Fate In Bleach (483)

Chapter 483 - The Beginning

Still, Gin Ichimaru could never intentionally place Rangiku in danger just to resolve his own inner conflict; it went against his very nature.

But Gin Ichimaru was always prepared, ready to step forward for Rangiku's safety.

Narrowing his eyes, a flash of white light glinted. The persimmons used for the cakes in his small shop were instantly sliced into fine pieces, dissolving into red pulp that flowed into the basin.

"Teacher, I haven't been idle all these years..."

Although his Zanpakutō had been confiscated by the Seireitei, Gin Ichimaru had never stopped training over the past year.

At night, Gin Ichimaru consistently practiced Zazen meditation.

From Teacher Ailin, Gin Ichimaru had learned that a Shinigami's training after achieving Bankai involved merging the Zanpakutō with oneself, making its power entirely one's own.

Over the past year, Gin Ichimaru had made considerable progress in integrating his Zanpakutō's ability into his own being.

Even without a Zanpakutō in hand, Gin Ichimaru could now manifest his spiritual pressure as "ash" for attacks.

The next step was to imbue his spiritual pressure with the cell-dissolving poison, merging it with the ash.

Once accomplished, Gin Ichimaru would have completed the training of fully integrating his Zanpakutō's power into himself.

Far away, Ailin's figure paused momentarily and he smiled.

Whether it was Gin Ichimaru, Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia, or Toshiro Hitsugaya, none of them had slackened in their training.

He wondered how Yhwach would respond.

...

Beep! Beep!

Within Squad Twelve, alarms suddenly sounded from some machines.

"This... how is this possible?"

Hearing the alarms, a squad member rushed to the machine. After manipulating the controls, his expression changed drastically.

On the machine's display screen, countless red dots, representing Hollows in the World of the Living, were vanishing at an alarming rate.

This machine was used by Squad Twelve to monitor the souls across the three realms, ensuring they remained within a stable range.

If a large number of souls disappeared from the World of the Living or Hueco Mundo in a short period, the Seireitei had to prepare to adjust the balance of the three realms.

Otherwise, the imbalance in soul numbers would cause the realms to tilt, potentially leading to the other two worlds colliding with the depleted one, resulting in the destruction of all three.

Right now, the rapid disappearance of red dots indicated that Hollows in the World of the Living were being extinguished at an incredible speed.

Due to this massive loss of Hollows, the monitoring systems showed that the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo were already showing signs of tilting towards the World of the Living.

"Third Seat Akon, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, this is bad..."

Soon, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi of Squad Twelve, having received the news, arrived in the monitoring room.

Watching the red dots continue to dwindle on the screen, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's eyes darted around.

He had anticipated such a situation.

A thousand years ago, the Wandenreich, at its peak, had been defeated by the Gotei Thirteen led by Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

Returning after a millennium, Yhwach would undoubtedly be more cautious.

He wouldn't believe that brute force alone could defeat the Gotei Thirteen.

Under these circumstances, initiating actions that could threaten the Seireitei was expected.

Among these, planting Jōkaishō crests throughout the Seireitei, dealing with the Dangai, and the most basic Quincy tactic—mass extermination of Hollows in the World of the Living and Hueco Mundo—were all within Mayuri's predictions.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi had naturally prepared countermeasures for these crises.

"Is it confirmed?"

Seeing the red dots on the screen almost completely gone, Mayuri Kurotsuchi asked Hiyosu.

Hiyosu, currently the Eighth Seat of Squad Twelve and head of the Communication Technology Research and Radio Measurement departments, had green skin all over, resembling a frog more than a human.

Hiyosu was the one constantly monitoring the three realms in anticipation of actions from the Quincy group led by Yhwach upon their return.

"Yes, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi."

"The souls of these killed Hollows have not arrived in the Soul Society. Their souls have been completely annihilated."

"It can be confirmed. This is the work of the Quincy."

"Have the calculations been made?"

Hearing Hiyosu's report, Mayuri Kurotsuchi showed no surprise.

According to the prophecies regarding Yhwach found in the Great Spirit Book Gallery, their return was indeed scheduled for this year.

Therefore, Mayuri Kurotsuchi simply asked Hiyosu in a steady voice.

"Yes. Based on the number of Hollows annihilated in the World of the Living, we need to erase the souls of 31,476 individuals in the Soul Society."

