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

Chapter 159, Section 157: Captain-Commander Yamamoto, hand him over to me.
Dark clouds gradually gathered above the fiery red sky.

The sunlight is blocked.

Perhaps even the sky couldn't bear to watch this tragedy and shed tears, trying to extinguish the fire below.

But it was in vain.

However, at least in the courtyard of the Shiba family in Seireitei, there was some good news.

Higashino Shuichi, the Great Sword Hunter, won.

Although they failed to kill the Broken Face, they severely injured it and drove it away.

"Thanks."

After Higashino Shuichi released Momogen, Shiba Kukaku finally regained his mobility.

She had heard about Higashino Shuichi from her older brother, Shiba Kaien, before. According to Shiba Kaien, it was because of Higashino Shuichi that she was able to survive the Osaka Prefecture massacre that occurred ten years ago.

However, since then, Shiba Kukaku has never heard of Higashino Shuichi again. There were even rumors that Higashino Shuichi had died in the accident. It wasn't until recently, when Higashino Shuichi made a high-profile return as the Great Sword Hunter, that she finally remembered this person.

However, Shiba Kukaku did not believe that she and Higashino Shuichi would ever have any interaction, until now.

So, it turns out that Shuichi Higashino is not only good-looking, but also very capable?
Hearing about it aloud is no substitute for seeing it with your own eyes; this is probably the true picture of Shiba Kukaku's current state.

"No, I should be the one saying thank you. As the Great Sword Hunter, protecting the nobles is one of my duties. It is my responsibility that I could not arrive before this tragedy. Miss Shiba, the fact that you did not blame me is already the greatest kindness you could show me."

Higashino Shuichi shook his head and humbly spoke to Shiba Kukaku.

It was impossible for him and Tosen Kaname to actually fight, but he did seriously injure Tosen Kaname just now, mainly because it was Tosen Kaname's own request.

In his report to the Gotei 13, he stated that he was severely injured due to the attack by a Menos Grande and his lack of strength.

So no matter what, this wound must be repaired. Perfect, let Higashino Shuichi patch this loophole in front of Shiba Kukaku, killing two birds with one stone.

"I always thought you only obeyed the orders of the Tsunayo family, and that sending you to rescue us was also Tsunayo Shinbara's idea?"

Shiba Kukaku was not an ignorant teenage girl after all. After the initial flutter of her heart, she quickly regained her senses.

"Lord Kambara? No, in fact, I haven't met with Lord Kambara today. I went to Rukongai to select suitable candidates for my sword hunters. I rushed back after sensing a large amount of abnormal spiritual pressure in Seireitei, and when I returned, I found that you, Miss Shiba, were in danger."

Higashino said, stopping short of saying anything.

To gain Shiba Kukaku's favor, Higashino Shuichi had to clear his name in front of Shiba Kukaku, because every member of the Shiba family was a pushover and would never open up to the "lackeys" of the Tsuna-Yayo family.

However, Higashino Shuichi shouldn't be too deliberate, lest people feel that he came with an ulterior motive. It's best to leave room for imagination and let Shiba Kukaku figure it out on his own.

Fortunately, Higashino Shuichi is very good at this.

He guessed that this was probably why Tosen Kaname and Ichimaru Gin, two of Aizen's current top Shinigami generals, were not selected.

"Is that right?"

Shiba Kukaku said with a hint of doubt.

Of course, she couldn't completely believe what Higashino Shuichi said.

Even though she had a good first impression of Higashino Shuichi, his current identity was still too sensitive.

Sword Hunters, Great Sword Hunters
After all, it was only through the strong advocacy and push of the Gangmi family that the Central 46th Chamber finally made the decision.

The Tsuna-Yayo family had long disliked the Shiba family.

However, Higashino Shuichi was well-versed in the art of feigning indifference. He clearly couldn't possibly win over this woman, whom Aizen had tried for so long without success through the Kyoka Suigetsu method, with just a clichéd hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress act. Otherwise, Aizen would have succeeded long ago.

After all, Shiba Kukaku is not a naive female Hollow like Halibel who is "naive and inexperienced in the ways of the world".

