Great Spirit Library There is no wind.
The light here is blue, cold, and thin, as if filtered up from the deep water. The spiral staircase sinks in circles, and the jade slips on both sides are lined up to form a wall of silence. With a fingertip, Reishi rises from the side of the slips, forming characters, suspended in mid-air, and scattered after reading, leaving no trace of ink.
Sosuke Aizen walked down the corridor, his steps were leisurely and even calm, as if he had walked into his own study. Kyōka Suigetsu had already spread out silently. The guards belonging to the Tsunayashiro Clan glanced at him again and again, but their eyes seemed to pass through a mass of non-existent air.
No one stopped, no one made a sound.
Countless times.
When he comes in and out of this place, it feels like he is home.
He remembered which layer archived Hueco Mundo observations, which layer held the broken pages of old wars, and which volume's Reishi lock would leave an access mark on the third touch.
So this time, he didn't come when the file was just filed. It was too early and the traces were too bright. He waited for it to sink into the depths of the corridor, waiting for it to become an inconspicuous volume among many old things, before he reached out.
What he is looking for is the Vasto Lorde.
Arturo·Platido.
Xu appeared in the form of Soul Reaper. In Xu's hand, he held a weapon that looked like Zanpakutō, and a pair of wings condensed by Reishi. Things beyond the existing system would always leave a hook in his heart. Once the hook fell, he would not be able to sleep well until it was clear.
In the inner pocket of his chest, there was a small polyhedron. He finally completed it a few days ago.
The word "complete" is said lightly, that thing is still hidden deeper in the body at this moment, the dim light turns slowly, like an eye that refuses to close.
His fingertips stopped on the jade slip.
The words Reishi appeared, cold and neat, in the tone of the observation team's post-recording: Vasto Lorde, high position, incomplete mask, maintaining a close posture, able to gather power in the form of a knife. The recorder obviously didn't know how to classify it, so he had to write the word "abnormal" again and again.
Aizen reads very slowly.
'Hōgyoku Hōgyoku'
He called it in his heart: 'Tell me, what is this void?'
No answer, at least until you get that piece of Soul King Fragment
Arrancar.
This word was not something he read on the jade slip, it came to him suddenly, as if someone had said it in his ear.
Who is talking?
The corridor was still quiet. The guard's footsteps sounded in the distance on the upper floor and then disappeared again. Aizen stood in the dim blue light, his palms slightly tightened.
Xu, hit the Arrancar tool and gain the power of Soul Reaper. So that posture that is close to human form is called Arrancar.
He took out the polygon from his arms and did not open it. He just looked at the palm of his hand. Under his palm was blood, Reiatsu, the jade he had hidden. The record on the jade slip was still hanging in front of his eyes: Knife, Wings, Liberation. He put the pieces together in his mind, took them apart again, and put them together again.
That knife can also be called Zanpakutō.
It is formed by gathering the power of Vasto Lorde... and liberating it, named: Resurrección
When these two words fell, the eyes behind the lenses lit up, like a fire being lit. It was quiet, but it could not be taken back.
The existing Soul Reaper, regard Zanpakutō as the embodiment of the soul.
Being empty, treating hunger as a way of existence.
If there is a being that can hold the two in the same hand, then the boundary that Soul Society has believed in for thousands of years is not a wall, but a line that has not been stepped on.
He didn't stay on this volume for too long. He couldn't visit too deeply and couldn't stay too long. He let the words Reishi disperse, and his fingertips continued to move down the grid, like a person who was just flipping through the pages.
Then he turned to another volume.
The page Reishi is old and heavy, and there are traces of being repeatedly sealed and unsealed on the corners. The year is marked on the front of the volume, blurry, but still identifiable: more than 600 years ago, nearly 700 years ago...
A name suddenly caught my eye.
[Shendu Wuming]
Aizen's fingers stopped.
The record is not long, the appearance and abilities are rough, and it eventually turned into a half-Soul Reaper, half-virtual monster. The battle records are complete, and there is information about Muken being imprisoned.
Imprison Muken
Aizen's eyes stopped at these four words, Muken is not an execution ground.
The execution ground is for the dead, and Muken is for things that cannot die, cannot be released, and cannot be seen.
They wrote Shendu Wuming so clearly, and then locked the clarity itself in the deepest place. The fear is not that they cannot remember it, but that too many people will remember it.
Attached to the end of the volume is a research report, signed: Senjumaru Shutara.
There is also a very faint note on the edge of the page: Asking for a name is just a simple matter of convenience.
Aizen Read it word by word.
Bankai Hollowfication.
It wasn't being bitten by a void, it wasn't the erosion of Hueco Mundo coming in from the outside, it was Soul Reaper himself, at the moment when he pressed his soul to the limit and liberated Zanpakutō to the deepest place, he was twisted open by another force from the inside.
Soul Reaper, it turns out it really works Hollowfication.
He turned to the signature column at the end of the volume.
The recorder has only three names.
Shuichi, Chikiri Shijima, Senjumaru Shutara.
There is no annotation of Central 46 and no other signatures. Although some names of Tenth Division and early Seated Officer appear in the document, they do not appear in the final signature column.
An old incident from more than seven hundred years ago was buried in the deepest part of this spiral, as if it was afraid that it would crawl out on its own.
Aizen looked at the three names and was silent for a long time.
Shuichi Captain?
Chikiri Shijima? Shin'ō Academy That teacher who is in low spirits all day long?
Senjumaru Shutara? Who...
Looks like I'm going to have a good look at the personnel files.
Aizen Slowly close the scroll, Reishi The words disperse, and the name sinks back into the jade slip
The interview should be shallow and the interest should be hidden. He has learned to hold the brightest flame under the water.
He walked up the spiral staircase, his steps still calm and his shoulders still loose, as if he had just completed a round of unimportant old stalls. When he passed the upper floor, a guard yawned and his eyes passed directly through his face and landed on the empty shelf opposite.
Shendu Wuming.
Arturo·Platido.
Seven hundred years ago...
Captain Shuichi... So you are still Captain-Commander Yamamoto's disciple...
Chikiri Shijima...First Generation Fourth Division Captain, the founder of the medical team... the Mist Killer...
Senjumaru Shutara? The second generation Twelfth Division captain? Reishi Research Institute founder? Has been promoted to Zero Division?
'Arrancar...' He read it again in his mind.
'If Soul Reaper can Hollowfication, Xu can also hold a sword... then the limit has never been set by heaven'
'It looks like the future is very interesting...'
He walked on the streets of Seireitei very slowly, admiring the scenery and watching the soldiers coming and going. He thought a lot. When he reached the door of the fifth squadron building, the sky had darkened. The lights in the corridor lit up one after another, and a warm yellow light came out from behind the paper door.
"Aizen Lieutenant, you are back." Squad Member at the door leaned towards him.
He nodded, with that gentle smile appearing on his face, "Well, thank you for your hard work."
The wind blew in from the entrance of the corridor and could not lift the corners of his clothes. Kyōka Suigetsu gathered them silently, like the tide retreating into the sea...