Two days later, Adam reported to the 13th Division Captain in front of the Senkaimon.
Adam walked into the line at the very back with the Shinigami of 13th Division and he looked at the gathered people.
The entire 13th Division is deployed. So, everyone is here. Most stood quietly while awaiting their order in a disciplined manner like a soldier. Adam also does the same as everyone is waiting for the people from Onmitsukido and 2th Division.
Another few minutes later, several dozen people arrived in a flash and Adam immediately identified them as the 2th Division Shinigami. Their outfit is different from the black hakama, Shihakusho. Their uniform is more like a ninja garb which is fitting for the type of work they do in the shadow of Seireitei and Gotei 13.
"Captain Ukitake. Sorry we are a little late." Yoruichi Shihoin said to Jushiro Ukitake before her eyes briefly sweep through the Shinigami of 13th Division and her eyes lingered for a few moments on Adam with a raised eyebrow but decided not to question it.
"No. You arrived on time. It's me that arrived ahead of time." Captain Ukitake corrected.
"If you said so." Yoruichi shrugs and then turns to a man behind her which Adam immediately recognised as Urahara Keisuke although without his iconic green stripe bowl hat. But his face is easily recognisable. They whispered something before Yoruichi turned back to Captain Ukitake and said they were ready to depart.
Captain Ukitake nods and turns to the members of the Kido Corps that are standing near the Senkaimon.
"Open the Senkaimon." Captain Ukitake swiped his arm out and ordered with a commanding tone.
The Kido Corp members immediately manipulate their Reiryoku like they were casting a Kido spell. But instead of actually casting the spell, they inject their energy into the Senkaimon before the artifact opens its gate which is a pathway that connects Soul Society to the Human world.
Once the gate is open, the Captains order everyone to follow them as they enter the Senkaimon. Adam naturally follows closely behind and finally heads over to the human world.
———
Karakura village, Japan.
Quincy is a race not too different from humans but capable of using special power which allows them to manipulate the ambient Spiritual Particles or Reishi which exist in every living and even non living things.
Naturally, they benefit more by being in an area where Spiritual Energy is rich like Karakura village. The Quincy lived intermingled with normal people and lived a simple and humble life like any typical villager that worked in a farm, rearing cattles, creating handmade tools, etc.
"So, this is the hidden Quincy Village?" Captain Ukitake asked Yoruichi who nodded and explained.
"Three months ago, the 12th Division managed to pinpoint a series of destruction of Hollows in this area and I dispatched several Scouts to work on the lead. The result of that investigation is sightings of Quincy using their power to hunt Hollows around this area and after further investigation, it was done by some Quincy hiding in this village." Yoruichi explained with an uncomfortable look which Captain Ukitake noticed.
"Do you have any objection or question regarding the mission, Captain Shihoin?"
"I do." Yoruichi nodded. "I wonder if we are going to kill everyone in the village? There are also normal civilians living there."
"No. We must not harm the civilians. Our target is only Quincy." Captain Ukitake said.
"Then, how are we going to differentiate between them? They look and feel no different from normal humans if they didn't use their power." Yoruichi argued.
"It's simple. We just need to force them to use their power. Isn't that right, Captain Ukitake?" Urahara Keisuke suddenly interjected with a playful sounding voice which Captain Ukitake didn't take offense of and simply nodded in reply.
"Indeed as your 3rd Seat said. We just need to bait them out and then ambush them." Captain Ukitake said before his lieutenant stepped forward and presented a Hollow Bait that Adam usually uses but much stronger.
"Hollow is their nemesis and they will definitely fight if Hollows appeared near their village. What we need to do is to wait for the perfect moment to strike." Captain Ukitake explained the ruthless method to smoke out the Quincy which he said were quite a common tactic back in the olden days where skirmish with Quincy is very frequent.
"Yes." Everyone including Adam replied.
Once the bait was cast out by his lieutenant, everyone waited for a few moments before a black void was forcefully ripped open in the fabric of space. A garganta was opened by the starving Hollows that smelled delicious food and hurried racing to the Human world.
The tear slowly grew bigger and from dozens to hundred and now thousands of Hollows poured out from the Garganta. However, no matter how numerous. They are just Common Hollows that a Lieutenant with Shikai alone can exterminate alone without breaking a sweat in.
When the Hollows start pouring out from the edge of the village, few villagers working on the field panicked and ordered those who didn't notice the anomaly to escape immediately.
"Quickly call the elders and chief!" They ordered the normal villagers to escape while they created a blue energy bow on their hand and attacked the Hollows.
Adam immediately understood why Captain Ukitake said he would find Quincy disappointing as opponents.
The Quincy that tried to halt the Hollow's advance were trembling and shaking. The arrows they shoot, some hit but most didn't. Even then, those that hit are just through pure luck.
Then suddenly, three people arrived. One is an elderly man with a slight hunchback, grayed hair and beard and wearing a gray robe with a white scarf on his cheek. Adam assumed that's the chief.
