Tsunayashiro Keiko... one could even say she was the woman who saved the Seireitei.
When the Demon Whitebeard attacked the Seireitei, Liltotto was present. In truth, if she had gone all out back then, it was entirely possible she could have teamed up with Whitebeard to wipe out the Seireitei, or at the very least, deal it a crippling blow. However, Beltz had mentioned that the Shinigami were useful, so she spent the entire time "slacking."
Consequently, when Keiko appeared, Liltotto observed her very closely. That woman had displayed truly terrifying power, enough to make even Liltotto in her state feel a sense of pressure. Most importantly, that woman seemed to have appeared out of thin air, with zero records of her existence in the past.
Hearing Beltz say she was a member of the Twilight Hermit Order made everything click. The Twilight Hermit Order... just by the name, one could tell the members were low-key recluses.
"Why is she capturing Quincies?" Liltotto asked with a frown.
"It's not that she wants to capture them; it's her partner, Aizen, who wants them."
Beltz noticed Liltotto's expression sour. Aizen's reputation preceded him; everyone knew he was a master conspirator. The Shinigami might be in the dark, but the Wandenreich knew exactly what he was. If Candice and the others fell into Aizen's hands, could anything good come of it?
"Don't worry, I asked Keiko to tell Aizen not to harm them," Beltz continued. "They shouldn't face anything major—at most, they'll be research subjects for a while. Besides, in times like these, they might actually be safer with Aizen."
"Safer?" Liltotto raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I can't explain it clearly; it's just a hunch," Beltz said. "Keiko doesn't belong to the Gotei 13, but she represents the Seireitei. Do you think she'll allow the Empire to destroy the Seireitei now that she knows we exist?"
Liltotto remained silent. Beltz added, "I don't know exactly how Gremmy disappeared, but if I had to guess, Keiko likely had a hand in it too."
"You told her about the Empire's existence, didn't you?"
"There has to be an exchange," Beltz said with a wry smile. "You can't just take benefits from others without giving something back."
"...You have a point." Liltotto was reasonable and felt little loyalty to the Empire; she had practically been a rebel in her own right for a long time. Aside from her group of friends, Gremmy was the only one she slightly worried about, but she couldn't blame Beltz for that.
"Don't worry yet. I'll ask Keiko about Gremmy's situation in a moment."
Gremmy had indeed vanished, but he wasn't captured. Keiko had used the connecting power of the Soul King's Right Leg to redirect the Gate of the Sun's destination to One Piece on the other side of the Garganta. As a result, Gremmy's Reiatsu vanished instantly.
Keiko then met Gremmy within the Schatten Bereich. Gremmy realized he hadn't reached Hueco Mundo and frowned at the woman standing before him.
Gremmy was shocked the moment he saw Keiko. He felt an overwhelming pressure radiating from her—a pressure he had only ever felt from Yhwach! No, perhaps even Yhwach couldn't give him a sense of oppression this intense.
Who was this woman?
Unlike other Quincies who could observe the Seireitei from the shadows, Gremmy had been imprisoned, left only with his imagination for company. He had no idea who Keiko was.
"Don't be alarmed. I am here to rescue you," Keiko said calmly.
"Rescue me?" Gremmy replied with an amused tone. "I need saving?"
"Naturally," Keiko said. "In the Wandenreich, you are nothing more than a spare battery for Yhwach. When you are no longer needed, he will reclaim all your power. When you are useful, you are sent to face powerful enemies; when you are not, you are locked away. In all these years, have you never thought of leaving the Empire? Leaving Yhwach?"
Gremmy fell silent. How could he not have thought of it? He had even considered finding a way to kill Yhwach himself! But that was just a thought; in reality, it was impossible. He knew that even as the "strongest" Sternritter, he was no match for Yhwach. It wasn't a gap in imagination, but a hierarchy dictated by the very essence of their lives.
Leave the Empire? That possibility never existed. And even if he left, where would he go? Yet, Keiko's appearance stirred something in him. Though he didn't know her identity, her power was immense—looking at her was like looking at Yhwach. Moreover, he was already outside the Empire; he could feel this wasn't any part of the Three Realms.
"You want me as your subordinate?" Gremmy said. "There's no point in pleasantries. Since you found me directly and said all this, you clearly know about the Sternritter and me."
Gremmy raised a finger to his temple and smiled. "Then I won't put on an act. If you want me as a subordinate, it's simple: show me your strength!"
The moment he finished speaking, a cluster of heavenly fire descended from the sky! Keiko remained still, completely ignoring the flames. Gremmy clicked his tongue in annoyance. He could tell she was strong, but this was too insulting—she didn't even move!
