The Alchemist in Bleach

Ichigo's battles don't all end quickly; after all, he was just an ordinary person a few days ago, and his combat experience was still somewhat lacking.

So, in this situation, the Grim Reaper stationed here still hasn't arrived, which is problematic.

However, Rukia had anticipated this, because only in this way could Ichigo engage in enough battles and grow sufficiently.

In just one week, Ichigo has undergone a tremendous transformation, and his strength is now greater than that of many Seats Officers. This guy's fighting talent is simply terrifying!

Just like leveling up in a game, Ichigo improves significantly with each battle, even before he has mastered Shikai. If he does master Shikai, Rukia estimates that some of the lieutenants might not be a match for him!

While Ichigo was making progress this week, Rukia wasn't idle either. After a week of hard practice, she successfully completed a game on Ichigo's PS!

Well, it's not that she wanted to be lazy, it's just that the game was too captivating!

On the weekend, Rukia and Ichigo, who had become a Shinigami, were patrolling the streets. In addition to killing Hollows, one of the Shinigami's tasks is to guide the dead to the Soul Society. Allowing souls to remain in the human world for too long will greatly increase the chances of them becoming Hollows and will also affect the balance of spiritual particles.

Therefore, their purpose in guiding souls is not to replenish the population of Soul Society; that is merely a secondary, dispensable function.

"Ichigo Kurosaki!"

Just as Ichigo and Rukia were wandering around aimlessly, Ishida Uryu, a comrade of justice, suddenly emerged from an alley and called out to them.

"Ishida? What... wait, you can actually see me?" Ichigo greeted him habitually at first, then realized that he was in Shinigami form and ordinary people couldn't see him.

"Of course, I never expected you to be the Grim Reaper."

"You actually know about Death?"

"Of course, I am a Quincy, so I naturally know about the Grim Reaper."

"You're a Quincy? Wait, what's a Quincy?" Ichigo asked Rukia in confusion.

Rukia and Uryu Ishida: "....."

"...Quinnesses are what you commonly call exorcists, who exist to kill Hollows. But a few years ago, due to a mysterious fluctuation, 90% of Quincy died mysteriously, leaving only a small number alive. I never expected to encounter one here."

"I see. But it's not unusual to run into each other here, is it?"

"why?"

“Because, didn’t you say Karakura Town is a place of high spiritual energy? It’s easy for Hollows and humans with high spiritual power to grow here. Whether it’s replenishing blood or killing Hollows, this place is very suitable, right?” Ichigo said matter-of-factly, while looking at Rukia with Hollow eyes, “Didn’t you tell me that? Why are you asking me why?”

"..." Rukia looked at Ichigo in shock, "You actually have such intelligence!"

Ichigo: "......."

He felt that Rukia was insulting him, and he had evidence!

"Mysterious fluctuations? Hahahaha!" Upon hearing Rukia's words, Ishida Uryu, standing nearby, burst into laughter, rubbing his forehead. "What a high-sounding excuse, Shinigami! You can't even admit what you've done?"

Ichigo frowned as he looked at the somewhat deranged Ishida, then shifted his feet slightly to stand in front of Rukia: "What did you Shinigami do? During that mysterious fluctuation you mentioned?"

Based on Ichigo's own logic, there must be the power of a Shinigami behind that "mysterious fluctuation." After all, Quincy kill Hollows, and Shinigami kill Hollows too. It's obvious that they're trying to steal each other's jobs!

As the saying goes, rivals are enemies, and it's perfectly normal for someone to stab you in the back.

A normal person would think the same way upon hearing this, and Ichigo was no exception. However, Ichigo felt that Rukia wouldn't lie to him, and as the vice-captain, and with such a strong teacher, it was unlikely that she would receive false information. After all, for someone fighting on the front lines, false information could really kill people.

"Of course we didn't do anything. We Shinigami do have conflicts with the Quincy, but that was a long time ago, about a hundred years ago. At the suggestion of our teacher and some squad leaders, the Central 46 passed a plan to cooperate with the Quincy. Since then, we Shinigami have had close cooperation with the Quincy. As long as they don't kill Hollows, there are basically no conflicts between the Quincy and the Shinigami, so we have no reason to kill them."

"Wait, why? Why don't the Quincy kill Hollows? There's no conflict. It doesn't seem like Shinigami benefit from killing Hollows either." Ichigo frowned. Could the conflict between the Quincy and Shinigami be that simple?

