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"Who did this?!"
The moment he looked up, his entire field of vision was drenched in red.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō stood frozen, staring at the blood-soaked floor and the bodies scattered everywhere. His mind went blank. What he was seeing felt unreal, like a nightmare he couldn't wake up from.
Who were the Central 46?
Those elderly figures, half a foot in the grave, were often criticized for being old-fashioned, rigid, and utterly cold-blooded in how they enforced the law. Yet they were also the absolute pinnacle of authority in Seireitei.
In Soul Society, the word of the Central 46 was law.
Their power even surpassed that of the Captain-Commander. In most cases, not even the Head Captain could interfere with their judgments.
To most people, the Central 46 were like an invisible mountain pressing down on their shoulders. You could feel its weight every day, suffocating and unavoidable, something you could never escape in an entire lifetime.
And yet now…
That lofty, untouchable Central 46 had been wiped out. Every last one of them slaughtered, their bodies lying in chaotic heaps.
More importantly, judging by the dark, dried blood on the floor, already giving off a foul stench, they had clearly been dead for quite some time.
"Then… why did I follow the trail all the way here and break into the court on my own?" Hitsugaya muttered, staring wide-eyed at the translucent screen before him. A deep, instinctive unease crept up from the pit of his stomach.
He had stumbled onto something far too big.
Wait a second…
Am I next?!
As the person actually inside this scene, the shock hit him even harder. Faced with such a gruesome, oppressive sight, he nearly gagged.
Silently, Hitsugaya prayed to himself.
Future me, please take care of yourself. Don't let someone cut you down in the next few minutes.
Seriously. My heart can't handle that.
Just then, a sudden noise echoed through the darkness. A shadow flashed past.
"That's… Vice-Captain Kira?!"
In that instant, both Hitsugaya inside the footage and everyone watching from the outside recognized the ghostly figure at the same time.
It was Izuru Kira, vice-captain of the Third Division.
"…What?"
"Was it Vice-Captain Kira who did this? He's that insane?"
"No way! You'd never guess it looking at him! I thought he was a nice guy. Who knew he was this messed up inside?!"
The moment Kira stepped out of the shadows, his thin, expressionless face coming fully into view, the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 felt their entire worldview shatter. Goosebumps broke out all over their bodies.
You really can't judge a book by its cover.
That cheerful, energetic, always-helpful Vice-Captain Kira… a mass murderer?
This world was getting more unbelievable by the second.
At the same time, in the Third Division barracks, a blond man with slanted bangs covered his face in sheer terror, his voice shaking so badly his words barely came out.
"I… I did that?"
"What the hell did I go through in the future?!"
Kira Izuru was on the verge of losing his mind.
Staring at that gloomy, indifferent face on the screen, he almost couldn't recognize himself.
Impossible.
I'm a law-abiding, nine-to-five, model employee! I'm literally guarding the office for Captain Ichimaru while he's off wandering around somewhere!
How could I possibly turn into some kind of deranged killer in the future?
But no one paid attention to Kira's breakdown.
Everyone was focused on what came next. The chase continued, the scenery shifting from rooftops rushing past to an entirely different location.
"This is… the Seijōtōkyorin?"
As soon as they recognized the place, the Shinigami cried out again.
Another forbidden zone.
This was where the sages and judges lived.
Why would Kira deliberately lure someone here?
Was someone else hiding inside?
Could it be… Aizen?
The moment that name surfaced, every Shinigami felt a chill crawl up their spine. They all held their breath.
And then, just as suspicion and anticipation peaked, a voice rang out. Familiar, gentle, and absolutely not supposed to be here.
"Hitsugaya Tōshirō…"
"Sharp instincts. You really did track your way all the way here."
From deep within the Seijōtōkyorin, a tall figure slowly emerged from the shadows. That scholarly face, wearing its usual warm smile, instantly sent shockwaves through the entire Gotei 13.
"It's… Aizen!"
"It's really him! The subtitles weren't lying. Aizen slaughtered the Central 46. He's a traitor to the Gotei 13!"
"I can't believe it. Captain Aizen, the man everyone respected, had a side this monstrous…"
The uproar exploded like countless firecrackers going off at once, echoing throughout Seireitei.
Aizen stood there, his expression as gentle as ever.
And yet…
His figure felt completely at odds with the darkness behind him, and even more so with the horrific massacre of the Central 46. The contrast was overwhelming.
In that moment, the image of the kind, reliable "good guy" shattered beyond repair.
Even so, members of the Fifth Division and those who had been close to Aizen still clung desperately to hope. They prayed this was all just a misunderstanding, some cruel twist born from good intentions.
But Aizen's next words crushed that hope completely.
Hitsugaya's entire body trembled. His eyes widened as he locked onto Aizen, who was calmly walking toward him, and demanded each word through clenched teeth.
"Aizen… Sōsuke."
"Why are you alive again? You were supposed to be dead. You killed the Central 46, didn't you?!"
His turquoise eyes were heavy with tension, thin streaks of red visible within them.
It was easy to imagine how much it took for Hitsugaya to ask that question.
And it was the truth everyone wanted to hear.
"I have to admit…" Aizen said, smiling behind his black-framed glasses, his tone as warm as sunlight on a lazy afternoon. "As the most gifted captain the Gotei 13 has seen in nearly a hundred years, your insight really does surprise me."
The way he looked at Hitsugaya was like that of a gentle, approachable older brother, every movement filled with praise and affection.
And yet…
Those pitch-black eyes held nothing but cold indifference. The contradiction was stark, and somehow perfectly unified.
It felt less like an act and more like who he had always been.
That was why it seemed so natural.
"So it really was you!" Hitsugaya shouted, completely losing control. "You deceived everyone! You deceived the entire Gotei 13!"
"Aizen, why would you do this? This isn't the Captain Aizen I knew!"
His voice cracked as he screamed, throwing everything he had into the desperate hope of snapping Aizen back to his senses.
But then—
"The Captain Aizen you knew?"
Aizen stopped walking. All warmth and all smiles vanished in an instant.
"I'm sorry," he said calmly.
"The Captain Aizen you thought you knew… never existed to begin with."
"..."
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