18 – New Retrieval Mission

After another round of extreme beach volleyball, Ichigo called it quits and began dispersing the crowd that had gathered to watch their game, which mostly consisted of himself and Chad duking it out against Rukia, his dad, and Karin while their other friends and tried to dodge whenever the ball went flying towards them at dangerous speeds.

Ichigo would be lying if he said it wasn't fun, but he had started to feel like he was cheating, with his living body being so much more powerful than a normal person's. The first few days their game was awful. Despite the physical constitution that Ichigo, Rukia, and Chad possessed, they simply weren't skilled in the game and kept sending the ball way out of bounds, occasionally scaring other beach goers.

Isshin was somehow quite good at the game even though Ichigo had never seen him play before.

Karin was just a fast learner and quickly picked it up with well-controlled strikes.

Tatsuki had been their best player by far in the beginning, but she left the beach early to attend the National Sports Conference for the karate competition.

Naturally, getting out-played by those three triggered Ichigo and Rukia's competitive nature and they got engrossed in the game, playing it every day, and continued after Tatsuki left.

As they'd lost a player, there'd been a few strangers that were brave enough to ask to join their game, but most of them quit after a single round, except one tall foreign-looking girl that was pretty good.

Coincidentally, Bambietta had mentioned that she was transferring to Karakura High next term, and Keigo was all too eager to make friends with a "super hot" new girl, and Chizuru was of similar mind, and while Ichigo wasn't too interested in expanding his circle of friends, he wasn't averse to making new friends either.

It had been over a week since school ended, and the beach trip was nearing its conclusion. They had done all the typical beach activities already, playing in the water, making sand castles, boating, kiting, and just tanning.

It seemed that these were all activities that Rukia had never had a chance to experience in Soul Society, so even though Ichigo wasn't entirely satisfied with the lack of training done, he had to admit that it wasn't a bad thing that Rukia got to relax and just enjoy life a bit, taking a break from their conflict with Soul Society and from Hollow hunting.

It was far more difficult to get away from their friends while they were supposed to be having fun together, and they still had to deal with the occasional Hollows attracted to the unusually high spirit pressures that their group of friends had, so the only time he was able to train was through Jinzen.

But Jinzen wasn't a replacement for sleep, and without the pressure of an immediate attack, Rukia refused to let him sacrifice sleep for more training, so she didn't join him.

So the result was that he mostly trained by himself with his Zanpaktou spirits for a little bit just before sleep and when he woke up early in the morning.

"Will I be ready for whoever comes next…?" He muttered to himself in a deep frown while wiping his sweat with a towel.

"Done for today?" Bambietta's voice drew him out of his thoughts. He glanced at the well-proportioned dark purple-haired girl in a two-piece swimsuit momentarily before averting his gaze in embarrassment. There was too much skin being exposed at the beach for his comfort, and the girl was as attractive as Orihime.

"Ah, yeah. We'll be heading back to Karakura soon, so I'll be taking it easy for a while. How about you?" He asked politely.

She sighed. "I'm kinda bored already, but my friends don't want to leave yet. They don't get out much, and so they want to savor this trip as long as possible. But all they want to do is tan! How boring is that?"

She gestured over her group of all female friends who were just lounging out in the sun.

"You know, I'm surprised to see so many foreigners in this area. No offense, but usually foreigners that come to Japan stick to the big cities like Tokyo," said Ichigo. Even from this distance, two of them looked very foreign, much more so than Bambietta herself, whose hair was a dark purple nearing black and had some facial features that seemed more East Asian.

"This is a tourist spot, and they wanted to go somewhere relatively quiet," said Bambietta with a shrug. "They'll be heading back to the city soon enough. Besides, don't you have quite a bit of foreign blood in you too, with that orange hair?"

Ichigo had an extremely surprised look on his face, and failed to respond for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Bambietta asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ichigo's expression returned to normal as he sighed. "I—it's just, everyone assumes my hair is dyed. You're actually the first person that thought it was natural without me saying anything. I've had countless problems with people thinking I'm a delinquent because of it."

"Now that you mention it, you do look like a delinquent when you scowl so hard like that," said Bambietta with a smirk.

"What, I wasn't scowling!" Unbeknownst to himself, he scowled even harder.

"Maybe you should try smiling more? Then people wouldn't think you're about to murder something."

