In the Great Hollow Forest, while originally hunting a Menos Grande, Yekawa's main body suddenly grinned.
"It actually succeeded!"
Rukongai is the first destination for all departed souls entering the Soul Society.
The bustling crowds around him gave 'Yekawa' a feeling reminiscent of squeezing onto the subway for work early in the morning in his previous life.
Dense crowds were lining up to enter a massive oval-shaped building, and 'Yekawa' standing in the flow of people didn't even need to move himself; he was simply pushed forward.
Yekawa looked up and saw that everyone had to pass through a gate, in front of which was a long wooden table. Several Shinigami dressed in soul reaper uniform sat at the table, and each person passing through the gate was given a wooden plaque.
After queuing for a long time, it was finally Yekawa's turn.
The man dressed in soul reaper uniform sat at the wooden table without lifting his head.
"This is your identification plaque; you've been assigned to the East District!"
Before Yekawa could even ask, he tossed Yekawa a wooden plaque with the character for 'East' written on it.
"Is it really that casual?"
Then, pushed by the crowd, Yekawa was directly squeezed out and followed the signs, arriving at a cave entrance with the four large characters for East, South, West, and North. Yekawa entered the cave marked 'East'.
After walking for a long time in the dark tunnel, he finally saw a glimmer of light. Moving towards the light, he eventually came upon an open wilderness, where he saw a massive gate shining with white light ahead.
Yekawa was pushed by the crowd from behind into the gate.
A dazzling white light made Yekawa unable to open his eyes.
"Hey, new soul, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up and hand over your identification plaque for registration!"
'Yekawa' slowly opened his eyes and found himself still in a large building. In front of a huge desk, a young Female Shinigami with white hair looked at him with displeasure.
"Hurry up and register! If you keep dawdling, I'll assign you to District 80!"
'Yekawa' suppressed the anger in his heart and put on a fawning smile.
"Coming, coming."
Inwardly, he scorned.
"Damn it, what's with the attitude? If this were Hueco Mundo, I'd tear you limb from limb!"
"Name?"
The white-haired Female Shinigami looked at 'Yekawa' with an expression like she was looking at trash.
"My name is Ito Makoto!"
This Ito Makoto was naturally the false name Yekawa had prepared for himself in advance.
"Time of death unknown, place of death Karakura Town, age at death nineteen, currently assigned to East District, 57th District, Black Snake District!"
This white-haired Female Shinigami began to read from some false information she had collected, then assigned him a place to live.
Just as 'Yekawa' was about to say something, the Female Shinigami impatiently spoke.
"Next!"
"Keep moving forward, don't stop!" a guard wrapped in a white robe urged in the hall.
'Yekawa' had no choice but to suppress his displeasure and continue walking forward.
But just as he lifted his foot, he heard a loud shout. 'Yekawa' turned his head and saw a middle-aged man with an afro arguing with the white-haired Female Shinigami from before.
"Why can that kid in front of me go to District 57, but I have to go to District 78?" The afro-haired man pointed at Yekawa indignantly.
"We handle everything according to regulations. If you think there's a problem with our procedure, you can file a complaint!"
The white-haired Female Shinigami replied righteously, but she took back the man's identification plaque and changed the '78' on it to '80'...
Seeing this, the afro-haired man roared.
"You're abusing your authority, I'm going to report—!"
But before he could finish his sentence, he was grabbed by two guards and carried out, then unceremoniously thrown behind the gate with the number '80' written on its plaque.
'Yekawa' watched this dramatic scene, his mouth twitching, then walked into the gate with '58' written on its plaque.
Rukongai is divided into four major districts: East, South, West, and North, with the Shinigami's Seireitei located in the center of these four districts.
Each district has eighty sub-districts, and the higher the ranking of the district, the closer it is to Seireitei, and the better the public order and quality of life. Conversely, the lower the ranking, the worse the quality of life and public order.
District 80, the furthest from Seireitei, is the exact opposite. It is barren, not only lacking food and water but also having the lowest spiritual particle content in the air.
Residents in District 80 can only obtain the most basic right to survival through slaughter and plunder, and the level of bloodshed is no less than that of Hueco Mundo.
Although 'Yekawa''s District 57 was not as good as the higher-ranked areas, at least it wouldn't be like District 80, where people lived like savages.
"Is this District 57?"
After exiting that gate, Yekawa found himself on a street filled with single-story houses and tiled roofs.
Looking at the style and cleanliness of the street, it was much better than the environment of District 77 in the West District that he had seen in Ito Kai's memories.
At this moment, Yekawa was not in a hurry to go to his residence according to the instructions on the identification plaque. Instead, he went to a small stream to look at his appearance using the water.
After all, having been a Hollow for so long, suddenly returning to human form was a bit disorienting.
What met his eyes was a young man who looked about eighteen or nineteen years old, nine feet tall, with black eyes and black hair, a prominent aquiline nose, and a pair of bright eyes as brilliant as stars.
Looking at this face, which was ninety percent similar to his previous life's, Yekawa revealed a brilliant smile.
"From now on, this clone of mine will be called Ito Makoto!"
Since the plan succeeded, and Yekawa's clone successfully obtained a human body and entered the Soul Society, the goal was clear.
The main body would continue to hunt Menos Grande in Hueco Mundo, evolving towards becoming a Vasto Lorde. The clone, meanwhile, would find a way to join the Spiritual Arts Academy and then join the Thirteenth Division to become a Shinigami. Both sides would advance simultaneously, and once both reached their maximum growth, the clone would be reabsorbed to complete the final evolution!
(To facilitate distinction, this clone in the Soul Society will henceforth be uniformly referred to as Ito Makoto.)