Shinigami Plan

"Research into Shinigami Transformation has finally yielded some clues. You will make the finest test subject."

"And I will help look after your son, Kakashi. There is no need to worry. He is an outstanding child and will certainly become an excellent assistant to me."

"If my judgment is correct, then in three days, I will become that child's adoptive father. Don't you think that is a truly wonderful thing?"

'!!!!'

The shattered Pale Blue Figure looked at the world before it, filled with bottles, jars, and all manner of organ specimens. It struggled like mad within its cage, glaring furiously at the gentle-looking figure before it.

Amid countless operating instruments, the figure dressed in a White Haori stood out sharply, as though he were writing calligraphy. The man, as warm and tranquil as White Moonlight, stood at the center of the laboratory, manipulating a series of instruments.

As though he had sensed the force contained in that gaze, he adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. Wearing a gentle smile and with both hands tucked into the sleeves of his Haori Robe, he strolled toward the Frame.

"Good afternoon, Jonin Sakumo Hatake. My Humble Abode is rather shabby, so please forgive the poor hospitality."

'—'

Sosuke Aizen.

Hatake Sakumo's eyes were about to burst as he looked at the impeccably polite man.

The scene he had feared most before his death had finally become reality.

"You—if you do anything to him—I'll kill you—Aizen!!!"

"Interesting. Does the soul of a suicidal ninja tend to overlook restraint? Compared with the living you, the difference is rather peculiar. If you were still alive, you would not have reacted so strongly to this sort of provocation."

He raised a hand to adjust his glasses. The Flat Glasses reflected a chilling cold light, illuminating the father's enraged figure within the Frame with perfect clarity.

"How wonderful. No matter how many times one studies souls, it remains so intoxicating. Every person can find a different direction for research."

'I'll—kill—'

"Several minutes of such intense shouting and emotional fluctuations. Even in anger, a soul body can continue to make a sound. Your speech now merely consumes your own will. But there is no need to panic, Sakumo-kun. After all, there is nothing you can do."

Walking over to the instruments surrounding the Frame, Sosuke Aizen began manipulating a series of buttons and levers. A strange humming sound began echoing through the Underground Space.

"I have no schemes or tricks. I sincerely want to teach him certain things. He is a genius, and I am lonely on my own as well."

'You—you can't be trusted—'

"Whether I am trustworthy has nothing to do with the facts. It is a fact that he will become my adopted son, Sakumo-kun. Isn't all this the result of your choice to commit suicide? You did not consider that you were still a father when you died, yet now you have remembered it. How laughable. People only realize what they value most after they die."

'I—'

The Soul Fragment within the Frame froze as it looked at the gentle-faced man before it.

He truly had never considered that question.

A six-year-old boy, about to graduate from the Ninja Academy, whose father had been branded a traitor and chosen suicide—what kind of life would Kakashi face in the future? What sort of environment would he live in?

Choosing suicide to prove his innocence had indeed brought him relief, but what about Kakashi? He was only six years old. His Mother Died in Childbirth, and now his father was dead too. What would become of Kakashi?

Hatake Sakumo stood stunned within the Frame. But Aizen, operating the experiment outside, gave him no further chance to dwell on such sentiments. He directly pressed the button, activating the Giant Machinery surrounding the Frame.

Countless Pale Blue sparks began flashing along both sides of the machinery. The soul, which theoretically should not have felt anything, let out a piercing scream because of that Pale Blue glow.

Watching Hatake Sakumo's soul scream within the instruments, Aizen calmly observed the Flowing Data on the Display Screen.

As he compared it with the data displayed on another screen, he gave Hatake Sakumo, who was enduring torture, earnest teachings like a teacher.

"This is a good opportunity, Sakumo-kun. You are a very intelligent man, so I would like you to understand your own condition as well."

"There is indeed a conversion mechanism between the Spirit Transformation Technique, Nature Energy, and Chakra."

"It is not impossible to exist in this world as a Pure Soul Body, and it can even be imprinted through a brand."

"Therefore, a substance capable of reflecting the differing traits of souls is needed to allow Nature Energy and souls to influence each other. And this lubricant is not Chakra as commonly understood, but our own self will."

