"W-what's going on?"
"Why are we back?"
"How did this place become like this?"
"Who is he?"
"…"
One moment, they were in Hueco Mundo, fighting against the terrifying Espada; the next, they were back in their incredibly familiar stronghold. This left all the Sternritter members present with a look of confusion.
However, when they clearly saw the ruined buildings around them, everyone was stunned.
Someone invaded this place?
"He's…"
Finally, someone recognized the figure standing in the center of the city: "It's that guy named Ishikawa, one of the six Special War Powers. Why is he here?"
"How is this possible?"
Upon recognizing Ishikawa, everyone's pupils constricted, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Never before…
Never before had anyone other than a Quincy entered the Wandenreich, let alone a Shinigami!
…
Ishikawa ignored the reactions of those around him. With a flick of his right hand, which hung at his side, a blade with a gray edge and white hilt materialized in his hand.
With Yhwach's return, this space, which was in the same position as the Seireitei, had become indestructible. Continuing to analyze it would only be a waste of effort.
"Now this feels a bit more like welcoming a guest."
Ishikawa slowly raised his head, a faint smile on his face, and said to Yhwach, "A guest arrives, and the host takes so long to come out and greet them. Is this how you Quincies treat your guests?"
Yhwach did not reply. Instead, he stared at Ishikawa with a somber gaze, the blue flames that had been used to seal the Schatten Bereich completely merging into this world.
After he finished all of this, he slowly lowered his head, looking down at Ishikawa, the gloom in his eyes gradually settling into calm.
No, rather than settling into calm, it was more like in his eyes…
What he saw was merely a dying man!
"So, you've caused such a huge commotion to join my ranks?"
"To join the Wandenreich?"
Ishikawa showed no panic regarding the complete sealing of the Schatten Bereich. Instead, he smiled faintly: "There was a guy named Aizen who once said something similar to me. If you're willing to be sealed, I wouldn't mind helping you take care of the Wandenreich."
"How audacious!"
"A mere Shinigami dares to be so presumptuous!"
"Kill him."
"…"
Before Yhwach could speak, the surrounding Sternritter members were already enraged, their eyes filled with murderous intent as they looked at Ishikawa.
But some also had a strange glint in their eyes, because this statement implicitly revealed something.
That is…
The terrifying Arrancar in Las Noches were very likely subordinates of this young man.
"Oh?"
Yhwach smiled at the words:
"So, you are the one who brought about new changes to the Espada in Las Noches?"
With that, he didn't wait for Ishikawa's reply and nodded slightly:
"Not choosing to confront me directly, but saving them in this way, is indeed a good method."
"But…"
"Even if you risked your life to come here, you still cannot save them. If you had obediently hidden in the Seireitei, I might have given you the chance to join my ranks."
"That's not wrong to say."
Ishikawa didn't refute Yhwach's words. Instead, he nodded, but then his tone shifted:
"But you've got one thing wrong."
Ishikawa slowly raised his head. The Kokumei in his hand instantly dispersed into Reishi, almost at the same moment Kokumei vanished.
Buzz—
The entire Wandenreich suddenly trembled. Everyone instinctively looked in the direction of the tremor, and the sight that met their eyes made everyone's bodies stiffen.
Looking up, they saw that in the sky above the Wandenreich, on the dark firmament, two massive purple vortices had appeared.
As they watched, the vortices gradually coalesced, finally forming a pair of purple-glowing eyes.
At this moment, including Yhwach, everyone in the entire Wandenreich was under the gaze of those purple eyes.
"King of the Quincies."
Ishikawa's voice, as calm as that of a deity, clearly reached everyone's ears:
"What exactly gave you the illusion that I came here risking my life?"
Under the gaze of those purple eyes, everyone instinctively felt an inexplicable discomfort.
It wasn't emotional discomfort, but a biological, instinctive discomfort and aversion. A murderous intent uncontrollably rose in their hearts, wishing they could immediately kill the owner of these purple eyes.
