Chapter 131: The Permissions Exploit
Hold on.
Setting aside whatever Aizen wanted to discuss for a moment.
The underground connection between him and Tosen hadn't been made public, had it? Showing up together like this, completely openly: wasn't that going to raise questions?
Matsushita Yusuke was still staring at Aizen with that thought half-formed when a voice came from behind him.
"Aizen? Aizen!"
Hirako Shinji was wandering over, scanning the room.
His gaze swept across Aizen Sosuke and Tosen Kaname's exact location, then continued right past them without pausing, settling somewhere further in the distance.
"...??"
Matsushita Yusuke watched the man quietly mutter "where did he get to" and wander away from all three of them without a flicker of recognition.
That reaction was enough.
Oh. Kyoka Suigetsu is running.
No question about it: that ability was something else. No visible startup, no tells, nothing to warn you it had activated. The people it caught had no idea anything had happened, just smoothly deceived and sent on their way.
This situation right here.
Even in a room full of people, Aizen Sosuke could casually suppress his own presence, slip past anyone he chose, and move completely undetected. All while sitting at the same buffet table.
Matsushita Yusuke caught up and fell into step.
Time to hear what new assignment the boss had.
"Coming, coming..."
The three moved toward a quieter corner of the room, Tosen and Yusuke settling on either side of Aizen.
"In the near future, I intend to move to the next phase."
Aizen Sosuke picked up a piece of grilled fish, tasted it unhurriedly, and let his eyes half-close in a faintly entertained expression.
"I imagine the two of you already know what I'm referring to."
Both nodded. No elaboration needed.
The Hogyoku research wasn't at its ceiling yet. The past two months of Hollow candidate collection had served two purposes: laying the groundwork for the eventual Espada lineup, and advancing Aizen's research into the boundary between Shinigami and Hollow.
His goal was to break that boundary entirely and step into a different category of existence.
Canon had confirmed where that road ended. Aizen had literally become something that no longer fit in the human framework.
If Yusuke had struggled to fully grasp the mechanics before, what he'd experienced over these past months had given him a working model. The Hogyoku fragment had granted him the ability to run an alt, developing a separate self in parallel and feeding the gains back. That was the grind-your-way-up approach.
Aizen wasn't doing that.
Aizen was exploiting root-level permissions.
Full Hogyoku, maximum authority access. Skip the leveling process entirely. Allocate yourself a max-level Hollow account directly, then merge it with the main body.
Calibration and final adjustments? Those got completed while he was locked away in that sealed prison, doing nothing but sitting in a cell with unlimited time and zero interruptions.
The output: a state approaching genuine immortality.
Whether grinding the alt all the way up would eventually produce the same result for Yusuke was an open question. But with Aizen's finished product as a reference point, there was definitely an interest in pushing in that direction.
Anyway.
"Is the experimental data sufficient at this point?"
Tosen's involvement in the project ran deeper than Yusuke's, which gave him more standing to weigh in. The blind man's expression had shifted into something tight and reluctant.
"Based on what we currently have, I believe..."
"It's insufficient? Tosen, you're being too conservative."
Aizen's smile was composed and unhurried, and carried the specific quality of someone who had already decided and was just being polite about letting others catch up.
"We have compiled data from thousands of intelligent Hollow individuals, tested individually, each one producing useful information. In this area we are ahead of everyone else who has ever attempted this. There's no need for excessive caution. Tosen. We're pioneers."
Matsushita Yusuke had nothing to contribute here and was not going to pretend otherwise. He focused on his curry rice.
"Matsushita-kun. Your thoughts?"
His superior was asking for his input.
"I unconditionally stand behind every decision you make."
"Hm hm..."
Aizen turned back to Tosen, expression mild.
"Is there anything else you'd like to raise?"
Two against one. Continuing to push wasn't going to accomplish anything.
Tosen reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, held it for a moment, then exhaled.
"Understood. Whatever you decide to do, Aizen-sama."
With a small team, alignment mattered. Once that was established, Aizen moved smoothly to the next item.
"The Hollow data is sufficient. What remains is the Shinigami side."
Before he could continue.
A cluster of familiar faces came filtering in from across the room and settled noisily into the seats nearby.
Hirako Shinji arrived leading his group, loud and animated, dropping into the adjacent section.
"Hey! Dummy! Why are you sitting in the corner? Isn't this boring?!"
Sarugaki Hiyori was already making her displeasure known before she'd fully sat down, mouth running while one foot worked away at Hirako Shinji's backside with complete commitment.
Squad 5's captain looked moderately annoyed but seemed preoccupied with something else entirely. He turned to Urahara Kisuke with a strained smile.
"Captain Urahara, that thing last time. I really owe you one."
"Don't mention it. Just doing what needed to be done."
Matsushita Yusuke found himself glancing over and taking in the scene.
None of this was particularly surprising when he thought about it.
Everyone Aizen had ever targeted was connected in some way. Knew each other, had history with each other, maintained relationships that ran well beyond the surface level. Hirako and Urahara seemed to have their own layer of depth going.
He chewed on his curry thoughtfully, watching Muguruma Kensei and Aikawa Love settle into seats of their own and join the conversation.
The Visored, present almost in full.
"Hirako! Where's your vice-captain? Haven't seen him around."
"Ah... I was just looking for him myself. That guy has been a real problem lately. Keeps vanishing without any warning."
"Rebellious phase? Even Squad 5 has trouble?"
"Probably because you've been piling too much work on him."
"Aizen always seemed pretty approachable though. More likely you did something, Hirako."
The man under group scrutiny looked increasingly put-upon.
"I would never do something that pointless! I just... I feel like he's been off lately. Something's not right with him. Forget it, you wouldn't get it."
Aizen Sosuke was seated approximately three meters from that entire conversation.
He lifted his miso soup, took a quiet sip, and said pleasantly:
"My plan is to use Hirako and the others as test subjects. Any additional considerations on your end?"