“Then again, I suppose that cannot be all you are planning.”
Looking at their surroundings, Tokinada imperceptibly braced himself.
I see. So you plan on using him as a detector.
The Soul Reaper Hisagi’s weapon was a type that could attack from a distance. They likely planned to have Hisagi attack Tokinada with it so Kyoraku and the others could use the position of Tokinada’s voice and spiritual pressure to confirm they were attacking not an ally mistaken for an enemy, but Tokinada himself.
How naive. In that case, I can overwrite his voice, form, and the trajectory of his attacks using Complete Hypnosis.
However, in order to fully reproduce those aspects of Hisagi, he needed some time to observe Hisagi’s voice and the way the Soul Reaper attacked. If any of it were even slightly off, Kyoraku would realize that and react. Tokinada had an absolute advantage because of Complete Hypnosis, but he did not let his guard down.
Though he would not let his guard down, he also determined he would not kill them immediately, but rather torment them to death. At first glance, his behavior seemed contradictory, but, exactly as expected, Tokinada did not relax his attention as he devoted his entire body and soul to the amusing task of bringing his enemies to the brink of a torturous death.
“Hope does not suit any of you. I will correct that posthaste.”
From within Hisagi’s self-imposed darkness, Tokinada’s voice rang clearly in his ears. The direction Tokinada’s voice came from and the place Hisagi’s spiritual pressure perception sensed Tokinada were in agreement, as the Soul Reaper steadily honed his awareness.
At Shinoreijutsuin, which was the foundational establishment for a Soul Reaper’s education and could also be their gateway to success, they were taught several techniques to battle in the dark of a moonless night. Those techniques included creating light through kido and forging their night vision, but fundamentally, they had to learn to sharpen their spiritual pressure perceptions and reel in their opponent’s Reiraku in order to battle.
Naturally, the trajectory of their attacks wasn’t as accurate as when they could see, so that method was mainly used to gain distance from the opponent until they could reach a place with light. That was the theory of what they were taught, but at this moment the opponent Hisagi stood before was not some run-of-the-mill Hollow.
This was a formidable enemy whose spiritual pressure rivaled that of the Arrancars and captains, and one who carried Enra Kyoten, a zanpaku-to of endless strategies, as well. The fear of standing up against a powerful enemy who had Senbon Zakura at his disposal, alone and with one’s eyes closed, was unfathomable. However, despite the fear he felt, Hisagi was strangely calm.
Did Captain Tosen fight under these conditions? No, right now I can still perceive light through my eyelids, but Captain Tosen probably didn’t even have that…
He had heard that the fully blind Tosen had exhibited excellent hearing and spiritual pressure perceptions from a young age. Whether that was true or not, the former captain had trained both senses to perceive the clouds his friend saw in the night sky. When Hisagi recalled how Tosen had been able to sense all kinds of things the seeing could not, he found it plausible that Tosen truly had sensed the movements of the clouds floating overhead, even while he was unable to see them.
Of course, Hisagi was not equipped with the senses of hearing, smell, or spiritual pressure perception to that degree of acuity. Though he could use those senses in a pinch, when it came to overcoming his fear in that darkness, Hisagi reminded himself that this was nothing compared to the “fear” that Tosen had felt. At the same time, Hisagi remembered Tosen’s words when the former captain had stabbed Hisagi’s abdomen at Aizen’s command.
“I do fear something. I’ve had the same fear for a hundred years. The fear of assimilating and dying as a Soul Reaper.”
That was the answer Tosen had given to Hisagi when he had asked why the former captain threw everything away for the sake of power, and what had made him so frightened. Then, after being dropped from a building, Hisagi had almost lost consciousness. But in his empty mind, the words Tosen had spoken to Komamura echoed as well.
“If someone were to join an organization for revenge and lose sight of his true purpose and become complacent in his new life, wouldn’t that be depraved? Then tell me what justice is!! To forgive the one who murdered a beloved friend? That certainly could be virtuous! It’s beautiful! Blindingly beautiful! But is virtue justice?! No!! To live a drawn-out life in peace without clearing the dead’s regrets is…vice!!”
That moment might have been the first time the man named Kaname Tosen had proclaimed his true thoughts. They were filled with endless rage, with fear certainly flitting in and out of view in their depths. The reason Hisagi remained conscious and was able to once again stand was perhaps because he heard that voice.
Tosen had lived on, continuing to carry that rage and fear, for a long while. Unable to abandon his fear or forget it, he had suffered as he continued to walk his path with it. What kind of terrible hell had that been for him? Why did Tosen have to suffer that fate?
The answer to the questions that had risen within Hisagi was right in front of the Soul Reaper’s eyes: Tokinada Tsunayashiro…
…the originator of so much rage and fear that those emotions had upended Tosen’s life.
With his eyes still closed, Hisagi turned to the place where he felt Tokinada’s spiritual pressure and said, “Let me ask you one question.”
“Hm? A commoner like you wishes to ask me a question? Oh! Is this one of those interviews for the Seireitei Bulletin? In that case I don’t mind answering, especially for you.”
Tokinada shrugged, provoking Hisagi, but the Soul Reaper hid his rage and fear as he asked, “You saw it too, didn’t you? The fight between me and Captain Tosen in the world of the living?”
“Did you hear that from Aura or Hikone? Yes, that fight was a useful reference. I rewatched it many times. Although I did have to go to great lengths to sneak the surveillance spirit bugs in so the Department of Research and Development wouldn’t catch on.”
Tokinada spoke in a casual tone, and Hisagi had to quell his intense rage as he continued to question the man. “Then you should have seen it—Captain Tosen’s last moments.”
As he took a step forward, Hisagi’s roiling heart nearly overflowed. “You heard it, didn’t you—what Captain Tosen yelled?”