For the nobles of the Seireitei and most Soul Reapers, the souls of Soul Society had no human rights. They were nothing more than a group of lowly creatures. Even if they became Soul Reapers, they were merely lackeys who served the nobles, because the nobles firmly controlled Central 46, which could command Soul Reapers—even Captain-level Soul Reapers.
Aizen had once used the souls of Soul Society for Hollowfication experiments, but ordinary souls could not meet his experimental requirements. So, he turned his attention to Soul Reapers, even Captain-level Soul Reapers. As a result, several former Captains had suddenly disappeared: former Third Division Captain Rojuro Otoribashi, former Fifth Division Captain Shinsui Shinji, former Twelfth Division Captain Kisuke Urahara, former Second Division Captain Yoruichi Shihoin, and former Ninth Division Captain Kensei Muguruma, who possessed Captain-level Reiatsu.
Although Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihoin had not undergone Hollowfication, they had become scapegoats for Aizen's experiments and had been forced to leave the Seireitei. They were now hiding in the Human World, seeking revenge against Aizen.
"Hey, Captain Aizen, there's something I'm curious about."
Gin followed behind Aizen, admiring the scenery of Soul Society as he spoke.
"Gin, ask whatever you wish. As long as I know the answer, I will tell you."
"Why did we suddenly move the laboratory to Soul Society? We only just relocated it from Soul Society into the Seireitei, and now we're moving it out again. Isn't that..."
"Foster Father!"
Gin Ichimaru had not even finished speaking when he was interrupted by a sudden shout. Though puzzled, Gin immediately became alert and looked to see who was shouting in the middle of the night.
Looking over, he saw a figure appear in their field of vision, running rapidly toward them from afar. When he was about fifty meters away, he suddenly crouched down. Under Gin's wary gaze, he slid forward on one knee until he reached Aizen and Gin, holding both hands out flat.
"Foster Father! Yue finally found you!"
"..."
Gin was completely dumbfounded.
What was going on? Was this person speaking to Aizen? But Aizen and he should have been concealed by Illusion's power. No one should have been able to see them. Why could this person see Aizen? And why was he calling Aizen his foster father?
"Captain Aizen, who is this?"
Gin looked to Aizen, hoping for an explanation, only to see Aizen's lips twitching.
"Captain Aizen?"
Gin's eyelids twitched as well. No way, with Aizen reacting like that, could this person really be...
Under Gin's suspicious gaze, Aizen recovered his former calm smile.
"Li Yue-kun, welcome to the Soul Society."
"Foster Father, Yue has not disappointed you. I successfully found a way to come to the Soul Society!"
Li Yue continued maintaining his persona as Aizen's foster son.
"Ah... You've worked hard."
Aizen nodded helplessly. Heaven knew how Li Yue had jumped out of the Chat Group and into reality. More importantly, Li Yue actually called him foster father in reality. This was truly...
"Not only can I travel by myself, I can even bring other people with me. Foster Father, you understand what that means, don't you?"
The moment he heard that, Aizen's eyes nearly lit up. He immediately reached out and helped Li Yue to his feet.
"Li Yue-kun, please rise quickly!"
When Li Yue had previously said in the group that he could not travel between worlds, Aizen had found it quite regrettable. A Chat Group that could connect different worlds brought Aizen limitless possibilities. Although items could be transported through the Chat Group, it was still not as convenient as conducting an on-site investigation. When Li Yue had appeared before him just now, Aizen had indeed been surprised, but he had not considered that Li Yue could bring others through worlds. Li Yue had said before that he himself was a transmigrator, so Aizen had assumed that this was Li Yue's personal ability, one that only allowed him to travel himself.
But now, Li Yue was telling him that he could bring others along. That changed everything!
Aizen had always longed for the limitless possibilities of other worlds. Li Yue's status in Aizen's heart immediately rose sharply. Although he knew Li Yue was calling him foster father just to amuse himself, what did it matter if he was being toyed with when world travel was on the table?
"So, Captain Aizen, this Li Yue-kun really is your foster son?"
Gin watched the two with a smiling expression, only to receive Li Yue's scrutinizing gaze.
"Foster Father, this must be Captain Gin Ichimaru, whom you mentioned before."
"Yes, Gin is my most capable assistant."
Aizen had no idea what Li Yue intended to do, but he was happy to play along.
