"Has it really been half a year already…" Amamiya Miyako muttered, gazing over the city skyline as the evening breeze swept through. Time had flown by, but anxiety had slowly crept into his chest.
The biggest source of frustration wasn't the Hollow extermination missions or even his Quincy training—it was the painfully slow progress with his Zanpakutō's release.
Even under Ishida-san's strict tutelage, his Quincy powers had grown noticeably stronger, but… when it came to his Asauchi, nothing had changed. The spirit within remained silent, as if waiting for something.
"Tch… How long do you plan to stay quiet?" Miyako said, glancing at the plain blade resting in his hand. "We're running out of time here…"
"Oh? That's quite the ominous thing to say, young man. Running out of time, are we?"
The unexpected voice echoed from the shadows ahead.
"Who's there?" Miyako immediately broke into a cold sweat. He hadn't sensed anyone approaching—at all.
"Now, now, no need to be so tense." The voice grew clearer as a figure stepped out from the dark alley. "It's just me. We've met before, haven't we?"
"…Urahara-san?" Miyako murmured, narrowing his eyes.
His hand instinctively reached for the Quincy Cross in his pocket, while his other hand gripped his Zanpakutō tighter. But the moment he recognized the speaker, he stopped, lowering the hand by his pocket.
The man before him was eccentric in appearance, dressed in geta sandals, a striped green-and-white bucket hat pulled low over his face. But Miyako wasn't fooled. He knew exactly who this was.
"You're Kisuke Urahara… Former captain of the 12th Division. First director of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute." Miyako spoke calmly, cautiously, trying to gauge the man's intentions.
"My, my~ You've done your homework, young man. Even though we've only crossed paths once here in the Human World." Urahara chuckled, waving his folding fan. "I even gave you a proper Konsō back then. Quite touching, isn't it?"
Miyako kept his silence. He suspected Urahara had somehow caught wind of his connection to Ishida Ryūken—possibly through the cloaking robe he'd been given. If that thing had Urahara's craftsmanship, it might have some kind of tracking mechanism.
"Relax, I didn't come here to fight or spy." Urahara raised both hands. "I'm not your enemy, Miyako-kun. Just a curious bystander with… a little too much free time, maybe."
"Yare yare… you really do like keeping people guessing, don't you?" Miyako sighed, sheathing his Zanpakutō. "Fine. I'll bite. What business does Urahara-san have with a no-name Shinigami like me?"
Urahara grinned behind his fan. "No-name? That's rather modest, considering a 'no-name' wouldn't be made a seated officer in the 13th Division in just five years."
"…Flattery won't get you far." Miyako's gaze sharpened. "If you're worried I'll leak some Quincy secrets or betray Soul Society, you don't have to. I don't plan to betray the man who saved my life."
"Oh? So you consider Ishida-san your savior? That's rather touching!" Urahara teased, his fan hiding a smirk. "Still, I wouldn't go that far. I was simply fulfilling a favor he asked of me."
"Then let's cut the idle talk. If you're here for a reason, say it plainly."
"You're quite the direct one, aren't you, Miyako-kun?" Urahara said with an amused grin, hiding the lower half of his face behind his folding fan. "But you know… an ordinary Shinigami doesn't climb to a seated officer in the 13th Division in just five short years."
Miyako narrowed his eyes but said nothing. This kind of roundabout talk grated on his nerves. Urahara spoke like he was praising him, but Miyako wasn't naïve. The man was trying to seize control of the conversation—testing him, prodding for weaknesses without giving anything away.
So, Miyako stayed silent, simply locking eyes with Urahara and waiting for him to stop dancing around the point.
"Yare yare, you really are cautious, aren't you?" Urahara chuckled. "Very well, I'll ask directly. What exactly happened on June 17th, five years ago?"
Miyako didn't flinch. He'd expected that question. Of course Urahara would investigate that day—the day when everything changed.
That same date was linked to the deaths of Kurosaki Masaki and Ryuken's wife—wives of Shiba Isshin and Ishida Ryūken, respectively. Too many threads connected to a single day. And now, Urahara was trying to pull at them.
(Ryūken Ishida's wife in Bleach is never named in the manga or anime. In the Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World light novel (which expands on lore), it's stated that she died due to the Auswählen—Yhwach's power that absorbed the life force of impure Quincies.)
"…That was the day I died," Miyako answered, his voice low. "I don't remember anything else. When I woke up, I was already in my soul form. After that, you know the story—Ishida-san found me, and you came to perform Konsō."
He purposefully left out one crucial detail—that Ishida Ryūken had personally searched for him and brought him in. Their arrangement was private. He had no intention of breaking his promise.
"Hmm… I see," Urahara murmured, tapping his fan against his chin thoughtfully.
"Then, Miyako-kun," he continued, his tone soft yet inquisitive, "could you tell me why you were looking for Ishida-san in the first place?"
Miyako's heart skipped. So he really had noticed. Whether through surveillance in Karakura Town, or that black cloak he'd received from Ryūken-san, Urahara had found the connection.
