The Hōgyoku—a treasure that could transcend all limitations—was meant for someone who possessed unlimited potential and countless trump cards. Only such an individual could wield its power perfectly.
It was destined for him.
As this thought lingered in his mind, the battle between Shiba Isshin and White had already shifted toward Karakura Town.
Karakura Town had long been within the jurisdiction of the 13th Division.
Sensing the intense fluctuations in spiritual pressure, a squad of stationed Shinigami rushed to investigate.
Upon arrival, they immediately spotted Shiba Isshin engaged in combat. One of them stepped forward, intending to assess the situation—
But before he could even speak, a blinding Cero—White's Hollow Flash—obliterated him instantly.
From a distance, Uehara Shiroha observed the battlefield intently.
He was certain—the man behind the scenes was about to make his move.
Sure enough, Shiba Isshin soon noticed a change in the Hollow's movements.
The creature had become faster, its spiritual pressure heavier, and—most alarming of all—its fighting techniques had started incorporating Shinigami battle styles.
Isshin's sharp eyes narrowed.
"It seems that you're not just killing Shinigami for fun… but to evolve," he muttered.
"The more Shinigami you devour, the stronger and smarter you become."
Isshin's grip on his Zanpakutō tightened.
"A monster like you… there's no way Soul Society wouldn't detect your presence. Someone must be covering for you."
His expression darkened.
"So, who is it?"
As he spoke, his spiritual pressure surged—he was preparing to activate Bankai.
His Zanpakutō, Engetsu, was deadly in its Bankai state. Once unleashed, its sheer destructive power could incinerate anything in its path.
However, there was one condition—if his physical state wasn't optimal, he couldn't fully activate it.
And at that critical moment—
A sudden, cold and merciless killing intent erupted from behind him.
Before he could react, a devastating slash tore through his back, sending him plummeting to the ground like a meteor.
As Shiba Isshin crashed into the earth, realization dawned upon him.
"A Zanpakutō attack…"
His breath was ragged.
"A Shinigami is backing that monster…"
His mind raced.
"Who… is the traitor?"
"Where… are they hiding?"
Yet, despite his sharp instincts, his spiritual sense detected nothing.
A deep, ominous feeling settled in his chest.
It felt as if he had walked into an intricate trap, carefully laid out long before he arrived.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Above, White let out a beast-like roar before launching another violent Hollow Flash straight at him.
With no choice, Shiba Isshin had to abandon his thoughts and focus solely on survival.
Yet, wounded and unable to activate Bankai, he gradually fell behind in the fight.
Above the battlefield, three cloaked figures observed the battle from the shadows—Aizen Sōsuke, Tōsen Kaname, and Ichimaru Gin.
Their spiritual pressure was completely concealed, hidden behind layers of Kido barriers, along with sound and scent suppression spells.
To Shiba Isshin, they were completely non-existent.
To Aizen, Isshin and White were nothing more than laboratory mice—their lives and deaths irrelevant.
With a faint smirk, Aizen mused aloud,
"White… what an intriguing experiment."
His glasses glinted in the dim light.
"A creature with a blackened exterior… but a pure white interior."
"Even seasoned shinigami fail to withstand its Hollowfication."
Then, a soft chuckle.
"I wonder… what kind of surprise Captain Shiba will bring us after he succumbs to Hollowfication?"
Aizen had been covertly aiding White for some time now, ensuring the creature's uninterrupted hunting spree.
After all, White had the potential to evolve infinitely, devouring Shinigami to grow stronger while possessing the unique abilities of Hollowfication and spiritual transfer.
However, there was still one missing element—a suitable carrier.
And so, Aizen devised a perfect trap, luring Shiba Isshin into the fold.
For Aizen, Shiba Isshin was the ideal experiment.
After all, he wasn't just any captain—he belonged to one of the Five Great Noble Clans.
Though Aizen scoffed at the so-called "noble bloodlines," they still served a purpose as experimental material.
Beside him, Tōsen Kaname and Ichimaru Gin remained silent.
Yet their sharp eyes never left the battlefield.
What Aizen and Shiba Isshin didn't know—
Was that everything had already been seen.