"To correct you, we Shinigami don't kill Hollows, we purify them."

"Purification?"

“Yes, Hollows are formed due to factors such as prolonged stays in the human world or being surrounded by Hollows. We Shinigami don’t kill Hollows, but purify them. Hollows slain by Shinigami power will become spirits again and be reincarnated in Soul Society, but…” Rukia’s gaze toward Ishida turned somewhat cold, “Hollows slain by Quincy will die completely! Truly die!”

"Really?" Ichigo's gaze towards Ishida changed slightly. If that were true, it couldn't be said that Shinigami were good, but from his perspective, there was no doubt that Quincy were wrong!

"What if it's real? What if it's fake? A way out? Did they give those who were attacked and their souls a way out? If it's fake, they should be killed!"

“Although I have only just entered your world, I can sense that the Void and the Spirits are different. The Void has no reason; it is a bloodthirsty beast. But the Spirits are not! They are innocent! They are also victims!”

Ishida chuckled dismissively: "You've been brainwashed by that woman. Enough with the nonsense. Now that you've become a Grim Reaper, the Grim Reaper's debt is on your head. Sorry, Ichigo."

After saying that, Ishida drew his spirit bow and aimed the arrow at Rukia!

Upon seeing this, Ichigo immediately drew his Zanpakuto and held it horizontally in front of Rukia!

"Step back, leave him to me!"

"Be careful." After instructing Ichigo, Rukia didn't try to be brave. Instead, she put on her rabbit gloves and retreated. She knew her place; she was just a burden now.

"Is there no room for negotiation, Ishida? I'm sure there's some misunderstanding here! Let's talk this out properly~"

"Misunderstanding? Ha~ My mother died, my grandparents died! Many of my friends died in that upheaval. Besides the Grim Reapers, who else would do such a thing? I've trained hard for so many years, all so that one day I can storm the Seireitei! I'll start with you!"

As he spoke, Ishida swiftly drew back his bowstring and fired a barrage of arrows. Ichigo tried to dodge, but when he caught a glimpse of Rukia, who hadn't gone far, he had no choice but to swing his smaller Zanpakuto with all his might.

Although the Zanpakuto was shrunk, it was still enormous and not very agile. However, its size had its advantages; it could intercept more arrows, preventing Rukia behind him from being injured. However...

"Ichigo!" Rukia couldn't help but shout when she saw the bloodstains on Ichigo's body. Of course, while concerned, she didn't forget her primary task: to escape the battlefield!

"I'm fine! Just a minor injury." After replying to Rukia, Ichigo looked at Ishida and said in a deep voice, "I can't say anything about what happened to you, and I have no reason to say anything, but I won't let you hurt Rukia! That girl became like this because of me, and I firmly believe there's some misunderstanding involved! I'll defeat you and force you to listen to our explanation!"

"Is that so? Then let's give it a try, Kurosaki!" With that, Ishida drew his longbow again and fired a barrage of arrows at Ichigo!

However, this time Rukia wasn't behind him. While dodging, he swung his greatsword to block some arrows that he couldn't dodge, and then quickly moved closer to Ishida!

However, Ishida is not the kind of person who only knows how to stand and fight. His combat experience is much richer than Ichigo's. After all, under the tutelage of the surviving pure-blooded Quincy, he was more or less instilled with the concept of revenge. He trained hard from a young age. Although his spiritual pressure is not strong, his combat experience is extremely rich. With a light touch of his toes, no matter how Ichigo rushes forward, the distance between the two is always kept far.

'Damn it! This guy... is definitely different from those Hollows! Should I try that move? Hmm, that's the only way~' Thinking this, Ichigo seized an opening in the "bullet screen" and suddenly pushed off with his feet!

"Instant Step!"

"call out!"

"Success!"

Ichigo suddenly appeared in front of Ishida, a smile playing on his lips, and slashed down hard with the back of his Zanpakuto!

"Flying Kick!"

However, faced with Ichigo's confident smile, Ishida merely curled his lip in disdain and used a Flying Leap Kick to once again distance himself from Ichigo.

Ichigo was stunned for a moment, and then a storm of arrows came flying at him!

"That's the Flying Leap! The Quincy's high-speed movement technique. He needs to use spiritual particles as a fulcrum to move along the trajectory of spiritual energy! Disrupting the surrounding spiritual particles! Making it impossible for him to find a foothold!"

