Chapter 364

2-in-1 chapter:

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“Guh…”

In a deserted alley of Seireitei, the Reigai Aizen clutched his shoulder, leaning against the wall as he moved forward with difficulty.

At this moment, the poise he had displayed just minutes earlier had completely vanished.

His left shoulder had a perfectly circular hole blown through it, clean at the edges, and his entire arm was gone. His abdomen had also been blasted open, leaving a large crater.

If not for the pre-triggered spirit particle shield he had set up here in advance, his torso might have met the same fate as his shoulder.

One of his legs had been broken and was now forcibly bound using Kidō.

Had he not been a Reigai, each step he took now would have been filled with unbearable pain.

And yet, even with such severe injuries, all he had gained was a bit of time.

Before arriving, anticipating that negotiations might fall through, he had set up over a dozen contingency plans.

He had thought that, even if talks failed, he would at least be able to retreat in one piece.

But Kaelith’s terrifying power had far exceeded his expectations.

More than once, he had truly believed he wouldn’t be able to escape.

Fortunately, fate did not forsake him—he had survived.

Now, all he needed to do was return to Inaba Kagerōza’s lab. There, he could quickly create a new Reigai body and transfer into it, restoring all his injuries.

Clenching his teeth, the Reigai Aizen pushed forward with all his strength.

He just needed to reach that place…

Suddenly, a voice called out:

“What a pitiful sight, my replica.”

“?!”

Hearing the voice, the Reigai Aizen’s eyes widened in shock. He looked up.

At the entrance of the alley, a figure stood, watching him with a faint smile.

“Aizen… Sōsuke.”

Seeing the man before him, the Reigai Aizen gritted his teeth.

As he watched, Aizen approached at a calm, almost leisurely pace.

He stopped a short distance away.

“Hmm… Two layers of Danku, and one strike of Hadō 96: Itto Kaso. Looks like you’ve already met him.”

“How does it feel? To have set out with hope, only to return empty-handed?”

“Shut up!”

The Reigai Aizen’s face twisted in anger.

“Sōsuke Aizen, are you pleased with yourself?”

“You’re just luckier. You had more opportunities, more resources, that’s all.”

“My intellect is no less than yours. If I’d had what you did—your resources, your starting point—my accomplishments wouldn’t be inferior!”

He swept his hand outward as he spoke:

“If I had someone as powerful as Kaelith at my side, someone who could rally others, satisfy every need of a behind-the-scenes operator, then right now, you and I might have traded places!”

Aizen narrowed his eyes slightly, seeming to ponder this.

After a few seconds, he smiled.

“Just to be sure—are those your true thoughts?”

“Of course they are.”

The Reigai Aizen took a deep breath.

“Right now, if I were the one who had Kaelith, if I had all that you possess—would you still be standing here, looking down on me with such composure?”

“If you were just the version of me from decades ago, without the higher spiritual pressure, would you even dare to stand here with that casual air?”

Looking at the man whose anger now burned like fire, Aizen’s gaze turned to one of pity.

“I see.”

“In that case, I owe you an apology.”

“…An apology?”

The Reigai Aizen was momentarily taken aback.

Then, his expression grew even more furious.

An apology? What was that supposed to mean?

What are you so proud of? What is that condescending look supposed to be?

Under his increasingly incensed stare, Aizen nodded.

“Yes. I must apologize to you.”

“Before speaking with you, I believed this would be a conversation between equals.”

“Even if you're just a replica, you're still a copy of me—Sōsuke Aizen.”

“I’ve spoken with another version of myself from another world. Though he was a failure—disheveled, even pathetic—he was undeniably my equal.” (see note)

“From him, I felt it clearly. That was me. Truly, another ‘Sōsuke Aizen.’”

“But you… are different.”

“To be sure, your appearance, the nature and quality of your spiritual pressure, even parts of your thought process, are almost identical to mine.”

“But compared to me—and that other Sōsuke Aizen—you lack something crucial.”

As the Reigai Aizen looked on in bewilderment, Aizen stepped forward.

