"Yes, I've already told you, it's alright!" This time, Sōsuke Aizen's tone was slightly sterner.

"My apologies, Lord Aizen." Kaname Tōsen immediately dropped to one knee before Aizen, bowing his head. "Please forgive my insolent words and disrespectful behavior just now."

After a long silence from Aizen, beads of cold sweat dripped from Tōsen's brow.

Ignoring Tōsen, Aizen smiled at Kisuke Urahara. "Captain Urahara, I'm afraid I know nothing about these Hollowfication experiments you mentioned. I merely happened upon several injured captains and lieutenants here, victims from the investigation into the disappearing souls. I was attempting to assist them when you arrived."

"You bastard..." Shinji Hirako, half his face covered by a Hollow mask, clutched his wound as he glared coldly at Aizen. "I'm truly honored to be 'assisted' by a lieutenant striking me with his Zanpakutō."

Without Urahara and Tessai's intervention, that last attack would have killed him. And if he died, the other captains' and lieutenants' fates became even harder to predict.

Listen to how Aizen referred to them - research subjects!

"Aizen, the truth is exposed, seen through by Tessai and myself. Why keep lying?"

"Lying? Captain Urahara, do you doubt a lieutenant's attempt to save his wounded captain?"

"Aizen, you know full well what I speak of. The disappearing souls crisis has persisted for nearly a century. Shinigami investigating it have gone missing one after another. Surely this stems from your secret Hollowfication experiments on them?"

"I see. Captain Urahara, you are as perceptive as I expected." Rather than panic at being exposed, Aizen's response was an ominous smile. "Your presence here today is truly fortuitous. Gin. Kaname. Our goals have been achieved beyond our wildest dreams. Let us depart..." With those words, Aizen sheathed his Zanpakutō and turned to leave.

Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen followed behind.

"Wait, Aizen, you haven't -"

"Captain Urahara, stand aside!"

As Urahara moved to stop Aizen, Tessai Tsukabishi's booming voice came from behind, his immense reiatsu flaring.

Urahara turned to see the Grand Kidō Chief, right palm facing Aizen's group, left hand gripping his wrist.

This was...?

Before he could process it, Urahara swiftly Flash Stepped away from his previous position.

"Bakudō #88 - Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon!"

Boom!

The massive reiatsu coalesced into a meter-thick bolt of lightning, surging straight at Aizen's trio.

The overwhelming attack carved an arc-shaped crater in the earth, its thunderous path extending forward.

Yet Aizen's group did not even glance back, as if oblivious to the incoming strike. As the lightning closed in, Aizen murmured an incantation.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Bakudō #81 - Danku!"

Thunderous boom!

The lightning slammed into a golden barrier manifesting behind the trio, exploding with tremendous force. The shockwave and towering flames shredded everything around them.

Amidst the roiling inferno, Tessai exclaimed in disbelief, "Impossible! A mere lieutenant, able to cast #81 without incantation? And that wordless Separating Void blocked my Kidō?"

Forgoing the incantation required mastering Kidō to an advanced degree. While casting Kidō wordlessly was more practical than reciting the full chant, its power was far diminished initially - often less than a tenth at first.

Only through grueling training could its might gradually approach the chanted version's. Being able to cast #81 at over sixty percent just by skipping the words proved Aizen's profound mastery.

Tessai, head of the Kidō Corps, could recite #88 with over eighty percent power wordlessly. That Aizen's #81 completely neutralized it demonstrated his prowess equaled Tessai's own.

By the time the explosion cleared, Aizen's group had vanished from Urahara and Tessai's sight.

"My apologies, Captain Urahara. I allowed them to escape."

"No, you are not to blame, Tessai. I simply do not understand what Aizen intends."

"Ahhh, ahhhhh!"

At that moment, Shinji let out an anguished howl as more white substance poured from his wounds and orifices, threatening to engulf him completely. The Hollow mask spread further across his face.

"Let us set Aizen aside for now. Captain Urahara, we must first aid Captain Hirako and the others."

"Tessai, their condition cannot be healed by conventional means."

"Hm?"

Tessai studied Urahara intently. "Captain, from your words, it seems you are aware of their affliction and the truth behind the disappearances. When you mentioned 'Hollowfication,' an unfamiliar term, does this relate to your prior research?"

"Yes, I conducted studies into Hollows before, but abandoned the project when I deemed my creations too dangerous. Now it appears Aizen treads a similar path as I once did. No, his path has ventured far beyond mine, using the Shinigami themselves as experimental subjects..."

"Since you understand this, you must know how to treat Hollowfication?"

"Indeed." Urahara nodded somberly. "However, the method is akin to a gamble. I cannot guarantee they will survive it."

"Having a chance is better than none at all." Tessai eyed Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, now fully masked.

"But in their current advanced state, treating them here will be difficult."

"Very well." Tessai's voice hardened with resolve. "I shall suspend their transformations, then transfer everyone to the 12th Division barracks. With their equipment to assist, the odds of success improve."

"How is that possible? Maintaining their current state to move them? Tessai, what do you intend?"

"I will freeze them in temporal stasis, then use spatial transference to relocate us all to the 12th Division."

"But those abilities are forbidden techniques, banned by Soul Society!"

"Then I ask you temporarily look the other way, Captain Urahara..."

***

At the Kuchiki Manor, Ailin sat atop the roof of the main hall. Since returning from today's captains' meeting, he had climbed up to survey the sky.

The events to unfold, though potentially diverging, largely aligned with Ailin's expectations. After all, this grand "performance" was orchestrated by that man.

Ailin's distant gaze pierced the seventy-two barrier layers separating the Soul Society from the Royal Realm, into the Soul King's inner sanctum. There, a mutilated man was imprisoned within a green crystal.

His expression vacant, four irises in two eyes.

Limbs severed, chest and abdomen hollowed of organs.

Rather than the exalted "Ruler" sovereigns proclaimed, he seemed a "Linchpin" jailed between realms to stabilize existence.

Perhaps the Soul King's compliance stemmed from visions his eyes beheld of the future.

This explained why, upon betrayal by the five great nobles, he offered no resistance - having glimpsed what lay ahead.

The Progenitors likely understood this truth as well.

Though the Tsunayashiro clan systematically weakened the Soul King over generations, fearing his power, they dared not blind him.

For they knew the Soul King's grotesque, "dehuman" state resulted from Visions of the Future.

Deprive him of that sight, and he would surely unleash unbridled devastation upon his traitorous captors.

Suddenly, a shift in Ailin's focus turned his gaze outward, toward the Rukongai districts outside Seireitei.

"That potent spatial disturbance - someone is using dimensional Kidō. It seems Urahara and Aizen's first clash has concluded."

Ailin shook his head, no longer observing the scene.

My apologies, Urahara. Though I owe you some favors, just as you acted for Soul Society's sake, now my every action serves the Soul King. So I must trouble you for a time.

After all, you've only borne a century's burden - the Soul King has shouldered this world's weight for over a million years! If he wishes to rest, to pursue oblivion, I cannot bring myself to deny him...