Bleach or Quincy?

Tsuna had never expected Urahara Kisuke to come out and try to poach him. A hint of mischief rose in his heart, and he smiled as he asked Urahara, "Shopkeeper, which do you think is stronger—the power of a Bleach or that of a Quincy?"

"Oh my, that..." Urahara held his folding fan before his face and said in an exaggerated tone, "Both Bleaches and Quincy possess powers passed down for millennia. The two sides have fought before. The Soul Society still retains the complete Bleach heritage, while after this latest Auswählen, the Quincy..."

"Only the Ishida Residence retains its lineage, and Mr. Ryūken is the only true Quincy left."

Urahara did not directly state which side was stronger. He merely laid out the facts for Tsuna: for a thousand years, Bleaches had always held the Quincy down.

"In terms of combat techniques, Bleaches specialize in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō, while Quincy rely more on a complete set of combat techniques centered around the Spirit Bow and Arrows, using Reishi bows and arrows to eliminate enemies."

"Among Bleaches, Zanjutsu centered around the Zanpakuto has even more variations. Every Bleach possesses a Zanpakuto unique to them, allowing them to develop more personalized Shikai and Bankai for battle."

"The Quincy fighting style is more fixed. They are more skilled at using all kinds of equipment and tools in battle, often producing unexpected results."

"As for whether you choose Quincy or Bleach, that depends on your decision, young Mr. Tsuna." Most of Urahara Kisuke's face was hidden behind his folding fan, leaving only his narrow eyes visible.

What Urahara Kisuke meant was that Bleaches could better bring out an individual's unique traits, while Quincy trained according to an established inherited system. If Tsuna wanted to uncover his own potential, he would most likely choose the power of a Bleach.

Ryūken did not refute Urahara's explanation. He himself disliked being a Quincy. If not for the enormous favor Tsuna had done him, he would never have agreed to teach Tsuna Quincy abilities.

Naturally, Tsuna understood Urahara's meaning, but he had already made his choice. If he missed this chance with Ryūken, he would have a hard time finding another. On the other hand, on the Bleach side, both Urahara and Isshin could serve as alternatives.

"Shopkeeper Urahara, thank you for your kindness. I'd like to first try training in Quincy powers with Uncle Ryūken. If I truly have no talent for it, it won't be too late to come find you then," Tsuna said with a laugh.

"I respect your choice, young Mr. Tsuna. The Urahara Shop will welcome you anytime. I believe we still have business to discuss." Urahara snapped his folding fan shut.

Ishida Ryuuken called for an ambulance from their hospital and sent the two injured people who had undergone surgery back to the Ishida Residence. Tsuna's training was temporarily postponed until the weather cleared.

Two days later, on a bright sunny day, Tsuna rang the doorbell of the Ishida Residence. The one who answered was Ishida Uryū, whom he had met once before.

"May I ask what you need?" Uryū asked timidly. The despondent look was gone from his face now. His mother Hae's condition was gradually recovering, and Uryū had spent the holiday accompanying her.

"I'm here to see Uncle Ryūken. We made an appointment for him to teach me how to train as a Quincy," Tsuna said openly. He would be visiting the Ishida Residence often from now on, so there was no point hiding it.

Tsuna's words instead struck a nerve with Uryū. He knew that his father hated Quincy most of all. He had once wanted his father to teach him Quincy abilities, only to receive a harsh refusal.

It could be said that Ryūken had never taught Uryū anything about Quincy abilities. So why was Ryūken now willing to teach an outsider to become a Quincy?

Uryū's little head was full of questions. He decided to take Tsuna to his father. "Come with me."

Led by Uryū, Tsuna once again arrived at Ryūken's bedroom. Ryūken was feeding Hae her medicine. When she saw Tsuna arrive, Hae smiled and waved at him.

"Auntie Hae, how are you feeling?" Tsuna greeted her in return.

"Thanks to you, Little Tsuna. Ryūken said I'll be able to get out of bed in a couple of days," Hae answered.

While Tsuna and Hae exchanged greetings on one side, Uryū reported Tsuna's situation to Ryūken on the other.

"Father, he says he came to learn how to become a Quincy."

"I know. Go out." Ryūken's voice remained as cold as ever.

"Father!" Uryū gathered his courage and called out to Ryūken, only to become timid again immediately afterward. "Can I learn too? I'll work hard!"

Uryū's words earned Ryūken's first direct look. After staring at Uryū for quite some time, Ryūken said, "You don't have the talent."

"Then why can he? He's clearly an outsider. Does he have talent?" Uryū pointed at Tsuna as he demanded.

"Whether he has talent is still unknown. You don't need to waste your time over something as trivial as being a Quincy. You can do anything you're interested in, except becoming a Quincy!" Ryūken's tone grew sharper.

"Why? Quincy are what I'm interested in! You've never looked at me properly since I was little. Only Grandpa was willing to teach me!" Uryū did not know where he found the courage, but for the first time, he loudly talked back to Ryūken.

