As Tosen stepped into Aizen’s room, the soft sound of pages turning reached his ears. He found the Captain engrossed in a book. No Shinigami would dare think of Aizen as the man plotting to overthrow the ‘God’ and change the very foundations of this realm.

Aizen closed the book with a gentle thud, his smile warm but with a hint of calculation in his eyes. “Tosen, how did the search go?”

“We could not find Vasto Lorde, Aizen-sama,” he admitted, shaking his head slightly. “There were no signs of any Vasto Lorde outside of Las Noches. Captain Ichimaru and I personally searched the whole Hueco Mundo.”

Tosen was inwardly frustrated, feeling the weight of his failure. He was well aware of the importance of locating the newly ascended Vasto Lorde and her companion, whose immense Reiatsu had sent shivers down his spine. A Hollow with that power must belong to their army.

“Interesting,” Aizen mused, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose thoughtfully. “It means they’re no longer in Hueco Mundo.”

“Could they have ventured into the Living World? But the 12th Squad hasn’t detected any strong Garganta signals recently, nor sensed any Vasto Lorde-level Hollow."

Access to a Garganta for each Hollow depended on their power level. Had a Vasto Lorde opened a Garganta in any city under the Gotei 13’s supervision, they’d have been alerted already.

Aizen leaned back, his gaze piercing as he considered the possibilities. "There are only a few plausible explanations. They evaded your search and remained in Hueco Mundo, they’ve mastered opening a Garganta outside Shinigami’s jurisdiction, or they have found a way to deceive the devices searching for dimensional distortions."

“I see.” Tosen nodded, his mind racing with possibilities. “What does Aizen-sama believe?”

“Third.” Aizen rose from his seat and tucked the book in the bookshelf. “Three months ago, a Vasto Lorde Arrancar showed up in Karakura Town with another Arrancar. The time frame aligns with Barragan’s hunt for the Vasto Lorde Tier Harribel and her Vasto Lorde accomplice.”

Tosen held his chin, recalling the details from Las Noches. “I see. He is working in cahoots with multiple Hollows.”

“What’s fascinating is the lack of reports about large souls disappearing. The stronger Hollows need souls to maintain their strength. Karakura Town is becoming more and more… intriguing.”

“The lack of souls must be related to Tier Harribel. As per Las Noches’s reports, she refused to indulge in any Hollow. Barragan speculated her Aspect of Death to be Sacrifice.”

“A Hollow who doesn’t eat her kind… she seems like an interesting individual. For this mysterious Vasto Lorde to work with Harribel, he must share the same virtue of kindness and mercy.”

Tosen crossed his arms. “I can send out a group of Hollows to disturb the order.”

Aizen shook his head at Tosen’s suggestion. He had sent out a group of fodder-class Hollows when Quincy used a Hollow bait — a whimsical test to test the waters of the Karakura Town and provoke a response from the former Captain of the 12th Squad.

‘Well, no matter. Urahara-san won’t be able to resist the lure of my Karakura Town’s grand spectacle.’

The thought of the mysterious Vasto Lorde lingered in the back of his mind, but Aizen knew he had to tie up the loose ends with Kisuke Urahara first.

“Aizen, I almost forgot why I came here,” Tosen interrupted, breaking the silence. “That student you told me to keep an eye on — he humiliated Vice Captain Byakuya Kuchiki in Shunpo. From the reports, he seemed confident enough to take on both Kuchikis.”

Aizen’s lips curved into a self-assured smile, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous glint. The student ‘Kazuya Ishihara’ joined the academy out of nowhere and started fighting on par with Captains. Even Kenpachi Zaraki, the man with the most absurd raw stats, had a vague explanation for his powers. Kenpachi Zaraki was a result of the endless violence infesting the deeper districts of Rukongai.

But this student, Kazuya, was different.

Aizen couldn’t decipher the source of his strength or his hypnotic voice. The fact that Kazuya had ties to the noble Shiba Clan, a family with a Captain and Vice Captain among their ranks, only added to his mystery.

Yet, Aizen held back from acting at the moment. From every report so far, Kazuya showed a lack of ambition, using his powers to fuel his ego and indulge in intimacy with women. Kazuya had even chosen his Shinigami Squad based upon his attraction to the Dai Senpai of the Gotei 13 — Yachiru Unohana — the second most troublesome individual in the Seireitei.

‘Lust is an easy sin to exploit. Dangle a beauty and they will bark like a dog.’

He was in no rush to deal with Kazuya. In due time, Kazuya would become another victim of Kyōka Suigetsu — they who saw what he wanted them to see, felt what he wanted them to feel, heard what he wanted them to hear, and sensed what he wanted them to sense.

The whole of Soul Society would one day dance in the palm of his hand.