Due to his injuries, the Reigai Aizen couldn’t fully stand upright.

From his perspective, the approaching Aizen was like a deity peering down from above.

“These past few days, aside from giving orders to Central 46, I’ve spent my time studying the Reigai.”

“I’ve been pondering—if Reigai were truly indistinguishable from the originals in ability, thought, and memory, then why were they all so loyal to their creator?”

“Even if bound by some kind of powerful control, that should at most compel them to act, not inspire genuine loyalty.”

“I’ve seen how Ukitake was to Kyōraku, and how I was treated. That level of sincerity couldn’t simply be explained away.”

“Through this research—and now, after talking with you—I finally arrived at a hypothesis.”

“When Inaba created the Reigai, he used the Breath of the Soul King, merging fragments of his own soul into your spiritual cores.”

“As a result, you Reigai share a common origin with Inaba, and thus your wills align with his.”

The Reigai Aizen frowned slightly.

“So what? Any researcher would want to retain firm control over the weapons they create.”

“For you to make such a shallow guess and…”

He suddenly froze mid-sentence, his face changing in realization.

Aizen smiled at the reaction.

“So, you’ve figured it out.”

“Yes. It’s not just that you’re under Inaba’s control.”

“Your thinking—your will—it’s aligned with his.”

“There’s a common trait among all the Reigai Captains when they fight. No matter how many are present, they always attempt to split the battlefield—isolating their enemies into one-on-one or two-on-one situations.”

“They avoid chaotic group battles whenever possible.”

“The reason is simple.”

“Because of Inaba’s spiritual influence, you Reigai are incapable of trusting each other. Naturally, you avoid any combat style that requires cooperation.”

"And you are no exception."

"Your desire for Kaelith stems from your dependence on great power—it comes from your own self-doubt."

"What you see in him are things you lack, things you believe should have been yours."

"But in my eyes, there is only the goal, and the path that leads to it."

"Even without him, I would still become the one who stands above all."

At this point, he paused briefly, looking around. After confirming that no one else was nearby, he continued in a calm voice:

"I chose to stand beside him because we are like-minded. Because I am willing to share what I have with him. Because... I am willing to let him be the one who stands atop the heavens."

"It is not because he can offer me something, or because he can help me achieve anything."

"And it is certainly not the foolish notion of treating him as a mere enforcer."

Looking at the man before him—identical in appearance—Aizen shook his head slightly.

"When we first met, I called you ‘my replica.’"

"That label was inaccurate."

"You are merely something that bears my name."

"And with your narrow capacity, you are unworthy of it."

Hearing these words, the replica’s face twisted with fury and distortion.

"Aizen Sōsuke!!"

He roared, spreading his arms toward Aizen.

"Sever the threads—power made eternal."

"Recite the song of darkness."

"The Reaper’s shield that tears through the dark."

"A ferryboat crossing the river of inevitability."

"Advance, cleaving through the abyss."

Aizen stood silently, unmoving, as the man completed the entire incantation.

Only at the end did he finally speak.

"Hadō Number 90: Kurohitsugi!"

A deep hum echoed.

A chaotic black spiritual pressure rose like twin coffins from the ground, enveloping the two of them.

A few seconds later, the turbulent reiatsu dissipated.

The replica’s body erupted with blood as he collapsed with a thud, full of rage and unwillingness.

While he was still looking up, Aizen drew his Zanpakutō.

"Farewell, nameless one."

A clean slash followed.

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Aizen picked up the red soul pill from the fallen replica and turned to leave.

But just as he turned, he was startled to see a very familiar figure standing at the alley entrance, smiling and looking his way.

"Kaelith…? Since when—?"

Aizen frowned slightly.

"Not long ago," Kaelith said with a cheerful tone.

That answer, however, gave Aizen a very bad feeling.

"So just from when I said... ‘I stand with him because we are like-minded, because I’m willing to share—’ Damn it!”

Before he could finish the sentence, Kaelith flash-stepped away to the distance.

Aizen remained expressionless. With one hand on his Zanpakutō, he slashed the air where Kaelith had just been.

