In the lives of Shinigami, time seemed like the cheapest thing of all.
For them, unless their lives were cut short by some accident, their lifespans were incredibly long.
For instance, Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and Natsuro's captain, Unohana, had already lived for over a thousand years. Such vast spans of life inevitably warped the way Shinigami perceived the passage of time.
Right now, Natsuro himself barely cared about it anymore.
From the day he first arrived in the Shinigami world until now, decades had already passed. In the Naruto world, unless one belonged to long-lived clans like the Uzumaki, that much time was already enough to put most people in their graves.
Shinigami weren't immune to aging, but their rate of decline was so slow that to actually die of old age without some accident along the way… was extremely rare.
Of course, this applied mainly to those with very high spiritual power. Ordinary Shinigami lived shorter lives, and the common folk of Soul Society shorter still.
Still, even then, their lives lasted far longer than those of normal humans.
—
Inside his Zanpakutō's inner world, he once again defeated Meikyō Shisui. Looking at her, he noticed traces of Hollowfication spreading across her body.
On her head, a bony mask had begun to take shape, it was only fractured, half-formed.
That meant she still hadn't fully Hollowfied.
A long time ago, Meikyō Shisui had already reached this same state, and even after all this time, nothing had changed.
It was as if her Hollowfication progress bar had become stuck.
"As expected, it won't be that easy," Natsuro murmured. After bidding her a few words, he left the inner world.
Once he was gone, Meikyō Shisui summoned a mirror to examine herself.
She still wore her elegant palace robes, but her complexion had grown paler since the beginning, carrying a tint that no longer seemed human.
She reached up and removed the half-mask from her head, frowning. She had done everything she could to feel and absorb the Hollow's power to transform, yet each time ended in failure.
Meikyō Shisui knew Natsuro's strength had plateaued, and that the only chance to break through the barrier lay in her successfully Hollowfying.
But she hadn't been able to. And the thought that she was letting him down again and again gnawed at her.
It left her frustrated. To be a sword that could not help its wielder at his critical moment, wasn't that the worst disgrace?
Clenching her fists, she wondered if she really had to feel despair itself and undergo Hollowfication the "normal" way.
But… she could sense his expectations. He didn't want her to achieve it by falling into despair.
If he had, he would have forced it long ago.
Letting a Zanpakutō slowly learn to draw upon Hollow power was hard, but driving it into despair was far easier.
And yet Natsuro had never done that. Meikyō Shisui's eyes burned with determination, she would reach complete Hollowfication in the way he hoped for.
In her inner world, she assumed the meditative posture of Jinzen (blade meditation). Another Meikyō Shisui appeared across her lap.
She couldn't waste time. She had to master this as soon as possible!
—
Back outside, Natsuro sighed. After all this time, his progress was still stalled.
In the meantime, neither Ulquiorra nor Starrk had come to the Human World. To perfectly control their reiatsu with zero leakage… was an incredibly strict condition.
Even he himself had found it difficult back then. Nearly his entire time at Shinō Academy had been spent working on it, and even then he hadn't perfected it.
His spiritual pressure was simply too vast, and the more overwhelming it was, the harder it became to fully control.
Starrk and Ulquiorra weren't far behind. In fact, both were in growth spurts, Starrk now motivated to grow, and Ulquiorra freshly evolved into an Arrancar.
So, they had to juggle adapting to their rapidly rising power with mastering total control. That would take years, if not decades.
"Nothing's going right," Natsuro muttered, stretching lazily.
It wasn't just Meikyō Shisui's Hollowfication that had stalled. Even Kenpachi Zaraki's unsealing progress… had hit a wall.
Originally, he had sensed Kenpachi's surging growth and thought that just a few more battles would restore his true power.
But after several more fights, no matter how he pushed, Kenpachi's growth slowed to a crawl.
The most obvious proof was Natsuro's own wounds: from numerous and deep to fewer and fewer.
It was as if Kenpachi had already reclaimed all the strength he'd once sealed away, and any further growth had to come through genuine improvement.
And genuine progress couldn't match his own pace. So, his injuries dwindled even more.
At this rate, he felt that sooner or later he'd be able to defeat Kenpachi with a clean blade, no wounds, no tricks, just raw power.
Still, he had one idea left regarding Kenpachi. For now, though, he wanted to see if the man could restore himself fully through nothing but constant sword clashes.
If not, he'd try his method later. There was no rush.
Why? Because for Natsuro, Kenpachi was like an endless source of EXP. Through their clashes, he was honing his own "instinct."
For now, Kenpachi was still worth plenty of experience. Once that stopped, Natsuro could try his idea.
And he felt no shame about it. He was already helping Kenpachi break his seals, so what if he milked him for EXP in the meantime?
Besides, if Kenpachi didn't like it, he could always refuse. And yet…
Anyone who tried to stop Kenpachi from fighting would probably get cut down by him first.
For Kenpachi, nothing was more fun than battle.
Even though he lost every time, he never once feared or faltered. Always attacking, always pressing the fight.
That was why Natsuro still bore wounds after every duel. Facing such relentless assault, he wasn't yet able to emerge unscathed.
