Tokyo-dō, the Human World.
It was originally just a calm, peaceful port—of course, it still was.
It was just that over the past couple of days, the people living in Tokyo-dō had suddenly noticed something: there were simply too many accidents happening all over the place.
And no matter how they investigated, they couldn't find a cause.
In the end, they could only label these bizarre incidents as "mysterious events."
But that was only from the perspective of ordinary people living in Tokyo-dō. In the eyes of the Ishida Sōken family—who had only just arrived here and found a place to settle—Tokyo-dō at this moment was no different from hell itself.
"Father! There are Menos over there—and there too! Those Menos have completely surrounded Tokyo-dō!"
Although Ishida Sōken was still young, and before coming to Tokyo-dō he had never even seen a single ordinary Hollow, the education he'd received since childhood had made him hate Hollows down to his bones.
"How could this happen…?" Ishida Sōken's father frowned.
Before they escaped from that place, his gatekeeper friend hadn't told him anything like this.
"The Human World is very safe now, and there's no exploitation or oppression. Those Shinigami won't give us Quincies any trouble—everyone treats each other with mutual respect."
Those had been his friend's exact words.
But looking at it now, the Human World didn't seem anything like the beautiful place his friend described.
Still, the Ishidas had already escaped from that place—there was no turning back anymore.
"Sōken's mom!"
Ishida Sōken's father called out toward Ishida Sōken's mother, who was packing things up nearby.
She immediately handed a delicate box to Ishida Sōken.
"Sōken, remember this—no matter what happens next, you must keep this box safe!"
After the warning, Ishida Sōken's mother and father both activated their Blut Vene (Blood Vein), and fired their Heilig Pfeil (Holy Arrows) at the Menos that had noticed them.
"Damn it…! Father! Mother!"
Sōken wanted to fight too, but he knew that right now—having only mastered Hirenkyaku (Flying Screen Step), and barely able to condense a Heilig Pfeil (Holy Arrow) at all—he was completely useless in a battle of this level.
One of the Ishida family's ancestral rules was: never act on impulse.
Sōken could only find a place to hide himself first.
He could see that the first wave—the massive Menos as tall as multi-story buildings—were utterly helpless under his parents' Heilig Pfeil (Holy Arrows).
Sōken thought the battle would continue smoothly.
But then a Menos with a special form appeared—about human-sized, with a partially broken mask—and everything changed.
Zommari Rureaux—if Sōken hadn't heard wrong, that was how the monster introduced itself.
It was fast. So fast that the instant it moved, Sōken's eyes couldn't track it at all.
His father and mother's Heilig Pfeil (Holy Arrows) looked as slow as crawling turtles in front of it.
Cero (Hollow Flash).
Sōken saw Zommari Rureaux appear behind his father and fire that attack.
He wanted to scream, to warn his father—behind you!
But it was too late. His father's left arm was blown away by the Cero (Hollow Flash).
"Don't—!!"
Before the tears could even gather in his eyes, Sōken saw his mother, on the other side, fall from the sky like a withering flower.
A second special Menos had appeared—its head crowned with a saber-toothed skull, and a black braided tail trailing behind it.
Sōken watched his mother crash down hard right in front of him, blood running down her cheek.
Her feet touched down with a crack—the ground split beneath her.
Sōken should have felt relief that his mother hadn't immediately lost the ability to fight, but what she did next filled him with a dread that sank to the bone.
Because she used the Sanrei Shūtō (Sanrei Glove), and unleashed the Quincy "final method" known as Sklaverei (Holy Slave).
Sōken knew that this move was monstrously powerful—forcing the absorption of Reishi, claiming it as one's own, allowing the release of overwhelmingly destructive Heilig Pfeil (Holy Arrows), and enhancing every Quincy ability across the board.
Except one thing.
It did not enhance the body's capacity to endure.
After using Sklaverei (Holy Slave), a Quincy's end could be only one of two outcomes: either their body exploded apart, or they lost all Quincy power entirely.
Of course, there were ways to recover… but those methods came with terrifying risk—one misstep could mean death.
Those special Arrancar were far too strong. Sōken couldn't believe such beings existed in the world at all.
Then where were the Shinigami—who claimed to be the enemies of Hollows too?
Where were they?!
Sōken clenched the box tight against his chest.
And right then, far away in the sky, a figure appeared—dressed like a human, but definitely not human… and not a Hollow either.
That person cut down every Menos that lunged at him—including a special-form one—with a single slash, splitting them clean through the waist.
A Shinigami. And—so someone said—an original Gotei Thirteen captain: Entetsu Kumoi.
Of course, Sōken didn't know any of that. Those words came from another presence that arrived right after—someone masked, bizarre-looking, and to Sōken's eyes, almost like another special Menos.
But Sōken was sure that masked being wasn't a Menos.
Because several people in matching black uniforms emerged at its side.
If nothing else, Sōken guessed, they were probably those legendary beings who called themselves "Shinigami."
But… Shinigami fighting each other?
Shouldn't their enemies be the Menos still rampaging around, destroying everything and attacking innocent people?
Sōken couldn't understand it.
If it weren't for that, he would have already run over and begged those Shinigami for help.
Because he remembered what his father had once told him:
Even though Quincies and Shinigami were enemies in the past, after so many years, their hostility wasn't what it used to be.
At least when it came to dealing with Hollows, Quincies and Shinigami could still trust each other—so long as Quincies handed the life-and-death of Hollows over to the Shinigami.
Time passed. The fighting continued.
The battle between Shinigami in the distance only grew more violent, while the fight on his parents' side became more and more dangerous.
Because of a moment of carelessness, Sōken's father had lost an arm. Unless he used Ransōtengai (Heavenly Wild Puppet Suit) to attach it back, forcing Sklaverei (Holy Slave) in that condition would be suicide.
