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"What?!"
"This has to be fake, right?!"
"No way! Third place on the ranking is actually Aizen?!"
…
A new round of the ranking began.
The moment the Arrancar finally read the newly appeared lines of text in the video, the lively discussion instantly froze. One by one, their pupils widened, mouths hanging open in disbelief. Their expressions looked exactly like they'd just seen a ghost.
W-What the hell was this…
Aizen… was ranked third?
This had to be a joke.
What kind of sick joke was this, anyway?!
Their emotions collapsed in an instant.
The Arrancar stood there like statues, completely stiff, while the echoes of their earlier mockery of Aizen still lingered in the vast emptiness of Las Noches.
"How could Aizen possibly be third?!"
"No matter how strong he is, there's a limit. There's no way he surpasses those two!"
"He couldn't even make the top five. Aizen really is trash, huh!"
…
Every word they had spoken earlier now felt like a burning slap to the face.
Again and again.
Painfully precise, mercilessly humiliating.
This time, the Arrancar weren't just silent.
The shock was so overwhelming that their minds went completely blank.
"So…"
"Are we the real clowns here?!"
The image of Aizen's lips curling into that calm, sinister smile surfaced in their minds, and their souls practically left their bodies.
A bone-chilling cold surged up from their spines to the backs of their necks, making their bodies tremble uncontrollably.
Finding a flaw in Kyōka Suigetsu.
Surrounding and killing Aizen.
That was something they had been waiting for and plotting ever since many rankings ago. It had even become the sole reason they kept watching these ranking videos.
Now, everything spoke for itself.
The terror on their faces laid bare exactly what they were thinking.
They wanted to die.
—
Elsewhere.
Soul Society. Seireitei.
Aizen's revealed rank sent shockwaves through this land of Shinigami, no less violent than a magnitude-ten earthquake.
If anything, the reactions here were even stronger than those in Hueco Mundo.
Total silence.
If the Arrancar at least blurted out cries of shock, then the Shinigami of the Gotei Thirteen were struck completely mute, too stunned to utter a single word.
Second Division, inside the office.
Before the translucent light screen, Omaeda's massive body shook violently. He stared at the video, swallowed hard, and read the words on the screen in a trembling voice.
"Aizen Sōsuke…"
"Ruler of Hueco Mundo, master of Las Noches, controller of the Hōgyoku!"
"Traitor to the Gotei Thirteen, an evil criminal sentenced for twenty thousand years!"
…
After forcing himself to finish reading, it was as if Omaeda had used up all the courage in his life. His vision went black, and he staggered before collapsing onto the floor, the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
"…"
Behind him, Soi Fon stood frozen.
After hearing his words, her face drained of all color. She instinctively turned her gaze back to the screen, staring at the subtitles again and again, as if trying to burn them into her eyes.
"Ruler of Hueco Mundo…"
"Master of Las Noches…"
"And… traitor to the Gotei Thirteen!"
By the time she mechanically recited those three phrases, Soi Fon's mind was already empty, like a machine that had lost its ability to think.
She was simply reporting the result, numb and lost.
How was this possible…
Within the Gotei Thirteen, Aizen was universally acknowledged as the most approachable captain. At the Shin'ō Academy, he was the model teacher, deeply respected by every student.
Aizen…
How could he be a traitor to the Gotei Thirteen?!
At this moment, Soi Fon didn't even care why Aizen ranked third, or how he qualified for the list in terms of strength or feats.
The only truth she desperately wanted was an explanation for those final words on the screen, the most eye-catching and most painful ones.
"Traitor to the Gotei Thirteen."
Aizen…
How did he become a traitor?!
Why?!
Her mind short-circuited after prolonged shock, disbelief at the ranking, and the deep-rooted trust she had always placed in Aizen.
All of it combined until her emotions completely spiraled out of control. She nearly screamed.
And this was coming from someone whose relationship with Aizen was nothing special.
Aside from polite nods as colleagues, they barely interacted. There was no real friendship to speak of.
Even she was like this…
One could only imagine how violent the reactions of others in Seireitei would be.
—
Thirteenth Division.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three teacups hit the floor in succession.
The faint scent of tea spread quickly through the office along with rising steam, filling the room with mist.
Hidden behind that white haze were three faces wearing identical expressions of utter shock.
"This… how is this possible?!"
Despite the room feeling as cold as an eternal ice prison after Aizen's rank and the accompanying subtitles were revealed…
Kyōraku Shunsui was drenched in sweat.
Cold sweat seeped from his forehead, every hair standing on end. His jaw, held open for far too long, began to ache.
Compared to him, however, the reaction of the man beside him was even more extreme.
Ukitake Jūshirō's pale complexion, usually sickly white due to his lung illness, had flushed a deep, liver-red from emotional turmoil.
His eyes were wide open.
Veins bulged along the arm gripping the edge of the tea table, and his entire body shook violently.
His lips trembled as he struggled to speak.
"Impossible. This has to be fake. Aizen is the finest example the Shin'ō Academy has produced in hundreds of years. He's been loyal for decades, pouring his heart and soul into the Fifth Division!"
"Someone so perfect as a comrade…"
"How could he possibly be a traitor to the Gotei Thirteen?!"
By the final word, Ukitake had completely lost control, roaring it out in near hysteria.
As fellow graduates of the Shin'ō Academy, and with shared interests in calligraphy and painting, his relationship with Aizen went far beyond that of mere colleagues. They often exchanged letters and discussions in private.
Because of that closeness, Ukitake was even more devastated than Soi Fon.
"I don't believe it either…"
Nearby, Ise Nanao shook her head, her expression hollow. "Captain Aizen is loved by his subordinates and always wears that gentle smile. There's no way he would betray the Gotei Thirteen. I can guarantee that."
In the past, Kyōraku Shunsui had a habit of dumping his work and disappearing without warning, leaving the Eighth Division's duties entirely to her.
Because of that, Nanao often attended captain meetings in his place.
After each meeting, she would seriously seek out Aizen to ask for advice, learning how to manage division affairs and maintain good relationships with officers and seated members.
After all, throughout the entire Gotei Thirteen, if Aizen claimed second place in popularity, no one would dare claim first.
Years of interaction and familiarity slowly built absolute trust in Nanao's heart.
Even though they weren't in the same division, even without a direct superior-subordinate relationship, she trusted Aizen unconditionally.
And so, she instinctively doubted the subtitles shown in the ranking.
Of course…
If there was anyone in the entire Gotei Thirteen who was most shaken by all of this, it was undoubtedly the Fifth Division's lieutenant, Hinamori Momo, who had been quietly watching every ranking from the very first one, seated in the office the whole time.
"These… these details are fake, right?"
Her face had gone deathly pale. With immense effort, she turned her head and looked toward the man sitting cross-legged at the wooden desk, who had been watching the video with her the entire time.
"Captain Aizen?"
"..."
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