Chapter 8: Ryu No Tamashi

The four brothers were frantic right now. Ichigo had just shown some type of power that they had never seen before, the soul reapers that were sent to find them were either dead or had retreated judging from the lack of spirit energy outside, and Ichigo was passed out on the bed right now with this strange bow on his lap. They rushed over to Ichigo and were panicking. They had no idea what was going on or what to do right now, and the fact that they could feel the spirit energy of their uncle coming over fast wasn't helping. Before they could really do anything, Ryuken came inside, breathing heavily in the process.

"What did you all do?" He asked in a concerned yet ragged tone.

"We didn't do anything." Vas spoke for them in a frantic tone. "Ichigo somehow did all of this."

Ryuken went inside, ready to shout at them about how reckless whatever they did was, until he saw the bow lying on Ichigo's lap. He looked at it for a moment then went wide eyed and backed away a bit. The others noticed their uncle's hesitance to come forward and Rei saw that he was staring at the bow on the bed.

"You know what this is." He started, not even asking it as a question. "What is this uncle, and what did it do to Ichigo?"

Ryuken simply continued to stare at the bow as if he had seen a ghost of his wife. There was no way that Ichigo could have this, could he? Ryuken took a breath and looked to Rei. "That bow was once thought of as a legend that all Quincy's would strive to achieve. A bow so powerful that it could even cause the destruction of a spiritual world if the user was so cruel. Only two have been able to wield this bow if the rumors are true."

The other three listened as their uncle explained, but that wasn't a good enough answer for them. Shiro stood up and went towards the man before grabbing at his collar.

"That doesn't explain what the fuck is wrong with Ichigo!" Shiro shouted right in Ryuken's face.

"Right now, I believe that Ichigo's body is attempting to adjust to the foreign spirit energy." Ryuken said calmly as he noticed that Ichigo was stable, just unconscious right now. "Was the storm Ichigo's doing?"

"We think so." Vas spoke up once more.

"Incredible." Ryuken started once more as he broke away from Shiro's grip and made his way to Ichigo. "That would explain just what happened outside. I'm glad my son wasn't out there or he would've been killed as well."

"What are you talking about?" G asked still kneeling to Ichigo.

Ryuken sighed as he looked at the four concerned brothers. "Whatever Ichigo did, and whatever his latent powers are, they drained spirit energy from whoever was outside at the time. Meaning that the rain wasn't really rain, but a conduit for Ichigo to siphon off energy in massive quantities to fuel his bow and his spirit."

"How do you know all this shit unc?" Shiro demanded.

"Because it was a story my father told me as a boy." Ryuken answered before continuing. "My father spoke of the legend that is known as Ryu no Tamashi." This caught the fours attention as Ryuken sat down in a chair and began to explain.

Long ago, before the dawn of the soul society or even Hueco Mundo, a being of great power ruled over everything. Its power was so vast and indescribable that anyone close to it would cease to exist. It brought death wherever it went and did not falter in its quest for something. What it was, my father nor any of the old text he left behind of the Quincy's know, but one day this being fought someone so powerful, that they terraformed the spiritual realms into what they are today." This brought a gasp from the four as he continued. "Their battle lasted decades, bringing forth the world of the hollows and hell itself, then centuries, bring forth the soul society, and soon over a millennium, bringing forth the world of the living. Then one day, the person in question defeated the being and took it's soul as repentance for all it had done."

The four brothers were taken aback by this information. Ryuken saw their expressions and knew that they still had no idea what this all meant.

"My father and his father and his father before him believed the same thing most older Quincy's believed." Ryuken began again.

"What?" Rei asked him, almost afraid to know the answer. Almost.

"That this person who defeated the being was the very first Quincy, and that his bow held the very soul of the dragon from long ago." He stood up and looked to the still sleeping form of Ichigo. "And now that bow is in the hands of young Ichigo."

All four went wide eyed as they all looked to their little brother and saw him breathing steadily now. If what their uncle told them was true, then this could not end well for them. If Ichigo really possessed the Ryu no Tamashi, then who knows what the ramifications could be. One thing was for certain though, they needed to make sure Ichigo was okay before deciding anything.

