Chapter 416: 416 Bleach: Infinite Loop, Aizen Leaves the Stage, The Fall of Urahara and The Invasion of the Seireitei.
*Aizen's POV*
"Allen, I know you well, and I know that at this stage, few things can affect you, and that's why I can say this to you."
"Everything is your fault."
I remember it. I remember how it was the first time. I was trapped inside the Muken after Yhwach's defeat. The world had been in danger, and everyone who could fight did so in a war to decide whether the world would be destroyed and rebuilt or remain as it was.
I decided to intervene in favor of preserving the world, because, even though it wasn't perfect, it was much better than Yhwach's ideal.
On the other hand, having been defeated once, I lost the right to decide how the world would be, so I prepared myself to be locked away for thousands of years. However, at that moment, a screen illuminated the darkness and showed me beyond.
Beyond the possibilities in my world, a different way of doing things.
When I saw other worlds, thanks to you, I confirmed that my world was not well-structured. Then, that feeling, ambition, and purpose within me began to be stimulated.
The Hogyoku responded to that desire, and without me being able to stop it, it reset the world for the first time...
But I didn't return alone, for there was someone else who did, Urahara Kisuke... that man who is always in my way, that genius who created the Hogyoku, that Shinigami with intellect that defies logic.
As expected, he got in my way, and at every step, he sought a way to stop me, but he didn't succeed.
I glanced at Allen, who was still watching me fight with Urahara. "Urahara is a man with the power to have the world, but with a soft heart that prevents him from doing so..."
Allen glanced at me sideways but I just smiled.
The first time, Urahara underestimated me, and I ended up killing him. After that, it was easy. I dealt with Kurosaki Ichigo, then the Royal Guard, including Hyosube Ichibe, and claimed the throne. To kill the Spirit King, I used a homunculus where I introduced the four types of blood: Hollow, Shinigami, Quincy, and Fullbringer. With that, I gained the power of the Spirit King, and I waited for the day when Yhwach would return, who stood no chance, as the Spirit King is immune to the Almighty.
However, something happened when I became a god. The Hogyoku activated again, resetting the world.
"Wait..." Allen stopped watching my younger version fight and looked at me with a frown, "If you were already the Spirit King at that point, how could the Hogyoku possibly affect you?"
Allen's reasoning was sound; the power of the Hogyoku was incredible, but it shouldn't have been capable of surpassing the Spirit King's power. However...
"I was one with the Hogyoku, so when I accessed the full power of the Spirit King, it did too, becoming impossible to contain..."
The world reset, and I returned to the beginning...
This time, Urahara didn't appear immediately. Instead, he set another trap, and when I was named lieutenant, Urahara appeared and sealed me with something called "Jifū no Tobira" (The Door of Sealed Time).
With that door, Urahara Kisuke tried to seal me out of time to prevent me from resetting the world. However, the Hogyoku was too powerful, having absorbed the power of the Spirit King, and that door couldn't block its power, so it ended up resetting the world again.
"This process repeated itself over and over. Urahara and I faced off in different eras and circumstances. Sometimes we killed each other, as you can see from our time as apprentices. Other times, the fight stretched to the Spirit King's palace."
A lot of time passed, and I experienced all kinds of different realities. Somewhere, I ended up killing every person who got in my way, even becoming the king of a pile of corpses… to the times when I decided to support Kurosaki Ichigo and became a redeemed villain...
"If you want to know something curious, it's that when Aizen Sosuke isn't the villain, someone else takes his place… from Kurotsuji Mayouri, the mad scientist who ended up creating a virus that would kill all the hollows but resulted in a mutation that caused an apocalypse, to Yamamoto Genryusai, who went mad and ended up killing Kyoraku Shunsui for supporting Kurosaki Ichigo..."
However, no matter how the story ended, it always started over...
One day, I confronted Urahara Kisuke and said to him, "It's enough..."
I stepped off the stage and became an observer. Someone who enjoys watching the story unfold and doesn't participate in it...
"..."
"I know you don't believe me, but that's fine..."
I raised my hand and everything in front of us changed to an atmosphere permeated with blood and death.
"..."
We looked at Urahara standing, panting, while my lifeless body lay beside him. But the important thing was that he was covered with intense bloodlust and eyes full of cruelty.
"Time travel is for immortals and fools, right Allen?" I smiled at Allen's frown, knowing he hadn't had good experiences with it. "I'm immortal, but Urahara is definitely not a fool..."
"What happened to him?!"
"You know what they say, die a hero or live long enough to become a villain..."
