"Once again, thank you, Tenth, Tsunayoshi."
As Byakuya walked out of Squad 12 holding the infant, he felt that the sunlight was incredibly warm. It was as though the journey of life had become interesting once more.
"Didn't the Tenth already say it? Consider it a return gift for staying at your house for so long. Besides, this wasn't something the two of us could have completed on our own," Tsunayoshi said casually.
Right now, he only wanted to go home and lie down.
"The Kuchiki Clan will remember this. You two, Captain Kurotsuchi, Kisuke Urahara, and Senna…"
Byakuya's voice grew quieter toward the end.
While speaking with the others, he had already discovered that they had forgotten the name Senna.
As for why he still remembered, he did not know. Perhaps it was because he had spent more time with Senna. Or perhaps it was because the Hisana in his arms had returned from the Memory Rosary.
For the moment, Byakuya could not find the reason.
"Senna? Oh, the Memory Rosary was called Senna, wasn't she?"
Byakuya's eyes suddenly widened.
He had heard Tsunayoshi mutter that name. He hurriedly asked, "You still remember Senna?"
Seeing Byakuya's anxious expression, Tsunayoshi knew that he had misunderstood.
"My remembering it might be different from what you're thinking. Strictly speaking, I really have forgotten the name of the Memory Rosary."
In reality, Tsunayoshi had already forgotten the name of the Memory Rosary from the Valley of Screams incident.
The reason he could recall the word "Senna" was entirely because of the movie Memories of Nobody from his previous life. It was completely different from what Byakuya understood.
"I see."
Byakuya was slightly disappointed. He also understood that Tsunayoshi always had certain information channels unknown to him.
"It seems that even after the Memory Rosary disappeared, you still remember her. Then let her remain in your memory. That means she didn't come to this world for nothing."
Tsunayoshi waved his hand and left.
Byakuya, meanwhile, carried Hisana and returned to the Kuchiki estate with the Tenth and Rukia. Since her elder sister had only just been revived, Rukia took a few days off from her squad, wanting to properly accompany this sister she had only ever seen in a memorial portrait.
After that, several more peaceful days passed.
Just as Byakuya and Rukia had guessed, Byakuya carried Hisana wherever he went. Even when reporting matters related to the Memory Rosary during a captains' meeting, he never let her leave his arms.
Fortunately, Hisana was not an ordinary baby who understood nothing. Since she did not cry or make trouble, Yamamoto tacitly accepted Byakuya's somewhat improper behavior.
From then on, the Seireitei had one more child-carrying maniac.
The other was Kenpachi Zaraki, who had carried a pink-haired little brat on his back for years.
Like Byakuya, both men looked like ruthless monsters when fighting, yet when moving around the Seireitei normally, they were always accompanied by little brats completely at odds with their own style.
At the Sawada residence, the simple home that had been rebuilt after Tsunayoshi awakened his Schrift and blew himself up had, in just a few days, become incomparably luxurious. Modern design and traditional Japanese style collided with one another, yet under a master designer's hand, there was no sense of dissonance at all.
This was Byakuya Kuchiki's thank-you gift.
After rebuilding his home, Tsunayoshi had not had much money left, which was why the decoration had been extremely plain.
After Byakuya noticed this, he decisively had the Kuchiki Clan's exclusive renovation team refurbish Tsunayoshi's home completely, inside and out.
After seeing the new house, even Tsunayoshi, who had little material desire, could not help sighing that having money really was wonderful.
He had accepted the sugarcoated gift handed over by a great noble.
Just as Tsunayoshi was preparing to rest, a sneaky friend arrived at his mansion.
Looking at Kisuke Urahara emerging from a secret passage, Tsunayoshi was no longer surprised. He even suspected that there was nowhere in the Seireitei that Urahara could not enter.
"What brings the great scientist to my humble home?"
"Oh my, this can hardly be called humble. With this décor, aside from the two great noble clans, there probably isn't anywhere that can compare to this place, right?"
Urahara completely ignored Tsunayoshi's sarcasm. He had long since grown used to the way they interacted.
"Get to the point."
Tsunayoshi casually took a bottle of oolong tea from the refrigerator and tossed it to Urahara.
It had to be said that ever since Kisuke Urahara could freely enter and exit the Seireitei again, he had brought many convenient items from the World of the Living back to the Soul Society.
While conducting research, he also worked as a trader between the two worlds, earning a fortune. This was one of the sources of Urahara's research funding.
"Sora Inoue sent a message. The Espada have been fully assembled, and Aizen seems to have mastered the power of the Hōgyoku as well."
When serious matters were mentioned, Urahara's eyes became extremely focused.
He and Sora Inoue had always maintained secret contact. Sora would update him on Hueco Mundo's progress, making it easier for Urahara and Tsunayoshi to judge Aizen's progress.
"So Aizen has finally developed enough?" Tsunayoshi said, stretching lazily.
The reason he had never gone to Hueco Mundo to trouble Aizen was precisely to give Aizen enough time to develop.
Aizen had not disappointed Tsunayoshi's expectations.
During this period, he had not only improved his own strength, but also unified Hueco Mundo's order and established a relatively complete organization there.
"No matter how I think about it, your plan still feels risky," Urahara said, lying down on the veranda while imitating Tsunayoshi's posture and staring blankly up at the sky.
"Someone has to try, don't they?"
Tsunayoshi also looked up at the sky.
His purpose in allowing Aizen to grow was to make Aizen try challenging what lay above the Soul Society's sky. After all, Aizen coveted that empty throne as well.
Using him to probe the way and test the strength of the Royal Palace was not necessarily a bad idea.
Yamamoto knew of this plan.
