Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

Prompted by Kōe, everyone began to focus on Ichimaru Gin, sparking a new discussion. However, the direction of this discussion seemed a bit... strange?

”Still as sinister as ever?”

”A shameless bastard?”

”I bet his eyes are still just as small?”

*Was that last one really not a thinly veiled insult?*

”Are you guys messing with me?” Kōe’s mouth twitched. They were supposed to be talking about Ichimaru Gin, so why did their eyes keep drifting toward him!

”How could we be! We’re definitely venting on your behalf,” someone chimed in. ”Think about it, Chōzuka. You promised to let them go and even showed your sincerity by releasing one first. Not only was that guy Gin ungrateful, but he also tried to despicably take Abarai away. It’s simply an insult to your intelligence!”

”Of course, it could also be that he just doesn’t trust your character.”

”So, do you think he was insulting your intelligence? Or did he just not trust your character, Chōzuka? Maybe it’s both.”

*These guys are definitely mocking me on purpose.* Kōe silently cursed Hirako and the others for their thinly veiled jabs, but on the surface, he maintained a smiling expression. ”On the contrary, he trusts my intelligence. That’s exactly why he acted so bizarrely.”

”It was just pointless haggling. What’s so bizarre about it?”

”There has to be a need to haggle in the first place.” Kōe paused for dramatic effect before continuing, ”Clinging to Abarai when he already had the Espada as backup was simply asking for trouble. None of us are the type who like to ask for trouble, right?”

With the Espada as his trump card, Gin’s constant arguing over whether Renji could be released early was actually meaningless. If Kōe broke the agreement, the appearance of the Espada would naturally guarantee that he and Tōsen returned safely. And if Kōe kept his word, then everyone would be happy.

Constantly obsessing over Renji would only make Kōe suspicious, thereby putting their retreat in a disadvantageous position. After all, neither Kōe nor any other captain would allow them to hold one of their own hostage for an extended period.

Of course, if Renji himself was their primary target—someone they absolutely had to bring back to Hueco Mundo—that would be a different story. But once that possibility was ruled out, Gin’s actions were simply unnecessary and self-sabotaging. If one had to find meaning in it, at most, it might have been an attempt to dampen Kōe’s arrogant momentum.

But was Ichimaru Gin really that childish? Or rather, did he truly believe a few words could crush an opponent—especially an opponent like Shihouin Kōe—to the point of never recovering?

First of all, Kōe did not think Gin was a childish person. Even as an enemy, he would never categorize Gin as an idiot who would underestimate his opponents. If it were Tōsen Kaname, perhaps, but not Gin.

Therefore, the only explanation left was that Gin’s actions were indeed entirely superfluous and self-defeating. Of course, that was how it looked from Aizen’s perspective. But if they changed their point of view...

”Ichimaru Gin is very likely on our side. Even if he isn’t, he is absolutely not entirely loyal to Aizen. That’s why he used that method to give me a few hints.”

Ichimaru Gin might be on their side? Kōe’s words were an unexpected delight. A poisoned thorn buried deep within the enemy’s inner circle would be incredibly lethal. But the prerequisite was that he truly wasn’t just one of Aizen’s lapdogs.

”Isn’t this all just your own wishful thinking, Chōzuka?”

Kōe shook his head. ”Do you have a more reasonable explanation?”

Actually, it wasn’t that there were no other explanations; a simple ”scheme within a scheme” could explain it. But such an obscure hint, even if it gained the consensus of all the Shinigami, wouldn’t change much. Without further communication, when the final battle arrived, they still wouldn’t include Gin in their operational plans, nor would they hand their strategies over to him in advance. Frankly speaking, going to such painstaking lengths yielded no real benefits.

Being vigilant was a good thing, but worrying over nothing was just foolish.

But was it really Ichimaru Gin? He was another completely unpredictable guy. When did a rift form between him and Aizen? Could he really be acting as an undercover agent for their side? It was hard to fathom, which was why most of the people present couldn’t bring themselves to believe it.

Seeing that no one spoke, Kōe continued to lay out his examples. ”Think about his subsequent actions. After angering me, he naturally called out the Espada. Doing so seemed like a way to secure a safe retreat, but that was also their final trump card for escaping. For us, gaining intelligence on the existence of the Espada without suffering any substantial losses is not a bad outcome at all.”

”That intelligence isn’t exactly critical, is it?” someone questioned.

Kōe nodded. ”The information itself isn’t crucial, but you need to pay closer attention to his introduction: ’The ten Arrancars that Aizen is most satisfied with so far.’”

”The subtext is that despite continuous iterations, it is very difficult for them to make any further breakthrough progress, whether in terms of quality or quantity.” Urahara spoke up, looking at Kōe. ”That aligns pretty closely with our own deductions.”

”There’s also a second possibility. ’So far’ doesn’t represent the future. Aizen still has intentions to expand this roster. Even if there won’t be any subversive changes, we should still be on our guard.”

