latelenovela Chapter 646: Saint
Chapter 646: Saint
Ahead, passing vehicles splashed water from the ground, soaking Ichigo completely.
"Ugh, this truck is so annoying."
"Ichigo? Are you alright?" Masaki gently wiped his cheek. "I'm sorry, let's switch places. Let Mom stand outside."
"It's okay, I'll stand here!"
"We still have raincoats, it's alright."
Yuko watched this scene with a faint smile on her lips. To be honest, she didn't dislike it.
Ok?
At that moment, a figure caught Yuko's attention at the railing on the riverbank.
The figure looked like a little girl. Despite the heavy rain, she wasn't using an umbrella or wearing a raincoat; she was just standing alone on the riverbank, as if she were about to commit suicide.
So that's how it is, a disguised form of 'feigned'?
With just one glance, Yuko looked away.
These virtual beings are basically quite clever; they specifically lure humans who can see them, that is, people with powerful spiritual energy.
"Ah... Mom, wait for me!" Ichigo saw this scene and then rushed over without warning.
"Ichigo?"
Because it happened so suddenly, Masaki couldn't stop him at all. But when she subconsciously looked in the direction Ichigo was running, she noticed the girl's strange behavior and quickly followed after her.
Yuko, holding an umbrella, quietly watched the two cross the road one after the other.
Because their minds and spiritual power are not yet mature enough, they cannot distinguish between the dead and the living, let alone the disguised void.
However, given Masaki's power, she probably wouldn't need to lift a finger.
"Ichigo! Wait!" When Masaki caught up from behind and pinned Ichigo to the ground, the little girl also revealed her true form.
The little girl's body, which was used as bait, was shed from the top of her head like a human skin being peeled off. Then, just like a fish bait, she was impaled on the top of the head by the huge, hairy monster with a strange and ugly smile on its face.
As a Hollow, this guy's strength is probably average. Although he can't compare to a Great Hollow, most Shinigami in the human world are probably no match for him.
Yuko commented.
Masaki stood up, and her extensive experience allowed her to instantly assess the enemy's strength.
"Mom?" Ichigo was suddenly pushed down and looked up in pain.
What... a dark figure standing in front of Mom...
The disguised Hollow raised its claws and shot towards Masaki.
Masaki raised her arm with a solemn expression, gathering blue spiritual particles in her hand, about to transform it into the shape of a longbow.
However, at that very moment, the spiritual particles gathered in Masaki's hand suddenly dissipated.
The sudden anomaly not only stunned Masaki, but also caught Ikuko off guard.
Sharp claws sliced across Masaki's body, leaving a trail of blood.
Yuko's red pupils contracted slightly.
What happened? Why did Masaki's spiritual power suddenly disappear?
At this crucial moment...
No, now is not the time to think about these things.
Masaki's life force is rapidly declining!
"Bankai: Butterfly: Disorder of Nature!"
A clear, cold voice pierced through the rain and reached the ears of everyone present, followed by an explosion of spiritual pressure that defied description.
The exaggerated spiritual pressure caused the young Ichigo to lose consciousness on the spot and faint.
To Xu's astonishment, Masaki's body was enveloped in a purple light, the blood in the air rapidly receded, and her fall was erratically accelerated.
"What the hell..."
The disguised Hollow was so overwhelmed by the sudden spiritual pressure that it couldn't lift its head, and its mind was completely blank, unable to comprehend what had happened.
The next moment, a white-haired figure appeared beside Masaki, with one arm around her and the other holding a dark purple Zanpakuto.
"Is it a Shinigami?" Grand Fisher looked at Yuuko with shock, his face filled with disbelief. "How could such spiritual pressure appear in the human world..."
A flash of cold light appeared, and before the words were even finished, it was cleaved in two by the blade. The lingering pressure of the sword even swept across the river behind it, spreading out for more than ten meters, almost spanning the entire river.
“Masaki.” Ikuko looked down at Masaki in her arms.
"Yuko... I'm entrusting Ichigo to you." Masaki's face showed a relieved expression. After struggling to turn her head and seeing that Ichigo was unharmed, she left behind these words and fainted.
“Masaki!” Ikuko examined her body and confirmed that the injuries had been reversed by time.
The three seconds just now... no, it shouldn't have been more than three seconds, it was probably one to two seconds.