"Do I…really look like that?" Ichigo glanced around, catching some random bystanders' eyes, who blanched upon seeing his face and turned away. He winced.

The foreign girl laughed. "I'm just teasing you, but you do seem to scowl a lot more than the average person. I thought you might just have a lot on your mind recently, but if you give off that kind of vibe to everyone, maybe you look like that all the time and just don't notice it," said Bambietta with a thoughtful expression.

He cleared his throat. "So any particular reason you moving to Karakura?" asked Ichigo, deciding to change the topic.

"I guess my relatives are tired of having me around and just wanted to send me away somewhere," she said with a grimace. "Well, it doesn't matter, I'm tired of them too."

Just then, he felt a hint of spirit pressure emanating from her.

'Is she spiritually aware?'

"Hey, Bambietta-chan, want to swap in for Ichigo?" Keigo asked loudly from their makeshift volleyball court. "We need another player!"

Bambietta's dark expression quickly become upbeat again as she turned towards the game and hopped over with a wave. "Sure!"

The spirit pressure disappeared, but there was a trace of suspicion that remained on Ichigo's face.

Hadn't Soul Society sent some of their people to Karakura in Gigais at some point in his visions? And a bunch of the Shinigami had foreign looking features too. Renji, Toshiro, Rangiku, Yachiru, etc…they all had unusual hair colors.

Concentrating on his spirit senses, he visualized the spirit ribbons, and found that Bambietta's was a normal white. He glanced back at her friends, before taking the time to locate their spirit ribbons, and theirs was the same. Not a hint of red anywhere.

They weren't Shinigami spies sent by Soul Society, then, but just humans. With that, he allowed himself to relax again.

Ichigo watched his friends play for a bit. Noticing the smiles on all their faces, he thought to himself, that maybe it was worth it to come here, even if he didn't get the train as much as he wanted.

Finally, a smile found its way to his own face.

O O O

Seireitei, Soul Society

The captains of the 13 Divisions and their Lieutenant Captains stood at attention in two rows before the Captain Commander, while making small talk amongst themselves before the official start of the captain's meeting.

Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the Captain Commander, tapped his cane against the floor twice, silencing the gathered captains, as Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of the sixth division, walked in gracefully, his wounds having been healed in the last week.

His recently promoted Lieutenant Captain, Renji Abarai, walked in behind him with a nervous step.

They bowed their heads slightly to the Captain Commander, and waited to be addressed.

"Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Captain Abarai. You failed your mission to retrieve Rukia Kuchiki and eliminate the substitute Shinigami," said the Captain Commander with a grave voice.

"We have no excuse, Captain Commander," said Byakuya. "We shall accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Kuchiki Rukia is but an unseated Shinigami. Although I am aware that her capabilities may greatly exceed her apparent rank," the Commander glanced at Jushiro Ukitake, captain of the 13th Division, who resolutely retained a neutral expression. "…having purified a Menos Grande as per the prior reports, nevertheless she should have posed no challenge to a Captain and Lieutenant Captain. Some have suggested that you requested this mission for a purpose other than protecting the honor of your house after all," said the Captain Commander with a hard glare.

"Captain Commander, I assure you I had full intention to apprehend the criminals and restore the honor of the Kuchiki name. However, the substitute Shinigami proved to be a much greater challenge than anticipated, and I underestimated him. It was due to my carelessness that he was able to take me by surprise, and led to the failure of the mission. It shall not happen again. If you allow me to—"

Byakuya was cut off by Yamamoto holding up a hand, gesturing for a halt.

"Enough." The Commander turned his gaze towards Renji, who swallowed nervously under Yamamoto's scrutiny.

"Lieutenant Captain Abarai. You were the one who made the decision to retreat after Captain Kuchiki was incapacitated in battle. Therefore, as the one who observed the entire battle up to its conclusion, you will give us your report. What happened, and why did the mission fail?"

Renji stepped forward, then cleared his throat. "Yes, Captain-Commander Sir. After we opened the Senkaimon, we tracked down Kuchiki Rukia's spirit pressure to the location where she fought the Menos Grande. At that point, she appeared before us herself in a human Gigai, and she…" he paused for a bit, seemingly struggling to make a decision, before wilting under the Commander's increasingly unsatisfied glare. "…and she told us she would not return with us to Soul Society. Since she didn't cooperate, I tried to capture her by force. At that point, another human appeared and blocked my attack. He identified himself as Kurosaki Ichigo. I assumed that he was the human who stole her powers, but Rukia corrected me and said that this Kurosaki didn't steal her powers, instead he had powers of his own. His spirit pressure was incredibly strong, so I released Zabimaru and the limiter—"

"Excuse me for the interruption, Captain Commander. But I must wonder, Lieutenant Captain Abarai, when you say that this human appeared and blocked your attack, do you mean to say that he was able to do so in his human body?" Captain Aizen of the fifth division asked.

