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

Chapter 193, 191. We are partners, aren't we?
A few days later, just after the people of the mortal world had finished celebrating the beginning of autumn, the Soul Society, which had been quite hot, began to cool down in the blink of an eye.

Wearing a pair of wooden clogs that made a clattering sound on the walkway, Higashino Shuichi arrived at the branch family residence of the Tsunayo family.

"Looks like you've already found the answer~"

He reached out and threw bait into the pond in the yard, saying to Tsunayoshi without even turning around.

"Are you interested in his Zanpakuto abilities?"

Higashino Shuichi stopped a short distance behind Tsunayoshi Tokinada and said.

Let the cool breeze in the courtyard gently lift his captain's haori.

"Judging from your tone, you look down on it?"
That's true. If we only look at it from a combat perspective, Yamada Seinosuke's Zanpakuto ability can't really be called strong. In fact, among all the Shinigami in the Soul Society who have mastered Bankai, his Bankai ability is definitely among the weakest. It's completely incomparable to Shuichi's Bankai ability.

However, when evaluating a Grim Reaper's abilities, sometimes you can't just look at how effective they are in battle, can you?

Tsuna grabbed another handful of bait and scattered it into the pond further away.

"It seems you've already made arrangements for Yamada Seinosuke. But if that's the case, why did you specifically ask me to discover this?"
Don't tell me you just want me to see that a former colleague secretly mastered Bankai, or that you specifically want me to find that disgusting place and annoy me?

"Looking at Tsunayoshi Tokina's retreating figure, Higashino Shuichi said."

"Of course not. You're my strongest card right now. How could I let you do something meaningless?"

Tsunayoshi Tokina turned around, opened his arms to Higashino Hideaki, and said with a smile.

"Then you'd better give me a plausible reason. I hope you can understand one thing, Lord Tsunayoshi Tokinada: there is no real superior-subordinate relationship between us."

Higashino Shuichi's tone turned cold.

Generally speaking, this approach will only make the relationship between the two people having the conversation more strained.

However, after such a long period of contact, Higashino Shuichi had basically figured out Tsunayoshi Tokinada's personality, who liked people with a strong attitude.

"Haha, yes, Higashino Shuichi, we have never been superiors and subordinates, we are just partners with the same ideals!"
Do you remember the goal we set at the beginning?

As expected, faced with Higashino Shuichi's forceful expression of dissatisfaction, Tsunayoshi Tokinada not only did not show any displeasure, but instead burst into laughter.

"What do you mean?
"Are you suggesting that this Yamada Seinosuke can help us deal with those people in Squad Zero?"

Higashino Shuichi feigned an incredulous frown.

"Of course not. Even ten Yamada Seinosukes couldn't help us solve the Zero Division's troubles. But do you remember the history of Soul Society that I once told you about?"

The entire Soul Society is now built upon the body of the Soul King, which was dismembered by our five noble ancestors.

However, this Spirit King's body is not actually completely dead; it still retains the Spirit King's will. The current Zero Division is acting according to the Spirit King's will!

When Tsunayoshi Tokinada uttered these words, his entire face was contorted with emotion, which gives a glimpse into the complex feelings he had about this period of history.

"so what?"

Higashino Shuichi asked, pretending not to understand.

"Therefore, in order to achieve our ultimate goal of reshaping this world and returning it to its most primitive state, we must completely erase the remnant will of the Spirit King!"

Gangmi Daishi's beach surface revealed a ferocious expression.

Higashino Shuichi gasped, then remained silent for a moment before slowly asking,
"how do you want to do it?"

Then, Tsunayoshi Tokinada resumed his usual amusing smile, the veins on his face receding.
"It's simple, create a substitute for the Spirit King!"

Upon hearing this, Higashino Shuichi outwardly showed a shocked expression, but inwardly he remained calm.

Because Tsuna's plan was exactly what Higashino Shuichi had anticipated.

This person's thoughts are so easy to guess.

He truly dedicated himself to that one goal from beginning to end, without even considering changing his approach along the way.

Higashino Shuichi even suspected that if Tsunayoshi Tokinada hadn't held a position among the five great noble families and hadn't benefited from the war, Higashino Shuichi and Aizen wouldn't have needed to lift a finger. Any one of the old schemers in the current Gotei 13, such as Kyoraku Shunsui, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, or even Urahara Kisuke in the present world, could have easily taken care of Tsunayoshi Tokinada.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs." In the original story, Tsunayoshi Tokinada had the perfect combination of timing, location, and people.

