"Hey, Aoto, weren't you a little too rough with my sister?"
"Huh? You call that rough? Big brother, I didn't even fight back!"
"You used Third-Class Spiritual Pressure. Of course my sister couldn't break through your Reiatsu defenses! Couldn't you have pretended she knocked you flying? If she'd gotten that out of her system, she could've gone back to living a normal life."
"Forget it! Without you, she'd never go back to the way things were. At least now she can grow stronger sooner!"
Back in the World of the Living, Aoto and Kaien had seen everything Blue Oni had witnessed on the other side through the connection between their Zanpakuto.
Everything Blue Oni had said just now had been spoken under Aoto's control from here.
Kaien wasn't entirely happy with it. He thought Aoto had gone too far.
But Aoto wasn't about to change the way he did things.
"You should be grateful I let you see Kūkaku one more time!" Aoto cut off his connection with Blue Oni. "Good thing there wasn't a captain over there just now. Otherwise, when Blue Oni took the Thunder Roar Cannon head-on, they might've realized I wasn't there in person."
"What do we do now?" Kaien still wasn't reassured. "Can we just leave it to Blue Oni?"
"Don't let his usual silence fool you. He's actually a real actor." Aoto folded his arms. "I have absolutely no doubt he can pull it off."
"I'm just worried he'll overdo it!"
"That guy's got an incredible itch to perform! I've no idea how he ended up with that personality!"
Looking at Aoto's expression, Kaien laughed. "Maybe it's because you're a ham yourself! After all, the source of the Mod Soul's creation was your own Reiatsu, wasn't it?"
Aoto thought it over, then nodded. "Maybe!"
After all, I really am acting every minute of every day.
Even now.
"Welcome back, Captain Aizen!"
Somewhere in Soul Society, Aizen and Tosen Kaname returned from the World of the Living through a Senkaimon that even the Twelfth Division couldn't detect.
Gin Ichimaru was there to welcome them back.
The mission had yielded a great deal.
Besides giving Tosen Kaname another chance to collect data on the fusion of Soul Reapers and Hollows, they had also successfully removed Shiba Kaien from Soul Society...
Although their subsequent pursuit of Hyakume-ki Seikyo's movements had confirmed that Shiba Kaien had been rescued, they had still achieved their goal of removing the head of the Shiba family from Soul Society.
They had also confirmed Urahara Kisuke's location, an unexpected bonus.
"It seems this 4th Seat Hyakume is still in contact with Hirako Shinji and the others."
Aizen hadn't previously noticed any connection between 4th Seat Hyakume and the Visored.
But this time, 4th Seat Hyakume had sent Shiba Kaien to Urahara Kisuke so quickly, which showed that he knew for certain that Urahara Kisuke could treat him.
That made his relationship with the Visored clear.
At the very least, they'd met sometime after the incident more than sixty years ago.
Which meant he probably knew Aizen's true face, too!
Aizen felt that he needed to take 4th Seat Hyakume much more seriously!
After all, even knowing Aizen's true face, he'd shown no particular reaction when they met. That kind of composure was unlike the single-minded members of the 11th Division or the evasive Hirako Shinji.
If he hadn't needed to return, Aizen would've liked to see what Hyakume-ki Seikyo would do in the World of the Living.
After all, a lieutenant had been reported killed in the line of duty. A captains' meeting was sure to be called, and Ukitake Jushiro would likely report in person on what had happened during their outing.
So Aizen and Tosen Kaname had no choice but to return.
Captains like them couldn't just leave Soul Society whenever they pleased.
The next morning, Captain Ukitake had only just recovered a little from his illness when he received orders to go to the First Division's headquarters and report to the Captain-Commander on what had happened.
Captain Ukitake wasn't surprised. He changed out of his Captain's Haori, stained with his and Kaien's blood, and headed for the First Division.
By then, the news of Lieutenant Shiba Kaien's death had spread throughout the Seireitei.
The details had leaked, too: he had been killed by Aoto after a Hollow took over his body.
At Aoto's house, Toshiro stared at the tightly locked front door. He took out his key, unlocked it, and went inside.
As soon as he entered, Toshiro smelled alcohol.
Following the smell, he found Aoto sprawled on a recliner in the courtyard.
He was fast asleep, and the glass in his hand had fallen to the ground.
On the empty recliner beside Aoto sat a bottle of liquor and an empty glass.
Toshiro had rushed to his teacher's house as soon as he'd heard the news.
He knew all too well how close his teacher and Lieutenant Shiba had been.
Putting himself in his teacher's shoes, Toshiro imagined killing his own best friend... someone like Momo. He felt he'd go mad.
His teacher had chosen to drown his sorrows in alcohol, which already seemed like a remarkable degree of restraint.
But just as Toshiro was about to approach his teacher, he suddenly felt himself locked in the sights of an intensely dangerous gaze.
He couldn't see where the gaze came from, but he knew that if he took one more step, he'd be attacked.
The sensation made Toshiro deeply uneasy. Instinctively, he released Hyōrinmaru...
And the next instant, he saw a gigantic monster.
It was around a dozen meters tall, an enormous spherical creature floating above Aoto. It seemed to have no true physical form; even when it touched the eaves, it passed straight through them.
But on the side facing Toshiro, a single vertical eye stared at him. It seemed to be warning that if he dared do anything else, it would attack at once.
Before the huge spherical monster appeared, it hadn't leaked a trace of Reiatsu.
But the moment it emerged, overwhelming Reiatsu spread in every direction.
The captains gathered for a meeting at the First Division all felt the tremendous Reiatsu.
Second-Class Spiritual Pressure...
And it was unmistakably familiar.
Kyoraku Shunsui's expression changed. He didn't care that they were inside the First Division; he immediately rushed outside.
Unohana Retsu and Ukitake Jushiro hurried out alongside Kyoraku Shunsui.
The Captain-Commander's expression also shifted. He didn't rush out like the other three veteran captains, but he went to the First Division's veranda and gazed toward the source of the Reiatsu.
The enormous ball of flesh was clearly visible in the distance.
The other captains followed them out.
They'd been puzzled by the three captains' sudden reaction, but hadn't followed them.
Now, seeing the ball of flesh, they could feel the immense danger it posed.
"What is that?"
Zaraki Kenpachi stared at the ball of flesh, bewildered, but more interested in the powerful Reiatsu it gave off.
He wanted to try cutting it.
But Soi Fon, whose face was the most grim, named the monstrous mass.
"That's... Garaku Kairo!"