Quincy Talent

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, forgive my bluntness, but there is no need for you to continue down the path of the Quincy. You have absolutely no talent for it!" Ryūken said directly to Tsuna.

"Father, hasn't Tsuna already condensed the initial form of a Spirit Bow? As long as we kill a Hollow, we'll become Quincy. How can you say that?" Having spent this time with Tsuna, Uryū already knew those monsters were called Hollows.

Ryūken pressed one hand to his forehead, forcibly suppressing the twitching vein there. Since Hae had suffered The Auswählen, this was the second time his expression had come close to collapsing.

"That tiny thing has the nerve to call itself the initial form of a Spirit Bow?!" Ryūken demanded, pointing at the object in Tsuna's palm.

A palm-sized prototype Reishi bow lay quietly in Tsuna's hand. A bow that small was no different from a toy. Forget firing arrows—even Ryūken doubted whether a Reishi arrow could be nocked onto it.

Tsuna was confused too. His training had gone smoothly during this period, and this was the only problem he had encountered. Compared with his arm-length Reishi arrows, this palm-sized bow was like making a pony pull a cart. It was practically useless for shooting arrows.

"This is only Tsuna's first time condensing one. If he tries a few more times, his Spirit Bow will definitely get bigger!" Uryū argued for Tsuna. "Did your first attempt produce a finished longbow, Father?"

At that, a trace of pride appeared on Ryūken's face. "I told you, I simply wasn't interested. You two, on the other hand, have no talent!"

Without using a Quincy Cross, Ryūken casually manipulated Reishi and condensed a longbow that Uryū could only dream of reaching. The longbow dispersed into Reishi, and beneath its fading glow were Uryū's envious eyes.

"Under normal circumstances, Quincy rarely use bows and arrows condensed directly from Reishi. More often, we use this initial Spirit Bow as a foundation to craft our own Spirit Bow. Such bows form faster and have greater power."

"Uryū, when you return, you need to learn how to craft your own Spirit Bow. Otherwise, after firing three arrows, you'll have no ability to fight."

"And Tsuna, honestly, I don't think your Reishi bow is worth turning into a proper Spirit Bow. Even if you made it into a crossbow-shaped Spirit Bow, it still couldn't accommodate your Reishi arrows. If you shrank the arrows, it would become a toy completely."

Ryūken stared at the Spirit Bow in Tsuna's palm and summed it up. He truly could not understand why. Tsuna had performed exceptionally well in training to control Reishi and had even mastered Hirenkyaku, yet he had somehow produced such a Spirit Bow. Ryūken did not know how to judge Tsuna's training—was it a success or not?

"Maybe I just don't have the talent. I'll keep training regularly in the future."

Tsuna took it in stride. During his training, the Quincy section on his panel had changed, though not in the way he had imagined.

Two entries, Spirit Bow and Arrows and Hirenkyaku, had been added after the long stretch of blacked-out content in the Quincy section. Yet the blacked-out content had not appeared as it had when he trained his Fullbring.

Tsuna felt that he had not truly discovered his Quincy ability yet, which was why those blacked-out entries had not appeared.

There were only so many Quincy abilities in total, and the abilities he had learned from Ryūken had been added as new entries. Tsuna then understood what those blacked-out contents were.

Saint Letters, Vollständig!

Like Fullbring, they were unique abilities belonging to each individual. Universal abilities like Spirit Bow and Arrows and Hirenkyaku were not included among the panel entries.

Having understood the state of his panel, Tsuna no longer felt discouraged by the size of his Spirit Bow. For those Quincy who used Vollständig, Spirit Bow and Arrows were only one of their combat methods. As long as their Saint Letters and Vollständig were powerful enough, that was all that mattered.

"You've already learned Spirit Bow and Arrows and Hirenkyaku. All that remains are the crafting and use of various Quincy equipment. Since your Spirit Bow is limited in size, I don't think you need to expand further in that direction."

"You can temporarily stop your Quincy training. Urahara Kisuke may offer you a new option."

After carefully considering it, Ryūken presented his thoughts to Tsuna.

Uryū immediately grew anxious. Because of Tsuna's presence, Ryūken had spoken to him more often. If Tsuna left, would he and Ryūken not return to their former distant relationship?