"You useless fools! If you can't even shoot properly then leave. Let us fight here and the rest of you go and help the young ones to evacuate."
"V-Village chief?! Yes!" The previous Quincy immediately bowed their heads and left as ordered.
The village chief then scrutinized the Garganta and then the Hollows on the ground.
"Did a junior cause an accident while creating Hollow Baits?" He wondered before he shook his head with disappointment and helplessness. "No, it didn't matter. The Shinigami will definitely sense this disturbance and come to investigate. We can no longer live in this village."
"Ichika and Ren. You two follow the rest of the village and evacuate immediately." He said without turning his head to them and instead revealed a bracelet with a silver cross and a peculiar white glove on his right hand.
"Chief! We cannot turn our back here and let you fight alone! There are thousands of them!" The two elders were adamant to stay and refuse to follow the order given by the chief.
"You two are fools too. Do you really think I am that weak? I, Tatsuki Ishida, might be old. But I am far from being helpless against the group of rabbles." The Chief said with a calm but angered and frustrated tone.
"Heilig Bogen!" A spider-web shaped blue bow appeared on the chief's right hand.
"Ginrei Kojaku?!" The two elders immediately recognised.
The chief then pulled the string on the bow and muttered, "Licht Regen." immediately after he released the strings and numerous blue arrows soon blotted the sky and instantly almost wiped out the Hollows but unfortunately more continued to crawl out from the Garganta.
"You have seen what I am capable of. So quickly leave before it's too late." The chief sounded exasperated to make them leave.
"No, it is already too late. Quincy." Captain Ukitake said as he suddenly appeared with Yoruichi on the sky floating while looking down at the Quincy trio.
"Shinigami…" The chief said with a hopeless tone. He already had his guesses. It's impossible for this be an accident caused by a junior because he remembers none of them were missing for the entire day and it's impossible for them to be the culprit.
Naturally, that would mean someone else used Hollow bait and he instantly remembers of the old tactic used by Shinigami to smoke out Quincy that tried to hide in plain sight within villages or towns of normal humans.
"So I was right. It really is the Shinigami." The elder said and stared defiantly at the two captains.
The two captains said nothing in reply. The chief turned to Ichika and Ren.
"Leave quickly! I will stop them here. You must escape. They must have sent other Shinigami to ambush the fleeing people! You two must go and stop them before they slaughter everyone." The chief bellowed before blue aura burst around him and he immediately attacked the two Captains in desperation.
Listening to the chief's advice, they quickly ran in the direction of the village and the two captains did nothing to stop the two elders. Instead, they stayed still and discussed something.
"Should I be the one to fight?" Yoruichi asked Jushiro.
"No need. I am still capable of fighting. However, be wary because he might use his ultimate technique." Jushiro Ukitake said and landed on the ground with his Asauchi drowned and cut down several volley of blue arrows.
———
On the other side of the village, over a hundred villagers ran to the opposite side of the village when several stray Hollows managed to sneak into the village and killed a few Quincy which terrified them and caused them to flee after seeing people being eaten by monsters.
Among the villagers is Quincy who tried to escape along with the villagers. However, they saw the Shinigami that the normal Villagers couldn't see and the moment they showed signs of seeing the Shinigami, their cover had been blown.
Adam is among the Shinigami that are stationed on the road behind the village which the villagers are currently escaping towards.
In front of his eyes is a stampede of panicked villagers which simply walk through him which felt odd but didn't affect him at all. Instead, his eyes focused to scan the villagers for any imposters.
The moment anyone locks eyes with him or shows any reaction upon looking at him, Adam draws his blade and kills Quincy. He didn't care if the target was a small child or an adult or elderly. His blade will cut without hesitation.
"They are fated to die. They are fated to die…" Adam repeats several times to strengthen his will as he kill, kill and kill without noticing he killed over two dozen.
"Shiro!"
"Huh?" Adam was surprised and accidentally slashed his blade at the person that distracted him thinking it's enemy but his blade hit another blade with a loud clang.
Adam immediately woke up from his trance and realized he did something stupid. But before he could bow his head and apologize.
"Good work and you should take a rest if you need." The Lieutenant of 13th Division said after seeing Adam's previous state thinking his conscience was disturbed from being ordered to slaughter helpless people even if they were Quincy.
Other fellow members of 13th Division also nodded and said Adam did enough work. Most only get less than a dozen kills while Adam did 6 times more than them.
"Ah, yes. Thank you." Adam obediently nodded and accepted the offer to rest.
Adam takes a seat on the nearby tree and averts his eyes from the dead bodies on the ground which he accumulated.
"Yes. Reward." Adam Immediately remembered the mission and opened the mission tab to check for progress when he saw there were still two unfinished tasks.
"The chief and elders are still alive?" Adam mutters silently to himself before he looks at the explosion of Reishi on the other side of the village which was followed by a pillar of Reiatsu which Adam easily identified as Bankai release.
"Did they force the chief to use the Letzt Stil?" Adam wondered as other Shinigami that were cleaning up the battlefield suddenly turned their attention to the heated battle between their captain and the Quincy village chief.
