Standing Invincible

"Captain Kyōraku, the reason you couldn't see through it was because his acting deceived you. Or rather, because your perspective was still limited to the level of a Shinigami Captain."

Kisuke Urahara opened his folding fan, concealing half his face as his tone grew somewhat profound.

"The perverse tastes Ross displayed, his arrogance, his games of manipulating people's hearts—those are indeed part of his nature. But they are merely appearances, diversions he uses to pass the time during his long-term schemes."

"Whether it is Ross, the Hollow King, Yhwach, the King of the Quincies, or Aizen..."

"Existences standing at their level, regardless of their methods or race, ultimately desire the same thing."

Urahara's folding fan snapped shut and pointed toward the ethereal ceiling overhead.

"That position."

"The vacant position above the throne in the sky."

"The reason Ross wants to purge Soul Society isn't to rule the Shinigami, but to clear away the final obstacle on the path to the Soul King Palace. He wants to sweep aside every barrier before reaching the Soul King Palace."

"And coincidentally..."

A faint curve rose at Kisuke Urahara's lips. "The Quincy emperor who has slept for a thousand years has the same ultimate goal: to kill the Soul King and ascend the throne in the sky."

"This is a zero-sum game over godhood."

"On this chessboard, there can only be one winner. Ross does not want Yhwach to wake up and disrupt things, and Yhwach will never allow Ross to reach the summit before him."

"The enemy of my enemy is a temporary ally."

"To those Quincies, Ross, who now occupies Soul Society and is about to lay hands on the Soul King, is the greatest enemy—a far greater threat than battered remnants like us."

"So..."

Kisuke Urahara looked at everyone, his gaze