Chapter 392

2-in-1 chapter:  

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Looking at the boy in front of him—so young, yet already wearing glasses—Ichigo showed a puzzled expression:

"Your name's Ishida, right… Ishida, what are you exactly? You say you want to challenge the Shinigami, so are you a spiritual being too?"

"Spiritual being?"

Ishida Uryū slightly furrowed his brows.

What kind of odd terminology was that? It was his first time hearing it.

Still, he could roughly understand what it meant.

He lifted his chin slightly, his face proud:

"I’m a Quincy!"

"The last Quincy, Ishida Uryū!"

"For the honor of the Quincy, Kurosaki Ichigo, I must defeat you!"

"Huh?"

Ichigo couldn’t help but let out a confused grunt.

"Wait, hold on... 'Last Quincy'? What’s that supposed to mean?"

Ishida Uryū lightly pushed up his glasses, his expression cold:

"Under the oppression of the Shinigami, the Quincy have become few in number, scattered in designated settlements. Most of them chose to abandon Quincy pride and live ordinary lives instead."

"In this generation, I’m the only one who’s fully mastered the Quincy powers. The rest are either half-baked, or never trained or inherited the legacy at all."

"Do you understand now, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"These are the sins you Shinigami have committed!"

"To prove the Quincy are stronger than the Shinigami, I will defeat you and declare this to my father and all those who gave up the fight—that the Quincy are the strongest!"

Ichigo frowned and tilted his head.

He didn’t get it. What kind of nonsense was this?

Bambietta was a Quincy too, and she didn’t seem to have some blood feud with Shinigami.

Besides, according to Mr. Kaelith, the Quincy were incredibly powerful—capable of triggering a massive catastrophe at any moment.

How could they be "oppressed" by Shinigami, like Ishida Uryū was saying?

While he was mulling that over, Ishida Uryū had already spread his arms.

With his motion, a blue spirit bow and arrow formed in midair.

“Oh… he really is a Quincy.”

Seeing the familiar bow and arrow, Ichigo’s eyes lit up.

He walked up to Ishida Uryū and circled around, inspecting the weapon.

“Hmm… decent spirit particle density, solid technique. Yeah, looks like professional training.”

“?”

Ishida Uryū looked at him with a confused expression.

"You’ve seen a Quincy before?"

"Yeah."

Ichigo nodded.

Hearing this, Ishida Uryū was a bit surprised.

Just as he’d said, while there were still a number of Quincy in the world, most had hidden their identities and stopped practicing.

Even he himself hadn’t met many Quincy growing up—yet this guy had?

But… so what if he had?

His own power wasn’t something those average Quincy could compare to!

Even at his young age, he was already stronger than some adult Quincy!

He spoke solemnly:

"Enough talk. Let’s fight!"

"I’ve heard that Shinigami fight in soul form. I’ll give you time to leave your body."

Ichigo shook his head:

"No need, let’s just fight like this."

"Lunch break at our school isn’t long—we gotta finish this quickly. After eating, I’ve still got class."

"You don’t know our teacher—she’s strict. Skip her class and the consequences are bad."

As he spoke, he rolled his neck and wrists, readying for battle.

Ishida Uryū was clearly displeased.

This Shinigami named Kurosaki Ichigo was obviously underestimating him. A Shinigami bound by a physical body could barely use any power—how could he possibly fight him?

Fine. If he’s that confident, I’ll show him what it means to take me lightly!

With that, Ishida Uryū immediately loosed his arrow.

Whoosh!

The blue spirit arrow tore through the air, reaching Ichigo in an instant.

Facing the incoming spirit arrow, Ichigo merely lifted one arm and pointed his index finger forward.

With the motion, a spirit-particle crossbow appeared above his fingertip.

Under Ishida Uryū’s stunned gaze, the spirit-particle crossbow let loose an arrow of its own—whoosh!

Although the arrows fired from the spirit crossbow were slightly smaller than Uryū Ishida's, upon contact, they immediately exploded—detonating Uryū’s arrows mid-air as well.

Then, Ichigo raised his other hand and pointed it at Ishida.

An identical spiritual crossbow materialized above his index finger and launched another spirit arrow.

Ishida was so shocked that he even forgot to dodge. Instinctively, he raised his spirit bow in front of him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three spirit arrows struck his bow in succession, and the force made Ishida grit his teeth.

Fortunately, these three arrows didn’t explode like the previous one upon impact. Otherwise, he might have been lying on the ground already.

