The Reiryoku stored inside the Gintō burst out under Uryū Ishida's control, forming a Reishi gathering array in midair, much like a Reishi bow. It drew in Reishi from the atmosphere, then unleashed it in a violent torrent.
The Hollow failed to dodge in time. Its entire shoulder was swallowed up and instantly erased.
The severed arm had only just hit the ground when white Hollow matter surged from the wound. A new arm and shoulder regenerated in an instant and reached for Uryū Ishida.
High Speed Regeneration.
Uryū Ishida clicked his tongue, dodged again to widen the distance, then pulled a steel wire from his sleeve cuff and snapped it out, driving the end into a tree trunk.
His movements were quick and precise. He yanked the wire around another tree and pulled hard, stretching it taut.
That way, the Hollow chasing him from behind would be sliced apart by the wire.
What?
Uryū Ishida's eyes froze.
The Hollow that had been chasing him now only had its lower half left. Its upper half had vanished without a trace.
A gust of wind roared from behind him as the Hollow opened its mouth and shot its long tongue straight at him.
At the same time, the lower half that Uryū Ishida had taken for the Hollow's body also spat out a long tongue and attacked.
This double layered, spinning top like Hollow was not a single creature at all, but two Hollows fused together. Now they split apart without warning and attacked at the same time, leaving him nowhere to evade.
A blue flash cut across the air.
Both tongues were severed at once, blood spraying everywhere.
"You look pathetic."
A man in a white suit stood there with his right hand in his pocket, a silver gray shortbow in his left hand still giving off spiritual energy.
"Uryū."
"How... why is it you..." Uryū Ishida stared at the figure, one so familiar he knew it instantly. "Ryugen."
Silver white short hair parted neatly down the middle. Cold blue eyes behind rimless glasses.
It was none other than Uryū Ishida's father, Ryūken Ishida, the man who hated Quincies.
"So this is how you address your father. By his name?" Ryūken Ishida said expressionlessly. "You really never change, Uryū."
The two injured Hollows roared at the same time, their long tongues regenerating at once.
Ryūken Ishida lifted his eyes. "Be quiet."
Before they could even attack again, both Hollows exploded in midair and dissolved into Reishi.
Only after they had been destroyed did Uryū Ishida see Ryūken Ishida make the motion of raising his bow.
He had wiped out two Menos in an instant, and Ryūken Ishida's right hand had never even left the pocket of his trousers.
Noticing the shock on his son's face, Ryūken Ishida lectured him in the same tone as always.
"Do you understand now? High Speed Regeneration is nothing special. You just have to kill them before they can use it."
"What... do you mean by that..." Uryū Ishida stared at him blankly. "How do you have... Quincy powers?"
Everything from the past came rushing through his mind. Uryū Ishida could not make sense of it.
"You... haven't you always hated Quincies...? Weren't you the one who threw away all Quincy power long ago because of that...?"
"That's exactly why I say you're an idiot. Haven't I told you before?" Ryūken Ishida pushed up his glasses with his middle finger. "I simply had no interest in it. And you had no talent."
Uryū Ishida's fists clenched tight.
"Unfortunately, my power is not something that can be stripped away as easily as yours." Ryūken Ishida frowned slightly. His hatred of Quincies was real. "I, Ryūken Ishida, whether I like it or not, inherited all the abilities and techniques of the previous generation, Sōken Ishida, and became the one who bears the title of [The Last Quincy]..."
Ryūken Ishida pulled a pendant from inside his clothes.
"The only man."
The silver pendant was about the size of a palm. It had a ring, and from the center of that ring extended five branches that reached beyond its outer edge.
Uryū Ishida remembered it. It was the one his grandfather, Sōken Ishida, had worn on his chest.
The Quincy Cross.
"Uryū, you are still immature, yet you dared to go to Soul Society. And after coming back, you even lost that half baked power of yours." Ryūken Ishida's brow tightened further.
"However... I can restore your original power."
Uryū Ishida's pupils shrank uncontrollably.
"You don't believe me? But it's the truth." Ryūken Ishida looked down at his son, disheveled and half exposed from the battle that had just ended. "But I have one condition."
"..." This time, Uryū Ishida felt that Ryūken Ishida really might be able to do it. "Say it."
"You must swear," Ryūken Ishida said coldly, "that from this day on, you will cut off all contact with the Shinigami."
...
