"...This is basically everything I experienced after entering that space, following Captain Mayuri's report."
Inside the Gotei's meeting hall, Ishikawa sat on a chair and recounted his experiences upon arriving in the Wandenreich from beginning to end, then continued, "The known intelligence now is that they possess the ability to usurp Bankai; once a Bankai is used in front of them, it might be stolen.
Although I only encountered a few Sternritter members, every single one I met possessed strength comparable to, or even stronger than, a Gotei 13 Captain.
I imagine the others' strength won't be too weak either."
"What's most troublesome is the diverse and extremely powerful abilities they possess, along with a form of Quincy Vollständig that is completely different from the one Ishida Uryū once displayed, with no side effects whatsoever."
Ishikawa's words caused the faces of all the Captains present, except for Mayuri and Captain Commander, to turn grim.
"You just said that the people in the Sternritter are ranked by so-called 'Schrifts,' which means there are at least 26 Captain-level existences among them? Isn't that a bit too outrageous?"
Soi Fon's brows furrowed with a hint of doubt; she wasn't questioning the truth of Ishikawa's words, but rather the idea of 26 members comparable to or even stronger than Captain-level was simply too exaggerated.
"According to the Shinigami Research and Development Institute's statistics, excluding the leader, there are a total of 28 known Sternritter members, three of whom died at Ishikawa's hands."
Before Ishikawa could speak, Captain Commander, seated at the head, had already begun, "And according to the analysis by the Shinigami Research and Development Institute based on intelligence from Hueco Mundo, what Ishikawa said is actually somewhat conservative."
Conservative?
"Strictly speaking, the vast majority of them possess strength greater than Captain-level."
After Captain Commander spoke, he glanced at Mayuri below him.
Seeing this, Mayuri said nothing more, but directly took out a spherical object from his Pregnant, then closed his fingers, and with a crisp 'crack,' crushed the sphere.
A burst of Reishi immediately spread out, integrating into everyone present, including Ishikawa, who was sitting in his chair.
This is…
Ishikawa was slightly stunned, a strange look flashing in his eyes.
Because this ability was very similar to Ulquiorra's 'Shared Vision.' Once the image integrated into his mind, it was as if a new memory had suddenly appeared, but this memory was presented from a 'God's-eye view.'
And after this memory integrated, Ishikawa felt as if he were above the battlefield, witnessing the battle in Hueco Mundo firsthand, even sensing the powerful Reishi fluctuations around those individuals.
Ishikawa saw Picaro's defeat, the Espada's resistance, and the transformation of Harribel and Starrk, as well as…
The final scene where the entire Hueco Mundo used a 'Negación' to rescue him.
This finally allowed Ishikawa to understand how he had escaped from the Wandenreich.
After browsing the memory in his mind, Ishikawa couldn't help but glance at Mayuri; it seemed this fellow had created many new things after plundering Szayelaporro's research data.
The crushed sphere he held must have been created by imitating Ulquiorra's ability.
Although the footage was long, this method of directly adding a memory to the mind allowed everyone to experience the war that occurred in Hueco Mundo in an instant.
However, everyone's first reaction was not surprise at the Sternritter's strength, but rather they all cast strange glances at Ishikawa.
Although Ishikawa's connection with Hueco Mundo was no secret—during the battle with Aizen, several Arrancar even assisted him, and afterward, Ishikawa frequently visited Hueco Mundo privately, reportedly even opening a branch of the Everything Store there—
Nevertheless, while these matters were widely known, neither Captain Commander nor the Central 46 pursued them, acting as if they hadn't seen anything.
So, everyone present had always pretended not to know, especially since after the battle with Aizen, Ishikawa's strength had grown to a point where the entire Gotei 13 felt wary of him, and since he wasn't a member of the Gotei 13, no one had the right to control what he did.
It wasn't that they couldn't punish him under the pretext of 'endangering the Seireitei's safety,' but doing so would only force Ishikawa to become an adversary to the Shinigami, creating an enemy even more terrifying than Aizen out of thin air.
Ultimately, the entire Seireitei reached an unspoken understanding on this matter.
As long as the Central 46 and Captain Commander didn't speak up, then they hadn't seen, didn't know, and weren't clear; don't ask me.
But…
"Are you wonderful?"
Soi Fon glared at Ishikawa with a dark expression; this scoundrel had actually allowed the Arrancar in Las Noches to grow to such terrifying strength in just one short year.
