"And that is how it happened..."
Sōken Ishida sat in the reception room of the Wandenreich, sipping hot tea. He recounted, word for word, how Soifon had tracked him down and threatened him into handing over the key to the Gate of the Sun.
Several members of the Sternritter leaned against the walls, staring intently at Sōken. Haschwalth nodded occasionally, appearing to trust Sōken's account implicitly, and even respectfully detained him there to enjoy dinner.
It wasn't until late at night that Haschwalth finally opened the Gate of the Sun and saw Sōken off.
In reality, Haschwalth wasn't trying to wear the old man down. He was primarily waiting for Yhwach to fall asleep so he could utilize His Majesty's power—which had not yet fully recovered—to catch a limited and brief glimpse of the future.
—Heavy panting.
Haschwalth utilized the authority of 'The Almighty' to its fullest extent, yet he saw no future where Sōken and that short female Quincy conspired to meet in the World of the Living.
In the visions, Sōken either went to the training grounds to cultivate or returned to the Ishida home to report his safety.
It appeared Sōken truly had been taken hostage, and that a traitor had emerged from within their own Quincy ranks.
It was a pity. Such a powerful individual could not be used by His Majesty, and the pass to the Gate of the Sun had been snatched away by her. The next time they met, he definitely could not spare her life.
However, what he did not know was that this was a combat strategy custom-made by Sōken Ishida, who had figured out Haschwalth's suspicious nature, and Soifon, who possessed the true knowledge of the future.
When Soifon successfully abducted a Quincy of the Sternritter from the Wandenreich, Sōken understood that this might be the last time they would see each other for years.
I hope that in the future, you can succeed, Captain Soifon...
Sōken suddenly sighed, stopped his fountain pen mid-sentence while writing down Quincy secret arts, and looked up at the pitch-black night sky.
Hueco Mundo, Las Noches.
The great King of Hueco Mundo, Lady Soifon, swaggered in carrying an unconscious, busty pink-haired woman. Nelliel followed by her side.
"Nel, is Aizen in?" Soifon asked, hefting Meninas at her waist.
"Lord Aizen? I am not sure..." Nelliel looked curiously at the pink-haired woman at Soifon's waist. "Lady Soifon, who is this..."
Soifon didn't stop walking. "A Quincy. A prisoner of war."
Nelliel nodded, seemingly understanding. No wonder she felt uncomfortable looking at this pink-haired woman earlier; she was a Quincy.
When Soifon walked into the laboratory carrying Meninas, Aizen was standing in front of a row of culture tanks, holding a data report in his hand. Hearing footsteps, he turned around, his gaze landing on the pink-haired woman in Soifon's arms.
"This is..."
At this moment, Aizen's brain spun rapidly, but he couldn't find an identity that matched Meninas.
"A Quincy," Soifon said, placing Meninas on an empty metal table in the center of the laboratory. "Brought her back from the Wandenreich."
Walking quickly to the table, Aizen used his spiritual sense to perceive the comatose pink-haired Quincy. He looked thoughtful upon seeing the military-style uniform she wore.
"The Wandenreich," he said with a hint of pleasant surprise. "Captain Soifon actually found them."
Soifon shrugged, not mentioning the matter of Sōken Ishida. She simply complained blindly to Sōsuke Aizen: "I'm afraid I won't be able to go to the World of the Living for a while. They are probably scraping three feet off the ground looking for me right now."
Hearing this, Aizen's gaze returned to Meninas, the interest in his eyes deepening.
"To make the Wandenreich attach such importance to the matter, it seems this lady's status is extraordinary?"
"A member of the Sternritter. There are fewer than thirty of them. Her status is second only to Yhwach and his Imperial Guard."
"Then... Captain Soifon, would you mind letting me witness it? This Quincy of the new era."
Soifon nodded. That was her intention all along. Previously, it had all been theoretical talk; it was time to let Aizen witness the new 'power'.
The two left the laboratory one after the other, with Nelliel following behind carrying Meninas, arriving at an open stretch of white sand on the outskirts of Las Noches.
Soifon placed Meninas on the sand, crouched down, and her palm glowed with the light of Kaidō.
A moment later, Meninas's eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes—
Where is this...
Why is there... a sword in front of my eyes?
Kyōka Suigetsu transitioned seamlessly, completely hypnotizing Meninas. It made her perceive a withered tree in front of her as the intruder, Soifon.
After unleashing a barrage of attacks against the empty air, Meninas was knocked unconscious again.
"Truly remarkable," Aizen praised without concealment. "Completely different from those Quincys of the past who could only rely on bows and arrows. The difference in combat power is like heaven and earth."
"If Captain Aizen wants to extract intelligence, you can use Kyōka Suigetsu to disguise yourself as Haschwalth."
Do this, do that... and so on...
Meninas, who had absolutely no resistance to Kyōka Suigetsu, soon mistook Las Noches for the Wandenreich.
From that day on, Uryū Ishida never saw the older sister, Soifon, who had saved his mother again. When he asked his father and grandfather, all he received were ruthless scoldings.
"Ichigo, didn't Big Sister Soifon give you a pager?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Then do you want to try contacting her?"
"No way. It'll cause trouble for Big Sister Soifon. If there's no danger, we shouldn't play around with it."
Due to the early contact with the Kurosaki family, Uryū and Ichigo—two children with relatively common topics—started playing together.
It was just that Uryū didn't quite understand Ichigo's dislike for power. Whenever he showed off his Quincy abilities to him, Ichigo always lacked interest.
Meanwhile, the Quincys in the World of the Living had turned into a chaotic mess. To obtain the qualification to join the Sternritter, they were constantly scouring for traces of Soifon.
However, the information Soifon left behind that day was truly scant. Even her clothes were just a casual sportswear set she had bought at random. The only clues were the extremely vague characteristics mentioned by Haschwalth: "Short," "Bad temper," and "Hostile to the Empire."
Therefore, a witch hunt targeting "short, bad-tempered female Quincys" began.
Such abnormal movement from the Quincy side naturally attracted the attention of the Seireitei in Soul Society.
After all, with Reishi arrows flying wildly through the sky, it wasn't impossible for a passing stationed Shinigami to get hit occasionally.
At first, both sides were able to sit down calmly for friendly consultations. The Quincy side even intended to explain what problems had occurred on their end.
The Shinigami also dispatched a 3rd Seat from the First Division to negotiate with the pure-bloods in the World of the Living.
Considering the current Quincys in Karakura Town were truly unsightly, sending a 3rd Seat was already giving them a lot of face.
Until...
"Captain Aizen, we cannot let them stop."
"This is part of the plan. For the sake of the Hōgyoku, please use Kyōka Suigetsu on them..."
As the sound of a mirror shattering rang out, the hand rose and the blade fell. The Quincy who had come to negotiate collapsed in response to the sound.
The personnel on the Shinigami side, having slashed at the air for a long time, also felt they had hacked the opponent to death, and unanimously agreed that it was the Quincys who had made the first move.
____
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