However, before Uryū could speak, everyone sensed an unfamiliar spiritual pressure appear in Karakura Town. Tsuna and Ryūken exchanged a glance and immediately recognized it as a Hollow's spiritual pressure.

After a brief moment of thought, Uryū understood as well. He looked excitedly at Ryūken. "A Hollow? Can I go?"

Uryū was still thinking about gaining the title of a true Quincy after killing a Hollow.

"Go." Ryūken spoke calmly. Uryū had only just condensed his Reishi bow and was currently brimming with excitement. Letting him run into a Hollow and have some cold water thrown on him was not necessarily a bad thing.

With Ryūken's permission, Uryū excitedly used Hirenkyaku toward the Hollow's spiritual pressure. However, he was not yet proficient with Hirenkyaku, and he staggered along as though he might fall at any moment.

"Uncle, you're really letting Uryū go over there alone?" Tsuna, who had always been fighting Hollows, knew their strength very well. Though Uryū had initially mastered Quincy power, fighting a Hollow would not be easy.

"Isn't there still you? I'll be watching from behind as well." Blue Reishi light had already appeared beneath Ryūken's feet. As Uryū's father, how could he truly feel at ease letting him seek out a Hollow alone?

Tsuna likewise used Hirenkyaku and followed far behind Uryū with Ryūken. As they traveled side by side, Tsuna gave Ryūken an answer to his earlier question.

"Uncle, I'll temporarily stop my Quincy training, but don't stop moving forward yourself. Make sure to study all the records your old man left behind." Tsuna spoke to Ryūken with the air of someone offering earnest advice.

"If you want to see them, those materials are open to you," Ryūken said.

"I'll pass. When it comes to studying, I really don't have much talent." Tsuna spoke helplessly. He trained to fight Hollows every day, and he practically spent his time in class sleeping. His grades really were not very good.

"I'll speed up the work on Still Silver."

During this period, Ryūken had dissected every Mixed-blood Quincy corpse he could find and extracted all their Still Silver. However, he had not yet figured out how to forge Still Silver into a weapon.

"It's not just Still Silver. Shopkeeper Urahara said that Bleach can bring out their own special abilities, right? Quincy have that kind of power too—the power to draw out each person's hidden special ability."

"The Quincy equivalent of a Bleach's Zanpakuto is called a Saint Letter, and beyond Saint Letters is an ability known as Vollständig. Your old man was researching the Vollständig power of Quincy in the World of the Living before he died."

"The Sanrei Glove was a byproduct of that research. Through the Sanrei Glove, a Quincy could forcibly enter a state of Reishi subjugation, forcing the surrounding Reishi to become their slaves and gather onto their body. It allowed them to temporarily achieve a Vollständig form and gain power no weaker than Bankai."

"However, that Vollständig was incomplete and could only be called a Quasi-Vollständig state. Unfortunately, your old man died before he could complete that research."

Tsuna told Ryūken the information about Vollständig. If Ryūken could research Vollständig in advance, their strength could rise another step.

Ryūken stopped and glanced at Tsuna. Even he, Sōken's own son, did not know this information, yet Tsuna had shared every detail with him. Ryūken now understood why the Kurosaki Family trusted this child.

"Will the outcome be good?" Ryūken asked.

"I'll do my best." Tsuna revealed a warm smile. Since he had decided to change things, he would do everything he could to stop it and protect the people he loved.

After receiving his answer, Ryūken resumed pursuing Uryū. His former indifference toward the Quincy was gradually changing. The other party had saved Hae, so he needed to give his full support as well.

Returning to Uryū's side, he had already reached the Hollow. It was a long snake Hollow. Uryū eagerly condensed his Reishi bow, intending to finish the Hollow with a stylish midair shot.

Uryū's idea was good, but his movements were still too inexperienced. The moment his Reishi bow unfolded, the long snake Hollow sensed his action. It turned around and roared angrily at Uryū, knocking the still-unskilled Uryū out of Hirenkyaku and onto the ground.

Uryū quickly rolled to his feet, drew his bow, and nocked an arrow. The Hollow had already lunged in front of him.