From the distant park, Uehara Shiroha had witnessed Aizen's movements clearly, his perfected Observation Haki cutting through every illusion.
What invisibility cloak?
What Kido barriers?
What Kyōka Suigetsu?
In the presence of absolute perception, they were all meaningless.
Just then, his Haki-sense extended further, capturing a new arrival entering the battlefield.
His eyes lit up.
"She's here."
A high school girl with orange hair, wearing a Japanese school uniform, ran toward the chaos.
A knowing smile played on his lips.
"Pure-blooded Quincy, Kurosaki Masaki."
He let out a low chuckle.
"Shiba Isshin… looking for a wife?"
"But you'll have to take the mother surname."
After all, this young girl—this pure-blood Quincy—
Was destined to become Ichigo Kurosaki's mother.
The Shiba family and their hereditary love for schoolgirls… truly, some things never changed.
He looked at Kurosaki Masaki, then thought about Inoue Orihime.
Both were JK (Japanese high school girls).
Both were selfless saints.
But Masaki—unlike Orihime—was a true saint.
Not the kind of saint who simply forgives enemies.
A dangerous glint flashed in Uehara Shiroha's eyes.
"As for me…"
He smirked coldly.
"I believe in revenge when it's due."
"If someone wrongs me, I'll pay it back tenfold."
"It is God's duty to forgive our enemies."
"My duty… is to send them to meet Him."
At this moment, the wounded Shiba Isshin was completely overpowered by White. His opponent's horns pulsed with energy, rapidly gathering a powerful Cero, poised to obliterate Isshin in the next second.
Seeing Isshin on the brink of destruction, Kurosaki Masaki reacted instantly. Without a word, she raised her bow and unleashed a barrage of Heilig Pfeil, the Quincy's signature Holy Arrows of Destruction, straight at White, who loomed high in the sky.
From afar, Tōsen sensed the sudden appearance of an unknown Reiryoku and immediately reacted. "Someone unexpected has arrived. I will eliminate them," he said before preparing to act.
However, Aizen extended a hand to stop him, his lips curving into an amused smile. "Wait a moment. Let's see how this unfolds."
He didn't despise unpredictability. On the contrary, he welcomed it.
Especially when the unexpected was this interesting.
Aizen had long studied the Quincy. Their dwindling numbers made them an endangered species, but their abilities still intrigued him. The Quincy's power of annihilation, which could erase spirits entirely, was one of the few forces capable of disrupting Hollow evolution.
A true wild card.
Sensing the imminent danger, White immediately abandoned his assault on the injured Isshin and lunged toward Masaki instead.
But Masaki didn't flinch.
Instead, she continued firing spirit arrows in rapid succession, each one cutting through the air with lethal precision. However, White was too fast, his movements fluid and agile as he evaded every shot with ease.
Seeing this, Masaki stopped dodging entirely. She stood still, her expression unreadable.
From the sky, Isshin, Gin, and Tōsen frowned at her apparent inaction.
'What is she doing?!' Isshin thought, struggling to rise despite his injuries.
In a flash, White reached Masaki, wind howling as his monstrous form closed in. With a predatory gleam in his eyes, he opened his massive, beast-like jaws and clamped down on Masaki's shoulder.
But the moment he bit into her, Masaki smirked.
"Got you!" she whispered.
Before White could react, she fired a point-blank spirit arrow directly into his skull.
The Hollow recoiled violently, his mask fracturing under the devastating force of the Quincy's power. With a final, guttural screech, he crashed to the ground, motionless.
Silence followed.
Both Isshin and the observing Shinigami were stunned.
"She... took the attack head-on just to land that shot?" Isshin muttered, eyes widening.
Gin narrowed his gaze, a small smirk forming on his lips. "That was unexpected."
Meanwhile, Aizen adjusted his glasses, his interest deepening. How fascinating.
Far in the distance, Uehara Shiroha, who had been silently watching from a concealed vantage point, nodded in approval.
"She must've used the Blut Vene, the Quincy's defensive blood technique," he murmured to himself. "No wonder she wasn't injured."
However, White's body suddenly convulsed.