But it was exactly this Kenpachi who made the best training partner.
If he'd cowered after a match or two, that would have been boring.
—
"Natsuro, dinner's ready." A red-haired brat came in, looking at Natsuro.
"Alright, I'm coming." Natsuro turned to him. The boy was Jinta Hanakari, another artificial human created by Kisuke after Ururu.
Natsuro didn't believe Kisuke had made two artificial humans just to help around the shop. There had to be deeper reasons.
Still, he wasn't interested in prying. Everyone had their secrets. As long as they didn't interfere with him, he didn't care.
Pushing open the door, Natsuro went to the dining table.
There sat Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai. Since they all lived inside gigai, they needed to eat.
Natsuro, though not physiologically in need of food, didn't refuse when invited.
Over the years, whenever he stayed in the Human World, he joined them for meals every day. At first, Yoruichi and Tessai hadn't been used to it.
But when they realized he had stopped pestering them for duels, they'd felt relieved. Eventually, they accepted it, since it was just one more plate at the table.
Later, they'd even given him his own room, the one he'd just been in.
That was one reason Natsuro stopped challenging Yoruichi and Tessai.
As a guest, he couldn't exactly bully his hosts. If they kicked him out in anger, that would be troublesome.
The other reason was that fighting them no longer gave him much. So he simply let it go.
Now, Natsuro's life was simple and repetitive, moving back and forth between the Human World and Soul Society.
Back in Soul Society, Natsuro usually sought out Kenpachi Zaraki for battles, and occasionally sparred with Unohana.
In the Human World, most of his time was spent at Urahara's shop in Jinzen, endlessly dueling Meikyō Shisui within his inner world, nurturing her strength.
Sometimes, Natsuro would also visit the Visoreds to observe their Hollowfication abilities. Unfortunately, none of it had ever helped Kyōka Suigetsu.
"Man, your training really is relentless," Kisuke remarked, watching him with some awe.
After all these years, Natsuro's tireless drive to train was enough to make even him uneasy. It was as if he never felt fatigue or boredom.
At that moment, Kisuke thought to himself that it was no wonder he possessed such strength. With that kind of effort, it would be unreasonable for him to be weak.
"Mhm," Natsuro nodded.
"Tch, don't you ever find it dull?" Yoruichi asked. To her, Natsuro had gone beyond disciplined and into the realm of overdoing it. A bit of balance, some rest, was usually better.
"Why would it be boring?" Natsuro looked at her. "Growing stronger is fun in itself."
Yoruichi was left speechless. Shaking her head, she muttered, "Monster. Maybe you're just as single-minded as Kenpachi, except he fights for worthy opponents, and you do it purely for power."
Just then, two overwhelming spiritual pressures suddenly flared within Karakura Town, instantly drawing the attention of everyone in Urahara's shop.
"What is this?!" Kisuke's brows furrowed. This reiatsu didn't feel like a Shinigami's. It felt more like… a Quincy's.
"Interesting," Natsuro muttered, sensing it as well. It wasn't Shinigami, and it wasn't Hollow. That left only Quincy power.
Such powerful Quincies in Karakura Town? Beyond Masaki Kurosaki and the Ishida family?
"I'll go check it out," Natsuro said. Wasting no time, Umbreon appeared on his shoulder. A moment later, Natsuro vanished from the shop.
"As expected of a spatial-type Zanpakutō. Not even your kidō could manage that kind of instant displacement, right?" Kisuke asked Tessai.
Feeling the ripples of space, Tessai's expression turned grim. He nodded.
Even the forbidden spatial kidō that Central 46 had outlawed couldn't compare to Natsuro's effortless use of it.
"I really want to see his Bankai. Shame no one's ever been able to push him into using it," Kisuke sighed.
"Maybe he hasn't mastered it yet? He does spend a lot of time meditating with his sword, doesn't he?" Yoruichi suddenly suggested.
She often returned to Soul Society for supplies and kept an ear out for information. There had never been any record of Natsuro using a Bankai. Seeing how often he entered Jinzen at the shop, she suspected he was still working on it.
Kisuke froze at the thought. With Natsuro's power, who would believe he didn't have a Bankai?
But the more he considered it, the more it seemed… possible.
"Bankai or no Bankai, he's still Natsuro," Kisuke finally said.
Yoruichi nodded in agreement. After all, even Kenpachi had no Bankai, and it hadn't stopped him from being the captain of Squad 11 or one of the strongest in the Gotei 13.
And Natsuro had already defeated Kenpachi. Bankai or not, his strength was undeniable, who would dare look down on him?
"Let's go. We should see what's happening." Kisuke adjusted the brim of his hat, his face serious.
He had a bad feeling about this sudden appearance of reiatsu.
One of the sources seemed unremarkable. But the other… was at the Ishida residence.
"Alright!"
As Yoruichi and Kisuke hurried toward the light pillars, Natsuro had already arrived at the first one.
There, he saw Masaki Kurosaki within the pillar of light, with Ichigo Kurosaki collapsed beside her, along with a black Hollow.
"What's this…?"
Natsuro frowned. He could feel Masaki's power draining away at a terrifying rate, as if the light itself were siphoning it out of her.
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