"Thirty-one thousand, four hundred and seventy-six?"

Mayuri Kurotsuchi frowned slightly at the number.

This figure was five or six thousand higher than he had anticipated.

It seemed the Quincy group led by Yhwach this time was far more troublesome than he had imagined.

"Relay the message to Nemu. Tell her to supplement the missing number with souls from the Zaraki and Kusajishi districts."

"Yes, Captain Kurotsuchi!"

Receiving Mayuri Kurotsuchi's permission, Hiyosu immediately began contacting Vice-Captain Nemu Kurotsuchi, who was far away in Rukongai.

"Moshi moshi..."

...

"Yes, understood."

"Yes."

Lowering the Denreishinki from her ear, Nemu Kurotsuchi looked up at the rows of wooden houses before her.

This was the Zaraki district.

A year ago, after Mayuri Kurotsuchi predicted the Quincy's potential actions, he had sent Nemu Kurotsuchi with Squad Twelve members to the Zaraki district. They had gathered souls from both the Zaraki and Kusajishi districts who could be classified as "criminals."

Based on the scale of the Wandenreich Quincy a thousand years ago, Mayuri Kurotsuchi had instructed Nemu Kurotsuchi to gather over 26,000 criminal souls here.

Now, it was time for these criminals to atone.

Unfortunately, this number still fell short compared to the Quincy's frenzy.

However, her father had already ordered that the deficit be covered using souls from the Zaraki and Kusajishi districts.

...

World of the Living.

"Roar..."

High-pitched roars sounded as enormous Hollows emerged from Garganta, crashing into the World of the Living and leaving large, cracked craters in the ground.

Judging by their spiritual pressure, these Hollows were almost all Gillian-class Menos Grande.

Swish! Swish!

A rain of blue arrows appeared, like a cascade of light, striking down most of the Menos Grande.

"Brazo Derecha de Gigante!" (Right Arm of the Giant)

A red fist lashed out, directly killing one Menos Grande.

"Koten Zanshun, I reject!"

A black arc flew, slicing all the Menos Grande in its path in half, causing them to dissolve into spirit particles.

"Ishida, Inoue, Sado..."

Ichigo Kurosaki, carrying his Zanpakutō, rushed over from a distance, greeting the three who were already fighting.

"You're here, Ichigo."

"Ichigo."

"Kurosaki."

Uryū Ishida, Yasutora Sado, and Orihime Inoue responded.

"Ichigo, the appearance of these Hollows is highly unusual."

After dealing with all the Hollows that had appeared this time, Uryū Ishida adjusted his glasses, frowning.

More than a year had passed since Ichigo Kurosaki regained his powers.

During this year, Karakura Town hadn't been free of Hollows, but they were mostly small or medium types; Menos Grande hadn't appeared even once.

With Aizen captured, Baraggan Louisenbairn dead, and the First Espada Starrk uninterested in leadership, the current ruler of Hueco Mundo, commanding the Arrancar, was the Third Espada, Tier Harribel.

Knowing that the World of the Living had Ichigo Kurosaki, a powerhouse comparable to Aizen, Harribel would never allow Hollows above the Gillian class to appear in Karakura Town, needlessly increasing Ichigo Kurosaki's animosity towards Hueco Mundo.

"Yeah."

Ichigo Kurosaki nodded. "I noticed too. The spiritual pressure of these Hollows... they're all Gillian-class Menos Grande."

"For so many Menos Grande to suddenly appear in the World of the Living, something must have happened in Hueco Mundo."

"Let's find Shopkeeper Urahara first, ask him to help open a Garganta to Hueco Mundo."

"Alright."

Having decided, Ichigo Kurosaki and the others prepared to head towards Urahara's shop.

But—

Swish!

A blue arrow of spirit particles suddenly appeared, shooting towards Ichigo Kurosaki.

Boom!

"Ichigo!"

An explosion sounded, and Uryū Ishida, Yasutora Sado, and Orihime Inoue's expressions changed.

Fortunately, after the smoke cleared, Ichigo Kurosaki's figure appeared before them.

He had already drawn Zangetsu from his back and seemed unharmed.

"Who's there?"

Ichigo Kurosaki looked up.

He was very familiar with the attack just now.

It was a spirit particle arrow, almost identical to Uryū's attacks.

But wasn't Uryū Ishida the last Quincy?

