Chapter 11: "Stay Thy Steps, Fellow Daoist"
The true power of the Hogyoku is to warp reality, but in the story, granting power is what it does most frequently—and in that regard, its effects are remarkably potent.
Whether it was Orihime Inoue or Chad, the powers granted by the Hogyoku had incredible highlights, even praised by Aizen as powers that "encroached upon the domain of God." Of course, that was merely high praise; encroaching upon the domain of God is not the same as possessing the true power of a God. In the late-stage battlefields of transcendental powerhouses like Yhwach, Aizen, and Ichigo Kurosaki, the mere aftershocks would likely kill them.
For now, Mo Yu didn't actually need to equip Rukia with flashy powers like "Reality Rejection" or "Reality Breaking." Adding HP and MP was enough; this was the grand, righteous path of the Bleach world.
The true powerhouses of this world didn't use many bells and whistles. Even Yhwach, who claimed to be Omniscient and Omnipotent after devouring the remains of the Soul King, basically fought by swinging a blade directly at Ichigo.
As the Hollow was slain, it dissolved into Reishi dust and scattered. At that moment, a suction force erupted from within Rukia, drawing in every speck of Reishi dust. Within the character interface, ten Skill Points appeared.
This Hollow wasn't particularly strong. The total amount of scattered Reishi shouldn't have been enough to create ten Skill Points. It was likely the Hogyoku dipping into its "private savings" to subsidize the cost, truly pushing itself to the limit. Mo Yu was quite satisfied and began allocating points to Rukia.
He split the points evenly between Vitality and Meditation. In the next instant, Rukia felt a warm current wash through her body and soul. The weakness of her soul vanished, the damage to her Gigai was restored, and her overall functions became stronger than before. She even felt some of her lost spiritual power returning. Yet, she didn't feel happy; instead, she looked down at her palms in confusion. An ice-blue light swirled between her fingers.
"This power... why is it so cruel?"
This restored spiritual power was different from the past. It was filled with a cold, savage malice, as if the very purpose of its existence was to slaughter all things. Even Rukia felt a phantom pain in her eyes, as if they were being cut by a cold blade, just by looking at the light.
Mo Yu watched this, gaining an insight. He said with a half-smile:
"You need not fear. This is power flowing from the very root of your soul..."
Mo Yu wasn't joking. The cultivation of a Soul Reaper involves using a Zanpakuto as a medium, through training and Jinzen (Blade Zen), to step-by-step guide the power from the deepest part of the soul and manifest it into the world.
Rukia's Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki, has a Bankai called Hakka no Togame (Censure of the White Haze). Its power is simple: it freezes everything with absolute zero temperature. It is the most beautiful yet dangerous ice-type Bankai in the Soul Society. Even Rukia herself might not survive its activation if she is slightly careless.
One could say that hidden at the root of Rukia's soul was a cold, ruthless malice toward all things. By using the Hogyoku to absorb a Hollow's Reishi to rebuild her spiritual power, this attribute had shifted toward an even darker domain.
To put it simply, Rukia now possessed the potential for "Hollowification." However, with the Hogyoku present, she wouldn't truly fall; instead, she was on track to become a "degraded" version of Ichigo's own cheat-like powers.
Though Mo Yu didn't explain in detail, Rukia grew pensive. Her expression turned somber. Much like Ichigo viewed his mother's death as his own sin, Rukia had a heavy knot in her heart: the act of personally killing the senior she respected most, Kaien Shiba, had become a nightmare that bound her.
Deep down, she viewed herself as a sinner, even developing self-destructive tendencies. In the original story, her resignation and acceptance of her execution by the Soul Society stemmed partly from this.
She never expected that the nightmare settled in her heart for years would eventually transform into her power! It felt like a mockery, a reminder to never forget her sin. The thought made her feel suffocated.
Seeing her expression—silent but looking as if she might cry at any moment—Mo Yu clicked his tongue.
The original author of Bleach, Tite Kubo, has the nickname "The Poet" because his characters and plots often have a sense of classical poetry. Characters might look brash, but they are all delicate, sensitive, and filled with tragic, mournful thoughts.
