“You…
who the hell are you?!”
Crouching slightly, Renji Abarai stared at Uryū with a grim expression.
Although that last arrow had been a sneak attack, the sheer power behind it was staggering!
“Uryū Ishida.
Just a Quincy,” Uryū replied, pushing up his glasses.
“And you, Shinigami?”
“Renji Abarai!” Renji tightened his grip on his Zanpakutō.
“Remember that name, Quincy!
Because I’m the one who’s about to kill you!”
“You certainly have a sense of humor,” Uryū shook his head.
“It seems you’re just another muscle-head who doesn’t understand the situation.”
“Who are you calling a moron!” The Reiatsu within Renji suddenly erupted.
“Howl, Zabimaru!”
As the words left his lips, the Zanpakutō in his hand transformed.
The blade grew significantly larger, and six protrusions emerged from the edge.
“Shikai…
this is the first time I’ve seen one.”
“Consider it an honor!
To die by the hand of Zabimaru!”
With a roar, Renji swung his blade.
Under Uryū’s gaze, the blade suddenly extended, the lengthened edge spinning toward him like a lash!
“So it becomes like a whip?”
Unfazed, a blue light shimmered beneath Uryū’s feet.
In the next instant, he was airborne.
The bow of light in his hand flared brilliantly as his left hand pulled the string, and a blue arrow of light materialized.
“Shunpo?
No!
That’s different!”
As Uryū’s right hand released the string, Zabimaru, which had been flying forward, was instantly knocked back to its original state.
Before Renji could swing again, the arrow of light was already before his eyes.
“Damn it—!”
“You were too careless, Renji.”
Compared to the massive blade of Zabimaru, the sword that intercepted the arrow seemed ordinary.
Yet, it was this same ordinary sword that effortlessly sliced the Heilig Pfeil in two.
“Captain…” Renji lowered his head, his voice filled with shame.
“Yes!
I was too careless!”
“It is not entirely your fault.” The Captain of the Sixth Division, Byakuya Kuchiki, stared intently at the figure in the air.
“The enemy is a Quincy, a race whispered to be extinct.
Moreover, it appears his strength is at least on par with a Lieutenant.”
“Yes…”
“Get serious and take him down,” Byakuya said flatly.
“Regardless of his identity as a Quincy, the mere act of launching an unprovoked attack on us is crime enough.”
“You certainly talk big…
Mr.
Captain,” Uryū curled his lip.
“Don’t look down on me, you bastard!”
“…?!”
The blue light manifested again, and an arrow of light flew with extreme speed.
This time, however, it wasn’t a single arrow, but countless arrows descending simultaneously.
In an instant, it became a rain of light—dense and magnificent.
“My spirit bow is called Ginrei Kojaku.
The number of Heilig Pfeil it can fire in a single burst is one thousand two hundred.”
Powerful Reiatsu surged as the rain of light continued for several seconds, the twelve hundred arrows striking the ground and kicking up clouds of white smoke.
“This…!!”
Rukia watched the scene in disbelief.
While she knew Uryū Ishida was powerful, she hadn’t imagined his full strength would be this overwhelming.
Not a single ordinary Shinigami could withstand those Heilig Pfeil!
Boom—
“Impressive power.”
A massive burst of Reiatsu suddenly erupted, instantly dispersing the white smoke.
There stood Byakuya Kuchiki, holding a sword hilt without a blade.
Around him, it looked as if countless cherry blossoms were fluttering in the wind, but upon closer inspection, those petals were actually thousands of tiny blades.
“To actually force me to use Senbonzakura,” Byakuya said calmly.
“Human, you are strong.”
Swish—
With a single thought from Byakuya, the thousands of invisible blades suddenly surged, flying rapidly toward Uryū.
“Another Shikai, then.”
Without a hint of fear, Uryū pulled the string again.
As his Reiatsu climbed, a rain of light even more powerful than the last descended upon the battlefield!
Clang clang clang—
The arrows knocked the blades down one by one.
A few seconds later, every single blade had fallen to the ground, and the arrows of light vanished.
“…” Byakuya narrowed his eyes.
His Reiatsu erupted again, and the blades on the ground floated back into the air.
“I wonder how many times you can do that.”
“Forever, of course.” Uryū smiled confidently and pulled the string once more.
“Unlike you Shinigami, we Quincy use external spirit—?!”
“Don’t forget about me, you bastard!!”
A roar interrupted Uryū’s explanation.
Renji Abarai returned to the fray, appearing behind Uryū with Zabimaru swinging wildly!
“Santen Kesshun!
I I reject!”
A triangular orange shield of light suddenly appeared behind Uryū.
With a loud metallic clang, Zabimaru collided with the shield.
The blade dropped powerlessly, returning to its original form, while the shield merely trembled, remaining completely intact.
“And who the hell are you?!”
“Orihime Inoue.” The shield dissipated and flew back to Orihime, reforming into the six-flower hair clip in her hair.
Boom—
As soon as she spoke, a red fist appeared out of nowhere, slamming straight into Renji’s face and sending him flying several meters.
“That’s for earlier,” Chad shook his fist.
“You almost managed a sneak attack on Ishida.”
“You…
who are you people!!”
“Yasutora Sado, a friend of Rukia and a friend of mine.” Carrying a long black sword on his back and a short sword at his waist, Shinigami Ichigo made his entrance.
“I’m Ichigo Kurosaki, the big boss of Karakura Town!”
“…What’s a big boss…?” Renji wiped the blood from his lip, feeling as if the bones in his face had cracked.
“You humans…
do you have any idea that attacking a Shinigami is a capital offense?!”
“A ‘big boss’ means the boss of the neighborhood,” Ichigo said, crossing his arms and striking a pose like a mob boss.
“Karakura Town is under my protection, got it?
I don’t care about Soul Society or your Shinigami rules.
Once you’re here, my rules are the only rules!”
“Ichigo!
Stop acting like that!”
Now that the core group had arrived, Rukia could finally speak up.
Although she was close with Uryū, she had no way of ordering around the cold-faced, immensely proud Quincy.
“Acting like what…?” Orihime said weakly.
“Shouldn’t you say ‘stop fighting’?
You’re making us sound like a gang…”
“It’s about the aura!
The aura!” Ichigo replied nonchalantly.
“Isn’t it great?
It makes us look way more intimidating!”
“But…
it’s a bit weird…”
“There’s nothing weird about it.” Uryū descended and stood beside Ichigo.
“He’s just a muscle-head.
He probably watched some movie recently and thinks this is cool.”
“You people…
don’t push it!”
Feeling utterly ignored and humiliated, Renji’s Reiatsu surged to its peak, reaching the standard level of—and perhaps even slightly exceeding—a typical Lieutenant!
Zabimaru roared silently, as if sensing its master’s rage.
The sound of it cutting through the air was far louder than usual.
“If it weren’t for Rukia’s sake—”
—?!
Not only Renji, but even Byakuya’s eyes widened.
Ichigo had reached out his right hand and caught the furious strike head-on!
Crack—!!
With a sudden burst of Reiatsu and a tightening of his grip, Ichigo snapped Zabimaru in half with his bare hand!
“You’d be dead already.”