Whether it's physical defects, lack of strength, or even a lack of emotions, all of them can be compensated for.
The only flaw is that those who gain power this way usually won't live long.
Even so, they still worship the "vegetative state" Yhwach as a god.
Why?
Because in the world of the dead, the soul is the foundation. The body here is just a shell.
That's why you rarely see people with congenital defects in the Soul Society.
Even if someone was deaf, blind, or missing limbs in the world of the living, once they cross over, their souls are restored, and they become like any ordinary person.
The reason is simple: their souls are intact.
People like Tōsen are rare.
The soul carries everything—Reiatsu, talent, memory, emotion, ability—you name it.
So if a defect exists in the soul itself, no amount of physical healing can fix it.
But if you make up for a flaw in the soul, all deficiencies—whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual—can be fixed.
And Yhwach's ability, [Soul Sharing], does exactly that.
He was born with the power to give out fragments of his soul to anyone who comes into contact with him.
If you get one of Yhwach's soul fragments, you gain power, cover up your own flaws, and forge a connection with him.
That's the essence of Soul Sharing.
In a way, Tōsen "chose the wrong side."
If this poor guy had picked the Quincy instead of the Shinigami, he could've easily regained his sight.
And he could've fought the Shinigami fair and square without turning into a monster or suffering through endless guilt and torment.
Because of this, Yhwach's followers call him God.
But it's a shame.
This so-called holy king of the Quincy, who talks about peace and purity, isn't a selfless god or an angel of light—he's a demon who deals in souls.
Soul Sharing sounds beautiful on the surface, but it's actually high-interest loan sharking.
And worse, it's forced.
The more you use the power from Yhwach's soul fragments, the deeper the debt you owe. The heavier the price.
And when you die, Yhwach collects.
He takes back everything in your soul—your Reiatsu, your experience, your abilities, your knowledge, your vitality, and even your soul itself.
It's basically signing a contract with the devil.
Sure, you get stronger for a while.
But in the end, you'll be bled dry.
And one day, your soul might scatter into nothingness.
What makes this ability terrifying is that it doesn't matter whether you're willing or not.
As long as you come into contact with one of Yhwach's soul fragments, the link is made.
Then, whether you like it or not, when you die, your power—and even your soul—belongs to him.
It's a total shakedown.
This ability is how Yhwach grew from a blind, deaf, paralyzed baby into the King of the Quincy.
But there's a catch.
He has to keep giving out soul fragments and absorbing the power of others, or else he'll revert to his weak, helpless state.
He might even die of exhaustion.
In other words, Yhwach gets stronger the older he gets—but only as long as he keeps feeding on other souls.
And that's not even the worst part.
If Yhwach gives out a larger soul fragment—through engraving or blood inheritance—he can completely control the distribution of power among his subordinates.
Vitality, Reiatsu, you name it.
He can adjust it however he likes.
And if he wants to, he can recall those soul fragments anytime he pleases.
He can collect his debts early.
That's sanctification.
This is true for all Quincy, including the Sternritter and the Schutzstaffel.
And because of this, through the Auswählen (Holy Selection), Yhwach can forcibly drain all power from half-blood Quincy and bestow it on others.
He can even use the Holy Selection to resurrect dead Schutzstaffel members—or strip them of everything, including their lives and powers.
In short, his subordinates are just batteries and toys to Yhwach.
They have no say in the matter.
He can mold them however he wants.
And now, Yhwach has scattered soul fragments throughout the Soul Society.
It's obvious why—he's laying the groundwork for the coming war.
For the Thousand-Year Blood War.
When the time comes, all the dead Shinigami and Quincy will become his property.
Their powers will feed him.
And with that, he can fully restore himself and reopen his almighty eyes—the Eyes of The Almighty.
Not a bad little scheme.
The leader of the Quincy has definitely gotten smarter after being kicked around by life.
Thousands of years ago, even after the Monk (Ichibei) sealed his Eyes of The Almighty with the Soul King's arm, Yhwach didn't back down.
He still led a horde of Quincy to slaughter the Soul Society.
And then he got stomped by Genryūsai Yamamoto, who was practically dancing on piles of Shinigami corpses.