In the current timeline, Tsunayoshiro Tokinada also enjoys the advantages of timing, location, and popular support.

At this point in time, when Aizen doesn't want any more chaos in Soul Society, as long as he can settle the mess within his own family, Tsunayoshi Tokinada can really do whatever he wants.

But this was exactly what Shuichi Higashino wanted.

After all, he really can't have too many substitutes for the Spirit King.

Furthermore, if the quality of the finished product is high enough, then Higashino Shuichi could even disregard Aizen's intentions and go to the Shadow Empire to eliminate Yhwach, who has not yet been resurrected.

It's important to understand that the reason Higashino Shuichi didn't dare to do this before was largely because he was worried that if Yhwach died prematurely, he himself might transform into the monk's top candidate for Soul King.

That would be a case of losing more than you gain.

"You mean, Yamada Seinosuke's abilities can help us create a substitute for the Soul King?"

Despite his surprise, Higashino Shuichi confirmed with Tsunayoshi Tokinada again.

This is the attitude befitting a Grim Reaper who only knows about such things.

He could also choose to blush and stammer like Yujima Oshi before.

However, after thinking about it, Higashino Shuichi felt that such a performance was still somewhat inappropriate for his identity.

After all, as a dignified Great Sword Hunter who had single-handedly defeated the former Lord of Hueco Mundo, Barragan, he still had some pride to maintain.

Surprised?

"An existence like the Soul King, we Shinigami who enjoy the benefits of his power, can actually create a substitute for him with our own power. It's incredible, isn't it?" Tsunayoshi Tokinada reveled in the ignorant expression on Higashino Shuichi's face. At this moment, he was the true master.
"But, Shuichi, the power of the Soul King is actually not as mysterious as you imagine."

Next, there was a long segment on popular science about the Gangmishida Beach.

To be honest, Higashino Shuichi felt sleepy listening to it because it was all dry, hard-core knowledge, and it was all about the principles of manufacturing. For Higashino Shuichi, who had no understanding of research and no interest in scientific research, it was undoubtedly like listening to gibberish.

If one had to make a comparison, then Higashino Shuichi felt that this period of time could be used to compete with the lectures he received from professors in his previous life at university.

I can't understand it anyway.

However, Tsunayoshi Tokinada seemed to know all of this very well, explaining each point in great detail, as if he genuinely wanted to teach Higashino Shuichi.

Hmm, Higashino Shuichi was a little touched, and in his heart he hoped it would end soon.

He could sense that Tsunayoshi Tokinada must have secretly accumulated a great deal of knowledge in the past in order to become the substitute for the Soul King.

This was not a difficult task for Tsunayoshi Tokinada. After all, with the Great Spiritual Library and the Hall of Reflections as his two major weapons, plus hundreds of years of seclusion, there was no knowledge in the entire Soul Society that Tsunayoshi Tokinada could not obtain if he wanted to.

However, as the sun and moon can see, Higashino Shuichi had no interest in personally participating in this project.

He really wanted to tell Tsunayoshiro Tokinada that not every powerful Shinigami is named Aizen Sousuke.

Higashino Shuichi is only good at fighting and has a high spiritual pressure, but he is truly clueless when it comes to scientific research.

Fortunately, it seems that Tsunayoshi Tokinada eventually realized something and handed over a tape recorder invented by the Technology Development Bureau, which was actually a copy of modern technology, to Higashino Shuichi.

Okay, Higashino Shuichi admits that when he saw this thing, his mouth twitched a little, his heart was a bit turbulent, and he wanted to hit someone.

If you had just said this thing existed, why did you keep talking to him for so long?
"Give this to Seinosuke Yamada. I believe that after hearing this, he will definitely join us!"
Furthermore, you can tell Shuichi that if he is willing to help us make this Soul King substitute, then I can guarantee him the position of Director of the True Central Medicine Academy!

This position is much higher than that of a vice-captain of the Gotei 13!

Furthermore, if Yamada Seinosuke were smart enough, he should also know what hidden benefits he could gain by becoming the general agent of the Shin-O Seikyuin!

After Higashino Shuichi took the tape recorder, Tsunayoshi Tokinada spoke to him.

