Illusion of Reason

"Aizen-taicho?"

Ichigo was dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of the stranger. Who is this? And why is she calling him taicho?

Is she a sympathizer? Cazador suggested.

"Hinamori…" Aizen recognized with a smile. "It has been quite a while."

Wait, I know that name. Hinamori? Wasn't she the fukutaicho that Aizen nearly killed? Ichigo recalled, straining his memory to what seemed a lifetime ago, back to while he was recovering from his first failed attempt on Aizen's life in Soul Society.

**Flashback**

Ichigo was lying down in the Squad 4 barracks, being evaluated by their taicho, Unohana. She seemed to be pleasant enough, always smiling, and obviously very good at what she did, considering that he was largely recovered after Aizen had nearly cut him in half. "Alright, you're healed enough to move around," she confirmed. "But I want you back here at the end of the day. In the meantime, no training, absolutely no Bankai, and do try to avoid Kenpachi-taicho… he seems quite eager for a rematch."

"Trust me, that's something I want to avoid too," Ichigo agreed with a slim bead of sweat on his brow. The mere thought of fighting that bloodthirsty maniac gave him chills. It's hard to believe I beat him the first time… he thought as he got up and stretched his legs. It felt good to be moving around again. As he made his way to the exit, he passed the child-looking taicho, Tōshirō, who was apparently on his way to see someone.

"Poor boy…" Unohana commented quietly.

Ichigo's curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't help but ask, "Hmm? What happened?"

"His childhood friend, Hinamori Momo, was Aizen's old fukutaicho. Aizen tried to kill her shortly before taking the Hōgyoku out of your friend, Kuchiki Rukia."

Ichigo knew first-hand just how dangerous Aizen was, and from the sounds of it, Hinamori had ended up even worse than he had. "Well, you fixed me pretty quickly. She'll recover, right?"

"Physically, she's stable, and healing. She had only one stab injury, though grave, and hadn't exhausted her reiatsu like you had. Mentally, however, may be another story," Unohana related. "Like I said, she was Aizen's fukutaicho. She looked up to him greatly. His betrayal must have been devastating… she is in a coma right now, and no one knows when she'll wake."

Ichigo glanced back at where Tōshirō had disappeared into what must be Hinamori's medical station, his heart feeling heavy and pained in sympathy. He knew too well the guilt of failing to protect those he cared about.

**End Flashback**

Hold on, Cazador interrupted Ichigo's musings, having watched Ichigo's memory as he went over it. If she was betrayed by Aizen, then why isn't she either running or trying to kick his ass?

"Aizen-taicho… why?" Hinamori asked, her voice cracking with emotion. "Why are you doing this? Why did you attack me and fake your own death? Please, Aizen-taicho, tell me there's a good reason for all this!"

"Hinamori…" Aizen whispered softly, taking a step closer.

Hinamori jumped back, away from the man she used to look up to, drawing her Zanpakuto even as Ichigo noticed small tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Please don't come closer, Aizen-taicho!" she screamed. "I just… I just want to understand! Let me hear the truth from your mouth, Aizen-taicho! I've heard so many horrible things from everyone… Yamamoto-soutaicho, Hitsugaya-taicho, Unohana-taicho… Please, just tell me the truth!"

Aizen let out a sigh with the same gentle smile he used to give before he revealed his betrayal. "Alright, Hinamori. You do deserve the truth. The truth is, Soul Society needs to change. Why is it that the justice of Soul Society lies in 46 ignorant, oft-corrupt nobles who have long since forgotten what it is like to live like the commoners? Why are the Shinigami so 'superior'? Why is it that if you have even the tiniest inkling of reiatsu, enough to become the very weakest of Shinigami, that you are held above those outside the Seireitei? Why is gaining Hollow powers forbidden, when with some tests and experiments, we can drastically reduce Shinigami death rates by giving them minor abilities! Why is it that we are forced to obey a man thousands of years old, someone so old that he can no longer see the trees for the forest? Yamamoto does not know the meaning of compromise! We obey because we are afraid of being killed!

"It needs to be fixed, Hinamori," Aizen went on. "But the source of the problem, the very beginning, lies with the Spirit King. The Spirit King has essentially washed its hands of us, when it gave full control of the government to the Central 46. And the only way to stamp out a problem is to go to the source. So my goal is to ascend and take the place of the Spirit King. And in order for me to do that, I need the Ōken. It's the only way into the Spirit King's dimension.

