Yhwach!
Ishikawa looked at Yhwach, his brows slightly furrowed.
He was certain that the person who appeared before him was indeed Yhwach, but Ishikawa couldn't fathom the confidence Yhwach had to confront him and Commander Yamamoto directly.
Because…
Based on the timeline from the Wandenreich's emergence to its invasion of Soul Society in his memory, the final nine days were still far off.
As of today, only three days had passed since Yhwach's invasion of Hueco Mundo, which roughly corresponded to the time of the Wandenreich's first full-scale invasion of Seireitei in his memory, resulting in Commander Yamamoto's death. There were still at least three or four days until the 'final nine days' mentioned in the prophecy.
Although Ishikawa had considered that Yhwach might choose to attack before his Shinigami abilities recovered, it was just a hypothesis, because if he were Yhwach, he would absolutely not rashly choose to face both him and Commander Yamamoto at such a time.
Of course, Ishikawa wasn't saying that if Yhwach arrived at this time, he and Commander Yamamoto would have absolute certainty of killing him.
Because for over a year, Ishikawa had been analyzing Yhwach's death from his memories.
To kill Yhwach, Ichigo's final strike certainly played a major role, but it couldn't be said to be entirely his achievement.
Although Ichigo possessed the power to kill Yhwach, he lacked the ability to kill Yhwach, meaning he couldn't prevent Yhwach from altering the future of his own death. This rendered his power completely ineffective against Yhwach.
And Ishida Soken's son, Ishida Ryūken, possessed the technique to nullify Yhwach's abilities. However, he also couldn't evade Yhwach's abilities, nor could he approach Yhwach. He didn't even dare to show himself, lest Yhwach detect his ability-nullifying technique.
Finally, Ishida Ryūken's son, Ishida Uryū, possessed the ability to be unaffected by Yhwach's Almighty. Therefore, he could use the technique to nullify Yhwach's abilities, but he lacked the power to kill Yhwach. To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Yhwach even kept him close, declaring him as his successor, thereby placing him under the supervision of the entire Wandenreich.
Power, technique, and ability, none of the three could be lacking.
And the combination of these three formed a coincidence.
That was…
While Yhwach was asleep, Haschwalth, whom Yhwach regarded as his other half, saw Yhwach's death in the future. However, the specific details regarding Ishida Uryū were obscured due to his immunity to the Almighty, which led Yhwach to believe what he saw was merely a nightmare, as it didn't align with the facts.
Yhwach's death was full of coincidences, yet it subtly gave a feeling of inevitability.
Ishida Ryūken, seeking revenge for his wife, had been preparing a trump card against Yhwach;
Ishida Uryū was the only Quincy hybrid to survive the Auswählen, and for some unknown reason, he was immune to Yhwach's Almighty.
And finally, at the end of the millennium-long sealing period, an unprecedented being was born: Ichigo, who simultaneously possessed the traits of Quincy, Shinigami, and Hollow, and had the power to deliver a fatal blow to Yhwach.
It was as if a great hand, unseen, was silently manipulating everything, having determined the end of the trajectory many years ago.
Therefore, Ishikawa had never thought of breaking this trajectory.
Because the end of this trajectory was inherently composed of countless coincidences; even a slight change would result in a completely different outcome.
But the midpoint of this trajectory leading to its end was something Ishikawa could not accept.
So, while avoiding those coincidences, Ishikawa wanted to change certain points on the trajectory, attempting to alter the midpoint without changing the end.
However…
The moment he saw Yhwach, Ishikawa became somewhat uncertain whether the trajectory would still extend as it did in his memory.
Perhaps…
His very existence was already a factor causing the trajectory to deviate!
Yhwach's appearance at this time indicated that he must have prepared something or had some conspiracy during these three days.
But what exactly that preparation and conspiracy were, Ishikawa could not fathom at all.
"Have you ever thought about why you were able to leave?"
Just then, Yhwach slowly turned and looked at Ishikawa.
Leave?
Ishikawa's brows furrowed slightly.
"Although you didn't know it, when those Arrancar took you away with the Negación, I said, 'You cannot take him!'"
Yhwach smiled, meeting Ishikawa's gaze: "Azashiro Soya's appearance at the time did surprise me, but the future where the Negación couldn't take you away never changed. Yet, you still left the Schatten Bereich."
Upon hearing 'the future where the Negación couldn't take you away never changed,' Ishikawa's expression immediately darkened. Connecting it to Yhwach's state at the time, he vaguely realized something.
"Because the moment you left, I saw the present!"
"Whether it was Unohana slaughtering my subordinates everywhere; or Commander Yamamoto killing Loyd; or… Gremmy disobeying orders to seek you out on his own, ultimately self-destructing due to his delusion of possessing a powerful body like yours."
"And also…"
"You temporarily regaining full power through the Dangai to fight me alongside Commander Yamamoto, and finally…"
A sneer appeared on Yhwach's face as he looked at Ishikawa and spoke word by word:
"The scene where you were considered a threat by those you deemed comrades and were ambushed after losing consciousness."
I was ambushed by someone I considered a comrade?
Ishikawa showed little reaction to the words, only a glimmer of contemplation in his eyes.
"Yhwach."
Commander Yamamoto's aged eyelids opened, revealing a shocking glint of killing intent: "Under these circumstances, using such a crude method of sowing discord, when did you fall so low?"
"It is not I who has fallen, but you!"
Yhwach glanced at Commander Yamamoto: "A thousand years have made you and the Gotei 13 you lead utterly vulnerable. Compared to you, those you consider comrades have not changed at all."
"You should know very well who I'm talking about, shouldn't you?"
Commander Yamamoto's face immediately darkened upon hearing this, because…
Before he spoke, he had already vaguely realized who Yhwach was referring to as the one who ambushed Ishikawa; only they could possibly do what Yhwach described.
He just couldn't understand why those people would go to such lengths.
Commander Yamamoto slowly turned his head to look at Ishikawa beside him. There was no hint of caution in his aged eyes, nor did he offer any persuasion; he simply waited silently for Ishikawa's decision.
When he first learned of Ishikawa, he didn't like Ishikawa's unstable nature.
Because Ishikawa bore the shadows of too many people; he saw Unohana, Aizen, Zaraki… in Ishikawa.
However…
Before the decisive battle with Aizen, he saw his own shadow in Ishikawa, who was recovering his Shinigami abilities.
It wasn't like Aizen or Unohana, but a similar shadow that changed with time. Although in many people's eyes this was a sign of degradation, or even weakening, at that moment, Commander Yamamoto let go of his last trace of caution towards Ishikawa!
Unbeknownst to him, Ishikawa had truly integrated into Soul Society.
"So that's how it is?" Ishikawa murmured to himself.
He didn't know Commander Yamamoto's thoughts at that moment, but Ishikawa could clearly feel the attitude Commander Yamamoto expressed.
Regarding the parts Commander Yamamoto didn't understand, Ishikawa actually had some vague ideas, but he had never really thought about it in that way, or rather, he had given up on thinking about it.
The Root!
Before his battle with Aizen, when Ishikawa first reformed his spiritual body, he had touched… or rather, plundered the Root, even briefly seeing the Soul King Palace and sensing the five individuals within the Soul King Palace.
What Yhwach said about the future should be precisely because of this point.
But…
A gentle smile appeared on Ishikawa's face as he looked at Yhwach.
"So what?"