BLEACH : THE NINTH KENPACHI

It didn't take long for the Quincy who had cast Ransōtengai to be cut down by Gosuke Shigure.

Ultimately, Ransōtengai—the technique that manipulates one's body like a puppet by using reishi threads—relies on the will of the user to override physical failure. It's primarily used by elderly or mortally wounded Quincy to move their bodies even when paralyzed or fatally injured.

But like all desperate techniques, it has limits.

No matter how skillfully you use it, the body isn't truly a puppet. If the brain or heart is critically damaged, the technique collapses—death is immediate.

Gosuke Shigure didn't even need to lift his Gentei Reiin restriction to deal with opponents like this.

Not long after the battle began, every Quincy operative stationed in Edo Castle had been eliminated by the Eleventh Division's Shinigami.

Some Shinigami were wounded in the skirmish—but, fortunately, none were killed.

Gosuke, who had received basic Kaidō training during his time with the Fourth Division, managed to stabilize several of his injured comrades using healing techniques.

While not a specialist, he could stop bleeding, close wounds, and sustain life until further help arrived.

Some of the more seriously wounded were escorted back to the temporary stronghold.

Later, a reinforcement squad from the Soul Society would retrieve them for proper treatment in Seireitei.

"Tch. Lame. These guys weren't even satisfying to cut."

Zaraki Kenpachi, bloodied but completely unharmed, sneered as he leaned on his Zanpakutō.

He had personally slain several Quincies in the battle—but none, in his opinion, had been worthy of a real fight.

"There were too few. Barely enough to go around," he muttered in disappointment.

"Don't get complacent," Gosuke Shigure responded calmly. "This was just one cell. There are more out there. Many more."

Though the Quincy were believed to have been exterminated centuries ago during the first Great Purge, small groups had survived and quietly rebuilt their numbers.

Even now, while not as numerous as Shinigami, the Quincy likely numbered in the hundreds—possibly low thousands. Their secrecy made them difficult to track.

By comparison, the total number of active Shinigami across all thirteen Court Guard Companies was under ten thousand.

So, despite Soul Society's strength, the effort to find and eliminate every remaining Quincy would be monumental.

And even now, the full extent of their regrowth remained unclear.

Still, if things continued as they had, the Quincy would soon become little more than historical footnotes once again—like endangered beasts hunted to near extinction.

Following a brief rest at the stronghold, Gosuke Shigure and his squad—tasked with leading the extermination effort—traveled to another city.

Once Central 46 had reissued the Extermination Order against the Quincy, it became inevitable.

No matter how well the Quincy concealed themselves, the Soul Society's trackers and reconnaissance experts—especially from the Onmitsukidō and Second Division—would find them.

Good or evil didn't matter.

To Soul Society, Quincy were a threat to the spiritual balance—a destabilizing force.

Thus, only one fate awaited them: elimination.

City by city, small Quincy enclaves were discovered and wiped out.

At first, the Quincy were taken off guard—isolated and disorganized. But as word spread, and more clans fell, the survivors began to realize the scale of the operation.

They began to unite.

They prepared to resist.

A final confrontation was looming.

Out in a barren wasteland—no buildings, no cover—Gosuke Shigure stood with his team.

Before him stood a group of Quincy, hardened by survival, but doomed all the same.

He had not spoken a word.

Zaraki grinned like a predator. Without waiting for any command, he charged forward, roaring in delight, and swung his Zanpakutō.

The battle was bloody and brief.

When the dust settled, every Quincy in that group had been annihilated.

But this time, casualties struck the Shinigami as well.

Several Eleventh Division members had fallen. Though they were elite warriors, this was war—and war never came without cost.

Even Gosuke Shigure had done what he could to avoid unnecessary deaths. But he wasn't a healer by nature, nor could he protect everyone at once.

Some of his men had simply been too far, too exposed, or too reckless.

Still, neither he nor his men expressed grief.

They had joined the Eleventh Division knowing full well what it meant.

It was after this battle that the Quincy, who had only recently begun to rise again, were once more reduced to fragments—scattered remnants with no organized leadership.

Only a few small families managed to survive.

It wasn't long before Gosuke Shigure encountered something strange: a Quincy who didn't flee… who didn't fight… but waited.

Not out of courage.

But acceptance.

"You're not going to run?" Gosuke asked, pausing as he looked at the man seated cross-legged in the grass.

The man, middle-aged, wore plain robes. His spiritual signature was faint but unmistakably Quincy.

His eyes were somber, but not afraid.

"When there's no place left in this world for us Quincies… where would we even escape to?"

He spoke with calm finality.

After the Quincy's ancient defeat at the hands of Yamamoto's Gotei 13, those who remained had hidden—fleeing to the Human World, scattering in secret enclaves, and avoiding all contact with Soul Society.

Over time, Shinigami influence had spread, overtaking the present world with more and more stationed troops, monitors, and Kido barriers. As Soul Society exerted more control, Quincy options narrowed.

Few had ever considered fleeing to Hueco Mundo, the Hollow realm.

But even if they had—could they survive there?

And more importantly—would the Shinigami even allow it?

"No matter where we go," the man continued, "Shinigami decide whether we live or die."

He gave a bitter smile.

"That's just how it is. Quincy are the defeated."

"…That's true," Gosuke admitted without emotion.

The man turned and glanced behind him.

Two children—no older than six or seven—lay unconscious in the grass. A boy and a girl.

His gaze softened.

Then he looked back at Gosuke.

"You must be a captain of the Gotei 13. The leader of this unit. Can I ask something of you?"

Gosuke tilted his head, already guessing the request.

"You want me to spare them."

The man nodded. "Yes."

"They're children. They've done nothing wrong."

"If Soul Society has truly decided that we Quincies must vanish, then so be it. We adults… we've had our time."

"We can sever the Quincy legacy here. We'll die. But let the children live. They shouldn't have to carry our sins."

"They shouldn't have to bear the weight of an ancient war they never started."

Gosuke's eyes narrowed.

"You know you have no right to bargain with us."

"I know," the man said, quietly. "I know I have no authority. No leverage."

"But I'm a father."

"And if resistance won't buy survival… then I can only beg."

His voice cracked slightly, but his body remained composed. Dignified.

He bowed his head low.

Even in humiliation, he never abandoned his role as a protector.

Gosuke studied him for a long moment, silent.

Then, something clicked in his mind.

"…What's your name?" he asked.

The man looked up, hesitated, then answered:

"Kohei Ishida."

"Ishida…" Gosuke repeated slowly, his eyes narrowing.

Something about the name stirred a memory—a possibility. A ripple from the future.

PS : 

5 chapters every two days on Patreon!!

1 chapter every day here!

JOIN MY PATREON TO READ ADVANCE CHAPTERS 

We're already at Chapter 93 on Patreon!

▶ patreon.com/HACKDWORLD ◀