[Seireitei, 5th division]

“Captain, the 13th division finally caught traces of your hollow.”

“I know. The experiment had been rather disappointing until now, so I wanted to see how it would do against Shinigami, but…”

“There is a variable.”

“Indeed.”

Sighing, Aizen adjusted his glasses as he thought about the unexpected variable. 

Satoru Gojo.

“He is a very interesting fellow. Though his decision to compete with you for the place of captain is putting a wrench in some of my plans.”

Ichimaru Gin was not the only one working for Aizen. His second subordinate was already a captain.

If Gin also got ranked as one, it would mean that he had two captains under him. This would have, without a doubt, eased most of his subsequent actions.

“Should we just eliminate him?”

Gin proposed calmly. He had no qualms about killing the competition. After all, he reached his current rank by secretly killing those above him.

Aizen pondered a little before giving a faint smile, 

“No. He is too much of a high-profile target and his relationship with many of the other captains is unusual. If we kill him, the investigation force will be quite large.”

Until now, hundreds of Shinigami and thousands of civilians were sacrificed for the fruits of research.

The main reason he still managed to avoid being caught until now, aside from the utter incompetence of the government and the power of his Shikai, was because he generally avoided targeting high-profile targets.

The only time he did not respect this rule was about 60 years ago when he plotted against more than eight high-ranked members of the Soul Society.

Four of them were captains, while another was the vice-captain of the Kido Corps, meanwhile, the other 3 were all vice-captains of the Gotei 13.

As if it wasn’t enough, he had indirectly managed to pull down two other captains as well as the leader of the Kido corps in the same plot.

Now, those highly loyal soldiers were considered traitors and fugitives, while he was lauded as a gentle and friendly captain loved by all.

The Gotei 13 always had 13 captains, and in one night, he had made 6 captains, 3 vice-captains, and the two highest cadres of an organization equal to the Gotei 13 become wanted fugitives. 

‘Haha, this is all so ridiculous it’s funny.’

The soul society was sick.

An organization full of cancerous tumors that could not be erased and the reason?

‘That fake king.’

Just thinking about that 'thing' made his blood boil in anger and disgust.

“How are our researches about the second Hogyoku?”

Gin ignored the pressure that was steadily weighing down on him.

Even though he had achieved Bankai and was sure that he could kill most Captains if he took them by surprise, he was still unable to see the limit of Aizen’s strength.

“We have been searching in the human world but nothing. The whereabouts of Kisuke Urahara remain unknown. The same goes for those who underwent hollowfication.”

Hearing this, Aizen sighed, 

“Well, I am not surprised. Kisuke is the only one I consider my equal in terms of intellect. Having him outside of the Soul Society is already good enough.”

Chuckling, he turned around and began to walk toward the secret underground he had created for his experiment.

Watching him leave, Gin asked once again, “What about the current experiment?”

Aizen stopped and answered without turning around,

“Since Satoru Gojo will interfere, we can already assume that Metastacia is dead. Thankfully I implemented a function that will immediately send a part of his soul to go toward the Hueco Mundo. It’s time to place the first steps for another plan of mine.”

Gin’s eyes narrowed further, something that should have been impossible.

He understood the implication of Aizen’s words more than anyone.

“Are we going to begin the last step of the preparations?”

Answering so, he began walking again,

“Indeed. While my Hogyoku is incomplete and unable to allow me to reach my final goal, its current level is enough to work on Menos ranked hollows. It’s time to begin the first phase of my greatest project. Let’s call it – Project Espada.”

(AN: I know most of you guys already know who Aizen's 3rd subordinate is. But some of my readers never read Bleach. So gotta keep the mystery. As for the Espadas, the original Espadas were created long before Aizen officially defected. Back then it was Neliel the number 3 rather than Tier. It wasn’t said exactly how long though, but it should be about 20 years before Canon. It was then that Aizen created White and had it face Isshin Shiba. Also a little rant. The Espada are badass as hell. But I fucking hate their names XD. So tiring to write. Had to read the wiki 3-4 times to not get it wrong. Like Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck or Szayelaporro Grandz. It becomes worse later with the Quincies. )