"Yoriichi, I have always believed you should stand on the same side as me," Aizen said, seated on the seal.
At those words, Yoriichi stopped just as he was about to leave.
He did not turn around, merely angling his face to look calmly at the man in the specially made chair.
"Enough of your pointless probing."
Yoriichi said flatly, "I will never stand on the same side as you."
"Our starting points are fundamentally different."
Yoriichi's tone grew cold. "You want to rule everything, while all I want is to protect the friends around me."
"Even if our goals align right now, that is only because Yhwach happens to be standing in both our paths."
With that, Yoriichi ignored Aizen's inscrutable expression and turned away.
This self-absorbed fool really thinks the whole world has to revolve around his will.
"Wait here for now."
Yoriichi walked deeper into the darkness with heavy steps. "Someone will come here specifically to unseal you later."
No further reply came from Aizen behind him.
Having finished his verbal confrontation with Aizen, Yoriichi continued deeper into Muken.
Muken was so vast that even one's sense of direction could easily be erased.
Relying on his faint spiritual perception, Yoriichi felt his way through the darkness.
This damned place was stifling enough to drive someone mad, without even a stray sound.
It's a wonder the people locked up here haven't become complete lunatics.
Before long, he reached another relatively isolated sealing area.
Someone was bound to a stone pillar there.
The Eighth Kenpachi, Sōya Azashiro.
Dressed in grayish-white prison clothes, his hands bound by thick Reishi chains, he leaned against the chilling stone pillar, resting with his eyes closed.
Ever since his last life-and-death duel with Kenpachi Zaraki in Muken, Sōya Azashiro had voluntarily withdrawn his Bankai,