This effectively answered the two questions Seireitei wanted to know the most: the current overview of Hueco Mundo’s combat strength, and whether they could mass-produce mature Arrancars of the caliber they had just faced.

”If it were possible, I think he would have wanted to spill the specific details of the Espada right then and there. This limited intelligence was already the absolute limit of what he could do.” Kōe sighed, putting on a deeply moved expression. ”To think that such a sincere heart was twisted into sinister intentions by you all? How tragic!”

”Tch!”

”Sorry, but I still can’t associate him with anything resembling a ’sincere heart’.”

”When it comes down to it, you’re the only one who thinks that way, Chōzuka!”

Their words were blunt, but Kōe could see that Hirako and the others were already wavering internally. All that remained was the prejudice brought about by their unpleasant past experiences.

He had originally wanted to throw in a few sarcastic remarks, but decided against it. Kōe picked up the thread, saying, ”I just think we can’t rule out this possibility. Only under this assumption will Aizen’s next target be traceable. That is the reason I wanted to discuss Ichimaru Gin with you all.”

Not letting Kōe easily let them go was Gin’s first step.

Drawing out the Espada and revealing partial intelligence was the second step.

If Gin truly had a third step, the clue could only be hidden at the very end, in the words he spoke right before leaving.

”’Then you should be careful too. Next time, you might be the one racking your brains to find bargaining chips.’” Kōe repeated the phrase, heavily emphasizing the words ’next time’.

On the surface, this was just an empty, tough-sounding threat. But if they operated on the premise that Gin was intentionally dropping hints, this sentence became much more interesting.

Did ”next time” refer to Aizen’s next move?

”This time, he was the one looking for bargaining chips to leave. Next time, it’ll be you?” Yoruichi looked at Kōe and asked. ”A role reversal?”

Kōe nodded. ”Thinking about it from this angle, next time, I—or rather, we—will be in Ichimaru Gin’s position. And this time, he came to rescue someone, and he came to our territory.”

Stringing all of this together: next time, the Shinigami would be the ones rescuing someone, and they would need to find bargaining chips to leave? And finally, it would take place in Aizen’s home base—Hueco Mundo?

”Aizen’s next move is to kidnap someone and take them to Hueco Mundo!” everyone said in unison. If they were going to rescue someone, didn’t that conversely mean Aizen was going to kidnap someone? It wasn’t a difficult deduction. ”Who is it!”

The question remained the same: who exactly was the target?

”You all seem to have forgotten. At that time, I had two people in my hands. The guy who came to rescue the other first ended up falling into danger himself.”

Hirako, Yoruichi, and the others fell into deep thought once more. The first to reveal a smile was Urahara. ”Following the role reversal, if everything holds true, then we would actually be the second wave of rescuers. And the ones playing the role of Tōsen Kaname—the first wave to recklessly rush in for a rescue—I imagine that would be Kurosaki and his friends.”

This first wave of rescuers was crucial. Given Seireitei’s usual style, no matter who was kidnapped, there was a high probability they wouldn’t enter Hueco Mundo for that person, in order to avoid greater losses. This had been the sticking point earlier; Hirako and the others couldn’t think of anyone who would cause the Shinigami to mobilize such a massive force.

But since there was a first wave, the problem was easily solved. If it was someone Ichigo cared about, he would definitely go to their rescue, and Seireitei wouldn’t be able to interfere with his decision.

And once Ichigo made a move, there would be Shinigami who couldn’t just sit still. People like Rukia and Renji would very likely appear as the second wave entering Hueco Mundo, and it wasn’t impossible for Kōe to go personally either.

And since it was someone Ichigo cared about, the list of targets shrank considerably. Counting them all up, it was less than ten people, including Inoue Orihime.

”The scope is still too broad, Chōzuka.”

Kōe shook his head. ”If you still consider Ichigo to be the true target, the scope is naturally broad. But just like how I wasn’t interested in Tōsen, but rather the Arrancars—what if Ichigo is merely a potential byproduct?”

In other words, the person being taken away was also someone Aizen was interested in? Everyone understood what Kōe meant, but thinking about it carefully, was there really such a person among those kids?

”Ishida Uryū is a Quincy. While special, he isn’t exactly a rarity to the Shinigami, and research on them certainly exists. Sado Yasutora’s source of power is unknown, but its manifestation is simple and direct. It’s not that he isn’t interesting, but rather...” Urahara paused to think, then smiled. ”But rather, there is someone a bit more interesting than him. You must have sensed it too, right, Kōe?”

”Yeah. On the surface, it looks like healing, but its actual manifestation far exceeds that concept. It surpasses Squad 4’s understanding of Kaidō. Ordinary Reiatsu shows almost no difference when treating various injuries, but her ability seems to defy the very laws of nature.”

”Her ability is something I have never seen before. If Aizen feels the same way...”

Kōe slowly uttered a name. ”Inoue Orihime. She is the one most likely to be taken to Hueco Mundo.”