Uryū's expression turned serious. With a confident shot, his Spirit Bow and Arrows struck the Hollow's body and buried deeply within it. The Hollow recoiled in pain, and Uryū drew his bow again, firing another arrow directly at its mask.

In Uryū's imagination, this arrow should have shattered the Hollow's mask outright and completely destroyed the Hollow. Then, beneath Ryūken's admiring gaze, he would officially gain the title of Quincy.

Yet unexpectedly, the arrow he fired with all his strength turned into sparkling Reishi light the instant it struck the mask.

Insufficient talent, insufficient power!

Uryū immediately thought of Ryūken's assessment. If his talent had been greater, would this arrow have pierced straight through the Hollow's mask?

There was no more time for Uryū to let his thoughts run wild. The Hollow had recovered and charged at him. In his panic, Uryū tried to draw his bow again, only to find that it was faintly showing signs of collapsing.

The Spirit Bow had not been completed. This was merely a prototype, and Uryū's power could not support consecutive shots.

What should he do?

Uryū froze. In his excitement, he had never considered that this could happen. Facing the Hollow's fierce assault, he merely stood there without any intention of moving.

Just as Uryū was about to be swallowed by the Hollow's grotesque maw, a Reishi arrow glowing faintly red nailed itself into the Hollow's forehead. Its mask shattered inch by inch, and the Hollow dissolved into Reishi before Uryū's eyes, scattering into the air.

Uryū turned around and saw Tsuna in the air not far away, holding a longbow of red light and white bone in the stylish pose Uryū had originally envisioned, having shot down the Hollow.

Ryūken raised an eyebrow. No wonder Tsuna had not been discouraged in the slightest by his palm-sized Spirit Bow. This bow that Tsuna had suddenly produced could completely replace a Quincy's Spirit Bow. Combined with Tsuna's skilled Reishi control, his ability to freely condense Reishi arrows, and his use of Hirenkyaku, Tsuna already counted as an official Quincy.

Tsuna's longbow had even skipped the Quincy process of crafting a Spirit Bow and gone straight to the finished result. Ryūken adjusted his glasses. If he had not misread it, Tsuna's bow had also granted his Reishi arrows a special power?

What Tsuna used was G's longbow formed through his Fullbring ability. The Reishi arrows fired through G's bow carried the disintegration power of Storm Attribute Flames. That was why the Hollow's mask had not been pierced directly, but destroyed only after shattering apart.

"Congratulations, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You have become a Quincy." Ryūken's tone remained utterly flat as he pulled out a long, narrow piece of equipment and handed it to Tsuna. "A Soul Cutter. Consider it your graduation gift."

"Thanks, Uncle." Tsuna solemnly put away the Soul Cutter. He had not learned how to craft equipment, so if he needed any in the future, he could only get them from Uryū or Ryūken.

"I'll give you another piece of information. Uryū was struck by The Auswählen. Hae chose Uryū and transferred all of Uryū's unhealthy condition onto herself. That may be the power of the Saint Letter you mentioned." Ryūken revealed a shocking truth.

"What?"

Tsuna was completely stunned. There did not seem to be anything like this in the manga. In other words, the holder of Saint Letter A was not Ishida Uryū, but his mother, Hae Katagiri?

During The Auswählen, Hae had exchanged Uryū's weakened physical condition for her own? She might even have transferred her Saint Letter A to Uryū along with it?

"Uncle Ryūken, when did you learn this?"

"After the first day you trained your Quincy power. As Hae gradually recovered, she told me about the choice she made back then. Work hard, boy. There are still many things you don't know."

Ryūken vanished with Uryū, leaving Tsuna alone in the wind, utterly disheveled.

(PS: 1. When I wrote this chapter, episodes 13 and 14 of The Thousand-Year Blood War: The Conflict had not been released yet. After seeing Uryū collapse because of The Auswählen, I quickly patched this in. As for who the power of The Antithesis truly comes from, it does not matter; Ishida Uryū is its current holder anyway. 2. Since I could not find a clear date for Sōken's death, my original setting was that Sōken died one year before The Auswählen. But the scenes in these newly released episodes seem to show that Sōken had not died yet during The Auswählen. I do not know what further setting additions the anime will make, but this novel will continue on the basis that Sōken had already been dead for a year.)