Ukitake's Hidden Thoughts

"Hoo..."

Seeing the Hollows annihilated by the rain of arrows, Shihoin Yoruichi let out a long breath.

Sure enough, Yoruichi sensed that every Hollow killed by the Quincies had turned into black smoke and dissipated.

This meant that those Hollows, along with the souls they had devoured, had been completely annihilated and erased from this world.

Hollows killed by Soul Reapers, on the other hand, dispersed into white or blue spirit particles.

The souls of the Hollows and the souls they had devoured would begin their cycle of reincarnation as those spirit particles scattered throughout the world.

Though her own existence was born of rebellion, the existence of the Quincies was even more dangerous to the world.

If the Quincies were allowed to continue annihilating Hollows like this, the total number of souls in the world would gradually decrease until the world itself was destroyed.

From the world's perspective, the Quincies truly deserved to die!

Having understood this, Yoruichi no longer felt any burden regarding this mission.

It was precisely because Quincy progenitor Yhwach understood all this that he conceived the idea of killing the Spirit King, absorbing the Soul King's power, and creating a new world.

Perhaps in the world he intended to create, Quincy's power, which represented the Quincies, would be a means of sending Hollow souls into reincarnation, while the Soul Reapers' power would be some heretical evil that annihilated souls...

After the elderly Quincy made his move, the Hollows drawn in by Urahara Kisuke's bait were completely annihilated in less than five seconds.

Such swift deaths made the Hollows behind the Garganta hesitate. In the end, after the elderly Quincy fired another rain of arrows into the Garganta, the Garganta in the sky swiftly closed.

"Lord Kurosaki!"

"Lord Kurosaki!"

Once all the Hollows had been killed, the villagers with spiritual pressure raised their voices in celebration.

Lord Kurosaki, whose real name was Kurosaki Takuya, was a pure-blood Quincy and also the elder who taught everyone how to cultivate.

Within this village, Kurosaki Takuya's prestige rivaled that of Captain-Commander Yamamoto in the Seireitei.

However, unlike the cheering villagers, Kurosaki Takuya remained vigilant even after wiping out the attacking Hollow horde, scanning the surroundings.

Even when Hollows attacked normally, there would be at most one or two.

This time, hundreds of Hollows had attacked at once. It could not possibly have been a coincidence.

As a pure-blood Quincy, Kurosaki Takuya had learned from documents recording Quincy history that Quincies could use certain methods to create bait that attracted Hollows. The disturbance it caused was extremely similar to what had happened this time.

Perhaps some younger descendant had read that portion of the records and secretly made it.

But regardless, so many Hollows had come here. They could not remain in this place any longer.

"Katagiri Shuta, Ishida Junichi, organize everyone immediately. Pack up your belongings. We must leave here at once."

"Yes, Lord Kurosaki."

After exchanging a glance, the two middle-aged men immediately began organizing everyone to return home and pack their things, preparing for a long migration.

The villagers did not say much either, each beginning their preparations in an orderly fashion.

Ever since His Majesty Yhwach disappeared, the Light Empire had been unable to withstand the Soul Reapers' attacks. Within a few years, it had been breached by the Soul Reapers of the Seireitei, and the Light Empire fell.

After that, the Quincies began enduring centuries of flight.

Though their people had gradually withered away under the Soul Reapers' pursuit, they had also accumulated precious experience.

The Quincies' control over spirit particles was even more precise than that of the Soul Reapers.

So long as they did not actively release spiritual pressure to fight, ordinary Soul Reapers could not distinguish Quincies from others.

Quincies with spiritual pressure, however, could see Soul Reapers.

Therefore, as long as they pretended to be ordinary people unable to see "spirits" in front of Soul Reapers, or ordinary people who could see "spirits" and possessed a little spiritual pressure, there would be no problem.

As for fighting, so long as they did not annihilate large numbers of Hollows in a short time, the Soul Reapers would be unable to trace the Quincies.

But recently, they had acted far too frequently.

Combined with today's battle, Kurosaki Takuya knew that Soul Reapers would soon discover this place.

If they did not leave quickly, the Quincy lineage would likely end in his hands.

"Everyone, have all the targets been identified?"

In a forest not far from the Quincy village, Jūshirō Ukitake confirmed this with all the Soul Reapers present.

The reason Urahara Kisuke had sent those Hollows to attack the village was to determine which people in the village were Quincies and which were ordinary people.

None of the Soul Reapers present were novices.

Though the previous battle had lasted less than five minutes, they had secretly noted every person who had taken action.

In response to Captain Ukitake's question, no one spoke and exposed themselves. They merely nodded one after another.

"Remember, our targets are only the Quincies. Do not implicate ordinary people!"

After saying this, Jūshirō Ukitake cast a sidelong glance toward Ailin.

Sure enough, after hearing those words, Ailin gave a slight nod.

Ukitake had deliberately said that for Ailin to hear.

"Captain Ukitake, Captain Yoruichi, it seems the Quincies in this village won't need me to act. I'll guard this road instead."

"If any Quincies flee in my direction, leave them to me. The other directions will be yours."

"Good. Then we'll leave this direction to Captain Ailin."

Ukitake could not have wished for more when Ailin took the initiative to guard one side.

After all, his mission this time was to completely eradicate the remaining Quincies.

Through Divine Divination, he had seen that, at some unknown point in the future, the Seireitei would be attacked by Quincies and suffer grievous losses.

For the Seireitei's sake, he had to eliminate every Quincy.

At the very least, he had to reduce the number of Quincies the Seireitei would face in the future to a level it could handle.

Exterminating every Quincy in the Human World was the first step in his attempt to change the future!

What he had said earlier about killing only exposed Quincies had merely been for Ailin's benefit.

Once the fighting truly began, aside from the Quincies who had revealed themselves, those who had first noticed the Hollows' arrival and led the villagers to take shelter all had to die.

Even beyond them, Ukitake did not intend to spare any villagers who could see Soul Reapers and possessed spiritual pressure, whether women or children.

Now that Ailin had volunteered to guard one side, it made Ukitake's task easier.

Unless necessary, Ukitake did not want to fall out with a "kindhearted" captain like Ailin.

Naturally, Ailin had no idea how many thoughts had raced through Ukitake's mind in those brief moments. But having received Captain Ukitake's permission, Ailin used several Shunpo steps to appear on the road connecting the village to the outside world. He folded his arms and stood with his back to the village.

After Ailin left, Ukitake nodded to Yoruichi, then gave the order. "Everyone, begin!"

"Kill!"