Yhwach withdrew his gaze from Ishikawa and looked at the pair of purple eyes above his head, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.
Because even he felt that sense of aversion.
He wasn't unaware of the abilities of Ishikawa's Zanpakuto.
When the Zanpakuto rebellion occurred in the Soul Society, Ishikawa had fought against his own Zanpakuto, and it was precisely this battle that led him to record Ishikawa as a 'Special War Power.'
That's right, it wasn't because Ishikawa defeated Aizen.
Rather, even before that, Ishikawa was already a Special War Power in his eyes.
Omni-Analysis!
What could be analyzed was not only the human body, techniques, and souls, but even the rules contained within the Schrift!
So, while he was surprised by Ishikawa's invasion of the Wandenreich, he wasn't surprised at all that Ishikawa could invade this place.
Because the Schatten Bereich was also a type of rule.
One could say that in front of Ishikawa's Zanpakuto, there was nothing that couldn't be analyzed; if there was, it was only because the owner's strength was insufficient.
And what caused the strange glint in his eyes was not just the aversion, but also…
"He released his Bankai?"
Yhwach scoffed, "It seems the intelligence you possess is even greater than I imagined."
Although the instinctive aversion had not dissipated, the eyes that had merged with this space were not Bankai at this moment. Instead, at the same time he released his Bankai, he unleashed all of its power and inscribed it within this space, which he had analyzed for a long time.
This way, Ishikawa could use Bankai abilities in his Shikai state.
However, this inscription couldn't last too long; once the energy was depleted, it would naturally cease to exist.
But this kind of inscribing, or rather, merging, Bankai energy into the Schatten Bereich, was not something that could be done in a short time.
If there were no surprises…
While destroying the Schatten Bereich, he had already been slowly integrating his Bankai into this space, continuously accumulating it.
To perform such a strenuous and thankless act indicated that he was well aware that his Wandenreich possessed some ability to plunder Bankai.
Looking at Ishikawa below, Yhwach suddenly recalled Aizen's past judgment of him.
Ishikawa seemed to possess some ability to see fragments of the future!
"Heh heh."
At this thought, Yhwach suddenly shook his head with a laugh, unsure what he was thinking.
"Ridiculous~!"
No one knew whether the word "ridiculous" from his mouth was mocking Aizen's judgment or Ishikawa's ability.
But no one cared either.
Because…
It was getting foggy!
Gray mist, imperceptibly, spread and filled every corner of the Wandenreich.
Everyone, whose full attention was drawn by the purple eyes, didn't pay much heed to the mist until someone cried out in horror:
"That guy disappeared!"
Disappeared?
How is that possible!?
Hearing this, everyone instinctively wanted to retort. If someone could disappear silently while surrounded by so many Sternritter, they might as well find a block of tofu to bash their heads in.
He probably just used the gray mist to conceal himself, or used a Kido similar to Kyōka Suigetsu.
However, when they searched for Ishikawa, they found that…
He really had vanished!
Not only him, but even their companions beside them had disappeared.
It wasn't that they disappeared, as they could grasp their companions next to them, but they couldn't sense their companions' presence.
Aura, Reiatsu, intuition…
All senses, under the shroud of the gray mist, completely failed.
Only then did everyone realize the strangeness of the gray mist.
Under the shroud of the gray mist, it felt like being trapped in a deep sea; every movement became incredibly heavy, and even moving a finger required immense strength and Reiatsu.
And what frightened everyone the most was…
Unable to perceive!
The gray mist was like a barrier, obscuring all their perceptions of the outside world.
It felt as if the entire world was left with only oneself.
They could clearly grasp their companions beside them, but even holding hands, their companions felt like dead people in their perception, without the slightest aura.
Someone instinctively started running, but no matter how they ran, they couldn't escape the surrounding gray mist.
They even found themselves back where they started without realizing it.
"What exactly is this?"
"Where did that guy go?"
"…"
Familiar voices kept coming from nearby, but they sounded incredibly hollow, making it impossible to determine their source.
But some people realized it!
