Shikai: World-Crossing Principle

Lately, even the academy's teachers had begun to wonder whether something was wrong with Aizen's teaching.

"Of course not! After Captain Aizen taught me, I cultivated my Zanpakuto the very next day," Momo Hinamori immediately exclaimed.

She pointed at Izuru Kira and Renji Abarai beside her. "They both succeeded in just a week, too."

"It must be..."

Only then did Momo realize what she was saying. She immediately turned to Tokoyo Misao and spoke in a panic:

"Misao, I didn't mean it like that. Um, could it be because your injuries haven't healed yet?"

Tokoyo Misao paid no mind to Momo's words.

He picked up the Asauchi again, slowly closed his eyes, and entered Jinzen.

Cultivating their Zanpakuto was homework for the students to do after they went home.

After all, during Jinzen, a person lost all awareness of their surroundings, which was extremely dangerous. It was safest to do it back in their dormitory or at home.

Tokoyo Misao intended to perform Jinzen right in front of Aizen and let him see what the problem was.

It wasn't as though he was deliberately avoiding cultivating a Zanpakuto.

Quite the opposite, Tokoyo Misao very much wanted to obtain a Zanpakuto and learn Shikai and Bankai.

But whether it was the Asauchi that had broken before or the replacement he had now,

He had never been able to cultivate either into a Zanpakuto.

He took a deep breath, calmed his mind once more, and slowly infused the Reishi in his body into the Asauchi in his hand.

The others watching immediately noticed the Asauchi gradually filling with Reishi and giving off a deep blue glow.

"Wait, why is Misao's Asauchi glowing?" Momo immediately cried out.

"That's Reishi, right? I saw him use a technique like that when we were fighting in the World of the Living, but why is he using it during Jinzen? What's the point?"

Renji Abarai frowned, his eyes wide as he stared intently.

After the battle in the World of the Living, he could be said to admire Tokoyo Misao wholeheartedly.

With only Thirteenth-Class Rei'i, he had relied on his exceptional combat skills to single-handedly destroy more than sixty Hollows.

After exhausting his Reishi, he had relied on his physical abilities to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

So even though he now saw that Tokoyo Misao wasn't infusing his soul into the Asauchi,

And was instead infusing it with Reishi, an incorrect way to cultivate it, he still wondered whether it might be some special technique.

A moment later, the Reishi glow around the Asauchi grew more and more intense and began bursting outward.

Izuru Kira's eyes widened as a deeply disrespectful thought suddenly appeared in his mind:

Could it be that Brother Misao doesn't know how to infuse his soul into an Asauchi at all?

That's why he still hasn't managed to cultivate a Zanpakuto.

He shook his head sharply, casting the thought out of his mind.

That's Brother Misao. How could he not know a technique that's practically instinctive? There must be another reason.

Just then, Tokoyo Misao opened his eyes. Looking at the Asauchi wrapped in Reishi light in his hand, he sighed softly. "Still no good."

Aizen's gaze flickered twice, and he asked in some surprise:

"Misao, why are you infusing Reishi into the Asauchi?"

The moment he spoke, Renji Abarai and Izuru Kira both pricked up their ears.

They were also very curious whether this was some special technique.

Tokoyo Misao tilted his head toward Aizen and replied, "Captain Aizen taught us to infuse our souls into the Asauchi."

"Aren't souls made of Reishi? So what's wrong with me infusing Reishi into it?"

"Huh?" Renji Abarai and the other two stared at Tokoyo Misao with their mouths open, completely speechless.

Aizen himself froze for a moment. Then he shook his head, let out a sigh, and pressed a hand to his forehead as he replied:

"I see. That explains why, even with your talent, you still haven't cultivated a Zanpakuto after all this time, Misao."

"You had it wrong from the very beginning."

"Huh?" This time it was Tokoyo Misao's turn to voice his confusion.

Aizen tucked his hands into his sleeves and spoke with a smile:

"Fundamentally speaking, your understanding isn't wrong. Souls are indeed made of Reishi, as is everything in Soul Society."

"But Reishi is not the soul."

Aizen drew his right hand out and placed it over his heart, speaking gently:

"The soul is your emotions, your memories, your heart—everything that makes you who you are."

"It doesn't mean your body, which is made of Reishi."

"Huh?" Tokoyo Misao kept his head tilted, unable to understand at all.

He was now like a materialist scientist.

With the power of the Eternal Eyes, he could see that the world was fundamentally made of Reishi.

But now Aizen was telling him something idealistic, leaving him completely unable to understand.

Tokoyo Misao pressed a hand to his chest. A moment later, he looked up again and asked in confusion:

"But memories also exist in the brain with Reishi as their medium, and the heart itself is made of Reishi."

"Why isn't the soul Reishi, then?"

Chapter 45: Shikai: World-Crossing Principle

Tokoyo Misao knew, of course, what the word "soul" meant.

