A week after Aizen Sōsuke's public betrayal, once Urahara Kisuke had fully finished his preparations, Higashino Shuuichi finally set out again—alone.
The key Urahara used back when he went to the Wandenreich (Invisible Empire), the one that had originally been kept by the Ishida family, could no longer be used.
But over the years, based on that key and the special properties of the Schatten Bereich (Shadow Realm), Urahara had developed an entirely new method to enter the Wandenreich.
Ido no Shoku (Other-Dimensional Devouring).
That is—by controlling reishi in a special circulation pattern, you continuously "gnaw" away at the outer protective barrier surrounding the Wandenreich.
The reason Higashino Shuuichi delayed for a full week before entering the Schatten Bereich was because he had to learn this technique from Urahara.
After all, leaving the Wandenreich was easy. But trying to go back in—hardly even the Ishida family, Quincy who had originally come from the Wandenreich, could manage it.
Unless you were at the level of the Sternritter.
It was just that when the Ishida family defected from the Wandenreich, the Sternritter had not yet been established.
So in Urahara's information at present, there was still no mention of the Sternritter at all.
Everything Urahara was factoring in about the Wandenreich was based on the Ishida family's descriptions, along with his own firsthand experience.
And Higashino Shuuichi himself also needed a reliable means of entry.
The research results he had previously obtained from Yushima Ōko were, in all likelihood, no longer sufficient.
Because before coming to the Human World, Higashino Shuuichi had no idea Urahara had already snuck into the Wandenreich alone—and been discovered by Jugram Haschwalth.
A Wandenreich that had been pushed deeper into the Schatten Bereich was probably even harder to enter than the one in the original course of events.
However, after slipping back into Soul Society through the Senkaimon (World-Piercing Gate) Urahara prepared, then using his methods to enter the Schatten Bereich, Higashino Shuuichi did not immediately go looking for the Wandenreich's hidden barrier.
Instead, he went to Kabuma Sayako… and asked for Nemu.
Because the purpose of this trip was to kill Yhwach and eliminate future trouble at its root.
So he intended to bring as many of his trump cards as possible, just in case.
In Higashino Shuuichi's original plan, Nemu hadn't been included.
But since Aizen's betrayal had granted him this brand-new advantage—this greater burst potential—
There was no way Higashino Shuuichi would leave such a method locked away and unused.
For the current Higashino Shuuichi, it wasn't a matter of "using an ox knife to kill a chicken."
The opponent was Yhwach.
Still, after hearing from Urahara that the Wandenreich had already become wary of Shinigami…
If he wanted to bring Nemu inside, he had to prepare carefully.
Fortunately, Aizen couldn't find a way—at least not anytime soon—to give Tōsen Kaname Quincy power as a disguise.
But Higashino Shuuichi had a way to let Nemu obtain Quincy power for a short period.
That incomplete Hōgyoku.
Under Nemu's wish, it had already become a channel connecting her to Higashino Shuuichi—a one-way channel controlled solely by Higashino Shuuichi.
Not only could Higashino Shuuichi store his Hollowfication power within Nemu through it, he could also store Quincy power within her through that channel.
But to Shinigami, Quincy power was still like poison—hard to control.
For an artificial being like Nemu, maintaining it was even more difficult.
So Higashino Shuuichi's requirement for her was simple: at the very least, when she passed through the Wandenreich's outer barrier, she had to let Quincy power cover her entire body.
She had to ensure the Wandenreich's alarm mechanisms wouldn't detect her.
That required training time.
And so Higashino Shuuichi could only wait.
Luckily, due to concerns about signal transmission and personal privacy, Urahara hadn't installed any real-time surveillance device on Higashino Shuuichi—nothing like those "monitoring bacteria."
He only left behind a toggleable communicator, and a camera device capable of recording.
As long as Higashino Shuuichi didn't want it, he could seal off his side completely.
Otherwise, he would've had no choice but to leave Nemu outside the Wandenreich, in the Schatten Bereich—waiting until a critical moment to have her forcibly smash through the barrier and enter as backup.
