Amamiya Miyako lowered her hand that was reaching for her sword. She quickly used Shunpo to dodge the arrows flying towards her. She gripped the Quincy Cross in her hand and began to gather reishi, forming a reishi bow.
"Shunpo, huh… Don't use Shunpo either; that's a Shinigami technique. Try to gather reishi under your feet to move. From now on, I want you to seal all Shinigami techniques. Whether in combat or movement, use reishi manipulation to fight."
This demand immediately stumped Amamiya Miyako. After all, she had studied in Soul Society for five years, and suddenly being unable to use any of it was truly difficult. But what Ishida Ryūken said made sense; if she relied on Shinigami techniques, her reishi manipulation ability would never improve.
"I understand, Ishida-san." Amamiya Miyako raised her reishi bow, her other hand beginning to condense arrows.
Ishida Ryūken also began to condense arrows with one hand, shooting them towards Amamiya Miyako. Seeing this, Amamiya Miyako also fired arrows at him.
Two arrows sped towards each other, but Amamiya Miyako's arrow quickly dissipated upon hitting Ishida Ryūken's arrow. 'What's going on?' Amamiya Miyako's eyes widened. She then quickly rolled to the side to dodge.
"Your Holy Arrow of Destruction formed by Lingzi Jisou is merely superficial; both its quality and quantity are far from enough. If it's only this level, it would be difficult to even kill a regular Hollow. Try to compress more reishi while maintaining its size." Ishida Ryūken's explanation made Amamiya Miyako realize the truth.
It turned out she was simply gathering reishi, merely forming the shape of an arrow, but the power of such an arrow was very low.
Amamiya Miyako followed his instructions, condensing reishi to form an arrow, and tried to gather more reishi into the arrow, compressing the reishi so that the arrow's size wouldn't change.
But before Amamiya Miyako could finish, several more arrows immediately came flying at her. Amamiya Miyako was caught off guard and hit by the arrows, stumbling backward.
"No one will foolishly wait for you to complete your actions. I told you, gather reishi under your feet, and don't stop your hand movements at the same time."
Amamiya Miyako stood up and began to gather reishi again, while simultaneously running and gathering reishi under her feet. The ground of this reishi space was uneven, giving Amamiya Miyako no chance to run steadily; she could only rely on various movements to dodge Ishida Ryūken's arrows.
…
"That's enough for today." Ishida Ryūken turned and stopped his movements, preparing to walk out the door.
On the other side, Amamiya Miyako was already covered in wounds. Using only Quincy abilities, Amamiya Miyako was still too naive; under Ishida Ryūken's attacks, there wasn't a single intact spot on her body. Fortunately, the spiritual pressure within her was still ample, so carrying out Shinigami missions should be no problem.
"From now on, be here promptly at five o'clock every day." With that, Ishida Ryūken walked out.
"I understand." Amamiya Miyako also walked out of this reishi-constructed space.
"Oh, and this is for you too." Ishida Ryūken tossed an item from his hand. Amamiya Miyako caught it and found a black cloak.
"This can temporarily hide your spiritual pressure. It would be troublesome if other Shinigami found you frequently coming to my place," Ishida Ryūken said, pushing up his glasses.
"This is a great help, Ishida-san." Amamiya Miyako was originally wondering how she would come over once Vehicular Tani, the Fourth Seat, recovered, but she hadn't expected Ishida Ryūken to have already figured out how to help her hide from others. And looking at the black cloak in her hand, Amamiya Miyako recognized that this should be the tool Kisuke Urahara and Aizen had both used to hide spiritual pressure.
So this cloak must have been obtained from Kisuke Urahara. Amamiya Miyako did not ask, nor did Ishida Ryūken explain; they reached a tacit understanding.
"It was just a transaction." Ishida Ryūken walked out of the hospital, no longer paying attention to Amamiya Miyako.
Amamiya Miyako also did not linger, but instead went to her former home. However, five years had passed, and her former room had been demolished, with other people living there now.
This meant that Amamiya Miyako's last trace in the Human World had also disappeared. After just one glance at the room and the street, Amamiya Miyako no longer lingered. Because at this moment, Amamiya Miyako had no time for nostalgia; in the coming years, both the Human World and Soul Society would undergo sudden changes.
All Amamiya Miyako could do was keep moving forward. Donning the black cloak, Amamiya Miyako decided that, in order to improve her proficiency in reishi manipulation, she would try to use Quincy power as much as possible before purifying Hollows, and then use her Zanpakuto to purify the Hollows in the end.
On a utility pole, Amamiya Miyako pulled out the Quincy Cross she had received from Ishida Ryūken, held it high, and looked at the cross reflecting a silver light under the moonlight. He suddenly gripped the cross tightly and then left.
Late at night, Amamiya Miyako arrived at a secluded place, sitting cross-legged, intending to continue the true name release of his Zanpakuto. Even though he knew he would most likely still not be able to defeat his Zanpakuto, he had to try.
As his consciousness sank, Amamiya Miyako once again entered his inner world.
"Oh? Did your contact with Ishida Ryūken give you confidence again? But to rush over to find me after only learning a little Quincy knowledge, isn't that a bit irrational?" the Black-haired White-robed Boy said with a smile.
Amamiya Miyako looked at him and noticed that the Black-haired White-robed Boy was a bit strange today. At the edges of his white robe, something black seemed to be faintly flowing, as if trying to cover the white robe he wore. However, Amamiya Miyako didn't think much of it, only wanting to fight her Zanpakuto and quickly familiarize herself with his techniques.
"I didn't expect to tame you today; I'm just preparing for the future," Amamiya Miyako said.
"Heh heh, alright then, come on, I'll fight you to the end." The Black-haired White-robed Boy quickly formed a reishi bow in his hand and shot an arrow.
Amamiya Miyako also formed a reishi bow through reishi manipulation, her hand movements not slowing down, condensing reishi to form an arrow and shooting it at him.
Due to a deeper understanding of the essence of Quincy power, the Holy Arrow of Destruction Amamiya Miyako shot this time was more powerful. When it collided with the Black-haired Boy's arrow, it easily shattered his arrow and sped towards the Black-haired Boy.
'What… ' Amamiya Miyako was surprised by herself. This scene was so similar to when she had exchanged fire with Ishida Ryūken earlier, where the opponent's arrow had also easily pierced her own arrow. But this time, in the exchange with her Zanpakuto, she had the upper hand.
The Black-haired Boy tilted his head to dodge the arrow and said with a smile, "There's nothing to be surprised about. This is your inner world. If you have a deeper understanding of the essence of power, it will also be reflected here. After all, this place isn't as cruel as reality."
Amamiya Miyako looked at the other party, not understanding why he would so generously reveal this information to her.
"You're surprised? Because, since you truly understand the essence of Quincy power, then I, too, can do it," he said with a smile, as he also began to condense reishi in his hand, forming a Holy Arrow of Destruction and shooting it at Amamiya Miyako.
Amamiya Miyako performed the same action. Sure enough, this time, after the two arrows collided, they both annihilated simultaneously, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
'This is a bit tricky now.' Amamiya Miyako thought, 'Not only does my Zanpakuto know more than me, but its growth speed is also the same as mine.'
Amamiya Miyako immediately felt helpless, but she didn't intend to give up and continued to entangle with him.
What Amamiya Miyako didn't notice was that on the black-haired boy's white robe, the black at the end of the clothing seemed to be slowly creeping up the white robe...