Bleach : I Pick Up Attributes in Seireitei

Aizen turned around, walked up to the equipment on the side of the laboratory, and brought up the map of the Soul Society.

Several special marks were annotated on the map, with red crosses scattered across multiple locations north of the Rukongai.

These were exactly the locations of the unidentified Reiatsu fluctuations reported by Hikifune Kirio during the previous captain's meeting.

"The Seireitei has already ordered an intensified search."

Aizen's finger traced lightly over the map, moving all the way north from the Seireitei and stopping just outside the North 60th District.

"And the investigation direction of the Second Division and Twelfth Division has already shifted toward the Quincy, just as we anticipated."

"What we need to do next is give them ironclad proof."

Aizen looked at the map in front of him and spoke slowly.

"The previous Reiatsu fluctuations merely raised their suspicions, and the corpse of the Fifth Division's Third Seat pointed them toward the existence of the Quincy."

"But this is not enough. It will only make the Seireitei raise their guard; it is insufficient to make them take real action."

"We need a much larger incident, one so massive that Yamamoto Shigekuni cannot ignore it, and so severe that the Gotei 13 must prepare for battle."

His finger tapped lightly on a specific area at the northernmost edge of the map.

"Here, one of the most remote regions of the Rukongai. It is sparsely populated, and the Seireitei's patrol coverage is at its weakest."

"We will ultimately create a large-scale soul disappearance incident there, leaving behind clear Quincy traces at the scene."

"The most important element is an eyewitness account of a Quincy manipulating shadows to escape."

Hasumi Ren's brow twitched slightly.

He thought of the Quincy spy captured by Aizen.

"Royd Lloyd?"

"Correct."

The corners of Aizen's mouth curled up slightly.

"We have kept this Quincy locked up for so long; it is time for him to serve his final purpose."

"He is indeed tight-lipped, but under the power of Kyoka Suigetsu, making him talk is remarkably simple."

"We have more or less grasped the Quincy's plans."

"Afterward, I will use Kyoka Suigetsu to show him what he needs to see, making him believe he seized an opportunity to escape."

"Then, he will appear at the scene where the Hollowfied residents disappeared and, under the watchful eyes of the captains dispatched by the Seireitei, escape using the shadow domain."

"This way, the Seireitei will have not only physical evidence but also a witness."

"A Quincy witnessed firsthand by a captain is more convincing than any other evidence."

Hasumi Ren fell silent.

This plan was intricately linked, with every step perfectly aligned with the pacing of the Seireitei's investigation.

Fake Reiatsu fluctuations to arouse suspicion, a fake Quincy attack to confirm the direction, a massive soul disappearance incident to provide undeniable proof, and finally, releasing a real Quincy for the captains to witness.

Even if the Wandenreich wanted to defend themselves afterward, they would not be able to explain it.

Not to mention, the two sides were mortal enemies to begin with.

"But to achieve this, we need to make preparations in advance."

Aizen walked back to the laboratory bench and pulled a new document from a drawer.

"After all, ordinary soul disappearances are not enough to alarm captain-class figures into mobilizing."

"If the advance squad sent by the Gotei 13 is ambushed in the North 80th District of the Rukongai, with multiple members injured or even Hollowfied, the situation will become critical enough that a captain-class individual must personally go to provide backup."

"By then, the arriving captain will have the opportunity to see the Quincy flee the scene with their own eyes."

"And behind all of this, naturally, lies the conspiracy of those Quincy hiding in the shadows."

Aizen looked at the two of them.

"I have already given the Hollowfication serum to Tosen Kaname. He will head to the designated area to release it."

"The large-scale disappearance of the Rukongai residents will inevitably draw the Seireitei's attention."

"After the members of that advance squad inhale the serum, they will exhibit symptoms of forced Hollowfication within a short period."

"When the captains arrive, they will see a devastated battlefield, Hollowfied squad members, and..."

"A Quincy emerging from the shadows, fleeing in a panic."

Saying this, Aizen looked at Hasumi Ren.

"The plan will be executed tonight. Get ready, and we can head out."

After Aizen finished speaking, he signaled that Hasumi Ren could go prepare his things.

Hasumi Ren was taken aback. He certainly had not expected things to progress so suddenly.

Although Aizen kept emphasizing that his goal was to expose the existence of the Wandenreich.

However, Hasumi Ren faintly realized that Aizen's move was not simply to expose the Wandenreich; there was clearly a deeper calculation hidden within.

'The souls of the Rukongai residents dissipating... why does it look more like a prelude to the Hollowfied Captains incident?'

Hasumi Ren finally realized at this moment. Judging by all these signs: 'Could it be that Aizen is about to make his move against those captains?'

However, out of caution, Aizen had not informed Hasumi Ren about this, but rather chose an opportune moment to strike suddenly.