"The Ōken's location is known to only one person in Soul Society, and that man is Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekun. The information is supposed to be passed down to the next soutaicho, according to the lore I found. So at first, when I was in the Shinigami Academy, I thought that if I simply improved myself to taicho, and then moved to be even stronger than that like Yamamoto-soutaicho was, then I would certainly reach that goal eventually."

Aizen laughed derisively. "I was a fool, and I was lucky to realize it early. Yamamoto had two students who grew up to be taicho, and they were far older, far more powerful, far more trusted than I. It was inevitable that one of them would become the next soutaicho. Probably Kyōraku, since Ukitake has that regrettable illness. But can you imagine Kyōraku becoming the next soutaicho? He is an easy-going philanderer, with admittedly great power, but no skill in the politics needed to even begin solving some of the problems that went on.

"For a small time after that realization, I entertained the idea that I could become his trusted advisor, much like Yamamoto has his fukutaicho, Sasakibe. But I realized that there was no way that Kyōraku would ever allow anyone to know where the Ōken was, not even his most trusted friends. There would be simply too much potential for the information to slip out! No, I would not be able to gain the Ōken that way, so I had to look for alternatives.

"And then I found how to create a new Ōken," Aizen continued. "I needed to sacrifice 100,000 souls, along with a plot of spirit-enriched land with a radius of half of one spirit-mile. I didn't care for the idea, but weighed against the future of Soul Society, it was an acceptable sacrifice. With that plan in mind, I now needed to work on becoming as strong as possible, so I could defeat the Spirit King and take his throne.

"I gained my Shikai quickly. But I realized that if my Shikai's true abilities were known, then I would lose the element of surprise! So I lied, and called it a 'flowing water type' Zanpakuto, while in truth Kyōka Suigetsu is an illusory type. This also opened up several possibilities, including a way to study how to grow ever stronger! All for my plan to replace the Spirit King and restore equality and strengthen Soul Society.

"It was at this point that I recruited Tōsen and Gin. Tōsen was absolutely needed, as his blindness made him immune to my illusions, and everything would be foiled before I could start without his support! But luckily for me, he believed in my ideas of justice after what the Central 46 had done to his friend, and agreed to help. Gin was a lucky gain, I admit, but he has been extremely helpful over the years…

"I modeled my idea for growth after Yamamoto," Aizen admitted freely. "I needed to master everything I could, from Kidō to Hohō to Zanjutsu to Bankai to tactics… everything! But then the thought occurred to me: 'But how do I grow even stronger than that?' In my research to strengthen my soul, I found a way: the Hōgyoku! I tried for so long to finalize it… I sacrificed hundreds of low-ranking Shinigami and Rukongai peasants with Shinigami talents, none of whom contributed anything to the system, and made their deaths look like accidents. But it was not satisfied… It failed.

"With that avenue apparently a failure, I moved on to the next possibility: Hollowification. But I could not risk losing myself, becoming a Hollow and losing my identity, my plans. So I tested it on others, eventually moving up to taicho and fukutaicho Shinigami, using Kyōka Suigetsu to give myself an alibi. But before I could finish, I found out something that quite surprised me. Urahara Kisuke had successfully done what I had not, and finalized his own Hōgyoku! And with its power, he stabilized the Shinigami I had infected with Hollowification, creating the Vizard, Shinigami with Hollow powers!"

Aizen shook his head sadly. "Thinking that Urahara had been the one responsible for the Hollowification tests, the Central 46 attempted to put them all to death, Urahara and the Vizard. Yet another display of their refusing to even consider that they were wrong. However, with Urahara's death, I could easily take his Hōgyoku for my own. Unfortunately, Yoruichi rescued them, and Urahara was able to take his Hōgyoku, leaving me to wait for my opportunity. In the meantime, I worked on my skills and became a taicho before starting to recruit an army of natural Arrancar. They would be needed, you see, to distract Soul Society while I made the Ōken.

"My opportunity came when Kuchiki Rukia was sent to the living world for her patrol and gave Kurosaki Ichigo her powers, and Urahara sealed the Hōgyoku into her soul discretely using a reiatsu-draining gigai, hoping to drain the Hōgyoku's reiatsu until it was completely dissipated. At once, a plan formed. I would have to get Kuchiki to be executed on the Sōkyoku, whose heat would dissipate her soul so I could take the Hōgyoku. I considered it a necessary sacrifice. Recall that my ultimate goal was the Ōken, Hinamori," he reminded her. "But I needed the advantage, the power that only the Hōgyoku could provide.