He had also tacitly approved of Tsunayoshi's idea.
As the leader of the Seireitei, Yamamoto knew that as long as the Royal Palace existed, the Seireitei would remain under its control. If the Royal Palace wished it, a single order could restrict the Shinigami of the Seireitei completely.
Just as Tsunayoshi had said, in the battle one thousand years ago that concerned the survival of the Soul Society, the people in the Royal Palace had not sent anyone down to support them.
In that case, when an enemy aimed directly at the Royal Palace, the Seireitei likewise had no ability to stop them.
In any case, the Royal Palace's role was merely to protect the Soul King. It was not as though the Gotei Thirteen could not establish a few more guard squads for the Soul King.
As for this plan to nurture Aizen, Yamamoto was not afraid that things would go out of control even if they raised Aizen to the point where he defeated all the Royal Guard.
As a thousand-year-old monster, Yamamoto naturally knew what kind of existence the Soul King was.
If Aizen reached that point, he would not possibly attack the Soul King.
If he wanted to reform the world, then the Gotei Thirteen below—and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto himself—would be Aizen's target.
In other words, even in the worst-case scenario, they would have to face Aizen sooner or later.
Rather than that, they might as well let Aizen clash with the Royal Palace.
After all, Yamamoto did not believe Aizen could overcome that cunning monk who had lived even longer than him.
"Let's go. We'll head to Squad One and discuss this with the old man. We may have to make a trip to Hueco Mundo," Tsunayoshi said, standing up and following Urahara into the secret passage.
Only the three of them in the Seireitei knew about the plan involving the Royal Palace, so Tsunayoshi and Urahara had to use the secret passage to reach Squad One.
At Squad One, Yamamoto, who had received a secret message, was already waiting in a sealed room.
After reading all the information Urahara provided, Yamamoto raised his head and asked, "What do you intend to do?"
"I plan to go to Hueco Mundo with the Manager and see how strong Aizen is. If his strength isn't enough, he won't be able to test anything, right?" Tsunayoshi said.
"How do you intend to help him?"
"The Ōken, and the degree of fusion with the Hōgyoku. Because of the Hōgyoku, Aizen already has limitless possibilities. As for the Ōken, our original deal with him was to make him give up on the World of the Living. I'll see whether I can help him create a Jūreichi."
Regarding the Jūreichi, Tsunayoshi had formed an idea after becoming familiar with Quincy power. The specifics would have to wait until they reached Hueco Mundo to test.
"Besides Aizen, we also need to take over the organization he built in Hueco Mundo. In order to deal with the Quincy invasion, Hollow power is necessary," Kisuke Urahara added.
Everything about Hollows was highly poisonous to Quincies.
After gradually handing the affairs of the Seireitei over to Kyōraku, Yamamoto's thinking had also become more open. In the face of a powerful enemy, allying with Hollows was not unacceptable.
"I'll leave it to you. You may call on any Shinigami in the Seireitei," Yamamoto said.
Tsunayoshi and Urahara exchanged a glance.
"The smaller the target of this operation, the better. I originally planned for only the two of us to go. Now, we'll bring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Rukia as well. There are certain matters we need them to handle."
The main reason for bringing these two to Hueco Mundo was to deal with two Espada: the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro Granz, and the Noveno Espada, Aaroniero Arruruerie.
As for the Octava Espada, Tsunayoshi did not want a mad scientist who disregarded life among their allies.
As for the Noveno Espada, it was because he had devoured the Hollow that had fused with Kaien Shiba. Therefore, Rukia would be allowed to bring that matter to an end.
As for the other Espada, those who obeyed would be kept.
Those who did not would be dealt with by Tsunayoshi.
After all, Aizen had never treated these beings as people. They were purely tools meant to restrain the Seireitei.
"Very well. I'll give you a written order. Go find your people."
Yamamoto took out a sheet of paper on the spot, wrote down two names, and handed it to Tsunayoshi.
Tsunayoshi accepted the order and was about to leave for Squad Thirteen when Kisuke Urahara suddenly called out to him.
"Wait, Tsunayoshi. Yoruichi sent a message. Arrancar have attacked the World of the Living, and Ichigo and the others are currently fighting them."
Urahara took out a special Denreishinki as he spoke.
This device was something he used specifically to contact Yoruichi. It could ignore most restrictions when sending messages.
"Arrancar? Ask her whether they need support."
Tsunayoshi had not received any request for help from Ichigo and the others, so he could only have Urahara ask.
"Uh, it seems Ichigo and the others can handle it…"
Urahara sounded somewhat embarrassed.
He had thought Yoruichi had contacted him because the situation was extremely urgent. As it turned out, Yoruichi still had plenty of time to provide him with a written commentary.
"That's fine, then. We'll find our people first, make a trip to the World of the Living, and then go to Hueco Mundo," Tsunayoshi decided.
At present, Ichigo and the others were far stronger than they had been at this point in the original story. Last time, Ichigo had fought Ulquiorra on nearly even footing, so Tsunayoshi was not particularly worried that they would be in danger.
As they walked through the secret passage, Kisuke Urahara pretended to be worried and said in a deliberately sarcastic tone, "Tsunayoshi, this trip to Hueco Mundo will all depend on you. Aizen has already fused with the Hōgyoku. If he doesn't like the look of me, I might lose my little life there."
Tsunayoshi rolled his eyes speechlessly.
"Stop pretending, you profiteer. Leaving aside all your backup plans, haven't you completely trained Miss Benihime by now?"
"How can you call that training?"
Urahara immediately retorted.
"That is called sharing a common pursuit of science. Benihime is simply willing to cooperate with me…"
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