After exchanging blows for a while, Nemu Kurotsuchi collapsed, her injuries critical. Blood spilled onto the ground in front of her as she stopped moving. Mayuri Kurotsuchi showed no concern and made no move to intervene further.
Turning his gaze toward Uryū Ishida, Mayuri drove his blade into Uryū's arm with precision. Blood splattered outward from the wound.
"Tsk tsk... I've conducted quite a bit of research on Quincies," Mayuri said. "They are fascinating subjects. I've subjected them to various mental and physical trials-splitting open their heads, forcing them to kill their own children, grinding them to blood pulp…"
He tilted his head slightly, his voice detached. "Many Quincies proclaimed things like, 'With my convictions, I will never bend.' Others declared, 'My Quincy pride will not allow me to give in.' Such chatty declarations…"
"But no matter what they said, once I employed Ashisogi Jizō, their resistance always became meaningless." He smirked faintly. "Unfortunately for me, by the time I became captain of the 12th Division, Quincies had already become rare."
"The few survivors were placed under surveillance. I instructed the Shinigami responsible for observation to delay their attacks, ensuring that their souls could be retrieved for my laboratory. It was hardly any effort at all," Mayuri continued. "The most recent subject I obtained was a decrepit old man who kept muttering the name of his disciple…or grandson perhaps. It was irritating."
With a deliberate pause, Mayuri dropped a photograph to the ground. The image displayed only the severed head of a man submerged in liquid, kept preserved for experimentation. Mayuri scratched at his scalp lazily. "What was his disciple's name again…? I forget anything not related to research so easily…"
Uryū lowered his head, his voice steady though his face was shadowed. "I'll tell you… His disciple is also his grandson. His name is Ishida Uryū."
Looking up, his eyes narrowed sharply. "The man in that photograph is Ishida Sōken-my master and my grandfather."
Spiritual threads began to glow faintly and gather at his sides as Uryū rose to his feet. "By my pride as a Quincy… I will kill you."
"Oh? Interesting," Mayuri replied, his outward tone calm though questions raced through his mind. It should have been impossible. Uryū had been struck directly by Ashisogi Jizō's ability.
"Why can he stand after having his neural signals severed? Ashisogi Jizō should already have destroyed his brain's ability to transmit commands to his limbs… What is this ability?"
Blue Reishi particles gathered thickly in the air, flowing toward Uryū like threads of light. They wrapped tightly across his body like interwoven strands of silk.
"Is this… Puppet Form?" Mayuri muttered in fascination. "Countless filaments interlaced into a lattice of Reishi, reconnecting paralyzed areas and allowing movement as though nothing were damaged…"
It was a technique devised by aged Quincies who had lost their physical strength but still sought to fight Hollows. Tendon ruptures, fractures, even complete paralysis could be mitigated by threading the body together with spiritual particles. As its name suggested, it allowed them to continue fighting until the end.
Uryū's body glowed with the blue threads that wound across his shattered frame, linking every tendon and joint. Even though his bones were fractured and his body was unstable, he moved freely so long as the threads sustained him.
For one purpose alone-to destroy his enemy.
High above the battlefield, Yuta stood with his hands in his pockets, watching silently as the confrontation unfolded below. The outcome was inevitable. Mayuri was the one who had killed Uryū's grandfather; the clash between them was unavoidable.
The truth was that Mayuri's experiments had rarely targeted truly powerful Quincies. Most of the stronger ones had withdrawn long ago into the shadows of the Seireitei, hiding in the "Invisible Empire" created within the Wandenreich's domain.
Those left behind in this world were unfortunate. Either they were captured and dissected by Mayuri Kurotsuchi's research, their souls torn apart, and their legacy erased, →or they perished under the authority of Yhwach's so-called sanctification.
In this reality, it was no wonder that Uryū believed he might be the last of his kind.
There was no true righteousness between Quincy and Shinigami. Their conflict was simply the product of centuries of bloodshed and grievances that could never be reconciled.
[You watched Uryū Ishida perform Letzt Stil's Puppet Technique and successfully comprehended it.]
Ishida Uryū's eyes locked onto Mayuri Kurotsuchi with unblinking focus, filled with nothing but anger that seemed capable of setting the world ablaze. Still, his mind drifted back into old memories.
"Master… Master…"
"What is it, Uryū?"
On the rooftop, Ishida Uryū and Ishida Sōken sat together sharing a quiet lunch.
"Master," the young Uryū asked, "you once told me about the genocide two hundred years ago. What you said wasn't clear. Was it truly the Shinigami's fault?"
Ishida Sōken fell silent before answering. "That isn't the case, Uryū… The ones at fault were the Quincy who refused to listen."