"But how to arrange for Rukia's execution by Sōkyoku? The Central 46 would need to be convinced, and as I am not a noble, that made it quite difficult. Their stubbornness forced my hand, and I was forced to kill them all. In order to maintain the peace and further my plan, I framed my own death so I could be their voice." Aizen paused for a moment. "I am sorry, Hinamori… we were too close, I could not let you in on the plot. Your reactions needed to be natural, otherwise it would have given everything away. I wish you hadn't come across me in the Central 46 chambers… I loathed having to stab you like that, but there was no other option. I needed to make sure you stayed safe and weren't accused of throwing your lot in with me."

Hinamori was very visibly speechless, so Aizen resumed his explanation. "It was unfortunate for my plot that Kurosaki Ichigo had gained enough strength to stop the Sōkyoku, but ultimately it saved Kuchiki's life – I had not wanted to use an untested Kidō to acquire the Hōgyoku from her soul, but it worked flawlessly. My exposure was regrettable, but I had already gained everything I could from Soul Society."

"At that point, I retreated to Hueco Mundo to finish creating my army of Arrancar. I invaded today so I could finish my plan and create the Ōken, and here I am now," Aizen finished his speech grandly, gesturing with his free arm. "As you can see, I truly did require the Hōgyoku to grow beyond my limits as a Shinigami."

Ichigo couldn't believe his ears. Aizen had used the absolute truth about history, confirmed everything that had been said about him, but had STILL managed to make himself out as a good guy! Perhaps a little misguided, with a few psychological problems, but with Soul Society's best intentions at heart!

"Aizen-taicho…" Hinamori whispered, her voice hesitant but Ichigo could clearly hear the rising trust in it. She lowered her blade, tears running down her face, barely-repressed sobs of relief straining her words. "I knew there was a good reason, I knew there had to be… I knew you were a good person…"

"Are you kidding me?" Ichigo screeched. "He just admitted he's a murderer of thousands, and he still plans to murder over 100,000 more! Do you really want a guy like him to be in charge of literally everything?"

"She cannot hear you, Kurosaki Ichigo…" Aizen murmured. "She is under my hypnosis now."

Ichigo felt an odd mixture of exasperation and anger at that statement – why were some people so very trusting of someone even after being betrayed so easily? "Send her away, then. Our fight is not over yet."

"Oh? Why would I do that, when I have such a perfect deterrent for your attacks?" Aizen asked with a knowing smirk. "You would never cut down poor, innocent, defenseless Hinamori Momo in order to get to me. And after that speech, she'll do quite literally anything to help me."

That stopped Ichigo short – he had no idea of Hinamori's capabilities. Could it be possible for her to have an ability to counter his sheer speed? Was she a Kidō expert, perhaps? Ichigo couldn't attack long-range, as Hinamori would get in the way of his Getsugas. He couldn't get up close and personal either, as Hinamori would continually try to block or attack him, giving Aizen opportunities that Ichigo couldn't afford.

Ichigo's signature scowl deepened in frustration. Any ideas?

Surprise Aizen. Run her through in a non-fatal area and hit him, was Cazador's suggestion.

Attempt to knock the girl unconscious with minimal force before fighting Aizen, Tensa Zangetsu contributed.

I don't like either of those ideas. Aizen's too fast to turn my back to even for a moment, and Aizen would see my attack and shift Hinamori into a spot where my attack would be fatal, Ichigo thought, frustrated. What I need is someone else to keep her occupied…

"Looks to me like you could use some help, Kurosaki."

Startled, Ichigo's eyes darted to his right, where he could spy Ishida and Chad having appeared in their respective high-speed techniques.

"Ichigo… Allow us to assist," Chad requested, both of his arms already transformed.

Ask and ye shall receive, Cazador joked.

Behind the mask, Ichigo's mouth twisted into a strange expression, mixing frustration with gratefulness. As much as Ichigo wanted to fight alone and protect them, he knew that to ask would be futile and hurtful – Chad and he had promised each other to always watch each other's backs. To deny him that opportunity would crush him. At the same time, Ishida had his own pride to think of, and saw Ichigo as rival. Nothing Ichigo could say would make them back off. And Ichigo had just admitted to himself he needed some help…

"Take care of Hinamori here, then. Leave Aizen to me!"

