No Cheat in Bleach ? Watch me help Aizen then.
Chapter 170: A Miss? No—Just Wait

Chapter 170: A Miss? No—Just Wait

In Soul Society, due to the time flow being different inside the Dangai, Yushima Oushi had barely returned before he even had the chance to reach Mayuri Kurotsuchi—when he saw Higashi Shuuichi emerge from the Dangai as if hauling a chick by the scruff, gripping the now powerless Gyakkotsu Saizō.

...

Yushima swallowed hard. Okay, sure, he did believe Lord Shuuichi would defeat that so-called First Generation Captain eventually—but this fast? Wasn’t that just making him look even weaker?

"Lord Shuuichi..."

For a moment, Yushima couldn’t even find words to describe how he felt.

But Shuuichi, ever composed, was far ahead of him in thought. The moment he exited and laid eyes on Yushima’s ruined condition, he wordlessly moved to his side, pressed a hand down, and activated his unique healing Kaidō—repairing Yushima’s broken body piece by piece.

"You won’t be participating in the trial this time."

Shuuichi’s tone was firm as he administered healing. Considering Yushima’s state, pushing him to complete the trial—something Shuuichi and Aizen had carefully designed—was reckless. If something else went wrong, the loss would outweigh the gain.

"I understand, Lord Shuuichi..."

Yushima accepted the decision without protest. He knew his own limits.

At that very moment, far away on Mount Fūryū in the 61st District of North Rukongai, the Day Moon Squad shinigami undergoing the trial found themselves suddenly plunged into crisis.

Right after the exam began and they had entered the mountain, planning to follow the climbing routes they’d selected in advance, a vast Garganta tore open over the mountain, blotting out the sky. A spiritual wall of Reishi, falling like a curtain from its edge, wrapped around the entire mountain—cutting it off from Soul Society entirely.

In the blink of an eye, Mount Fūryū had become an isolated island in the Soul Society sea.

"So this is what they developed based on Baraggan’s summoned Las Noches, expanding it with our Negación-like tech—this ’Dustless Domain’... Using it, we can peel off a section of space from Soul Society and even carry it back to Hueco Mundo?"

From the dark void of the Garganta stepped Tia Harribel, current Espada No.2 of Hueco Mundo. Her golden eyes swept down at the panicked shinigami below as she spoke.

No one was beside her—at least at first. But then, white bandages unraveled into the air beside her, revealing the smiling, slitted eyes of a man in a white haori: Ichimaru Gin, current Captain of Squad Three.

He stood atop a thin membrane of Kidō—Bakudō #26: Kyokkō—concealing himself from the shinigami below.

"Of course," Gin replied in his usual sly tone, "this is just the baseline use. Szayelaporro said the technique has a lot of room for further development. Not that he’ll be doing it—he blew himself up with his soul-splitting experiments. Now he’s barely hanging on."

To Harribel, Gin’s grin wasn’t charming—it was venomous. If Aizen’s smile could lower your guard, and Shuuichi’s made your heart flutter like a young doe, then Gin’s smile felt like a slow blade slipping under your ribs. A viper dressed in silk.

She hated him.

Especially now.

Their mission, handed down by Aizen, was to deal with Higashi Shuuichi—the man she had already pledged her loyalty to. And every time Gin smirked with anticipation at the thought of fighting Shuuichi, she wanted to gut him with her own hands.

But the Master had forbidden it. Her identity must remain hidden, for now.

Still, she wanted Aizen to know—she didn’t care about being exposed. Worst case? She’d return to a vagabond’s life in Hueco Mundo with her Fracción daughters. It was a small price.

"So what now?" Harribel asked, sweeping her gaze over the mountain below. "That Shuuichi hasn’t shown up here, unlike Lord Aizen predicted."

"Doesn’t matter," Gin said, eyes glinting. "He’ll come once he finds out what’s going on. And with his abilities, breaking into this space? Child’s play."

Privately, Gin hoped to mend ties with Shuuichi.

Ever since Matsumoto Rangiku went missing in the World of the Living, Gin believed only one person had the answer: Higashi Shuuichi.

But he knew reconciliation wouldn’t be easy. Not after revealing his allegiance to Aizen. Not until he could wash away that stain.