"...!"
I waved my hand and this time we went to Urahara's shop, the original one.
Urahara had said goodbye to Kurosaki Ichigo on his first foray. This timeline was just after I announced that I had given up on being the antagonist; at this point, Urahara had not fallen.
Urahara had some concerns about the outcome since Aizen wouldn't be the villain anymore. Of course, he didn't believe me, so he secretly watched me for many years but realized that I really didn't feel like intervening anymore, so he relaxed and decided to imitate his former self, the original one.
He did well, but his "heart" suffered as he saw how he could change different events; all the deaths during the war against Yhwach, some like Yamamoto Genryusai's death, were hard for him. However, it was a surprise for both of us when, even in that situation, the Hogyoku decided to reset the world.
...
With a wave of my hand, the landscape changed. This time, we went to the Hueco Mundo.
Before us, Urahara appeared, going to visit me in "Las Noches", my castle in that place.
"Aizen... I know there's nothing that can lessen the hatred between us, but we must work together to stop this time loop!"
That was the first time Urahara came to me, not as an enemy, but as an ally. It seemed interesting to try a different approach after so many repetitions.
"Interesting Urahara Kisuke..." That time I didn't hesitate and accepted.
Our initial focus was to recreate the world as it should have been. At that moment, I became the villain of this world, again, and with his genius and mine, we achieved our goal...
But...
"Dammit!" Urahara Kisuke used his zanpakuto to destroy his own lab while that strange feeling, which we used to experience when the world reset, happened again.
That time, I sat back in the Muken once more, unsurprised that this wouldn't work.
...
Once again, a young Urahara came after me. I must say that originally, we weren't supposed to meet in this era as students, but strangely, the world altered that to place us at the same age. Perhaps as a countermeasure to minimize the effects of the time paradox.
"Urahara came to me and said, 'Aizen, we must erase our memories... the Hogyoku cannot be deceived! That's why it's not enough to just pretend to be Urahara and Aizen; we must be our original versions.'"
Honestly, it made sense, and I didn't hesitate to accept. Erasing my memories would have been unthinkable in the past, but I accepted because it would be something different from what we had tried… so many times...
I changed the landscape and took us to a hidden cave.
Days later, I woke up in a capsule. As I emerged, I felt a strange sensation as if something had gone wrong, like my brain had been damaged. I'm aware of the kind of personality I have, and I would've become obsessed with knowing the reason for losing my memory, so I left a message.
– "Hello, my esteemed memory-less version, you don't need to remember anything, you just need to know this is part of the plan..." –
With just that message, my version stopped worrying.
"If there's anyone Aizen Sosuke trusts absolutely, it's himself."
I smiled upon hearing those words, "This plan had potential. Unfortunately, Urahara is not like me. His version without memories, didn't accept the video explanation and frantically sought to know the truth..."
A doubt that became a question, a question that became an objective, an objective that became an obsession, and an obsession that became madness...
"Wait!"
Allen tried to interrupt, but I decided it was better to show him.
Amidst a pile of corpses of the Gotei 13 captains was Urahara Kisuke with the Hogyoku in his chest, kneeling next to the lifeless body of Yoruichi Shihoin...
Allen could not help but be surprised and angry at the image before us.
"No... it wasn't supposed to be this way... but I had no idea... I thought it was all a lie... that my mind was in an illusion..."
Intelligent people have a greater propensity to fall into madness for some strange reason, maybe from thinking too much.
Urahara's belief that someone was manipulating him forced his mind to search for ways to justify that thought—coincidences, harmless acts, mistakes—those things that are part of daily life were like knocks on a door called madness inside Urahara Kisuke's mind.
"Don't worry, Yoruichi-san, I will definitely fix this..."
With a mixture of despair and regret Urahara Kisuke's mind, which had endured so long living in a looped reality, was damaged.
Trembling, Urahara Kisuke grabbed his chest, and this time, he reset the world before the time loop's deadline.
I looked at Allen in silence for a moment before re-speaking my earlier words.
"This is your fault... Allen Walker."
A screen appeared in front of me with a notification, this is kind of nostalgic.
[Aizen Sosuke: Chat access restored.]
Allen's eyes denoted surprise so I can deduce that it was not by his will that my access to the Chat was restored.
...
Gwen – I was listening in silence, but I can't allow this. Why is it Allen's fault?!!
Felicia – It's nonsense. You idiots messed with time!
MJ – The Hogyoku was Urahara's creation, and you perfected it!
Natasha – Two old men older than Nostradamus blaming a young man?!
