Soul Reaper: My Zanpakuto Is a Bit Trendy
"Thump!"
"Call!"
A howling, cold wind swept past.
The Seireitei only sent down light snow that melted away upon landing, while the World of the Living they arrived in was completely shrouded in a white blanket.
"This is..."
A murmur filled with shock and astonishment rang out.
"The World of the Living."
The fifth-graders, whom I'd only ever seen in books, were staring blankly at the scenery near and far.
"..."
Haruto is pretty much the same.
The Konsō internship lasted only two days, which was about the same length of time he personally experienced in the "modern" world during his fifth grade years.
I'm back.
Haruto muttered to himself.
The World of the Living is not reality.
This is a world completely different from Haruto's known reality: at the time when the Gotei 13 of Soul Society had just been established, "Japan" was in the early stages of the Edo period, which was its equivalent country in the World of the Living.
More than 800 years later, they entered the modern society known to Haruto.
There are no problems with the above.
However, in the next hundred years or so, modern society has seen very little progress in either technology or people's lives.
This contradicts Haruto's materialistic worldview.
Certainly.
Since this is a world where gods (Soul Kings ) truly exist, materialism isn't so reliable.
By the way...
Although the cutting-edge technology of the "neighboring" Western Branch is not as strong as that of the East Branch Bureau, their military-to-civilian conversion is very good, making Reverse London, which is on par with Seireitei, seem very high-end... Compared with the city in Haruto's memory, it can only be described as "classical".
"Snap."
Nanao patted Haruto on the shoulder—because the concentration of Reishi in the World of the Living is very low, Soul Reaper in their soul form can fly freely.
The downside is that it's not very fast. Compared to running on the ground, jumping off telephone poles is more efficient: it avoids unnecessary obstacles, ensures the speed isn't too much slower, and reduces the chance of being detected by psychics.
Among humans, there is always a small minority who possess the gift of seeing souls.
What are you thinking about?
"Since you've come all this way, should we buy some souvenirs to take home?"
Haruto made up an excuse to brush it off.
"... will cause riots."
Nanao did not directly reject Haruto's suggestion.
After all, the abundance of resources in the World of the Living, especially in terms of food, far surpasses that of the Soul Society.
Nanao was also very interested.
However, considering that this event was taking place under the noses of the Thirteenth Division and the teachers, Nanao felt it was best to be cautious.
"Then let's find another opportunity to ask Ayaka for help."
The small Senkaimon of the Kurumadani Clan is still very useful in these small places.
"Um!"
This time, Nanao nodded quite readily.
"Wait..."
"What's wrong?"
Haruto gazed at the city's horizon in the distance.
"Didn't they say the Soul Reaper of the Thirteenth Division were waiting at the Senkaimon? Why haven't I seen a single one?"
Haruto frowned slightly.
"Um..."
"With so many squads like ours, Soul Reaper probably can't manage them all, right?"
Nanao adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and answered.
"Before I came, I roughly estimated that there were around 40 Soul Burial Squad heading to the World of the Living."
"There are only 20 official Grim Soul Reapers."
"Did Principal Mitarai give us advance notice and have the seniors help classes other than Class 1?"
After hearing Nanao's explanation, Haruto thought for a moment and nodded in agreement:
"... very likely."
After all, Class 6-1 was already a notorious monster room, and those twenty Soul Reaper, even if they came together, were something Haruto could easily take down with a single finger.
Will Haruto need their help?
That was truly the old lady getting into bed.
That made me laugh.
I hope I'm not just overthinking it.
Haruto raised his index finger, and the flowing Reiatsu began to converge at the top.
"Kakushitsuijaku!"
The spark-like brilliance flashed and disappeared in an instant.
Because of the existence of the Stream of Kōryū, Haruto did not use the Kakushitsuijaku when passing through the Dangai, for fear of being swallowed by the Dangai by accident; now that he has arrived in an unfamiliar place, he naturally immediately opens his sensory network.