What surrounded them was not ordinary mist, but some kind of domain.
That was indeed the case.
Ishikawa stood within the mist. From beginning to end, he had not moved from his position, yet the Sternritter members who charged at him according to their memories all passed by him, never able to reach him.
This was the Shikai domain belonging to the new Kokumei!
In the battle where Ishikawa subdued Kokumei, Kokumei had once trapped Ishikawa in place with this domain.
However, after Ishikawa subdued Kokumei, he rarely used this domain.
Because…
In some ways, this domain was a useless domain, even inferior to Kokumei's original domain, having no effect in one-on-one combat.
The gray mist was incredibly heavy, and the consumption of Reiatsu for movement was not a problem for those at the Captain-level.
And the only highlight, the ability to obscure perception, was indeed terrifying.
But just as Ishikawa said…
In one-on-one combat, it had no effect at all.
Because as long as Ishikawa attacked, that obscuring effect would completely fail for his target at that instant.
After Ishikawa subdued Kokumei, most of his battles were one-on-one skirmishes, and even when surrounded… his enemies were targets that could be easily killed, making it completely unnecessary to expend a large amount of Reiatsu in battle to maintain such a useless domain.
This led Ishikawa to believe for a time that this domain had no reason to exist, and he even mocked it in his heart when he subdued Kokumei.
It wasn't until he was surrounded by the Sternritter that Ishikawa suddenly realized…
Kokumei's Shikai might not be so useless after all.
Unlike the Sternritter, who were like headless chickens, the gray mist was as if non-existent to Ishikawa, its master. He could clearly see the positions of all the surrounding Sternritter and also see Yhwach above, who was locking onto him through the gray mist.
Ishikawa wasn't surprised by this. If a Shikai's domain could obscure Yhwach's perception, then Yhwach wouldn't be worthy of such high regard from him.
What he wanted wasn't to obscure Yhwach's perception, but to create a stage for a one-on-one duel between himself and Yhwach!
In a sense…
The Shikai domain of the new Kokumei was no different from the arena within Kokumei's former Shikai domain.
Both were for one-on-one combat, with others only serving as spectators, just without the spectator stands.
Come on!
Ishikawa slowly ascended into the air. The nearly 1.6-meter long gray blade in his hand became incredibly sharp at this moment, and his Reiatsu soared into the sky.
But within the gray mist, the only one who could sense all of this was Yhwach!
He looked at Ishikawa ascending, the sneer on his face not receding, but growing even more intense:
"Childish tricks."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and pressed it down towards Ishikawa below: "What made you think I'd need others to help me kill you?"
Buzz~
A massive Holy Arrow instantly materialized, heading towards Ishikawa like a meteor.
"Parroting is not a good habit."
Ishikawa said this with righteous indignation, completely forgetting that he too had remembered this phrase because of someone.
As he spoke, Ishikawa swung his Zanpakuto upwards.
This swing did not produce a startling energy fluctuation; instead, it gave a sense of extreme slowness.
However…
The moment this slash reached its peak.
The incredibly heavy gray mist, which could not be dispersed no matter what, suddenly split into two!
Also split into two was the Holy Arrow that Yhwach had materialized.
Boom~!
A violent explosion echoed in every corner of the Wandenreich.
Although since the battle with Unohana… well, strictly speaking, it was a one-sided hacking, Ishikawa had not used pure Zanjutsu in combat for a long time.
But don't forget.
After Reiatsu and physique, the first ability he had pushed to its limit was Zanjutsu.
This slash, after destroying the Holy Arrow, lost none of its power and instantly arrived before Yhwach.
Facing this attack, Yhwach's brow furrowed.
Because the Zanjutsu Ishikawa displayed at this moment once again exceeded his expectations.
Only a little over a year had passed since Ishikawa's battle with Aizen, and in that year, Ishikawa had never engaged in combat with anyone.
So his understanding of Ishikawa…
No, strictly speaking…
His understanding of Ishikawa and Aizen still remained in that battle from over a year ago!