"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"
"If this idea… can really be realized in the future…"
"Then the plot will completely flip. When we face the Wandenreich, we'll gain an all-around advantage!"
"In the future… it'll be our turn to attack the pure-blood Quincies in reverse…"
Gin narrowed his eyes.
A trace of anticipation flashed through those pale blue irises.
With the Hōgyoku in hand—
Aizen's idea from just now might not be impossible after all!
Most importantly…
Even Starrk—
that guy who, among the Espada, always looked like his power was "asleep," like he was half-awake even when he was breathing—
had already proven, in the future…
that his very life tier could evolve, becoming a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar!!!
So then…
the other ordinary high-class Arrancar—
once they gained the same "sleeping"-type potential with the Hōgyoku's help—
would presumably evolve as well!
Making the Arrancar army evolve as a whole, their combat power reaching an unprecedented peak!
Just imagining that outcome alone…
made Gin sink deep into thought!!!
At the very least—
as Hueco Mundo's overall administrator—
in the original timeline, he'd already been killed by the time the Thousand-Year Blood War began.
But in the future, when he would command all of Hueco Mundo to invade the Shadow Realm…
he would be spirited and imposing—
with even more loyal subordinates to support Aizen as he "shook the foundations" of the Shinigami world!!!
Back to the video.
The battle was becoming white-hot.
But before long, Quilge Opie was clearly being suppressed.
His abilities—
while flashy and varied—
and even bolstered by absorbing a tremendous amount of Hollow power—
still had to face one simple reality:
His opponent was Kurosaki Ichigo!
The fallen guardian who would one day stand against his mortal enemy, Yhwach!
So under "normal" conditions, Quilge's attacks were rendered ineffective across the board!
Not only was Quilge suppressed—
Ichigo, gripping the second-generation Zangetsu, pressed in until he was right in front of him.
"Still going to 'neutralize' me by crushing me again?"
"Back in Karakura Town… your so-called 'battle record' looked exactly like this…"
"So what, then… Quincies and Shinigami—are you guys just a bunch of hypocrites who talk big while you're getting beaten down?"
With his orange hair fluttering in the sea of reishi, Ichigo held his blade one-handed and stabbed straight at the sore spot.
And those words—
hit a pain point dead-center.
Quilge's emotions instantly detonated. His face twisted as he roared:
"How could that be possible!!! Our Wandenreich is invincible!!!"
The furious bellow—
pierced sharply through the barrier and blasted out of the video itself.
And that reaction—
once exposed by the "highlight" footage and transmitted to the real world—
made the Wandenreich's pure-blood Quincies feel like they'd been slapped in the face in broad daylight.
Every single one of them looked ugly—humiliated.
"Damn it…"
"Kurosaki Ichigo, that bastard…"
"On what basis does he think we'll end up like those vulgar, dead-end trash Hollows?!"
Gerard Valkyrie ground his teeth.
Behind the guard mask, his eyes bulged with rage.
Being mocked from afar—right in front of the entire world—
was unbearable.
And the worst part was…
Quilge's reaction on screen really was that pathetic.
It was basically hard proof—
that Ichigo's taunt had landed.
It made them look even more disgraceful!!!
"Tch…"
Within the crowd,
the cold and indifferent Cang Du shot Quilge a contemptuous glance and sneered:
"You've single-handedly dragged the Sternritter's face through the mud, you idiot."
"After the Shinigami watch this… they'll probably feel even more confident, won't they?"
And it wasn't just that.
Not only had Bambietta's body been exposed earlier—
but that scene just now had directly exposed something else as well:
the way Shinigami "deal with" opponents—
was still the kind of power the pure-blood Quincies feared most…
second only to…!!!
Because of that,
Cang Du could already picture it:
over in the Seireitei, the captains' confidence would be skyrocketing right now.
This back-and-forth—
even though the future was still three years away—
the Wandenreich had already suffered far too many losses in just this short time!!!
And all of it—
was thanks to that Quilge Opie!
This performance—his repeated blunders, his arrogant posturing, his secrets being exposed one after another—
was steadily weakening everyone's position in the future!!!
Then—
in the footage,
before Quilge's roar could even finish traveling through the air—
suddenly—
from not far away,
from the direction the camera was facing—
a terrifying reishi beam fired from behind Ichigo's back!
Before the global audience could even react—
it punched through Quilge's body with brutal precision.
It blasted open a gaping hole.
And in an instant, Quilge was heavily wounded—his fighting state rapidly withering.
"This is…"
"A Kidō-type attack…"
"Wait—was that Urahara Kisuke?!"
"Only with his help could Ichigo get to Hueco Mundo!"