"Hmph!"
Li Yue suddenly snorted coldly and stared at Gin.
"My foster father's most capable assistant can only be me! Gin Ichimaru, right? If you've got the nerve, come spar with me. I'll prove that you're unworthy of being my foster father's most capable assistant!"
"Huh?"
Gin froze.
He had just been happily watching the show. He had not expected Aizen to have a foster son hidden away somewhere. This was a side of Aizen he had never seen before. Yet before he could enjoy the spectacle for long, he had become the spectacle himself.
"Captain Aizen... this..."
Gin looked at Aizen, wanting to ask what he should do. He wanted to say that he did not care about being the most capable assistant and Li Yue could have the position, but his instincts told him that if he actually said that, things might become even more troublesome.
"Since Li Yue-kun wishes to spar with you, Gin, then accompany him for a spar."
"Since Captain Aizen has said so, then I shall spar with Li Yue-kun."
Gin smiled as he stared at Li Yue.
"Li Yue-kun, please come with me. I know there is an open area nearby."
After saying that, Gin immediately left with Flash Step. Li Yue nodded to Aizen, then followed with Flash Step.
After several consecutive Flash Steps, Gin brought Li Yue to an open area in the distance. Once he landed, Gin gripped the hilt at his waist, preparing to strike immediately. He wanted to test what this Li Yue, who had ties to Aizen yet whom he had never met before, was capable of.
However, to his surprise, Li Yue, who had arrived behind him, immediately dropped to one knee.
"My deepest apologies, Lord Gin Ichimaru. Everything I did earlier was merely an act to deceive Aizen. I hope you can forgive me."
"Hm?"
Gin was thrown off by Li Yue's sudden move, but he quickly concealed it and resumed his usual smiling expression as he looked at Li Yue.
"Oh my, Li Yue-kun, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
Li Yue looked up at Gin, his face utterly serious.
"Li Yue of the Vanguard Squad under Captain Rangiku Matsumoto, member of the Hueco Mundo Resistance, reporting to Lord Gin Ichimaru."
"Huh?"
Cyber Soul Reaper 2077
In 2077, the city where I lived was rated the worst area in Hueco Mundo. Why? Violent crime was endless, and the population below the poverty line ranked first in Hueco Mundo. That was a fact, impossible to deny.
Yet Hollows and souls still flocked here. This city would always give you a shred of hope. A lie, an illusion, whatever it might be, it was so close, as though within reach, enough to make people throw everything aside. This was the city where I lived, the city I...
"Wait, what does that have to do with the identity you just mentioned?"
Gin raised a hand and interrupted Li Yue's speech.
"And what is this Hueco Mundo Resistance? That organization sounds like it should be in Hueco Mundo. Why would Rangiku join it? And why is your city in Hueco Mundo?"
"Oh, it is related to what you will be doing next."
Li Yue looked serious.
"Lord Gin Ichimaru, I come from the future, from the year 2077. I am a member of the Hueco Mundo Resistance. Captain Rangiku Matsumoto is one of the leaders of the Hueco Mundo Resistance."
"And under Captain Matsumoto's orders, I traveled through time to this era, when the Soul Society has not yet been destroyed, to find Captain Gin Ichimaru and prevent you from causing the destruction of the Soul Society once again."
"Hm? The destruction of the Soul Society? It has something to do with me?"
Gin was filled with confusion. He did not quite believe Li Yue's words, but since this involved Rangiku Matsumoto, he had to get to the bottom of it.
"Yes. According to Captain Matsumoto, Lord Gin Ichimaru, in order to avenge Captain Matsumoto, you hid at the side of the criminal lurking within the Soul Society, Aizen Sousuke, waiting for an opportunity to assassinate him. You hid for centuries, and this current point in time was when Aizen was about to begin acting."
Li Yue's words made Gin's expression turn grave. No one knew that he had infiltrated Aizen's side to avenge Rangiku. Could Li Yue really be from the future?
"According to future records, at this time, Thirteenth Division Seated Officer Lucia Kuchiki went to the Human World on a purification mission. Kisuke Urahara, former head of the Research and Development Bureau and former Twelfth Division Captain, planted the Hōgyoku within her. Aizen would use Illusion to forge an order from Central 46, bring Lucia Kuchiki back, seize the Hōgyoku buried inside her body, and then flee to Hueco Mundo."
