I would like to give a shout-out to and give credit to Gunner Palace, since it was their explanation for Sode no Shirayuki's ability in a theory they made that inspired me to give this explanation.

As it pertains to what is revealed in this chapter, there is another path I can take with what is explained (involving Ichigo), but that would be a spoiler for what exactly I have planned for Ichigo.

The rest, on the other hand, is my own explanation and idea.

Enjoy the chapter.


White Entropy

The words of Urahara Kisuke caused a sudden shift in the mind-sets of everyone surrounding him, ranging from disbelief, to realization, to confusion.

"…Entropy!" Uryu spoke, as realization dawned.

"Yes. And you are wrong, in part, about physics with Souls differing from the Living World. The spiritual world simply encompasses another set of rules yet unknown to those in the Living World. The basic laws known to Humans, such as the Laws of Thermodynamics, still pertain to Souls. Yet Sode no Shirayuki is one of those rare powers which defy Reason itself – her ability to control Entropy allows her to break all three of the Laws of Thermodynamics.

"Heat energy is not conserved between her and any objects she interacts with, as all temperatures are reduced equally to the same level, violating the first law; heat does not flow into her from her surroundings, as she maintains a set temperature at all times, violating the second law; the fact she can reach Absolute Zero at all breaks the Third Law.

"Part of the theory on Entropy is that entropy is the amount of information necessary to describe a system." Urahara narrated. "You cannot 'decrease' Entropy directly, since heat simply flows from a hotter system to a cooler one in an effort to attain thermal equilibrium."

"But you are saying that the Kuchiki girl doesn't do that?" Grimmjow asked.

"That's right, Grimmjow. Rather, she can decrease Entropy by removing heat from any object of her choosing. In doing so, she destroys information at the fundamental level."

Grimmjow's eyes widened, in shock. Askin spoke. "Ah, so that is why she is so valuable to you: you believe that, if Ms. Kuchiki could kill Yhwach with that power when she reduces his Entropy to zero…"

Urahara finished. "There will be no information that he can "send forward to the future". And it wouldn't be just Yhwach that Kuchiki's power could destroy…"

Uryu's eyes narrowed. "…But it could destroy the Hogyoku, as well." Urahara looked at Uryu. Uryu raised a hand. "In the battle that Kuchiki fought in where she died, in my time, Yhwach had killed Aizen and taken the Hogyoku from him. I still recall what Yhwach said as clear as day: 'This was a timeline where all of you gave up on moving forward. So I will take everything from you, and once again move the world forward.'

"Yhwach, at that time, was effectively immortal, so we thought there was no way to kill Yhwach. That didn't stop us from trying, though. Kuchiki pushed herself beyond her limits when she used Hakka no Togame against Yhwach. She was not able to kill him, and…" Uryu closed his eyes, recalling the painful memory. "…She succumbed to her own power, and dissolved into mist…" Uryu opened them again. "But it was not in vain, because the Hogyoku itself dissipated into nothingness along with her. Perhaps…Yhwach only survived what happened, because the Hogyoku 'took his place'".

"…I see." Urahara spoke. He smiled sadly. "Making the Hogyoku was probably my greatest success…and my greatest mistake. It is fitting, that she was indeed able to destroy the thing that brought her and everyone so much hardship."

Neliel was amazed by what she was hearing. Did Rukia really have so great a power that she could compare it to Barragan's Respira? The Respira of Barragan Louisenbairn was known far and wide in Hueco Mundo as absolute and even Hollows who had more reiatsu than Barragan either did not challenge him because of that power, or just did not care about ruling Hueco Mundo.

So for Neliel to learn that a Shinigami had such a power was astounding, to say the least.

Urahara looked past everyone to some place in the distance. "It seems like Yoruichi is re-gaining consciousness." He began to walk off. "Neliel, Grimmjow, come with me. Mirai Ishida…I suggest that you take Askin with you wherever you intend to go next. I don't want to raise any questions immediately right now with Yoruichi. Besides," he smiled nervously, "she's probably going to be pissed off at me for making her transform against her wishes. She never liked how her personality changed when she entered that form."

Askin got up off his feet. "I can imagine why she wouldn't like it, but the reason why you did it was because it was one of your "possibilities" for beating me. Without that beastly form of hers, she couldn't even lay a scratch on me."

"Precisely; I don't have fun except for my own amusement. Oh," Urahara said as an after-thought, "Neliel, you did heal Yuushiro while we were fighting, right?"

"Ah, yes, I did." Neliel replied hurriedly.

Urahara used Shunpo to propel himself to Yoruichi's location, and Neliel and Grimmjow followed with Sonido. That left Ishida Uryu and Askin Nakk le Vaar alone. "Well, now," Askin inquired. "What was it you were planning to do, 'Your Majesty', since you sent your girl-friend to fight His Majesty on her own?"

Uryu looked pointedly at Askin. His gaze went towards the impossible-to-miss Gerard Valkyrie. He formed a platform of reishi in the air, and beckoned Askin to get on.

They were going to cross the empty space between the arms of the Wahrwelt.

"Assuming things go as intended, and if it results in Yhwach not using Auswahlen, then someone needs to take care of Gerard Valkyrie…The Heart of the Soul King."

"Ah," Askin said, "and I assume you have a means of taking care of that gigantic colossus he's become? Honestly, this is actually the first time anyone has ever pushed Gerard that far, since I've never seen that form of him, before. It makes me realize that there may have been truth to him being the Heart of the Soul King, after all. And if that is the case, for Pernida being the Left Arm as well. Pernida's appearance always seemed…Off, and no one ever saw what they looked like under the hood."