The viewers immediately thought of Urahara Kisuke—
and the title the highlight videos had already emphasized:
the King of Sneak Attacks.
Sure enough.
Perfectly in character.
Every single time Ichigo was locked in a fight—
Urahara would "refresh-spawn" right beside him…
and then ambush the enemy the moment they started talking!!!
Earlier,
during the Karakura Town final battle—
Urahara had struck Aizen twice like that!
And this time—
it was the same again!
Quilge Opie, completely unguarded, took the hit!!!
"Heh…"
"Shopkeeper, you're such a rat…"
"Force-locking onto Ichigo so you can become the 'double-cultivation king,' huh?"
"The enemy is the one Ichigo fights—then you show up to harvest the aftermath. Honestly, that's even darker than Aizen…"
Inside the shop,
Tessai rolled his eyes and mocked him disdainfully.
"Heh…"
"Tessai, are you looking down on my tactics?"
Urahara raised an eyebrow.
As for his "future playstyle," he didn't feel ashamed at all.
On the contrary, he looked downright proud as he chuckled:
"Ichigo doesn't mind, so who are you to lecture me, you petty man…"
That "King of Sneak Attacks" nickname—
Urahara didn't care about it in the slightest. If anything, he seemed amused.
It fit him perfectly: black-bellied, prank-loving, and shamelessly mischievous.
And besides—
helping the protagonist defeat the enemy—
also meant, indirectly, contributing to saving the world, didn't it…?
After that,
in the footage,
the Research and Development Bureau activated the broadcast.
Akon, the Third Seat, called from the other end:
the war had already begun—
and the Seireitei was facing a massive invasion!
He begged Ichigo—
to rush to the Seireitei immediately, without delay, to protect it!!!
And those words—
were the official opening of the Thousand-Year Blood War's curtain.
Then,
after finishing communication with Urahara,
Ichigo moved first.
Alone, he entered the Garganta and departed through the corridor.
However—
on his way to Soul Society,
just as Ichigo was about to reach the exit—
a blue reishi beam appeared!
Immediately after, the Garganta exit was forcibly sealed—about to close completely!
And—
all around Ichigo,
massive amounts of reishi gathered.
At terrifying speed, they formed an oval-shaped blue prison.
It locked Ichigo's entire body inside.
Completely blocking his movement.
Forcing him to stop advancing within the Garganta!
Plain as day—
it looked like he truly had been trapped by the power of a Schrift!!!
And the moment this was exposed—
different groups of viewers had their moods flip again, instantly.
The Shinigami felt anxious.
The pure-blood Quincies, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief.
Everyone knew.
Ichigo, the "savior"—
was the only one who could stop Yhwach!
So if he was delayed—
and the longer the delay lasted—
then the Seireitei and the Gotei 13's situation would only grow worse!
Quilge Opie—
even if he died—
could still be considered to have rendered a great service at the end.
A merit as enormous as the heavens!!!
"?!"
"No way…"
"Even Kurosaki Ichigo is stuck at this level?!"
"With it like this, even the third-generation Zangetsu—how is he supposed to break free?!"
"In a short time, he still can't break that reishi cage at all!!!"
Inside Las Noches,
the Hollows and Arrancar saw this and all their faces changed.
Originally—
after watching Urahara's ambush
and seeing Ichigo appear on the battlefield in an instant—
they'd already braced themselves to enjoy what came next:
Ichigo clashing head-on with other pure-blood Quincies—
or even directly with Yhwach!
But they never expected…
a reversal.
Ichigo was trapped.
And that, once again, refreshed everyone's understanding—
of the power and "strength ceiling" of the Schrift!
"Captain Aizen…"
"I finally understand now…"
"Whether it's the Head Captain's defeat, or Yhwach going to Muken to meet the 'future you' face-to-face…"
"All of it happens during the window of time when Kurosaki Ichigo is sealed away!"
Gin narrowed his eyes.
After thinking for a moment, realization dawned on him.
Judging purely by results—
the Wandenreich's strategy here was extremely successful.
At the very least—
defeating the Head Captain,
crippling the Gotei 13—
the pure-blood Quincies' first wave of invasion was almost flawless!
And that only further highlighted—
how important Ichigo's third-generation Zangetsu would be.
Without the protagonist's protection—
in the early stage of the Thousand-Year Blood War, the Gotei 13 got completely crushed!!!
"Tch…"
"You're right."
On the throne,
Aizen nodded, saying calmly:
"If Kurosaki Ichigo had been present from the very beginning…"
"Yhwach and the elite pure-blood Quincy powerhouses under him…"
"Would absolutely have feared the power of 'Zangetsu' and wouldn't have dared act so recklessly. The war situation wouldn't have become this lopsided."
