ZenpaiTrans
patreon
Fate In Bleach (387)
🕑 Added 2025-01-01 17:00:10 +0000 UTCChapter 387 - Ailin’s Impact on Urahara
“Captain Ailin, what is it you truly seek?”
Kisuke Urahara asked after deflecting a bolt of golden lightning with Benihime,
Each deflected attack detonated against the surrounding buildings, embedding themselves in the walls and ground, revealing their true form – ordinary Zanpakutō, which then dissolved into golden particles, absorbed back into Ailin’s King’s Treasury, ready to be launched again.
Despite the relentless assault, Urahara sensed a subtle shift in Ailin’s demeanor. While he seemed to favor Aizen’s success, it didn't mean he wouldn’t protect the Soul Society. Otherwise, these attacks would be far more lethal.
Ailin glanced at Urahara, then looked away. “What I seek? Urahara, don’t try to understand my motives with your limited perspective. You may be the most intelligent man in this world, but your vision is constrained by it. You know nothing of what lies beyond.”
“Beyond this world…?” Urahara felt a tremor of unease. He faltered, his defense momentarily dropping, a lapse that nearly cost him his life.
Several Zanpakutō blades hurtled towards him. Yoruichi appeared at his side and kicked them away.
“Kisuke! What are you thinking? Now’s not the time to be distracted!”
“Thanks, Yoruichi.” Urahara, shaken from his stupor, refocused on defending against Ailin’s relentless barrage. But his distraction was evident. He faltered repeatedly and required Yoruichi’s intervention.
This time, she didn’t berate him. She simply increased her speed, intercepting every attack aimed at them both.
With his defense secured, Urahara sat down, closing his eyes, lost in thought.
Isshin and Ryūken, seeing this, moved to protect him, shielding him from Ailin’s attacks. They knew Urahara’s sudden distraction must have stemmed from his conversation with Ailin, a revelation so profound that he had to contemplate it, even at the risk of death.
“Beyond this world…”
The words echoed in Urahara’s mind. He replayed their conversation, the pieces of the puzzle that was Ailin finally clicking into place. But with each answered question, more arose. He began to understand Ailin’s motives.
What lay beyond this world?
Millions of years ago, a god had created this world, then abandoned it. The boundaries between life and death had blurred, the living and the dead intermingling, only the truly wicked dragged down to hell.
The world stagnated. Then, some of the dead lost their hearts, becoming Hollows, devouring the souls of the living and the dead, growing stronger. Left unchecked, a single, all-powerful Hollow would have consumed every soul, leaving the world desolate.
Then, the world's consciousness, sensing the crisis, created the Soul King, who vanquished the Hollows, established the boundaries between life and death, and created the three worlds – the World of the Living, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo.
Then came the betrayal of the Five Noble Families, their rule of Soul Society continuing to this day.
Urahara had encountered the Soul King’s will, knew he sought oblivion. That was why Urahara had created the Hōgyoku, had created Jinta and Ururu, hoping to give the world a chance, a future, after the Soul King’s demise.
Aizen, however, sought to grant the Soul King his wish, to become the new Soul King, a god ruling over the three worlds, not a mere linchpin manipulated by those who claimed to act in his name.
The nobles, and Yamamoto, wouldn't accept a true god ruling over them. They would oppose Aizen. Urahara, prioritizing the Soul Society’s stability, had chosen to stand against Aizen as well. But he, Aizen, and Yamamoto all shared a common goal – to prolong the world's lifespan.
They all knew the truth. The world was finite, destined to be consumed by hell. Their actions only delayed the inevitable. Unless… they could create true souls. Mayuri Kurotsuchi had achieved this with Nemu Kurotsuchi. But even his Nemuri Project couldn't mass-produce true souls. Nemu #8, created after Nemu’s death, still used her brain.
Even if Soul Society eventually mastered the creation of true souls, increasing the world's population, preventing its decline due to hell’s constant consumption of souls, the world would still eventually be consumed by hell’s expansion. It was the world's limit. Hell, created by the same god who had abandoned this world, to punish the wicked, held a higher… authority.
So, if the world couldn't be saved from within… what about from without? No one knew what lay beyond this world. But from the fragments of the world's consciousness, they knew that a god capable of creating worlds existed out there.
