Chapter 383: BSUS Chapter 386: Could He Really Forge a Key Handle?

“I really don’t know how he could possibly achieve that goal.”

Ichimaru Gin smiled wryly, turning his gaze to Aizen beside him in hopes of an answer.

“People like Hirako Shinji have experienced Hollowfication themselves, and Urahara and Yoruichi can understand unification on that level. Add in a few other methods—don’t forget, he is someone who excels at utilizing the resources at his disposal, Gin.”

Aizen smiled. “Having Shinigami and Arrancar coexist all at once is too much of a pipe dream, but opening a breach is theoretically possible. If Chōzuka Hiroe can’t open that breach, then no one can.”

“And once this breach is opened, Soul Society, the World of the Living, and Hueco Mundo will ultimately be molded to his will. In a sense, it’s another form of creating a world. I told you, we are actually the same kind of people, Gin.”

Gin remained noncommittal, shifting the subject to ask, “But even understanding that, his plan to move half of Karakura Town into Hueco Mundo is truly appalling.”

“If it wasn’t appalling, how would those in the Seireitei ever allow him to lead a preemptive strike on Hueco Mundo? In truth, once you figure out Hiroe’s goal, you can figure out the one thing he absolutely must do: he has to bring people to Hueco Mundo before the final battle. Only then will there be a reasonably justifiable environment for his subordinates to accept the existence of Arrancar.”

Gin nodded. There weren’t many things that could spur Hiroe into action right now. If it were something too trivial, like Inoue Orihime being abducted, him insisting on leading a team into Hueco Mundo to save her would just be seen as reckless nonsense.

What could mobilize him had to be a major event, something big enough to make the people of the Seireitei feel uneasy, yet not so big that it would trigger the final battle prematurely, leaving him with no room to maneuver.

“At this very moment, only Karakura Town holds the potential to advance the final battle. Losing half of it won’t force the Seireitei into a desperate all-or-nothing gamble, nor will it let them just sit and wait for death. There might be disputes, but venturing deep into Hueco Mundo to reclaim half of Karakura Town is an action that will absolutely be forgiven.”

Therefore, as long as one could deduce Hiroe’s attitude toward the Arrancar, targeting Karakura Town was almost his only choice. Since he was already trying to manufacture an accident, how could he not leave a flaw to be exploited?

“Aizen never viewed me as a Shinigami to begin with, so naturally, he wouldn’t fall into the cognitive trap of assuming I wouldn’t orchestrate an inside job. Plus, my people were indeed discovered, so it’s not surprising he figured out my plan.”

After listening to Hiroe’s bout of perspective-taking, Yoruichi suddenly understood everything, but her anger also surged right up to her throat. “Then whose fault is this?!”

“My fault…”

A Shinigami who did absolutely nothing like a Shinigami. If others thought of him as a monster, he really was a monster. Could he blame the people who thought the worst of him? He couldn’t!

Just as Yoruichi thought Hiroe was finally going to reflect on himself, his next answer gave her a thorough lesson in what it meant to be utterly shameless…

“It’s my fault. I’m still too innocent, so I’m easily seen through, which allowed a cunning person to predict my predictions.”

Yoruichi’s mind was filled with question marks. *Is this his habitual refusal to admit defeat, or is he deliberately trying to piss me off?*

“Also, because of our temporary victory, I let my guard down. I thought I was fully prepared, but an accident still happened.”

Hiroe wasn’t just refusing to admit defeat, nor was he deliberately trying to anger anyone. In fact, he was on the verge of driving himself mad with rage, his teeth constantly on the edge of shattering from grinding them so hard.

And then there was what he had said to Ginjō: *’So far, I haven’t been outsmarted.’* Every time he thought about it, he wanted to slap himself across the face. What a jinxed mouth—the good things never came true, but the bad things always did!

How could a normal person have such a bizarre request?

“I even hesitated! If I hadn’t been worried that the mismatched number of Espada-level Arrancar would make Hirako and the others suspicious, I would have shoved Aizen’s head right back through the Garganta! But in the end, I’m the one who got my head shoved…”

“None of that is the issue! The issue is that your plan inherently left the biggest flaw exposed on the most important thing!” Yoruichi finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“But you agreed to this plan too,” Hiroe reminded her with an innocent look.

Yoruichi shot to her feet. “That was only because you guaranteed Aizen’s target was Inoue Orihime! According to the plan, that half of the city should be in your hands, but now it’s fallen into the hands of the enemy who needs it most! And you never even considered this possibility back then!”

“I did consider it…” Hiroe grimaced. This was the most frustrating part for him. “But I ended up ruling it out.”

“Hah? Still making excuses!”

“Um…” Urahara poked Yoruichi, who looked ready to charge forward and beat Hiroe to a pulp, and chimed in to help. “He really did consider it.”

“Karakura Town and a hundred thousand souls can create the Ōken. How could I not have considered that Aizen might seize it ahead of time?”

“But think about it. We’ve been working frantically to prepare to move the entirety of Karakura Town to Soul Society, but how could such a massive engineering project be completed in a single month? Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Urahara both concluded that it would take at least two and a half months to get ready.”

“Therefore, Aizen didn’t have the means to seize Karakura Town early, let alone forge the Ōken right in front of us during this timeframe. If he just stood there motionless, wouldn’t I be able to hack him to death?”

Hiroe had just stood up, but Yoruichi pointed at the floor, seeing right through his little scheme. “Who told you to stand up? Kneel!”

Looking resentful, Hiroe knelt back down properly and continued explaining, “What I didn’t expect was that by relying on a spirit tool that could be completed in a month, combined with the Espada’s influence over space, he could take half of it!”

“But the thing is, what use does he have for taking half of Karakura Town back with him? Absolutely none! Even if he realized I would protect Inoue Orihime, given Aizen’s personality, shouldn’t he have engaged me in a head-on clash? He chickened out!”

“You’re still making excuses…”

“Then tell me, what use does Aizen have for half of Karakura Town?” Hiroe retorted.

“He does!”

Yoruichi was suddenly at a loss for words. If moving the entirety of Karakura Town to Hueco Mundo would force the Shinigami to burn their bridges and lose their home-field advantage, then what use was half of Karakura Town?

Hiroe wanted half of Karakura Town to strike a balance—a balance where the Seireitei wouldn’t advance the final battle, but would simultaneously allow someone to go to Hueco Mundo to reclaim it. What use did Aizen have for this balance?

“H-How is it useless? For example, to lure you to Hueco Mundo and divide and conquer!”

“Then wouldn’t it be fine if I just didn’t go to Hueco Mundo?”

“But you were planning to go anyway.”

“Exactly, wasn’t I planning to go anyway? Now that this mess has happened, wouldn’t it be best to play it safe and not go? How is he going to divide and conquer then?”

That made sense. This really wasn’t just him making excuses. Yoruichi’s anger subsided slightly.

“Even if he was afraid I’d hide half of Karakura Town, setting aside the fact that he could find it by spending a little time tracking the spatial traces—even if he couldn’t find it, all he had to do was stop me, and Karakura Town would remain completely intact right here. Otherwise, if I really went to Hueco Mundo and just waited there, would he even be able to make a move?”

Hiroe asked rhetorically, delivering his final conclusion: “Therefore, unless Aizen can use that half of Karakura Town to forge a key handle first, he has absolutely no beneficial reason to hijack my plan!”