When they saw the attacker, not only Ichigo Kurosaki but also Uryū Ishida were stunned.

In the sky, a figure with fragments of a white mask on his face, dressed in white attire, held a blue spirit bow aimed at Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Are you an Arrancar, or a Quincy?"

"Arrancar?"

Hearing Ichigo Kurosaki's question, the figure reacted as if greatly insulted, roaring at Ichigo, "Ichigo Kurosaki, I am a great Quincy, summoned by the great His Majesty, blessed with His Majesty's power! Not some filthy, lowly Arrancar!"

Swish swish swish...

Enraged, this figure drew his spirit bow, firing several spirit particle arrows at Ichigo Kurosaki.

Swish!

Facing the attack from this enemy who was clearly an Arrancar yet claimed to be a Quincy, Ichigo Kurosaki swung his Zanpakutō.

Instantly, powerful sword pressure directly shattered the spirit particle arrows and carried enough force to knock the Arrancar-Quincy backward.

"How is this possible?"

Asguiaro Ebern struggled to stabilize himself, he showed shock on his face.

After receiving power from that Majesty, his strength had increased tremendously.

Ichigo Kurosaki was strong.

Asguiaro Ebern naturally knew this.

After all, he was marked by His Majesty as a "Special War Power."

Every "Special War Power" was an existence capable of hindering His Majesty's plans; even the Sternritter lords had to treat them with caution.

Perhaps only members of His Majesty's Schutzstaffel could defeat those marked as Special War Powers.

But for his attack to be dispersed so easily, and the attack's residual force to knock him back so far... clearly, Ichigo Kurosaki's strength far exceeded Asguiaro Ebern's imagination.

Thinking this, cold sweat dripped from Asguiaro Ebern's forehead.

He had come to the World of the Living this time intending to steal Ichigo Kurosaki's Bankai, removing a major threat for His Majesty.

But judging from the current situation, he lacked the ability even to fight Ichigo Kurosaki in his normal state. How could Ichigo possibly use Bankai, giving him the chance to use the treasure bestowed by His Majesty to steal it?

At this thought, Asguiaro Ebern decided to retreat and turned to leave.

However, it was no longer a situation where Asguiaro Ebern could simply leave as he pleased.

The earlier appearance of over a dozen Gillian-class Menos Grande, and now the attack by this Arrancar who used Quincy abilities and claimed to be a Quincy...

Ichigo Kurosaki and the others wouldn't believe there wasn't a connection between these events.

"Don't even think about escaping!"

Ichigo Kurosaki's figure flashed, rapidly pursuing Asguiaro Ebern.

"Getsuga—Tenshō!"

Boom!

"Ah..."

Struck directly by Ichigo Kurosaki's Getsuga Tenshō, Asguiaro Ebern let out a scream before falling from the sky, silenced.

Swish swish swish...

Uryū Ishida used Hirenkyaku to arrive before Asguiaro Ebern. Seeing that he was already dead, Uryū looked helplessly at Ichigo Kurosaki. "Ichigo, weren't we supposed to capture him for questioning?"

"Why did you kill him?"

"Sorry, Ishida."

Having killed this Arrancar who could use Quincy abilities, Ichigo Kurosaki felt a bit awkward.

"I didn't expect him to be so fragile..."

From Ichigo Kurosaki's perspective, he had held back considerably with that Getsuga Tenshō.

Considering how the Arrancar had previously blocked his sword pressure, Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshō should have, at most, severely injured him.

But who would have thought that when facing Ichigo Kurosaki's attack, the guy would turn tail and run instead of firing spirit particle arrows to resist?

Shaking his head, Uryū Ishida knelt down and picked up the Quincy cross pendant from the Arrancar's hand. "Ichigo, this is indeed Quincy property. Let's split up."

"You guys go find Shopkeeper Urahara. I'll go ask that guy."

"Okay."

Ichigo Kurosaki nodded.

As he prepared to leave, Ichigo Kurosaki noticed a small, palm-sized disc in Asguiaro Ebern's hand. The disc had cracks resembling a pentagram, through which star-like energy could be seen flowing.

Pocketing the disc, Ichigo Kurosaki headed towards Urahara's shop with Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado.

...

Seireitei.

No one noticed that the Seireitei tonight seemed brighter than usual.

Especially under the moonlight, the shadows of houses, walls, and trees were as dark as thick ink.