No Cheat in Bleach ? Watch me help Aizen then.
Chapter 140: “Include Me in That Training Too”

Chapter 140 - “Include Me in That Training Too”

Are the Quincy fast?

Higashi Shuuichi didn't know. But what he did know, was that he was fast.

So fast, in fact, that the moment Soul Society entered high alert—after realizing that in this fabricated future, the Quincy wouldn't follow their original blueprint of gradually dismantling Soul Society—he shamelessly relocated to the World of the Living, inserted himself into Karakura High School, and became none other than Kurosaki Ichigo's classmate and neighbor.

The logic was simple: those three strange deaths—Yamamoto Genryūsai, Zaraki Kenpachi, and Urahara Kisuke.

Two of them were designated as Special War Potentials in the original timeline. Key players in the battle against the Wandenreich.

So if the fabricated future could kill them, why not the other three?

Ichibe Hyōsube. Aizen Sōsuke. Kurosaki Ichigo.

Why not remove them too?

Because Akitsuki couldn't.

Fullbringers, by their very nature, stemmed from the Soul King's fragments. No matter how fabricated the timeline, they remained tethered to the will of the Soul King.

Which meant the essential structure of fate—who could or could not be removed—remained intact.

Akitsuki couldn't touch the real threats. But he could manufacture chaos to eliminate Higashi Shuuichi.

So in this game between them, it wasn't about brute force.

It was a race against time.

Akitsuki had to kill him before Soul Society or the Royal Guard realized what was happening. And Shuuichi? He just had to survive.

Which was why dragging Ichigo into the fray early, and forcing the Zero Division to enter the field ahead of schedule, was the optimal move.

And just as he predicted—

As he calmly reviewed Mayuri Kurotsuchi's latest report on a newly developed reagent meant to reveal Quincy shadow gateways, a squad of Sternritter descended on his Karakura home.

They didn't knock.

"Higashi Shuuichi! This is your future!"

The voice came from above. Shuuichi stepped out and looked up at the speaker—those dull grey eyes. Empty. Hollow.

Yhwach.

No. Akitsuki, wearing Yhwach's face.

And at that moment, Shuuichi remembered where he'd seen those eyes before.

They were the same as the Soul King's.

"Whether or not this is my future, one thing's certain," he said calmly. "It's not yours."

Hands in his pockets, surrounded by nearly the entire Sternritter elite, Shuuichi didn't flinch.

"You can't begin to imagine the power I wield now!" Akitsuki—Yhwach—roared. "Killing you is easier than squashing a bug!"

"I believe it," Shuuichi nodded, grinning.

Indeed, in this fabricated timeline where Akitsuki wore the Emperor's crown, he held all the advantages. Any normal Shinigami would've been erased by now.

But Shuuichi wasn't normal. He was a transmigrant—he knew the future.

"But here's the thing, 'Yhwach'—or should I say Akitsuki—I've been talking so long because I was waiting for Kurosaki Ichigo. And you? What exactly are you waiting for?"

From the corner of the street came a blur of orange and black. Schoolbag tossed aside. Zanpakutō raised.

Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Ichigo? Don't make me laugh!" Akitsuki sneered. "Just because he beat Aizen once doesn't mean he can beat me! Miracles don't repeat."

Akitsuki knew the script. He knew Ichigo would slay Yhwach in the original future. But this wasn't that future.

So long as Higashi Shuuichi died, this fabricated world would collapse. The end.

He signaled Haschwalth.

Then pointed at Shuuichi.

"Heilig Pfeil!"

A holy arrow—pure reishi—pierced Shuuichi's heart.

And then... nothing.

His heart regenerated instantly.

Soul King Nail Fragment. Infinite regeneration.

Shuuichi slowly drew his Zanpakutō, murmuring:

"Hōhō Sogen. Bankai—Kuroni."

He wasn't going to fight. He knew resisting was pointless.

He drove his blade into the ground. Then simply stood beside Ichigo, letting himself take the hits.