"[I can help you take back everything you lost, but you have to promise me that from now on, you will never have anything to do with her again.]"
Rukia Kuchiki read the line in the manga and could not help sighing.
"That's so cruel..."
Soul Society was very different from the World of the Living. In between her studies, Rukia Kuchiki had also been actively learning about the modern world.
More specifically, she did that by watching comedy shows with Orihime Inoue and reading manga.
"But once the protagonist gets the company back, he can just date the heroine again, right? His father would not be able to interfere then." Orihime Inoue leaned closer. "So why say something like that?"
"Because the protagonist has a bad relationship with his father. The father can only help him openly if he sets conditions first," Muten Natsu said. "That way, the father keeps his dignity, and the child keeps his pride."
Orihime Inoue was not very familiar with the earlier part of the story, so she asked curiously, "If the father cares that much about the protagonist, why doesn't he just treat him more warmly?"
"I know this one." Rukia Kuchiki began explaining at length. "Because it is a family business, the protagonist's father wants his child to break away from the family and live freely, so he deliberately acts cold and heartless and keeps his distance. But in the end, the protagonist still starts taking over the family business, and even falls in love with the daughter of a rival family. I guess that is fate."
"Being a father really is not easy..." Orihime Inoue said, sneaking a glance at Muten Natsu.
If Muten Natsu became a father someday, what would he be like?
Orihime Inoue blinked her bright eyes, and an image quietly rose in her mind. Muten Natsu and a child sprawled across a bed, sleeping soundly in a thoroughly unguarded heap.
The little baby would probably be just as sleepy as Muten Natsu...
Maybe they would be as much of a glutton as I am, too.
That would be terrible. If the baby is both sleepy and gluttonous, they will turn into a little piggy.
It would be better if they were slimmer, like Rukia Kuchiki. That is healthier.
And if they learn karate from Tatsuki Arisawa later, there probably would not be any big problems.
If they could also learn healing from Captain Unohana, then their health would be guaranteed too.
I do not even have a baby yet, and I am already thinking this much.
Orihime Inoue rubbed her little belly.
If I really did have a baby, I would probably have even more things to worry about.
Maybe I am thinking too far ahead. Some people are not even able to have babies.
Muten Natsu noticed Orihime Inoue's movement and thought she was not feeling well.
"Orihime, what is wrong?"
"Muten," Orihime Inoue said, looking up, "could I be pregnant?"
Rukia Kuchiki froze, so startled that the manga slipped from her hands.
Ririn shot to her feet.
"Muten Natsu, what did you do to Orihime?!"
Muten Natsu was silent for a moment.
"What did I do?"
His phone vibrated. A directive had come from Soul Society.
Muten Natsu picked it up and checked the message.
"I am going over there to take a look... I really did not do anything!"
...
"All right, that is enough for today," the lion plushie, Gon, called out. "Ichigo."
"Huff... huff..." Ichigo Kurosaki panted heavily as the Zangetsu in his hand dispersed.
Watching the spiritual energy sink back into the silver cross pendant on his wrist, Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes dimmed a little.
Ever since returning from Soul Society, he had been training in this abandoned hospital every single day.
He had wanted to help Muten Natsu save Rukia Kuchiki, but once he reached Soul Society, he had been useless. If anything, the trip had only made him understand even more clearly how powerless and weak he really was.
He wanted stronger power.
"Is it this late already?" Ichigo Kurosaki glanced at the time. "Crap... Yuzu is going to start worrying again."
"I think you should be more worried about yourself," Gon said, hopping onto Ichigo Kurosaki's shoulder. "The training plan Urahara set up for you has a purpose. Brutally doubling it will not make you stronger any faster. It is more likely to wreck your body."
"I am not a genius like Muten Natsu," Ichigo Kurosaki said as he walked out of the abandoned hospital. "I can only rely on hard work."
"Everyone has their own special qualities. What you see is how fierce Muten Natsu is in battle. What you do not see is the price he pays for it." Gon patted Ichigo Kurosaki on the head. "Long term sleep deprivation, the agony of Hell Flames burning through his body, and the constant risk of his body collapsing... Urahara told me that in Hell, those flames are used to punish Togabito."
"Togabito?"
It was already dark, and there was no one on the road, so Ichigo Kurosaki did not need to worry about anyone seeing him talk to a stuffed lion.
"What is that?" he asked.