When Mo Yu watched the anime—especially Shunsui Kyoraku using his Bankai to express his forbidden love for his sister-in-law and the Japanese artistic trope of "dying together"—he thought it was cool. But while playing the "game," Mo Yu didn't like his 2D card-waifu getting depressed over everything, as it would only hurt his monster-slaying efficiency.
"You needn't care. Kaien Shiba never blamed you; on the contrary, he was full of gratitude toward you. His family will forgive you, too. In the future, you will personally save and guide the most important descendant of the Shiba house onto the right path. The sin you carry has already been repaid ten thousand times over."
Rukia was shaken. She hadn't expected Mo Yu to know about that incident. But hearing that she had repaid her debt, she asked in confusion:
"When did I ever save or guide a descendant of the Shiba family?"
Mo Yu said casually: "Ichigo Kurosaki. 'Kurosaki' is his mother's surname; 'Shiba' is his father's. Ichigo's real name is actually Ichigo Shiba. Your help to him—whether it's guiding him to become a Soul Reaper, helping him regain his power later, or supporting him throughout the story—the Shiba family would truly be 'overwhelmed with gratitude.' Oh, I forgot, that's a future plot. It hasn't happened yet."
Rukia was so shocked she didn't know what to say. She keenly noticed that Mo Yu's casual remarks contained information about the future.
"Don't be so shocked. Ichigo was so eager to start 'filming' because I traded future info for his labor. Don't ask how I know the future; I'm too lazy to explain. If you're willing to believe, I can give you the same reward in exchange for your work. To show my sincerity, I'll tell you the one thing you want to know most: your future husband isn't your battle-comrade Ichigo, but your childhood friend, Renji Abarai!"
"Cough, cough! You're a liar! I don't want to know that! And Renji... how could he be my future husband?" Rukia coughed violently, but when she mentioned Renji, there was a subtle pause before she brushed it off.
In most anime, the "childhood friend" loses to the "new arrival," but in the Bleach world, the childhood friend tag is quite potent.
Seeing Rukia regain some of her spirit, Mo Yu said:
"Alright, no more chatting. Today, we need to speedrun at least the first chapter of Substitute Soul Reaper. We'll clear the small mobs in the city and then push the Chapter 1 Boss: Fisher. Let's go! By the way, do you want to know if you'll have a son or a daughter, and what their name will be?"
Regardless of whether the power she just gained was tied to her sins, Rukia, having tasted the benefits, now tacitly allowed Mo Yu's control. However, regarding his last comment, she felt helpless:
"I don't want to know anything!"
Under Mo Yu's control, every Hollow lurking in Karakura Town discovered an arrow cursor appearing over their heads. No matter where they ran, the lock-on wouldn't break. Soon, a jumping "War God Mario" would rush over and pummel them.
Destroying their forms, slaying their souls, devouring their spirits—Rukia suppressed the Hollows of the town with unprecedented efficiency. She couldn't help but marvel.
Stationing in the World of the Living was not an easy job. As supernatural spirit bodies, Soul Reapers required a high density of Reishi to exist and fight. Because of the greed of the Nobles in the Soul Society, the Reishi density in the human world was even worse than in the Rukongai where non-powered souls lived.
In the Seireitei, the heart of the Soul Society, every brick and tile was formed from high-density Reishi. In the Rukongai, it wasn't so luxurious, but the concentration was at least high enough to seep into food, making it "supernatural." In the human world, Reishi floated thinly in the air, not even dense enough to cling to matter.
In this environment, Hollows could survive by devouring human souls to replenish their spiritual power, but Soul Reapers didn't have it that easy. Most Soul Reapers saw their combat power drop in the human world and felt constant physiological discomfort. It was better with a Gigai, but fighting Hollows was still troublesome.
But now, under Mo Yu's control, Rukia felt like she had become a different species entirely. She was hunting Hollows endlessly and feeding on them. During this process, her soul, body, and spiritual power were skyrocketing, giving her infinite endurance to keep hunting.
Ruthless, cold, cruel, and efficient. As long as there was one Hollow left in the world, the hunt would continue!
Whatever the case, Rukia had to admit that Mo Yu achieved results in the "Substitute Soul Reaper" job that even high-seated officers couldn't match. If only his "tool" for hunting wasn't her, it would be even better.