"No!" Hinamori screamed, Shunpo-ing between Aizen and Ichigo. "You can't kill him! Snap, Tobiume!"

Hinamori's Zanpakuto glowed a rosy pink before quickly straightening, and then produced two thin prongs that jutted out about an inch from the main blade before running parallel to it. The first one was down close to the hilt, while the other was about halfway up. Odd choice for a blade… those prongs look kinda fragile… Might be suited more for Kidō.

Ichigo was proven right when Hinamori quickly slashed at him, producing a large fireball that the Vizard almost carelessly slashed apart with Tensa Zangetsu. Huh. That was a rather weak attack… "Is that really the best you can do?"

"Don't hurt Aizen-taicho!" Hinamori cried, tears running down her face. "Didn't you hear him? He's a good person, he's doing this all to help us!"

"Hinamori, he's killed a thousands of people, and plans to kill thousands more!" Ichigo argued. "He admitted it himself! Is that really who you want in charge of everything?"

Hinamori paled somewhat, before biting back, "You cannot defeat Aizen-taicho, you monster! Abomination!"

Wait, what? Ichigo ran over what he'd said a second ago, and really couldn't think of a way his words could be twisted in a way to seem that Ichigo was at fault. Was it the mask?

"Ichigo?" Chad queried.

"Don't look at me. Unless she hates my hair color or the mask or something…"

"I believe Aizen has once again used his Zanpakuto to make her hear something you did not say," Ishida explained.

"Oh, come on!" Ichigo complained to Aizen. "Really? What did you change that to?"

Aizen seemed more amused than anything else. "You make it far too easy, Ichigo-kun. I simply made her think that you had said you were going to kill me and keep my severed head as a trophy. Then I added you would rape her daily in front of it."

"Aizen-taicho…" Hinamori whispered, more tears falling down her cheeks. "I won't let you down!"

"And now she believes I've told her some encouraging words of how I'll never let anything happen to her, and that I have confidence in her ability to take out your two friends," Aizen went on with a smirk.

"Well, that makes things simpler…" Ishida muttered, before using Hirenkyaku to retreat in a random direction, Chad quickly following.

"You won't get away!" Hinamori yelled, taking chase using her own Shunpo.

"Now it's just you and me."

"Ah, but it is not."

"Huh?" Behind Aizen, Ichigo could suddenly see the traditional sliding doors of a Senkaimon appear and open, Gin stepping inside. "Wait, no!"

Aizen stepped backwards, entering the gateway between worlds himself. "You are too late, Kurosaki Ichigo. Come and find me, if you can."

"Come back here, you bastard!" Ichigo used his fastest Shunpo yet, but the gates closed abruptly right before he could reach it, vanishing a moment later. "Damn it! How did you know I don't know how to open a Senkaimon?"

Don't forget, Ichigo! We have Garganta! Cazador reminded him.

I haven't forgotten, but I only know how to get to and from Hueco Mundo, Ichigo pointed out. And I really don't want to get lost in that void between worlds!

Fair point. So, what now?

Well, hopefully with him out of this dimension, the others can actually hear me now. We tell the others, get one of THEM to open a Senkaimon, then take the fight to him! Without waiting for a response, Ichigo's expression tightened in determination as he Shunpo-ed to the others with as much speed as he could. Except, there was something wrong, Ichigo could sense it… if only he could tell what it was…

A few minutes before, Aizen and Gin stepped into the Dangai. "How nostalgic," Aizen commented.

"It really is," Gin agreed, before sensing something that could be potentially troublesome. He turned around and recognized the purplish train-like cleaner of the Dangai. "Aizen-taicho…"

"Ah, the Kōtotsu…"

"This isn't good… We should go, Aizen-taicho," Gin suggested. "That thing is a being of reason rather than reiatsu. We shouldn't be able to deal with it with our reiatsu."

Aizen merely raised a hand as the Kōtotsu approached, and before the cleaner could touch him, it spontaneously exploded in all directions, sending its strange mass towards the walls and past Gin, revealing a bone-like spine of sorts that promptly collapsed. "What are you afraid of, Gin? Reason exists only for those who rely on it to survive." He began to walk past Gin, a small smile on his face. "Now, let's go… to the edge of reason."

Ichigo got the answer to his strange feeling of wrongness as he talked to his father. "What do you mean they're all gone?"

