Chapter 69: Zanpakutō
"The power of a Soul Reaper... a weapon forged from one's soul?"
Kisame Hoshigaki's expression shifted slightly. He hadn't expected such a strange kind of power to exist.
He had never heard of anything like this in the ninja world.
Fang Yi was slightly surprised.
When Kisame was transported to the Hollow Realm, he had assumed the man would resonate with powers or classes related to Hollows.
Constantly burdened by betrayal, forever escaping reality—such traits made him the perfect candidate to fall into darkness in a world like Bleach. It should've been easy for him to turn into a Hollow.
But instead, what had appeared before him was a rusted, broken Asauchi.
The power of the Soul Reaper.
A force entirely different from that of Hollows. To control a Zanpakutō, one had to speak with their own soul, dig deep into its secrets, and learn its name.
For someone like Kisame—living in confusion and pain—resonating with the power of a Soul Reaper was extremely difficult.
"To forge a blade from the soul... there's nothing more fitting."
After a long moment of silence, Kisame suddenly smiled.
So that's why the trial had sent him to a place like this—just so he could encounter this rust-covered sword.
"A traitor like me... maybe only by making peace with my soul will the world be at ease."
He reached out and gripped the rusted blade. A searing wave of energy surged into his arm.
A sudden intuition struck him—
If he couldn't control this power, he wouldn't just die.
He would truly die—his soul destroyed, beyond even the game's ability to revive.
Even if the game brought his body back, he'd never again be allowed to speak with his soul.
"Then let me open my eyes wide and see for myself... what lies at the bottom of a traitor's soul."
Kisame let out a deep, guttural growl—like a shark baring its fangs.
Reversing his grip, he drove the rusted sword into his heart.
Fang Yi watched the scene from afar.
He recalled Kisame's past—after enduring countless betrayals, he had finally turned his blade on the superior who had ordered him to kill his comrades: a high-ranking ninja of Kirigakure, and the former wielder of Samehada.
At the time, Kisame had thought of it as an act of rebellion.
But to Fang Yi, it had been Kisame's first act of true defiance—his first step toward fighting the fate shackled to him. To others, it might have seemed senseless and brutal.
But it was courage.
"Rebellion against fate, is it?" Fang Yi muttered as he watched Kisame's face contort under the invasive force of the Soul Reaper's power.
All he could say was—
Being a ninja was a cursed profession.
The ninja world itself was a pitiful place. Originally a normal ancient civilization, it had been twisted by the alien Tree of Chakra and the fruit it bore.
Though the Sage of Six Paths sealed Kaguya, he passed on chakra to humanity—raising the world's power system to unnatural levels, yet without letting it evolve properly.
The result: an overripe, malformed creation.
Backwards institutions, childish ideologies, and people wielding strength far beyond what they could mentally handle.
It was like handing automatic rifles to children and letting them fight over scraps in the dirt.
In the language of every edgy youth ever:
The world itself is what's wrong.
Inside the trial—
Kisame's skin had turned bright red, as if drenched in boiling water. Beads of sweat the size of pearls streamed down his face as his body trembled uncontrollably.
This was pain from the soul.
In the original work, Ichigo Kurosaki had the bloodline of a Soul Reaper, the help of Rukia, and the support of destiny itself. Everything fit perfectly into place.
But Kisame had none of that.
No lineage. No compatibility. Only raw willpower to resist the transformation of his soul.
Thankfully, this was a controlled trial, under the Reincarnation Game's protection.
Without it, an ordinary soul would have been torn to pieces in seconds by the power of a Soul Reaper.
Ding.
[Soul Fragmentation Index Maxed. Spend 3,000 reward points to repair?]
Refusing would result in instant death and revival.
The Asauchi, being a class item, would be destroyed—equivalent to a failed class transition.
Fang Yi admired Kisame's courage, but the rules couldn't be broken. He wouldn't spend from his own pocket to help a player. That was out of the question.
"Repair."
Kisame clenched his jaw, enduring the pain. He didn't want to lose everything he'd already given up.
He had surrendered all his ninjutsu. The only things left were his unique body and water affinity—and the game store had already extracted the essence of both.
In the next instant—
A refreshing sensation spread through his soul, like cool mountain spring water.
It intertwined with the devastating Soul Reaper energy, the two forces tugging at his consciousness.
He gritted his teeth to stay lucid.
And finally—
Part of his soul, reshaped by Soul Reaper power, began to flow out, forming a silky black shihakushō over his body.
A pristine Asauchi now hung at his waist, quietly vibrating.
The pain faded.
Kisame collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
"This... this is my soul's blade?"
He stared at the new garb on his body and gripped the fresh Asauchi.
He could feel a subtle spiritual pulse from the blade.
It was familiar, intimate.
Stronger even than the bond he had with Samehada.
No—it was him. The blade was a part of his very self. The word "bond" wasn't enough to describe it.
[Trial Complete]
The trial space began to peel away like flaking paint.
Kisame blinked—he was back in the real world.
Beside him, Uchiha Itachi remained immersed in his own trial.
The mysterious merchant, Fang Yi, was still smiling as he watched him.
Fang Yi clapped his hands lightly and said with a grin, "Congratulations. You may not yet know your Zanpakutō's name, but even as a trainee Soul Reaper, you've obtained a rare advanced class."
"How do I learn my Zanpakutō's name?"
Kisame bared his teeth, equal parts anxious and eager.
He could feel the soul energy radiating from the blade at all times, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't synchronize with it.
Fang Yi explained, "Once your level reaches fifteen, purchase a class scroll from the store. Use it to enter a trial of awakening. That's how you'll learn your Zanpakutō's name."
Of course, if Kisame possessed extraordinary talent, he might awaken it on his own.
But the chances were slim.
Even native Soul Reapers in their own world—most of them couldn't achieve that.
Only those with outstanding spirit energy and pressure could release their Zanpakutō. In the Shino Academy, they'd be the honor students.
As an outsider assisted by the Reincarnation Game,
Kisame would only have a shot if he bought a Soul Reaper bloodline, paid to raise his spiritual stats, and used the soul resonance potions sold in the store to gradually bond with his blade.
Only then might he reach the point of shikai—awakening the Zanpakutō's name.
This method bypassed the game's level restriction, but the cost was steep.
Tens of thousands of reward points, at least.
Very few in the ninja world had that kind of wealth.
And Kisame, a mere rogue and defector, definitely didn't.
All he could do was level up, complete missions, and hunt Corruption Sources.
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