The Captain Commander glanced at Aizen, and nodded. "Hmm. That is indeed a curious description, Lieutenant Captain Abarai. Is Captain Aizen correct?"

"Uh—yes."

"Can you describe how exactly he blocked your attack? And why did you believe it was necessary to release your limiter and Shikai at that point?" Captain Aizen pressed him. "Was the limiter not originally authorized only to be used against Kuchiki Rukia-san in the event that she resisted arrest?"

Renji's face grew stiff as he realized he would have to explain the part he really wanted to skip over.

"…The human blocked my sword with a finger. Then told me he would give me a free shot. Zabimaru couldn't cut him at all even after release, so I had no choice but to release the limiter," Renji said quickly in stilted sentences.

His face was burning with humiliation, and the assembled captains and Lieutenant Captains fell into a shocked silence at his words.

Most of them all had the same thought running through their minds. Was this another monster like Kenpachi? The 11th Division captain was well known for having so much spirit pressure that hardly anyone could even scratch him.

Eventually the silence was broken by a loud laughter. Kenpachi Zaraki then exclaimed with an excited grin. "That sounds like an interesting opponent! And you sound like you need some more training with the boys, Abarai. I shouldn't have let you out of my Division so soon."

Renji lowered his head, staring at the ground.

"Even for spiritually aware humans, living bodies should not normally be able to channel that much spirit pressure," said Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri of the 12th Division. "I would be most interested to study this specimen."

"Continue your report, Lieutenant Captain Abarai," said the Captain Commander.

Renji nodded. "After I released the limiter, both Kurosaki and Rukia used artificial souls to exit their bodies and take spirit form. Then Kurosaki released his Shikai, called Gesshokuro."

"Are you saying this human learned Shikai in just a few months?" Yamamoto asked.

"I also couldn't believe it at first, because his supposed Shikai only turned his sword black. But it really was a Shikai, apparently a Kido-type. He could launch blasts of energy with it. He tricked me with that when we crossed blades, and wounded me. That was when Captain Kuchiki stepped in and took him out. Or so we thought, but he was faking it. He grabbed onto Captain Kuchiki's leg while pretending to be defeated, then launched a sneak attack. After that, Captain Kuchiki released Senbonzakura and they fought for a while. Naturally the human couldn't keep up with Captain Kuchiki, so Rukia also joined the battle and released Sode no Shirayuki. I fought Rukia to keep her from helping the human, but then we were attacked from behind by their Quincy friend. He wounded my legs with that and started fighting Captain Kuchiki three on one."

"So the reports were true. It has been a long time since we've had any encounters with the Quincy," said Yamamoto. "Go on."

"I was able to wound the Quincy when he was distracted and forgot about me. Then Rukia caught Captain Kuchiki in her White Moon technique, and after sustaining heavy injuries from it, Captain Kuchiki released his limiter as well. Captain Kuchiki's full spirit pressure was too much for Rukia, the Quincy, and me to withstand, but Kurosaki was able to keep fighting. Then, the human used Bankai."

This time, even Yamamoto had a look of surprise.

"Heh, looks like he broke your record, Captain Hitsugaya," said Ichimaru Gin, captain of the 3rd Division, to the prodigy captain of the 10th Division who achieved Bankai in record time.

"Are you sure it was Bankai?" asked Kyoraku Shunsui, captain of the 8th Division, with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "That's rather…incredible. I'm inclined to say that it shouldn't even be possible."

"I recall rumors that the former Captain of the 12th Division had a method to speed up the development of Bankai, before his exile. Perhaps this Kurosaki received assistance from that man?" Aizen suggested.

"I don't know for sure if it was Bankai, but he called it Bankai and named it Gesshokuro Zangetsu. His spirit pressure matched Captain Kuchiki at that point and I couldn't follow their movements anymore," said Renji.