And the timing Aizen chose was much earlier than in the original timeline.

Right now, although Urahara Kisuke's Hollowfication suppression serum was already under development, its current progress could hardly be considered mature.

After all, as long as he kept his mouth shut, no one would connect these events to his subsequent move against the captains.

Aizen's move was truly brilliantly calculated...

However, it would take time for the information to reach the Seireitei and for the squad members to be dispatched for patrol.

Hasumi Ren still had time to pass on a message.

Beside him, Ichimaru Gin tilted his head. He had been standing quietly in the corner this entire time.

Only then did Gin's voice drift over airily.

"To think I would be given such an important mission right after joining. You really think highly of me, Aizen-sama."

"Of course. Since you have joined, you must shoulder the corresponding responsibilities."

Aizen looked at Gin and smiled faintly.

Subsequently, he extracted the Hogyoku from the core of its container and sealed it inside a transparent prism he carried with him.

Under Aizen's arrangements, the group prepared and set off for the predetermined location outside the 60th District of the Rukongai.

Many wooden cabins were scattered across the wasteland. A considerable number of souls lived here, mostly refugees who had wandered here from remote regions.

The cold moonlight spilled over the wasteland, illuminating the crooked wooden cabins.

Over there, Tosen Kaname had already completed the task assigned by Aizen.

Holding the Hollowfication serum in his hand and wearing an isolation mask on his face, he injected Reiatsu into the serum to activate it, releasing the power of the Hogyoku contained within.

The peculiar energy spread out, rippling outward like waves on a water surface.

Wherever it passed, the Reiatsu inside the wooden cabins disappeared one after another.

The refugees in those dilapidated cabins were broken down by the Hogyoku's energy in their sleep. The rough shape of bone masks bubbled from their mouths before their bodies turned into the most primordial Reishi, dissipating silently into the air.

A few breaths later, the entire area went completely silent.

Only empty clothes remained in those cabins, scattered untidily on the crude beds.

On a distant hillside, Aizen, along with Hasumi Ren and Ichimaru Gin behind him, watched quietly.

Following that, they placed the Royd Lloyd they had brought along in the nearby woods, proceeding entirely according to plan.

In the distance, after using up the serum in his hand, Tosen Kaname felt the village around him fall into a deathly stillness. He remained silent for a moment before turning and disappearing into the night.

By dawn, the news of the massive soul disappearance in this area had reached the Seireitei.

The Twelfth Division was the first to notice the anomaly; the soul fluctuations in an entire settlement had vanished overnight.

The report was relayed up through the chain of command of the Gotei 13.

Due to the large scale of the disappearances, a Menos Grande attack was suspected, elevating the report's priority to the highest level.

After receiving the report, the First Division immediately initiated emergency protocols, issuing orders to the Ninth Division members closest to the relevant area.

These ten advance squad members from the Ninth Division were the first to enter that area.

When they stepped into that deathly silent settlement through the morning mist, an indescribably strange scent still lingered in the air.

There were no traces of a Menos Grande, no Reiatsu, no sounds—only a hair-raising silence.

The doors of the wooden cabins were wide open. Clothes were neatly folded by the beds, and some houses even had unfinished dinners sitting on the tables.

There were no bloodstains and no signs of a struggle, just clothes scattered on the beds and the ground.

It was as if those residents had evaporated into thin air, leaving behind only the clothes they wore.

The advance squad members began searching house by house.

Soon, the first squad member stopped in his tracks. His hand suddenly began to tremble, and his Zanpakuto slipped from his fingers, crashing to the ground with a crisp metallic clatter.

A teammate beside him turned his head to ask what was wrong, only to see a layer of white bone-like structure growing on the man's face, spewing from his mouth and instantly covering half his face.

"You..."

Before the second person could finish shouting, the same symptoms appeared on his own body.

Masks surged out from beneath their skin, and a bizarre Reiatsu expanded wildly within their bodies.

Their figures swelled violently during the Hollowfication process, tearing their skin apart.

Then, just like the disappeared refugees, their bodies began to disintegrate as the Hollowfication reached its peak. Reishi poured out from their torn skin, turning into fine specks of light in the air.

In the end, only empty Shihakusho and pairs of sandals dropped in the dust remained, scattered along the dirt paths between the cabins.

The news reached the Seireitei half an hour later.

The Reiatsu of the ten-man Ninth Division advance squad, including one seated officer, had entirely vanished.

When Ninth Division Captain Muguruma Kensei received the second report, he was already standing at the exit of the Seireitei's North Gate.

He did not wait for a decision from the Captain-Commander's meeting, directly taking Vice-Captain Kuna Mashiro and a few trusted seated officers and charging toward the scene at full speed.