The time from when she saw Masaki being slashed to when she activated her Bankai.
In just one second, the spiritual pressure within his body collapsed like a flood bursting its banks.
This is not only because time reversal consumes a huge amount of spiritual energy, but more importantly...
……
The couple's room on the second floor of Kurosaki Clinic.
Without turning her head, Yuko asked, "How is Ichigo?"
Kurosaki Isshin shook his head: "It's nothing, that child was just shaken by the spiritual pressure emanating from you."
"That's good." Yuko looked at Masaki sleeping soundly on the bed and nodded slightly.
"What exactly happened?" Kurosaki Isshin asked seriously. "Not only Masaki, but even you lost your composure."
Ikuko's spiritual pressure concealment techniques are very sophisticated. Except when Ikuko had just mastered Bankai and was not yet proficient in controlling it, Kurosaki Isshin had almost never seen Ikuko's spiritual pressure leak, let alone such a massive amount of spiritual pressure leak out.
Yuko lowered her eyelids slightly, recalling the scene at the time: "Back then, we encountered a disguised Hollow... no, that's not the point."
“That Hollow isn’t very strong; it wouldn’t be difficult for Masaki to deal with it.”
"So I subconsciously overlooked it."
“But just as that thing launched its attack, Masaki’s spiritual power suddenly disappeared…” Yuko paused, then shook her head. “No, it wasn’t just her spiritual power that disappeared; rather, it was her Quincy abilities that disappeared.”
"The power of a Quincy?" A few beads of cold sweat trickled down Kurosaki Isshin's forehead. "Now that you mention it, I really can't sense any of Masaki's spiritual pressure."
"I thought it was because her power had weakened that I couldn't sense it."
Kurosaki Isshin was constrained by this artificial body, and his perception of spiritual power was not as good as before.
“That happened right when Masaki was fighting the Hollow. The sudden disappearance of her power caused Masaki to be hit by the Hollow.” Yuko’s eyelids drooped slightly. “I activated Bankai and reversed time on Masaki’s body.”
"At the start of the reversal, the consumption of spiritual pressure was enormous, but still within a controllable range."
"But just a second later, the consumption of spiritual pressure suddenly surged."
“If Masaki had been injured a few seconds earlier, I might not have been able to save her.”
Kurosaki Isshin's heart tightened upon hearing this, and he quickly asked, "What exactly happened to Masaki back then?"
"Is it that Hollow's ability?"
Yu Zi shook her head: "How could that be? That guy is only slightly stronger at best."
“I think it must be an even more powerful force.” Yuko turned to look at him. “It is that force that is preventing me from reversing… No, perhaps it is not preventing me, it is just happening naturally.”
"And my spiritual pressure seemed somewhat inadequate when facing both him and time at the same time."
Kurosaki Isshin clenched his fist: "You mean, Masaki has completely lost her Quincy abilities?"
Is there no chance of saving him?
Yu Zi nodded slightly: "Unfortunately, that's how it seems at the moment."
“I personally believe that this power is related to the Quincy,” Yuko said softly. “I didn’t feel anyone invading Masaki’s body at the time.”
"Unless this person's strength or ability far surpasses mine, but I think that possibility is unlikely."
"Even Yamamoto, who is known as the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years, couldn't do that."
Kurosaki Isshin agreed with Ikuko's idea: "So that's why you think that way?"
He absolutely acknowledged Yu Zi's strength; even she hadn't noticed it, so she must be more than she appeared on the surface.
“Masaki should wake up soon.” Ikuko stood up. “I suggest you go to Urahara Store tomorrow.”
"That unscrupulous businessman might know something."
"Of course, you can ask Masaki after she wakes up. No one knows more about Quincy than her."
“Yes, I understand.” Kurosaki Isshin nodded solemnly. “Ikuko, thank you for saving Masaki and Ichigo.”
“No, it should be said that it was my fault.” Yuko closed her eyes slightly. “She was right in front of me, but I almost failed to save Masaki.”
Kurosaki Isshin shook his head: "Please don't say that."
"Alright, I'm going back now. Contact me if you need anything."
Yuko didn't chat with Kurosaki Isshin for too long on this topic. After confirming the situation of the mother and son, she left.
Not long after Yuko left, Ichigo woke up from a nightmare.
