the same pace. One step, two, three... her position hadn't changed in the slightest.

Unohana stopped, frowned slightly, and turned to look at Liu Hao.

Liu Hao had his head lowered in thought and seemed not to have noticed her predicament.

"Fifth Seat Liu Hao," Unohana said gently, "please take down your spatial barrier."

Her words brought Liu Hao back to his senses. He looked up, first at Unohana and then around the room, finally realizing what the problem was.

"Imperial Princess," he called softly, "take down the space."

As his words fell, the space around them began to ripple.

Like the sea receding at low tide, transparent ripples of space flowed out from every corner of the room and converged on the Imperial Sword. Wherever they passed, the "texture" of space subtly changed. The feeling of isolation and protection gradually vanished, and the room reconnected with the outside world.

The entire process lasted about three breaths. When the last ripple entered the Imperial Sword, the room returned to normal.

Unohana nodded gently. "That really is a fine ability. But I don't recall seeing you use a spatial barrier like that in our earlier fight."

Liu Hao smiled bitterly. "It's not that I didn't want to. I just can't fully control it yet. The Imperial Princess was mainly the one helping me maintain the barrier space just now."

It was the truth. Although his spatial ability was powerful, his control was still far from precise enough. Maintaining a stable isolation barrier like that for so long was too great a burden for him as he was now.

"I see." Unohana nodded in understanding. "Then get some rest. I'll be going."

This time, she walked out of the room without trouble.

The door closed softly behind her.

Unohana stood in the corridor without leaving immediately. She gazed at the closed door, a complicated light flickering in her eyes.

Everything she had just heard was too shocking, too heavy.

Aizen's conspiracy, Yhwach's return, the truth about the Soul King, Soul Society's dark past, and... her own fate.

Every piece of information was enough to stir up a monstrous storm in Soul Society.

And now she was one of the few people who knew these secrets.

Responsibility came with them.

Unohana slowly turned and walked toward the captain's office. Her steps remained graceful and composed, but a great storm had risen in her heart.

She needed time to digest it all.

And time to decide what to do next.

Inside the room, Liu Hao sat alone on the edge of the bed, looking down at the Imperial Sword in his hand.

The blade trembled slightly, and the Imperial Princess's voice rang out in his mind, tinged with fatigue. "Maintaining that spatial isolation for so long took quite a bit out of me. I need to rest for a while."

"Thanks for the effort," Liu Hao replied inwardly.

"That woman called Unohana," the Imperial Princess said, a trace of approval in her voice, "is strong and clever. Although she accepted what you said on the surface, she surely still has doubts. In the days ahead, she'll watch closely and verify everything you told her."

"I know." Liu Hao nodded. "That's only natural. In her place, I wouldn't easily believe information that shocking either."

"But," the Imperial Princess said, her tone growing serious, "you need to be prepared. Once she confirms that everything you said is true, she'll very likely take action. And her actions could very well disrupt your original plans."

Liu Hao fell silent for a moment before finally speaking slowly. "I know. But there are some things... I had to tell her. I can't let her walk toward that ending without knowing."

That was his choice.

From the beginning, he had known that the path to changing fate would not be smooth. There would be surprises, uncertainties, and unforeseen chain reactions.

But he did not regret it.

"As you wish." The Imperial Princess's voice gradually faded. "I'm going to rest. From here on... you're on your own."

As her voice fell silent, the Imperial Sword grew still.

Liu Hao placed the sword beside the bed and lay back down, staring at the ceiling.

His body was still tired, and his Reiatsu had yet to recover fully. But his mind was exceptionally clear.

He knew that from today onward, everything was different.

Unohana knew part of the truth, which meant he was no longer fighting alone. But at the same time, it meant the risks had multiplied.

Aizen's watchful gaze, Yhwach's Almighty, the undercurrents within the Gotei 13, and the known and unknown crises awaiting in the future...

He would have to deal with all of them carefully.

Outside the window, the night grew deeper.

The night in the Seireitei was as tranquil as ever. Stars twinkled in the night sky, and moonlight spilled across the courtyard. Everything seemed so peaceful.

But Liu Hao knew that beneath this calm, undercurrents had already begun to stir.

And he himself was the one who had stirred them.

"No matter what lies ahead..." he murmured, closing his eyes, "I'll keep going."

To change those tragedies, to protect the people important to him, and to find a path different from the fate already laid out.

The night was still long.

And when tomorrow's sun rose, new challenges would begin again.

But at least for this moment, he could rest.

He could enjoy a moment of peace before the storm arrived.