Despite the devastating wound, something unnatural was happening. The Hollow's flesh began to pulsate, as if a malignant force within him refused to die.
Masaki, feeling the strain of battle and the energy drain from using her abilities, hesitated for a brief moment.
That brief moment cost her.
Before she could react, White's hollow hole swelled grotesquely, his entire form mutating at an alarming rate. A sinister energy surge erupted from within him, dark tendrils writhing as his body became unstable.
Masaki stood frozen, overwhelmed by the sudden transformation.
Isshin, however, didn't hesitate.
In a flash step, he appeared in front of Masaki and raised his Zanpakutō.
White self-destructed.
A blinding explosion engulfed the battlefield, a violent shockwave flattening the surrounding trees and sending debris flying.
When the smoke cleared, Masaki was unharmed.
But Isshin lay unconscious on the ground.
Masaki gasped, rushing to his side.
Gently, she lifted his battered form, concern flickering in her usually steadfast eyes. After checking his pulse and confirming he was still alive, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Still breathing… idiot," she muttered, shaking her head.
After a brief exchange, the two formally introduced themselves.
Despite standing on opposing sides, with Quincy and Shinigami history steeped in bloodshed, Masaki and Isshin spoke without hostility.
Instead, they talked eagerly.
As if they weren't supposed to be enemies.
However, unbeknownst to them, another party was approaching.
Watching from the shadows, Ishida Ryūken—accompanied by his maid, Katagiri Kanae—finally arrived.
Ryūken had always been pragmatic, taking every measure to ensure the continuation of the pure-blood Quincy lineage. That was why, despite his personal opinions, he had accepted Masaki into the Ishida family when she was young, raising her as a "child bride" meant to one day secure the Quincy bloodline.
In other words—Masaki was Ryūken's fiancée.
And now, he stood there, watching as she interacted warmly with a Shinigami.
His face darkened.
Aizen and the others continued observing from above, but Uehara Shiroha had long since lost interest in their political maneuvering.
"Now this," he mused with a chuckle, "this is real drama."
His only regret?
That he hadn't brought popcorn.
He then turned his gaze to Ryūken, whose expression remained eerily blank.
"Right now, he's not the arrogant Quincy he'll become. He hasn't yet said those infamous words: 'I have no interest in being a Quincy, and you have no talent.'"
Instead, the Ryūken of this moment looked tired.
Like a man who had already lost something.
Next to him, Katagiri Kanae watched him with complicated eyes.
She had always harbored feelings for Ryūken, but her impure bloodline had placed an unspoken barrier between them.
For now, their fates remained uncertain.
But one thing was clear—this was the beginning of a chain of events that would change everything.
Meanwhile, Isshin and Masaki had already parted ways, waving each other off as they returned to their respective paths.
Seeing that the show was over, Uehara Shiroha retracted his Haki.
At that moment, Aizen, standing high in the sky, suddenly frowned.
He swept his sharp gaze across the surroundings but found nothing unusual.
Beside him, Tōsen sighed in disappointment.
"I originally planned to use this battle to lure out Shinji and the others, continuing the previous Hollowfication experiment… but in the end, they didn't take the bait. I thought they'd be interested in the Hollow's transformation."
According to their intelligence, Urahara Kisuke, Hirako Shinji, and the other exiled Shinigami were hiding somewhere in Karakura Town. However, despite their best efforts, they had yet to pinpoint their exact location.
Aizen remained silent for a moment before he responded, his voice calm but thoughtful.
"Did Urahara intervene, or have they simply lost faith in Soul Society?" He smirked slightly, then shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's irrelevant to the grand scheme."
Aizen's gaze sharpened as he continued, "Besides… we've already begun narrowing down their location. They'll fall into our hands sooner or later. There's no rush."
After saying that, he turned to Gin and asked, "Gin… did you feel like we were being watched just now?"
Gin's expression remained unreadable, though his narrowed eyes became even sharper.
The question caught Tōsen slightly off guard as well. Was Aizen asking Gin rather than him—the one with the greatest spiritual perception?
Still, Gin gave a casual shrug. "Hoh? Bein' watched, ya say? That's a funny thing to ask, Captain Aizen."
