No Cheat in Bleach ? Watch me help Aizen then.
Chapter 174: Recognized That Look—Definitely an Ally

Chapter 174: Recognized That Look—Definitely an Ally

The truth was, Soul Society’s intelligence system was—as always—utterly trash.

Or rather, the moment nobles got involved—especially the Five Great Noble Houses—it became bound hand and foot, neutered beyond all function.

The only thing Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto could tell Higashi Shuuichi was the sanitized version of Sakaizō Gyakkotsu’s history—how he was the original Captain of Squad 13 in its founding era, during the "Era of Great Sinners," and the nature of his Zanpakutō.

A number of the first generation captains had been forcibly subdued by Yamamoto’s overwhelming might but never truly submitted. They became captains under duress—not allegiance.

Gyakkotsu was one such case.

Another prime example was the original 11th Division Captain—Yachirū Unohana, then known as Yachirū Unohana the Slaughterer.

Even now, she remained outwardly obedient—doing her duties as 4th Division Captain with cold detachment—but if something didn’t interest her, she wouldn’t lift a finger, even if the entire Soul Society was burning.

She did the same with Shuuichi back then. Same with the Kōkaku rebellion, with Urahara’s exile, with Baraggan’s invasion... she only showed up when she felt like it.

Unlike Gyakkotsu, who directly challenged Yamamoto’s authority again, Unohana simply avoided engaging. That was her final mercy.

Yamamoto knew this. That’s why he let her keep her position—an anchor to prevent her reverting to the blood-hungry demon she once was.

He thought sacrificing certain unstable captains during the Quincy War with Yhwach had permanently solved the problem.

He didn’t expect them to return this way.

This was beyond even his calculations.

"So," Shuuichi said, seated calmly, "it wasn’t that Yamamoto didn’t know. It’s just that you never told him the whole truth back then, did you?"

Across from him sat Kyoraku Shunsui, current 8th Division Captain, half-sprawled across a floor cushion, looking like he’d just walked in off a sake crawl.

After returning from his fruitless meeting with the 1st Division, Shuuichi had unexpectedly received an invitation from Byakuya Kuchiki, head of the Kuchiki clan, to visit the estate.

Shuuichi found that strange. Ever since Kuchiki Ginrei’s death, he had no real contact with the Kuchiki clan—not with Byakuya, and barely with Byakuya’s father, Sōjun.

Their only real meeting had been at Byakuya’s wedding to Hisana.

Which meant Byakuya wasn’t the one who really invited him.

Someone else had pulled the strings.

And there were few people in Soul Society who could make Byakuya do that.

Shuuichi had guessed one of them would eventually come find him. It’d been nearly a decade since he returned from the fabricated future, after all.

So he accepted the invitation.

And sure enough, waiting for him in the appointed chamber—already drinking—was Kyoraku Shunsui.

"You sure don’t waste time, Shunsui," Shuuichi said dryly. "No warm greetings? No nostalgic stories? Just straight to business?"

Shunsui raised an eyebrow. "Oh come now. Aren’t we old friends?"

"Old friends?" Shuuichi stared at him. "You mean the man who chased me into Hueco Mundo to kill me? Or the one who sent me on a suicide mission so dangerous I nearly didn’t make it back? Doesn’t really scream friend, does it?"

Shunsui sipped and smiled. "Fair. From the outside, it does look bad. But with your intellect, Shuuichi... I think you already guessed my real intent back then. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come here."

Shuuichi narrowed his eyes. "I’m here because Byakuya invited me. At least, that’s what I was told. Funny how I found you waiting instead. Must be my bad memory acting up."

Shunsui chuckled but didn’t press. If Shuuichi wanted to play dumb, fine.

He’d crack first.

"Alright," he sighed, dropping the carefree mask. He straightened his posture. His voice lost its lilt.

"No riddles. No lies. Back then, I tested you. I wanted to see where your loyalties lay in that situation. And now, your actions have confirmed it for me."

"So you really were paving the way for me to infiltrate the Kisaragi clan?" Shuuichi’s voice dropped. "You noticed the nobles scheming—but as a division captain, you had no authority to intervene. Yamamoto wouldn’t allow it.

"And I was... convenient. A Hollowfied shinigami who fit every checkbox on the nobles’ selection list. Even my ’taint’ became a strength—because it forced me to rely on them.

"If the Captain-Commander wouldn’t allow someone like me to return without noble backing, then I had only one path:

obey the nobles—or be erased.

"So as long as Yamamoto remained in power, betraying the Kisaragi meant suicide. Am I wrong?"

Shunsui didn’t deny it.

And Shuuichi now suspected Ukitake Jūshirō, then Captain of Squad 13, hadn’t approved Shiba Kaien’s mission to the Living World without Shunsui’s influence.