And that wait became another two weeks.
Higashino Shuuichi didn't begin using Ido no Shoku (Other-Dimensional Devouring) on the hidden barrier he had located until Nemu could keep Quincy power spread over her body for as long as three minutes.
Just as Urahara had guessed—
The Wandenreich's new hidden position was practically an impossible place to investigate for Shinigami or Hollows, beings that couldn't control the Schatten Bereich.
But for a Quincy like Higashino Shuuichi, who could actively enter the Schatten Bereich…
Finding it really wasn't hard.
Even the "gnawing" process was absurdly easy.
Or rather—no Quincy reinforcing this barrier would ever imagine that one day, another Quincy would try to slip in using this kind of method.
Higashino Shuuichi could feel the barrier's rejection toward Shinigami and Hollows.
Yet toward Higashino Shuuichi—wearing Kabuno Takuya's skin—it showed almost no resistance at all.
When Higashino Shuuichi opened a small breach in the barrier, he didn't rush in.
He stood outside and looked down through the opening at the Wandenreich below.
How should he put it…
At one point, Higashino Shuuichi had believed Soul Society's treatment of Rukongai was already cruel enough.
But after seeing the Wandenreich, he felt the nobles of Soul Society were practically conservative by comparison.
As far as he could see, across the vast lands of the Wandenreich, only a few scattered cities could barely be called "prosperous places fit for human habitation." As for everything else…
"Even the outer districts past the sixties in Rukongai are better than this, aren't they?"
Higashino Shuuichi frowned and let out a sigh.
Pale bones stretched in endless sheets, clinging to the ground like a forest of the dead. Skeletons everywhere, the earth littered with remains. People lived like ants. Trees stood like dried grave-mounds—leafless, barren. The wind was cold and desolate, scraping across a land that had long since lost warmth.
Now Higashino Shuuichi understood why the Ishida family had fled.
Because ordinary people simply couldn't survive here.
But had the Wandenreich always been like this?
Higashino Shuuichi didn't know.
His existence had already changed far, far too many things.
Even Yhwach had awakened early—so if upheavals were happening inside the Wandenreich, it wasn't strange at all.
Yet no matter the reason, the Wandenreich's current misery still left a weight in the chest that refused to lift.
"What is it, Father-sama?"
Behind him, Nemu saw that after opening the breach, Higashino Shuuichi still hadn't gone in. She carefully stepped closer and asked.
"It's nothing. Just… something inside me stirred a little."
"I used to think I'd never be moved by this kind of thing again."
"But now it seems… I overestimated myself."
Higashino Shuuichi shook his head and spoke with a hint of self-mockery.
After that, he pressed the emotion down, locked it away, and stepped into the space of the Wandenreich.
A reishi fluctuation—like a scan—swept across his body.
Higashino Shuuichi understood at once: this was the Wandenreich's monitoring mechanism.
He circulated Quincy power while burying his Shinigami power and Hollow power deep, and easily slipped past the scan.
Nemu followed right behind him. Through the incomplete Hōgyoku's link, Higashino Shuuichi transferred a portion of his Quincy power to her for temporary use.
Normally, with the three minutes she could already endure, crossing the barrier and clearing the inspection would be more than enough.
And in practice, Nemu did successfully pass through the barrier, and when the scanning reishi wave crossed her body, she used Higashino Shuuichi's Quincy power to conceal herself.
But what Higashino Shuuichi did not expect was that just as they relaxed their guard after the barrier, shifting their attention to the Wandenreich below…
That damned monitoring wave swept toward their bodies again.
"What?!"
It caught Higashino Shuuichi completely off guard.
He didn't need to worry about himself—ever since entering Soul Society, he had kept himself in a Quincy state without interruption.
But Nemu was different.
She couldn't maintain the disguise for long. After she passed the first scan, Higashino Shuuichi had pulled the Quincy power back from her.
