Yhwach: Araki, Be My Son! Araki: Eat Shit!

"Boom!"

Explosions and roars continuously echoed throughout Seireitei, and the endless flames stretched people's shadows, making the smog- and war-covered Seireitei appear even more eerie.

"Kill! Don't be afraid, our Emperor guides us!"

The Quincy, like fearless machines, roared and launched wave after wave of attacks against the Soul Reapers.

"Noisy!"

Alas, as the boundless flames streaked across the sky, no matter how many Quincy arrived, they were nothing more than a few more charred corpses on the ground of Seireitei in front of Gotei 13 Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.

"Hmm? What? Am I the first one here?"

When Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, wielding a 'Sword of Blazing Fire,' cut through everything like a hot knife through butter and arrived at the gate of the Gotei 1st Division barracks below Sōkyoku Hill, there seemed to be no other Soul Reapers around him.

Genryusai furrowed his brow, which was usually tightly knit…

"Second!"

Just as Yamamoto was expressing his displeasure, a purple figure flickered and appeared behind Yamamoto Genryusai, then made a gesture of victory, throwing her arms wide and shouting to the sky.

"Saito?"

Yamamoto looked at the newcomer with a hint of surprise. He hadn't expected the one to follow him so closely to be Saito Furofushi, that silly… silly girl.

"Idiot, you're the fourth one here."

Before Saito could loudly proclaim her 'glorious achievement' of being the second to arrive at Yamamoto's summons, a dark figure suddenly sat up from a charred corpse nearby…

If the man hadn't suddenly stood up, relying on his 'special' skin tone—no, his formidable stealth skills—he would truly have blended in with the night and the charred corpses.

"Ah! It's that damned Shihoin Sennichi!"

"And even if you arrived before me, I was still the third one here, wasn't I?"

Saito looked at the newcomer, feeling as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head, extinguishing all the enthusiasm that had just ignited within her. This immediately made Saito unhappy.

"Oh really? That's not necessarily true…"

The newcomer was, of course, Shihoin Sennichi. After hearing Saito's words, he glanced at a shadow in the distance. The one who had been squatting and stealthily hiding there was truly the second to arrive, and he was merely the third.

"You guys are so fast…"

Accompanied by a series of 'crunching' sounds, like branches being stepped on, Katori Bakuunsai, holding a Naginata, 'cutely' stepped over the 'corpses' of many Quincy, so charred that they were unrecognizable as 'humanoid,' deliberately crushing their bodies.

Most importantly, as Katori's strides grew larger, her large 'evil' chest undulated like waves, constantly drawing everyone's eyes and striking at their very souls.

"See no evil…"

However, Shihoin Sennichi merely took one look and then turned his head away. Don't let his constant 'fun-loving' demeanor fool you; he was a married man.

"Your Shunpo is too fast! You need to conserve your energy! Conserve your energy!!"

"Where are the enemies? I don't see any enemies?"

In an instant, 3rd Division Captain Iwahara Kinra and 12th Division Captain Sanjōji Yuhō also arrived below Sōkyoku.

"Oh ho! It looks like we won!"

Saito saw that all the captains who arrived first were from their Seiryūmon group, and immediately put her hands on her hips, feeling incredibly smug.

"Yamamoto-san, and everyone else, it seems you've all been here for a while!"

Just as Saito was basking in her triumph, 5th Division Captain Obana Danjirō finally arrived at the captains' rendezvous point.

"So tired! I'm going to die! I just want to go back to sleep!"

"Hehehe, for an 'exhausted' old man like me, such fast movement is really too much to bear~"

"I don't see any enemies? Did we get the meeting point wrong?"

"It should be correct! Look, everyone else is here, and Captain-Commander Yamamoto is here too."

Behind Obana Danjirō were the remaining four captains responsible for Kōryūmon: 4th Division's Shijima Tomokiri, 13th Division's Sakagashira Saizou, 7th Division's Shigyō Nobutsuna, and 9th Division's Kumenai Entetsu.

At this moment, Shijima Tomokiri acted as if he was exhausted, while Sakagashira Saizou acted as if he was old and useless, struggling to breathe, yet there wasn't a single drop of sweat on either of their foreheads…

Shigyō Nobutsuna, meanwhile, kept his hand on his brow bone, scanning his surroundings for any sign of the enemy. Kumenai Entetsu, with his prominent gold teeth, pointed at Yamamoto Genryusai and the group of captains behind him, then patted Shigyō Nobutsuna's shoulder.

"Eleven…"

"Oh, it seems we're all here~"

"No, it looks like one is still missing!"

Shihoin Sennichi looked at the captains from Kōryūmon who had arrived at the meeting point and began to search for the 11th Division captain. He turned around and saw a beautiful woman with disheveled hair and eyes gleaming with cold killing intent, who had silently appeared behind Genryusai at some unknown point.

Thereupon, Shihoin Sennichi clenched his right fist, heavily striking his left hand, and revealed a smile, announcing to himself that all the Gotei 13 captains had arrived. Then, after glancing at Unohana Retsu, Shihoin Sennichi suddenly remembered something and softly mumbled.

"Sorry, I'm late! I've kept you all waiting…"

Just as Shihoin Sennichi was speaking, a figure wearing a straw hat belatedly arrived, running towards everyone across the charred ground. The newcomer was, of course, 10th Division Captain Ōtokawa Uki.

