"Rosse comes from outside this world, doesn't he?"
"Hm?"
This abrupt question from Kyoraku Shunsui was like a heavy bomb dropped into still water.
The already silent surroundings became even quieter.
Only the sounds of Yhwach clashing with the members of Squad Zero remained.
'Rosse… isn't from this world?'
"Ha… haha! Kyoraku, what kind of joke are you playing at?"
Hirako Shinji, frozen in midair with his body twisted into a tangled mess, couldn't move, but his ears and mouth still worked. Aizen wasn't going so far as to stop him from speaking.
If a spectator couldn't hear, couldn't speak, couldn't see, then how could they fulfill their role as a spectator?
"At a time like this, you're still playing detective? Does a single word out of Aizen's mouth sound true? Wasn't Rosse from Hueco Mundo to begin with? What's there to doubt?"
However, this time, Kyoraku Shunsui didn't respond to Hirako's complaints.
He didn't even spare him a glance.
Those eyes of his were like freshly sharpened blades, locked firmly onto Aizen in front of him.
"Aizen, answer me!"
His voice was no longer lazy, but carried a weight and certainty never heard before.
All the clues, all the inconsistencies, all those coincidences that seemed reasonable but were actually full of holes…
At this moment, they fit together in his mind like a perfectly completed puzzle.
Rosse appeared too suddenly.
Like a ghost that had popped out of a crack in a rock.
Across the entire Soul Society, even if you searched through everyone's memories, you wouldn't find a single trace of this man.
The first time he appeared before everyone was through the inexplicable, forceful recommendation of Central 46, dropping straight into the position of Captain of the Tenth Division.
He was brought into Seireitei by Matsumoto Rangiku, and passed the captain qualification process in front of the old man and Kyoraku.
It looked flawless.
But a captain-level figure with such terrifying strength having been completely unknown before that, like a rootless tree with no origin?
That alone was the biggest flaw.
Even if you take a step back and assume his Shinigami identity was forged by Aizen, and his original identity was a ruler of Hueco Mundo, that still doesn't match up.
Before Rosse appeared, the well-known ruler of Hueco Mundo was Barragan, whose domain was Las Noches.
These were all recorded in Soul Society.
Even in the years just before Rosse appeared, Soul Society had sent an expeditionary force into Hueco Mundo.
There was no Royal Palace of Hollows, and no ruler named Rosse.
The name "Royal Palace of Hollows," along with those terrifyingly powerful Espada, all appeared overnight alongside Rosse.
Those once-famous Hollows of Hueco Mundo, whether Szayelaporro who had attacked Soul Society before, or Barragan who had long sat on the throne, all vanished as if they had never existed, without leaving even a trace of resistance.
This was far too abnormal.
If it were a native being, its growth would leave a trail. It couldn't just overturn everything overnight.
"This is the only explanation."
Kyoraku Shunsui stared into Aizen's eyes and said word by word, "Rosse, from the very beginning, came from outside this world."
"And those Espada, Harribel, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra… they're just lucky ones Rosse picked at random. Before he arrived, they might have only been slightly stronger Adjuchas, or the weakest Vasto Lorde."
"Haven't you already reached the answer, Kyoraku?", Facing that almost interrogative gaze, Aizen did not deny it.
He tilted his head slightly, the corners of his mouth curving into a faint, ambiguous smile. In those brown eyes flickered a light only someone of the same kind could understand.
He didn't explicitly confirm it, but that attitude itself was the most definite answer.
In fact, during that first encounter, even Aizen hadn't considered the possibility of someone from outside the world.
After all, Hueco Mundo was vast. It wasn't completely impossible for one or two Hollows that defied common sense to appear.
But as time passed, and as his understanding of Rosse deepened, he completely rejected that idea.
First, personality.
Someone like Rosse, with absolute strength and absolute intellect, someone who could be described as born knowing, born extraordinary, how could such a person only appear now?
A person like that would be like a supernova burning in the dark night sky.
No matter where you threw him, no matter how lowly a background you gave him, even if he were reborn in the human world as an unremarkable office worker, he would tear apart all restraints in a very short time and burst forth with brilliance the entire world couldn't ignore.
A true powerhouse cannot be hidden.
Rosse and someone like that relic Yhwach were completely different kinds of beings.
That Quincy emperor could throw his life away for some useless prophecy, could hide like a turtle in the shadows for a thousand years just to accumulate power.
But Rosse wouldn't.
He would act without restraint, destroy, conquer, and at the same time, enjoy the process to the fullest.
He was born to rule.
Once he confirmed that, Aizen understood Rosse could not possibly be a being from this world.
If he had truly been born and grown here, then over hundreds or thousands of years, he would have left countless legends and traces that shook the three realms.
But there were none.
Nothing at all.
Even when Aizen used Kyoka Suigetsu to forcibly extract Barragan's memories bit by bit, sifting through tens of thousands of years of memory like sand, there was still nothing.
He tried everything he could, yet didn't find even the slightest trace of Rosse's existence.
It was as if he had suddenly been inserted into this world, suddenly barging into their lives.
Thinking back to that, and recalling their first meeting, Aizen understood everything.
That initial guidance, that first display of power, was simply because he thought they were walking the same path.
He had assumed, rather egotistically, that the other hadn't yet reached the peak.
But in reality, Rosse had most likely already completed everything in his own world.
Perhaps he had devoured his world, or ruled over it entirely.
Or perhaps his world was of a higher order, and even at the level of the Soul King, Rosse was still climbing upward there.
No matter which it was, it meant Rosse's perspective had already surpassed the Soul King, surpassed what Aizen himself could comprehend.
Looking at a leopard through a tube, you could never see its full form, nor guess its true intentions.