Having spent so many years in aristocratic circles, Shiba Kukaku must have witnessed a great deal of the ugliness of human nature.

Higashino Shuichi knew that he had done a perfect job as his opening act today. At least the impression he left on Shiba Kukaku would no longer be just the memory of him as a "retainer" of the Tsunayo family.

Further increases in favorability will require a gradual approach.

Anyway, Aizen isn't in a hurry, so there's no need for Higashino Shuichi to rush things.

Therefore, Higashino Shuichi did not give Shiba Kukaku a chance to continue questioning him, but instead gripped his Zanpakuto in reverse and plunged it into his own body.

Those who command troops must also control their people!

Soon, a faceless, milky-white spirit appeared beside Shiba Kukaku.

"Shuichi, what are you doing?"

Upon seeing Higashino Shuichi's self-harming behavior, Shiba Kukaku immediately rushed forward to help him up.

I simply questioned his stance; there's no need to prove myself in this way.
For a moment, Shiba Kukaku even had the feeling that he might have said something wrong.

In fact, Higashino Hideaki could easily take a spirit human out of the Peach Blossom Spring space. He would store some of them there whenever he had free time and throw them in.

But he insisted on doing it differently. Instead of catching one from the Peach Blossom Spring, he stabbed himself in the back and made one on the spot. Obviously, the latter had a stronger visual impact.

Anyway, this wasn't the first time Higashino Shuichi had stabbed himself in the back.

Since he gained the ability of infinite regeneration, he has completely broken free from the "bad habit" of secretly capturing villains and creating spirit beings. Instead, he has developed the fine tradition of stabbing himself a couple of times to replenish his spirit being reserves.

"It's alright, you don't need to worry about me, Ms. Shiba!"

Higashino Shuichi reached out to stop Shiba Kukaku from approaching him, and with a backhand motion, pulled his Zanpakuto from his body, his face showing a pained and weak expression.
"The situation in Seireitei is extremely critical right now, so please forgive me for not being able to continue protecting your safety here."
"That Arrancar was severely injured by me, but he didn't die. I'm worried he might come back, so I had to leave a Spirit Being with you to protect you. I hope you'll find a place to hide as soon as I leave, and come out after I and the Gotei 13 have resolved this incident!"

Shiba Kukaku was moved; what a spirit this was!
Now she believes what her older brother, Shiba Kaien, had told her before.

"Kukaku, do you know what? My biggest gain in the human world this time was not catching that traitor from Soul Society, but confirming something!"
That means at least, the former lieutenant of the 11th Division, Shuichi Higashino, who betrayed Soul Society along with Kisuke Urahara, didn't truly want to betray Soul Society. His heart still belongs to Soul Society, and he seems to still retain his usual respect for us nobles. He's simply a wronged Shinigami, and I must find a way to clear their name!

This is what Shiba Kaien said to Shiba Kukaku after she returned from the human world.

"But what about your current physical condition?"

Shiba Kukaku asked with concern.

Her response was only the resolute departure of Higashino Shuichi.

"Don't worry, I will protect Seireitei!"

Only the lingering echo of Higashino Shuichi's voice remained in the air.

In fact, the current situation in Seireitei does not allow Higashino Shuichi to stay here any longer with Shiba Kukaku.

Because the self-proclaimed Lord of Hueco Mundo, Barragan Ruizenbon, had already reached the front of Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13.

"It's been a long time, Yamamoto Shigekuni!"

Upon seeing Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni again, Barlergan deliberately used the same title he had used a thousand years ago.

At that time, it was this young man, who was still called Yamamoto Shigekuni, who took advantage of his weakened state after that hateful monk had cut off half of his strength and defeated him severely!

Now, as he storms into Seireitei once again, he vows to get his revenge.

"Bylegan Ruisenbon, who gave you the audacity to trespass into Seireitei?"

Haven't the lessons from a thousand years ago taught you enough?

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni stood on the ground, looking at Barragan in mid-air, and calmly responded.

For him, stabilizing Barragán and waiting for the captains who are still alive to return to help is the best option.

He knew Barragan's strength; defeating Barragan wasn't difficult, but the challenge lay in defeating Barragan without destroying Soul Society.

