The moment the man's voice echoed through the tavern,
the black cat in Ronn's arms exploded into a puffed-up ball of fur,
leaping onto the counter with claws bared — ten gleaming blades extending from soft pink pads.
If not for the tavern's no-fighting rule,
Yoruichi would've already pounced before Ronn even came back.
"Captain Yoruichi, no need to be so tense,"
the man said gently.
"I only wanted to look at those two weapons. You're too sensitive."
"If I wished, I could've taken you back to the Soul Society the moment I saw you."
He sipped his drink casually, smiling with practiced warmth.
Yoruichi stared hard, tail twitching, before finally hopping back into Ronn's arms —
but her golden slit pupils never softened.
The newcomer was none other than Aizen Sōsuke —
captain of the Fifth Division of the Gotei 13,
and the fourth villain-class customer to ever enter the tavern.
Polite. Serene. Even gentle on the surface.
But Ronn knew what kind of monster stood before him —
a six-dimensional fighter whose mastery of Kidō and Reiatsu
could crush most captains without effort.
"You can have a look," Morgana said lazily, lounging in her chair.
"But first, mind dropping that little illusion of yours?"
Her tone was teasing, but her eyes were sharp.
The moment her words fell, Aizen vanished from sight —
only to reappear at the far end of the bar.
It wasn't teleportation.
It was everyone's senses being deceived.
Kyōka Suigetsu — the Shikai that controlled all five senses.
What they saw, heard, and felt until now… had been illusion.
Ronn, of course, had seen through it the moment Aizen entered —
and that's exactly why he hadn't said a word.
"Oh?"
Aizen's lips curved in genuine amusement.
"To see through Kyōka Suigetsu… Impressive."
He stepped forward, taking the dagger from Morgana's hand —
and immediately felt its weight drag his arm downward.
Heavy.
Far heavier than any normal weapon.
Flipping it deftly, Aizen gave it a few test swings.
Ripples shimmered in the air where the blade passed.
Space itself trembled.
"A fine dagger indeed," he murmured. "Would you sell it to me?"
He offered it back politely, then found a seat.
"Sure," Morgana said sweetly. "Kill that b*tch of a sister,
and it's yours for free."
She pointed at Keisha, smiling like a cat that found a new toy.
Aizen only chuckled, shaking his head.
"Forgive me. I came only to drink, not to kill."
He wasn't fooled.
If Morgana could see through Kyōka Suigetsu,
and treated a weapon like this as a trinket,
her power must be far beyond his calculations.
And if even she couldn't handle her sister…
then that battle was far above his current pay grade.
But more than that —
this tavern was wrong.
The demon father and son radiated absurd power.
The golden-haired woman and the little girl in the kitchen carried an aura
that pressed against his instincts like cold knives.
And then… there was the bartender.
Anyone who could command these beings
and make them work in his tavern
was not someone to provoke lightly.
After assessing everything,
Aizen decided —
until he uncovered the tavern's secrets, he would not act.
"Tell me something, Mr. Aizen."
Ronn's voice broke the silence.
"Is a road paved with blood really worth walking?"
"Even if it means sacrificing thousands of innocent souls from Rukongai?"
Aizen's eyes flickered. Then, calmly:
"Every path to a new world demands sacrifice."
"If the Soul Society remains under the rule of the corrupt,
the sacrifice will never end."
"If the world must hate me—so be it."
"Even if I become the villain of history, I will not stray from my purpose."
The empty throne of heaven must be filled again,
and when it was — he would stand atop it.
That was Aizen's dream:
to end the stagnation of the three realms,
tear down the decaying rule of the noble clans,
and drag down the Soul King —
the bound, mutilated keystone of the worlds.
To destroy the system.
To become the god who replaced it.
From Ronn's arms came a low, hoarse voice —
Yoruichi's voice.
"You're insane."
"The Shinigami aren't sinners. You are."
"You turned captains into your test subjects for hollowfication experiments!"
Her words came fast, sharp, furious.
Ronn quietly pieced the timeline together.
So this was after the Hollowfication incident.
After Aizen slaughtered the Central 46,
after he framed Urahara Kisuke,
and stole the Hōgyoku—the orb that broke the boundary between Shinigami and Hollow.
Before the execution, Yoruichi had stormed the gallows and rescued Urahara and Tessai.
Now, wanted and hunted, she had hidden here in the tavern as a cat.
While Urahara and Tessai hid in the human world.
When the cat spoke, everyone stared.
Rem and Ram's jaws dropped.
Ram snatched up the cat, holding it at arm's length.
"It— it talked?!"
And then, realization struck the twins.
So that's why the boss always slept with the cat!
They disappeared into the kitchen, came back with a wooden sign that read:
"No Cats or Dogs Allowed in the Boss's Room! (Dragons too!)"
Yoruichi covered her face with her paw and sighed.
"Can you two… not?"
Aizen merely smiled faintly.
"Mad? Perhaps. But madness is the price of vision."
"Once I fuse with Urahara's Hōgyoku, everything will change."
"As a noble, you must know what the Soul King truly is."
"I will take his place — and rule the heavens with my own will."
In the past, he would've never revealed so much.
But Yoruichi was already branded a criminal.
Even if she shouted the truth from the rooftops, no one in Soul Society would believe her.
Then Ronn reached into his pocket
and pulled out a small orb that shimmered with black-blue light.
The air around it hummed, bending faintly.
He rolled it between his fingers.
"You mean this Hōgyoku?"
"Quite the curious little thing. Will-based artifact, huh?
Might make a fun study tonight."
The tavern fell utterly silent.
Aizen froze — the calm smile cracking for just a heartbeat.
"...!!!"
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