NOVEL WEB Chapter 5: CHAPTER 5
The time coincides with when the students are dismissed from school.
Ishida Ryuxian squatted by the roadside, staring intently into the distance.
"What are you looking at?"
Suddenly—
A curious voice rang out beside him.
"It's good to be young."
"I can see... double eyelids."
Ishida Ryuxian pushed up his glasses and responded slowly.
"Wait a second..."
"The eyelids you mentioned—are they... serious? (dog head)"
Another voice piped up beside him.
Ishida Ryuxian instinctively opened his mouth to reply but immediately froze.
Wait.
This voice—sounds familiar.
Turning his head, Ishida Ryuxian's pupils contracted, and he gritted his teeth as he roared:
"Kurosaki Kanbaru?!"
"You still dare show your face to me?!"
It's him!
It's that damned guy who nearly got me arrested for being a pervert!
"This is my doorstep," Kanbaru muttered, scratching his head, looking lost.
Ishida Ryuxian: "..."
Right, turns out I've been sulking the entire afternoon at Kurosaki Kanbaru's front gate.
"By the way..."
"Do you know why I did that yesterday?"
Kanbaru suddenly leaned in, whispering with an exaggerated look of mystery.
"Did what?"
Ishida Ryuxian frowned slightly.
"Reported you," Kanbaru blurted.
Ishida Ryuxian: "..."
Don't bring that up!
Just hearing it makes my blood pressure spike!
"Why the hell did you report me?!"
Suppressing his fury, Ishida Ryuxian growled through clenched teeth.
"Here's the thing."
"Yesterday, a beautiful Onee-san named Tifa gave me a secret mission..."
"She asked me to report you," Kanbaru said with a gaze as sincere as a monk's.
"Stop spouting nonsense!!"
Ishida Ryuxian suddenly fell silent—his repressed instincts beginning to awaken.
Wait, this "Tifa's Secret Mission"… you can't be serious?!
Are you screwing with me?!
Veins bulged on Ishida Ryuxian's forehead like a storm brewing under his skin.
"It's true."
"She even showed me her notebook, packed with all kinds of anime titles."
"As long as I reported you, she'd give it to me."
"So I had no choice but to comply."
"I'm sorry, Ryuxian," Kanbaru said, his expression righteously shameless.
Ishida Ryuxian: "..."
You absolute liar!
But also... let me copy that notebook, damn it!
Ishida Ryuxian's expression darkened, his teeth grinding audibly—like he was ready to kill the man in front of him.
"Hey, Kurosaki Kanbaru."
"Have you ever witnessed the full power of a pure-blooded Quincy?"
"Do you even understand the difference in dimension between you and me?"
"If not..."
Ishida Ryuxian's face grew gloomier, his spiritual pressure beginning to stir like thunderclouds preparing to strike.
He sneered proudly, tilting his head upward.
But the next second—
His face froze.
"...Where did he go?"
Where's that bastard Kanbaru?!
Seriously?!
Who am I supposed to pretend for now that you've vanished mid-monologue?!
Come back and witness my dramatic pose, damn you!
---
"The power of a pure-blood Quincy?"
"Clearly, he hasn't experienced life's beatdowns yet."
To think—
That the mature, stoic Ishida Uryu of the future was once a chuunibyou (cringe-prone) teen with an IQ power deficit.
The thought made Kanbaru chuckle.
Are pure-blood Quincy powerful?
Absolutely.
Especially at this point in the timeline.
Pure-blood Quincy wield power well beyond that of the average Gotei 13 captain. They represent top-tier combatants.
By that logic—
As a pure-blooded Quincy, Ishida Ryuxian does have the right to act all superior.
But Kanbaru knows better.
He understands clearly: pure-blood Quincy are not invincible.
During the events of the Thousand-Year Blood War, pure-blood Quincy are nothing on their own.
Forget the captains of the Gotei 13—those who play dead and hide their true powers.
Even among the Quincy of the Wandenreich (Invisible Empire), pure-blood lineage means little.
Only those who possess a "Schrift"—a Holy Letter granted by Yhwach—are true elites.
> "The Holy Text..."
> "But children make choices."
> "I choose both—the Holy Text... and the Hōgyoku."
Kanbaru's eyes deepened, then he vanished in an instant.
---
Elsewhere.
A desolate street in Karakura Town.
Compared to the bustling areas, it was eerily quiet.
Even with students pouring out of schools, no one had walked this road in half a day.
Swish—
A figure landed lightly in the center of the street.
It was a tall, violet-haired woman with an astonishing figure.
Shihouin Yoruichi.
"That brat Kanbaru doesn't seriously think I ran away from home, right?"
"Well... probably not."
She snickered lazily.
Her golden pupils gazed forward with sharp focus.
She raised a hand slowly.
A shimmer rippled through the air—
An enchantment.
This whole district had been sealed under a cloaking barrier.
Entry was only possible by specific methods.
As the ripples faded—
A building appeared in view.
Over the door, the sign read:
> URAHARA SHOP
A scruffy man in a green army coat and matching bucket hat stood at the entrance.
Behind him stood a hulking figure in work overalls and plain glasses.
"Ah, Yoruichi-san."
"It's been a while."
"I thought you'd been charmed away by stray cats."
Urahara Kisuke opened his fan and grinned teasingly.
"Stray cats?"
Yoruichi raised a brow.
"Isn't that it?"
"If our dear Yoruichi hadn't been out frolicking with feral cats, how could she have disappeared for so long?"
Kisuke kept smiling wretchedly, poking the hornet's nest like a true madman.
Her answer?
A punch to the face.
> "Take this—Super Cat Flying Punch!"
"Gahhh, it hurts!"
Urahara Kisuke screamed, staggering back with both eyes covered.
Good grief.
She actually punched him!
"If you'd shut your mouth, no one would mistake you for mute," Yoruichi muttered, shooting him a sideways glare as she stepped inside.
"Yoruichi-sama."
Tessai Tsukabishi bowed in greeting.
Then, his expression grew serious.
"You returned so suddenly."
"Did you discover something?"
Hearing this, Kisuke dropped the antics, his gaze sharpening as he lowered the brim of his hat.
Even as fugitives from Soul Society...
They still cared deeply about it.
In fact—more than ever.
To stop Aizen's plot, information was everything.
They needed to monitor every ripple in Soul Society, every anomaly in Karakura Town.
Only by doing so could they determine how far Aizen's plan had advanced—
—or predict what his next move would be.
"Well, I did learn a few interesting things," Yoruichi nodded, her tone casual but her eyes gleaming.
Then, as if remembering something suddenly, she tilted her head and asked with a grin:
> "By the way... have you heard the name Kurosaki Kanbaru?"