"I understand what Captain Aizen means—if we make our move here in the World of the Living, the Soul Society will definitely not receive news of Kaien Shiba. The Nobles will certainly seize this opportunity to attack the Shiba family en masse. Kukaku Shiba will inevitably have no spare energy to come to the World of the Living to search for her brother's whereabouts, so she will only be able to think of a way to contact Yoruichi Shihoin to help her search."
Gin Ichimaru was indeed an expert at manipulating hearts; he quickly summarized Aizen's plan.
"It looks like I'll be working overtime again for the next while."
"Thank you for your hard work, Gin."
"To be able to contribute bricks and tiles to Captain Aizen's plan, I do not shrink from hardship."
Suzuki Makoto glanced at the duplicitous Gin Ichimaru, and a thought moved within him.
The reason this man betrayed Aizen was not out of a sense of justice or a sense of belonging to the Soul Society; he simply wanted to take back Rangiku Matsumoto's soul fragment. Now that he and Aizen were already partners in crime—er, no, it should be called fighting side by side—it might be better to deal with Gin Ichimaru's implicit betrayal in advance.
After all, as long as Rangiku Matsumoto's soul fragment was returned, Gin Ichimaru wouldn't care about the Seireitei or the Gotei 13.
And to help him take back Rangiku Matsumoto's soul fragment...
The man's gaze fell upon the sphere in Aizen's hand.
"Is Suzuki-kun finally interested in the Hogyoku?"
Sosuke Aizen smiled and handed over the Hogyoku in his hand. Seeing this action, even someone as shrewd as Gin Ichimaru couldn't help but have his pupils shrink abruptly.
"I'm always somewhat interested in things worth cutting, especially such a chaotic aggregate that is nevertheless able to present a complete power."
Suzuki Makoto did not conceal his thoughts. Judging from Aizen's subsequent performance, the Hogyoku had undoubtedly birthed its own sentience. It could even be said that the Hogyoku was a complete artificial soul—aside from Aizen, only Mayuri Kurotsuchi could be considered to have completed this step.
"I can't let you cut it just yet; please have a little more patience."
"Mmh, I understand. But I just feel that the aura is excessively heterogeneous. Is it mixed with a lot of messy things inside?"
Looking at the Hogyoku in his hand, Sosuke Aizen's heart stirred.
He certainly knew what level Suzuki Makoto's sensitivity to Reiatsu and Reishi had reached. If not for the fact that he already knew the status of the Soul King, he would definitely suspect whether Suzuki Makoto was a smurf account the old fogey Soul King created out of boredom just to play around.
If even Suzuki Makoto felt the Hogyoku's aura was too heterogeneous and that too many things had been mixed in, then there was probably really a problem.
After all, one knows one's own affairs best. Compared to Kisuke Urahara—who had professional training, the entire Department of Research and Development as backing, and could have whatever kind of laboratory he wanted—Sosuke Aizen knew perfectly well how many things he had stuffed into this Hogyoku he hand-crafted during its embryonic stage, and how he had adjusted it bit by bit to its current state.
Soul fragments, Soul King fragments, Hollow fragments... too many things were stuffed in and pulled out by him. Among them were also Reiatsu from messy sources. Only after that was it slowly adjusted to become the current Hogyoku. If not for having too many defects, the problems wouldn't have been discovered by the Department of Research and Development during experiments back then.
By now, since the Hogyoku could already operate normally, Aizen hadn't made any major changes. After all, although he wasn't a programmer, he still understood the principle of 'if it runs, don't mess with it.'
This was also why he had begun to turn his sights toward the long-disappeared Kisuke Urahara. Aizen now needed to get the Hogyoku in Kisuke Urahara's hands to perform a comparison, so he could make the Hogyoku in his hand progress further.
But since Suzuki Makoto could see the problem, perhaps he could help?
"Can Suzuki-kun see the problems within it?"
"How should I put it... it's like a handful of gold dust. There is gold inside, but also ordinary mud and sand. Of course, this is indeed gold dust, it just looks somewhat uncomfortable."
Suzuki Makoto spoke half-truths.
The Hogyoku in Aizen's hand certainly had problems. And in the future, after he obtained Kisuke Urahara's Hogyoku, he still had to ask Orihime Inoue to act. That power of 'Rejection' was definitely not just as simple as merging the two Hogyoku into one.
It was just that Suzuki Makoto wasn't Orihime Inoue, so he wasn't sure if the problem he saw was the same one Orihime Inoue handled later.
"Since that's the case, then I will trouble you after we return to Hueco Mundo, Suzuki-kun."
Aizen was never a hesitant person; if a problem was discovered, it had to be dealt with. As for worrying whether Suzuki Makoto would tamper with the Hogyoku...
As the creator of the Hogyoku, if he, Sosuke Aizen, allowed someone to leave a trap in his own Hogyoku right under his nose, then what qualifications did he have to stand above the heavens?
"Easy to say. When the time comes, the two of us will discuss together and see how to handle it."
Seeing his goal achieved, Suzuki Makoto agreed readily. Aizen wanting Rangiku Matsumoto's soul fragment was only for that small piece of the Soul King's body. Others couldn't separate these two things, but in Suzuki Makoto's hands, that was just a trivial task.
Gin Ichimaru, who had just controlled his emotions, nearly lost control again. If not for the fact that what the two in front were discussing was the matter he had most yearned to intervene in during his decades undercover, presumably those narrowed eyes would definitely have stared wide open in shock.
He was truly tempted.
With Suzuki Makoto's ability, for the other party to strip away the excess "impurities" and conveniently take out an extra piece of Rangiku's soul fragment should be nothing more than lifting a finger. And missing this single soul fragment would definitely not cause any major problems for the Hogyoku—at worst, he could fill it in with his own soul fragment.
This matter couldn't be rushed.
At this moment, he absolutely must not be rushed!
Gin Ichimaru repeatedly warned himself in his heart. This was the unexpected joy closest to success he had ever encountered. The more it was such a moment, the less he could let Aizen detect a problem; otherwise, everything he had done would definitely go to waste!
He cast his gaze toward Kaien Shiba in the distance, who was investigating the Hollow's movement trajectory, but his thoughts had already flown to the nine heavens.
A showdown with Suzuki Makoto was necessary because the window of opportunity left for him was truly too short. After stuffing that Hollow into Kaien Shiba's body, Aizen would likely begin working with Suzuki Makoto to deal with the Hogyoku problem. This meant there was no more time for him to beat around the bush.
But he absolutely could not have a showdown with Aizen! Otherwise, Aizen would definitely become suspicious and start rethinking the true purpose of his defection to him, perhaps even directly moving to eliminate the two unstable factors—himself and Rangiku!
Must think of a way... must... think... of a perfect... way...
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