Guidance, Soul King Fragment!

Only after Aizen appeared did he realize that Gaoyu was more interesting than he had imagined.

And...

More mysterious.

Not only had he chosen a path that brought him before Aizen, he also seemed to have seen through all of Aizen's plans.

After arriving in Hueco Mundo, he had said he wanted to meet the King of Hueco Mundo.

That was indeed one of Aizen's plans. Once Gin Ichimaru became Captain of the Third Division, it would be about time to bring Hueco Mundo's great Hollows under his control.

Then Gaoyu had said he wanted Gin to become Captain of the Third Division.

It was as if Gaoyu had already seen through everything.

However, Aizen didn't dislike this feeling.

He hated stagnation. He hated being controlled.

He didn't think it was a bad thing for unexpected changes to appear in what should have been a perfect plan. On the contrary...

They only excited him.

Still, Aizen considered his plan flawless, and the hypnosis of Kyoka Suigetsu perfect. How had Gaoyu seen through it?

Aizen was clever, and he quickly thought of one possibility.

Seeing Aizen's favorability toward him rise by ten all at once, Gaoyu understood that Aizen had fallen into the "trap" he had laid.

So he rubbed his forehead and, the next moment, activated the Great Replenishing Pill's ability.

A glimmering fragment emerged from his hand.

The moment it appeared, Aizen looked over.

His pupils shrank slightly as he stared at the fragment.

Gaoyu then took out the little bit of sand he had kept from earlier.

"To many people, these two things differ in value—one precious, the other worthless."

"But I'm different. All I care about is whether something interests me."

"Thank you, Captain Aizen, for bringing me to Hueco Mundo and helping me obtain such a treasure. In return, I'll give this to you."

He blew the speck of light that had emerged from his finger toward Aizen, and it landed in his hand.

Aizen accepted the speck of light. The corner of his previously expressionless mouth lifted into a faint smile.

"I see. No wonder you could resist my Kyoka Suigetsu."

"No wonder..."

"You know everything."

A structure resembling a Garganta suddenly appeared in front of him once more. Then he stepped forward.

"Then I'll have to trouble Gaoyu-kun to stay in Hueco Mundo for a while. Once I've taken care of everything in Soul Society, come to the Fifth Division and become my Vice-Captain."

After he finished speaking, Aizen's body had completely disappeared into the Garganta. It closed, and Aizen vanished from Gaoyu's sight.

"..."

Watching Aizen disappear completely, Gaoyu's Game Master ability finally wore off, and he relaxed all at once.

The sudden release of tension after being under pressure left him breathing hard.

"Phew... phew..."

Gaoyu used Flash Step repeatedly to get away from the area, then pressed one hand to his pounding heart.

"I finally... got through that!"

Although he and Aizen had only faced off verbally, it had left him feeling even more exhausted than a major battle.

But...

The outcome was good. He had successfully bluffed Aizen.

If he was right, Aizen had probably already decided that he was some part of the Soul King.

The Soul King was the ruler of Soul Society and the Creator God of the Three Realms. He had carved the Three Realms out of a world of chaos, but now only his main body remained, sealed inside a crystal in the main hall of the Soul King Palace.

The rest of his body had been torn into fragments and scattered throughout the Three Realms. Some had retained a rough shape, such as his left and right hands and his heart, but most had become tiny bits and scraps.

It was a pretty miserable fate for the Creator God of the Three Realms.

The Soul King's ability was "The Almighty." Of course, it wasn't truly omniscience and omnipotence in the theological or philosophical sense, but even its most basic ability allowed him to "see the future"!

That was why Gaoyu had deliberately steered Aizen toward the idea that he could "see the future" from the very beginning.

That was why he had directly revealed Aizen's plans. They weren't hard to guess, since they had all been shown in the original story.

Aizen was already going to seek out Barragan, and he was destined to recruit Hinamori and the others.

Gin Ichimaru had become Captain of the Third Division before Kuchiki Rukia graduated, but the division still had a captain now, and there was no sign he planned to retire.

So something would inevitably happen before Rukia graduated next year, forcing the Captain of the Third Division to step down!

That was why Gaoyu guessed that Aizen's target this time was the Captain of the Third Division.

After revealing those details and making it seem as if he could "see the future," he had activated the Great Replenishing Pill, split off part of his soul, and handed the soul fragment to Aizen.

The Great Replenishing Pill had been created through Matsumoto Rangiku's Soul Ability. The reason she had that ability was that her soul contained a Soul King Fragment.

The Great Replenishing Pill Gaoyu had created wasn't a Soul King Fragment, but it was similar in nature.

Their earlier conversation, combined with Gaoyu's soul fragment, should have convinced Aizen that Gaoyu was someone connected to the Soul King, perhaps even a fragment of one of his body parts.

That was why Aizen had left. Once he had formed that impression, Gaoyu would naturally be different from other Soul Reapers.

The Soul King's enemies were the Soul Reapers. Even if Gaoyu wasn't truly the Soul King, he would never side with the Soul Reapers after learning the truth about this world.

But Aizen still had to carry out his plan, so he had left Gaoyu in Hueco Mundo for the time being.

That...

Wasn't so bad, really.

Gaoyu didn't want to get caught up in Aizen's plans either. He only hoped Aizen would spare everyone else for his sake.

That was what it meant to be weak. When you didn't have enough strength, even your life and death were in someone else's hands.

Gaoyu looked ahead. Once he had recovered, he stopped wandering around, because Hueco Mundo was simply too dangerous.

Now he had left Game Master mode, and he wasn't nearly as powerful as before.

Although he had permanently gained Toru Tanimoto's Destruction Death Ray, and still had one-time uses of Fireball Jutsu and Black Sun, it would still be dangerous if he ran into a great Hollow in Hueco Mundo.

Still, if he could, he wanted to find someone.

There really was someone in Hueco Mundo who was easy to befriend!

Coyote Stark!

The future Espada No. 1, a tremendously powerful Vasto Lorde who had become an Arrancar on his own!

If he could find Stark, maybe he could quickly earn his friendship.

Of course, that was assuming he didn't get crushed to death by Stark's spiritual pressure.