53 Sōken Ishida   

Over this period of time, the young boy had gotten quite familiar with Ailin and knew that Ailin was no ordinary person who could see his "bow and arrows".

"But if I don't work hard, I won't have enough power to protect everyone the next time those terrifying Hollows or Shinigami appear."

As he accepted the grilled fish from Ailin, the boy shook his head while eating, refuting Ailin's words.

"Hollows? Shinigami?"

"Mm."

"Shinigami and Hollows are the two most powerful enemies of us Quincies."

The boy hesitated for a bit before finally recalling that the person before him who could see his bow and arrows definitely wasn't an ordinary person either.

Moreover, due to the tragedy that occurred half a year ago, among the entire village now, he was the only one left who could sense Reishi.

The lives of the entire village rested upon his shoulders. This kind of pressure would have driven anyone else crazy if not for the boy's strong will.

Now that he had finally met someone else who could see "spirits" like him, the boy also wished to pour out the pressure in his heart to relieve some of his own stress.

Next, the boy picked some things he knew from the documents passed down in the clan to tell Ailin, while also adding in his own personal experiences.

"It was around half a year ago when the village we lived in was attacked by over a hundred Hollows... Thanks to the efforts of the adults in our village, the invading Hollows were quickly killed... However, perhaps due to the commotion during our battle attracting the attention of hostile forces, we suffered an assault from Shinigamis afterwards...

In the end, although we escaped from the Shinigamis' pursuit, our entire Quincy clan was reduced to me as the only one left who can see and wield the tools passed down by our elders... Perhaps I'm the last Quincy left in this world!"

Ailin quietly listened to the boy's account. He hadn't expected that the village he finally found traces of Quincies in was actually the remnants of the group of Quincies from Miyahara Village half a year ago.

The reason he hadn't been able to confirm any Quincies existed in this village wasn't because the Quincies here were in hiding too deeply. Rather, after the battle half a year ago, all the villagers who escaped were ordinary people. The Quincies of Miyahara Village had all perished there.

The traces of Reishi he sensed originated from the little rascal before him. Without the elders' guidance and relying solely on cultivation from the documents left behind by the elders, adding on to the boy's average aptitude at best, his maximum potential would probably only reach an elite Shinigami's level.

At this time, Ailin had some guesses towards the boy's identity. Thus, Ailin directly asked: "Little rascal, after knowing each other for so long, I still don't know your name."

"Ishida. Uncle, my name is Sōken Ishida."

When speaking of his clan's name, the boy proudly puffed out his chest. This was the pride ingrained deeply into his bloodline.

From the clan records spanning over nine hundred years, among the Quincy bloodline, aside from the Kurosaki pure bloods, the Ishida clan was another that remained purely Quincies.

As expected...

Ailin shook his head. Perhaps this was just destiny.

"Sōgen…Ishida... you just said you Quincies have two great enemies. Have you never considered that I might be one of them?"

Hearing Ailin finish speaking, Sōken Ishida complexion paled.

Oh right, how did he overlook that?

Half a year ago, Sōken Ishida had seen Hollows before. This uncle definitely wasn't a Hollow. Then could he be the archenemy of Quincies, a Shinigami?

Realizing this, Sōken Ishida hurriedly tossed aside the grilled fish in his hands as his concentration reached an unprecedented level.

A bracelet with a "Y" pattern hung from his left wrist. After channeling his Reiryoku into it, a blue Reishi bow materialized.

Gathering Reishi underfoot, after practicing it for months already, Sōken Ishida instantly fled far away from Ailin through Hirenkyaku. Then drawing back his right hand, the surrounding Reishi gathered onto his bow, forming a Reishi arrow aimed right at Ailin.

"Un, Uncle...j-just who are you?"

Due to fright, Sōken Ishida voice even carried a trembling tone.

"As you can see, I'm a Shinigami." Next, Ailin turned his body sideways to face Sōken Ishida. Extending his right thumb at the "6" on his Captain's haori, he said, "Moreover, I'm one of the thirteen Captains standing at the pinnacle of Shinigamis. And if nothing unexpected happens, I was one of the Shinigamis who encircled and suppressed you guys half a year ago."

"What?!"

Sōken Ishida pupils abruptly contracted. The pain of losing his clansmen overwhelmed his fear, replaced by hatred.

"Yahhh, I'll kill you!"

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Letting go, the arrow on his bow directly shot at Ailin. Then, gathering Reishi underfoot once more, Sōken Ishida accelerated his body through Hirenkyaku, encircling Ailin as he unleashed a 360-degree attack without blind spots.

Bang!

Bang bang bang bang...

Facing Sōken's assault, Ailin didn't even budge. The incoming arrows couldn't injure Ailin whatsoever upon impact and were directly shattered apart by Ailin's body.

Although Ailin hadn't continued forging new Zanpakutō for over two years already, his Reiryoku didn't increase by much during this time either.

Even so, Ailin's personal Reiryoku had still crossed the level of a "Century Captain". Otherwise, it wouldn't have caused Haruko's soul to weaken.

As for Ishida Sōken right now?

In terms of Shinigami Reiryoku rankings, he probably possessed around Rank 18 Reiraku at best. Comparable to students who had just entered the Spiritual Arts Academy.

The power behind Sōken's arrows capped out at around Level 1 Destructive Spell Pale Lightning at best. Arrows with such low Reishi density couldn't even compare to the Reishi density within Ailin's body. How could they possibly injure Ailin?

Even if Ailin simply stood there allowing Sōken free attacks without defending himself, Sōken still wouldn't be able to scrape off a single flake of skin from Ailin's body after a hundred years.

Naturally, the attacking Sōken Ishida witnessed this scene. At this time, the powerlessness against Shinigamis from half a year ago and the terror from confronting a Shinigami Captain directly resurfaced within Sōken's mind once more.

"Retreat!"

After regaining his rationality, Sōken attacked Ailin while slowly retreating back towards the forest. The moment he entered the woods, he would immediately flee without even returning to the village.

From how they managed to escape Miyahara Village half a year ago, Sōken knew that under normal circumstances, Shinigamis would only pursue Quincies while leaving ordinary people alone.

He didn't know what happened to the villagers who fled in other directions, but the villagers who escaped this way besides the Quincies didn't suffer any harm in the end if they were just ordinary people without Reiryoku.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to establish a new village again in just half a year either.