Watching Yoru Machi chase Aizen around the battlefield and hammer him relentlessly, Ichigo, Urahara Kisuke, and the others were stunned.
Until now, they had been worried that Aizen, having evolved to such a degree, would become invincible. They had even been unable to stop themselves from worrying about Yoru Machi, who was fighting him.
But now, they realized that all their previous worries had been completely unnecessary.
"As expected, Yoru Machi is still Yoru Machi. Ever since I met him, aside from Miss Rangiku, I've never seen him suffer at anyone else's hands."
Hearing Ichigo's words, the others present nodded in agreement. As the only person who had ever gotten the better of Yoru Machi, Rangiku proudly puffed out her chest, making it clear that no matter how awesome Yoru Machi was now, she still had him wrapped around her finger plenty of times.
"I never thought Aizen would have a day where he fled with his head in his hands, but I think you all know very well that the situation is still far from optimistic.
"The reason Aizen has kept avoiding battle is because he has been waiting for the Hogyoku to bring him another evolution.
"Yoru Machi clearly has the strength to defeat him, but his advantage is limited. On top of that, his opponent has an ability as troublesome as Kyōka Suigetsu..."
Urahara Kisuke's words were like a bucket of cold water dumped directly over everyone's heads.
After all, they had experienced a similar situation before. Ichigo, after using the Final Getsuga Tensho, had likewise chased Aizen down and slashed at him. Back then, although Aizen had not been reduced to fleeing in panic thanks to his Complete Regeneration ability, he had still been the one getting suppressed.
The current situation was astonishingly similar to before.