"They are souls that fall into Hell because of their sins." Gon waved a hand. "Anyway, it is not like you will ever come into contact with them, so do not worry about it."
But Ichigo Kurosaki actually had come into contact with one before. Back then, the Hollow that had hunted Yasutora Sado had been cut down by Muten Natsu, then dragged off by Hell.
"Speaking of which..." Ichigo Kurosaki thought of the black flames on Muten Natsu's body.
"Why does he have those flames?"
"Urahara really did study that. For now, he has two theories." Gon recalled Urahara's explanation. "The first is that the Hōgyoku affected him and created a connection between him and Hell, letting him obtain Hell Flames. The second... is that he may have come out of Hell."
"You can come out of Hell?!"
"If you can go in, of course you can come out. But that kind of situation is way too terrifying." Gon shook his head. "According to Urahara, if Muten Natsu really did crawl out of Hell, then it means this world is probably close to collapsing."
The world... collapsing.
Ichigo Kurosaki could not imagine the peaceful ordinary days he lived through one after another suddenly vanishing completely.
He had to become stronger.
"Wait!" Gon's expression suddenly turned serious, and he turned to stare behind him. "There is something..."
A pitch black tear suddenly split open in the night sky, and a hand reached out from inside it.
The moment Ichigo Kurosaki saw that tear, he immediately thought of that enormous Menos from before, the one so huge it had filled him with despair.
"That is..."
The tear abruptly widened, and a figure flew out of it and stopped in midair.
The monster had a massive blade strapped to its back. Its legs were like a bird's, its arms thick and powerful, and dark brown fur draped over its body like a cloak. The hole in its chest framed the bright crescent moon in the sky.
"Long time no see..." The Hollow pushed the mask covering the upper half of its face up onto its head, revealing a savage grin. "Ichigo Kurosaki."
"You are..." Ichigo Kurosaki stared at the monster in front of him. Its appearance had changed drastically, and its Reiatsu was different from before, but Ichigo Kurosaki still recognized it at a glance. "Grand Fisher!"
The Hollow that had killed Ichigo Kurosaki's mother. The one that could disguise itself.
"Where is Muten Natsu?" Grand Fisher stared at Ichigo Kurosaki. "Tell me honestly, and I will try not to make your corpse look too ugly... just like your mother's."
"Zangetsu!!!"
White bandages wrapped around his left arm as Ichigo Kurosaki roared and brought down the giant blade formed from Reishi on Grand Fisher.
"Oh?"
The air under Grand Fisher's feet seemed to solidify as he stepped upward, easily dodging Ichigo Kurosaki's slash.
"What is that strange thing of yours... so weak it is almost cute."
"Getsuga..." White bandages fluttered around Ichigo Kurosaki's shoulder as the surrounding Reishi gathered in, making the Zangetsu in his hand shine with a brilliant blue glow. "Tensho!"
Under Kisuke Urahara's guidance, Ichigo Kurosaki's ranged attack ability had improved tremendously, and now it even had its own name.
The blue crescent shot into the sky, and the raging Reishi surged toward Grand Fisher in the air.
"Not bad..." Grand Fisher reached up and gripped the hilt of the blade on his shoulder. "Too bad it is only not bad!"
The ten meter long blade came out of its sheath and split the crescent shaped stream of Reishi in two with a single slash.
"A Menos that uses a sword..." Ichigo Kurosaki stared at Grand Fisher. "Looks like you have not been sitting around doing nothing either."
"Menos? Do not compare me to that kind of thing..." Grand Fisher bared his teeth in a vicious grin. "Let me show you my true form. The form of an Arrancar!"
His already massive body swelled even further. The Hollow mask on Grand Fisher's head shattered, leaving only part of the lower jaw behind. Four thick curved horns sprouted from his shoulders, pointing sharply both forward and backward.
"After removing my mask and gaining the power of a Shinigami, I now possess strength greater than ever before!" Grand Fisher swung his blade toward Ichigo Kurosaki. "Sorry, I still cannot fully control this power, so I am afraid I cannot leave your corpse as intact as your mother's!"
"You really are strong now..." Ichigo Kurosaki raised his left hand, still wrapped in bandages. "Good. That means I do not have to worry about you dying too quickly."
Gathered light burst into bloom in Ichigo Kurosaki's palm, and a blue crescent gradually took shape.
"Getsuga... Cross Tensho!"