Yhwach's ashes were nearly scattered to the wind.
The sly monk Ichibei, the godlike old Chōjirō, and ruthless Old Man Yama all taught the young Quincy king a brutal lesson.
Kindness and honesty don't win wars.
In this world, nice guys get shot first.
Since then, Yhwach learned to keep his head down, bide his time, and build his empire in silence.
He also learned not to treat his subordinates like cannon fodder—for a while, anyway.
But even with his incomplete Eyes of The Almighty and his Soul Sharing ability, none of that works on Shiroha.
No matter how clever Yhwach's plan is, he's got no answer for him.
Not yet.
At this stage, Yhwach is still too weak!
Things will get interesting once Yhwach absorbs the Soul King's power.
But by then, Shiroha should already have the completed Hōgyoku.
And after that, he can wrap up a few special missions.
When the time comes, he'll make sure to give "Soul King Yhwach" one hell of a surprise.
Thinking about that bright future, Shiroha still kept his focus on the present.
He used his perfected Observation Haki to continue studying the soul fragments floating in front of him.
They looked small, but each one contained a trace of rule power—potentially infinite possibilities.
The "Yhwach" inside Ichigo's inner world was actually a manifestation of these soul fragments.
He was also the embodiment of Quincy power.
By analyzing the rule power within the fragments, Shiroha gained a deeper understanding of the secrets behind the Transcendent Realm and the Eyes of The Almighty.
In the world of the dead, the evolution of powers and forms is ultimately the evolution of the soul.
Some powers might seem invincible, but they're still limited by the user's Reiatsu and soul strength.
They all have their caps.
If you want to evolve your abilities, you have to strengthen your soul.
But whether you're Shinigami or Hollow, your soul's strength has a limit.
Once you hit that ceiling, you stagnate.
You can't grow anymore.
That bottleneck is determined by both race and talent.
Therefore, their Reiatsu and abilities also have limits.
Only when the soul evolves to a higher level can those limits be broken.
The power that breaks those limits is the power of the Transcendent—the power of rules..
And once you evolve your soul and abilities to that stage, you're overwhelmingly powerful compared to lower-level beings.
It's a dimensional gap—an absolute advantage in strength that's nearly impossible to cross.
At this point, the only thing that could possibly threaten Shiroha is Transcendent power.
Normal Shinigami Bankai or Quincy Schrift abilities can't hurt him at all.
That said, there are still a few special methods in the world of the dead to reach Transcendent-level power.
The simplest method is becoming the host of one of the Soul King's body parts.
For example:
• Mimihagi who is in Ukitate, who possesses the Soul King's right arm.
• Gerard Valkyrie, who holds the Soul King's heart.
And there's always individual talent or unique abilities.
Like Aizen, who was "a weak Shinigami" but transcended by merging with the Hōgyoku.
Or Yhwach, who used his Soul Sharing to stack the power of The Almighty to Transcendent levels.
Similarly, Shiroha can rely on the attribute points he earns from daily tasks to stack his powers, evolving his soul beyond the limits of Shinigami and Hollow alike.
Once the soul evolves, it can carry more abilities, stronger ones—far beyond anything a Captain from the Thousand-Year Blood War could comprehend.
And life itself becomes nearly immortal.
This is the true secret of the Transcendent.
After finishing his observation, Shiroha reached out and crushed the remaining soul fragments floating around him.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of Soul Society, a massive palace stood quietly. Surrounded by ice, it was the Ice Palace of the Wandenreich. The stronghold of the Quincy. The base Yhwach built to honor his homeland.
He had grown up surrounded by ice and snow. That was his birthplace, and it shaped him. In that harsh land, he broke through his limitations step by step—first, he saw the world. Then, he heard its voices. Eventually, he saw the future... and took control of it.
Omniscience and omnipotence became both his greatest ability and his deepest wish. No one understood better than Yhwach how terrifying and desperate it was to be trapped in the dark. So after waking from his long sleep, he resolved to eliminate all hidden threats. He would bring an end to death and darkness. And to do that... sacrifices and war were necessary.
At this moment, Yhwach frowned. His thoughts darkened. "The soul fragments I released were destroyed?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Yamamoto?"
