The Soul King is dead.
But if you were to ask if that meant the plan was a success, the answer would be no. It could be said that the real plan starts now.
The death of the Soul King was merely the foundation for the plans that followed.
My true objective wasn't simply to liberate the Soul King from eternal life, but the apotheosis of all mankind.
"Rest well."
I watched the Soul King's spirit scatter into particles of light and slowly closed my eyes.
Of course, that doesn't mean the Soul King's death was just a part of the plan.
How could I not grieve after killing a friend I've known for ages—someone who truly understood me—with my own hands?
The death of the Soul King is one thing, and the plan is another.
It's closer to burying my personal feelings in my heart for the sake of a greater cause.
"For destruction is not the end, but a new beginning."
Now is not the time to be submerged in sorrow, but to prepare for that new start.
I cannot let the world the Soul King left behind go to waste.
Opening my eyes again, I pulled the sealed Hogyoku from my robes.
Unlike in the original story, the Hogyoku was radiating a massive amount of energy despite being covered in so many layers of seals that its form was barely visible.
It likely absorbed the byproducts generated during the clash between the Soul King and me. Or perhaps the Hogyoku was reacting to a divine will.
Even I haven't fully grasped the nature of the Hogyoku, so I have no way to explain it perfectly.
However, I can tell that now is the optimal time to complete the plan. If I don't do it now, I never will.
Rumble—...
With the Three Worlds losing their Wedge and collapsing, this is the only window of opportunity.
Watching the domain of Hell expand in real-time, I gripped the Hogyoku tightly in my palm.
At that moment, destruction in the form of flames instantly incinerated the Hogyoku's seals.
Left in my hand was only the Hogyoku, glowing brilliantly in polychromatic light.
"Now, it's time to wrap this up."
As I squeezed it, the Hogyoku reacted to my power and emitted a blinding light.
The power of the Hogyoku, as I understand it, is the 'Implementation of Thought.'
At first glance, it might seem similar to the creative power possessed by the Soul King, but the Hogyoku is not such a convenient tool.
The power it holds is to help one realize their own potential and achieve their ultimate goal.
The desire to save the person in front of you, the wish to protect someone—it is a lighthouse that guides such intense feelings and iron will.
I will use this to turn all of humanity into gods. Of course, it's impossible to achieve the apotheosis of mankind with just one Hogyoku.
Even the Soul King, who created the world, couldn't fathom the hearts of every individual. To think this one small orb could turn all of humanity into gods—even a passing dog would laugh at that.
Therefore, I will make humans fathom the hearts of other humans. I will make humans save humans.
I will turn them into proactive beings who save themselves, rather than passive beings who cling to a god and beg for salvation.
"I will give everything that is needed."
Even if my own divinity is torn to shreds until not a single trace remains, if it becomes the foundation upon which mankind advances, then it is exactly what I desire.
"At this very moment, the world is reborn."
As the Hogyoku, guided by my will, began to radiate a colossal light, I threw it beyond the Gates of the Six Realms of Reincarnation.
The manifestation of will floating within the light soon scattered into countless particles of brilliance.
Shortly after, the sense of fulfillment and omnipotence that had filled my being vanished, and the expansion of Hell ceased.
"...Gonna be a real pain to redevelop this place."
I hadn't looked around properly, but I felt like Hell had grown about 1.5 times larger than before.
The silver lining was that the expansion stopping here meant the destruction of the world above wasn't as severe as it could have been.
If Hell had expanded twofold or threefold, I would have really screwed up to the point of a cold sweat, but this was within the realm of calculation.
Of course, that doesn't mean the surface world is perfectly fine.
...Looking back on it now, I wonder what the hell I was thinking, convincing everyone else that this plan would actually succeed.
One wrong move and the world would have shattered before it could be remade.
Ah, is that why Aizen and Urahara opposed it so vehemently?
Just as I let out a sigh at this late realization, I snapped back to attention as I felt a presence crawling closer.
"Whoops, now's not the time for this."
Look at me, spouting nonsense the moment I discard my divinity.
It's very 'me,' but it sure is inconvenient at times.
After that, there wasn't much to it.
I gathered all the blackness in Hell to somehow revive that damn monk, cracked his skull a few hundred times as punishment for his insolence, and when he begged me to kill him, I separated his head from his body and tossed him into the Animal Realm.
Given the power he possesses, if I sent him to the Hungry Ghost Realm or the Asura Realm, he'd probably just end up ruling as the boss there. I judged the Animal Realm—where he'd become a beast—was the best fit.
Anyway, yeah. With that, my job is done.
"Whew..."
It's finally over.
I let out a long sigh and gave a bitter smile as I opened and closed my fists.
"Shall I head back?"
I walked to where the Hell Gate stood and opened the tightly closed doors.
Perhaps the hinges had been damaged during my fight with that Soul King fellow, but the damn door creaked and wouldn't open easily.
I managed to pull it open with a bit of strength, though.
The problem was that I had to use quite a lot of strength.
"Damn thing won't open worth a damn."
I stepped out of the gate and found myself behind the shrine on Mount Osore, where the first Hell Gate had been established.
It wasn't far from the Seireitei, so I thought about hurrying back. I stretched my stiff body, intending to return to Unohana in the Seireitei.