"For example, we can openly conduct those inhumane experiments without worrying about being discovered, right?"
After all, I've heard that the Shinigami Academy, which is directly under the nobility, has no jurisdiction over any medical malpractice incidents; they are all handled by the Shinigami Guard, which is directly under the nobility's command.

“That was in the past. Now, these matters have been rightfully handed over to your Sword Hunters. And Shuichi, you wouldn't harm your own people, would you?”

Tsunayoshi Tokina revealed a meaningful smile.

Looking at Tsunayoshi Tokinada, Higashino Shuichi found it hard to say whether this outcome had been conceived in Tsunayoshi Tokinada's mind long ago.

A henchman and a researcher, each with their own role, covered for each other, perfectly carrying out their ulterior motives right under everyone's noses.

This was probably Tsunayoshi Tokinada's original idea.
However, in the original story, without the existence of Shuichi Higashino, Tsunayoshi Tokinada was unable to find a suitable henchman in Soul Society and ultimately had to settle for a Fullbringer from the human world.

"Are you one of your own?"

Looking at the tape recorder in his hand, Higashino Shuichi gave Tsunayoshi Tokinada an enigmatic smile.

He didn't ask Tsunayoshi Tokinada why he had to be the one to do this task.

The answer is obvious. The Soul Society now is not like the world where Tsunayoshi Tokinada exerted his power in the original story. There are high-quality materials available in the Soul Society and the human world. Furthermore, Aizen and Kisuke Urahara have already set an example for Tsunayoshi Tokinada, teaching him how to create a standard Soul King substitute.

At this point in time, Higashino Shuichi probably thinks he's the first person to propose the concept of a Soul King substitute. And it's an undeniable fact that before this, neither in the Soul Society nor in the human world, there has been a standard Soul King substitute.

Someone like Higashino Shuichi now can only be considered a half-baked substitute for the Soul King. He's the kind of defective product that, if thrown in, will only last for a few decades before becoming obsolete.

Therefore, whether considering the progress of the research or the research materials, Tsunayoshi Tokinada could not possibly bypass Higashino Shuichi. More accurately, just as Higashino Shuichi guessed a few days ago, Tsunayoshi Tokinada had his eye on the soul modification project that Higashino Shuichi was working on.

Before the Quincy Empire was exposed and Aizen obtained the complete Hogyoku and created the perfect Arrancar, the batch of modified souls that Higashino Shuichi had on hand, which were about to be completed, were undoubtedly the best experimental material to complement Yamada Seinosuke's abilities.

The fact that those modified souls possessed human attributes and were also capable of being reshaped would save a great deal of trouble for the subsequent experiments.

This is something that Seinosuke Yamada is unable to do.

This conclusion was reached by Higashino Shuichi after examining the failed fusion products of Yamada Seinosuke in the alternate dimension near the Koizumi Izakaya.

Seinosuke Yamada's ability is merely a physical fusion, and it cannot touch upon the soul level at all!

This led to a conflict between the souls of the Grim Reaper and the Gillian from Hollow when he fused them, causing them to shatter and irreversibly become a pile of junk.

In the original storyline, Higashino Shuichi speculated that Yamada Seinosuke's success was due to two main reasons.

One is the technological pioneering work already done by Kisuke Urahara;
Another reason is that they succeeded by using the brain of Grimm Thom, a member of the Quincy Sternritter, as the core, and by leveraging his special holy script abilities.

However, neither of these two conditions is currently met.

Therefore, using the modified soul in Higashino Shuichi's hands to perform a clever operation was the best solution that Tsunayoshi Tokinada could think of, and it was also the solution with the highest success rate.

Of course, simply relying on modifying the soul, along with the Shinigami and Hollows, is definitely not enough.

To become a substitute for the Soul King, the abilities of a Quincy are also essential.

However, Higashino Shuichi felt that this kind of thing didn't seem to be a difficult task for Tsunayoshi Tokinada.

Even Tsunayoshiro might openly and honestly bring this issue to the forefront.

After all, to the Shinigami, the Quincy in the present world are nothing more than fish on a chopping board, to be killed or not.

However, this matter has little to do with Shuichi Higashino anymore.

If things really come to that point, it's not something Higashino Shuichi can handle on his own. At most, he can protect some Quincy who he doesn't want to see die.

As for now
Higashino Shuichi walked out of Tsunayoshiro Tokinada's house and looked in the direction of the Fourth Division.

With all preparations complete, it was finally time for him to go to that place for a meeting.

(End of this chapter)