Bleach: No cheat codes, he joined Aizen's side.

Chapter 119, Section 117: Meeting Aizen (4k)

Soul Society, South Rukongai District 63.

This place doesn't have any special meaning; Aizen just picked it randomly.

At least that's what Shuichi Higashino thinks.

"Thank you, Lord Death!"

Watching Aizen, dressed in his Fifth Division Captain's haori, kindly distribute some food he carried with him to the nearby children, Higashino Shuichi murmured, "Lord Aizen, I didn't expect you to still be so kind even after becoming a captain~"

"Consistency between words and deeds is the most basic quality, isn't it?"

After distributing the food, Aizen bent down and apologized to the children before standing up and looking at Higashino Shuichi beside him. "On the contrary, Shuichi, won't Urahara Kisuke and the others become suspicious if you return to Soul Society now?"

"Probably not. The reasons I came back are threefold: first, to inquire about the current situation in Soul Society for Urahara Kisuke and the others; second, to find out about Lord Aizen's background for them; and third, to confirm one thing: have there been any major thefts in Soul Society recently?"

Higashino Hideichi casually revealed almost everything about the purpose of his trip.

"A major theft?"

As expected, Aizen showed no reaction to Higashino Shuichi's first two objectives, but became somewhat interested in the last one.

“Yes, Lord Aizen,” Higashino nodded. “We discovered Soul Society’s Reikai technology in the human world, but this technology should have been stopped by the Central 46 and sealed away in the 12th Division when Kisuke Urahara was the captain of the 12th Division.”

"Heh." Upon hearing this, Aizen chuckled softly. "It seems that Urahara Kisuke is about to be accused of yet another crime for no reason."

"Lord Aizen, you don't know either?"

"Should I know?" Aizen countered.

"I thought this was yet another charge that Lord Aizen had meticulously crafted for Kisuke Urahara."

"That's what I'm saying," Higashino Shuichi replied.

"I hope so, but this is probably just another attempt by those nobles."

A huge black cavity suddenly appeared in the sky not far away, and Aizen and Higashino Shuichi looked up at the same time.

"It seems that the Soul Society has been much less peaceful lately than before."

"Looking at the Hollow emerging from the black cavity and the two Shinigami rushing past in the air, Higashino Shuichi said."

"After all, with so many captains and vice-captains gone, it's quite normal for the Hollows in Hueco Mundo to have some ideas about Soul Society."

Aizen released his spiritual pressure subtly, and none of the passing Shinigami noticed his presence or that of Higashino Shuichi.

"Speaking of which, Lord Aizen, you just said that this is yet another attempt by those nobles?"

Turning his gaze away, he realized that he was no longer a Shinigami in Soul Society, and Higashino Shuichi no longer needed to pay attention to Hollow invasions as he had in the past.

"You don't naively think that the Kasumi family's affairs have been perfectly brought to a close with Kasumi Masashi's execution, the sealing of the Bakuya sword technique, and the fact that all the Kasumi family members are either dead or gone, with the few remaining becoming civilians, right?"

Aizen pushed up his glasses with one hand and said.

Seeing that Higashino Hideichi frowned and did not reply, Aizen smiled faintly, then turned to look at the distant Seireitei.

"The Kasumioji family merely opened a Pandora's box for those nobles. Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, you've controlled the Gotei 13 for far too long."

Aizen only went this far; there was no need to continue. Higashino Shuichi understood.

Ultimately, it comes down to that old saying.
The people have suffered under Yamamoto for too long.

It would have been fine without Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, but once a precedent was set, especially after witnessing Yamamoto's compromise on that day.

If it weren't for Higashino Shuichi's interference, the Moyao Clan might already be in power today.

Those people's hearts were already restless.

"So, Lord Aizen, what do you intend to do?"

When Higashino Shuichi saw the confident smile on Aizen's face, he knew that although Aizen might only have learned about this today, with his wisdom, he could see the future just by speaking.

"Shuichi, what do you think would be a good name for a nobleman's private armed force?"

Higashino Shuichi was puzzled as to why Aizen would ask him such a seemingly random question, but after thinking for a moment, he gave his answer.
"The Sword Hunters?"

"The Sword Hunters have a nice name."

Aizen spoke slowly, but then fell silent. Higashino Shuichi didn't know what Aizen was thinking, but he wouldn't be foolish enough to ask Aizen what his plans were.