In the ruins of a building on the outskirts of Karakura Town, Ichigo's mother's killer, Grand Fisher, moved its massive baboon-like body. Its movements were sparse and stingy, as if trying to conserve every ounce of strength.
This was necessary. In the Reishi-thin human world, the stronger the spirit body, the higher the consumption of movement—like performing anaerobic exercise while holding one's breath. Even by devouring souls, maintaining a balance of income and expenditure wasn't easy. Moreover, Fisher sought more than just balance; it wanted to become stronger.
The bright sunlight streaming through the windows always made Fisher remember the eons ago.
That day, the Eternal Moon of Hueco Mundo cast its cold, sinister light as usual. It wasn't bright; it was cruel. Under that moonlight, there was only hunting and devouring. Fisher had been wandering Hueco Mundo as usual, looking for prey to fill its belly or fuel its evolution, when it was suddenly drawn by a bizarre, irresistible scent.
When it regained its senses, it found it wasn't alone. Countless Hollows had been lured there!
It looked up. Under the sinister moon, three figures with indistinguishable faces stood in the air. The leader, with a voice that couldn't hide its arrogance behind a gentle tone, said:
"Quite a few specimens have arrived. Let us begin..."
Fisher didn't remember much of what happened next, only a slaughter so brutal it even made him feel fear. Enemies were everywhere, turning into a terrifying vortex of cannibalism.
He was lucky. He survived until the end and gained evolution through the feeding. But he was also unlucky, for he was not the only one to survive, and his evolutionary results were the worst of the batch.
A flashy, incomplete disguise ability with zero combat buffs—he was like a piece of trash in Hueco Mundo.
The other Adjuchas were taken away. He, as a defective reject, was met by a blade that extended and pierced at god-speed.
Though heavily injured and his evolved form collapsed, Fisher unexpectedly survived. But he wasn't grateful, because those three didn't even care enough to look back and confirm if he was dead. Such arrogance was detestable. Their pride made him feel so lowly.
In Hueco Mundo, where power is everything, though he survived, an unspeakable shame was etched into his soul. Eventually, he fled to the human world and hid there. He hungered for power, for further strength, longing for the day he could return that arrogant karma.
Under the sunlight, that hatred echoed in his chest once more. Then, Fisher remembered a brat he had encountered years ago. That brat's mother had been so sweet; if he could devour the brat too, it would surely help him advance.
Unfortunately, Fisher sensed that ever since the brat escaped, he was protected by some troublesome, well-hidden powers.
Perhaps his evolution had granted him wisdom rare among Hollows, or perhaps that casual blade strike eons ago had shattered his courage. Though driven by instinct, he was incredibly cautious. After all, there were plenty of humans with spiritual power in the town.
For example, right now, an exceptionally brilliant spiritual power was rising in Karakura Town and rapidly approaching him.
Fisher slowly stood up, revealing a dangerous, malicious smile:
"Such a malicious and savage Reiatsu... reminds me of the kin slaughtering each other back in Hueco Mundo. If I can devour this, it will be an unparalleled feast..."
Filled with malice and killing intent, driven by hunger and ferocity, Fisher stretched his limbs.
Then, with great bravado, he turned around and fled in the opposite direction at top speed.
The reason Grand Fisher had survived for fifty years under the Soul Society's bounty and the search of stationed Soul Reapers wasn't because he was strong, but because he was cautious. He never fought a battle he wasn't sure of, never hunted prey he wasn't certain of. He would bully the weak, but never face the strong; if he couldn't win, he would vanish instantly.
But this survival rule, tested countless times, was broken today. An arrow cursor appeared above his head, locking him in place.
In the distance, the quest guidance markers formed a route like a rainbow cutting through the sky. At the other end of the rainbow, the Soul Reaper controlled by God was coming!
Before long, a majestic, holy voice from beyond the heavens echoed in the world:
"Stay thy steps, fellow Daoist! This Seat has calculated that you are fated to cross paths with my Heaven Media. It is your destiny to accept the role of the Villain in the first episode. As a reward, This Seat shall grant you a very 'unique' death!"
End of Chapter
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