"mom!"
Hearing the commotion, Kurosaki Isshin rushed over, "Ichigo! Are you alright?!"
Ichigo jumped out of bed excitedly: "Where's Mom?"
Kurosaki Isshin paused for a moment: "Ichigo, do you remember anything?"
"Remember what..." Ichigo stood there, stunned. "I saw someone trying to jump into the river... and then my mother stood in front of me..."
"I don't think I can remember."
Kurosaki Isshin's slightly furrowed brows relaxed: "Mom is fine, she just got wet in the rain and caught a bit of a cold, she's already asleep."
It's normal to lose consciousness when facing Ikuko's spiritual pressure at close range.
Rather, it's actually a good thing for the child that he can't remember.
……
Yuko walked home, pinching her chin with her fingers.
That power that stripped Masaki of her abilities was likely a power closer to the essence of the Quincy.
Is it a power derived from bloodline? Or something else entirely?
Yuko pondered, still unaware of the truth, and could only hope that Kurosaki Isshin could obtain some information from Urahara tomorrow.
The answer to this question was indeed found the next day.
However, I didn't learn it from Urahara.
As Yuko returned from school with a textbook in her arms, she saw a figure standing at the entrance of Kurosaki Clinic in the distance.
Yuko narrowed her eyes slightly.
That guy is...
"If you're looking for Masaki, she and Kurosaki Isshin went out and will probably be back later." Ikuko stepped forward to greet them. "If I remember correctly, Ishida Ryuken..."
"Is that the name?"
Wearing glasses and sporting white hair, Ishida Ryugen turned around and bowed respectfully to Ikuko, whose appearance had changed somewhat: "Long time no see, Miss Ikuko."
"You came looking for me at this time..." Yuko narrowed her eyes, "...it must be related to Masaki losing her powers, right?"
Masaki has been living here since she moved out of the Ishida family home, so it's normal that Ryūgen Ishida knows where Masaki lives.
He had never come to her door all these years, so her sudden appearance at this time was something she couldn't think of except for what happened yesterday.
A flicker of emotion crossed Ishida Ryūgen's expressionless face: "As expected... Masaki..."
Yu Zi invited, "It seems you know something. Why don't you come to my house for a visit?"
Ishida Ryugen was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly: "Sorry to bother you."
We arrived at Yuko's house.
Looking at the medicines on the shelf, Ryugen Ishida asked, "Does Ms. Yuko run a clinic?"
This statement suggests that Ryūgen Ishida did not seem to pay attention to her after that.
“That was several years ago.” Yu Zi waved the textbook in her hand. “Now I’m a teacher.”
"I kept some of those medicines because some of my regular customers come here for treatment."
"I see."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ryūgen Ishida didn't ask any further questions.
"Please sit wherever you like, I'll go make some tea."
"excuse me."
A short while later, Yuko returned with tea and poured a cup for Ishida Ryūken.
Ryūgen Ishida took a small sip and praised, "Exquisite craftsmanship."
Yu Zi chuckled: "Living a long time only has this one advantage left."
Ryugen Ishida took two more sips before raising his head to look at Yuko.
Yuko also stopped drinking her tea and looked up at him.
“…Saint-Berg, that’s what we call it.”
Yu Zi frowned slightly: "Saintly Farewell?"
"Miss Yuko should know about our Quincy's past with the Shinigami..."
Yuko calmly picked up her teacup: "No, I don't know."
Ryūgen Ishida paused for a moment: "Then the name Yhwach..."
Yu Zi said casually, "Never heard of him. He's not very famous."
"...He is the progenitor of us Quincy."
"so what?"
"In our Quincy legends, there is a sealed Quincy King, Yhwach."
"Sealed? By whom..." Yuko suddenly realized something, "Could it be Grandpa Yamamoto?"
Ryūgen Ishida continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there is a prophecy circulating among us Quincy.
"The sealed Quincy King will regain his heartbeat in nine hundred years, regain his rationality and wisdom in ninety years, regain his power in nine years, and then take back the world in the following nine days."
Yuko paused in her act of raising her teacup: "So? Has he regained consciousness, and even his strength?"
“That’s right.” Ryugen Ishida pushed up his glasses. “Saint-Berth is the best proof.”
"What exactly is the Sainthood..."