Chapter 378: Mastermind?

"This body is a fake!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the captains of all divisions were stunned.

The tear-streaked face of Momo Hinamori, Lieutenant of the Fifth Division, froze, and a glimmer of hope appeared in her heart.

Gin Ichimaru's eyes narrowed even further.

"But this... this is clearly Aizen. His spiritual pressure is dissipating after death," Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya of the Tenth Division said, frowning deeply as he glanced at H'el, before turning his attention back to the corpse of Aizen, which had been lowered to the ground.

The spiritual pressure on the surface of Aizen's body was dissipating faster than usual, but that wasn't enough to prove it wasn't him.

The captains all turned their gazes to Captain Retsu Unohana of the Fourth Division, who was conducting a preliminary examination.

Unohana's face showed a hint of confusion as she examined the corpse closely. After a moment, she stood up, her brow furrowed, and said, "I can't determine its authenticity just yet, but there is something strange about this body." She looked toward H'el, clearly expecting an explanation.

All the captains turned their eyes to H'el.

H'el glanced at them and finally fixed his gaze on Aizen's body. He sensed something odd in the posture, shape, texture, and even the scent of the corpse. However, this strangeness didn't particularly matter to him, and he had no intention of investigating it further. Observing the exterior, he casually remarked:

"The internal spiritual pressure of this body does not match the external spiritual pressure. The external pressure that's dissipating is what you recognize as belonging to Sosuke Aizen, but internally, there's a void with no residual reaction of normal death. So, this body is a fake."

H'el's explanation, although simple, was grounded in a deeper understanding of spiritual particles, which even the captains found hard to comprehend. However, the fact that the exterior seemed like Aizen's spiritual pressure while the interior was empty was enough for them.

This conclusion was derived from H'el's microscopic insight into spiritual particles. None of the captains present could reach a conclusion as precise as his.

Head Captain Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto believed H'el at this moment, knowing that H'el's innate arrogance would prevent him from lying.

Yamamoto, who had some understanding of H'el's capabilities, knew that with his abilities, it wasn't surprising for him to detect a fake body.

Understanding this, Yamamoto declared with a stern voice, "Sosuke Aizen is not dead!"

Yamamoto set the tone: everything must start from the premise that Aizen is still alive and work from there.

"If the Head Captain believes Aizen is not dead, then to spread his spiritual pressure evenly throughout a body, disguised as death and mimicking ongoing dissipation, Aizen himself would need to infuse and manipulate the spiritual pressure," Unohana said thoughtfully, her eyes deep in contemplation.

To achieve the condition seen in Aizen's current state, it would indeed require his personal intervention. This was something Unohana was certain of.

The implication was clear.

Aizen had faked his death using this body.

The captains were in an uproar. Why would Aizen fake his death? It seemed like a massive conspiracy was unfolding over their heads.

What was Aizen plotting?

As the captains speculated, Hinamori cried with joy upon hearing that her captain might still be alive. "That's wonderful, Captain isn't dead..."

"What are you celebrating?" Soifon, Captain of the Second Division, asked coldly. "Don't you understand what this means? It means Sosuke Aizen has betrayed the Gotei 13!"

Hinamori's joy was immediately replaced with a stunned expression.

Aizen... betrayed the Gotei 13?

But the most pressing question was…

Why did he betray them... without taking her with him?

"To think you are only now realizing that Aizen is up to something—don't you find yourselves a little slow to catch on?" Gin Ichimaru suddenly spoke, his eyes narrowing further as his grin widened, as if he were unfazed by the serious atmosphere, and he glanced quickly at H'el.

He hadn't expected that someone would have the ability to see through his hypnosis technique, Kyoka Suigetsu, from a different angle.

Who exactly was this person?

"Captain Ichimaru, do you know something?" Komamura Sajin, Captain of the Seventh Division, stepped forward, his large frame imposing as he asked in a solemn tone.

Earlier, under the influence of Hinamori's accusations and Ichimaru's past actions of letting an intruder slip through the Seireitei, the captains had been wary of Ichimaru. But now, it seemed that Ichimaru knew more than they had initially thought.

"Does anyone remember the district I came from before joining the Seireitei?" Ichimaru said, his tone light and teasing. "Oh, some of you are too young to know the reason I came here in the first place. But the Head Captain and the Fourth Division Captain should recall."

Captain Unohana pondered for a moment before speaking to Ichimaru, voicing everyone's doubts:

"Captain Ichimaru, are you referring to the incident 110 years ago when someone was conducting Hollowfication experiments on children with spiritual potential in that district? I recall you and Rangiku Matsumoto escaped from there and were brought back to the Seireitei by several captains."

The more Unohana pieced things together, the closer she felt she was getting to the truth. Her pupils dilated in shock as she exclaimed, "Are you suggesting that Aizen was behind those experiments 110 years ago, and that it was also Aizen's doing when over half the captains suddenly underwent Hollowfication?"

Unohana was visibly shaken. In her memory, all the pieces fit perfectly.

Yamamoto was also deep in thought.

From his recollection, Ichimaru had joined the Central Spiritual Academy half a year before volunteering to join the Fifth Division. Afterward, the Seireitei war erupted, leading to severe injuries for many captains, who soon after underwent Hollowfication. Given Ichimaru's statement and Aizen's feigned death, everything pointed toward Sosuke Aizen as the mastermind behind the Hollowfication a century ago.

"It appears that Aizen is indeed behind all this, orchestrating events for over a hundred years," Yamamoto thought gravely.

"Hey, hey, I have no evidence that Captain Aizen did it," Ichimaru smiled slyly, his narrow eyes seeming to flash with a dangerous intent as he continued, "But he is… very capable. You all know I joined the Fifth Division… Later, when he became the captain, he suggested I be transferred out."

As he finished speaking, Ichimaru's expression was full of feigned innocence, though it was clear that his words had just been enough to stir thoughts in Unohana and Yamamoto.

He had merely told the truth.

But by doing so, everyone would view him as being against Aizen and see him as the good guy.

Yamamoto struck his wooden cane heavily on the ground, his face stern, and declared loudly, "Search for Sosuke Aizen with all our might!"

°°°

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