A dim, narrow space.
Uchiha Madara stared forward. Across from him sat a man in a simple robe.
He was quite handso, with pale skin. His hands and feet were tightly bound with spirit-draining restraints, and his eyes were covered with a special black cloth.
And yet, even in that state, he called out Uchiha Madara’s na without hesitation—
As if he had been waiting for this mont.
"Yeah, I’m here." Uchiha Madara nodded slightly, his gaze shifting to the well-dressed woman behind the man.
"Souya, Souya! He can see !" the woman said in surprise. "I didn’t even an to show myself to him. But wow, his face is pale—almost as pale as yours! Hey, why can’t I sense his spiritual pressure?"
The man, referred to as Souya, didn’t change his expression and replied calmly, "Because he’s already reached that level."
His full na was Shichijo Souya, the one who defeated the Seventh Kenpachi favored by Unohana and beca the Eighth Kenpachi. He was very powerful, and his Zanpakuto had a strange ability.
After releasing Bankai, he could rge with spirit particles from non-living matter and control them as easily as using his own limbs to trap or attack others. While it couldn’t harm soone with extrely high spiritual pressure directly, it allowed him to beco spirit particles and rge with all of Seireitei.
In other words, the whole Seireitei could be considered part of Souya now.
In this state, he knew nearly all the secrets of Seireitei. Unless soone used a special thod to block their spiritual pressure, nothing escaped his awareness.
That’s also how he knew about Uchiha Madara.
Of course—
If Madara really wanted to, he had plenty of ways to block Souya’s detection.
But he thought Souya was a rare talent worth recruiting. Naturally, that ant letting Souya understand a bit about him first.
The woman standing behind Souya was the materialized form of his Zanpakuto—"Urokazura." Ever since Souya first used Bankai, she had stayed manifested and was no longer sealed.
"That level?" Urokazura blinked, eyes wide as she looked at Madara. "That’s pretty amazing. He’s just a little guy! By the way, little guy... do you have a girlfriend yet? What do you think of big sis here?" she teased, puffing out her chest.
"Shut up, you idiot," Souya said with a blank face.
"Oh dear, are you jealous now, Souya?" Urokazura laughed playfully, eyes half-closed. "Tsk tsk, you sis-con perv!"
Urokazura looked exactly like Souya’s late sister, which is why she liked calling him a sis-con without hesitation.
Souya ignored his talkative Zanpakuto and turned to Madara. "What are you here for?"
"You should already know," Madara said with his arms crossed, face full of pride.
"Sorry, but I have to decline." Souya paused, then said, "Even without my help, I don’t think Aizen can beat you."
That’s right—he was fully aware of what Madara had been doing in Seireitei. So it was only natural he assud Madara’s goal was Aizen. The actions were too targeted otherwise.
"Hah, so you’re underestimating ," Madara chuckled coldly. "You really think I’m just here to take down Aizen? Is that all you think I’m about?"
"You’re not here for Aizen?" Souya frowned, looking confused. "Then what do you want?"
"To destroy this rotten world, of course." Madara’s tone was cold and full of confidence. "Aizen Sosuke is just a stepping stone for that."
Destroy the rot of the world?
Souya froze for a second, his body slightly trembling.
"Hmph, looks like you finally get it." Madara smirked. "Soone like you, with such painful mories, should understand what the true source of that rot is—Izumi. Are you really ready to just let it go?"
Souya absolutely knew what Izumi was—the foundation of the corruption, the system of noble privilege in Soul Society. It was the reason his sister died.
Hundreds of years ago, thanks to the sick gas of noble clans, young Souya and his sister were thrown into an execution ground to fight Hollows.
To protect him, his sister forced herself to use the forbidden Kido spell "Twin Lotus Blue Fire Crash" and blew herself up along with the giant Hollow holding her.
All that was left was her final smile, forever burned into Souya’s mind.
Even after that, the nobles weren’t satisfied. They kept sending more Hollows into the arena. In that mont of despair, Souya awakened his Zanpakuto, and with Urokazura’s overwhelming power, he killed every last noble present.
On the surface, it looked like he got revenge. But deep down, he didn’t feel any peace. The fire of hate inside him never went out.
He once turned that hatred toward the Hollows, planning to transform the people of Rukongai into weapons to invade Hueco Mundo.
Later, realizing that the Soul King didn’t approve of his thods, he turned himself in to Central 46 and was imprisoned in the deepest level of the underground prison—Muken.
There, after over a hundred years of quiet reflection, he finally understood the real cause.
What killed his sister wasn’t just the Hollows or those individual nobles. The real culprit was the nobles’ system of privilege.
But once Jicheng Shuya understood this, he started to avoid the truth instead of facing it. Otherwise, this endless cycle of guilt couldn’t trap him.
Because compared to the huge network of interests that system creates, personal power is too small. Even though Jicheng Shuya already had strength beyond a captain’s level, he didn’t think he could shake it.
The spark died out, and endless darkness covered Jicheng Shuya’s heart.
But today—
Hearing the words from the young man in front of him, that spark was lit again. Deep down, he really didn’t want to let go!
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