That time in Hueco Mundo—when Shunsui had "suggested" he find Urahara Kisuke—had likely been prearranged.

Whether or not Urahara involved him in the Osaka incident didn’t matter. Shunsui could always leak to Soul Society that Shuuichi had taken part—and saved Kaien.

All it took was Kaien’s cooperation.

But even Shunsui hadn’t expected Shuuichi to carry the mission alone.

"I knew it," Shunsui laughed. "You figured out my hand long ago." He raised his cup again. "Cheers to that."

He drank, then said, "You know, before the Shitō Uprising, back when we were still investigating the Kōkaku rebellion, I noticed something odd: the Kisaragi retainers were making too many trips to the World of the Living.

"And over time, they started quietly removing copied data from the archives of the 12th Division—classified research.

"But when I tried to push the investigation, the old man stopped me. Said we’d just dealt with the Kōkaku scandal—we couldn’t provoke the nobles again, especially not one of the Five Great Houses.

"Ridiculous, right?" Shunsui’s smile cracked, a rare trace of bitterness showing.

Shuuichi wondered: maybe it was that very refusal that made Shunsui decide to act behind Yamamoto’s back.

And his chosen agent... had been Higashi Shuuichi.

"No," Shunsui went on, "I started to suspect: what if the Kōkaku rebellion was actually a test run?

"They realized—if they pushed hard enough, held their ground long enough—the Captain-Commander would compromise.

"And once they learned that, they knew—they could build private armies, violate the system, and still be forgiven.

"Yamamoto opened the gate."

Shuuichi nodded. He and Aizen had reached the same conclusion long ago.

Yamamoto’s fatal mistake wasn’t inaction—but compromise.

"And so," Shuuichi thought grimly, "Yamamoto is old—not just in body, but in will. He’s the last sky holding up a crumbling world. Soon... he’ll die."

Because for Aizen, for Yhwach, for Shitan, for all future threats—

Yamamoto must die.

Only once that mountain falls can the world be reshaped.

"You sent me into their camp," Shuuichi said flatly. "Because at the time, you couldn’t name names. Accusing a Great House without proof would’ve made you a pariah. So you tested me—but never told me why.

"And not until Gyakkotsu Sakaizō reappeared did you finally get the confirmation you needed. Right?"

Shunsui exhaled.

"You’re sharp as ever. Yes. That’s exactly why I’ve come to you now."

Because deep down, Shunsui had never been sure.

He was a natural spy—sensitive, cautious—but not confident enough to stake everything on a hunch.

And besides...

He wasn’t sure if this returned Shuuichi was still his Shuuichi.

Ten years had passed.

Shuuichi had vanished for ten days—but for Shunsui, it had been ten years. Enough time for any man to change.

But now—seeing him storm into the Gotei, dragging Sakaizō by the collar, demanding truth—he knew:

This was still the same Higashi Shuuichi.

Stronger than before, yes—but unchanged in essence.

"Here." Shunsui passed him a thick report. "I never submitted this to Yamamoto. Or to Central 46."

Now came the real reason for the meeting.

Everything before had been preamble—clearing old misgivings, confirming loyalties. Now came the truth.

As Shuuichi opened the report, page by page, he understood immediately: this entire file existed for one purpose.

To prove Sakaizō’s Zanpakutō was forged from one of the Asauchi stolen during the Osaka incident.

Zanpakutō are personal manifestations of a shinigami’s soul. But they all begin as Asauchi—blank slates forged by the Kōkaku family, distributed by the Gotei.

Every shinigami receives one. But once it evolves into a unique blade, that transformation is irreversible.

Unlike the Bakkōtō created by the Kōkaku rebellion—artificial weapons that could be mass-produced—a Zanpakutō is one of a kind.

That’s why Kaname Tōsen, who stole his dead friend’s Asauchi, was still able to forge it into his own blade.

Same with Kenpachi Zaraki—his sword was taken from a corpse.

So if Sakaizō’s Zanpakutō could be traced to those stolen Asauchi...

That would mean—the dead captains were not dead at all.

The Gotei had recovered the culprits who stole the Asauchi in Osaka. But not the blades themselves. They vanished.

Most thought they’d been destroyed or lost.

But Shunsui had traced Sakaizō’s Zanpakutō—and it matched one of those missing blanks.

Shuuichi understood the fear behind that discovery.

Because most of Soul Society—even Yamamoto himself—believed Sakaizō’s words were just bluster. That none of the other "dead captains" still lived.

But Shunsui believed him.

More than that—he feared the number might be even greater.

Because the number of missing Asauchi... was far more than thirteen.