Aizen, Minotaured on the Spot, Cried Himself Unconscious in the Bathroom

"If Yoru Machi had designs on the Hogyoku, we had to make the necessary preparations. He would become even more troublesome and difficult to deal with than Aizen."

That was right. The Hogyoku had indeed chosen Yoru Machi of its own accord before, but he had rejected it.

But at the time, the Hogyoku had merely been a half-finished product. What if Yoru Machi had known all this from the start and knew that Aizen possessed another incomplete Hogyoku?

By using Aizen's hand to fuse the two incomplete Hogyoku into a finished product, he could not only make Aizen take the blame, but also divert everyone's attention away from himself and lower their guard against him.

Then, once the Hogyoku gradually matured and the time came to reap the fruits of victory, he could suddenly strike, discard Aizen—the scapegoat—after he had outlived his usefulness, kill him, and claim the mature Hogyoku for himself...

Once he connected all the pieces, Urahara Kisuke instantly found the implications terrifying!

If things truly unfolded as he had predicted, then Yoru Machi was far more frightening than Aizen.

Aizen was merely skilled at hiding and disguising himself, but Yoru Machi was practically an award-winning actor. Not only had he turned everyone into pieces on his board, he had even earned everyone's trust through his superb performance.

Just like now. The moment Urahara Kisuke voiced the worst possibility in his mind—

Soi Fon, Rangiku, Tōshirō, the Kurosaki father and son, and even half the Visored all firmly believed that Yoru Machi could not possibly covet the Hogyoku as Aizen had.

It could not be helped. Most of the people here had received Yoru Machi's help before, so such thoughts were perfectly natural.

Even Urahara Kisuke himself would have leaned toward trusting Yoru Machi if not for