Blocking Ichigo's arrows, Ishida had just opened his mouth to demand an explanation—but Ichigo had already vanished from sight.

A second later, a cold sensation touched the back of his neck.

Ishida turned reflexively, only to find that Ichigo had somehow gotten behind him.

A blue spiritual crossbow was pressed against his neck.

If Ichigo fired at that range, there was no doubt he’d die instantly!

Ishida opened his mouth, stunned into speechlessness by the shock.

“You... what is this… I…”

“What the hell is going on?!”

“Why do you—how do you have Quincy powers?!”

Ichigo shrugged.

“Learned them.”

“Ishida, do you yield? If you admit defeat, I’ll back off.”

“Don’t think about using Blut Vene to block—I’m monitoring the reiryoku around your neck. If you activate it, I’ll shoot immediately.”

Ishida: “……”

Blut Vene?

That technique—he’d only heard about it from his grandfather. Supposedly, it was the Quincy’s strongest defensive ability. Once activated, it dramatically enhanced durability.

But when he asked to learn it, his grandfather said his foundation was still too weak and wouldn’t let him study it so early.

He never expected to hear that term today—from the mouth of Kurosaki Ichigo… a Soul Reaper!

Just how much did this guy know about Quincy powers?

No—more than how much he knew, the real question was: Why did this guy even have Quincy abilities in the first place?!

Looking at Ichigo standing silently beside him, Ishida gritted his teeth and said:

“I… I admit defeat. But only for today!”

“I didn’t expect a Soul Reaper like you to use Quincy powers. I was too shocked to fight properly!”

“Only for today? That’s fine too.”

Ichigo nodded and lowered his hand.

Honestly, saying he’d shoot was just a bluff. He could never actually kill someone with an arrow like that.

He flashed in front of Ishida.

Only then did Ishida notice—the movement technique Ichigo used just now was Hirenkyaku, the Quincy’s exclusive mobility skill.

This guy… so those spirit arrows earlier weren’t a fluke.

He asked urgently:

“You said you learned it? Where did you learn Quincy techniques?!”

Ichigo picked up his lunch box, opened it, and began eating.

Thanks to Masaki Kurosaki’s teachings, he had good table manners. Only after swallowing all the food in his mouth did he answer:

“My Quincy teacher was Bambietta.”

“Bambietta?!”

Uryū Ishida’s eyes widened.

“Bambietta Basterbine?!”

“Seems like it... You remembered that long-ass surname?”

Ichigo looked slightly surprised.

Uryū Ishida took a deep breath.

Bambietta Basterbine—the overseer of the Quincy in the World of the Living.

Though his grandfather was the Quincy’s nominal leader, he secretly followed Bambietta’s orders.

It was said that her power was not inferior to his grandfather’s.

Kurosaki Ichigo—a Soul Reaper—why was he being taught by Bambietta?

He couldn’t help but ask:

“You’re really a Soul Reaper?”

“Yeah…”

Ichigo looked exasperated.

This Ishida guy wore glasses, but he sure acted clueless.

Always shocked by every little thing.

To clear things up, Ichigo raised his hand:

“Bakudō #1: Sai!”

As his words fell, Ishida felt his arms snap together—bound tightly, impossible to move.

“This is proper Soul Reaper ability. Satisfied?”

Ichigo said, then continued eating.

Ishida struggled a few times, then used spirit particles to break the Bakudō.

Looking at Ichigo sitting there casually eating, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d just had a Komamura moment.

How… how was this possible?

How could someone possess both Soul Reaper and Quincy powers at the same time?

After a moment of silence, he turned away:

“I’ll be back!”

With that, he stepped into Hirenkyaku and vanished.

Ichigo shook his head, a helpless look on his face.

.............................................

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The next day, Ishida came again.

This time, he had dark circles under his eyes and looked exhausted.

Seeing his state, Ichigo looked a bit surprised:

“Hey, hey… What happened to you? Are you sick?”

Ishida shook his head:

“No, it’s just that yesterday when I asked my grandfather about you, my old man overheard it. He pinned me to the wall with a spirit arrow and left me there all night…”

There was one more thing he didn’t say.

That was—his father had issued a strict order forbidding him from ever bothering Kurosaki Ichigo again.

To this, Ishida Uryū simply pretended not to hear.

His old man said that because he was clearly still afraid of the Shinigami.

But as long as he could defeat Kurosaki Ichigo, his father would naturally change his mind!

Hearing Ishida’s words, Ichigo shook his head with a sigh.

Every family has its own set of problems...