He shook his head. "No... He doesn't have that ability."
"The Eyes of The Almighty?" He paused, then growled, "Hyōsube Ichibē... You're courting death!"
This was too much. I've already died once! What more do you want? Sealing me with "my father's hand" wasn't enough? Now you want to kill me too? I'll kill you sooner or later!
In the Ice Palace, Jugram Haschwalth stood below Yhwach's throne. He immediately noticed the change in Yhwach's expression.
Bowing slightly, he asked, "Your Majesty, has something happened? Is there anything we can do for you?"
Several other Sternritter also noticed. Yhwach was omnipotent, omniscient—always calm. But this was the first time they'd ever seen such a clear shift in his mood.
Yhwach, who had already regained his composure, waved them off. "Don't worry," he said disapprovingly, "it's just the powerless struggle of a few weak fools."
"They're trying to stop us from moving forward... but they'll fail. You know, I hate war. More than anyone, I long for peace."
His tone darkened. "But those rats hiding in the shadows don't deserve the light. There's no place for them in the world to come!"
A thousand years ago, Hyōsube Ichibē had come to him with the Soul King's left arm. Yhwach used The Almighty to look into it. But he didn't see the real future—he only saw the true form of his "father."
At that moment, Yhwach realized: The Almighty couldn't see through anything related to the Soul King's remains. That was when he finally understood the truth about the world... and about the Soul King.
This so-called god was nothing more than a remnant, sealed in crystal. Barely alive. And that pitiful remnant was being manipulated by a snake like Ichibē. How pathetic.
"Your Majesty, your will guides our swords!" Lille Barro, Captain of the Schutzstaffel, bowed slightly, his face resolute.
Yhwach continued, "I can hear them—the cries of the souls returning to me. Their resentment. Their pain. They're begging, they're terrified. They don't want to die. They're afraid."
He clenched his fist. "This world is wrong. It's ugly. It needs to be fixed."
Ever since he first laid eyes on the miserable state of his "old father" with The Almighty, Yhwach had been completely disillusioned. The Soul King had sacrificed everything to maintain balance for thousands of years. And what had he gotten for it? Nothing. Just a cage filled with death, pain, fear, and resentment.
So Yhwach made up his mind. He would destroy this world. He would kill death itself. And free his father.
As Yhwach's other half, Jugram Haschwalth understood him. He knew everything about the Soul King. And he understood Yhwach's complicated feelings toward him.
But even so, Haschwalth still had doubts. He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Your Majesty, there's something I don't understand. Why isn't Yamamoto listed as one of the Special War Potentials?"
As leader of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto's power couldn't be ignored. In terms of pure destruction, Ryūjin Jakka was almost unmatched. With such a dangerous Zanpakutō and Yamamoto's strength, he was far from ordinary.
On the other hand, Ichigo Kurosaki and Kenpachi Zaraki didn't seem that dangerous. It was hard to imagine how those two could have more impact on their plans than Yamamoto.
Jugram knew Yhwach must have had a reason. But he wanted to hear it.
The other Sternritter were curious too, though not as much. To them, the Holy Letters and Vollständig made them invincible. The Special War Potentials list felt more like a ranking of bounty targets or military achievements.
How strong could some old man really be? With the Medallion that could steal a Shinigami's Bankai, even the strongest Captain was no threat. No Shinigami could defeat them.
Yhwach looked toward the distant Sun Gate. He spoke softly: "Because I can see Yamamoto's future. It's a sad one."
"He's old. His heart... his sword... They've gone soft."
"All that awaits him now is death."
Even if The Almighty wasn't fully restored yet, Yhwach could still catch glimpses of the future. He just couldn't change them. But what he saw was always true.
And that's why he considered Kenpachi Zaraki, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Kisuke Urahara to be the real threats. They were the variables. If those three were removed, his victory would be absolute.
As for Shiroha... He was the strangest one of all.
Yhwach couldn't see any future involving him. As if the man didn't exist in the future at all.
If it were anyone else, Yhwach would assume they died early, which is why they had no future. But Shiroha? That man wouldn't die so easily.
"Mystery" was his synonym. And it was also his greatest power.
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