Gin was greatly surprised. There were parts of this plan that even he did not know.
"Under your and Aizen's leadership, Hueco Mundo developed powerful Arrancar such as the Espada. Aizen then led the Espada into war against the Soul Society. In that battle, the Soul Society suffered a crushing defeat. Captain Commander Yamamoto fell at the hands of an Arrancar specifically created by Aizen to counter him. All the Soul Society's Captains were wiped out, the Espada also all fell, and Kaname Tōsen died in battle as well. Only you and Aizen remained. Aizen prepared to forge the King's Key and head to the Soul King Palace, but after lurking beside him for centuries, you finally learned that touching the blade of Illusion was the only way to break its hypnosis. So, while he was forging the King's Key, you used your Bankai, Kamishini no Yari, to poison Aizen to death."
"I... succeeded...?"
Upon hearing that he had poisoned Aizen to death with his Bankai, Gin completely believed Li Yue. No one but he himself knew that the blade of his Bankai was poisonous! There was only one possibility for the other party to know: his future self had told Rangiku Matsumoto. Yes, even if he told anyone, he would only ever tell Rangiku Matsumoto!
"Yes, you succeeded. But while you poisoned Aizen to death, Aizen desperately counterattacked and severely wounded you. You fell as well. Before you completely died, Captain Matsumoto found you. You explained everything you had done to her and personally apologized to her."
"Sorry. I couldn't take back the thing that was important to you."
"I see..."
Gin let out a long sigh, then fixed Li Yue with a serious stare.
"But what does that have to do with the destruction of the Soul Society? Didn't Aizen die?"
"It has everything to do with it!"
Li Yue looked left and right, seemingly confirming that no one else was nearby.
"In that war between the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, nearly all Captain-level fighters died. The only one left was the Captain of the Fourth Division, who provided support in the rear because she was not skilled in combat."
The Fourth Division Captain was not skilled in combat?
Gin's expression became strange, but he did not say anything.
"At that moment, the true mastermind who had always been hidden within the Soul Society revealed himself."
There was another true mastermind within the Soul Society?
Gin's eyes widened in surprise.
"A thousand years ago, there was a group among humanity known as the Quincy. They possessed powerful combat abilities and were exceptionally skilled at manipulating spirit particles. Their leader was called Yhwach, known as the Quincy King. Yhwach greatly expanded the Quincy, threatening the balance of the spirit-particle world. Captain Commander Yamamoto then led the Soul Reapers into battle against the Quincy, ultimately killing Yhwach and slaughtering vast numbers of Quincy."
"But in truth, Yhwach had not died. Neither had the Elite Quincy under his command. Under Yhwach's leadership, they infiltrated the Seireitei."
"You said the Seireitei!?"
"That's right. They infiltrated the shadows of the Seireitei. On the surface, the Soul Reapers could not discover them, because no one would have imagined that the shadows beside them concealed a massive Wandenreich made up of Quincy."
"So that was the reason for the Soul Society's destruction."
"Yes. The higher-ups of the Resistance Organization determined that the Seireitei was no match for Yhwach. The only one capable of defeating Yhwach was Aizen, after evolving through the Hōgyoku. Yhwach had hidden in the shadows of the Seireitei, watching everything that happened there, including the actions of you, Lord Gin Ichimaru, and Aizen. They viewed Aizen and Captain Commander Yamamoto as threats. Only after witnessing Captain Commander Yamamoto's fall and Captain Aizen being killed by you did they dare emerge from the Wandenreich and attack the Thirteen Divisions from within the Seireitei."
At this point, Li Yue looked extremely helpless.
"By then, the Seireitei was weaker than ever. Nearly all the Captains had died, leaving only a group of Vice-Captains to hold things together. The new Central 46 was full of useless fools, and the Four Great Noble Houses had each fled for their lives. Under the Quincy assault, the Seireitei was destroyed, and the Thirteen Divisions were nearly wiped out. The surviving Soul Reapers and souls fled to Hueco Mundo. Yhwach then invaded the Soul King Palace, killed the members of the Royal Guard, devoured the Soul King, and became the new Soul King."
"So the destruction of the Soul Society happened because I killed Aizen?"