"Well, you killed Aizen, right?" Isshin said with a smile, as though that should explain everything. "You told me you wanted a bit of time alone to deal with your first kill before vanishing off somewhere, leaving me to tell the others that you'd never killed a man before. Everyone was really understanding about it, too! Several people in the Gotei 13 wanted me to pass along a message asking you to meet up with them next Saturday, while the Vizard want me to remind you to come by their hideout, wherever it is, whenever you feel up to it. Harribel wanted me to pass along a thank you, mentioning she was going to go find Nelliel. Urahara and Tessai went to go find the Hōgyoku, thinking maybe it's among the rubble down there."

"That! Wasn't! Me! Aizen did it with his illusions AGAIN!"

Ichigo's father paled. "Aizen's still alive?"

"Yes!" Ichigo cried out. "Now PLEASE, open a Senkaimon!"

Isshin promptly drew his Zanpakuto and held it at waist level before sticking it into the air. Ichigo had seen a Senkaimon opened in this fashion before, but it still seemed odd to watch half of Isshin's Zanpakuto seem to enter an invisible space. Isshin quickly twisted, unlocking the gateway between Soul Society and the living world, and then the Senkaimon opened. Father and son jumped into the opening, entering the Dangai.

"So, what's your plan?"

Ichigo glanced at him as the pair ran through the strange dimension. "Use Resurrección again, try to kill Aizen from behind."

"But how are you going to find him?" Isshin pressed.

"I'm going to sense him."

"You can sense him?" Isshin asked, somewhat surprised. "I can't."

Ichigo looked at him strangely. "Why not?"

"His reiatsu is incomprehensible to me, I can't read it, I can't locate it," Isshin explained. "The Hōgyoku has changed him to something more than Shinigami. You could describe it like a blind man trying to understand color when he has never seen, or like a two-dimensional being trying to comprehend a third dimensional one."

"Well, I'm not exactly purely Shinigami, now am I?" Ichigo pointed out.

"Do you really think you can take out Aizen as you are now?"

"I have to!" Ichigo growled. "I won't let him kill everyone!"

"There's a sure-fire way for you to defeat him, you know," Isshin told his son gravely. "If only we had the time for you to learn it…"

Ichigo whirled on him. "How?"

"The Final…" Isshin breathed, before cutting himself off. "Wait. Something's wrong." He stopped cold, closing his eyes.

"What is it?"

"I can't sense the Kōtotsu."

The Substitute Shinigami blinked. The Kōtotsu was the proper name for the homicidal 'cleaner' bullet-train-like monster in the Dangai that had almost killed him on his way to invade Soul Society to rescue Rukia. "That's a good thing, right? It's not chasing us."

"No, it's a bad sign. I can't sense it anywhere. I think Aizen's destroyed it."

Ichigo gaped. "I thought that was impossible! Nothing can touch it or it gets consumed, right?"

"Right," the ex-taicho agreed. "It is impossible for a Shinigami to even harm it. But Aizen isn't all Shinigami anymore."

Ichigo was beginning to get a little worried. "So, what does that mean? He can't be killed?"

"No, I think he can still be killed… if only by someone on his level…" Isshin muttered. "No choice… Ichigo, I know you've gotten incredibly strong, but if Aizen keeps evolving like he has been, even your Resurrección won't be enough. You need more training."

"We don't have time for it!"

"Wrong. The Dangai, like the name suggests, is temporally and spatially separate from both the living world and Soul Society. Since the Kōtotsu is gone, we can take advantage of that." Reaching into his Shinigami robes, Isshin pulled out four small fork-like implements that were attached to wires.

Ichigo's face took on a look of confusion. "How?"

"The Dangai is surrounded by several layers of temporal currents, meaning that in effect, time flows differently here. In fact, it flows about 2000 times faster in here than outside. Meaning that if we spent 2000 years here, only one year would pass in the living world and in Soul Society," Isshin explained. "The Kōtotsu was meant to keep people from spending too much time here. But the Kōtotsu is not here now."

The Vizard's eyes widened in realization. "We could spend hours here and only have a few seconds go by, making me stronger to fight Aizen!"

"Precisely, but I'm afraid we'll need more than hours. We will need days, weeks, maybe even months," Isshin informed his son sternly. "However, the Kōryū shifts and changes – another reason not to stay very long. But Shinigami do have a way to halt it for a time." With that, he threw the implements he'd taken out to either side of himself, the wires attaching themselves to his wrists.

