Help! I am bound to Aizen!-Chapter 279

Chapter 279

2-in-1chapter:

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Chōjirō Sasakibe’s expression changed the moment he heard Yamamoto mention that name.

Yhwach…

For a Shinigami of his generation, that name was practically a curse. Nine hundred years earlier, the King of the Quincy, Yhwach, had led the Sternritter to invade the Soul Society, wreaking immense destruction and casualties. Back then, corpses had piled up everywhere, rivers of blood flowing freely. To end the calamity Yhwach brought, Yamamoto had turned into a raging demon, igniting half the Soul Society in a blaze of roaring flames.

As for Sasakibe, he had abandoned all pride as a swordsman. In the crucial moment of the final battle, he disguised himself as a corpse, hiding in a mound of bodies until Yhwach passed by. Then, he suddenly sprang up and ran him through from behind with a single strike. Sasakibe had believed that Yhwach had truly been finished in that fight.

Unexpectedly, he had survived, lurking in the shadows of the Seireitei all this time. Whenever Sasakibe recalled that, he felt a chill up his spine. If not for Kaelith stumbling upon them by chance and uncovering their existence, the Gotei 13 would still be clueless. By the time the Quincy grew strong enough and the revived Yhwach led them once more… Sasakibe didn’t even want to imagine how many would die then. Most of the Gotei 13 would likely be wiped out.

Thinking this, Sasakibe felt a surge of gratitude toward Kaelith. If Kaelith could just keep on being a proper Captain, not doing anything strange, it really wouldn’t be so bad. After all, so long as the Captain-Commander was here, how much trouble could Kaelith actually cause?

Better not to overthink it…

…......

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“So… this is the lowest level of the Great Prison.”

Amid the darkness, Kaelith’s figure slowly emerged. He wore a black robe embroidered with gold thread, his face half-hidden by its hood, looking around with interest.

No light source shone here—everything lay submerged in shadow. Even the space itself was peculiar. By Kaelith’s senses, it felt barely a thousand square meters in area. Yet if he concentrated, it seemed both boundless and endless. Narrowness and vastness, existence and nothingness, overlapping in contradiction.

Aizen had once been very curious about this place. After reading top-secret documents in the Daireishokairō that described the Muken, he’d wanted to study it. But the Great Spirit Prison’s guards were unbelievably strict. Unless he spent years parsing out the structure, hypnotizing them one by one, descending to the bottom was impossible. It would have been stuffed with danger—exposing himself even slightly would bring the wrath of the entire Soul Society upon him and endanger his allies as well. In the end, Aizen had let the idea go.

Now Kaelith had accomplished what Aizen never could. That, Kaelith thought smugly, was true skill.

He cheerfully produced a camera from his “four-dimensional” pocket and began snapping pictures. In absolute darkness, he released a bit of spiritual pressure from his body to illuminate the surroundings. When he finished, he put the camera away. Imagining how deeply grateful Aizen would look upon receiving these photos, Kaelith felt even more pleased.

“Now then, time to get down to business.”

Before, when Aizen started his Hollowfication experiments, Kaelith had promised to help gather experimental subjects. Ever since then, he’d had his eye on the Muken. The Muken existed for criminals who had committed terrible crimes yet weren’t executed for various reasons—a dark pit the Soul Society used for those they could not simply kill. Most people had no right to be here. Anyone locked in the Muken had once been famous—before landing in prison, of course.

Many of them had been Captains. Though most had lost the power they once boasted, their “realm” still remained. They would be perfect for Hollowfication experiments.

Sure enough, Kaelith soon found his first target.

A man bound in restraints, slumped against an iron pillar with vacant eyes. His fiery red hair and faint spiritual pressure spoke clearly of who he was:

Takagawa Shennō, the Second-Generation Captain of the Third Division.

Long ago, this hotshot must have lost his head to greed. In pursuit of higher noble rank, he had either threatened or bribed many in the aristocracy. Of course, those willing to be bought were scoundrels by nature. Once the Tsunayashiro clan noticed, they swiftly dug out the whole truth. Ultimately, Takagawa Shennō was hurled into the Muken with an eight-thousand-year sentence. That intense power struggle was basically a dogfight—“dogs biting dogs,” Kaelith thought.

Sensing someone approach, Shennō opened his listless eyes. When he saw Kaelith’s appearance, he looked surprised. Usually, the only ones who came to the Muken’s lowest floor were either someone like the Captain-Commander or uniformed personnel. Kaelith, however, wore a black hooded cloak—he looked nothing like a normal visitor.

“You…” Shennō muttered.

“Who I am doesn’t matter,” Kaelith said quietly. “What matters is: Takagawa Shennō, do you want to leave this place?”

Immediately, the man leaped up from his slumped position.

“Want to leave? Of course I do!”

Because he’d hardly spoken for so long, his loud outburst stung his throat, bringing a grimace of pain to his face. Kaelith inclined his head.

“Then allow me to be clear. I can take you out. But in exchange, you must agree to be part of an experiment. There’s a chance it’ll grant you a new power—perhaps stronger than before. Yet there’s also a high chance you’ll become a mindless creature of slaughter and destruction, or simply die on the spot.

Even so, do you still want out?”

Shennō’s eyes flickered with hesitation. “…What kind of odds are we talking about?”

“Hard to say,” Kaelith replied. “Our sample size is too small to yield statistically significant results. We’ve tested only one Captain-level subject so far, and he failed. Almost all his reasoning is gone.

However, maybe you’ll be luckier?”

“Alright. You’ve got thirty seconds to decide. I can’t linger here—if I stir up trouble, it’ll be annoying.”

