Ginjo understood Kyōraku's instructions and was happy to recruit new companions; however, he didn't rush to approach Ryūsaki immediately, because that would be too deliberate...
At school, Shūkurō Tsukishima is rather independent and doesn't like to interact with other students except for Ryūsaki... He's not socially awkward or timid.
Ryūsaki could roughly guess some of it: Tsukishima felt that he and Tsukishima were on the same level, both able to see the illusion and know the truth of this world, which gave him a sense of superiority...
Even though he's only ten years old and has experienced a lot, Tsukishima still finds it difficult to control his pride.
It's also clear that Tsukishima harbored some reservations about Ryūsaki, but not many, and Ryūsaki quickly dispelled them...
In less than a week, Tsukishima had extracted all the information Ryūsaki knew about Ginjo and Takumi:
Their organization is based on 'Fullbring' and is called 'XCUTION', but Tsukishima doesn't quite understand what it stands for.
There were several members before, but they all died in battle, leaving only Ginjo and Takumi. Ginjo is currently the leader, and he has been Substitute Soul Reaper for more than five years.
As for why Ginjo is associated with the Soul Reaper, Tsukishima doesn't know... After all, he's only been adopted by Ginjo for a little over a month, so it's impossible for him to know everything.
Ryūsaki has an adult mindset and can easily manipulate Tsukishima. For example, this time, he was curious about what Fullbring was, so he challenged Tsukishima to a sparring match...
On the rooftop of an Abandoned Factory, where the wind was strong and the nearest block was five or six hundred meters away, Ryūsaki and Tsukishima stood facing each other.
"Ryūsaki, do you really want to spar? I'm afraid I'll hurt you."
Tsukishima expressed that he was somewhat reluctant to fight, as his Book of the End could transform into Katana, which could actually kill people.
Ryūsaki sneered, "Do you know why everyone dislikes you? They like your indecisiveness and overly self-centeredness. What makes you think you can definitely hurt me?"
Tsukishima was taken aback by Ryūsaki's question, then frowned. He hadn't expected Ryūsaki Ishida to be so arrogant.
"That's right. I almost forgot that you, Ryūsaki, don't understand the power of Fullbring, which is why you wanted to learn through sparring."
Tsukishima took out a book, pulled out Bookmark from Bookmark, and infused it with Reiryoku. The green Reiryoku caused the Bookmark to change, instantly transforming it into a Katana with a small chain on the hilt.
'The Bookmark turned into a knife?'
Ryūsaki was secretly surprised and doubtful. The memories his original body had given him were quite extensive, yet there was still no record of this kind of ability.
Seemingly sensing Ryūsaki's confusion, Tsukishima explained, "Fullbring of using Reiryoku to extract the soul of things, controlling them, and then amplifying it with one's own power to make it exert even greater strength."
"Everything in the world has a soul; the only difference is the strength of that soul. For example, if I extract a portion of the soul from water, I can use its power to stand on the surface of the water."
Tsukishima paused, crouched down, picked up a rusty iron rod, and then suddenly threw it at the railing behind Ryūsaki, the small iron rod instantly piercing through it.
"Or extract the soul of the iron branch and combine it with one's own power to make its attack even stronger."
Tsukishima then looked at the sword in his hand. "This Bookmark is a tool I use quite often, and I'm very familiar with it, so it's like I understand its soul."
"That's why it possesses a greater power than other substances, and it has transformed into Tachi capable of cleaving through anything, just as I wished."
"I think I understand a little bit, but let's still see who's stronger!" Ryūsaki stretched his neck, and the surrounding Reishi were instantly gathered by the bracelet, turning into two Reishi Chains as thick as an adult's wrist.
"Is this your Fullbring?" Tsukishima asked curiously.
"I don't know if it counts as Fullbring, but it doesn't seem like it. Be careful." Ryūsaki spoke vaguely, while inwardly shouting: I will not tell you anything about Quincy.
Ryūsaki struck first, his right hand whipping out Chains. Tsukishima dared not take the blow head-on, and a green light flashed from his feet as he jumped backward to dodge.
The other Chains anticipated Tsukishima's landing point, leaving him no choice but to take the hit; with a clang, the Katana deflected the Chains.
Ryūsaki used his Hirenkyaku to instantly close the distance to Tsukishima, dodging the slash while simultaneously kicking Tsukishima in the stomach. Tsukishima flew backward, slowing down and coming to a stop by slicing the ground with the blade of his Katana.
Just as Ryūsaki was about to press his advantage, the rooftop suddenly collapsed after he took only three steps. Losing his footing, Ryūsaki fell to the lower level, and Tsukishima took over, leaping down with both swords in hand.