Even with his Zanpakuto's abilities, achieving this would be far too difficult. A thousand years ago, the reason he could act without restraint was because the Soul Society was far less orderly than it is now, and the Seireitei had not yet developed to its current scale.

Furthermore, at that time, he had not yet taken up the position of Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, and there wasn't even a Gotei 13 in Soul Society at that time.

At that time, Yamamoto Shigekuni didn't need to consider the impact on Soul Society after he released his Zanpakuto.

Unfortunately, everything is different now.

As the Captain-Commander, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni has too many things to consider and care about.
However, Barragán is clearly no different from a thousand years ago, especially his hatred for Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, which is even greater than it was a thousand years ago!
"Hmph, a lesson? That was just you getting lucky when my strength was greatly reduced!"

Today, I'll show you what true power I, Barragan, am!

It was obvious that Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni was far inferior to Higashino Shuichi's eloquence honed through countless trials. He wanted to keep Barragan calm, but his words only fueled Barragan's fighting spirit.

"Rot away, Skeleton Emperor!"

Without further ado, Barragan immediately released his Zanpakuto.

A golden crown appeared above Barragan's head, his face and body transformed into a skull, his shoes became boots, and his body was surrounded by black flames. A long silver chain fell from one side of the crown, extending to the large axe in Barragan's hand.

At the same time, a huge throne appeared behind Barragán.

He could sit on it whenever he wanted, looking down at the earth like an emperor.

Is fighting unavoidable?
Seeing Barragán's posture, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's face darkened.

Given this situation, he had no choice but to end the battle quickly to avoid his abilities causing too much damage to Soul Society.

But before that
Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni took a half-step forward and, with lightning speed, drew his Zanpakuto from its disguised cane-like scabbard.

Slay him!

Enveloping his terrifying spiritual pressure in his sword, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's sudden strike not only left a bottomless chasm in the ground, but also cleaved through the clouds in the sky, truly piercing through heaven and earth.

Unfortunately, even such a terrifying strike was still affected by Barragan's almost abnormal aging ability.

From the perspective of other Grim Reapers watching the battle from a distance, it was clear that the Captain-Commander's slash, which was initially so fast that it was almost impossible to catch, slowed down and became less powerful as it approached Barragan. In the end, the unbearable slash only managed to split Barragan's throne in two.

"Hahahaha! Yamamoto Shigekuni, after a thousand years, is this all the strength you have now?"
"Release your Zanpakuto, or else, with your pathetic skills, don't embarrass yourself in front of me!"

Barragán was laughing hysterically.

He laughed at Yamamoto's incompetence, his weakness, and even more so at his own current strength. Yamamoto was nothing more than that in front of him.

Next, once he gets rid of that despicable Aizen Sousuke, he can find a way to go find that stinky monk again and avenge himself!

In short, Bylergon has bloated.

Then, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni did as he wished.
"Everything will turn into ashes, and the blade will flow like fire!"

The surging flames rose in concentric circles around Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, and the intense heat began to melt everything around him. At this moment, even the Grim Reapers thousands of meters away from this battlefield finally felt the heat that summer should have.

"Chengguo Yanshang!"

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni swung his sword at Barragan. The flames wrapped around the blade, like a general on the battlefield, rode his horse and brandished his longsword, commanding the surrounding flames to form a giant hand in mid-air, reaching out to grab Barragan.

"Useless! You think you can defeat me a second time with the same trick?! Yamamoto Shigekuni!!!"

Barragan shouted arrogantly in the air, then flicked his finger. Black light suddenly flashed around him, and ripples spread in all directions in the air like ripples on water after a pebble is dropped into a pond.

Then, the enormous fiery hand that enveloped Barragán, under the ravages of the black light, ran out of fuel and, like autumn leaves, turned into sparks that fell to the earth and vanished completely before touching the ground.

All abilities, under the immense power of time, will become meaningless.

"Do you see that? Yamamoto Shigekuni! This is my current strength!"

This is my true power, which you never saw a thousand years ago!

Barragán unleashed his emotions on Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni below.

