The Alchemist in Bleach

This is something Ichiro thought of these past two days. It also explains why Ichigo had a Shinigami outfit when his soul left his body in the original work, while his sisters didn't—because they didn't obtain Shinigami powers. But this raises another question...

"How do we determine the power of the Shinigami?" Senjumaru asked.

What is the power of death?

In a very simple way, it's called red spiritual energy.

However, all the Shinigami in the Seireitei have this, and Senjumaru defines the Shinigami uniform as a team uniform, not a unified outfit for the entire Seireitei.

Even Zanpakuto are not acceptable. Only those who commit serious offenses, like Tsuna Yashiro Tokito, have their Zanpakuto sealed and are expelled from the Thirteenth Division. Many others who are transferred normally retain their Zanpakuto.

The research has hit a roadblock again...

"Take your time thinking about it, I'll go look up some information for you."

"Good work."

Ichiro waved his hand and walked towards the Second Division.

He was going to meet Yoruichi and have her take Ichiro to her family's library. With the power of the five great noble families, he figured they should be able to get something from it.

This can be considered a small perk of being part of a secret mobile unit.

Although the Secret Service is nominally part of the Central 46, it has long been the de facto private army of the Shihōin family, as its leaders have been the heads of the Shihōin clan for generations. Normally, it obeys the orders of the Central 46, but if those orders threaten the interests of the Shihōin family, then you lose control...

Therefore, Ichiro is now considered a nominal retainer of the Shihōin family. As long as Yoruichi, the head of the family, agrees, he can enter the Shihōin family library. Of course, he still cannot go to some important places.

However, before he even reached the Second Division, Ichiro was startled when he saw the middle-aged man with glasses in front of him. He instinctively became alert, then gave a wry smile, realizing he had been exposed, and clapped his hands lightly.

"Slap slap~"

"Impressive, I must say, as expected of you, Aizen..."

That's right, standing not far away and walking towards Ichiro is Aizen, the most charismatic and imposing villain in Bleach. In the entire world of anime, there are few villains more imposing than him—Aizen Kosuke!

Aizen adjusted his reflective glasses, stopped, and looked at Ichiro quietly. He said calmly, "I should be the one who's surprised. I only had suspicions, but I didn't expect you to actually know I exist. Did I expose myself somewhere?"

"There are no secrets in this world. In one country, there is a saying: 'If you don't want others to know, don't do it in the first place.'"

"If you don't want anyone to know, then don't do it in the first place, right? That's a very true saying. However, you still haven't said how you knew it was me, and how you knew my appearance so clearly..."

"Heh~ Do you think I would say that?"

"Probably not, let me guess? The fact that you can come from the future in the present world means that you are not a Fullbringer, Quincy, or Shinigami in the future, so it's impossible for you to have come into contact with this. So, do you have some kind of ability to foresee the future?"

Upon hearing this, Ichiro's pupils shrank sharply. How could he have overlooked this point?

Seeing this, Aizen narrowed his eyes slightly behind his glasses. Had he guessed right?

To foresee the future~

That's a really troublesome ability...

Just as Aizen was agonizing over this, Ichiro had already composed himself, looking at Aizen calmly with a slight smile on his lips, and said, "These are all trivial matters. But with your talent, would you like to join our Technology Development Bureau?"

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Sorry, I'm out of inspiration today.

I'm so sorry, I was planning to add another chapter today, or even more, but I only wrote one and a half chapters, which is about 6,000 words... and then I ran out of inspiration... The rest of this section was basically written and deleted repeatedly...

So, I'll save the extra chapters for next time, once I've saved up a bunch!

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Chapter 186 Nightmare vs. Illusory Flower, Water Moon!

Aizen was taken aback, assuming it was just an excuse Ichiro was using to cover up his inner turmoil, and went along with it, saying, "You should know what I want to do. Can you tolerate that?"

"Why not? My goal has always been the same: to focus on research. Nothing else matters."

"Heh~" Aizen chuckled, saying nothing. Don't you have any idea what you've done? And you're still focused on your research?

hetui!

"Assuming what you say is true, then what's the reason? What benefits would I get from joining your Technology Development Bureau?"

"We can all exchange ideas and make better progress together. Don't you know that better than anyone? With the help of Kyoka Suigetsu, you've seen a lot of hidden information and gained a lot of benefits... Even the mimicry Zanpakuto that Urahara and I couldn't improve even after two or three years has been developed to this level all at once... If we study and exchange ideas together, I'm sure we'll gain even more."

