BLEACH : THE NINTH KENPACHI

No one expected that the moment the word "Shinigami" was spoken, Shinigami would actually appear before them.

All the Quincy present froze in place.

Eventually, the aggressive Quincy sneered coldly,

"Shinigami… Why should I be afraid of you? Sure, we lost that war back then. But that was centuries ago. If we fought now, the outcome might be different."

For many Shinigami—especially the younger ones—if they neglect their studies at Shin'ō Academy and ignore historical texts, they may not even recall the War of Annihilation.

But the Quincies have never forgotten.

As the defeated, that loss was etched deeply into their hearts.

It was the war where their kind was nearly wiped out by the original Gotei 13, under Genryūsai Yamamoto's leadership—an era when the Gotei was far more ruthless than the present-day captains.

That defeat forced them into centuries of hiding.

Even though they still possessed great power, they were forced to conceal it, constantly evading the eyes of Shinigami patrolling both the Human World and Soul Society.

They had endured enough.

Many of their kin perished in poverty, despite their spiritual prowess.

That's why, when Sugiura proposed using their power to trade for wealth and protection under the Shogunate's favor, many agreed and followed him to Edo Castle.

Indeed, his plan had brought them riches, social status, and political favor.

But just as they had begun to enjoy their rise…

The damned Shinigami showed up.

"Is that so? Since you say that, I'll give you a chance to prove it."

Gosuke Shigure smiled grimly, his eyes cold.

The next instant, his body blurred with a flash step—Shunpo—and in one clean strike, he cut down the Quincy who had spoken.

The man collapsed, blood spraying across the wooden floor, dead before he hit the ground.

"Yamashina!" one of the Quincy cried out in rage and disbelief.

Seeing their comrade fall, the rest of the Quincies burst into fury.

"Kill them!!"

Despite centuries of fear rooted in the War of Annihilation, this group of Quincies—ambitious and determined—refused to die cowering.

They weren't the survivors who had lived quietly in hiding.

They were fighters.

Bows of reishi formed in mid-air as the Quincy summoned their spiritual weapons, firing hirenkyaku-honed arrows toward the Shinigami.

Whoosh—!

Arrows of light sliced through the air.

But Gosuke Shigure and the Eleventh Division Shinigami behind him had long since moved.

The Eleventh Division, known for their raw combat power, had no shortage of veterans hardened through battle.

Before the arrows could even reach them, they had already disappeared using Shunpo.

In the next moment, they were already up close, swinging their Zanpakutōs, forcing the Quincies into melee combat.

But Quincy were not defenseless.

Several of the stronger ones responded by using Hirenkyaku—the high-speed movement technique developed by Quincy by riding reishi particles in the air.

In some cases, Hirenkyaku surpasses Shunpo in speed and precision, particularly in the Human World and Hueco Mundo, where reishi density is higher.

Still, not every Quincy had mastered the technique.

Some dodged the incoming slashes.

Others, slower or less skilled, were cleaved through before they could retreat.

And yet—there was no denying it—centuries of survival and reproduction had led to new generations of powerful Quincy.

Some of them landed damaging hits on the Shinigami.

In an instant, the spacious chamber was engulfed in battle—shouts, slashes, bursts of light, and Reiatsu colliding.

The spiritual pressure released was immense, tearing through the building and echoing across Edo Castle.

Outside, the samurai guards of the Shogunate came running in response to the commotion.

But they couldn't even get close.

The overwhelming pressure of Reiatsu and reishi released by the clashing spiritual beings was far beyond the threshold of normal humans.

The samurai collapsed one after another, unconscious before they could step through the threshold.

Gosuke Shigure didn't even glance in their direction.

From the start, his attention had been on several Quincy figures who looked like leaders.

As a captain-level Shinigami, his spiritual power was restricted by 80% via a Gentei Reiin—a limit seal placed on captains and lieutenants when entering the Human World, to prevent spiritual disruption.

Even so, for someone of his caliber, it was more than enough.

Without releasing his Zanpakutō, and only using the sealed state, he moved.

A flash of Shunpo.

In the blink of an eye, he struck one Quincy leader down with a single blow.

Then, another slash—precise and fast—severed the arm of a second Quincy in the middle of drawing his bow.

Over the years—and in fact, even in his former life—Gosuke Shigure had fought all kinds:

Hollows, Shinigami, and Quincies alike.

Unlike the weakened survivors of the recent centuries, the Quincies he fought in those past eras were strong—true spiritual warriors, capable of matching Shinigami.

It was only due to the Gotei 13's utter brutality in the First Great War that the Quincy's numbers were devastated, leading to their slow decline.

Usually, losing an arm meant the end of combat ability.

But this Quincy was different.

A sharp voice rang out in pain:

"Puppentheater…!"

The one who spoke was Sugiura, his eyes wild.

The next moment, reishi particles wove into thread-like strands, forming a lattice that reconnected his severed arm like a puppet.

Manipulating the limb unnaturally, he strung his bow and fired once more.

Thrum!

An arrow of light screamed through the air, targeting Gosuke Shigure.

But Gosuke sidestepped cleanly—calm, unflinching.

"Clever technique. But in the end, it's obsolete."

This Puppentheater technique—akin to the older "Ransōtengai," used by skilled Quincy to manipulate limbs after paralysis or loss—was indeed powerful.

Turning one's body into a puppet using reishi threads allowed them to fight even when mortally wounded.

But Gosuke saw through it.

Such techniques, while effective, were outdated.

In modern times—particularly under the hidden Quincy empire, Vandenreich—a new and more fearsome evolution of power had emerged:

The Vollständig, the perfected form of the Quincy, far beyond the older "Letzt Stil."

If one of the Quincies before him had activated Vollständig, Gosuke might have exercised caution.

But without it?

Their resistance was futile.

They were doomed.