Gin finally understood what Li Yue had meant by saying that he had caused the Soul Society's destruction.
"More or less. According to the analysis of our Resistance Organization's higher-ups, although Aizen rebelled against the Soul Society, he had no intention of destroying the world. He merely wanted to overthrow the Soul King and the Soul Society's nobles, then reshape the corrupt Seireitei. At the very least, he was much better than Yhwach."
"As a Soul Reaper, is it really alright for you to say something like that?"
Li Yue waved a hand.
"What's the problem? The Seireitei had long been gone in our era. We even have Hollows and humans in our squad. Now, we all call ourselves the Resistance Organization."
"After becoming the new Soul King, Yhwach destroyed the Soul Society. He did not support the Soul Society, and he would periodically send Quincy to sweep through Hueco Mundo, erasing powerful Reiatsu. As for weak Reiatsu, they did not even care about it. They probably thought it was too weak to be worth erasing. Thus, under the leadership of the surviving Vice-Captains, the Soul Reapers who had fled to Hueco Mundo joined with the remaining low-level Arrancar to form a Resistance Organization against the Quincy. Later on, human Fullbringers joined as well."
"As for why Yhwach did not destroy Hueco Mundo too, our higher-ups speculate that after devouring the Soul King and becoming the new king of spirit particles, Yhwach could not fully control his newly acquired power, so he had not acted for the time being. He had never appeared again after ascending to the Soul King Palace. The ones we usually encountered were only the Quincy under his command, most of them ordinary Quincy without rankings."
"But we believe that one day, he will fully master his power. When that time comes, he will destroy the Human World and Hueco Mundo. That has been his goal from the beginning! Therefore, we must stop him before he destroys the world!"
"The Resistance Organization considered many ways to deal with him, but none could be carried out because we were too weak. We could not even fight Yhwach's Elite Quincy, much less Yhwach himself."
"Under those circumstances, Captain Matsumoto came up with a method. She possessed the complete Hōgyoku that you took from Aizen. Although Aizen died, his Hōgyoku remained behind. Captain Matsumoto made a wish to the Hōgyoku and exhausted its power to send me back to this era, hoping to change history here."
"That is why I appeared here. Following Captain Matsumoto's arrangements, I will change history in this era. She said that you were the person she trusted most, and she did not want you to die like that either. Therefore, I hope to receive your help."
"The person she trusted most, huh."
A smile appeared on Gin's face. Unlike his earlier sly-looking smile, the smile on Gin's face now was exceptionally gentle.
"How do you need me to help you?"
"In the future, the Soul Society was destroyed, and the Soul Society's nobles were almost entirely wiped out. Those who remained were ordinary Soul Reapers, at most a few Vice-Captains. Therefore, Captain Matsumoto had no intention of protecting those nobles. While protecting the world from destruction, Captain Matsumoto also wanted to change the world a little!"
Li Yue imitated Gin's expression, smiling with narrowed eyes.
"As Captain Matsumoto instructed, I have already informed Aizen about Yhwach and the Wandenreich. Aizen has begun changing his plans. I hope you can secretly guide Aizen with me, so that the final battle takes place in the Seireitei. My Zanpakuto's ability can reveal the Wandenreich. That way, the Seireitei's nobles, the Wandenreich hiding in the Seireitei's shadows, and Hueco Mundo's Espada will all be drawn into this unprecedented war! Then they will all be destroyed in that war!"
"So this was why Aizen suddenly moved the laboratory outside the Seireitei. I understand. I will help you in secret."
Gin nodded. The way he looked at Li Yue carried a trace of fondness. Since Rangiku had told Li Yue so much, especially matters involving Gin himself, it meant Li Yue was a junior Rangiku trusted in the future. Naturally, he needed to look after him more.
Li Yue nodded in satisfaction, then flashed a V-sign at Aizen, who was standing behind Gin.
I'll Prove Who Is Aizen's Number One General!
From the moment Li Yue left with Gin, Aizen activated Illusion and followed behind them. Although he was willing to play along with Li Yue, he still needed to grasp the situation. Li Yue calling him foster father in the Chat Group was one thing, but calling him foster father in reality without any hesitation was another. Someone who refused to play by the rules would definitely stir up trouble for amusement. To prevent any accidents from affecting his plans, Aizen had even considered using Illusion on Li Yue.
Before you continue