Understanding dawned on Urahara. His perspective shifted, expanding beyond the confines of this world. He finally understood Ailin’s goal. It wasn't to become a god within this world… but beyond it.
Ailin sought to leave this world, to become a god outside its limitations. Such ambition, such conviction… it was… audacious. But Urahara couldn’t help but admire his vision. While they were all constrained by this world, Ailin had already set his sights on something greater.
But could he achieve it?
“Captain Ailin, you’re insane.” Urahara said, opening his eyes, standing before Ailin,
Ailin raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Trying to analyze me again, Captain Urahara? What makes you say that?”
“Captain Ailin, do our actions… seem… foolish to you? Like the antics of clowns?”
“While… amusing, I wouldn’t call them foolish.” Ailin, despite his confusion at Urahara’s sudden self-deprecation, decided to answer. “Your actions, Aizen’s, even Yhwach’s two years from now… they are all clashes of will – the Soul King’s fragmented will against itself, and against the will of the world’s inhabitants. Such powerful wills… how could I consider them foolish?”
Aizen and Urahara had both encountered the Soul King’s will, but they had chosen different paths. Aizen represented the will for oblivion, seeking to grant the Soul King release, to become the new Soul King. Urahara represented the will to protect, to endure, to prolong the world's lifespan, even at the cost of the Soul King’s continued suffering.
Yhwach represented another facet of oblivion, and the will of the world's inhabitants against the Soul King. The Soul King, by establishing the boundaries between life and death, had brought order to the world, but had also created fear, the dread of oblivion.
Yhwach, born without senses or limbs, had granted power to those who touched him, transforming them into Quincy, capable of destroying Hollows. They worshipped him as a god. As they died, their power returned to him, granting him senses, limbs, until he became the Quincy god.
But their fear of death also returned to him. To erase that fear, he sought to destroy the existing world, to return it to a state of primordial chaos, where life and death were one, where oblivion held no terror.
After all, life and death were merely different states of spiritual energy. He believed that if the living could understand this, if they could see the dead, their fear would vanish.
Ichigo, in this clash of wills, played a unique role. Aizen, Urahara, Yhwach… they were all dead, inhabitants of Soul Society. Only Ichigo was alive, a living human, a naturally born potential Soul King. He represented the will of the living. By defeating Aizen, he had declared that the living wouldn't be ruled by the dead. The future belonged to the living. The dead should not interfere.
The Gotei 13, despite the nobles' corruption, hadn't interfered in the World of the Living. Aizen’s attempt to control it had been thwarted by the will of the living.
Yhwach, carrying the will of some of the living, and the majority of the Soul King’s will, had used Ichigo, a living human, to end the Soul King’s suffering. And Ichigo, in turn, had defeated Yhwach, demonstrating that while the living feared death, they could overcome that fear.
This, Ailin explained, was the clash of wills. Each will deserved respect. He didn’t consider their struggles foolish. He, too, was acting according to his own will.
But unlike them, he possessed the perspective of a traveler, knowledge of things beyond their comprehension. Of course, there were things he didn’t know – what lay beyond this world, how to survive there. He wouldn't act on his plans, wouldn’t attempt to break through the world's barrier, until he had answered those questions.
Urahara didn’t doubt Ailin’s words. Deception served no purpose. There was no fundamental conflict between them.
He raised his hands. “Captain Ailin. I surrender.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several golden lightning bolts exploded around Urahara and the others, momentarily obscuring them in a cloud of dust and debris.
Ailin dispelled the ripples. “What’s this, Captain Urahara? I haven’t lied to you. I respect your will. Why surrender? Aren’t you afraid of dying?”
“Would you kill us?”
“Not unless you threaten me.”
“I understand.” Urahara adjusted his hat.
Ailin’s gaze had already moved beyond this world. Nothing within it seemed to matter to him anymore. Urahara had just risked his life to test Ailin, to see if his expanded perspective had diminished his… humanity.
Comments
Sarratugga Rites
And here's the problem I have with world hoppers. Why fix a problem when I can just leave. It makes the other characters in the story placeholders until our main character leaves. Like really you have an outsiders perspective on how to fix the problem a world is dealing with but you are just there to watch the anime play out instead.
