Because of the Quincy Awakening...
What is needed is blood provided by Yhwach!
According to Uehara Naraku's thoughts, he naturally wanted to resolve Yhwach ahead of time before the final battle with Sousuke Aizen. He most hated the uncontrollable individuals.
Uehara Inner City's Research Institute.
The underground laboratory is filled with instruments containing numerous corpses.
These corpses are all mixed-blood Quincy who died during Yhwach's Auswahlen, and their blood was collected by Senju Tobirama to create weapons intended to kill Yhwach.
In comparison to a thousand years ago, Quiet Spirit Court is actually more dangerous to Yhwach now. Perhaps he is aware of this, as he has been hiding in Shadow Space, never revealing himself.
Even the capture of Ishida Uryu was unable to lure out Yhwach. His caution really makes one want to scratch their head...
This is Ishida Uryu!
In some sense, Ishida Uryu was once personally designated by Yhwach as the successor to the Empire, akin to the crown prince of the Invisible Empire, similar to Portgas D. Ace's position in the Whitebeard Pirates!
"Forget it."
Uehara Naraku looked at the exhausted Ishida Uryu, who had his blood extracted by Yhwach, waved his hand to have him locked in the dungeon, and sighed while shaking his head: "It seems that only using the Spirit King as bait can lure out that guy..."
Apart from the Spirit King, there seems to be nothing else that would attract Yhwach's attention. Compared to Sousuke Aizen, Yhwach has gained too much over time.
Moreover, Sousuke Aizen's ultimate goal is also the Spirit King...
The people within Quiet Spirit Court would absolutely never expect that someone would want to use the Spirit King as bait to fish out the two ultimate masterminds of this world.
However, the action styles of these two masterminds are gradually changing.
Due to concerns about Quiet Spirit Court's current strength, Yhwach has been hiding in the Shadow Realm, reluctant to show himself, and won't even appear in the Hollow World or Mortal World.
In contrast, Sousuke Aizen, upon acquiring the Hogyoku, has been frequently deploying Arrancar Hollow to disrupt the Mortal World. He even considers sending Ulquiorra to kidnap Inoue Orihime secretly upon learning of her powers.
However, Urahara Kisuke learned this from White Zetsu and promptly stopped Ulquiorra's actions, saving Inoue Orihime.
With the frequent actions of the Arrancar Hollow Legion, Quiet Spirit Court has realized that Sousuke Aizen is no longer dormant and might intend to start a major final battle.
In this situation...
The General of the Guardian Court Thirteen Squads, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, was forced to abandon the chase after Yhwach and refocused his efforts on eradicating Sousuke Aizen.
In the Hollow World.
Within the Hollow Night Palace.
Sousuke Aizen calmly sits on the throne, tilting his head to gaze at the Hogyoku beside him, and with a slight smile at the corners of his mouth, he had just achieved his goal, successfully using his power to subdue the completed Hogyoku.
"So this is the Hogyoku..."
Ichimaru Gin narrowed his eyes, curiously observing the glowing Hogyoku: "It looks so ordinary; who would have thought it contains such terrifying power..."
"Hmm."
Sousuke Aizen chuckled, looking at Ichimaru Gin, and said: "Gin, do you need my help using the Hogyoku to obtain Hollow powers? This would further enhance your powers..."
"Is there any need for that?"
Ichimaru Gin's eyes remained narrowed, slowly shaking his head: "Teacher Kabuto once told me that without overwhelming strength, arbitrarily integrating unknown forces into oneself would be foolish..."
"That's really unfortunate."
Sousuke Aizen didn't pay much attention to it.
Compared to the original history of the Soul Reapers, Sousuke Aizen has become considerably more tolerant towards Ichimaru Gin, even though he is aware that Gin is not genuinely loyal to him.
Nonetheless, Ichimaru Gin's identity is now unique; he is the hostage left by Yakushi Kabuto at Sousuke Aizen's side and deliberately entrusted by Kabuto to be taken care of as a disciple...
Sousuke Aizen, wanting to obtain the key to enter the Soul King Palace held by Zero Squad member Yakushi Kabuto, certainly couldn't do anything to Ichimaru Gin.
In fact...
Sousuke Aizen has a pretty favorable impression of Ichimaru Gin.