As for the lyrics, which have been shortened again...
Let alone the mere intermediate Bakudō number fifty-eight, Haruto can now release the Raikōhō number sixty-three without even needing the first half of the incantation.
"..."
The distance the Kakushitsuijaku is not far.
After Haruto modified this technique, it was mainly used to guard against sudden attacks and was not good at long-range enemy detection.
Currently, the enhanced perception of the Shokutotsume has not detected any Shinigami's spiritual pressure.
"Nanao, how's your 'Kakushitsuijaku' technique coming along?"
"Don't count on me. I definitely knew it a long time ago, but the version I practiced was the modified one you taught me."
"... All right."
"If only Isane were here" -- Given Haruto's emotional intelligence, the second half of that sentence was definitely a forbidden phrase that he couldn't utter.
"By the way, where is this place again?"
Haruto suddenly thought of a very serious question.
"Um..."
Nanao took out the Hell Butterfly to check the messages.
" Its World of the Living name is Naruki City."
For the Soul Reaper, the Hell Butterfly is basically like a less convenient mobile phone.
Haruto was late this morning, so his Hell Butterfly didn't record any more information besides the round-trip coordinates.
"Naruki City? Never heard of it... As long as it's not Karakura Town, that's fine."
Haruto actually felt there was something familiar about it.
But this was something that couldn't be explained in detail, because it might just be the name of a real city from his memory, so Haruto simply gave up on investigating it further.
Is it considered Jūreichi?
This is also a very important factor to consider.
"There are only a few places in the world where the Jūreichi World of the Living. Even if the Thirteenth Division's Senkaimon could take us directly there, the academy wouldn't let us do our internships in such a place."
Nanao sighed and replied.
"Also..."
Before he could even say "yes," Haruto changed the subject:
"Nanao, your comments today are quite sharp."
"You've been asking stupid questions all along... A-Qing, you look a bit tired. Did you not sleep well because you were dealing with Byakuya's situation?"
Nanao asked with some concern.
"... Hmm, I rested quite well, probably because I expended a lot of energy."
Haruto was certain he had no talent for acting, so at times like this he had to be mostly truthful and only half-faked.
"Then let's finish as soon as possible, there's always another chance to come back later."
"Good."
Haruto nodded.
At this moment, the three members of the fifth-grade group, who had been left standing by in silence, finally got a chance to communicate.
"Konsō."
Haruto turned around and began to explain to the three of them, including Katakura.
"The textbook has already explained it very clearly. Let me give you a demonstration first."
Haruto pointed to the top of a telephone pole six kilometers away and said:
"Did you see that spirit?"
"... ah?"
Togakushi and Katakura answered blankly.
The farthest distance humans can see on a flat surface is 25 kilometers, and the limit for clearly distinguishing objects the size of a human is about 2 kilometers... In this respect, ordinary Soul Reapers are no different from ordinary people.
I saw it!
Uri, Gori was wearing goggles, nodded vigorously—the thing on his face was clearly some kind of magical artifact that could enhance eyesight.
"It doesn't matter if you didn't see it clearly; you two can just listen to his explanation later."
"Sizzle!"
Aiming at the fingertips in the distance.
The fleeting white-blue halo was barely noticeable in this snow-covered world.
"..."
Togakushi and Katakura didn't react much; they didn't understand what they had discovered at all. Only Gori glasses, opened wide, just like his mouth.
"!?"
There are three situations regarding Konsō.
Haruto continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
"Firstly, for beings that are in the process of or have just transformed into the void, their masks can be shattered using Kidō or Asauchi."
The transformation of the soul into emptiness is irreversible.
The best way to minimize losses is to interrupt the process with a decisive strike... This is also the stage when the void power is at its weakest.
The Hollow that Haruto just killed was probably an electrical worker who died from electrocution due to improper operation; the intense resentment—it's hard to say whether it was directed at his work, his boss, or something else—caused him to linger here for a long time before finally beginning to transform into a Hollow.