The King of Hueco Mundo's words made Aizen's eyes narrow, and at last he raised the Zanpakuto in his hand.
Behind Aizen, Tosen Kaname, who was just as unable to see, also assumed a defensive stance.
Only Gin Ichimaru, the squinty-eyed man on the other side, was smiling.
"Well, well. It seems our Captain Aizen made a rather elementary mistake! That's right—how could a skeleton have eyeballs?"
Aizen had no time to respond to Gin now. The spiritual pressure of the King of Hueco Mundo across from him was like a slumbering beast awakening, surging several times over from a level only slightly above an ordinary Vasto Lorde.
To use the captains of the Gotei 13 as an example, it was like going from Kyoraku Shunsui to Captain-Commander Yamamoto!
On top of that, his opponent could ignore Kyoka Suigetsu's effects. Aizen felt he really had been too reckless.
After all, he was the King of Hueco Mundo, a being who had reigned there from ancient times to the present. He certainly wasn't as easy to deal with as those captains.
And... his opponent had even called him by name.
It seemed the King of Hueco Mundo hadn't spent all this time ruling only Hueco Mundo. He had also extended his reach into Soul Society.
Aizen's tone was no longer quite so haughty, yet he still didn't lift his head. He merely glanced up at the King of Hueco Mundo. "I was indeed careless. I just never expected the mighty King of Hueco Mundo to be like Kaname—a person born with an incomplete soul!"
Some people were born blind, but their souls were not necessarily blind. After they died and arrived in Soul Society, they could actually see.
It was extremely rare for a Plus to have an incomplete soul like Tosen Kaname... That was why Aizen had recruited him as soon as he began to make a name for himself.
But Aizen had never expected the King of Hueco Mundo to be one of those beings as well.
Or perhaps the King of Hueco Mundo's eyes were Hollow Holes?
Quite a few Hollows had Hollow Holes where their eyes should be, but surely none had Hollow Holes in both eyes?
A Hollow should only have one Hollow Hole.
But the King of Hueco Mundo clearly had no intention of following Aizen's line of thought.
He merely raised a finger. "Return! My army!"
A powerful burst of spiritual pressure erupted from his fingertip, and Aizen and the others felt an intense pressure bearing down on them.
But it wasn't an attack!
When the pressure faded, Aizen and his companions found themselves surrounded once more by a crowd of Adjuchas!
They were the very same Adjuchas that Gin Ichimaru and Tosen Kaname had nearly wiped out without a scratch, thanks to the power of Kyoka Suigetsu!
Had they... come back to life?
Even Aizen hadn't expected anything like this to happen.
"Who are you people?"
The Adjuchas whose head Tosen Kaname had split open with a single strike at the start charged at Aizen again, swinging its fist.
That, at least, helped Aizen understand the King of Hueco Mundo's power.
"Time reversal?"
Aizen swung his blade himself, cutting the Adjuchas before him into thirteen pieces.
But the King of Hueco Mundo didn't care. He snapped his bony fingers again, and the Adjuchas's remains vanished, restoring it to its former, vigorous state.
"No. It should be Past Reenactment!"
Aizen remained perfectly calm. "Time hasn't been reversed. You've simply recreated a moment from the past."
"Very good observation!" The King of Hueco Mundo applauded. "Now, Captain Aizen, tell me: is the power you claim you'll grant me greater than the power I already possess?"
What were Aizen's methods? Nothing more than using the Hogyoku to transform Menos Grande into Arrancar!
To grant Hollows the powers of Soul Reapers.
But against a being as pure as the King of Hueco Mundo, how could the Hogyoku, at its current stage, have the power to turn him into an Arrancar?
It was like how, more than fifty years ago, Aizen had dared to use the Hogyoku to ambush Muguruma Kensei, the Ninth Division Captain, and Hollowfy him. In a single night, he had also Hollowfied the Third Division Captain, Otoribashi Rojuro, the Fifth Division Captain, Hirako Shinji, and the Seventh Division Captain, Aikawa Love... and driven Yoruichi, the Second Division Captain, and Urahara Kisuke, the Twelfth Division Captain, out of Soul Society.
Driving six captains out overnight not only proved the Hogyoku's power, it also paved the way for Aizen and his allies to rise to power.
But even now, Aizen wouldn't dare try to Hollowfy Captain-Commander Yamamoto with the Hogyoku.
That would be suicide.
By the same logic, the King of Hueco Mundo, whose power seemed no less than Captain-Commander Yamamoto's, would be no easier for Aizen to manipulate.
Unless he willingly accepted Aizen's modifications. But becoming an Arrancar was extremely dangerous. If Aizen hadn't beaten him into submission, how could he possibly agree to the transformation?
Now, Aizen really had walked himself into a dead end.
He had revealed his true nature to the King of Hueco Mundo. If the King struck back and invaded Soul Society, the false mask Aizen had maintained all this time would be shattered!
"I see. Looks like you don't."
The King of Hueco Mundo settled back into his throne, once again at ease. A servant Hollow who had also returned to life brought him some wine, which he accepted.
"Then how about I make you a proposal, Aizen Sōsuke?" The King of Hueco Mundo drank the wine, its mysterious contents not spilling through the gaps in his bones. "I'll support you! I'll help you attack that sky!"
The sky?
As if he'd heard a key phrase, Aizen's expression changed in an instant. The light in his eyes was utterly captivating. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said!" The King of Hueco Mundo looked at Aizen and spoke with easy cheer. "You've learned the truth about Soul Society, haven't you? You want to change this unjust world? As long as you haven't changed your mind, I'm willing to give you all the support you need!"
Soul Society, the Human World, and all of Hueco Mundo had been built on an unjust act of treachery!
That was the main reason behind all of Aizen's plans.
The only person who shared Aizen's sense of "justice" was Tosen Kaname!
As for Gin Ichimaru...
But Aizen hadn't expected the King of Hueco Mundo before him to make such a proposal.
"Why would you do this?" Aizen couldn't understand.
Why would a Hollow—even the King of Hueco Mundo—think that way?
"Why?" The King of Hueco Mundo scratched his chin. "Because I've grown utterly sick of that rotten place called Soul Society!"
As an ancient Menos Grande, one who had even once attacked the Soul King Palace... or rather, as a transmigrator who had lived for countless ages, he had grown tired of this world!
There were no secrets left in this world for him, yet his power alone wasn't enough to change it.
Those wretches who had sealed Soul Society off like an iron barrel, living under the rules of a keystone they had chosen for themselves—the King of Hueco Mundo was thoroughly sick of them.
Now that Aizen had finally come to Hueco Mundo, he at last had a way in!
"Aizen Sōsuke, whether or not you can replace that fellow and remake the whole world, there's one small goal I insist you accomplish!"
"Kill that old bastard Yamamoto!"
"Will you... agree?"