"Ah, we forgot about this guy!"

The group of captains turned their heads away, having almost completely forgotten about the 'late' Ōtokawa Uki.

"Actually, we didn't wait long…"

At this, Shihoin Sennichi smiled as he spoke to Ōtokawa Uki. After all, the person everyone was waiting for wasn't Ōtokawa Uki at all, so how could they have been waiting long?

"It's good that you didn't wait long!"

Ōtokawa Uki hadn't yet realized he'd been ignored. Seeing that he wasn't too late, he let out a relaxed sigh of relief.

"Hahaha, is Araki late? He was the first to leave, but he's the last to arrive?"

At this, Saito Furofushi suddenly burst into laughter. Perhaps it was because she had finally won against Araki for once, and she had found a good reason to mock him. She decided she would use this incident to mock Araki for a hundred years… No, it should be a thousand years, ten thousand years.

"That's impossible! The reason we chose to gather here is because Araki told me he detected a large number of enemy forces in this area…"

Before Saito could say more, Yamamoto Genryusai interrupted her, explaining why they had chosen to gather there.

"Huh?!"

Saito's pupils constricted slightly at the news.

"Since Araki came here first… then where is he now?!"

Saito's heart skipped a beat, and she began to worry about Araki's safety.

"……"

Genryusai remained silent. Among the enemy forces, only a handful could fight Araki head-on. And among those who could keep Araki occupied, or even force him to leave the designated meeting point, Genryusai had only one name in mind.

"The enemy is here!"

Before Genryusai and the captains could think further, a series of explosions erupted. Like a flood, Quincy wearing white knight uniforms surged in from all directions, beginning to encircle the Gotei 13 captains.

"Fight!"

Genryusai said nothing more. He drew his Zanpakuto, and endless flames enveloped him.

"Kill!!"

The captains of the Gotei 13 standing beside Genryusai didn't hesitate. They charged towards the endless enemy soldiers under the moonlight! In an instant, it was like tigers entering a flock of sheep! Countless 'bloods' splattered the ground, and 'broken limbs and remains' flew into the sky!

"Remember to cut off these Quincy's heads or break their limbs~"

"Otherwise, they'll use a strange ability (Ransōtengai) to get back up~"

Sakagashira Saizou already knew the Quincy's abilities inside and out. With a sinister smile, he constantly reminded the captains around him, but it was clear Sakagashira Saizou's reminders were of little use…

Because these captains had no mercy. They had no intention of leaving anyone alive. Their every move was aimed at lethal blows, either directly slitting the enemy's neck or cleaving them in half, body and all.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Araki, where are you?! Don't you dare die!!"

Saito Furofushi's Zanpakuto, with every strike drawing blood and every strike being fatal, continuously vented the fury in her heart.

"Swish…"

As for Unohana Retsu, her expression remained calm. This was simply because she never believed that the man who could directly defeat her would be defeated by mere 'Quincy'.

However, in fact, the three most difficult people to kill on this battlefield were Araki, Unohana, and Saito.

Meanwhile…

About thirty Rei apart from the Gotei 1st Division barracks.

Araki was confronting a man in a pitch-black cloak.

The man had messy, dark long hair and was mounted on a white steed, looking down at Araki from a superior vantage point. Surrounding the man were several Quincy wearing white knight uniforms, members of the 'Sternritter'.

"This is quite the jackpot!"

A few beads of cold sweat appeared on Araki's forehead as he looked at the newcomer.

At this moment, two new tasks quietly appeared on his System Panel.

[Urgent Quest: Defeat Yhwach!]

[Final reward depends on the host's combat performance against Yhwach, the Quincy Emperor.]

[Main Quest: Kill Yhwach!]

[Let Yhwach be sealed in the Soul King Palace with his father!]

[Final Reward: ???]

Yes, the man who dared to leisurely ride a horse through the Seireitei in Soul Society was none other than!

It was Yhwach, the Emperor of the 'Lichtreich', called 'Your Majesty' by countless Quincy, the progenitor of the Quincy, and the final big boss of BLEACH!

And the current Yhwach was not at his peak! In Araki's opinion, if the current Yhwach was only at the level of the Y-copy from the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, then he still had a chance to fight, at least to gain some benefits from the 'Urgent Quest'. To continue accumulating enough power for himself…

"Araki! I've been waiting for you. You possess power of the same origin as us; you shouldn't be on the Soul Reaper's side!" Before Araki could speak further, Yhwach, still on his horse, spoke first. "Araki, I'm giving you a choice now! Give up your Zanpakuto and join our ranks as a Quincy! Become my son! Join forces with me and dedicate the power within you to eternal peace! You will become the most dazzling cornerstone, symbolizing peace!!"

"Huh? Are you freaking Whitebeard?!"

Araki's eye twitched slightly at the words. Did Yhwach not know what happened to the last guy who went around collecting sons?! His head got half blown off!

"K·ROOM·Puncture Wille!!"

Araki wasted no words and immediately activated his Devil Fruit Awakening ability.

"Neigh neigh~" Immediately, a white horse's cry of agony was heard, followed by an angry shout: "How dare you! You dare to kill His Majesty's horse?!"

A bit late, but here it is! Also, please vote! These next few chapters will clarify the main plot, and the protagonist's abilities will gradually be revealed. And the protagonist's cheat wasn't given for no reason; it's for a rather interesting development.