Now watching Kaelith from afar, he calmly said, "Kaelith, I have a test, and I need someone to assist."

"You, come help me now."

Kaelith chuckled.

"Sōsuke, don’t tell me you got corrupted by the replica? That’s such an obvious trap—even an idiot wouldn’t fall for it."

"The Squad Six captaincy duel."

Aizen spoke in a deep tone.

"You still owe me for the Squad Six captaincy duel."

"I'm invoking that now."

Kaelith paused slightly.

"Didn’t you say at the time that promise was meant for—"

"At the time, you said you'd do it even without the promise. So you didn’t accept the condition."

Aizen interrupted him directly.

Hearing this, Kaelith’s expression changed.

That’s bad. Thinking back on it... yeah, he did say that.

He sucked in a sharp breath, his mind spinning quickly for a way to wriggle out of this.

Just then, a massive surge of spiritual pressure erupted from a distant location.

Kaelith seized the chance.

"Sōsuke, the situation's critical. Let’s talk about this later… I’ll go check it out first!"

With that, he vanished in a flash.

Looking in the direction Kaelith had gone, Aizen took a deep breath. A feeling akin to despair passed over him.

He had clearly confirmed there was no one nearby, yet somehow that bastard had successfully snuck close without triggering his senses.

This lunatic—was he growing a little too fast?

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Squad One—main gate.

The roar of Zanpakutō releases, Kidō spells, and clashing reiatsu had reduced the area to ruins.

In the chaos, Sasakibe Chōjirō took a moment to glance around and couldn’t help but feel as though he’d been betrayed by fate.

The carefully maintained barracks of Squad One, which he had worked so hard to keep in order, had turned into a wasteland.

Master Yamamoto… if your spirit is watching...Cough, I meant if you could see this, how would you even feel?

At the beginning of the battle, the captains found themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number and pressure of the replicas.

But very quickly, sharp observers like Kyōraku noticed the critical flaw Aizen had mentioned earlier.

These replicas were not exact copies of the originals.

Infused with fragments of Inaba’s soul, they lacked any true sense of teamwork.

Operating independently was the least of it.

The worst was that, when faced with mortal danger, the replica captains would unhesitatingly abandon their so-called allies.

In contrast to them, when three-on-three engagements took place, if one of the originals fell into a disadvantage, the other two would immediately assist, and the one struggling would hold the line no matter what to avoid exposing a weak point.

The replicas were nothing like that.

If one began to lose ground, they would retreat to preserve themselves, leaving their so-called teammates to fend for themselves.

Because of that, a lopsided battle gradually began to shift into a more evenly matched one.

Zaraki Kenpachi, in particular, grew more ecstatic with each passing minute. His spiritual pressure exploded outward layer by layer, brutally suppressing the replica assigned to him.

Just as the momentum was about to shift decisively in favor of the originals, a figure suddenly dropped from the sky, slamming down between the two forces with a deafening crash.

Everyone—whether original or replica—was stunned at the sight of the one who had descended.

The reactions that followed, however, were completely opposite.

On the original’s side, spirits rose high, as if a core pillar had returned.

Among the replicas, expressions turned pale. Some, with already weakened morale, immediately wavered.

Amid the stunned crowd, Kaelith slowly stood up.

He hoisted his Zanpakutō, smiling as he looked around.

"Yo. Throwing a party without me?"

"Couldn’t even wait a little?"

Yoruichi smiled, just about to say something.

Then, from the floating shadow beside Kaelith, a green-haired girl’s head popped out.

Yoruichi’s eye twitched.

This bastard… even on the way to battle, he managed to pick up another girl?

That was just a bit too ridiculous.

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Note:

We’ll be reading the side story starting tomorrow—it’s about 10 chapters long. I know some people aren’t fond of stories being split or interrupted, but this one is short, and we’ll be through it in 3–4 days. It’s worth it, though—it offers a really interesting introspective look at Aizen, giving more depth to his character and motivations. Just to clarify: even though it’s labeled a side story, it takes place in the same continuity and timeline as the main plot—not a separate or parallel universe.

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