If Soi Fon didn't trust Ishikawa so implicitly, she might even suspect that Ishikawa, like Aizen, intended to use Hueco Mundo as a stepping stone to attack Soul Society.
"Accident… accident…"
Ishikawa chuckled dryly, feeling somewhat speechless himself; the effect the Reiatsu Crest had on the Arrancar was almost unbelievable to him.
After barely a year of not seeing them, those Arrancar he had modified were actually able to stand their ground against the Sternritter.
This even gave Ishikawa the urge to transform into a Hollow himself, to experience the transformation brought by the Reiatsu Crest.
After all, on him, the Reiatsu Crest basically only served to replenish his Reishi…
But back to the main topic, even Soi Fon, whose favorable impression of Ishikawa exceeded normal bounds, reacted this way, so the reactions of the other Captains were naturally even more pronounced, with some even flashing a hint of wariness in their gaze towards Ishikawa.
Ishikawa didn't mind this.
After the Aizen incident, the Gotei 13 was already highly vigilant towards Hueco Mundo, so their reaction was quite normal.
"Hahahahaha— Hey!"
However, there were exceptions like Zaraki, who directly 'darted' to Ishikawa's side, excitedly asking, "Does your Everything Store have a Senkaimon to Hueco Mundo?"
"…." Ishikawa.
Hmm, I must be careful in the future and absolutely not let this guy run off to Hueco Mundo.
"Heh heh, aren't you guys focusing on the wrong thing?"
Mayuri let out a strange laugh, a hint of mockery on his face: "Although those Quincies calling themselves 'Wandenreich' attacked Hueco Mundo first, like Aizen, they only occupied Hueco Mundo to use it as a foundation for attacking Soul Society, but…"
"The strength of this 'foundation' far exceeded the 'intelligence they possessed'."
Mayuri emphasized the words 'intelligence they possessed,' and the meaning conveyed in his words was immediately understood by everyone present, except for Zaraki.
The Wandenreich's understanding of Hueco Mundo was entirely consistent with the Seireitei's understanding of Hueco Mundo, and recalling the abnormal phenomena that had appeared within the Seireitei earlier, what this represented no longer needed to be said.
"But even so, if Ishikawa hadn't invaded the Wandenreich immediately, Hueco Mundo would now have become the Wandenreich's outpost for attacking Soul Society…"
"Regarding Ishikawa's trips to Hueco Mundo and his assistance in strengthening the Arrancar, I received relevant information from Urahara over a year ago. The Central 46 has judged this matter and decided not to pursue it."
Captain Commander interrupted Mayuri, his aged eyelids opening a slit: "I agree with the Central 46 on this matter. Arrancar are different from ordinary Hollows; without the need to devour souls, they have no direct conflict with us.
And I also believe that the Gotei 13 under my command will not be afraid because the Arrancar are strong."
Upon hearing this, the Captains present all retracted the strange looks in their eyes.
Only Shunsui and Unohana gave Ishikawa a peculiar glance.
The Central 46's judgment…
Am I judging myself?
…
The meeting lasted for nearly an hour; although the power of the Wandenreich was recognized, without a way to proactively attack, they could only prepare defensive measures in advance.
For example, relocating the Captains' quarters to open spaces that would not be covered, and strengthening monitoring of the Human World and capturing Quincy Reishi as preventive measures.
After the meeting, the Fourth Squad and the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, under the Commander's orders, thoroughly examined Ishikawa's physical condition.
Once it was determined that he did not require treatment apart from having lost his Shinigami abilities, he was allowed to return to Rukongai.
Following this anomaly, the entire Seireitei's nerves were strained.
However, unexpectedly…
The next few days were unusually calm.
Neither the Human World nor Hueco Mundo showed any signs of Quincies, as if those terrifyingly powerful Quincies had vanished into thin air.
Second Division's temporary headquarters.
"Still no trace of the Quincies?"
Soi Fon sat behind her desk, asking Ōmaeda in front of her.
The entire Seireitei had initiated 'Level One Alert' after Ishikawa's return.
All residents had been evacuated to the new shelters constructed by the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, which were reportedly modified by Captain Mayuri to be immune to the Wandenreich's coverage.
All dispatched Shinigami were recalled to Soul Society to form joint patrol teams, maintaining constant vigilance.
The Onmitsukidō, due to their unique nature, were dispatched to Rukongai, the Human World, and even Hueco Mundo to gather intelligence.
It's worth noting that… all personnel sent to Hueco Mundo were members of Ishikawa's Supervisory Team.