Byakuya spoke up again as Yamamoto's gaze turned to him, indicating that he should pick up where Renji was unable to follow the fight. "The boy's Bankai was unusually weak for a Bankai, so perhaps it was not a Bankai after all. His spirit pressure was undoubtedly Captain-level and the zanpaktou took the form of a large cleaver that was larger than his Shikai, but it was not comparable to a Captain's Bankai. It gave him a significant boost in strength and speed, but nevertheless I defeated him in that state. His spirit pressure disappeared, and the Bankai reverted to the first stage. However, it seemed that may have been another deception, as the boy then used a third release, which he called Shiro Zangetsu."

Aizen's glasses glinted in the light as he tilted his head and took note of Byakuya's wording. It seemed that the other captain did not notice Ichigo dual wielding the two Zangetsu swords behind him. From Byakuya's perspective, the Gesshokuro sword had dissolved, and then Ichigo had only been wielding Shiro Zangetsu. He didn't see when Ichigo reformed the Gesshokuro sword in his left hand while behind the captain. In that case, Aizen would keep his observation to himself for now.

"Zanpaktou do not have third releases. There is no stage beyond Bankai, the 'final release'. For this boy to have used another release, it means at least one of his releases was not Bankai, just a Shikai in a different form," said Yamamoto. "Do you believe that his 'Shiro Zangetsu' is a Bankai?"

"I cannot be certain. Although the power of that release was even higher than the previous, it still did not seem to be quite as powerful as a Captain level Bankai should be. However, during the course of the battle, he demonstrated a number of unusual abilities. In his first release, he was able to rapidly heal himself and his allies using Kido from near fatal wounds without the significant drain on spirit pressure that one would expect from employing Kaido spells."

At this, Unohana Retsu, the captain of the 4th Division's expression took on a look of interest. 'Is the boy similar to me? So powerful that his Zanpaktou, instead of giving him more power, granted him healing abilities to prolong battles for his enjoyment?'

"In his second release, he seemed to have lost the healing power, but gained the ability to manipulate spirit particles like a Quincy, even allowing him to create spirit weapons. In his third release, he was able to construct Hierro-like armor on his body and launch a much more powerful, Cero-like version of his Zanpaktou's Kido blast. This release also featured a Zanpaktou with a hole in its blade, not unlike a Hollow hole. Given his immense spirit pressure even as a human, I hypothesize that his Kido-type Zanpaktou actually trades raw power in favor granting different esoteric abilities in each release form. I had prepared to release my own Bankai when he defeated me before I could use it. Due to my prior wounds, I was unable to react quickly enough to his enhanced speed and power in his last form."

Then Renji picked up again. "Once Captain Kuchiki was rendered unconscious, Kurosaki claimed that he was already healing himself and allowed me to retreat with Captain Kuchiki. I did not consider myself to have any chance against an opponent of his strength and outnumbered, with Captain Kuchiki needing medical attention, so I accepted his offer."

"Oh, so you only lived by his mercy, Abarai-kun? I'd thought you heroically saved Captain Kuchiki," said Captain Ichimaru with a condescending tone.

Captain Kuchiki met the other captain's ever-infuriating grin with a spike of warning spirit pressure along with his glare, as he knew that despite addressing Abarai, Ichimaru clearly intended to provoke himself for the same, but did so indirectly as it was more socially acceptable to disparage a lower ranking Shinigami.

"Hm?" Kenpachi seemed to pay attention again upon feeling the spike of spirit pressure, after losing interest with all the complicated babble about releases he'd never understood, and then he unconsciously unleashed some of his own spirit pressure.

"Is something wrong, Captain Kuchiki?" Ichimaru asked, raising his own spirit pressure in response.

All of the other previously silent Vice-Captains standing behind their Captains except Yachiru began to sweat, some even stumbled with the effort to stay upright.

"Captain Ichimaru, the capacity to show mercy is nothing to deride. Only one who has learned to fear their own blade understands the necessity of mercy. For to kill without great cause is nothing more than mindless slaughter," said Captain Kaname, the blind captain of the 9th Division. "Such an enemy is one to be respected."

Despite apparently arguing against Ichimaru, Tousen's phrasing did not judge Abarai, but instead refocused attention back on the enemy.

Captain Ichimaru merely grinned wider. "Of course, of course. He sure seems like an interesting guy."

Like this, the tension in the room was defused and all parties lowered their spirit pressures.