Soul Society

Right now in a captains, almost every captain is furious at what had just transpired not too long ago. Everything went to hell and back once Rukia Kuchiki brought that thing to their world. Now, a vast majority of their forces were either injured or dead because of the one with the bindings on him, and they couldn't even send a force to properly find and eliminate the threat before whatever happened occurred. Mayuri, who had a spare body on hand to reattach his head to, spoke of the results he was able to get from the abomination he was able to experiment on. When he mentioned the sudden rain within his lab and the same rain in the world of the living, every captain was thoroughly shocked at what they had just discovered.

"So you are telling me that whatever that hollow was, he can manipulate rain in some way Kurotsuchi?" The head captain demanded from the clown faced captain.

"To be a little more specific actually, I think he can manipulate the reiatsu within an area in order to do a variety of things." Mayuri answered, still pissed about what happened to his lab and his head. "Meaning that whatever he did in the world of the living could have some severe repercussions to the balance of power in the spiritual world."

"So in other words," Kyoraku started while tipping his hat up, "that boy or whatever it is could do the same thing here if he learns to control it properly?"

"Precisely."

"But the human world isn't like ours." Toshiro spoke up. "How could he manipulate the reiatsu there if it isn't as saturated as here in the soul society?"

"I don't know boy." Mayuri answered harshly with a hint of anger in his voice. "If my lab wasn't destroyed then I would have more data."

"Calm down captain Kurotsuchi." Aizen spoke up, trying to play the peaceful character everyone saw him as. "We still don't what the other four are truly capable of. I suggest that we play it safe until we know more about our enemy."

The head captain banged his cane down on the ground, hard. "No! This is a serious matter that will involve every captain, every lieutenant and every soul reaper! We must find these plagues upon the spiritual world and wipe them the face of all existence!" He looked towards his captains and noticed a few felt uneasy about this decision. Mainly Unohana, Kyoraku, Ukitake, Aizen and Toshiro. "This is a general order! We are to find these five abominations and eliminate them post-haste! Is that understood!?"

Yes head captain!" They all answered, albeit some were rather reluctant to.

As they all made their way out, Aizen was approached by Gin with Kaname walking not too far behind.

"So," Gin started in his usual way. "What are ya thinkin, cap'n Aizen?"

Aizen did not answer him as he was deep in thought. Just who were those four and what exactly was that power that the one wrapped in those bandages used? He knew that if he were to face any of those four, especially that one who leveled a good chunk of the Seireitei without even trying, he would be in a serious disadvantage. The young one though really interested him. If he was able to manipulate the reiatsu in the soul society to heal himself to such an extreme extent and then do whatever he did in the world of the living, then his plans for getting to the Soul King were in dire straights. Whatever his plan was going to be, it needed to be done soon. The head captain was reacting on emotion and not logic. Character or not, even Aizen was cautious and fearful of attacking them. If those four invaded the soul society and destroyed anyone in their way for that boy, then who knows how they will be when provoked.

Whatever was going to happen, Aizen knew that he would have to push his plans forward sooner rather than later.

Unknown location

A dark figure stood in silence as he felt the energy that occurred not too long ago. He was wearing a gray cloak with the hood up as he wondered aimlessly through the ravaged and destroyed lands he was in. As he fell to his knees, panting heavily and clutching his side as he felt the blood flow from his still open wound, he smirked as he looked up towards the night time sky. As he sat there on his knees feeling the energy in the world of the living, he couldn't help but chuckle. Then it turned into full blown laughter. He would continue to do so until he grunted from the ache of the wound.

"Soon." He spoke as he calmed himself down as best as he could. "I will see you all soon, my sons."

I know, I'm still alive somehow. Lol.

Hope this story is still as enjoyable as it has been.

Just for a bit of clarity, no, I am not going to be going deep in the Thousand Year arc when it comes to Ichigo's bow. It is entirely original and will be important later on. The reveal at the end with the father was actually a bit inspired by my play time of Devil May Cry 5 with the Vergil thing. I don't know if ya'll would ever want me to, but I've been thinking about a DMC story of some sort. I don't know, I'm just really getting into the story now.

Anyway, stay awesome out there and as always,

PEACE!