Ishida said seriously:

“Kurosaki, in our fight yesterday, you didn’t use your Shinigami powers—so the result doesn’t count!”

“Today, use your Shinigami powers, and let’s fight again!”

Hearing this, Ichigo shook his head:

“Forget it.”

“What? Are you scared?!”

“It’s not fear… It’s just that after our fight yesterday, I already understand your strength pretty well.”

While speaking, Ichigo opened his lunchbox.

“Your fundamentals aren’t bad. Your spirit arrows are fast and strong, and your aim is good.”

“But… your combat experience is too lacking. You probably just practice shooting targets or maybe fighting Hollows, right?”

“Too little real combat experience makes your movements stiff and your reactions slow.”

“No matter whether I use Quincy powers or Shinigami powers—you won’t be able to beat me.”

“Don’t underestimate me!”

Ishida Uryū’s face turned red with anger.

Seeing his reaction, Ichigo tilted his head.

If it were Kaelith, what would he do in this situation…

After thinking for a few seconds, he seemed to realize something.

Under Ishida’s gaze, Ichigo grinned:

“Ishida, if you really want to fight me that badly, it’s not impossible.”

“But there’s a price.”

“A price?”

Ishida frowned slightly.

Ichigo nodded: “You’re the heir of the Ishida family that runs that huge hospital, right? So you must be pretty rich.”

“Starting tomorrow, bring me some good food—add something to my lunch.”

“That’ll be your ticket to fight me. Deal?”

Ishida froze slightly.

That simple?

Thinking it over, he nodded: “Alright.”

As if afraid Ichigo might change his mind, he quickly turned and left after speaking.

On the third day at noon, Ishida Uryū showed up on the rooftop with a bag, right on time.

Seeing the size of the bag, Ichigo was stunned.

Under his gaze, Ishida opened it and revealed a 40-centimeter-high basket.

Opening the lid, inside was an assortment of high-grade tempura.

Below that were various side dishes and soups.

Then desserts.

At the bottom was a custom thermal compartment with chilled items like sashimi and sushi.

“These—are they enough for a fight?”

Ishida said seriously.

“If not, I can have the butler send more.”

Ichigo fell silent.

Damn it. Same hospital business—why couldn’t his own dad be this generous?

Speaking of which, Kaelith once joked that his dad was some super-aristocrat with a whole industrial empire, just hiding it from him.

Hah. Anyone who believed that was an idiot!

Shaking those random thoughts out of his head, he grinned:

“Yeah, yeah, it’s enough. Let’s keep this quick—fight first, then eat!”

“There’s no way I can finish all this.”

“Hmph.”

Ishida replied casually.

He didn’t care about food—he just wanted to take down Kurosaki Ichigo and prove his strength.

Under his gaze, Ichigo's body flashed with light, separating from his physical form.

Looking at the boy in a black Shihakushō with a huge sword on his back, Ishida Uryū swallowed hard.

So this was... a Shinigami!

He took a deep breath and formed his spirit bow.

Today, he would prove to his father that he was stronger than a Shinigami!

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Seconds later, Ichigo sheathed his sword and clapped his hands.

“Not bad. You fought better than I expected.”

“You’re still lacking in experience, but your reaction speed’s decent.”

He returned to his body, picked up his lunchbox, and walked over to Ishida’s.

“C’mon, Ishida—let’s eat together!”

He mimicked how Kaelith usually invited him, smiling as he welcomed the Quincy boy to share a meal.

Covered in dust, Ishida struggled to sit up.

“No... I’ll keep training. Next time we meet—ugh!”

Before he could finish, Ichigo wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged him over.

“Alright, stop talking like that. We’re both spiritual ability users—we should be closer!”

“Kaelith always says: ‘All spirit users are one big family. Except Quincie’s... oh right, you are a Quincy.”

“Whatever. He has a Quincy girlfriend anyway—what’s wrong with me having a Quincy friend?”

“Here—have some fried shrimp!”

Ichigo smiled as he picked a tempura shrimp from Ishida’s fancy lunch and offered it to him.

Ishida tried to escape but realized this damn Shinigami was ridiculously strong—he couldn’t break free.

In despair, he was force-fed a shrimp by Ichigo using chopsticks.

On the fourth day, Ishida came with lunch and was defeated again.

They shared lunch.

Fifth day, same result. Shared lunch.

Sixth day, shared lunch...

Through repeated sparring and shared meals, the young Shinigami and Quincy slowly built a friendship.

The cheerful, lighthearted days passed quickly.

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