Edge of the Silence

When Ichigo demands to know how his every fight served Aizen's purpose, the traitor tells him to stop shouting and explains that, upon recognizing the boy as what he had long sought, he chose to nurture his growth. He lists the suspicious events Ichigo overlooked: a Hollow attacking him the moment he met Rukia, a Menos rising from bait meant for lesser prey, Rukia being reported despite her hidden Reiatsu, and Byakuya, Renji, and Kenpachi each arriving exactly when his strength matched theirs. Was it fate, he asks, coincidence, or the boy's own effort?

Ichigo lunges twice and finds his sword blocked then caught bare-handed, with Aizen chiding that he ought to be stronger. Ichigo protests that this account clashes with what Aizen told him at Sōkyoku Hill, but Aizen only wonders why he trusts the old words over the new, pitying how people cling to whatever truth suits them. He reveals he arranged Rukia's assignment, Renji's sensing ability, and the leaks about Ichigo's location, and that he knew the Hōgyoku's whereabouts all along. When Ichigo asks how he could be the sought-after thing if Aizen only knew him since Rukia, Aizen answers that he has watched him since birth. He is on the verge of naming what Ichigo is when Isshin arrives and warns that he has said too much.

The second chapter of volume 46, BACK FROM BLIND. It builds the mystery of Ichigo's origin and sets up Isshin Kurosaki's dramatic entrance. The chapter draws heavily on flashbacks and was adapted in episode 296, The Shocking Truth... The Mysterious Power Within Ichigo!