By the time they stepped into the settlement, the morning mist had cleared, and the midday sun was casting the shadows of the wooden cabins onto the dirt road.

Everything was unrealistically quiet.

Muguruma Kensei passed through the narrow alleys between the cabins. His gaze swept over the clothes scattered at the doorways as his pace quickened and his breathing grew heavier.

He pushed open one door, then another.

Behind every door was the same scene: an empty room, a messy bed, and clothes piled on the floor.

As well as those scattered Shihakusho upon the road.

"Kensei..." Kuna Mashiro stood behind him, her voice lacking its usual cheerfulness. "What exactly is going on here?"

Muguruma Kensei did not reply.

He crouched down, picking up a Shihakusho and frowning as he inspected it.

Just then, the edge of Kensei's perception caught a trace of an abnormal Reiatsu fluctuation.

Muguruma Kensei stood up abruptly, his gaze locked onto the direction the Reiatsu came from: the edge of the withered woods on the north side of the settlement.

A white figure was standing there.

The person was dressed in a pure white uniform, its hem fluttering gently in the wind.

His face was hidden in the shadow of the dead trees, making his expression unreadable.

Immediately after, the figure vanished beside the woods.

"Stop right there!"

Kensei shouted, his body already darting forward.

Kuna Mashiro followed closely behind. The other seated officers tried to keep up, but Kensei's speed was too fast, leaving them behind in just a few breaths.

The white figure's speed was incredibly fast, but Kensei was just as quick.

The two engaged in a high-speed chase through the withered woods, the dead trees along the way trembling violently from Kensei's Reiatsu.

Kensei's speed kept increasing, closing the distance until he finally bore down on the white figure.

He swung his blade, cutting off the person's retreat, while Kuna Mashiro attacked from the rear, trapping the figure from the front and back and forcing them to the ground.

The next moment, Muguruma Kensei's pupils contracted sharply.

He saw the opponent's figure and face change in an instant.

The white uniform disappeared, replaced by a Shihakusho.

And that face—through the sunlight filtering down through the woods, Muguruma Kensei saw that it was his own face.

The opponent watched him warily, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

And Muguruma Kensei stood frozen for a full second.

"You bastard... are you kidding me?!"

Then his body reacted before his brain could, his Zanpakuto sweeping horizontally, the wind from the blade plowing a trench into the ground.

However, his attack missed.

The opponent retreated at the exact same speed as him, dodging the strike.

The way he adjusted his center of gravity while retreating was completely identical to his own.

Kensei gritted his teeth. His Reiatsu surged violently once more, and his Zanpakuto instantly released its Shikai, transforming into the short blade named Tachikaze. His offensive poured out like a raging storm.

Surprisingly, the opponent also released their Shikai, fighting while retreating, and blocking all of Kensei's attacks.

At this moment, however, Kuna Mashiro found an opening. Condensing Reiatsu into her leg, she seized the gap and delivered a vicious kick to Royd Lloyd's body.

Royd Lloyd tumbled through the woods. He felt the situation was getting tricky, and coupled with the severe injuries on his body, prolonging the fight was meaningless.

From his perspective, he had found an opportunity and escaped from Aizen's base, only to be discovered by these two Soul Reapers affiliated with Aizen.

Under the influence of Kyoka Suigetsu, he believed these were just two lowly, ordinary Soul Reapers.

He had originally intended to silence these two Soul Reapers, but to his surprise, they turned out to be incredibly difficult and formidable opponents.

At this point, he could no longer afford to hide; saving his own life was the priority.

Royd Lloyd leapt backward abruptly to put some distance between them, and a pitch-black shadow welled up on the ground behind him.

The shadow surged like churned black water, slowly swallowing his form.

Kensei charged forward, his Zanpakuto slashing at the edge of the shadow, but the blade only passed through a mass of dark silhouettes.

The shadow returned to calm; the person had already disappeared into the shadow domain.

Kensei stood in place, his chest heaving violently, staring intently at the patch of ground that had returned to normal.

"Mashiro."

"Here!"

He turned around and looked at Kuna Mashiro.

"Return to the Seireitei. Report to the Captain-Commander that the enemy possesses the ability to disguise themselves as others and manipulate shadow spaces."

"The ten members of the Ninth Division advance squad died in the line of duty, and all the residents of the northern Rukongai settlement have disappeared."

"It is suspected... to be connected to the Quincy matter previously reported by the Second Division."

"Understood!"

Kuna Mashiro responded loudly, then turned sharply and dashed toward the Seireitei at top speed.

Kensei listened to the sound of Mashiro leaving until the wind swallowed the very last trace of her footsteps.

He stared warily at his surroundings, waiting there for a moment, but Kensei suddenly sensed a hint of strangeness.

'Those seated officers of mine... why haven't they caught up yet?'