Devour the Soul King? Become the ruler of the three realms?
No. Such low-level and dull goals might already be the highest pursuit for Yhwach and for Aizen himself. But for Rosse, it was definitely far more than that.
Rosse's goal was far beyond gods or kings, and even more indescribable.
It was a final domain that Aizen, limited by this world's perspective, could neither fully understand nor glimpse.
Even so, the fire of ambition still burned within Aizen.
He knew it clearly.
Rosse had left him one last chance.
This right arm of the Soul King, transplanted onto him, was the final opportunity Rosse had given him to turn things around.
If, after possessing the Hogyoku, possessing the power of the Soul King, and even receiving Rosse's personal guidance, he still couldn't defeat that man in the final battle, then he would truly have no excuses left, and no chances remaining.
This was the final fairness between the strong.
And also the last bit of mercy and respect Rosse, this outsider, showed to someone he valued.
"Heh! Aizen, you've really gone insane!"
Kyoraku Shunsui glared at Aizen, the corners of his eyes even seeping blood from the strain.
He finally understood.
Why those unruly Espada of the Royal Palace of Hollows followed Rosse like fanatics.
Why even someone as coldly rational as Ishida Ryuken would go mad along with them.
Why even someone as purely obsessed with the blade as Unohana would choose betrayal.
Because they had a way out, and they saw a different future.
Rosse, this outsider, brought not only destruction, but also redemption.
After this world was destroyed, in that unknown world of his, there would surely already be places reserved for these followers.
To Soul Society and this world, these people were complete traitors.
But to themselves, it was nothing more than migration for a broader future.
People like this, no matter the era, no matter the race, would never be absent.
Just like those Shinigami nobles who would sell everything for profit.
But Kyoraku couldn't understand.
"What are you after, Aizen?"
He demanded through clenched teeth, "Didn't you always claim you wanted to stand at the top? Wasn't your goal the position of the Soul King? If so, why cooperate with this outsider who wants to destroy our world?"
"Kyoraku."
Aizen let out a light sigh. In his brown eyes, there was even a trace of pity for mortal understanding.
"You're still too narrow-minded."
He slowly spread his arms, gently pulling down his Shihakusho. The Hogyoku in his chest pulsed like a beating heart, radiating an incomparable brilliance.
It was the ultimate desire for evolution from deep within his soul, pushing him toward the domain of the Soul King.
"There is order in learning; the accomplished are the teacher."
"Since Rosse comes from outside the world, have you not thought about what that implies?"
"It means he's an enemy! It means you're a lackey! Tch!"
Hirako Shinji, though unable to move, still spat fiercely.
Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro said nothing, but their dark expressions clearly meant the same thing.
If someone was strong, you follow them, that's not being a lackey?
They had their own goals. By following them, were they expecting to end up as rulers of the old world?
If their world was to be enslaved, and Aizen became the master of an enslaved world, wouldn't that make him even more of a lackey?
Only Ishida Ryuken, standing aside watching, let out a scornful laugh, as if looking at frogs trapped in a well.
Though when he looked at Aizen, there was a bit more caution in his eyes.
"So you still don't understand."
Aizen shook his head, a fervor and thirst for knowledge bursting from his gaze that made it hard to look at directly.
"This means that beyond this world, there are more worlds."
"This means everything we know, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, the human world, these three fragmented realms barely maintained by a crippled Soul King, are not the only truth, nor the end of the universe."
"Since the Soul King created this incomplete world, then where did the Soul King come from? What gave birth to the Soul King? Or who created the Soul King?"
"These questions, I once had no answers. Until Rosse appeared…"
Aizen's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"The answer is already right in front of us! This world, or rather the space we exist in, is far more vast than we ever imagined. We are nothing but frogs at the bottom of a well."
"Even if there are other worlds outside, is that your reason for betraying your homeland and destroying this world?"
Kyoraku Shunsui roared in rebuttal. This was his bottom line.
To pursue a broader world at the cost of destroying one's own, using it as a stepping stone, what kind of logic was that?
Why not develop slowly, and explore outward later?
Besides, if even the Soul King chose not to explore and instead became the foundation of this world, it clearly meant the outside was dangerous. [T/N: Dark forest hypothesis.]
Wasn't it better to stay in their own world?
Did he intend to keep drawing in enemies like Rosse?
They couldn't even withstand one Rosse.
"So I said, you are too narrow-minded."
Aizen sneered, raising his hand to point at the scene around them, unfolding like a painted scroll, the battlefield of the Soul King Palace being broadcast in real time.
In the image, the once solemn and sacred palace complex, symbolizing the pinnacle of order in the three realms, had already turned into ruins filled with smoke and shattered walls.
The towering Kirinden had been cut in half at the waist. The flames of the Hooden had long since died out.
Kirinji Tenjiro lay in the rubble like a dead dog, his life or death unknown.
The voluptuous Hikifune Kirio was drenched in blood, severely injured on the ground.
Only Oetsu Nimaiya, holding his Zanpakuto, remained fighting Yhwach, who wielded a spirit-formed long sword.
"In the understanding of ordinary people like you, your homeland is the land that nurtured you, its rules and soil."
Aizen withdrew his gaze and looked at Kyoraku, his tone frighteningly calm.
"But what if that understanding itself is wrong?"
"That can't be wrong!"
Kyoraku Shunsui answered firmly, yet an ominous feeling rose in his heart.
"Of course it's wrong!"
Aizen denied it without hesitation, "What if everything you see, everything you cherish, is nothing but an illusion?"
"What if the real Soul Society was destroyed thousands of years ago, and all Shinigami are merely living in a vast dream woven by the strong, by someone like me, or the Soul King?"
"What if the Soul Society beneath our feet isn't what you've seen for the past thousand years at all?"
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