"!" Adam suddenly felt a jolting sensation and his instinct override his body and acted immediately.
Adam drew his blade and cut two blue Reishi arrows shot at him from inside the woods.
"Tch! He noticed it! How? It's a perfect ambush!"
"That didn't matter now, Ichika. Kill him quickly to avenge our people and leave before we are surrounded.
The disturbance of the battle and the fact the other Shinigami went into the village to clean up the place means Adam is with little help here. Only a handful of Shinigami left nearby and they hadn't noticed Adam was attacked because of the loud commotion from the battle between the captain and chief.
"You! You will pay for killing her!" Ichika Kurosaki went mad and launched a volley of Reishi arrows before abandoning his bow and using a blade made of Reishi while Ren Katagiri was supporting from afar with volley of arrows.
Adam struggled to cut down the arrows alone and screamed for help but before he could, Ichika already madly slashing the energy blade at him and tried to stomp him. Had Adam still retained his original body instead of this spiritual body, he wouldn't care about defending as much and focus on attacking only instead.
"Shinigami are just monsters, you people are the real evil! What had we done to deserve this?! We abandoned our power and duty as the Shinigami wanted and simply wished to live in peace and what did that lead us to? I should have known that bastard Soken shouldn't be trusted!" The Quincy poured out his frustration while rabidly slashed his blade at Adam.
Adam was heavily injured with one arm he sacrificed to block the arrows causing him to feel searing pain as the arrow burned his very flesh while his other arm kept the Quincy with an energy blade in check.
'Fuck! I will be dead if I don't think of something quick!' Adam thought and then he quickly formulated a way to win.
After locking the blade with Quincy in front of him, Adam kicked the Quincy Spartan style to push him back to buy for some time. Then he concentrated his Forcefield on the side which arrows rained on him and his focus went back to the Quincy in front of him that was rabidly charged at him like a rabid mutt as expected.
Then the Quincy smiled wide when his blade stabbed Adam. He thought the stupid Shinigami was done with his last stand.
"This is fo—"
*Bang!* x2
The Quincy wheezed and hacked out blood on Adam's shihakusho.
Adam dismissed the Ronson 5X5 on his right hand and summoned Hornet into his left hand and accurately head shot the other Quincy hiding in the wood. Then he pointed the muzzle at the dying Quincy on the ground that was still hanging on his last thread in disbelief and rage.
"No hard feelings. It's just a job." Adam mutters before he puts the Quincy to rest.
Then Adam fell to the ground and cursed. The Reishi blade that is still lodged in his gut is causing a lot of pain and siphoning his HP like crazy if not for his ability to reduce damage and constantly heal.
Adam pulled the blade out and stored them away before he looted the Quincy in front of him for his Quincy Cross and whatever he could ransack from the corpse before he healed himself and returned to the group as if nothing happened.
Unbeknownst to Adam, there is someone who knows he had a detection ability and observed his battle from afar with a pair of binoculars. That person is also the one blocking others from seeing or hearing his shout for help.
"Hmn, ability to manifest strange weapons? I wonder if the ability to manifest strange weapons is his Zanpakuto ability? However, he still hadn't shown any sign of mastering his Zanpakuto." Keisuke frowned while rubbing his chin.
"The ability to heal would be Kaido he learned from Unohana Retsu. But the healing technique he used is definitely not Kaido… Not to mention the other abilities he used. Interesting… very interesting." Urahara Keisuke rambles on with a wide smirk as he spies on Adam while sitting on a tree branch.
Urahara Keisuke was originally tasked to locate the two fleeing elders and saw the two wanted to ambush Adam for killing Quincy. He wanted to help but noticed Adam isn't just a simple Unseated Shinigami, he decided to watch. Considering Adam's fame as a genius in Zanjutsu and Kido, Keisuke sees no problem simply watching and observing Adam being ambushed instead of helping.
Keisuke is quickly proven correct when Adam like he had a sixth sense, able to sense the attack the moment the two Quincy shoot an arrow each. He saw Adam's capability to fight the two Elite Quincy. Which is something he shouldn't have if according to his current ability. Yet he did and Keisuke also noticed the strange ability Adam is using that utilizes Reiryoku but using different and unknown techniques that isn't Kido.
So, he decided to observe and try to identify the secret Adam was hiding. But so far, other than the strange weapons that he remembers were similar to firearms from the western nation in the Human world and the strange ability that isn't Kido but similar, he found nothing that could suspect Adam of being a possible threat or enemy to Seireitei.
In the end, other than sparking his curiosity on the ability to manifest strange weapons that resemble muskets and rifles of the western world. Keisuke Urahara found no dirt he could use on Adam. Instead, he got the definitive proof that Adam is a genuine genius after winning against two Elite Quincy after an ambush while being an Unseated Officer that had less than three years of experience as Shinigami. Which is worthy of being seedlings to be nurtured and join the upper hierarchy of Gotei 13 in the future.
—————