Diana – Irresponsibility has a price, and you can't blame others!
Annie – This is just an excuse. Allen didn't force anyone to watch his streams. Everyone is free to stop watching if they want!
Kimiko – Pathetic… Allen isn't to blame…
...
As I anticipated, there was a wave of criticism toward me. It didn't make sense to blame Allen for our actions. This was so much so that even people who normally criticize Allen rallied to defend him. Allen, who originally wanted to speak out, just smiled this time.
The Lion King appeared between Allen and me, with his sword in hand.
"Aizen, watch your words. We are still on the verge of a fight to the death..."
"The abnormal loyalty your dolls have always impresses me... but," I touched the Victory sword with my hand, and although it began to try to burn me, it failed to hurt me. "They couldn't defeat me..."
Allen, who had remained silent, looked at Artoria and seemed to communicate with her through "telepathy." Of course, unlike normal telepathy, I couldn't interfere with their connection. Interesting... according to him, he doesn't know how he's connected to his dolls because, strangely, even though his soul could be destroyed, the connection with them doesn't break.
Artoria reacted with a change in expression but stepped back and returned to her doll form. I've always thought Allen was a strange young man because he enjoys having a group of girls floating around him all the time.
"Aizen..." His gaze returned to me as Urahara Kisuke restarted the world with a damaged mind. "Explain yourself."
The world darkened, and I moved my hand, this time to a specific point. The day Kurosaki Ichigo's mother died.
In Karakura Town, on a cloudy day, there was a woman with wavy brown hair with a slight orange tint. She walked hand in hand with a boy with orange hair...
At that very moment, two misfortunes occurred. A slippery Hollow, Grand Fisher, was drawn to the fading spiritual energy of Kurosaki Masaki. He came looking for her at the moment when Yhwach had taken all of her Quincy powers, leaving her defenseless.
At that moment, just as the canon was about to be fulfilled, Urahara appeared, effortlessly killed Grand Fisher, and approached Masaki. The boy was unconscious, and Urahara decided to save Masaki because, even if he didn't kill the Hollow, Yhwach's Auswählen would usually kill the Quincys.
"I don't understand. What does this have to do with me?"
Allen had his doubts, but instead of answering, I teleported to another location. Allen had no problem following me, but I could feel his rage explode as he sped toward the Hollows in front of him, destroying them with an immense amount of anger.
I shouldn't be able to interfere in this world... no matter what Allen does...
Allen knelt in front of the bodies of Kurosaki Karin and Kurosaki Yuzu...
"Aizen, you have three seconds to explain why you're making me see this, or forget about me letting you go..."
He was serious. It's curious how, despite the power I have, he can still make me retreat. A smile appeared on my face. Every second with Allen is a new experience.
"This didn't have to happen... Allen, do you notice something strange about the Hollows you killed?"
Allen used two sheets to cover the bodies in front of him, then looked at me.
After a second, as his gaze calmed, his eyes trembled with surprise. Yes, these were the Hollows that Grand Fisher had tamed.
"When Grand Fisher was killed by Urahara, they lost control and attacked the first thing they saw, which, unfortunately, was Kurosaki Ichigo's father and his daughters..."
"..."
"Allen, your sin is quite common. It's something called envy..."
Allen, you make it seem easy to interfere in a world that doesn't belong to you and change everything at your will as if the butterfly effects always work in your favor. Allen, you are an existence that causes unimaginable variables, but it always turns out well... But it's no surprise, you have that mysterious entity that helps you along your path, that serves as your guide and helps you resolve everything...
"Urahara Kisuke doesn't have that..."
"...!"
The image changed, and this time Urahara was running, pale-faced, with a child in his arms. It was Kurosaki Ichigo.
The image changed again to another future, with Urahara standing in the middle of the devastated Soul Society, while the King's key formed in front of him.
"Why?! Why does everything get worse whenever I try to change something?!"
Urahara Kisuke shouted after killing Yamamoto Genryusai with his own hands.
Every future without me as the villain resulted in one catastrophe after another as if the world was punishing Urahara for trying to change it.
"Why?! He could do it! WHY CAN'T I?!!"
Urahara bled from the mouth while mentioning Allen. He did it more than once, consumed by frustration, regret, and anger.
I changed the image to one where Urahara was burying his comrade Tesai, who had recently died. His gaze lacked life as he repeatedly asked himself why he could never achieve a "happy ending."
"Because he's not the protagonist..."