"Disrupting spiritual energy, is that it! Fine... I can't do that!"

"Boom boom boom~~"

"Humph~"

Watching Ichigo flee in a sorry state, Ishida snorted and leisurely released spirit arrows like a cat playing with a mouse. This was his first time fighting a Shinigami. Although Ichigo was a bit weak, he was still a Shinigami, so he should be able to gain some combat experience.

However, Quincy arrows are usually projectile attacks, which are impossible to dodge. Sure enough, after Ichigo once again dodged an attack in a sorry state, he suddenly found that a spirit arrow was flying right in front of him!

Ichigo's pupils contracted, and in a moment of desperation, he instinctively activated his still unreliable Shunpo to try and dodge!

"Hey~"

Ichigo vanished from his spot in an instant, but Ishida and Rukia wore expressions of disbelief. They had seen...

------------

Chapter 324 I don't know, my body moved on its own.

"Flying Blade Kick?" x 2

That's right, Ichigo dodged the attack in a moment of desperation not with the Shinigami's Shunpo, but with the Quincy's Hiren-kick!

This greatly surprised the two of them!

"How do you know the Flying Kick?" x2

"I don't know, I just used it instinctively when I saw Ishida use it."

'Did you learn this on the spot? Incredible talent!' x2

"Hmph! Don't think you can defeat me just because you've mastered a little bit! The Flying Kick is a unique movement technique of us Quincy. You think you can defeat me? Hmph!"

With a cold snort, Ishida quickly used his Flying Leap to create distance, then unleashed a barrage of spirit arrows. He wanted to see how long Kurosaki Ichigo could hold out!

Nobody knows how long Ichigo Kurosaki can hold out, but his Hiren-kick is becoming more and more proficient... even more proficient than Shunpo, which he has been practicing for several days!

Based on Ichigo's increasingly unpredictable use of spiritual pressure over the past few days, Rukia, who was watching from the sidelines, had some guesses in her mind. Perhaps, the problem had been found...

However, Rukia wasn't sure yet and needed to continue observing, so she suppressed her idea of ​​going up to help Ichigo. Her control over the gloves wasn't strong enough yet, and she could only use them for a few minutes now. She had to save them for a crucial moment!

Meanwhile, as the battle progressed, Ishida also noticed this, or rather, he was the first to discover Ichigo's improved proficiency with the Hiren-kick, after all, this was his opponent...

While feeling puzzled, Ishida also felt a bit jealous. He had painstakingly practiced the Flying Kick for many years, but Ichigo had learned it just by watching. It was so unfair!

Ishida grew angrier the more he thought about it, and his attacks became increasingly fierce. Unfortunately, as Ichigo's mastery of the Hiren-kick increased, Ishida's attacks became less and less effective.

Finally, after hundreds of rounds of attacks, Ichigo successfully charged into Ishida's presence once again!

The difference is that last time I used Shunpo, but this time I used Hiren-kyu!

However, history seemed to repeat itself. Just as Ichigo's sword was about to strike Ishida, he once again dodged away from his original position, avoiding Ichigo's attack.

However, this time, when Ishida left, he left behind four silver cylinders standing in the four directions. History repeated itself, but not completely!

"Battle formation of the atmosphere, receive the Holy Grail! Holy Devourer!"

As Ishida chanted loudly, a vast amount of spiritual power surged forth with immense might!

Ichigo, positioned in the center of the battle formation, reacted instantly upon noticing the attack and immediately tried to use his Flying Dagger to escape, but...

"boom!"

"Ichigo!"

The Flying Leg technique moves using spirit particles. As Rukia said, one can disrupt the Flying Leg technique by interfering with the spirit particles, or even predict the landing point of the Flying Leg technique. However, the latter requires a high level of skill. Most Shinigami can only do the former. Even this depends on how strong the Quincy's control over the spirit particles is, so it is actually difficult to be effective. It is just a method that is not really a method.

But that applies to the Quincy; for Ichigo...

It worked very well.

Although it sounds strange, he is Ishida Uryu, a Quincy who will launch a counterattack against Soul Society in the future, and he is most skilled at fighting Quincy!

Therefore, countering Ichigo's Flying Kick is a very simple matter. Moreover, since he is still in the midst of battle, it is even more difficult for him to escape!

"Damn it!" On the other side, seeing the explosion engulf Ichigo, Rukia stomped her foot in frustration, pulled with both hands, and a snow-white spirit sword materialized from her gloves!