A series of clanging and banging sounds echoed from the dark, abandoned building, culminating in a deafening roar as the two leaped back to the rooftop, dissipating their powers. The battle was over...
Ryūsaki's right arm was slashed, Tsukishima's left eye was bruised and swollen, and his left leg was whipped, causing him to convulse in pain.
"Pretty impressive! According to you, you've only been learning Fullbring for less than a month, but you're already this good."
Looking at his bleeding right arm, Ryūsaki sincerely praised him. Even if he had held back, he should have crushed Tsukishima, but in the end, he was still injured by Tsukishima.
This person is either not telling the truth and has actually been practicing for a long time; or he belongs to the genius category and truly reached the level of a Soul Reaper's Seated Officer in just one month.
"The main reason I'm fighting is because I'm very strong, while your attack methods are too limited. That's why I'm only barely able to keep up. If we continued fighting, I would definitely lose," Tsukishima replied with a grin.
He knew that Ryūsaki had gone easy on him, otherwise he certainly wouldn't have been able to block that powerful Chains strike with his sword; moreover, Tsukishima knew everything about Ryūsaki's other fighting methods and combat experience.
How did he know? Of course, it was through his Fullbring ability.
"By the way, what happened on the ground just now?"
Ryūsaki thought he had won, and naturally came over to help Tsukishima, because even if his leg wasn't broken, it would be difficult for him to walk on his own.
"With my Fullbring ability, I can embed my existence into the past of things that have been cut by a sword, so did you notice? We were friends before," Tsukishima said with a smile.
"We were friends before? How come I... don't... remember?"
Ryūsaki was about to retort, but when he recalled the past, he froze instantly.
In his memory, he and Tsukishima played together at the Ishida Family when he was five years old, got scolded by their mother for making mistakes together, trained together at the training ground, fought against Hollows together... There were so many times they spent together; "childhood sweethearts" is not enough to describe their relationship.
Feeling increasingly uneasy, Ryūsaki released Tsukishima, jumped aside, and demanded in a deep voice, "What's going on? You shouldn't be in my memory."
As he spoke, the Chains in his hands reappeared, this time with Chains also appearing on his shoulders and ankles. The six Reishi Chains danced in the air like thin gauze.
"I already told you, my Fullbring ability is to embed myself into the past of the thing I'm cutting, which is why I'm in your past. And I also know some of your secrets. You're Quincy, right?" Tsukishima said with a grin, revealing the identity that Ryūsaki was trying to hide.
Ryūsaki's face darkened completely. "Is that so? It seems you're planning to tell that Ginjo Soul Reaper, about my affairs!"
'Strike first, strike hard!'
As soon as she finished speaking, a ruthless thought flashed through her mind. The Chains around her ankles had somehow extended from below to Tsukishima's feet, instantly binding Tsukishima feet.
The Chains on both wrists and shoulders strike simultaneously, aiming to shatter Tsukishima's little head in the first instant.
Tsukishima was stunned, forgetting to defend herself at first. "Am I not his friend? I've embedded myself in his past, so why would he suddenly try to kill me? I'm done for, I'm going to die..."
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Just as the Chains were about to touch Tsukishima, a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of Tsukishima, his Greatsword instantly stopping all the Chains... Kūgo Ginjō, sensing the battle, had arrived.
Tsukishima breathed a sigh of relief; he was saved. At the same time, he looked at Ryūsaki with fear in his eyes. The power of the 'Book of the End' had failed for the first time.
He had used his abilities a few times before with Ginjo's help, and at that time, his abilities had no problems whatsoever; even a strange dog could recognize him as its master.
But this time he failed. Ryūsaki was beyond his comprehension, and of course he was frightened.
"Oh dear! Can't we talk this out? The hatred between you isn't so great that it requires a life-or-death struggle, is it?" Ginjo pretended to be relaxed, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.
Seeing that Ryūsaki remained silent, only staring at Tsukishima with a gloomy expression, Ginjo continued, "Ryūsaki, withdraw your ability first, let's have a proper talk."
"Get him out of my memory first!" Ryūsaki slowly put away the Chains, knowing that there was another Takumi in the shadows, already targeting him.
The reason she agreed to Ginjo was that during the brief confrontation, Ryūsaki had already communicated with her original self. Tsukishima only contained Ryūsaki's past, and had nothing to do with the original Zero's past.
Even his embedded past was unaware of Zero's existence; it only knew about Ryūsaki's various fighting techniques and important growth experiences.
"That's easy, just let Tsukishima slash you with his blade again." Ginjo breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He didn't really want to fight Ryūsaki either, since there was no conflict of interest between them.
It would be a great injustice if he only wanted Ryūsaki to join his team, but ended up turning her into an enemy.