After a moment of contemplation, the Captain Commander spoke.

"If Captain Kuchiki's hypothesis is true, then the pattern suggests that all three of the releases you witnessed were merely different forms of his Shikai. A Kido release, a Reishi manipulation release, and a…Hollow-like release. This is unprecedented," said Yamamoto. "He could prove to be a serious threat to Soul Society with such a powerful and versatile Zanpaktou."

"Perhaps he would also be a powerful asset, if he could be persuaded to use his skills for Soul Society instead," said Aizen. "We may benefit from attempting a more diplomatic approach."

"Yes! He should join the Gotei 13 so Kenny can spar with him everyday!" Yachiru shouted from Kenpachi's back. Kenpachi grinned wolfishly at the suggestion.

2nd Division Captain Soifon frowned distastefully at the childlike pink-haired lieutenant captain's outburst, but said nothing to admonish her. Lieutenant Captains were by etiquette not meant to say anything unless addressed at these meetings, but because Kenpachi was completely disinterested in most meetings, his lieutenant often did the talking for him.

"It is illegal for a living human like him to possess Shinigami powers. If we want to recruit him, we should do so after executing him and he reincarnates in Soul Society as a Konpaku," said Soifon.

"Do we gotta kill him? Isn't there a substitute Shinigami program for this kinda situation?" Ichimaru asked, maintaining his closed eye smile.

"Central 46 would not likely approve another substitute Shinigami after the treachery of the last one," said Yamamoto. "That would also not solve the matter of Kuchiki Rukia's crime, and the boy seems intent on preventing her arrest. Therefore, he shall be treated as an enemy."

"We must now determine who shall be sent to apprehend Kuchiki Rukia and Kurosaki Ichigo next. Given the failure of the first mission, a larger force is required." Yamamoto directed his heavy gaze across the room, contemplating who would be the best choice.

Kenpachi stepped forward eagerly. "Let me have a go at him."

The captain commander looked a Kenpachi. "This is a mission to the living world, I cannot allow you to cause widespread collateral damage there. And the priority is to capture Kuchiki Rukia, the human is a secondary objective."

"I can control myself," said Kenpachi.

"Leave it to me! I'll make sure Ken-chan stays focused on the mission!" Yachiru added.

Yamamoto gave the duo a skeptical expression, then turned towards Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of the 10th Division. "The strongest ice-type zanpaktou in Soul Society, Hyourinmaru, shall be suitable for suppressing Kuchiki Rukia's own and restraining the human without excessive damage to the Human World. Captain Hitsugaya, you shall lead this mission. Captain Kenpachi will follow your lead."

"Yes, Captain Commander," said the youngest Captain. Kenpachi merely grinned while Yachiru shouted "Hurray!"

"Captain Soifon, you shall go as independent backup and reconnaissance. Investigate into the Quincy presence to assess whether there is a significant force operating in the area and if they are a threat to Soul Society. Keep yourself hidden and do not reveal yourself until absolutely necessary. In addition, monitor the other groups in the area and assess any changes in the status quo. If you find that they are aiding the mission targets, you may reveal yourself only to warn them, and no more."

"Understood," said Soifon.

"Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Soifon, your Lieutenants must stay behind in Seireitei to perform leadership duties for your respective Divisions." Yamamoto briefly glanced at Lieutenants Matsumoto and Omaeda but did not directly address them.

"We cannot have so many Captains leaving their Divisions without leadership at the same time, so if you wish to bring additional personnel on the mission, you must look elsewhere. Ensure that your respective Divisions are in order before you leave. Division 11 will fall under the command of Captain Unohana during the absence of Captain Kenpachi and Lieutenant Yachiru."

"Yes, Captain Commander!"

"This meeting is adjourned. Dismissed," said Yamamoto, tapping his cane on the floor three times.

O O O

A/N: Yes, I'm back. And last chapter I forgot to add author notes, so I'll be responding to some reviews of the chapter before here as well.

777torn777: There's some stuff going on behind the scenes with the Quincies as well so it wasn't just Ichigo's power that caught their attention, that will be elaborated on very soon.

