Kaien Shiba bid farewell to his wife. The couple had different ideas; Shiba Miyako embraced new culture and wanted her child to live in a world without so much oppression, while Kaien, despite his wife's words, chose to stick to his own views.
In truth, Kaien wasn't entirely opposed to this idea; rather, Kaien believed that the Captain-Commander should lead this change, rather than simply... Kaien idolized the Captain-Commander, a primal instinct inherent in most Soul Reaper.
Jun actually held Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai in high esteem. Jun never called the old man a weakling; he simply held a position that didn't belong to him. A pure warrior, he wasn't suited to be a leader.
So now, including Big Dog, Iba, Muguruma, and Aikawa, these people are all waiting for the Captain-Commander's orders; they are waiting for Old Man Yamamoto to come out and lead them.
Kaien wasn't the only one; he was simply the first to confront the Captain-Commander, reminding the Old Man that things were already very complicated and they couldn't wait any longer.
Emerging from the Secret Passage, he assured everyone that he wouldn't implicate Kuchiki, as his wife was still at the Kuchiki Clan. Therefore, he still intended to launch a surprise attack on the First Division from the Abandoned District. He was now targeted by those lunatics, and he was bound to encounter obstacles along the way.
Everything was fine before they arrived at the Gotei 13's territory, but looking at the Gotei 13's high walls, Kaien Shiba suddenly felt a strange sense of fear. This reminded him of a man, a man from over five hundred years ago.
"Hanazawa E, why did that man dare to raid the First Division? He even tried to kill the Captain-Commander. Where did he get such immense courage?"
The Shiba Clan family genealogy records everything. Although the Shiba Clan was expelled from the Five Great Noble Clans, this was the limit. They couldn't be made to suffer any more, otherwise the remaining Four Great Noble Clans would be furious. As the eldest son, Kaien naturally knew the whole story of the major event that led to his family's downfall.
Now that Kaien is facing such a reaction from Gotei 13, he naturally thinks of Hanazawa E. When he first heard the story, he felt a slight curiosity about this man, which has now turned into respect.
"As expected of Jun Shimizu's mentor, putting everything else aside, the courage between the two of them is far beyond what I can match. However! Catching up now also takes courage! Men of the Shiba Clan are never short of courage!"
Kaien Shiba immediately Shikai, flying towards the First Division. This was a distance of over ten kilometers, and his blatant actions drew the attention of many Soul Reaper, but no one came to stop him.
So Kaien pressed on, increasing his speed once more. He wanted to make a big show of himself, to make sure everyone knew he was going to see the Captain-Commander. He couldn't let his efforts go to waste! So the commotion had to be huge!
Finally, the Second Division responded, with dozens of members coming out to intercept him. However, this time they were facing Kaien Shiba, who was free of burdens and mentally prepared.
"Get out of my way!!"
He twirled the Nejibana in a flourish, unleashing several powerful waves of water simultaneously. Each wave was as strong as Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshō at the beginning of the Soul Society arc—this was the strength of the Shiba Clan.
Kaien was indeed a solid Captain-level strength. The Spiritual Power of his Reiatsu was enough to overwhelm even a slightly weaker Vice-Captain, let alone the Second Division members whose combat strength was already quite low. They didn't even dare to block it, simply letting Kaien Shiba charge forward.
Suddenly, several wind blades flew out from the direction of the First Division, colliding with the water waves. A massive Explosion then completely neutralized the water waves, and Kensei Muguruma jumped out.
What do you want to do!?
"Muguruma of Special Agents? I need to see the Captain-Commander!"
Kensei Muguruma is currently the Special Operations Division Chief of the First Division, hence the Special Agents Operations Division—it doesn't mean anything else. He and Love Aikawa returned from the World of the Living, and there wasn't a single unit that could accommodate them. In the original work, those like Love Aikawa who didn't return to their previous Visored as captains Vice-Captains simply held this role.
"The Captain-Commander is not seeing anyone!" Kensei Muguruma clenched his fists, adopting a boxing stance—he was serious.
Kaien couldn't accept this answer. Her Nejibana swirled in the water, "Are we just going to let these scum wreak havoc on Soul Society like this?! I absolutely refuse to accept it!! Muguruma Special Agents! Today I must see the Captain-Commander, even if it means fighting my way in!"
Kensei Muguruma snorted, "Not bad, but I'm right here. I'd like to see how far you can go with your killing!"
Kaien raised his Nejibana high, a unique fighting style he employed, a powerful upper-body halberd technique. With a splash of water beneath his feet, a wave of water descended from the sky, slamming down on Kensei Muguruma's head.
Kensei Muguruma threw a punch right into the water, his dagger unleashing a gust of Jidanpū that exploded on the wave. Simultaneously, another wind blade shot out, heading straight for Kaien.
However, with a sharp shout, Kaien exerted his strength again. Even though the tip of the wave was blasted apart, he still crashed down with the wave, even ignoring the wind blade that Kensei Muguruma was attacking him with, and using his protective Spiritual Power to withstand it.
However, Kensei Muguruma suddenly disappeared, and Kaien's halberd spun, the water crashing down and then surging up again, striking Kaien's back with even greater force from below.