Now, he only regrets that decades ago, because he couldn't defeat Aizen Sousuke, he followed his orders and didn't charge into Seireitei in one fell swoop during the battle with Stark to attack Soul Society. Otherwise, Yamamoto Shigekuni would probably have been killed by him long ago!

For Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, the idea that Barragan wanted to kill him was like a pipe dream.

It's just the ability to age!
However, after these two tests, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni also realized the real trickiness of Barragan's ability.

Without any clever tricks or methods to counter him, it seems that the only way for him to defeat Barragan is to unleash his Zanpakuto's Bankai and use an absolute power difference to make the aging process slow down so that it can't keep up with his attack breakthroughs.
However, if he were to perform Bankai on his Zanpakuto here...
Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni subconsciously looked around.

At this moment, he had only just released his Zanpakuto into Shikai form, and most of the visible things around him—houses, streets, trees, etc.—had already inevitably been melted, burned, and evaporated.
Once he achieves Bankai with his Zanpakuto, then Seireitei can basically be considered obsolete.

Even if Barragán is defeated and killed, the subsequent reconstruction work will be extremely difficult.

Especially since not far behind him was the location of the Central 46, but that place wasn't that important. What was important was that below it lay the Avici Hell, a place that imprisoned countless notorious criminals from the Soul Society.
Destroying Avici Hell is impossible, but exposing it and allowing all the notoriously difficult Grim Reapers inside to escape would be a huge problem.

Fortunately, just as Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni was hesitating about whether to use Bankai, someone he didn't expect appeared between him and Barragan.

"Hideichi Higashino?"

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni recognized the newcomer at a glance.

Why would you say it was unexpected?
According to Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's own speculation, Higashino Shuichi should have been stationed near the Tsunayashiro family's residence, specifically protecting those nobles. This was what he, as the chief swordsman promoted by the Tsunayashiro family, should have been doing, and it was also the most likely course of action for Tsunayashiro Shinbara.

However, Higashino Shuichi did come.

And not only did it arrive, it seems to want to be the star of the show.

“Captain-Commander Yamamoto, I know your Zanpakuto abilities might not be suitable for this situation, so how about you hand it over to me? Dealing with the rest of those insignificant Hollows will surely make things much easier for you.”

With his back to Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, Higashino Shuichi appeared to be asking for the latter's opinion, but in reality, he had already drawn his Zanpakuto, making his stance clear.

This means that Higashino Shuichi is determined to take on this battle.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni has no choice but to leave, either by swallowing his pride and playing doubles with Higashino Shuichi. He can only choose one of the two Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekunis.

As the captain, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni could not understand Higashino Shuichi's behavior, but the current crisis did not allow him to act out at this time.

After almost tacitly approving of Higashino Shuichi's actions, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni directly released his Zanpakuto and silently left the battlefield, leaving the empty battlefield, which had been cleared for thousands of meters around because of him, to Higashino Shuichi and the "Lord of Hueco Mundo," Barragan.

On the other side, watching Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni leave, Barragan tried to give chase, but was forced back by Higashino Shuichi's ruthless and infuriating Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni lineage-inherited slashing technique.

Then, Barragán got angry.

"Are you serious, Death God Shuichi Higashino?!"

If Higashino Shuichi had stopped him in any other way, Barragan might not have gone to such lengths, but Higashino Shuichi chose to use Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's signature slash.

Doesn't Higashino Shuichi know what "Fuzhan" means?

No, he definitely knew!
Barregan has already taken this as a provocation from Higashino Shuichi.

"Otherwise what? Barragan Ruizanbon?"

It seems we have an old grudge between us that's been going on for years and hasn't been resolved yet, right?

"How about we settle this today?"

After obtaining permission to kill Aizen, Higashino Shuichi looked at Barragan as if he were looking at a dead man.

Today, Bailegang will die.

"Hahaha! Higashino Shuichi, I've indeed been wanting to get rid of you, you lackey, for a long time. Before I kill Yamamoto Shigekuni, I'll have a good meal with you first!"

Barragan said through gritted teeth, in his eyes, Higashino Shuichi was already a dead man.

(End of this chapter)