Lautaro Ruggiero: I can't spoil which "side" Ichigo will go with, but multiple factions are going to behave a bit differently with the changes in the timeline, particularly with the revelations to come regarding the Quincies.

arakater: You're quite right about Ichigo being unable to use Quincy powers if he doesn't know them. Quincy techniques are generally a matter of skill and require training, most aren't instinctive. It's like Kido and Shinigami. If he never trains in Quincy techniques, he won't be able to do any of them even if he has the spirit pressure for it.

aGnamZer0: His powers are further explained again last chapter, and their implications to be discussed the next chapter as well. There's quite a lot of complicated mechanics involved, some of which may change as his powers develop. He does not need an asauchi for Shiro anymore, unless it "breaks" while in Bankai. And it is correct that he can use his other powers in human form, it's just harder and weakened because the living human nature suppresses both "death" nature powers. I believe Shinji canonically did use both sets of powers in a human gigai and school uniform.

Emrys Akayuki: Regarding Orihime's powers, I don't think that's the case. I've seen her powers' limitations written out somewhere, and it included the requirement to have a body to apply it to. I cba tracing down the exact source but I feel like Ulqiuorra's case can be interpreted to mean that anyways. I don't find it a compelling assumption that Orihime can restore a fully disintegrated body, when there is only one example thereof and she couldn't.

Guessing Soul: That's a huge review. Thanks. That hundred meter gorge...well luckily there wasn't anything in the way, so it's just road damage. Maybe Urahara would have it fixed somehow, though I think it'd be reasonable if people just assumed there was a terrorist attack or accident with dynamite. I will probably have Aizen do things differently than in canon, so there's room to work with Momo's relationship as well. I think leaving Japan is actually quite the logical move, given how hard it would be to track them, but that's kind of hard to manage from a story-writing POV, so probably not.

XenoLucifer: I can't find what exactly your review is responding to, but saying that hybrid is stronger is canon is equally wrong. There are tons of examples of pures being stronger and only one claim by a character known to lie that hybrids are stronger, who ultimately did not bother to hybridize himself. That Ichigo couldn't use Quincy powers without training is correct, except for Blut. He should have been able to use that instinctively, given that he did it once. Even his Getsuga Jujisho turned back to pure Shinigami yellow instead of the supposedly superior hybrid red/black versions he used in Hollowfied Bankai. The TYBW arc pretty much definitively proves that Quincy/Hollow conflict is fundamental. The Quincy had to choose between Vollstandig or Bankai, and any Hollow poisoning caused them to lose control of Bankai. Even for Shinigami-Hollow hybrids, the Quincies were clearly on a higher level as pures compared to the Visored. In the final fight's Bankai mode, Ichigo was in pure Shinigami form when he defeated Yhwach in a single hit, with no sign of either Quincy or Hollow powers, not even the horn or any fullbringer armor in his clothes. When assessing canonicity, shown feats and events always take precedence over unreliable character claims.

SoaringxDragon: I had him forget Nimaiya's conversation precisely because I wanted Ichigo to follow a different path. As for Masaki, I'm aware of Isshin's claims. Whether or not that is true in this story will be shown later. The point about Isshin feeling the connection is important though. According to Urahara's theory, if the connection still existed, then Masaki shouldn't have recovered her powers. Because Isshin's Shinigami nature was supposed to suppress Masaki's Quincy. Even if the Hollow part was removed, that suppression would still apply, since Isshin's Shinigami powers didn't return at all. One might argue that the string went to suppress Ichigo, but that doesn't make sense either because Ichigo's Quincy powers were never actually suppressed. He was able to see ghosts just fine as a kid, which is why he was vulnerable to Grand Fisher in the first place. From a canon POV, IMO it seems much more likely that Isshin didn't really know what happened cause he wasn't there, and only got told by someone else about Auswahlen, and Masaki never got back her full powers either, but didn't want to worry him so never told him the truth. She probably recovered some powers but they were drastically weakened over the years, and how was Isshin supposed to tell? He no longer had powers, so he had no way to measure Masaki's own. As for Quincys benefiting from environment, that's canonical, although we haven't exactly seen a high level Quincy battle in the human world either. Most of the power difference of the Wandenreich vs. early Uryu feats can just be attributed to Wandenreich being full of Echt Quincies and highly trained veterans.

Crescent cut 101: Was there any explicit comment about their relation as cousins, or just Masaki calling Ryuken's mom aunt (Oba)? Because that's a term used commonly in the east even for non-relatives. Any mother of a friend or boyfriend before marriage could use that term, without denoting familial relations.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed as well!