But no matter how clever he was, Urahara's ties still leaned toward Soul Society. And that meant Miyako couldn't risk revealing his Quincy heritage—not even to this enigmatic scientist.
"I just… wanted to say thank you," Miyako said calmly. "And—"
"And?" Urahara prompted.
Miyako smirked slightly. "Why not ask Ishida-san yourself? I thought you two knew each other."
"Ah… well… that's a bit awkward," Urahara said with a sheepish grin, scratching his cheek. "You know how Ryūken-san is. Not exactly the chatty type when it comes to… emotional topics."
"Sorry, Urahara-san," Miyako replied firmly. "Ishida-san and I made an agreement. I can't talk about it."
"Haaah… this is such a headache," Urahara sighed, tugging at his bucket hat. It slipped off, revealing his slightly disheveled blond hair. He caught the hat mid-air and exhaled quietly.
After Masaki's death, he hadn't probed too deeply into that fateful day. But now—with Miyako's sudden death, Ryūken's rare phone call, and his own wife's coma all connected to June 17th—he couldn't ignore it any longer.
Still… Miyako was acting like a crafty little fox, and Ryūken was even more tight-lipped than usual. If neither of them would talk, maybe he'd have to go ask Isshin-san next…
"Well, Miyako-kun," Urahara said, brightening his tone, "as a token of thanks for keeping my little secret, I'd like you to have this."
He casually tossed a small, beat-up flip phone toward Miyako, who caught it midair.
"This is my personal communication device. If you ever need assistance, just give me a call. Works perfectly in both the Human World and Soul Society," he added, voice light but eyes sharp. "Oh, and try not to let other Shinigami see it. Naturally, I've installed a cloaking function so it won't be detected by standard spiritual sensors."
He flashed a peace sign, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
Miyako turned the device over in his hand, expression unreadable. "Kisuke-san didn't install anything weird in here, did he?" he muttered. "No surveillance functions or bugs… right?"
"Ahaha! Miyako-kun, you wound me!" Urahara said with exaggerated shock, hiding behind his fan. "What kind of man do you take me for?"
But beneath the cheerful facade, a cold sweat was forming at the nape of his neck.
In truth, he had considered adding a monitoring function at first. But remembering the way Ishida Ryūken had handled things—and the sharp intuition Miyako always showed—he'd scrapped the idea entirely. And thank goodness for that. If he had installed anything, Miyako might've caught on immediately.
Miyako narrowed his eyes, lifting the edge of the black cloak around his shoulders.
"Heh… and this cloak. I'm guessing it came from you too, Kisuke-san," he said coolly. "That's how you figured out I'd been meeting with Ishida-san, wasn't it?"
"Eh? Oh, my, look at the time!" Urahara said, suddenly flustered. "Lovely weather today, isn't it? I've just remembered a very important errand—so if you'll excuse me, Miyako-kun—ah ha ha ha!"
And with that, the shopkeeper vanished into thin air, leaving only the faint rustle of his haori.
Miyako watched the spot where he'd stood, letting out a short, amused breath.
"Hmph. Just as I thought."
A man like Urahara Kisuke always had tricks hidden in his sleeves. If he hadn't embedded something in the cloak, that would've been more suspicious. Still, Miyako had no intention of discarding it. As long as Urahara didn't use forceful methods, he wouldn't be able to uncover what Ryūken-san and he were really doing.
Besides, Ryūken had assured him—the Reishi Training Chamber they used was completely undetectable. Not even Urahara would be able to trace it. No reiatsu leaks, no reishi trails. Perfect secrecy.
"Well… this is a nice bonus," Miyako muttered, glancing at the flip phone in his hand again.
There were things he still couldn't handle alone. And Urahara, for all his scheming, had access to things Soul Society wouldn't readily provide.
Like the Tenshintai—the spiritual artifact used to force a Zanpakutō spirit into materialization.
Learning Bankai the traditional way would take ten years… but with the Tenshintai?
"Yare yare… guess I should keep my options open."
He tucked the device away, his expression unreadable once more.
******
The Tenshintai (天譴体) in Bleach is a powerful and dangerous artifact used by the Soul Society for forcing the manifestation of a Zanpakutō's spirit, specifically to help a Shinigami achieve Bankai in a short amount of time.
Key Details:
Name meaning: "Tenshintai" roughly translates to "Heavenly Punishment Body."
Purpose: To forcibly draw out the spirit of a Zanpakutō into the physical world so that the Shinigami can train against it and subjugate it to obtain Bankai.
Use in the series:
Renji Abarai and Ichigo Kurosaki both use the Tenshintai during their Bankai training under Yoruichi Shihōin's supervision.
The training method is extremely risky—it puts intense physical and mental strain on the user.
Form: It takes the form of a life-sized training dummy with seals and spiritual bindings. The Zanpakutō spirit is drawn into this form and materialized.
Time required: While normal Bankai training can take 10 years, using the Tenshintai can reduce this to three days, though it's extremely dangerous and not guaranteed to succeed.
In essence, the Tenshintai is a high-stakes shortcut to Bankai, and it reflects the soul-crushing demands placed on Shinigami who must evolve quickly.