"Grandpa was killed by those monsters. Haven't you ever thought about avenging him? If you refuse to do it, then I will. I'll become a Quincy and kill every one of those monsters!"

Uryū's eyes reddened. In his memories, his grandfather had been surrounded and killed by Hollows. If he had possessed strength back then, perhaps he could have saved the grandfather who had always been kind to him.

Uryū could not see the flicker of emotion in Ryūken's eyes. It was impossible for Ryūken to be completely unmoved by his father's death, but Hollows had killed his father—how could Hollows ever be wiped out completely?

It was also the first time Ryūken realized how deeply his father Sōken's death had affected Uryū. Yet he still did not want Uryū to walk the path of a Quincy, whether due to his own hatred for Quincy or the Auswählen that had happened not long ago.

"Come on, Uncle. Teaching one is teaching, and teaching two is teaching. Bring Uryū along too," Tsuna said at just the right moment. He then introduced himself to Uryū. "Let's properly meet again. My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. We'll be classmates from now on."

"Hello, I'm Ishida Uryū." Uryū hurriedly took Tsuna's hand as he replied.

"But..."

Before Ryūken could finish, Tsuna continued, "Uryū, have you started Quincy training before? Could you show me what you've learned?"

"Of course." Ishida Uryū answered with confidence. He gave his all as he controlled every bit of Reishi he could currently command. A long arrow gradually formed—the Reishi light arrow used by Quincy in battle.

The sight before him greatly shook Ryūken. He had originally been worried about the Auswählen and intended to oppose Uryū's request to train, but Tsuna's act of guiding Uryū to use this power completely shattered his concerns.

Ryūken had believed that Uryū was also a mixed-blood Quincy, and that the reason Uryū had escaped the Auswählen was because he possessed no Quincy powers at all. Yet now, Uryū could already condense a Reishi arrow, however rudimentary it was. He undeniably possessed Quincy power.

Yet Ishida Uryū, who had already begun to possess Quincy power, had escaped the Auswählen of the Progenitor of the Quincy. Why?

Ryūken's gaze toward Tsuna was filled with questioning, but Tsuna acted as though he had not noticed it at all. He turned to Hae on the bed and asked, "Auntie Hae, Uryū has grown up too. He needs the strength to protect himself, doesn't he? Let him train with me."

Of course Hae understood Ryūken's look. She could also see that Ryūken was already softening, so she gave him a way out. "Ryūken, let Uryū learn with him."

"Fine. But if you can't keep up, you must give up," Ryūken reminded Uryū once again.

"Yes, Father. I'll definitely work hard!" Uryū said excitedly. This was the first time his father had allowed him to openly train as a Quincy, and Uryū was brimming with motivation.

At the back mountain of the Ishida Residence, Ryūken had designated this place as their temporary training ground.

Ryūken took two short bows from his backpack and handed them to Tsuna and Uryū. "You both know that a Quincy's main combat ability is archery. Before learning the Spirit Bow and Arrows, you must first master the basic use of a bow."

"Use these bows. Pick any tree as your target and let me see what you can do," Ryūken said.

Uryū was full of excitement as he held the bow. He had trained under his grandfather Sōken since childhood, and he had long mastered the use of low-powered short bows like this one.

Uryū drew three arrows. Swish, swish, swish—he fired them in rapid succession at the same tree. The arrows formed a triangle, fully demonstrating his current skill with a bow.

Yet before Uryū could feel proud, three more arrows embedded themselves precisely beside his. It was Tsuna. After Uryū fired, Tsuna immediately shot his own arrows, and each landed at exactly the same distance from Uryū's arrows.

"Uncle Ryūken, I've already mastered this basic archery. Let's begin the real lessons," Tsuna said. With G's Bow and Arrows, Tsuna had long since mastered archery.

"Fine." Ryūken did not waste words. "The most fundamental power of a Quincy is control over Reishi. By controlling Reishi, you can form different combat techniques. The Spirit Bow and Arrows involves firing Reishi arrows, while Hirenkyaku is an advanced movement technique that accompanies it..."

"In short, if you want to learn Quincy abilities, everything begins with Reishi control. You can both already sense the existence of Reishi. Follow what I do."

Ryūken had no intention of teaching Tsuna and Uryū step by step. He directly demonstrated a small technique for controlling Reishi. If either of them could not keep up, Ryūken would have a reason to end the Quincy training he disliked.

And so, Tsuna spent his entire summer vacation immersed in the Ishida Residence. Ryūken improved Tsuna and Uryū's control over Reishi by having them condense special patterns from it. They had to complete training on one pattern every day, or Ryūken would end the training.

Tsuna and Uryū also improved rapidly under Ryūken's training. Before long, both could use Reishi to initially condense the prototype of their own Spirit Bows. Once they used the Spirit Bow and Arrows to kill a Hollow, they would officially become Quincy.

However, the prototype of Tsuna's Spirit Bow might have differed somewhat from what he had initially imagined.