Bleach: Stirring Up a Storm

Complete Hypnosis and Static Recording—strictly speaking, both of these abilities belonged to the category of auxiliary techniques. Neither possessed the world-destroying might found in traditional combat abilities.

Just like Kōe and Aizen at this moment. Their confrontation appeared calm and peaceful; to an observer, it would seem the two hadn’t even made contact. In reality, however, a turbulent undercurrent was already surging between them.

Aizen did not deliberately hide Kyōka Suigetsu’s true ability from Kōe. This didn’t mean he was planning to do anything specific to Kōe, but rather that there was simply no need to hide it.

Had the man before him never made contact with Urahara Kisuke? That would be far too laughable.

Where could Kōe have been during the seventy-two years he disappeared? Broadly speaking, it could only be one of three places: Soul Society, the World of the Living, or Hueco Mundo. And thinking about it carefully, none of these three places could truly bypass Urahara Kisuke.

The incident fifty-two years ago caused quite a stir. If Kōe had been in Soul Society at the time, he definitely would have known about it. After losing six captains, Yamamoto would have found a way to recall this vital asset to bolster a weakened Seireitei and prevent further losses.

But the man had not returned. Therefore, Aizen deduced that Kōe was not in Soul Society at the time, eliminating the most obviously incorrect answer.

Both the World of the Living and Hueco Mundo remained possibilities. If Kōe wanted to continue his research on Quincies, he would be in the World of the Living. If he changed his focus to research Shinigami Hollowfication or Hollow Shinigamification, going to Hueco Mundo would be the logical step. Therefore, Aizen didn’t have a definitive answer to this.

With Urahara Kisuke hiding in the World of the Living, whether Kōe was there or in Hueco Mundo—which, under normal circumstances, could only be accessed through the World of the Living—both men had the time and space to meet each other.

This was also why Central 46 had launched an investigation immediately. Releasing Kōe in the end didn’t mean they were completely devoid of suspicion; it was simply because they couldn’t figure out his motive for returning.

Even if Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Kōe had been in constant contact, with one of them exposed, what use was there in the other returning? To continue the unfinished Hollowfication research? Or to coordinate with Urahara Kisuke from the inside? If that were truly the case, it would be severely underestimating Seireitei.

In truth, anyone who knew the reality behind the disappearing souls could roughly deduce the reason for Kōe’s return to Seireitei. As the mastermind behind it all, Aizen had no reason to naively believe that Kōe’s return was merely a ’coincidence’.

Urahara or Hirako Shinji had undoubtedly shared partial intelligence regarding Kyōka Suigetsu’s abilities with Kōe in full detail. There was absolutely no need to hide it.

Of course, this was only Aizen’s deduction. To prove it as absolute fact required a little test, which was one of the reasons he revealed the true Complete Hypnosis to Kōe.

Both were affected by Kyōka Suigetsu, but at this moment, what Zaraki and Kōe perceived and felt were completely different.

To Zaraki, the Kōe in front of him had suddenly turned into Madarame Ikkaku. He hadn’t seen or even sensed Aizen appearing between him and Kōe. Although he felt something was off, it was mostly just his beast-like intuition.

And this feeling was quickly diluted by the piercing wind of a blade from behind. He spun around and swung his sword, only to see a face somewhat similar to Shihouin Kōe’s appear before him, wielding a short sword just like Kōe had initially.

He felt like he had seen this face somewhere before and had some impression of it. He figured it must be someone strong, but...

”What an annoying short sword, but it’s not much of a headache when you use it.”

But Kōe was completely unaware of all this. The black color representing Reiatsu suddenly vanished. In an instant, both Aizen and Zaraki disappeared, leaving behind only the architectural outlines drawn in faint ink traces.

Even though he had mentally prepared himself and didn’t exactly rely on Kōki’s Reiatsu visualization ability, Kōe still experienced a momentary shock when it happened. This was worlds apart from the Complete Hypnosis he had imagined.

Although it was called Complete Hypnosis, in reality, Kyōka Suigetsu merely manipulated the enemy’s five senses to systematically construct a false world for them in all aspects. With everything they saw, heard, and touched feeling entirely real, it became a real world to them.

Therefore, Complete Hypnosis could also be interpreted as sensory manipulation. It couldn’t guide or control a stranger on a conscious level. To put it bluntly, it was just an illusion that was difficult to break free from.

This had been Kōe’s previous understanding. But now, the events unfolding before his eyes made him realize that he had underestimated his opponent far too much.

If Complete Hypnosis were truly just a simple illusion setup, then the current situation should be Aizen manipulating his vision, rendering him unable to see the people around him, which was why he could only see the faint Reiatsu belonging to Seireitei’s architecture.

It was a logical deduction, except it shouldn’t have happened. After all, up until now, Kōe had never told anyone about his Reiatsu visualization.

Even if manipulating his vision made him only see Seireitei, he should be seeing the real Seireitei right now, not its Reiatsu outline.

Or perhaps Aizen was manipulating his vision to swap people with other things, like the air? But that was impossible too. Unless Aizen knew about the Reiatsu visualization, what should be standing in front of him were two black, humanoid masses of air!

Kōe didn’t understand exactly how Kyōka Suigetsu manipulated others’ five senses, but no matter what, the Reiatsu visualization was an unavoidable factor.

Just as a deaf person couldn’t hear sound, constructing an illusion required a certain amount of intelligence. Otherwise, it would inevitably reveal some kind of flaw.

Ruling out an intelligence leak, the only possibility was that when Aizen manipulated the five senses, he didn’t need overly complex operations at all. It might even just be a simple command, and all the remaining details would be filled in by the affected person themselves.

In other words, Complete Hypnosis was exactly that—hypnosis. Everything the manipulated person experienced stemmed from their own experiences. The deception was essentially them deceiving themselves. All Aizen did was issue the starting command to the enemy’s body.

”Even if you know you have been hypnotized, you are powerless to resist.”

This was Aizen’s explanation of the Complete Hypnosis ability, and at this moment, Kōe finally experienced the truth of those words firsthand. Perhaps this ability was at its most powerful only when one knew the truth behind Complete Hypnosis.

The source of the lie was actually himself. This was no longer a problem that could be solved by simply denying a certain event or person entirely, because, in reality, you yourself were the existence that should be trusted the least.

Using a perspective beyond that of ordinary people, he perceived a truth unimaginable to others. Kōe now had a deeper understanding of Complete Hypnosis, though this realization was inevitably a heavy one.

”It would drive anyone to despair.”

The black-and-white world reappeared. Kōe suddenly raised his hand, firmly stopping the small hand thrusting toward him, while his eyes slowly glanced behind the newcomer.

”If I weren’t me.”