After all, he had already asked once, and Aizen had avoided answering. If Higashino Shuichi were to bite the bullet and ask a second time, Aizen might have to reconsider Higashino Shuichi's emotional intelligence.

After standing there one after the other for a few seconds, Higashino Shuichi asked again, "Lord Aizen, there is one more thing I would like to ask for your help with."

"what's up?"

"A group of people in the present world who call themselves Fullbringers."

For Shuichi Higashino, besides Kisuke Urahara, the best choice for a research personnel would naturally be Aizen, followed by Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and only lastly would it be Szayelaporro from Hueco Mundo, who was already somewhat obsessed.

"Fullbringers?" Upon hearing this name, Aizen's face broke into a knowing smile. "You're interested in them?"

"Yes, Lord Aizen. Based on my experience fighting them, the reason why they can use abilities far exceeding what their own spiritual pressure can grant, even though they don't have much spiritual pressure themselves, is probably similar to the Soul King's fingernail fragments I obtained from Matsumoto Rangiku. They are all borrowing the power of fragments of the Soul King's body. This is the most reasonable explanation I can think of."

Higashino Shuichi delivered the speech he had prepared long ago.

"so what?"

"I think, since they can use the fragments of the Spirit King's body to use such incredible abilities, there's no reason why I can't. The ability of infinite regeneration is just an inherent ability of the Spirit King's fingernail fragments themselves, and it's still very different from the Fullbring of those Fullbringers."

That's right, Higashino Shuichi is playing his cards right; he's been craving the new technique for a long time.

"Your strength is already quite high, isn't it?"

Now that you've mastered Intangibility, the issue of your innate spiritual pressure limit that previously troubled you no longer exists. Is Fullbring important to you now?

Having conducted countless Hollowfication experiments, Aizen naturally knew everything about Shuichi Higashino's current state.

"Having many skills is never a bad thing," Higashino Shuichi replied without hesitation.

However, Aizen seemed to have anticipated Higashino Shuichi's answer and interrupted him in a more forceful tone.
"But you can't bite off more than you can chew, and besides, it's not even your own strength."

Aizen's words revealed his disdain for that power and that man.

But how could someone like Aizen possibly understand Higashino Shuichi's predicament?

If Higashino Shuichi had Aizen's talent, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to seek power for himself.

"I just want to be one step closer to you, Lord Aizen, on the day when you stand above the heavens."

Higashino Shuichi's eyes seemed to hold longing, but more than that, they held yearning.

After listening, Aizen gave Higashino Shuichi a meaningful look.

Taking it a step further?
There are many ways to get closer. Shuichi, do you want to get closer from the bottom up, or from the front or the back?

The outcome of Aizen's characterization is uncertain.

The desire for power that Higashino Shuichi has shown so far is somewhat beyond his comprehension.

Both crazy and restrained.

Higashino Shuichi is like a machine that knows exactly what to do at what time in order to improve himself, constantly improving his abilities in a structured and orderly manner.

Moreover, there is no end in sight.

However, Aizen liked it very much.

He also wanted to see how far Higashino Shuichi could grow with his ordinary human body.

"A Fullbringer is someone who possesses a fragment of a Soul King's body and was attacked by a Hollow before the child was born, thus having a chance of being born."

"Ah."

Higashino Shuichi was aware of this as well.

“But Shuichi, have you ever thought about why it had to be a Hollow attack, and why it was someone born later, instead of someone who was attacked? You need to know that the Soul King's body fragments are inherited by the children.”

Higashino Shuichi silently lowered his head. He hadn't really thought about this question, because that's how it was set up in the original plot, and he had always just assumed it was a prerequisite.

"The birth of the soul is a wondrous process. Whether it is creation from nothing or the nurturing of life, it contains an ineffable power."

"Shuichi, didn't you ever consider that Fullbring is a product of the fusion of Hollow power, fragments of the Soul King's body, and a human soul?"

Aizen's words were a wake-up call.

Yes, after Aizen said that, Higashino Shuichi felt as if he had suddenly realized something. Aren't the various powers in the Bleach world essentially just permutations and combinations of those basic elements?

Or, to put it another way, just take a look at the template of the future protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki, who is a standard hybrid, basically incorporating all the elements of the Bleach world.