Shennō’s expression changed rapidly. An eight-thousand-year sentence was basically a death penalty. Not everyone could live that long, not unless they were a monster like Yamamoto. Rather than spending an eternity slowly withering in the dark, why not roll the dice? Taking a deep breath, he gritted his teeth. “I accept!”

“A wise choice!” Kaelith clapped, then reached out to grip the chain behind Shennō’s back.

“H-hey, don’t be stupid—these are shackles made of Seki-seki (Spirit-Sealing Stone); they seal all spiritual pressure. You can’t just tear off—wha—?!”

In Shennō’s stunned gaze, Kaelith gave a sharp tug, snapping the chain with a loud crack. The once-Captain could only stare in disbelief. Seki-seki restraints weren’t ordinary metal, yet Kaelith had ripped them off with his bare hands as if it took no effort. Just who was this man?

Fear and excitement warred in him. Perhaps this man’s strength could really help him grow. Based on his demeanor and attire, he probably wasn’t on the side of the Soul Society. Maybe he was another rebel like that Yanlongji group from back then. If Shennō went with him, he might exact some vengeance on the Soul Society one day.

He licked his lips at the thought. Though Kaelith had broken the chain, the shackles still encased his wrists. He was about to ask Kaelith to remove them when the ground vanished beneath him. With a startled cry, he sank into the floor as if it were a swamp, disappearing without a trace.

Having stowed Shennō inside his shadow, Kaelith turned, addressing the darkness around him.

“Didn’t expect anyone to be wandering freely in the Muken… You’ve been watching a while. Don’t you think it’s time you showed yourself?”

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It was as if his words prompted a tiny light to flicker into existence. An old-fashioned paper lantern glowed softly. Holding it was a refined-looking man with a reserved expression, quietly approaching. A few meters from Kaelith, he stopped.

“Eleventh Division Captain—Kaelith Yurei.”

“I never would have thought you’d come down here. You, so favored by Genryūsai-dono, sneaking into this place to free criminals of the Soul Society… Aren’t you betraying your teacher?”

Kaelith’s eyes sharpened with curiosity. This man knew a lot about him. And that was surprising, given how heavily guarded the Muken was. Typically, there’d be no way to exchange information with the outside world.

How had he learned all this?

Suddenly, Kaelith recalled remarks from Yoruichi and Kirio Hikifune. “So that’s it… You must be Azashiro Kenpachi.”

“You know me?” The scholarly man seemed surprised.

He looked more like a mage or a wizard from some fantasy novel, bearing no resemblance to a “Kenpachi” whatsoever. But there was no doubt: this was the Eighth Kenpachi, once the Captain of the Eleventh Division—Azashiro Kenpachi.

He had been a noble scion from a lesser branch, whose clan was purged from aristocratic status, leaving many of his kin executed. He had grown up in hardship, training himself into a mighty swordsman. After defeating Kōyashiki Kenpachi, he became Captain of the Eleventh Division. After that, he promoted a plan called “Spearhead Project.”

The Spearhead Project aimed to transform all souls in the Soul Society into humanoid weapons with combat potential, mass-deploy them into Hueco Mundo, and exterminate every Hollow. At first, the Central 46 had approved it. But the Zero Division soon intervened, ordering a halt. Not only was the project aborted, but Azashiro Kenpachi was labeled a criminal and sentenced to over nineteen thousand years in the Muken—a term even longer than Aizen’s.

Yet even in prison, Azashiro continued receiving intelligence from outside. His Zanpakutō possessed a unique Bankai that let him merge with all things. During his century in the Muken, he’d slowly spread his reishi outward, fusing them with every street, every building in the Seireitei. Through that, he could glean practically everything that happened there.

When Kaelith first learned about Azashiro Kenpachi, he had developed a habit: Whenever he discussed secrets with Aizen or anyone else, he put up a silencing barrier. Whenever he engaged in certain activities with Yoruichi, Soifon, or others, he’d even layer on extra wards to block all sight.

“I don’t just know about you—you’ve caused me no end of grief,” Kaelith muttered with evident irritation. “Thanks to you, I keep feeling like I’m being spied on. Every time I look, there’s no one. Like I’m stuck in some ghost story. Does being a peeping Tom make you happy? It’s time I teach you a lesson about what you can and cannot do!”

A devilish grin spread across his face as he snapped his knuckles menacingly.

Azashiro Kenpachi was more surprised than ever. Based on Kaelith’s reaction, the man had long since known of his existence and had constantly guarded against him. All those anti-surveillance maneuvers Kaelith pulled… not simply caution by nature, then?

As Kaelith advanced with slow, deliberate steps, Azashiro murmured, “Stop, Kaelith Yurei. I know you’re strong, but brute force is worthless against me. If you really know my ability, you understand that everything around us is under my control. Oppose me, and you’ll be fighting the entire Seireitei—”

He broke off as Kaelith vanished in a burst of speed, launching a punch at him. Azashiro had no desire to block it head-on. Kaelith’s blows were like cannon fire—pure might that even someone as tough as Komamura would feel. Reflexively, Azashiro hopped backward, simultaneously activating the reishi he had merged into the air. Immediately, the air churned into a taut rope attempting to loop around Kaelith’s neck. At the same time, the ground beneath both of them surged in overlapping waves, trying to snare Kaelith’s legs. Most lethal of all was Azashiro’s attempt to vacuum all air from around Kaelith’s mouth and nose, cutting off his breath.

He layered the techniques in a single sweeping move. Azashiro had reason to believe that was enough to seal this fight. But Kaelith’s rush scarcely slowed at all.

He was still coming!

Watching Kaelith charge in, Azashiro Kenpachi’s eyes flickered with shock. “He’s still—?!”

That was as far as he got before…

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