novelblue
Chapter 172
Chapter 172
Chapter 172
Two figures raced through Rukongai, hurrying under the night sky.
They ran all the way to the western outskirts of Rukongai. Opening a door concealed by Kid?, Kaelith slipped into the laboratory, pulling off the black hood over his head.
On the way, Aizen had explained the current problem to him.
He had secretly infiltrated the Great Spirit Library and found some information.
If a Shinigami surpasses the threshold of third-class spiritual power, becoming captain-level, then after death, they can no longer merge back into the cycle of existence.
Just like the bottle of reishi Aizen had shown Kaelith earlier.
Dense, heavy, and indissoluble.
If left unchecked, these reishi particles would remain in the Soul Society forever.
The Soul Society, the Living World, and Hueco Mundo—these three worlds’ stability is determined by the number and strength of souls they contain.
If one world has too many or too powerful souls, it will exert pressure on the other two worlds, and may even invade them.
A captain-level individual’s remains, producing indissoluble spiritual pressure after death, would continually increase the Soul Society’s strength.
One captain’s corpse might not change much.
But two, three, or even more, accumulated over time, would push the Soul Society forward, crashing into the Living World or Hueco Mundo.
That would lead to mutual destruction.
To prevent this, the Seireitei invented a ceremony.
The Konso Reisai.
On the surface, the Konso Reisai is just a farewell ceremony, no different from a funeral in the Living World.
But in truth, its purpose is to open the Gates of Hell and dump the captain-level spiritual particles—like taking out the trash—straight into Hell.
After hearing Aizen’s explanation, Kaelith didn’t know what to say.
“How can it be like this…? A Shinigami trains so hard, works themselves to the bone for the Soul Society, and after all these years, they end up like this?”
Kaelith didn’t know what Hell looked like.
But judging from the appearance of the Gates of Hell in the animation, it was definitely no good place.
“There must be something wrong with this,” Kaelith said, frowning.
Aizen also felt some regret.
When he first saw these records, he’d had a reaction much like Kaelith’s.
But he quickly realized that compared to these distant issues, the two of them faced a pressing threat right now.
“Kaelith, during the Konso Reisai, the ceremony’s power will summon the deceased captains’ reishi and cast them into Hell’s Gate.
“At that time, the people hosting the ceremony will discover that the captains they believed dead—Shinchira Renzosuke, Takada Tai, Kuchiki K?ga—are actually all still alive.
“Just think what will happen when the Seireitei realizes that Renzosuke, Takada, Kuchiki K?ga… all of them never died.”
Kaelith thought for a few seconds.
Then realization dawned: “The Seireitei will use every means to track these captains’ spiritual pressures… to prevent them from mounting another attack.”
Aizen nodded. “Exactly.”
He parted his lips as if to say more, but then stopped.
The best solution now would be to kill a few captains to lower the Seireitei’s guard.
Then they could move the more valuable ones—those they couldn’t bear to kill—into Hueco Mundo, letting the Seireitei assume that Kuchiki K?ga survived and is now with Tsunayashiro Senzo, thus deceiving them.
However, this plan was somewhat cruel. Aizen wasn’t sure whether Kaelith would agree.
In the past, they believed death simply meant rejoining the cycle of souls, nothing truly frightening.
But now that they knew about the Konso Reisai, could Kaelith bring himself to choose to kill some of these individuals?
While he pondered, Kaelith tutted and shook his head. “S?suke, such a simple problem, and you’re so conflicted.
“It seems I must reconsider whether to keep you as one of the two great wise men under Kaelith.”
Aizen: “?”
‘One of the two great wise men under Kaelith’—what kind of insult was that?
He pressed his lips together, holding back the urge to retort.
“You have a solution?” he asked, curious about what clever idea Kaelith might have.
Under Aizen’s gaze, Kaelith crossed his arms over his chest:
“Why not just kill them all? Once the old man sees all the heads accounted for, he won’t bother searching anymore, right?”
“…”
Aizen fell silent.
He must have been out of his mind expecting a decent idea from this guy.
Confused, he said, “You don’t mind them being thrown into Hell? Just now you seemed unable to accept it.”
Kaelith gave him a strange look: “Why would I mind? Those guys were all enemies who wanted my life.
“For friends, be as warm as a spring breeze; for enemies, be as merciless as a harsh winter!”
Aizen considered this for two seconds, then nodded slightly.
Kaelith’s words, though rough, had a certain truth.
Kaelith continued, “Besides, being tossed into Hell might not be worse than becoming your test subjects, right?”
“The last sentence was unnecessary.”
Aizen cut him off, annoyed.
He glanced at a few jars nearby:
“Kuchiki K?ga… such precious material, and you say to kill him just like that? Go capture another one for me, then?”
Choosing a few to kill already hurt him.
Yet Kaelith wanted to kill them all… Couldn’t he show some humanity? Had he no kindness?
Seeing that Kaelith was okay with the killing plan, Aizen laid out his actual plan.
After listening, Kaelith stroked his chin.
“Moving Kuchiki K?ga to Hueco Mundo? Then we’d need to build a sub-base in Hueco Mundo.
“That’s not just troublesome, it’s dangerous.
“After all, we’re both double-wanted criminals by Senzo and Baraggan. Going to Hueco Mundo now would be full of perils.”
Aizen looked at him in surprise.
This guy realized the key point immediately.
Indeed, as Kaelith said, the hardest part of his plan was how to establish a base in Hueco Mundo.
If they were discovered by Baraggan’s subordinates during construction, the consequences would be dire.
After pondering a moment, Aizen sighed inwardly.
Forget it—so long as they survive, there will be other opportunities.
Kuchiki K?ga was precious, but not at the cost of their exposure and destruction.
If Aizen were discovered, Kaelith would also suffer since their relationship was no secret in the Seireitei.
He prepared to accept Kaelith’s original suggestion.
But before he could speak, Kaelith grinned:
“Well, since my good brother asked, I, Kaelith, can’t pretend I didn’t hear.
“So you want a base in Hueco Mundo… I’ll help you!”
Seeing Kaelith’s confident expression, Aizen blinked.
Suppressing a hint of happiness, he said seriously, “Kaelith, this is not the time for bravado.”
Kaelith snorted. “Bravado? That word doesn’t exist in Kaelith’s dictionary.
“Just watch, S?suke. What you want, I’ll help you achieve!”