Throughout Hollow Night Palace, most of the Arrancar Hollow Legion is loyal to Orochimaru; only Coyote Starrk and Ulquiorra are loyal to Sousuke Aizen.
Besides these, Sousuke Aizen's trusted aide only includes Ichimaru Gin.
Regardless of Gin's power, wisdom, or identity, they make him exceptionally fond of this subordinate, and he hopes to charm and strengthen Gin's allegiance to him.
Afterwards...
To influence Yakushi Kabuto through Ichimaru Gin.
This pair of exceptionally gifted teacher and disciple has long been the two subordinates Sousuke Aizen has most desired to obtain, even more than Ulquiorra could ever match.
"Congratulations..."
Ichimaru Gin slightly opened his eyes to glance at the Hogyoku, then turned to Sousuke Aizen: "In this way, it seems like we're about to achieve our goals..."
"Everything is still uncertain."
Sousuke Aizen slowly shook his head and whispered: "Even though our plans have never been smooth, we have still arrived at today... After I integrate the Hogyoku, inform Mr. Orochimaru to prepare to attack the Soul Society!"
"Directly... attack the Soul Society?"
"Precisely."
Sousuke Aizen tapped his fingers on the table and pondered: "I've received a promise from Mr. Kabuto; as long as we can stand before him, he will open the gates to the Soul King Palace for us. Before that, eliminating the Guardian Court Thirteen Squads is enough."
As he spoke, a smile creased the corners of Sousuke Aizen's mouth, and he quietly continued: "Of course, there's also the little guy Naraku. I'm quite curious to see how he'll grow. Besides taking care of Kurosaki Ichigo, it seems Naraku also needs a little extra attention!"
According to Sousuke Aizen's thoughts, both Kurosaki Ichigo and Uehara Naraku were cultivated by him in secret!
Now Kurosaki Ichigo frequently encounters Arrancar Hollow, being gradually refined into formidable power by Sousuke Aizen, especially during this period when Ichigo has already harnessed the power of the White Hollow within him and has learned the Masked Legion's Arrancar abilities with Urahara Kisuke's assistance...
But on Uehara Naraku's side...
He leaves Sousuke Aizen a bit perplexed.
Because that little guy's power is too challenging to define, always protected by Deadguard Seat Officers, and his character seems to have grown increasingly timid...
This is not how Sousuke Aizen envisioned him!
Thus, Sousuke Aizen hoped to ignite Uehara Naraku's fighting spirit through an incident; a true powerhouse without a powerful heart is simply a worthless person...
Sousuke Aizen's views, to some extent, are no different from those in other worlds. He greatly enjoys manipulating others using emotions: "The most important thing in this world is bonds... To Naraku, who is the most important person?"
"Haha, this question..."
Ichimaru Gin's eyes narrowed again, he couldn't help but chuckle as he spoke: "To him, the one who influences him the most should be Captain Aizen, right?"
"That really leaves one helpless..."
Sousuke Aizen laughed at the thought of how, several decades ago, he had orchestrated Uehara Naraku's entrance into the 5th Squad, then managed assassination and defection incidents, thoroughly wounding the little guy's tender heart.
"Let's compensate him a bit then."
Sousuke Aizen's fingers slowly withdrew, and the smile in his eyes gradually faded: "After integrating the Hogyoku, let's meet him once... Just as I'm curious to see those Seat Officers personally experiment with the Hogyoku's power before the final battle."
Even though Sousuke Aizen trusts that the Hogyoku will bring qualitative change to his power, this still demands a practical test, just in case he inadvertently fails...
When it comes to the ultimate battleground...
Sousuke Aizen realizes that if the Hogyoku can't change the battlefield, then he would have no chance of turning the tables?
Without a frame of reference, Sousuke Aizen can't personally assess how much power the Hogyoku can augment!
Having just one unfathomable Uchiha Madara, Sousuke Aizen doesn't have absolute confidence; he has to test the infinite potential evolution ability of the Hogyoku himself!
"If things go smoothly..."
Sousuke Aizen's gaze fell on Ichimaru Gin, softly instructing: "Have Mr. Orochimaru and the Arrancar Legion proceed to attack the Soul Society in advance!"