Yet, his attack failed to even scratch her. The fire vanished the moment it neared her body, eroded by some invisible force.
Super Reiatsu Wall!
This was a technique only usable by "Transcendants"—beings whose Reiatsu, in both quality and quantity, far exceeded Captain-level Shinigami. By forming a shield with higher-dimensional Reiatsu, one could not only block physical energy attacks but even destroy abstract concepts and rules. It was the same way Aizen could destroy the Kōtotsu using his Reiatsu.
What is the Kōtotsu? It is a creature in the Dangai that represents time and space—a manifestation of the rules of the Three Realms. While it only moves in the Dangai, its existence is terrifying. Shinigami have ways to suppress the Kōryū (Restrictive Current), but they have no way to deal with the Kōtotsu. Not even Captains. It is a rule-level existence, much like the descriptions of the Schutzstaffel after Yhwach's Auswählen.
Keiko had now reached that same realm. After a brief moment of surprise, Gremmy calmed down. It was only natural for someone this strong.
"Then... how about this?"
As Gremmy spoke, another version of himself appeared in the Schatten Bereich. "Simply put, an extra 'me' means my imagination doubles."
"Bring it on," Keiko said. "Skip the testing. Use your strongest move. I know you can create more than just two versions of yourself. What is your limit? Six? Seven?"
Gremmy was truly stunned this time. His pupils dilated as he bit his lip. This person... she saw right through him! Gremmy was always the one observing others, imagining their everything. This was the first time someone had read him so clearly. He could indeed create more clones, with the limit being seven—but he had never told anyone that!
How did she know?
Looking at the calm Keiko, Gremmy felt as if he were facing an unimaginable existence. His imagination... didn't seem to affect her.
Fine. He would show her the limit of his imagination. Gremmy stopped holding back and split into seven selves! Seven Gremmys meant his imagination was seven times stronger than usual.
"Let's see if you can withstand this!" Gremmy shouted. "Can your Reiatsu still destroy a meteorite of such massive mass?!"
Boom!
The seven Gremmys poured their combined imagination into the sky, instantly creating... an impossibly gargantuan meteorite! Compared to this, the earlier fire was like a tiny lighter flame. The meteorite was several kilometers in diameter! If it crashed down, the entire Schatten Bereich would be destroyed, and the residual force would sink Onigashima in the outside world!
Keiko looked up at the giant fireball and finally moved. In the original story, Gremmy used a meteorite against Kenpachi Zaraki, but that was created by only two Gremmys. This one was created by seven! While imagination doesn't scale perfectly linearly, this move was something few in the Three Realms could survive. Even if Keiko destroyed it with a Reiatsu wall, the resulting explosion would tear the Schatten Bereich apart. This wasn't just energy; it was solid matter with terrifying mass. Matter created by Gremmy is real; even if he died, the meteorite would remain.
Solving it while confining the damage to a small area—that was the true challenge.
However, Keiko didn't even draw her blade. She simply reached out, her pale palm facing the falling rock.
"Your power is imagination, and one of my abilities is also imagination," Keiko said softly. "You imagine it exists; I only need to imagine its original state of nothingness."
Return to the Past!
The Age-Age Fruit doesn't just draw out future power; it can manipulate the past. With Keiko's current strength, she could regress the meteorite to its beginning. A human's beginning is an infant, but this meteorite's beginning was merely Gremmy's thought.
As the Age-Age power acted on the matter, it regressed from its physical form back into an imaginary state—becoming "nothing." The massive meteorite, poised to end the world, vanished from bottom to top like fire scattered by the wind!
Gremmy stood frozen, utterly aghast. He thought she might break it, but he never expected this. Not destroyed, but erased. From existence to non-existence.
How?! Her power... was also imagination?
"This... what kind of power is this?" Gremmy murmured.
"As I said, it is also the power of imagination." Keiko lowered her hand and tucked it into her pocket. "So, stay by my side, and I will show you a world far richer than anything you've ever seen. Your imagination will flourish in the New World; I won't restrict your abilities like Yhwach did."
Yhwach imprisoned Gremmy partly due to his arrogance, but mostly to stunt his growth. To imagine something, Gremmy needs to understand its structure. Trapped in a cell, he could learn nothing, and thus could not grow. Keiko had no such fears. No matter how strong Gremmy became, she was confident she could suppress him.
"Then... let me see how rich the imagination of your world is," Gremmy said softly.
With no loyalty to the Wandenreich, Gremmy felt no guilt about defecting. Besides, he knew he probably wouldn't survive the day if he refused. Gremmy hated death, because in the world after death, there is nothing left to imagine.
Thus, he agreed to become Keiko's subordinate.