In his previous life, there had been many discussions about the soul.

These included how a person's body would inexplicably become a little lighter after death.

Or how some people would occasionally see loved ones who had passed away.

Some people could even unleash an impossible amount of strength to protect their loved ones.

His parents had divorced when he was young, and he had grown up eating meals provided by many different families. He had known next to nothing of familial affection, romance, or friendship.

After graduating, the question he thought about every day as soon as he opened his eyes was: What would he eat after work?

What would he eat that evening?

What would he eat the next day?

He had never experienced the so-called "love" and "soul" found in novels and works of art.

So when he came to Soul Society, according to his own understanding,

Since everything in the world, including souls, was made of Reishi,

As long as he kept infusing his own Reishi into the Asauchi, he could naturally cultivate a Zanpakuto of his own.

But now that even the three beside him had succeeded while his was still an Asauchi, it had been proven that his thinking was entirely wrong.

Still confused, he looked up again and asked Aizen, "So what exactly is the soul?"

Aizen lowered both hands, his expression grave, and spoke slowly:

"There are actually many ways to explain the soul, but I think I understand your problem now."

"Captain Aizen, what exactly is wrong with Brother Misao?" Renji Abarai asked urgently.

To be honest, he couldn't understand at all why Tokoyo Misao couldn't understand what the soul was.

If asked to explain it, he couldn't give a coherent answer either, but he could simply feel it.

The same was true of Izuru Kira and Momo Hinamori beside him.

They couldn't find the words to express what the soul meant.

To them, it seemed like instinct. Like breathing, it was simply something they could feel.

Aizen spoke gently. "Misao, what is your goal in life?"

"Wait, Captain. You aren't going to say that the soul is life itself, are you? Like, who am I? Where am I? Where am I going? That sort of thing."

Though Tokoyo Misao said that, he pondered the question inwardly.

His current goal was simple: first, claim the Tokoyo Clan's inheritance, make the Tokoyo name known to everyone in Soul Society again, and repay the old man for the gift of his power.

Then he would live as he pleased.

No matter how he looked at it, his goal was clear enough. There was nothing wrong with it.

Aizen turned to Renji Abarai and asked:

"What goal do you want to achieve? What do you want to strive for?"

Renji Abarai answered without hesitation. "I want to become a captain and surpass the captains. Even if it's a star in the sky, I'll give everything I have to leap up and bite it down."

The passion in his words instantly inspired Momo Hinamori and Izuru Kira.

Tokoyo Misao, however, frowned the moment he heard it.

Aizen nodded and continued, speaking to Tokoyo Misao:

"Your problem is that you're simply too clever.

"You can learn and master rules very quickly, as well as the ways and methods of dealing with people.

"But being too clever can cause you to lose your passion for everything."

As Aizen said this, a trace of remembrance flashed through his eyes behind his glasses.

More than a hundred years ago, he too had gone through a similarly confused time.

During that period, he had constantly wondered what he wanted to do, what he wanted to obtain, and what he wanted to become.

It had been a very difficult time to get through.

He pulled his thoughts back and continued, "Misao, have you ever stopped thinking?"

"Stopped thinking and acted on instinct, with the surge rising in your heart filling your body and making you tremble?"

Tokoyo Misao instantly recalled fighting the Blade Hollow in the World of the Living.

When facing 120 Hollows, he had indeed possessed a trump card.

He could kill the Hollows and absorb their Reishi to strengthen his body, sustaining himself through battle and clearing them out.

Merely absorbing the Reishi around Karakura Town would have been nowhere near enough.

But after the Reishi in his body had nearly run out and he had chosen to enter the alley, he could no longer use his trump card of absorbing the Hollows' Reishi.

In that desperate situation, facing the powerful Blade Hollow, he had felt that tremor rising in his body.

His blood had boiled, his nerves had drawn taut, and his heart had raced.

Tokoyo Misao lowered his head and looked at his palm.

Even now, remembering it made him feel eager to act.

"It seems you have felt it. That feeling comes from the soul. So if you want to cultivate a Zanpakuto, you can't simply infuse your own Reishi into the Asauchi."

Aizen's gentle smile returned as he continued to explain:

"You need to share with the Asauchi those feelings you've experienced in life: exhilaration, regret, fear, excitement, and so on."

"Let the Asauchi feel what you feel. Only then can you cultivate your Zanpakuto. Do you understand?"

Tokoyo Misao nodded gently, took a deep breath, and once again held the Asauchi in both hands, placing it on his lap.

He slowly closed his eyes, repeatedly recalling his battles with the Hollows in the World of the Living.

The reactions that had arisen naturally in his body in that desperate situation welled up again, and his body trembled slightly of its own accord.

The Asauchi on his lap seemed to feel it too, trembling along with Tokoyo Misao's body.