Uryu spoke: "… "The Soul King's power is divided between eight parts of his body. The Body of the Soul King governs "Soul Regulation"; the Right Arm of the Soul King governs "Stillness", and the Left Arm of the Soul King governs "Evolution"; the Heart of the Soul King governs "Emotion" – to draw in the thoughts, feelings and desires of those around it, and "convert" those emotions into power; the Mind of the Soul King governs "Imagination" – to manipulate the world around him into whatever he imagines by 'Turning thoughts into reality'…"

Askin's eyes widened in realization. While Askin did not know where Ishida Uryu got this information from, he realized that what Uryu just spoke of had to relate to Gremmy Thoumeaux. While the rumors behind the Schutzstaffel were because it was known they had their abilities before Yhwach bestowed Schrift upon them, none knew what the case was for Gremmy. He just…appeared from nowhere one day. Certainly, his power was at another level entirely, even compared to Pernida or Gerard, but he was just too dangerous to partake in any major battle alongside others (that massive meteorite that would have obliterated Seireitei attests to that much).

But it makes sense – Gremmy was another part of the Soul King!

"…The Right Leg of the Soul King governs "Force" – to manipulate gravitational and electromagnetic forces and to manipulate kinetic energies…" …The Legs of the Soul King? Askin thought, now curious, where did he get information on those from?

Probably from Urahara Kisuke. I'll bet my supply of coffee beans on it.

"…The Left Leg of the Soul King…Governs 'Entropy'." Uryu finished.

" 'Entropy'; You mean like that Kuchiki girl that Urahara talked about? But that can't be possible, even if she is a Shinigami!"

"Kuchiki cannot be this Left Leg," Uryu corrected Askin, "Since she was abandoned in the Rukongai by her sister as a baby 150 years ago. But what you said about her ability being more like that of a Quincy than a Shinigami…It made me realize something."

"What was that?" Askin inquired.

"The Urahara from my time was the one who told me about the Aspects of the Soul King," Uryu explained, "and he explained how all of them, without question, possessed the powers of and identified themselves as Quincy…Because the man whom the Shinigami turned into the Soul King was a Quincy."

"Hmm…Now that makes quite a bit of sense," Askin mentioned. "Yhwach called the Soul King 'his father', and Quincy blood cannot forgive the existence of the Soul King. Though…It may be more specific to say, Yhwach's blood cannot forgive the Soul King."

"What the texts do not mention – texts I recall Urahara saying Mayuri was imprisoned in the Maggot's Nest for finding and reading - is that the "Soul Regulation" was the power "created" by the Soul Society; the true, seventh power of the Soul King lies in his eyes – "Causality"."

"I take it that refers to "The Almighty"," Askin guessed, judging the two of them to be half-way to the other arm of the Wahrwelt – the one nearest the battle with Gerard. And morning was fast coming, as it always does in the summer.

"I suppose seeing into the future, becoming immune to any and all powers he "Knows" and "altering the future" would fit such ability. But many of the things you listed about the Soul King are different from the powers I know His Majesty to possess…" He protested with an annoyed look.

"Of course they would; they share similar abilities, but not the exact same. For Yhwach and his father, Yeshua, it is "bloodline ability"."

Askin's eyes widened in surprised. "…Yeshua…"

"But the abilities of the Soul King – Yeshua – are all part of one power: an absolute control over energy in all its form. I believe that, with such a plethora of power, it is not impossible for other Quincy to bear abilities similar to those ones."

"For example, Haschwalth's "The Balance"…" Although he is 'on my side' right now, Uryu thought, I can't reveal "The Antithesis" to anyone here yet – not until Yhwach has left. "…Can manipulate "fortune" and "misfortune" – if one is "fortune", he can counter it with equal "misfortune"; if one does damage to him, he can redirect the "misfortune" he suffered against the opponent who inflicts it – two-fold. That is what would qualify as a "Causality-based" ability.

"As far as I know, only Quincy can possess this kind of ability."

"Oh," Askin spoke in understanding, "and I suppose that has to do with what I said about Ms. Kuchiki, somehow." They reached the arm of the Wahrwelt, and stepped off, far enough from the battle so that no one would immediately notice them, and isolated enough so that no one nearby might come across them accidentally.

"What you said about reishi manipulation is what made me come to that realization initially," Uryu explained, "but having Urahara say her power is control of Entropy confirmed it. What you said is true – to manipulate the reishi of her own body to move in a death-like state is an ability that sounds like one a Quincy would have rather than a Shinigami one. For that matter, not even Ransotengai involves so precise a level of reishi manipulation – threads of reishi controlled by the mind are used to control a Quincy's body with Ransotengai; Kuchiki can use her mind to control the reishi of her body directly, and perhaps even flow reishi through her body in place of her stopped biological functions."

"Alright, I get it," Askin gripped his head. "It is giving me a head-ache, but I get what you are saying: you believe that Kuchiki isn't just a Shinigami, but that she is also a latent Quincy. That is quite the leap in logic, 'Your Majesty'…"

Uryu raised his hand to quiet Askin. "Just…Call me Uryu. No one except Tatsuki and my family has ever called me by my first name…not even my friends."

Askin looked at Uryu with some degree of sympathy. A bit of a smile quirked to his lips, when he realized what his words meant exactly about the woman he came here with. "Does this apply to 'Her Highness' as well?"

"WHAT?!" Uryu blanched in shocked.

"HA!" Askin pointed at Uryu. "So you really are involved with that girl, after all!"

Uryu's face turned a bright red, and grabbed Askin by the shoulders. "THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"