Bleach: No cheat codes, he joined Aizen's side.

Chapter 93, Section 92: A Bitter Choice
The next morning, Matsumoto Rangiku woke up to find herself sleeping soundly in bed, and instantly realized that everything that had happened the night before was not a dream.

Upon entering the living room, breakfast prepared by Higashino Shuichi was already laid out for him.

"Show a great person"

Matsumoto Rangiku's face was full of smiles.

As for Higashino Shuichi, he did not appear in the Fourth Division barracks at this moment, but went directly to a ramen shop located in Seireitei that he had not visited in a long time.

A long time ago, Higashino Shuichi and Aizen met here.

Today, Aizen unexpectedly chose this place.

Aizen frowned as he looked at the bandaged Zanpakuto that Higashino Shuichi had placed in front of him.

"So, you've now had your Zanpakuto unleashed by Yoruichi Shihouin?"

No one among the people coming and going reacted to Aizen's offensive words; clearly, everyone here had fallen for Aizen's illusion.

"Yes, Lord Aizen, so I'd like to ask if there's a way to remove these bandages without alerting Yoruichi Shihouin?"

Higashino Shuichi's expression was far from good; in fact, it could be described as quite bad. In front of Aizen, he no longer needed to hide his emotions.

"This is one of the sacred artifacts passed down through generations of the Shihouin family. I once saw information about it in the Great Spirit Book Corridor,"

Seeing the expectant look in Higashino's eyes, Aizen shook his head mercilessly. "It's a pity. Just like the Zanpakuto in your hand, although it's impossible to achieve the same level of refinement as a Zanpakuto, it's still possible to sense whether it's been unsealed or not."

"So, even you, Lord Aizen, couldn't remove it without alerting Yoruichi Shihouin?"

Although he had expected this outcome, Higashino Shuichi was still very disappointed when the answer was actually presented to him.

"It wasn't taken down without alerting Yoruichi Shihouin."

Therefore, in the current state of Shuichi's Zanpakuto, unless Yoruichi Shihouin removes the bandages herself, there is no force that can destroy them from the outside.

Otherwise, it wouldn't deserve the name of a divine artifact.

Aizen shook his head and said.

Upon hearing this, Higashino Shuichi knew that he now only had one path left to take.

This was the only solution he could come up with after racking his brains all night.

"Then, Lord Aizen, during these five years while I was in Hell, did you make final preparations for that plan?"

Aizen looked at Higashino Shuichi's gaze, which was now burning with a different intensity than before, and immediately guessed what Higashino Shuichi was thinking.

As a subordinate who had followed him for so many years, Aizen knew very well that Higashino Shuichi was not someone who would easily admit defeat.

The fact that he asked himself this question at this point in time can only mean that Higashino Shuichi has already thought of a solution, but this solution is so dangerous that he doesn't want to bring it up at the beginning.

With the two combined, how could Aizen not have guessed it?
"You want to join them?"

"Lord Aizen, I only have this one choice, don't I?"

Higashino Shuichi smiled bitterly.

If even Aizen can't solve the problem of his Zanpakuto, then Higashino Shuichi can only try to get Yoruichi Shihouin to release the restriction on her own.

But how could Yoruichi Shihouin, who was in the same camp as Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, possibly make a choice that went against Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's will?

Last night, Higashino Shuichi pondered deeply, and he was faced with only two paths. The first was to persuade Aizen to kill Yoruichi Shihouin.

Because divine weapons are similar to Zanpakuto, they require a master to function. Therefore, once Yoruichi Shihouin dies, before the next head of the Shihouin family takes over the use of the divine weapons, Shuichi Higashino will have enough time to break free from the bandages.

However, this path is very likely to be a dead end. After witnessing that the Zero Division was even more cold-blooded than himself, Aizen realized that killing more Soul Reapers was meaningless. Therefore, Aizen no longer planned to do such meaningless and risky things.

For Aizen, standing up for Higashino Shuichi and killing Yoruichi Shihouin was clearly a pointless act.

Furthermore, the person who succeeds as the head of the Shihōin family is very likely to continue to follow Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's advice and restrict Higashino Shuichi.

So even if this path is feasible, it's only a temporary solution, not a permanent one, unless Higashino Shuichi can kill off the entire Shihōin family.

The second point is to force Yoruichi Shihouin and Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto to turn against each other, and at the same time, to join Yoruichi Shihouin's side. Only in this way, in order to strengthen their own side, will Yoruichi Shihouin remove the restrictions on Shuichi Higashino's Zanpakuto.

Compared to the first point, the second point seems much easier to achieve, because Higashino Shuichi knows that Aizen's plan to become a captain has been secretly planned for a long time, and now it should only need an opportunity to be launched at any time.

And just like the anime storyline in the previous life, this time, Aizen's choice of captains was almost unchanged.

The difficulty with this method lies in how Higashino Shuichi can gain the trust of Shihouin Yoruichi, especially Urahara Kisuke.

It's worth noting that Higashino Shuichi's relationships with Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara have never been good; his relationship with Soi Fon is merely good or better.

Therefore, if Higashino Shuichi wanted to join Urahara Kisuke's defection team, he had only one way: to be defeated like Kensei Muguruma and the others, then accept Hollowfication and passively wait for Urahara Kisuke to come to his rescue.

Without a doubt, this was an extremely dangerous move, because if Kisuke Urahara arrived too late, or if Urahara suddenly changed his mind and didn't follow the original plot to save him, he might really be doomed.

Without the help of the Hogyoku, it would be a pipe dream to survive Hollowfication on one's own will.

This is also why Higashino Shuichi didn't plan to tell Aizen about his idea from the beginning.

But given the circumstances, Higashino Shuichi had no better choice.

Unless he is truly willing to remain under someone else's control forever.

Moreover, even if he didn't do that, Aizen certainly wouldn't give up Urahara Kisuke's goal for him.

As long as Aizen doesn't give up on taking action against Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihouin will definitely stand firmly on Kisuke Urahara's side.

If Higashino Shuichi is still on Aizen's side at that time, then before Yoruichi Shihouin dies, he probably won't be able to release his Zanpakuto again.

"The plan has been prepared long ago, and we are just waiting for the right opportunity."

As for your idea, Shuichi, I think it's feasible. If the plan fails and Kisuke Urahara really escapes, it seems that only you are suitable to infiltrate his side.

"Too naive, and Silver... well, it only has eyes for me."

Aizen guessed what Higashino Shuichi was thinking and agreed with him.

Although this means he will indeed lose a capable assistant in Soul Society, if used well, Higashino Shuichi is indeed a very powerful trump card.

Moreover, given the wisdom that Higashino Shuichi has always demonstrated, Aizen has no doubt that Higashino Shuichi has this ability.

Whether Higashino Shuichi can survive the Hollowfication is beyond Aizen's consideration.

I saw a strong reaction to the previous chapter, so I'm releasing this chapter ahead of schedule.

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(End of this chapter)