"Heh~ So you'll all join you in groveling before that thing?"

“Hiss~” Ichiro shook his head in distress and said, “Although Lord Spirit King is not in a good condition right now, isn’t your attitude a bit disrespectful? After all, He is the one who created this world.”

"Heh~ You really are a hypocrite. I can't see a single bit of respect in your attitude."

Is there a conflict between respecting Him and studying Him?

"There is indeed no conflict, but I don't think we can connect. Besides, what's the benefit of communicating with you? I can still access your technology, but you don't know about mine. Are you asking me to give up my advantages?"

"Tsk~ That's true. What a pity. It seems we're ultimately destined not to be together..."

Aizen narrowed his eyes and asked, "I have a general understanding of Urahara Kisuke's thoughts. What about you, Tenshin Ichiro? What are your thoughts on that thing?"

This was another purpose of Aizen's visit to Ichiro. He roughly understood Urahara's thoughts, which were essentially to do nothing and maintain the status quo. This was what Aizen disliked and even looked down on Urahara for—having such strong talent, yet doing nothing.

This greatly disappointed him, so he was eager to know Ichiro's thoughts, since Ichiro was just as talented as them; otherwise, he would be too lonely...

"Hmm, thoughts? I don't really have any thoughts. In fact, I'm only interested in knowledge. I have absolutely no interest in what state the Spirit King is in."

"Really? Then why are you researching that thing?" Aizen's lips curled slightly as he adjusted his reflective glasses and said in a low voice, "I remember, it's called something like... a World Transmutation Circle? Its range seems to encompass all worlds..."

".....Hahahaha~~" Ichiro was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. He was genuinely surprised this time; he hadn't expected that something like this would be brought up again...

The World Alchemy Array is certainly not the kind of Alchemy Array used to create the Philosopher's Stone in my previous life, but rather a kind of World Alchemy that exists only in the conception!

Generally speaking, the prefixes for alchemy are quite simple. Alchemy involving ice is called ice alchemy, alchemy involving fire is called fire alchemy or flame alchemy, and alchemy involving spirit particles is called spirit particle alchemy.

And world alchemy, naturally, is about playing with the world... cough~ alchemy of the world!

Of course, this isn't Ichiro's Zanpakuto world, but rather a real world like Soul Society. Using the world as material for alchemy is undeniably extravagant.

The difficulty was also exceptionally high. Therefore, from the very beginning, Ichiro's idea remained only at the theoretical level, and it was an early theory. Perhaps that's why Aizen found out about it. After all, Ichiro didn't know about the existence of the Great Spirit Book Corridor before. When he later confirmed its existence, he had already written down the theory.

Therefore, as long as Ichiro is thoroughly investigated, this point will definitely not be overlooked. And given Ichiro's current achievements, the Tsuna-Yashiro family will definitely investigate thoroughly; there's no doubt about it.

Therefore, although Ichiro was surprised that Aizen knew this, he was not too shocked, after all, he was no longer afraid of many things.

"I didn't expect you to find out about something like this... Yes, I do have a plan, and it's fine to tell you. Didn't you tell me Nietzsche's famous quote in the previous memories of the Void Beast?"

"If there is a god in this world, how can I allow myself not to be that god? Therefore, there is no god." Putting aside your misunderstanding, just consider your interpretation: you want to replace the Spirit King and become that god, right?

"Ah."

"Then I'll return the favor. I can't tolerate the Soul King being a god, but I can tolerate you, Aizen, being a god? So rather than saying this world doesn't need the Soul King as a plot device, it's more accurate to say this world doesn't need any plot device at all! The Soul King's death means the world's demise? What a joke! How can the survival of the world depend on one person? It's utterly ridiculous!"

"So you're planning to..." A look of shock flashed behind Aizen's glasses. After seeing that thing and some of the deductions on it, he knew it was a big project, but he hadn't expected it to go in this direction...

“That’s right, I’m going to change the status of the Spirit King as the ‘wedge’!”

The Spirit King is a very special existence in this world. He created various worlds, and was then ambushed and severely injured by five beings who feared his power, namely the progenitors of the five noble families. They cut him into human sticks and threw his body parts to various parts of the world, thus rendering him unable to resist!