This was done to prevent intelligence gatherers from accidentally being eaten by Hollows.
Ōmaeda shook his head: "According to the latest intelligence, there are still no signs of other Quincies appearing outside of the Ishida family.
No intelligence gathering members in various locations have gone missing, and the supervision of the Ishida lineage of Quincies has not revealed any contact between them and the Wandenreich."
The Onmitsukidō's intelligence gathering adopted a ten-minute reporting cycle; if no new report was received within ten minutes, it was treated as a disappearance, and work would proceed accordingly.
Soi Fon frowned deeply upon hearing this; the feeling of knowing an enemy was lurking in the shadows but only being able to passively defend was truly infuriating.
"What about Ishikawa? How is his spiritual body recovering?"
The fact that Ishikawa had lost his Shinigami abilities was no secret, but everyone had grown accustomed to the peculiarities surrounding Ishikawa; a disintegrated spiritual body was nothing new for him.
"Uh…"
Ōmaeda's expression became a bit strange, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "According to the Supervisory Team's report, he… he just took on a new commission… and is currently in Rukongai North Borough 2, performing…"
"Why are you stammering?" Soi Fon snapped, her tone icy.
"Performing public restroom cleaning duties!"
…
Silence.
The temporary office immediately fell silent.
After a while, Soi Fon asked, somewhat uncertainly, "What kind of work?"
"Public restroom cleaning work!"
…
After confirming she hadn't misheard, Soi Fon's face instantly darkened.
What in the world was this scoundrel thinking? At a time like this, he was still taking commissions from Rukongai residents.
Taking commissions was one thing, but cleaning public restrooms? What the hell was that?
"However, on the Rukongai side, Ishikawa has already made arrangements."
Ōmaeda, seeing her reaction, quickly changed the subject: "He has evacuated all residents from the eastern, southern, western, and northern areas of Rukongai, near Seireitei District 1, and stationed villains from the lower-numbered districts there, essentially encircling the entire Seireitei."
Hearing this, Soi Fon couldn't help but rub her head.
This guy really has no taboos; isn't he afraid of arousing suspicion within the Seireitei?
The Central 46 trusts him too much, don't they?
Is having a virtuous elder sister really that convenient?
"However, according to the latest news, Captain Commander has issued an order to distribute Asauchi to all villains from the lower-numbered districts, classifying them as Eleventh Division auxiliary members with jurisdiction over Rukongai, allowing them to enter the Seireitei to participate in battles under special circumstances, led by Eleventh Division Seated Officers."
"The Eastern Auxiliary Unit is managed by Ikkaku Madarame, Third Seat of the Eleventh Division; the Southern by Ayasegawa Yumichika, Fifth Seat of the Eleventh Division; the Northern by Kusajishi Yachiru, Vice-Captain of the Eleventh Division; and the Western by a notorious villain under Ishikawa named Nishijin Ori."
Auxiliary members?
A solemn look flashed in Soi Fon's eyes; incorporating notorious villains from the lower-numbered districts into their ranks was not unprecedented, similar situations had occurred at the very beginning of the Seireitei's existence.
This indicated that…
The Commander had gone all-in to resist the Wandenreich's invasion.
…
At the same time, North Borough 2.
Ishikawa took off his waterproof apron, tossed it into a nearby trash can, and, not minding the dirt, sat directly on a chair outside the public restroom.
Actually, there weren't many public restrooms in Rukongai; most were located in Districts 1 and 2, as these two areas were frequently frequented by Shinigami, and many people with the potential to become Shinigami resided there.
However, Ishikawa's previous public restroom cleaning jobs were mostly in District 1; the public restrooms in District 2 were rarely used.
But with the evacuation of District 1 residents, the previously unkempt public restrooms in District 2 had unexpectedly become high-traffic areas…
Sitting on the chair, Ishikawa assessed his own condition.
Having gone through it once before, he no longer needed to seclude himself to restore his spiritual body; he only needed to absorb Reishi.
So, rather than sitting idly in an underground training ground, he preferred to be out and about.
In fact, for Ishikawa now, taking on jobs in Rukongai no longer offered much help, and the experience points gained were incredibly scarce.
But decades of busy life had made taking commissions a daily routine for Ishikawa, like brushing his teeth every morning; he just felt something was missing if he didn't work.
Compared to sitting idly, working actually allowed Ishikawa to calm his mind and think about more things.
Suddenly, Ishikawa's expression darkened as he sat on the bench, and he abruptly stood up, looking towards the direction of the Seireitei.