Tōsen frowned, recalling the events carefully.
From start to finish, he had sensed nothing unusual—no fluctuations in Reiatsu, no trace of unfamiliar presence. If someone had been spying on them, it was either an illusion… or the work of an entity beyond their detection.
He finally spoke. "Lord Aizen, I didn't sense anything… perhaps it was merely your imagination."
Gin smirked slightly. "Or maybe," he drawled, "ya just got a bit paranoid."
Aizen didn't laugh. Instead, his gaze drifted upward as he muttered,
"Illusion?" His expression remained unreadable. "I don't believe in coincidences… and I certainly don't believe in illusions caused by mere incompetence."
Though he found no concrete evidence, his instincts—the same instincts that had allowed him to manipulate Soul Society from the shadows for centuries—were screaming at him.
Something had been there.
And if he couldn't perceive it… then what kind of entity could?
Tōsen and Gin exchanged a quick glance, an unspoken thought passing between them.
"Could it be… Squad Zero?"
Even as they returned to Hueco Mundo's secret laboratory, Tōsen found himself uneasy.
His concerns only deepened when he checked the spiritual energy readings from their latest experiment.
"What?! The self-destruction of White successfully transferred the experiment's energy?" His voice was laced with frustration. "That wasn't the plan!"
As his gloved fists clenched, he snapped angrily, "Why did the energy transfer choose a female Quincy instead of Shiba Isshin?! What a waste!"
Aizen, however, only chuckled, his expression shifting into one of amusement.
"Don't be so disappointed, Tōsen." His glasses gleamed as he turned toward the data readout. "Sometimes, deviation from the original plan is precisely what leads to true transcendence."
His voice took on a subtle excitement.
"A Hollow choosing a Quincy—one whose power is the natural antithesis to its own…" He exhaled lightly. "Fascinating, don't you think? Don't you want to see what happens next?"
At that moment, the "Trainer Aizen" awakened.
Meanwhile, in Karakura Town Park, Michihane nestled obediently in Uehara Shiroha's arms.
Once again, she felt that peculiar sense of security—a warmth she had never received from her own father.
Shiroha absentmindedly stroked her hair, his gaze distant as he lost himself in thought.
The love-hate entanglement between the Shinigami, the Quincy, and the Hollow was certainly entertaining, but ultimately, it was insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
What truly mattered… was the boy destined to change everything.
Kurosaki Ichigo.
The potential of that orange-haired brat was nothing short of terrifying.
After all, he would one day become the "King of Slashes"—a swordsman whose sheer destructive power shook even Yhwach himself.
While Ichigo's raw talent wasn't quite at the level of someone like Uehara Shiroha, who could grow infinitely stronger, he was still destined to become one of the strongest beings in the Bleach universe.
Whoever controlled Kurosaki Ichigo… controlled the future.
Shiroha knew this fact well.
It was for this reason that "that old monk" had been deliberately suppressing Ichigo's Quincy abilities—because he wanted to ensure that the boy remained loyal to the Soul Society.
Shiroha, too, wanted Ichigo on his side.
That was one of the reasons he had come here—not just to witness this historic moment, but to guarantee that the plot followed its intended course.
"Only by ensuring the right events unfold," he mused, "can I properly trigger my future missions."
However…
Now, he wasn't so sure.
Could it be that his interference was too minor—that the storm his presence created was too small to change the tides of fate?
Or…
Was there someone else secretly orchestrating all of this?
As this thought crossed his mind, Shiroha's gaze turned toward the Soul King's Palace.
During the Thousand-Year Blood War, that old monk—Ichibei Hyōsube—had toyed with both Yhwach and Kurosaki Ichigo, pulling the strings of fate in ways no one had anticipated.
In the end, Yhwach had replaced the Soul King, becoming the new keystone that held the world together—working endlessly, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Shiroha couldn't help but wonder.
Had the Soul King planned all of this from the very beginning?
Was he simply tired of lying dormant, waiting for the day he could finally stand up and move freely?
And had he—the supposed keystone of the universe—used Yhwach as nothing more than a convenient scapegoat?
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