Ichigo watched in astonishment as the perpetually flowing, shifting walls of apparent goo suddenly stopped and appeared as normal walls. He glanced at his father with astonishment. Just how good are you?

Apparently unaware of Ichigo's thoughts, Isshin continued his impromptu lecture. "This technique is called Kaikyō Kotei. With it, I can halt the Kōryū for 2000 hours with my remaining reiatsu. That is almost three months, and we must make the most of it."

"What are you going to teach me in that time?" Ichigo asked, dumbfounded at this, but his thoughts were . Aizen must have known that he was creating an opportunity for me when he destroyed it. Why?

"Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō."

"Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō?" Ichigo echoed, surprise written across his features. Tensa Zangetsu?

…

Is there really a Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō?

… There is.

Something in his tone gave Ichigo the chills – it was something between a warning and a pleading not to ask more. Instead, Ichigo turned to his father. "How do you even know that exists?"

"That doesn't matter right now," Isshin dismissed. "I can explain everything later, but we have more important things to worry about. I'll hold back the Kōryū, but you need to talk to Zangetsu and learn the Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō. It's your ultimate weapon, and with any luck, you'll finish with some spare time."

"Dad, Tensa Zangetsu doesn't like that idea," Ichigo told him. "And I respect him. Learning this Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō sounds nice, but what makes you think it'd be enough to defeat Aizen? Besides, how many times has Aizen evolved in the last hour? If I don't attack him now and kill him, I really won't be able to keep up!"

"You'll have three months to change his mind then," Isshin argued. "Besides, even if you don't learn the Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō, you'll get so much stronger training in your Inner World. You've grown this strong in such a short time! So even if you only take one month, Aizen will only have had twenty minutes. That's not nearly enough time for him to begin creating the Ōken, especially since the rest of the Shinigami will at least sense Gin approaching and delay him more."

There is that, Cazador agreed.

"Alright…" Ichigo conceded. He sat down in a meditative position, laying his Bankai on his legs. "What about food? Won't we need to eat?"

"Food and drink, for a Shinigami, is only really needed to replenish the reiatsu when we use too much at one time," his father replied easily. "That's why the Shinigami in Soul Society eat often – they use reiatsu for so many things, but largely for training. Since this technique of mine, Kaikyō Kotei, drains my reiatsu slowly, I won't need to eat until after you're done."

"Alright. See you in a couple of months, then." His concerns assuaged, Ichigo settled in, and pulled himself into his Inner World.

Isshin gaped at his son as he sensed Ichigo's reiatsu settle. That was… absurdly fast. How long has he been able to do that?

Meanwhile, Aizen exited the Dangai alongside Gin. "You're somewhat off, Gin," he chided.

"Ah, I would appreciate you not blaming me for our new location. We both know the effects of the Kōtotsu."

Aizen took a moment to consider that. "You're right. Sorry about that." Apology made, he began making his way towards his destination

"Aizen-taicho? I thought we were going to Karakura to make the Ōken?" Gin asked in confusion. He could clearly sense the real Karakura Town by the extremely powerful technique the Gotei 13 had used to transport it to Soul Society, and it was in a different direction.

"We are, but first, we need some insurance…"

"What sort of insurance?"

Aizen stopped and turned to face his subordinate. "I anticipated that Kurosaki Ichigo could become the only one capable of fighting me on an even plane long before today," he revealed. "After all, I was the one who engineered the circumstances that forced his rapid growth. However, I must admit I underestimated his willingness to embrace his Hollow powers. I have been struck several times by him, been dealt critical blows that would have killed a lesser being. It is only the power of the Hōgyoku, and the foolishness of the Gotei 13, that allowed me to survive. But Ichigo-kun has one overarching weakness, and it is that weakness that we shall use to force him to submit."

Aizen smiled the smile of having a secret trump card, but Gin was unsure just what he referred to – "Are you talking about Ichigo's weakness to Bakudō?"

"No, no… Bakudō can be broken out of with sufficient strength, and even then it is reliant on successfully striking him, which can be damnably difficult with his agility," Aizen denied, turning and resuming the walk. "Ichigo-kun's weakness is his reluctance to harm or kill innocents, especially comrades, to reach the goal."

Gin's eyes widened for a moment before he once more began to follow his leader. "But his comrades are all in the living world now, aren't they?"

"Not all of them," Aizen corrected with a smirk. "Come along, Gin. I have a particularly special one in mind…"