And now—
"Get down—now!"
Higashino Shuuichi made his decision instantly. He barked the order at Nemu, then used Hirenkyaku (Flying Scythe Step) to flash above her and kicked her downward without mercy—
All to make her drop faster toward the ground.
The reason was simple: Higashino Shuuichi was certain this kind of monitoring mechanism existed only near the barrier. As long as they got closer to the surface, they could evade it.
This wasn't a moment for tenderness.
Nemu still didn't understand why he did it.
But when Higashino Shuuichi sent Quincy power back to her again, she made her decision without hesitation—spreading it to cover herself.
Because this was what he had already drilled into her before:
"Nemu, remember—whenever I lend you Quincy power, you must cover every part of your body with it immediately."
Higashino Shuuichi had originally given that instruction to guard against unforeseen accidents inside the Wandenreich.
And Nemu had never forgotten it for even a second.
Still—she was a step too slow.
Before the Quincy power could fully cover her, the scanning wave brushed her body.
At the same time, inside the ice palace of the Wandenreich, a shrill alarm suddenly blared.
A pair of eyes snapped open—yet just as he was about to investigate, the alarm abruptly vanished.
Not even two full rings. Like a false positive.
But the man—who still looked somewhat frail—had a sharp gleam flash across his eyes.
"Haschwalth."
He called softly.
A blond man entered from outside the palace. Only when he reached a point a dozen steps before the man did he sink to one knee.
"Heika!"
The blond man was the Sternritter's foremost—Jugram Haschwalth.
And the only man who could make him kneel with such reverence, and be addressed as Heika…
Needless to say, it could only be the Quincy King who had just awakened and was still extremely weak—
Yhwach.
"The alarm rang once just now. From the direction of Umezu Castle."
Yhwach spoke in a low voice.
Below him, Haschwalth frowned slightly.
"Umezu Castle…"
"Heika, that isn't our territory yet. There's still the Kurono clan between us. If we want to investigate there…"
Haschwalth lowered his head and didn't continue.
In truth, if it were the past, Haschwalth would simply go—there would be no issue.
Because back then, Yhwach was still asleep. Under Haschwalth's direction, the Sternritter stayed only near the ice palace and had no intention of expanding outward.
So the Quincy families throughout the Wandenreich maintained a façade of obedience toward the Sternritter and the Quincy King who might never awaken.
But ever since Yhwach—no one knew why—chose to awaken early…
Everything changed.
Because of his premature awakening, Yhwach's body was abnormally weak. Even after carrying out Auswählen (Holy Selection) on the Quincy of the Human World, he still hadn't recovered much strength.
And yet Yhwach still ordered Haschwalth to lead the Sternritter—who were far from full strength—to launch punitive campaigns against the Quincy families throughout the Wandenreich who were entrenched in their territories and refused to return under his banner.
That led to a troublesome outcome.
Haschwalth used to be able to travel freely throughout the Empire without being obstructed.
Now he couldn't.
The Sternritter had become the enemy of the vast majority of Quincy families within the Wandenreich.
Those families, upon learning that Yhwach had awakened, didn't feel fear.
Instead, after seeing his weakness, they began to covet his body and power.
Haschwalth had once suggested that Yhwach simply use Auswählen (Holy Selection) on those disloyal ones.
But Yhwach refused.
Yhwach's explanation was that he wanted to use this opportunity to select suitable candidates and fill the empty seats in the Sternritter.
Haschwalth, as a subject, offered no comment.
But now, Haschwalth truly couldn't leave the ice palace freely anymore.
Because he had to protect the weakened Yhwach—he couldn't allow the Quincy families with ill intent to "steal" him away.
The possibility was low.
But Haschwalth would not permit even that faintest possibility to exist.
"I understand your concern," Yhwach said. "Then send the newly joined Meninas for a look."
Yhwach hadn't actually imagined that a Shinigami could break into the current Wandenreich.
He only felt that this would make for a useful handle to deal with the Umezu family.