Chapter 453 - 453: Difficult? Then Do It Anyway

Aizen moved quickly.

Several days later, at the center of the great forest in Hueco Mundo, Ulquiorra arrived with someone following behind him.

The man walked with his eyes closed, his expression calm.

Kaname Tosen.

Aizen's utterly devoted subordinate—and practically his number-one believer, the kind of man who would willingly die for him without hesitation.

"I thought Ichimaru Gin would be the one coming."

Cyrus spoke first when Tosen stopped in front of him.

"My apologies."

Tosen immediately offered an apology, clearly having received instructions from Aizen beforehand.

"There are matters concerning what happened here that still need to be dealt with. The incident was significant, and in order to handle the aftermath more effectively, Captain Aizen will need to remain bedridden for a while."

Cyrus considered that for a moment.

"How is Soul Society planning to respond to what happened?"

"Captain Aizen will explain that to you himself. I don't know the details of his plan."

Tosen shook his head.

"My only purpose here is to guide you. The necessary arrangements have already been made."

"In that case, let's go."

Cyrus nodded and looked toward Robin.

She turned and left, returning shortly afterward with Hancock and Baby 5.

"Three more people?"

Tosen might have been blind, but his other senses were exceptionally sharp. Robin and the others' movements made their intentions obvious enough.

"Is that a problem?"

Cyrus asked with a smile.

Tosen remained silent for a moment before nodding.

"No."

It would make things somewhat more troublesome, but not enough to justify arguing over it.

After all, this was someone even Lord Aizen treated with considerable importance.

"Ulquiorra, tell Starrk that he's in charge while I'm gone."

Cyrus looked toward the young Arrancar.

"And make sure nobody damages my ship."

"Understood."

Ulquiorra nodded.

Only after watching Cyrus and the others leave did he depart to find Starrk.

…

"He just left?"

Starrk had only recently returned himself.

After tossing the badly injured Hollow in his hands onto the ground, he listened to Ulquiorra explain the situation and immediately scratched his hair in distress.

"I'm terrible at this kind of thing."

Fighting was one thing.

Managing an entire region was something else entirely.

When Nelliel and Harribel returned and heard Starrk trying to dump the responsibility on someone else, both rejected the idea outright.

"Bastards… If you're going to kill me, then just do it."

While they were arguing, the severely wounded Hollow Nelliel had brought back growled and tried to force himself upright.

Clang!

Nelliel swung her lance down and smacked him across the head.

The Hollow collapsed flat onto the ground again and stopped moving.

"This one's really troublesome."

Nelliel looked genuinely conflicted.

"I don't think he's going to submit easily."

"If there's no other way, just keep him here for now."

Starrk looked toward Ulquiorra.

"As long as he can't move, we can leave the rest until Cyrus gets back."

Ulquiorra immediately understood.

He drew his sword.

A few swift slashes later, the troublesome Hollow had no arms or legs left.

"That should do it."

Ulquiorra calmly sheathed his blade.

"Even with High-Speed Regeneration, growing all of that back will take time."

The limbless Hollow twitched once but didn't wake up.

"What if we asked Baraggan to come over?"

Harribel looked down at him and offered another suggestion.

Baraggan had ruled Hueco Mundo for a long time. Whatever else could be said about him, he definitely had experience managing powerful Hollows.

"That guy's ability is too troublesome."

Starrk immediately frowned.

"If he starts using it around here, he might destroy something. Then we'll have to explain it when Cyrus gets back."

He still remembered the very specific instruction about keeping the Rose Hunter intact.

Starrk sighed deeply.

"Forget it. I'll do it."

And so, in the end, he carried the burden alone.

…

Meanwhile, Tosen was explaining how they would reach Soul Society.

"There are several ways to travel from Hueco Mundo to Soul Society. The most convenient is usually a Garganta opened directly by a Menos, but that creates too much of a disturbance."

Cyrus listened as they walked.

"This time, we'll use a passage through the boundary between realms."

Tosen continued.

"Hueco Mundo exists between the World of the Living and Soul Society, so there are many places where the dimensional barriers are relatively thin. Hollows frequently use those weak points to enter Soul Society."

"The passage we're using is small, but opening it won't attract much attention."

"How do you open it?"

Cyrus asked.

"With Reiatsu."

"Reiatsu…"

Cyrus nodded slightly and didn't ask anything further.

If it was essentially a spatial fissure, then his own abilities should probably work on it as well.

Both the Door-Door Fruit and his spatial isolation ability manipulated space.

He could experiment later, once he understood the characteristics of this world's dimensional boundaries a little better.

Before long, Tosen opened the passage they would use.

It wasn't large, but there was more than enough room for several people to pass through.

"To reach Soul Society, we'll have to cross an unstable space between realms."

Tosen stopped before entering.

"We should move quickly. It isn't safe inside, and you should avoid fighting or using anything that heavily disturbs the surrounding space. If the passage changes, it's possible to become lost inside."

Cyrus raised one hand.

A faint green doorway appeared for an instant before fading away again.

"Got it."

He nodded toward Tosen.

"Lead the way."

Tosen entered first.

Cyrus looked back at Robin, Hancock, and Baby 5.

"Stay close to me."

Then he casually stepped into the spatial fissure.

The crossing didn't take long, and none of the dangers Tosen had warned them about actually appeared.

Still, Cyrus could tell he hadn't been exaggerating.

The danger was real.

It simply wasn't much of a danger to Cyrus.

The moment he stepped into Soul Society, he raised one hand and opened a green door.

To everyone else, the other side appeared to be nothing more than a strange green space.

Cyrus, however, could clearly sense Hueco Mundo beyond it.

"Looks like Soul Society's spatial structure isn't particularly sturdy either."

He closed the doorway.

"For someone with your level of power, that's probably true."

A familiar voice came from nearby.

Aizen walked into view.

He looked exactly as he had before, glasses in place and the same warm smile on his face.

Now that Cyrus knew the man's real personality, however, that smile only looked more obviously fake.

"You brought additional people."

Aizen's gaze shifted toward the three women standing behind Cyrus.

"Arrange for them to enter your Shinigami Academy."

Cyrus pointed toward Robin, Hancock, and Baby 5.

"Have them learn how to become Shinigami and how to awaken and use Zanpakutō."

Aizen paused.

"That will be difficult."

He adjusted his glasses.

"Humans and Shinigami are fundamentally different. If I remain nearby, I can use my abilities to conceal their presence, but over long distances or extended periods, the disguise may develop flaws."

His smile remained mild.

"Soul Society is extremely strict about living humans entering this realm."

"Can you do it or not?"

Cyrus cut straight through the explanation.

Aizen looked at him for a moment.

Then he nodded.

"It will be troublesome."

His smile returned.

"But since you're asking, I'll make it happen."

Cyrus had the strength to make demands.

That meant Aizen would meet them.

Even when those demands were inconvenient.

A successful partnership required both sides to give something up.

That was simply part of the price.