"..."
"BB…"
"XP+…"
In the distance, standing beside Kurosaki Ichigo—
Ishida Uryū, who had been casually watching everything unfold, nearly had his eyes pop out of his head when he saw the black-robed figure using a spirit bow.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
The man still held a glowing blue bow and arrow.
Ishida knew that weapon all too well.
It was a spirit bow — the most powerful and iconic weapon of the Quincy.
Looking more closely, he noticed something else: all three strangers — two in white robes, one in black — wore a hexagonal cross on their wrists.
"The Quincy Cross… That's the symbol of the Quincy... But how?" Ishida mumbled, his mind spinning.
"In this world… besides me and my father… there are other Quincies!?"
His voice was dazed, shocked.
In his mind, the Quincy were all but extinct. Over the past decade, Kurotsuchi Mayuri had hunted them down one by one.
As far as Ishida knew, only he and his father remained...
"…?"
Down in the ruins below—
The scorched and injured Captain-Commander Yamamoto caught sight of the black-robed man. His pupils shrank. A memory from a thousand years ago surged through his mind:
"Quincy… Yhwach…"
"Is he… still alive!?"
"Quincy!?"
"Where did these guys come from!?"
"Are they Aizen's allies!?"
The surrounding Shinigami all stared up at the three unknown figures, stunned and confused.
Kyōraku Shunsui narrowed his eyes and said seriously, "These three… their Reiatsu is no weaker than mine. I've never felt such powerful Quincy before."
The other captains looked grim and nodded silently.
For centuries, the Shinigami had been at odds with the Quincy, keeping a close eye on them.
But in all that time, no Quincy of this strength had ever appeared.
Then, just over ten years ago, most Quincy were wiped out, their numbers plummeting so low that the Soul Society stopped watching them.
And now, out of nowhere — at the edge of extinction — three powerful Quincy appeared like new branches sprouting from a dying tree.
It was simply… unreal.
"This is honestly…" Jūshirō Ukitake gave a tired smile, "more chaotic than anything we've seen in the last few hundred years."
Several captains gave bitter laughs.
It was true.
First, Aizen Sōsuke launched an invasion with his Menos army.
Then the Captain-Commander was critically injured.
A human boy, Nanaya, descended from the sky like a god.
Even the long-absent Visoreds had shown up.
One event after another — each more unbelievable than the last.
"Swoosh!!!"
A glowing blue arrow sliced through the sky.
Its speed and power were unreal — like a blazing blue meteor.
But it wasn't just one arrow.
In just a single second, the black-robed Quincy — Yhwach — fired thousands of arrows from his spirit bow.
A sky full of blue streaks — a meteor shower of spiritual arrows.
Nanaya narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched, yet he stayed calm.
In fact, he even found time to tease Ishida:
"Uryū… I always thought the Quincy were weak. But now I see — it's not that the Quincy are weak. You're just weak."
"I—!?" Ishida nearly cursed on the spot.
He hadn't expected this either.
Who would've guessed the nearly extinct Quincy still had monsters like this hiding in the shadows?
"BB…"
A cold glint appeared in Nanaya's eyes.
With a flick of his left hand, the Amanuma Sword appeared — aimed straight at the incoming barrage of arrows.
"DRU!"
A flash of deep black light.
The Amanuma Sword extended across the sky like a wave of darkness.
BOOM!
Thousands of glowing blue arrows shattered and exploded in midair.
Seeing this, Yhwach and the two white-robed Quincy beside him went rigid.
They hadn't expected this much power from Nanaya.
Yhwach stared deeply at him, his tone grim:
"A mere human… yet he gives me the same feeling I had when facing Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni…"
He narrowed his eyes and muttered:
"His power… it feels familiar. Not weaker than mine in the past. No— in some ways… even more complete."
Back when he was still human, Yhwach had somehow awakened the power of the Quincy — and went on to create the entire Quincy race.
Although Nanaya's power was different from that of the Quincy, he could feel a strange similarity between them.
Both were humans who had gained powers far beyond normal limits.
"Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty!"
The white-robed men standing behind Yhwach looked shocked, staring at Nanaya with disbelief on their faces.
"How could this guy be compared to His Majesty!?"
"That's impossible!"
They had believed Yhwach's sudden awakening — after a thousand years of slumber — had been triggered by Aizen Sōsuke and Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
After all, Aizen had fused with the Hōgyoku and was still evolving. His power was terrifying, enough to shake the entire Soul Society.
And Yamamoto, the greatest threat to the Quincy, had been badly wounded by Aizen.
It was the perfect moment — a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
But now they realized… the true reason their king had chosen to awaken, even while still recovering, was not Aizen or Yamamoto…
It was an unknown human boy — Nanaya.
Nanaya smirked and looked at the man in black robes.
"Yhwach, huh?"
The black-robed man — Yhwach — said nothing. But his silence was all the confirmation anyone needed.
The Arrancar and Menos Grande nearby looked at each other, confused. They'd never heard that name before.
Even the younger Shinigami — Hitsugaya Tōshirō, Rukia Kuchiki, and the other lieutenants — wore puzzled expressions.
They, too, didn't know who Yhwach was.
But the older captains — Kyōraku Shunsui, Jūshirō Ukitake, Retsu Unohana — their eyes widened in shock.
"Yhwach… the Quincy King from a thousand years ago?"
"How can that be? Didn't the Captain-Commander kill him!?"
"He's still alive? Where has he been hiding all this time!?"
"Damn it…"
"Yhwach, King of the Quincy…"
"This just keeps getting crazier… there's so much we didn't know."
Aizen Sōsuke, still caught in Nanaya's grip, suddenly began laughing. He quickly regained his calm and said in a low, amused voice:
"Interesting. For now… I don't mind working together."
"Screw you."
Nanaya's smile disappeared. He squeezed Aizen's neck even harder, cutting off whatever else he was about to say.
Aizen's face twisted in anger, eyes filled with rage.
Turning his head, Nanaya glanced down at the injured Yamamoto Genryūsai and said sarcastically:
"Old man, if your ancient skills were even slightly useful, I wouldn't be fighting two-on-one right now."
Yamamoto: "…"
Even while speaking, Nanaya kept moving. The black Truth-Seeking Balls behind him suddenly launched again, stabbing toward Aizen.
Aizen's face changed instantly. He knew how dangerous those spheres were.
He gritted his teeth and let out a furious roar, unleashing his full power:
"Billions of Shields!!!"
A massive blue barrier formed in front of him — created from a million layers of Reiatsu.
Its defense was tens of millions of times stronger than the Sōkyoku platform Nanaya had destroyed before.
But even this was not enough.
The black Truth-Seeking Balls began breaking it down — layer by layer — faster than the eye could follow.
"Ultimate Radial Break!!!"
Aizen shouted again. His six white wings began to shift and deform.
Three skeletal figures emerged from one wing, each opening its mouth and firing intense blue Reiatsu in a circular formation, completely surrounding Nanaya.
Creepy and eerie, the attack pulsed with terrifying energy.
Using the opening, Aizen quickly turned his head toward Yhwach and shouted:
"Yhwach! It's your turn to prove yourself!"
He meant: If we're going to work together, save me now.
Yhwach understood clearly.
He calmly raised his right hand and said:
"I'm not fully recovered yet. My strength is limited. But this much… I can still do."
"Great Saint Bow!"
As soon as the words left his mouth—
A massive blue spiritual bow appeared in the sky, covered in glowing arrows the size of giant spears. It looked like a divine weapon.
The very next moment—
Rain began to fall.
Thousands of blue arrows, glowing like lightning, shot down from the heavens.
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