My cold reply sent a chill through the blood of all the onlookers and even Allen. Allen's mysterious "ally" was something incredible that allowed him to interfere in stories and achieve a satisfying end.
That rare entity that subtly made itself known...
Urahara didn't have that...
Allen, having lost his hostility, walked toward Urahara, who was standing by the grave. Then he began to speak with him. Neither I nor the chat could hear what was said, perhaps only his dolls did.
After a moment, Allen returned with a somber expression...
"Aizen, what do you want from me?"
"You already know... Allen, give that man an ending, take the Hogyoku, and put an end to this infernal time loop..."
Allen lowered his head, then lifted it. His gaze denoted his feelings. Without him transmitting his adventures to this world, this wouldn't have happened, and Urahara wouldn't have broken...
I placed my hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to blame yourself. As your lovers said, we're old men who have lived countless amounts of time. Our actions are only ours... Urahara is waiting for you, but he won't welcome you with open arms... in the end, you decide..."
*End of POV*
...
Urahara looked at Shiro (White) suspended in the tank. His gaze was somber. 'This will be the last...'
Urahara knew that with Allen's existence, there would be no more loops, so everything that happened now would be final. In his heart, there was peace. He had spent so much time immersed in misfortune and darkness that he had forgotten what that peace was.
"Urahara-sama."
Gin entered the lab and turned on the lights, which illuminated two more tanks behind White. One was barely visible, but the other held a person, Hirako Shinji. This man, if he could still be called a man, had most of his body transformed into a Hollow.
"It seems Captain Shirako is stable..." Gin laughed, "After so many experiments, I'm surprised he managed to resist this far..."
"What do you need, Gin?" Urahara interrupted coldly.
"Hehe, sorry," Gin became serious. "Kuchiki and Hitsugaya were defeated and are now missing..."
"That's obvious..."
Gin smiled awkwardly. "Captain Urahara... do you know that Quincy?"
"I don't just know him, I've waited for him my whole life..."
...
Days later, the Senkaimon opened, and Allen crossed the door that led him out of the Seireitei. His body was covered by a hooded cloak.
Behind him, there was a group of people also covered in cloaks with hoods.
The entrance to the Seireitei had four paths, each with a guardian.
"Step aside, you cannot enter the Seireitei without authorization!"
"Ikkanzaka Jidanbo, guardian of the Western White Causeway Gate... who would have thought we'd end up in the same place..."
Jidanbō is a Shinigami of gigantic proportions and one of the tallest characters in the series, standing close to ten meters tall (32 ft). If his sheer presence is already enough to intimidate any adversary, Jidanbō's powerful muscles further enhance the impression of strength and might that emanates from him.
Jidanbō wears the typical Shinigami uniform, leaving the entire left side of his chest exposed, and his left arm is adorned with a piece of armor. On his head, he wears a red fez with two yellow tassels, one on each side.
As the enormous Shinigami tried to intimidate Allen, one of Allen's companions growled.
Allen listened and nodded...
Allen's fellow advanced with clear intentions.
"You idiots!" growled Jidanbō.
The burly man, standing over two and a half meters tall (8'1"), might have seemed imposing if there wasn't a Shinigami four times his size standing in front of him.
Jidanbō was annoyed. From time to time, thugs from the Rukongai came around, believing themselves invincible just because they had gained a bit of spiritual energy.
"If you don't leave, prepare to lose your lives!" Jidanbō wasn't a bloodthirsty person, but if he had to kill someone to fulfill his duty, he would do so.
The giant didn't use his Zanpakutō because the spiritual energy he felt from the intruders was insignificant.
"You brought this on yourself!"
Jidanbō clenched his massive fist and attacked the burly intruder. The latter raised his hand and took the blow without moving an inch.
"...!"
Jidanbō, in shock, couldn't understand what had just happened. In the next second, his fist was pushed back, and the intruder leaped at him, the cloak tearing apart to reveal a green-skinned human with an enraged expression.
*Auge*
The gate was destroyed, and Jidanbō was sent flying like a rag doll, crashing through several buildings as he went.
The captains easily heard the commotion and stopped their tasks.
Hulk landed on the ground, shattering it in the process. He then roared, shaking the Seireitei.
"RAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Behind Allen, a robust man with a beard approached. "Boy, was it a good idea to let him go first?"
"As long as he doesn't grow more than three meters (9'8"), everything will be fine..." Allen took a step as his gaze went to the Seireitei sky, "First, let's rescue the princess... then let's give a pitiful man his well-deserved rest..."
===
A/N: Reinforcements are here, gentlemen🍷🗿