That’s why he’d begged Aizen to let him join this plan. Surprisingly, Aizen agreed—on the condition that Kyōka Suigetsu would cloak his actions.

Gin’s plan was simple: during the fight, he would subtly imply that the version of him fighting Shuuichi was a fake. Paired with Kyōka Suigetsu’s illusions, it would make for a believable misdirection.

But there was a snag.

Gin knew if it came to a real deathmatch, maybe—maybe—he had a small chance, using every dirty trick he’d hidden. But in a battle where he couldn’t kill Shuuichi?

He’d get flattened.

So, he called in backup: the current Espada No.2 Tia Harribel, and No.3 Neliel Tu Odelschwanck.

Why not No.1, Coyote Starrk?

Gin sighed just thinking about it. Starrk refused the moment he heard the target was Shuuichi.

And Gin couldn’t make him help. Starrk was the undisputed king of Hueco Mundo, and even Aizen didn’t want to push him.

But Gin had no idea why Starrk really refused.

It wasn’t fear—it was respect.

To Starrk, Shuuichi wasn’t an enemy. Any fight between them would be fake, meaningless. Every battle should be all-in. Every blade drawn, a memory. A man like Higashi Shuuichi deserved that.

That was why, time and again, when Baraggan tried to provoke Shuuichi, it was always Starrk who intervened—quietly saving him from assassination.

Otherwise, Shuuichi might’ve died on some past Hueco Mundo trip already.

Back in the present, a new silhouette approached Gin and Harribel.

"So we’re just supposed to wait for Higashi Shuuichi to show up?" asked Nel Tu, her curvaceous body swaying slightly as she came to a halt.

"Of course," Gin said, smiling, "but if you two want to have some fun with the shinigami down there, go ahead. Just don’t kill that girl—Ise Nanao. The rest? Do what you want."

Nanao was off-limits because of her connection to Kyōraku Shunsui, the Eighth Division Captain. Gin knew all too well how dangerous Shunsui really was.

When Vice-Captain Lisa Yadōmaru was exiled for hollowfication, Gin had seen the sorrow and fury in Shunsui’s eyes.

That’s why Nanao, though technically just an assistant, held Vice-Captain authority in all but name. It was protection.

Should another crisis arise, Shunsui could use her unofficial status to shield her from Central 46.

Even Aizen didn’t want to provoke that man into war too early.

But Gin had underestimated one thing: these two Espada were not typical Arrancar.

"Hmph. I’m not interested."

"Oh~ Me neither."

Harribel and Nel replied in near-unison.

Both were here under protest. Forced to "overtime" in Soul Society. And neither had the taste for slaughter—especially not against helpless shinigami.

So now, the three of them just stood awkwardly in the air, staring at each other.

Above, silence. Below—chaos.

Madarame Ikkaku, Shiba Kaien, and the rest were already on edge. Because Aizen hadn’t just sent assassins for Shuuichi—he’d left "gifts" for them too.

"Aroniero Arruruerie. That’s the name I gave it, Lord Aizen."

In a lab weeks earlier, before his fatal soul-splitting accident, Szayelaporro Granz had proudly presented a new Gillian to Aizen.

This was no ordinary Hollow.

It was a second-generation upgrade from the previous experiment that nearly killed Shuuichi—Atidice. Aroniero was the result of years of refinement.

Not only could it generate inverse Reiryoku to cancel out shinigami powers, it could also consume a shinigami—absorbing their appearance, voice, and abilities.

This wasn’t just another Hollow. It was Szayelaporro’s magnum opus.

For now, it lacked full self-awareness. Still a Gillian, it wasn’t yet a thinking entity like a Vasto Lorde or Arrancar.

But that could be fixed.

As Szayelaporro’s eyes burned with fanatic excitement, Aizen raised a hand and presented Hōgyoku—that dazzling, jewel.

"It still shines so brightly... One look and I’m drunk on it!"

Szayelaporro’s voice trembled with praise.

And then—

A scream, echoing through the lab.

A roar, rolling across Mount Fūryū.

Bearing Aizen’s command—

The new Arrancar was born.

Aroniero Arruruerie—enters the battlefield.