Chapter 123: Seize the Historic Opportunity
Honestly, when he first heard those words, Matsushita Yusuke's immediate instinct was to complain.
Are you kidding. One thing right after another.
But the impulse faded quickly. For Yusuke, quests were the primary path to growth.
And among all available options, participating in a historically significant moment carried maximum commemorative value. The rewards from that kind of event were the limited-edition, never-again kind.
Limited-event exclusives. Are you really going to sit this out?!
Seize the historic opportunity.
The previously wrecked-looking Matsushita Yusuke shot to his feet.
"Let's go, let's go, we're not holding up Aizen-sensei's plans..."
This left Tosen Kaname somewhat at a loss. Before sending him, Aizen had specifically said:
"If Matsushita-kun isn't in good shape, there's no need to have him join this time."
Tosen had been fully prepared to let Yusuke sit it out. He had not expected this level of energy. Yusuke looked completely fine. Showed no signs of injury whatsoever.
Did this person actually just fight Unohana?
"Come on, let's move, stop standing there... there's no one in my room!"
Tosen found himself physically pushed along and the two crept out over the wall together.
Though technically this was pointless. Squad 2 had lookouts posted throughout. Getting in unnoticed wasn't simple under any circumstances.
But Kyoka Suigetsu had its uses.
With Aizen's ability active, Tosen was already wearing a natural disguise. He could have kicked the front gate open and strolled through and not one person would have reacted. And yet he still climbed the wall. The craftsmanship of the older generation: genuinely committed to doing things the proper way.
Matsushita Yusuke followed behind, heading toward the location Tosen described, and asked along the way:
"So what exactly are we going there to do?"
"I don't know yet."
Not evasion. Aizen simply preferred to work alone.
Call it the arrogance of genius or inexplicable self-sufficiency: Aizen handled the vast majority of things himself. What got delegated to subordinates was a minority. Core operations stayed in his own hands.
As a villain, Aizen was appropriately careful.
As a boss, though, he was almost too hands-on. If he did everything himself, what exactly were the subordinates there for? To watch the cutscenes?
After working through all of that internally, Yusuke followed Tosen and eventually found himself outside the Seireitei.
The western third district.
Remote enough, but still within range of the Seireitei's attention.
If you wanted to do something that couldn't stand scrutiny, this was honestly a little close.
He was thinking this through when he spotted Aizen's back.
"You've arrived."
Aizen half-turned and produced his usual calm smile.
Matsushita Yusuke bowed.
"Aizen-sensei. You wanted to see me?"
"Nothing particularly urgent. I simply felt that at this point, there were some things worth sharing with Matsushita-kun."
What does he mean?
Is there something you're still keeping from me, boss?
Surely it's not about to be the secret of how to break Kyoka Suigetsu.
Aizen reached into his jacket, felt around briefly, and produced something enclosed in a square crystal.
"This is something I've obtained over many years of researching souls. A special tool..."
Oh. Oh! Oh!
I know what that is.
The Hogyoku.
Honestly, this was the first time Yusuke had been close to it.
The Hogyoku was considerably more understated than he had imagined. From a distance it looked like nothing more than a small black sphere.
But as he stepped closer, Yusuke could feel something that might be called gravitational weight. The air around the Hogyoku had taken on a different quality, almost thicker than normal. The sensation was genuinely novel. He ended up walking toward it, stepping back, walking toward it again, going through the cycle several times just to feel it.
Aizen's expression went thoroughly flat.
"Could we return to the subject, Matsushita-kun?"
"Oh, yes, sorry, please go ahead Aizen-sensei..."
"What I've asked you here for is to send you to Hueco Mundo."
Direct and efficient. What Aizen said next cut cleanly through everything else and had Matsushita Yusuke's full attention.
A quiet "Hm?" and he looked up.
Hueco Mundo?
Honestly, wasn't that the large map that was supposed to unlock in the next update? How is the main story already here?!
He kept that thought internal. In practice, once he heard the word, most of it had already clicked.
The operation in Hueco Mundo couldn't have been built up overnight.
For Aizen to betray Soul Society and immediately take command of Hueco Mundo, building his Arrancar retinue as he went: that had to be the product of years of accumulated groundwork. Finding and developing each Espada candidate in depth: that was clearly a parallel operation already in progress.
Which raised the obvious question.
Who had been doing all that work?
Just his unfortunate subordinates.
Though Aizen's management style was actually fairly reasonable about the practical side.
"I'll open a passage to Hueco Mundo for you. The Hogyoku has that capability, so the travel itself costs us nothing."
Just.
"Keep an eye on the Seireitei's attention."
No need to spell it out further. A captain and vice-captain disappearing for half a day was very likely to attract notice. Something to be handled carefully.
"What exactly do we do once we're there?"
"Screen and sort through the existing Hollows. Identify individuals with genuine ability and gather them. After that, I'll handle developing their unique power."
As expected.
The Espada development track was a special branch that had been running long before the main storyline.
Matsushita Yusuke gave a small nod. Understood.
Straightforward enough. And it was a chance to see Hueco Mundo firsthand, get familiar with what would eventually be his work environment.
"This trip will be roughly eight hours. I'll keep time on my end. Don't spend too long over there."
Yusuke gave a thumbs-up. Tosen was already entirely at ease, moving through the preparations like someone who had done this before. The two of them were aligned quickly.
"I'll wish you a smooth trip in advance."
The Hogyoku lit up. A wide passage, like a hole torn through the fabric of space, opened in front of them.
The two stepped in and disappeared.