"Why?" Uryū asked, unsettled. "The ones who were wiped out were Quincy."
"It's true that far too much life was lost. Once people are gone, it's meaningless to talk about right and wrong… What's important is ensuring such a thing doesn't happen again. Seeing the suffering of either humans, Quincy, and even Shinigami pains me all the same."
Uryū hesitated before continuing. "Master, I have another question."
"What is it?"
"Can the Quincy's traditional outfit be redesigned? I think it looks ugly-and so does your cloak, Master…"
You are a kind man.
You never taught me hatred, not for other people and not for Shinigami.
Even as the last Quincy under close watch by the Gotei 13, you tried to show them that Quincy were necessary and that cooperation was possible...
You told them, "Shinigami are often not fast enough to respond to Hollows appearing in the Human World. That is why we are needed to remain here and act quickly when Hollows surface…"
But the Shinigami would always respond with the same words: "Do not interfere in our affairs."
And then… you died.
That day, five Gillian-class Hollows appeared together.
Without Shinigami support, you had no chance. By the time they arrived-two hours later-you had already fallen an hour before.
If the Shinigami had acknowledged you and the Quincy's worth, they would have responded in time. You would not have been forced to sacrifice yourself.
I remember when my father scolded me, telling me being Quincy would not provide a living. I ran to you in tears.
You crouched down in front of me and said, "He isn't wrong… It's impossible to live as a Quincy alone anymore. For a man responsible for a family, that is a serious matter. But you're right too, Uryū."
I cried harder. "But when I see Hollows, and the people being attacked by them-the Shinigami can't deal with them alone. I've seen this with my own eyes. Father sees it too, so why does he deny it? Master, I want to be stronger. I want to be the strongest Quincy, to protect everyone. If I become that strong, I think even my father will recognize the Quincy!"
Ishida Uryū clenched his right hand tightly, the glow of his glove radiant and warm against his palm. The grip was so intense it seemed he might crush the world itself in his fist.
Ishida Sōken placed his hand on Uryū's head. "Thank you, Uryū. But you must also understand-your father protects different things, and each man's sense of justice is never the same."
"Then… what is it my father wants to protect, Master? Money?"
"You will understand in time," Sōken said gently. "And when you do, you will also know what you wish to protect. For that moment… I entrust this to you." He placed a glove in Uryū's hands. "This is the Sanrei Glove, designed to disperse high-density Reishi. If worn, most Quincy cannot even form a bow at all under its restraint. But if you endure-if you draw the bow and maintain it for seven days and seven nights-you may reach the very height of a Quincy's power. Yet if you take it off, you will lose all Quincy power forever."
"Master…"
"I'm sorry, Master," Uryū whispered now in the present. "I still don't understand my father… nor what I myself should truly protect. But I know one thing that is unforgivable. Please forgive me for breaking your teaching this once."
His resolve solidified.
The glove on his hand tore apart under a violent surge of Reishi.
Immediately, Reishi in the atmosphere rippled violently and converged upon him with a crushing pressure that shook the ground.
Immense wings of light formed behind Ishida Uryū, woven of countless Reishi particles surging toward him.
Boom. Boom. Boom. The air roared with his spirit power.
The oppressive spiritual pressure flooding from his body made the earth tremble as if it would be torn apart.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi narrowed his eyes. "Interesting… A rare specimen indeed. I'll be taking you back to the laboratory."
But as Uryū's spiritual pressure expanded further, Mayuri's pupils widened in shock. "What…What is happening? I never knew Quincy possessed such a form."
The ground beneath Mayuri's feet shimmered and decomposed into raw Reishi particles, rushing toward Uryū. Roofs, beams, tiles-every structure composed of Reishi within Soul Society began to break down, drawn into Uryū's wings like streams into a flood.
"This is… not simple Reishi manipulation," Mayuri muttered with growing alarm. "This isn't collection-it's Reishi domination!"
His face twisted madly as he grasped the scale of it. "Boy… your strength now far surpasses the realm of mortals."
Uryū condensed an arrow of pure Reishi and loosed it with deadly precision.
"So fast!" Mayuri gasped as he dodged-but the next moment Uryū was already above him, bow drawn and aimed downward.
The arrow fell like judgment.
Boom-! The explosion tore the ground apart as smoke surged upward in thick waves.
Uryū's voice cut through it coldly. "Beg for mercy and vanish from my sight… Do that, and I may spare you."
"Otherwise… the next arrow will be three times stronger."
Mayuri dragged himself from the crater, his left arm obliterated and blood spilling freely from his shoulder. He seethed with anger. "Don't be so arrogant… Quincy!"
"In that case, I'll answer with equal measure."
"Bankai-Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō!"
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