"Isn't it interesting? When self-cognition grows strong enough, it can actually stir Nature Energy. Though the Chakra of Life Origin is passively drawn over, the true Dominant Will is the self. My research began because of the self as well."

"Our understanding of the world and ourselves is precisely what makes us unique, Sakumo-kun. Only when you want to do something can you act. Yet the act of wanting itself signifies an action. In Ancient Legend, people could even come into contact with the Power of Heaven and Earth through meditation alone. Don't you think that is wonderful?"

'—'

His gaze had almost condensed into a tangible Flame of Anger. Enduring intense pain and torment, Hatake Sakumo listened to Aizen's words with all his strength, trying to understand and analyze their meaning.

After all, he was a Ninja. Once his initial fury had passed, he began trying to calmly consider the meaning behind those words.

He could sense that Aizen seemed to be discussing something very important.

Yet whenever he tried to think, the Pale Blue electric light around him would directly compress inward.

He felt as though he had been thrown into a Forge as an Iron Billet, hammered and crushed by countless Spiritual Lights, with every Impurity in his soul—especially Chakra—being forcibly ground away, removed, and dispersed.

Before Hatake Sakumo, who was enduring torture harsher than any in history, Aizen continued speaking with a gentle expression, as though he were telling an Ordinary Story.

"Dan Katō. The possessor of the Spirit Transformation Technique. I was very saddened when Dan died... You should know that, because no one in Konoha had greater Research Value than him."

"Meaningless struggles and a sense of duty caused him to die at the hands of a group of incompetents, while his dream was inherited by others. But what did it matter? Dan Katō was dead in the end. And aside from Medical Ninjutsu, that girlfriend of his was good for nothing."

"And the Human Body, when all is said and done, is merely something of this level. A Clay Doll manipulated by Chakra."

"But Thousand Years Ago, we were not like this. Nature Energy, souls, the Spirit Transformation Technique, Chakra—I have finally completed the first step. I broke the boundary between the Physical Body and the soul. Now I merely need to verify my ideas."

"Theoretical Verification and Actual Experiment are different, which is why I need your help, Sakumo-kun. If you can hold on, Kakashi-kun will surely be very happy as well."

"Cheer up. I am on your side. I may be the person in this world who least wishes for you to disappear."

'Aizen... Sosuke!!!!'

"Still unable to calm down? What a pity. Your complete dispersal would mean the failure of one path. How tragic that would be. You must survive, Sakumo-kun."

Watching the soul that the Frame could barely restrain, Aizen retained his gentle smile and pressed the machine's button.

An even brighter radiance instantly flooded the room, submerging Hatake Sakumo's soul in countless beams of light until even his screams vanished.

But Aizen had no sadistic tastes. After confirming that Hatake Sakumo could no longer think, he simply set the operating time and left the Testing Ground.

However, he had barely exited the laboratory and entered the corridor when a figure leaning against the wall stopped him.

"You still like playing the villain as much as ever, Aizen."

"Oh my, oh my. What a surprise. Have you appeared here now to offer some advice?"

Adjusting his glasses, Aizen looked at the long-haired man standing in the corner with folded arms and a calm expression. A warm smile spread across his face.

"The Soul Materialization Experiment is still highly unstable. Appearing rashly still carries the risk of being assimilated by Nature Energy and Chakra. My personal recommendation is that you rest."

"I feel all right, so I came out to read for a while and get some air. You do not mind, do you?"

"You sensed the arrival of a new soul body, didn't you?"

Looking at the man with moon-white hair, serene and elegant yet possessing an inexplicable will, Aizen's smile became increasingly kind and sincere.

"You have never been very good at lying, Dan. What a gentle man you are. Did you sense the aura of a former comrade and come out specifically to persuade me to stop?"

"I cannot deny it."

The figure who had once captivated one of the Konoha Trio stood before Aizen.

Dan Katō, a Konoha jonin who had mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique and possessed considerable knowledge of life, death, and souls.

He should have died instantly in battle from Internal Organ Damage, yet here he was, confronting Sosuke Aizen in this dark corner.

However, gazing at Sosuke Aizen, gentle as White Moonlight, Dan Katō sighed and slowly walked to his side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

"After all, I simply dislike using such methods."

Like old friends of many years, the supposedly dead Dan Katō and Aizen walked side by side down the corridor.