The reason why the progenitors of the five noble families did not kill the Spirit King once and for all was because he was the foundation of the existence of each world. An imbalance of spiritual particles would lead to the destruction of the world, and the death of the Spirit King would be no different.

This situation was undoubtedly unacceptable to Ichiro. What if one day while he was conducting experiments at home, some madman suddenly killed the Soul King? Oh dear, they would all be doomed.

So Ichiro definitely wants to change this situation. Undoubtedly, this situation will gain a lot of support, but at the same time, it will also infringe on the interests of many people. Originally, Ichiro did not intend to say it before the technology was perfected, but he still wanted to try to win over Aizen.

“Interesting… I originally thought you were going to create a world like that guy, but it seems I misjudged you, Tenshin Ichiro.” Aizen sighed with some disappointment.

Not surprising. Reshaping the world is a grand undertaking, but it can't compare to creating the world, except for Ichiro...

"Creating a world? That kind of thing is utterly meaningless and boring. Maybe I'll give it a try sometime in the future if I become interested."

Aizen raised an eyebrow. Did this mean creating worlds wasn't difficult for him? This guy certainly has a lot of secrets...

"By the way, Aizen, I've heard some rumors that you've been researching Hollowfication lately? What a coincidence, I've also researched it. How about we exchange ideas? To be honest, if I don't have a chat with a Shinigami as talented as you, I always feel like my life is incomplete."

'Trying to find my true form while we're at it? Interesting. If you can, give it a try~'

Then, the two of them really started talking, chatting back and forth, making quite a lively scene.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the two were still exchanging ideas. Although Aizen instinctively felt that something was wrong, he thought it was just his imagination. After all, the Hollowfication data analysis that Ichiro mentioned was of great help to his research.

And so, time continued to flow slowly, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed...

Aizen's face was extremely ugly at this moment. If he still hadn't realized that he had been hit, then he might as well give up.

In fact, he realized something was wrong on the fifth day after he started talking to Ichiro. He couldn't have talked to Ichiro for so long. He had only two purposes for coming to see Ichiro.

First, to test whether Ichiro knew his true identity or only knew that such a mastermind existed. Second, if Ichiro knew his true identity, then continue to test Ichiro's purpose in World Alchemy.

Now that both goals have been achieved, logically speaking, he should have abandoned this clone and left immediately. There was no way he would have said so much to Ichiro!

However, for half a month, no matter how many methods he used, he was unable to break the illusion!

Yes, he knew perfectly well that he was under an illusion!

He, who wields the strongest genjutsu-type Zanpakuto, was actually controlled by genjutsu for so long. In the past, he would never have believed it. Although he believed that spiritual pressure was the essence of a Shinigami, he had always trusted Kyoka Suigetsu completely.

However, this time...

He admitted that he was starting to panic; this was the first time he had encountered someone who could completely overwhelm him in illusion magic...

However, precisely because of this, after taking a deep look at Ichiro, who was talking incessantly about the experimental data, he quickly calmed down and analyzed the current situation.

First of all, his life is definitely safe. Secondly, his true form should not have been found either. He is very confident in his methods, and no one can find his current location unless he tells them himself.

And that's the most important point...

A master of illusion, he knew exactly how to use illusion to extract a secret. Now, it was a matter of who could get to the next layer of this mille-feuille between him and Ichiro...

Therefore, Aizen continued to calmly talk with Ichiro, while also trying his best to analyze his current situation. Since he had realized that he was under a genjutsu but had not yet woken up, he could rule out that it was a genjutsu similar to a dream.

It couldn't be a sensory illusion either, because this clone doesn't have those functions; to be precise, it's incomplete, only having sight and hearing. But if other functions are affected, he can detect it through the special methods he left behind, after all, he himself is a master of manipulating the five senses.

However, neither of these two points applies, so the most troublesome one is mental illusion!

So-called mental illusions involve influencing the mind. Few people know this kind of illusion, mainly because it is easy to defend against. Since it works on the mind, it relies on the strength of mental power, which is a combination of many factors.

For example, spiritual pressure, fighting will, mental cultivation, and even the willpower honed through years of torment are all taken into account. Therefore, few people use it because it has no effect on the strong.

How many people who become strong have had an easy life?

But precisely because of its extreme difficulty, once someone masters it, it will cause a lot of trouble...

For example, his Mirror Flower Water Moon can be dispelled by touching the blade; if the spiritual pressure exceeds his or is equal to his, the effect of the illusion will be reduced.