But.
"Oops... Ah, so it's already starting."
The strength left my knees, and my legs began to tremble.
It was only natural. I had died as a human and become a god. If I gave up that divinity and returned to being human, what would happen?
What else? I'd return as a corpse.
While in Hell, I could endure because my soul and flesh were tethered to that realm, but once I stepped onto the surface, there was no mercy.
Did I not know this would happen? No, I knew.
As I mentioned before, having the monk 'kill' me was part of the plan.
So, this is the logical conclusion.
It's just that by discarding my divinity entirely, the end is arriving a little sooner.
Forcing my trembling legs to move, I walked to the shrine steps and sat down.
I could feel the end approaching.
"A million years... it certainly was long."
I smiled bitterly and looked up at the sky.
As if blessing my final moments, the sky was clear and high, without a single cloud.
After gazing at the sky for a moment, I closed my eyes and felt familiar spiritual signatures racing toward me at an incredible speed.
Naturally, my wife, Unohana, was in the lead.
However, quite surprisingly, the one who arrived first wasn't Unohana Yachiru.
"Father...?"
"I didn't expect my daughter to be the one to get here first."
It was my cute daughter—no, she was a grown woman now—Unohana Haruno.
'I wondered why I didn't see any squad members inside the Seireitei; they must have all been evacuated to the outskirts.'
I thought I had been mistaken because I was too focused on my life-and-death struggle with the Soul King, but I guess not.
As I lifted my head with a bitter smile, I saw Haruno's face, stricken with confusion.
"Why... why...?"
She must have so much to say, so much to ask. It's only natural.
The man she calls father suddenly invaded the Seireitei overnight and became a criminal who declared he would kill the Soul King.
But even if I were to go back to the past a hundred, a thousand times, I would make the same choice.
Because I know it is the right path, I must follow it.
My heart ached seeing her dazed, repeating the word 'why,' but since there was nothing I could say, I just glossed over it with a bitter smile.
Still, I wasn't worried. Even if I met my end here, Aizen and Urahara would clean up the mess.
The whole reason I sent those two to the Seireitei in the first place was for the aftermath.
However... there was just one thing.
"You..."
"Mother...!! Don't tell me, Mother, you knew about this!?"
"Haruno, your mother..."
I'm most worried about the relationship between mother and daughter souring after I'm gone.
A father should be the one to step in and mediate a thing like this.
...Wait, no, I'm the cause of this, so it's only right that I fix it.
But there was too little time to explain everything that had happened up to now.
Crackle...
Just as the Soul King had when he died, my body was slowly crumbling away.
If that's the case, then what I need to say now isn't a long-winded explanation.
"Haruno."
When I called my daughter's name with a raspy voice, Haruno looked toward me with sharp eyes, only to flinch and tremble, her eyes quivering as she saw my crumbling form.
"I'm sorry. For not being much of a father to you."
"Why are you saying that...? This is all wrong... Everyone is saying Father suddenly went mad, calling you a criminal... An evacuation order was suddenly issued, and buildings were falling in the Seireitei...! And now, suddenly, Father comes out of a Hell Gate and says he's dying...!! I don't understand any of it!!"
"I won't say that you'll understand someday. It is a fact that my selfishness has hurt you."
"Ugh..."
"But please know this much. That your father loves you very much, Haruno."
With a crumbling sound, one side of my vision was dyed black. My eye must have disintegrated.
Turning my head to see Unohana's face one last time, I saw her standing there, tears silently streaming down her face.
"Thank you. For everything."
"If you're truly thankful... then you shouldn't have done this..."
A blunt reply came back, but all I could give in return was a bitter smile.
This death was my choice, born from what I believed to be right.
Unohana seemed to know this as well, for she said nothing more.
She simply stepped forward quietly and hugged me tight.
"I love you. Now and forever..."
"I love you, too."
Crackle. With another sharp sound of fracturing, my vision went completely dark.
Death was here. My complete and peaceful death.
Now, with my passing, the last of the old gods, the remnants of omnipotence remaining on the surface, would vanish.
From now on, it would be a world entirely of humans, by humans, and for humans.
Taking one final deep breath, I exhaled my last sigh.
"..."
Something's wrong. Why do I feel light beyond my eyelids?
I should definitely be dead, so why do I still feel Unohana's warmth?
'Wait, what the hell...?'
Swallowing hard, I cautiously opened my eyes, and my surroundings were preternaturally bright.
In particular, Unohana's face, being the closest thing to me, looked like she was being illuminated by high-intensity studio lights.
'Oh... oh shit. Don't tell me.'
With a flinch, I cautiously reached my hand behind my head, and my shadow appeared amidst the light.
I had died as a human and was reborn as a god, then discarded my divinity to return to being human, and then died as a human.
The realization gained through several lives and deaths.
And the ensuing eternal rest... No, Nirvana.
"..."
I thought I had died, but I had simply become an Enlightened One.
I put on that whole dramatic performance about dying, only to be resurrected as a Buddha right then and there.
Lifting my head slowly to the sky, I could see a familiar cluster of light spinning in circles against the cloudless blue.
Since I couldn't exactly start swearing in front of everyone watching, I just sat there in silence for a while.
This was truly the most embarrassing resurrection in history.