So strictly speaking, the one holding back those two Arrancar right now… was only Sōken's mother.
But Sklaverei (Holy Slave) was ultimately not something a normal human body could bear.
Sōken had already seen his mother sway on the verge of collapse more than once.
"I'm sorry, Mother… I…"
Grinding his teeth, Sōken finally made a decision that violated his family's rule.
He was going to help—no matter what.
Even if all he had was Hirenkyaku (Flying Screen Step). Even if condensing a single Heilig Pfeil (Holy Arrow) was painfully difficult.
He would help.
Because those were his father and mother.
Yet just as Sōken found a spot to hide the box his mother had entrusted to him, and was about to charge out to throw his life away—
A warm, broad hand gently landed on his shoulder and pressed him down, stopping him from moving.
"Kids should listen to their parents, you know~
Leave the fighting… to us adults~"
Sōken looked up at the unfamiliar man.
He wore a round straw hat. On his body was a plain gray samurai-style outfit. Stubble shadowed his jaw. Somehow, instead of making him look unreliable, it made Sōken feel inexplicably at ease.
"You don't know what's happening. My father and mother… they're fighting things you can't even se—"
Sōken assumed the man was just an ordinary human—because by every measure, he looked completely ordinary.
So Sōken took it for granted that the man couldn't see the Menos battling his parents.
Couldn't see the dire situation swallowing Tokyo-dō.
But the man said a single sentence—and shattered Sōken's assumption completely.
"Arrancar. The Hollows fighting your father and mother—we Shinigami call them Arrancar. They're even stronger than ordinary Adjuchas-class Menos~"
"Y-you're a Shinigami?!!" Sōken blurted out in shock.
"What, do I not look like one at all?" the man asked with a smile.
"Th-then if you're a Shinigami, can you help my father and mother?!" Sōken didn't know if the man was telling the truth, but he could see Hollows—so he should have some strength.
At the very least… he had to be stronger than Sōken, right?
That was what Sōken believed.
"Of course. After all, we Shinigami and you Quincies… are good friends~"
The man smiled and nodded.
Then, right in front of Sōken, he pressed his straw hat down slightly with his left hand—as if to shade his face—and extended his right hand toward Zommari Rureaux, who was charging a Cero (Hollow Flash) at Sōken's mother.
"Hadō no 4: Byakurai (White Lightning)."
A bolt of white lightning shot from his fingertip.
Zommari Rureaux immediately sensed danger and canceled his Cero (Hollow Flash), flashing to the side.
The lightning grazed past him.
"Ah, so close!" Sōken shouted inside his head. He could see it too—just a little more and it would've hit that hateful Arrancar!
But the mysterious man beside him only smiled, seemingly not surprised at all that Zommari Rureaux dodged in time.
"Explode, Byakurai (White Lightning)~"
In the next instant, the Byakurai (White Lightning) that had flown past Zommari Rureaux detonated.
The spell's form shattered, lightning scattering in all directions. The stray arcs striking Zommari Rureaux's body didn't seem to hurt much—
But Zommari Rureaux's expression turned even heavier.
Because the paralysis effect had taken hold.
"Noticed it, did you?
But it's fine. Whether you know it or not… won't change anything that comes next.
Bakudō no 75: Gochūtekkan (Five-Pillared Iron Weights)."
The man snapped his fingers.
In the air above Zommari Rureaux, five enormous pitch-black iron pillars manifested one after another.
I can't get hit by those—!
Zommari Rureaux felt a dangerous aura from this sudden, mysterious Shinigami.
He had a premonition: if he got restrained, he might actually die right here.
So he stopped holding back. He released his grip, letting his Zanpakutō float horizontally before his chest. He clasped his hands together, twisted his head sideways, and invoked his Resurrección (Release).
"Subside… Brujería (Witchcraft)!"
As soon as the words fell, black markings spread across his face and jaw. His lower body transformed into a floating, peach-colored gourd-like sphere, and more than fifty eyes opened across his body.
"Oh? A power similar to a Shinigami's Zanpakutō release?" The man's eyes showed mild interest. "This is something I truly haven't seen before."
Clearly, this was an ability unique to Arrancar.
"A research topic worth studying, indeed~"
"Come!" Zommari Rureaux stared confidently at the five iron pillars above. In this form, he was certain he could avoid being bound by mere Bakudō.
But it seemed Zommari Rureaux—and everyone present—had forgotten one thing:
There wasn't only one Arrancar attacking Sōken's parents.
"AAAAGH!!"
A scream came from the other Arrancar—the one with the saber-toothed skull.
The five iron pillars crashed down—not onto Zommari Rureaux, but onto her—slamming her into the ground and pinning her so tightly she couldn't move.
Then Sōken watched as the man calmly raised his Zanpakutō and swung it toward the Arrancar trapped on the ground, speaking four slow, even words:
"Heavy Strike—Byakurai (White Lightning)."
A violent gash split straight down the center of the Arrancar's head. Electric arcs crackled.
Life left her body.
"So… strong…" Sōken stared, dumbfounded.
The Arrancar who had been so tyrannical in front of his father and mother—why did she look like an ant in front of this Shinigami, crushed whenever he pleased?
No wonder Quincies had once lost to Shinigami…
They hadn't lost unfairly.
"You're absolutely not some ordinary Shinigami!" Zommari Rureaux roared as well, staring at the man beside Sōken.
"Hmph~ Of course."
The man suddenly found the situation amusing.
So he simply lifted his straw hat off, and declared his identity to everyone present.
"In that case, allow me to introduce myself.
I am… former captain of the Twelfth Division of Soul Society—
Urahara Kisuke~"
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