Akitsuki blinked. Confused.

"What is this? Giving up?"

The Shuuichi from Osaka had been bold, decisive. Now he just... stood there?

Akitsuki used the Almighty. Peeked into the near future.

And his expression changed.

Shuuichi's smile deepened.

The sky tore open. A gate descended.

Five figures in ceremonial black-and-white armor stepped through.

The Zero Division.

"Multiple Heilig Pfeil!" Akitsuki fired a storm of holy arrows in a panic.

But Shuuichi moved. Flash-stepped to Ichigo's side.

"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"

A translucent reishi barrier shimmered between them.

It shattered instantly.

Akitsuki's arrows tore through it with ease.

But that had never been the plan.

"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"

Another barrier—this one held.

The caster? A tall, graceful woman in elaborate attire. Senjumaru Shutara.

"Timely, as always," Shuuichi said dryly.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not here to save you," she replied coldly.

She didn't even glance at him.

They knew who he was. Knew he didn't belong.

"That's fine," Shuuichi shrugged. "But look at your 'Yhwach'—clearly, I'm an essential piece of the puzzle. So take me with you. Let's talk."

Senjumaru didn't like it—but she'd been ordered to retrieve him.

Hyōsube had made that clear.

On the other side of the field, Akitsuki found himself outmatched. His Sternritter overwhelmed by the other four Zero Division members.

He watched, helpless, as Senjumaru vanished into the portal—taking Shuuichi and an unconscious Ichigo with her.

And panic surged in his heart.

Because he, too, had read the future script.

He knew exactly what happened when Ichigo Kurosaki was taken to the Soul King Palace.

"I can't let Higashi Shuuichi flip the table!"

Akitsuki made his decision instantly.

His version of The Almighty had limited uses.

So before returning to the Soul King Palace, he had to eliminate all the original timeline's threats.

Four names.

Ichigo Kurosaki – currently untouchable.

Aizen Sōsuke – still imprisoned in the lowest depths of Muken.

Uryū Ishida – the one who stole Yhwach's power in the end.

Jugram Haschwalth – the wildcard, whose betrayal sealed the Emperor's fate.

He would eliminate them all. One by one.

Before facing the Zero Division again.

Meanwhile, Shuuichi stood in Hyōsube temple—under scrutiny from the most powerful beings in the Soul Society.

"First question," Hyōsube said. "Who are you?"

"Higashi Shuuichi. A Shinigami from the future," he replied confidently.

"A time-traveler?" Kirio Hikifune raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. As you've seen, the current 'Yhwach' is no longer Yhwach. His soul was hijacked by Akitsuki—our enemy from the future. I came back to stop him."

"So that's why he's targeting you?" Ōetsu Nimaiya asked, lounging on a zanpakutō lodged in a pillar.

"Exactly," Shuuichi nodded. "That new Yhwach will attack the Royal Palace soon. But unlike before, his goal won't be the Soul King—it'll be me."

"But if you're both time-travelers," Tenjirō Kirinji frowned, "why are you so much weaker?"

He'd just restored Shuuichi's battered body after the Bankai's toll.

Shuuichi laughed awkwardly.

"Because my job isn't to kill Akitsuki—it's to bring him to you. I returned in my original body, not hidden inside one of your own. Because unlike him, I'm not here to hijack your identity. And I'm sure none of you want that, right?"

"So then," Hyōsube's tone sharpened, "how do we stop him?"

Shuuichi grinned.

"Simple. Lure him in—and bury him."

"You mean using yourself as bait? To draw him into a trap?" Senjumaru said, arms crossed.

"It's a good plan, except for one thing," she added. "You're not strong enough. He won't fall for it if all you do is stand there."

"You'd need to fight him. And last long enough to draw him into the kill zone. And you won't last."

Shuuichi bowed slightly.

"Which is why I'm asking for a favor. That training you arranged for Kurosaki Ichigo..."

He looked up.

"Mind including me too?"