Chapter 220: Hunting Captains
"I see. It sounds like the recent work is proceeding smoothly... very good, Matsushita-kun. It seems we're one more step closer to our goal."
Being praised by Aizen wasn't a rare occurrence. Partly because Aizen himself was the type who never skimped on complimenting his subordinates. Partly because the work Matsushita Yusuke delivered genuinely earned it.
No way around it — his knowledge base was two full seasons ahead of the current story's meta. For a timeline where the main plot hadn't even begun yet, it was fighting at a categorically different level.
And with the blind guy on the other side serving as the low end of the comparison, Yusuke's competence stood out even more sharply by contrast.
When the boss was happy, the subordinate could breathe easier.
Under normal circumstances, that would have been a natural stopping point for the meeting.
But simply leaving at that moment would feel oddly stiff — as though outside of work there was no dimension to the relationship at all. Not quite appropriate.
So. A bit of small talk, a bit of appropriate conversation, and he'd smoothly gotten through another week.
Need a topic.
"Speaking of which — that person who just walked out. She was from the special intake cohort, wasn't she?"
Matsushita Yusuke had a bit of background on this.
Aizen had been conducting ongoing personal selection — always looking for suitable individuals to potentially draw into the organization as additional off-the-books members.
In terms of what it actually was, it was basically gacha pulls.
I already pulled two captain-level gold cards out of this. Surely I can't keep expecting that kind of luck indefinitely?!
Sorry. Really can't.
The original story had mentioned that Aizen would deliberately interfere with certain Shin'o Academy extracurricular activities to make selection easier. Replacing practice Hollows with genuinely violent individuals during standard training exercises. Quietly feeding wrong coordinates to send whole groups into Hueco Mundo without warning.
Thoroughly inhumane by any reasonable standard, but it reflected Aizen's selection philosophy. Can't survive it, you deserved what you got. Have what it takes, you come through alive, and I'll keep an eye on you.
Students like those in Hinamori's cohort — Renji, Kira, and others — were all effectively in that same bucket.
Matsushita Yusuke remembered the original story mentioning that Aizen had originally considered pulling Abarai Renji into the organization as a member. He'd eventually dropped it after concluding the guy's brain wasn't quite up to what he needed.
From a plot standpoint, this was absolutely good news for Renji. Being a third-tier member under Aizen was going nowhere. Following Ichigo Kurosaki was a completely different story.
Late-game power level riding the wave of the era, shooting straight up to strong-captain tier. A very different trajectory.
These thoughts were still turning in his head when Aizen, on the other side of the desk, heard his question and blinked.
Then smiled and said: "Ah. You mean Hinamori?"
At the mention of Hinamori Momo, even Aizen's tone carried a subtle, particular quality.
"That one is rather interesting. A relatively uncomplicated personality. Some potential. And she also has a certain connection to a fascinating young man... heh heh. Properly utilized, she should be able to play quite a significant role."
Of course she will.
The Hitsugaya fan club's gold member was already powering up. The regular episodes couldn't be far behind now.
Matsushita Yusuke was already at one hundred and twenty percent mental preparation for this particular viewing experience, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Having thoroughly enjoyed that line of conversation, Yusuke talked through a few more points and was fully intending to wrap up and head home for some sleep.
That was how these meetings usually went.
But today was apparently somewhat different.
"Matsushita-kun, there are some other matters I'd like to entrust to your attention."
To the capable go the extra tasks.
Whenever anything new came up these days, Aizen's default was to route it to Matsushita Yusuke first. Only if it was confirmed that Yusuke was genuinely tied up — or if Aizen himself felt like handling something — would it go to Tosen, or stay with Aizen.
Having accumulated considerable experience with this pattern, Matsushita Yusuke had mentally prepared. He let out a quiet internal sigh and nodded.
"If it's something within my capabilities... please go ahead."
Aizen appeared genuinely satisfied with that. He showed his signature warm smile and handed over a document envelope.
"Take a look at the contents first."
Matsushita Yusuke stood, took it, and settled back into his seat.
The seal hadn't been touched since the document was packaged. He broke it carefully and began examining the contents.
As it turned out... this wasn't particularly complex. It was essentially all information relating to the bull-head Hollow.
Across several decades, even without regular feeding, the accumulated energy was already enough for it to have entered a new stage of development.
The document recorded changes in appearance, capability, and strength level, presenting them with reasonably clear data and figures.
From this, Matsushita Yusuke formed a considerably more detailed picture.
It had gotten much stronger.
Roughly on par with a mid-level captain at this point.
These were baseline numbers, of course. If a captain released their Zanpakuto and brought their specific abilities to bear, the combat math would need to be revised considerably.
He'd formed a rough understanding. Then he got to the photographs.
You wouldn't believe it until you saw it.
And seeing it — something of a jolt.
Pale face. Dark body. Large cow horns.
Essentially identical to the appearance it would eventually have in the original story.
Given the current circumstances, Matsushita Yusuke had good reason to believe this was the result of Aizen's own approach to raising and selecting it.
Holding the materials, he gave them a light shake, raised his eyes partway, and said with a thoughtful expression:
"Aizen-sensei, you're planning to..."
"In terms of strength improvement, it's now entered something of a bottleneck. We've been feeding it Shinigami souls consistently, but it seems to be approaching the limit of what that alone can achieve."
Aizen made a small open-handed gesture and continued:
"We've tried a number of approaches, but none of the current results are quite satisfactory. This Hollow was always going to be a special case, so I'm planning the next phase."
Matsushita Yusuke played along smoothly — a lean-back, a brief clearing of his throat, and a performed expression of mild curiosity.
"And specifically. What would that be?"
"I intend to hunt captain-level individuals. To serve as feed for this Hollow's next stage of improvement."
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