Whether he liked it or not—
Yhwach really did have a brain.
From the very start,
he identified Ichigo as the only true threat.
That point alone—
made Aizen revise his evaluation of the Quincy King yet again!!!
But next—
as the footage rolled forward,
it didn't keep showing Ichigo trapped inside the Garganta.
Instead…
the location changed.
The video cut straight to the Seireitei—now a wreck, as if it had been swept by a wildfire and reduced to ruins.
"BOOOOM—!!!"
In the sky,
dark clouds churned. Thunder roared.
A torrential rain poured without end.
The air itself was saturated with a heavy, oppressive mood.
Looking out—
within the range the camera swept—
the Seireitei's squad barracks had all suffered severe damage.
Rain fell.
And amidst the piles of disaster and wreckage—
blood sprayed everywhere, staining the ground red, flashing with a grotesque crimson sheen.
In an instant, it highlighted how brutal this war truly was!
When this scene was transmitted to the real world—
and the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 saw it—
it caused a massive shock.
With the Head Captain at the center,
every captain's expression changed.
Faces sank, growing grim.
Even though it had been expected—
in earlier highlight segments, they had already seen bloodier scenes than this.
But this time—
this was the beginning of the war.
This was something that had happened right as the Thousand-Year Blood War started!
A force that had stood brilliant for a thousand years—
the Gotei 13, the foundation of Soul Society and modern order—
had been defeated so miserably, so quickly.
That result truly made people's jaws drop.
Even the captains themselves—
were stunned.
And once again they felt fortunate that the ranking videos existed—
that what would happen in the future was being exposed in advance.
Otherwise…
if the same thing happened "in real time," right now—
no one could accept it.
No one could just watch the Seireitei slide into destruction!!!
However—
immediately after that,
about thirty seconds later,
on a battlefield near one of the recently destroyed squad compounds—
suddenly—
"SHK—!!!"
The second-generation Zangetsu
pierced through the clouds.
That black, razor-sharp blade—
fell straight down through the rain.
It stabbed directly into the Seireitei's ground!
The earth shook.
Shockwaves and rubble rolled outward!
And it stopped the figures on screen—
Yhwach, and behind him, his "imperial right-hand," Jugram Haschwalth—
from stepping forward to leave!!!
That freeze-frame—
instantly caused an enormous uproar!
This was the first direct face-to-face clash between protagonist and final villain!
A long-awaited peak showdown!
In a single beat, the viewing atmosphere—
flipped from the earlier gloom and oppression—
into blazing intensity!!!
"Tch…"
"Soloing Yhwach, huh?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo… you've got guts."
"I still remember—in the 'Ryūjin Jakka' highlight—I think I killed three Sternritter powerhouses in a row…"
"And in the end I still couldn't beat Yhwach. I got taken down."
"If that's the case… then Ichigo's situation is extremely dangerous…"
Inside the First Division,
Kenpachi frowned as he recalled it, his tone filled with worry.
There was no denying it.
The second-generation Zangetsu was extremely powerful.
It had pushed Ichigo's combat power—in Shinigami state—
up to the pinnacle.
But…
Yhwach.
In this segment of the story,
he had only just defeated the Head Captain.
And at this stage, even the captains couldn't break through his momentum.
At this time point,
there was basically no one left who could serve as a true opponent to him.
Under those circumstances—
for Ichigo to charge in alone,
trying to rely on Zangetsu's power
to stop both Yhwach and Haschwalth—
was unbelievably dangerous!
If things went wrong, it might even…
end in Ichigo being killed again!!!
"Yeah…"
Shunsui Kyōraku looked grave.
Brows furrowed, he said with concern:
"In the battle to come—unless there's another 'supply return'…"
"Unless Zangetsu's spiritual power and pressure…"
"Gives Ichigo that 'the longer he fights, the stronger he becomes' kind of force again…"
"Then… the hope of victory is very slim."
"And the possible consequence… maybe it's precisely through these battles…"
"That Ichigo's body will be forced to awaken something within him…"
"A terrifying latent power capable of opposing Yhwach…"
"If that happens… then he might have a chance, right?!"
In plain terms—
if the "blood technique" awakened,
and those Quincy abilities were filled in and completed—
then Ichigo would truly return to wholeness.
Not only would his combat power surge—
but when facing Yhwach, the danger would drop dramatically, at least enough that he wouldn't be killed outright.
That was the only factor—
that was even remotely comforting!!!
And—
the awakening of Quincy power
would also push Ichigo into his full, peak state…
truly fulfilling the qualifications of a Soul King candidate!!!
(End of Chapter)
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