Human souls, death gods, Hollows—basically everything that could be mixed in or couldn't be mixed in was crammed into it.

However, if that's the case, Higashino Shuichi realized a serious problem: as a Grim Reaper, it seemed impossible for him to possess a human soul anymore.

Power can be acquired through various means, but how is Higashino Shuichi supposed to deal with the essence of the soul?

Even a prosthetic body only gives him a temporary human body.

"So, Lord Aizen, do you believe that I no longer have the possibility of mastering Fullbring?"

"Looking at Aizen's back, Higashino Shuichi asked."

"Although I have never actually come into contact with a Fullbringer, based on my speculation, this is correct. Instead of spending that energy on Fullbring, you should spend your time mastering the Hollow power you currently possess."

"Resurrection is no less powerful than Bankai."

Aizen never doubted that Higashino Shuichi had the ability to master Resurrección.

After all, with the help of the Hogyoku, the prerequisite for mastering Resurrección is that, in reality, only one condition remains for Shuichi Higashino to complete: to completely conquer the Hollow within his body.

This might be difficult for other Grim Reapers, since there's a difference between defeating and conquering.

But for Shuichi Higashino, Aizen was not worried at all.

However, Aizen underestimated Higashino Shuichi's determination.

If there are no conditions, then create them.

This is a motto that Shuichi Higashino has always believed in.

It doesn't matter if Aizen doesn't think it's a good idea. Higashino Shuichi knows that in future storylines, Soul Society has taken the initiative to research a technology called soul modification in order to better deal with Hollows.

The core of this technology is to use the previously sealed spirit body technology as a carrier to fuse the power of the void with the human soul.

What is a spirit corpse? It's just a vessel that holds the soul of the Grim Reaper.

Higashino Shuichi couldn't believe that he, a genuine Grim Reaper, could be worse than a ghost.

What a spirit can accomplish, he certainly can too.

"I understand, Lord Aizen. Could you please take me into the Seireitei?"

Higashino Shuichi pleaded with Aizen again, because with his current status, it would be very difficult for him to enter Seireitei without alerting the authorities.

But to Higashino Shuichi's surprise, he was rejected by Aizen in a way that wasn't quite a rejection.

"Shuichi, Gin Ichimaru is now the captain of the Third Division, and due to an accident, he has touched the blade of my unreleased Zanpakuto. You probably don't want Gin Ichimaru to know about your situation, right?"

"."

Higashino Shuichi was speechless for a moment. Of course, he knew what it meant for Aizen's Zanpakuto to be touched before it was released.

That means Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu has become permanently ineffective against that person.

However, in the original story, Gin Ichimaru probably didn't know about this weakness so early on, and didn't touch upon the Kyoka Suigetsu.

Has Aizen really gone this far?

Was he really not afraid that Gin Ichimaru would cut his kidneys off prematurely?
Oh, right. That day, Gin Ichimaru used the killing move he had originally prepared for Aizen ahead of time in order to deal with him.

However, Aizen didn't know how he could be so sure that Gin Ichimaru didn't have any even more ruthless moves.
Creating another trump card move might be very difficult for Shuichi Higashino, but is it really that hard for a genius like Gin Ichimaru?

Forget it, Higashino Shuichi doesn't want to worry about Aizen anymore.

Whether Aizen goes too far or not is really none of his business; it's just that the current situation is rather awkward for him.

Originally, Higashino Shuichi thought that with Aizen's help, he could freely enter and leave Seireitei.

It seems that it will be somewhat difficult for him to meet Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

But Higashino Shuichi absolutely had to see this side of him.

After all, if we don't take advantage of the current leak of the spirit body technology to make a quick buck, who knows when the Central Bureau of 46 will be willing to lift the control over the spirit body technology again.

It might not happen until Aizen kills everyone in the Central 46.

But to be fair, since that day has come, Higashino Shuichi probably won't be far from the original plot.

Given the terrifying pace of the original storyline, Yhwach could have been destroyed in less than three months.

Where would there be time for Higashino Shuichi to fuse with a human soul and then master Fullbring?

Without seeking Aizen's help further, Higashino Shuichi briefly explained to Aizen the progress of Urahara Kisuke in the mortal world, and how Urahara Kisuke had been so wary of him.

With the Hollow that had invaded Rukongai destroyed, Aizen left.

(End of this chapter)