Kensei had no choice but to abandon his sneak attack. The Kaien Swallow Halberd spun from a thrusting slash to a horizontal slash, and with Kensei, Shunpo followed up with a powerful blow. This continuous barrage of attacks made Kensei realize Kaien's fighting style; this kind of charged attack could no longer be ignored.
"Snap!!"
With a sharp shout, a three-meter-long blade of wind gathered from the dagger's Jidanpū, colliding with the water wave and creating a massive Explosion that sent water droplets flying everywhere.
The power of this attack clearly exceeded that of Kaien. Kensei Muguruma flashed, and he Shunpo to rush in front of Kaien and throw a powerful punch. However, Kaien blocked the punch firmly. Then, the water droplets all around transformed into countless water blades, which shot out from behind Kensei.
Kensei was extremely surprised, because this attack was clearly a life-or-death struggle. If he dodged it, wouldn't those water blades hit Kaien? But since Kaien had used this move, Kensei couldn't hold back.
The Jidanpū blasted away Kaien's protective Spiritual Power, forcing her to release her grip. Kaien vanished instantly, but a miraculous scene unfolded: after striking Kaien, the water blades automatically turned into a backflow Kensei, wrapping around Kaien body, and surprisingly, they couldn't harm herself. This move was incredibly powerful for Kaien.
Then the protective water surged directly onto the Nejibana halberd, forming the same massive current as before. Kaien then used a dragging blade slash to chase after Kensei once more.
This is the power of Kaien's Shikai, Nejibana: absorbing Spiritual Power to form water currents. These currents are both a spear and a shield, completely under Kaien's control. Moreover, the longer the Shikai, the greater the power of the water currents.
"Wind Sever! Dankū!"
Kensei was extremely troubled by the power of the Nejibana, and he had no other choice. His abilities and fighting style were both explosive, and he had thought that his Captain-level strength would easily handle Kaien, a Vice-Captain. He hadn't expected Kaien to be so strong, so he had no choice but to use his true abilities.
With the move "Wind Sever Dankū," a meter-long blade aura appeared on the dagger 'Jidanpū. Unlike the previous rotating, wind-like blade auras, this one was a condensed, bluish-green blade-like aura.
After this slash, Kaien's waves were sliced in two, as was Kaien protective Spiritual Power. Then, the water beneath Kaien's feet suddenly Explosion; it turned out this water explosion was also one of Kaien's protective abilities. With a single strike, Kaien's attack and defense were completely severed.
However, just as Kaien was about to unleash his power, don't forget that Jidanpū's ability is to create Explosion. A massive Explosion struck, Kaien was blasted away like a kite with a broken string. His defenses were completely destroyed, and he took full damage from the blast.
Kensei Muguruma caught the blood-soaked Kaien and used Shunpo to return to the First Division. Although Kaien's strength was on par with Big Dog and Soi Fon, he was still somewhat inexperienced against Kensei Muguruma, a veteran captain with 500 years of experience.
Tōshirō is reading a book titled "The Visionary of the Various Forms of the Zanpakuto with the Same Name".
This book is a discovery made while researching the Zanpakuto of the same name. In it, Jun elucidates a definition of a Zanpakuto Original Source Awakening, called "Sword Soul."
The Sword Soul is unique to Zanpakuto Original Source Awakening. This Sword Soul has an absolute connection with the soul of Soul Reaper (death god) and greatly enhances the Zanpakuto's abilities, but the exact extent is unknown.
The essence of distinguishing Original Source Awakening and the Fantasy Awakening driven by needs lies in this Sword Soul. So how is this Sword Soul identified? The answer is that only Soul Reaper who has achieved Original Source Awakening can identify it.
This explains why Tōshirō, despite clearly holding the Hyōrinmaru, discovered his sword was malfunctioning—he realized his Sword Soul was missing. The following chapters of the book will explain how he lost his Sword Soul.
First, we need to talk about the concept of Zanpakuto with the same name. Among Zanpakuto with the same name and abilities, only one might have Sword Soul. Why "might"? Because it's also possible that neither of the two swords has Sword Soul, but if it does have Sword Soul, there can only be one Sword Soul!
However! Although there is only one Sword Soul, there can be thousands upon thousands of swords with the same name. So what is the use of these swords with the same name? The answer is: to store Sword Soul!
Sword Soul can freely travel within a sword of the same name, so what is the use of this? Pure theory states that "Kai" does not necessarily represent everything about a person's soul, but may represent a psychological state at a certain moment. For example, Soi Fon's Suzumebachi Raikōben is a product of this kind of distortion.
So, people's hearts can change, but the Sword Soul is pure and untainted. Therefore, if the heart of a person, that is, the Soul Reaper himself, changes, then the Sword Soul a sword, given a sword of the same name, can choose to change swords, change bodies, and change masters, saying, "I'm not working for you anymore."
So how do you get Sword Soul to switch bodies? It's actually quite simple. All you need is a sword with the same name within a certain range. Then, the person wielding that sword enters the Inner World and finds the Sword Soul. Because it's a sword with the same name, we can consider the sword spirit in the Inner World of that Sword Soul as a secondary account of the real Sword Soul.
So, this alt account can contact the main account within range, and then the main account transfers all its equipment and inventory to the alt account. Then, the alt account becomes the main account; it's that simple. The Sword Soul gets a new weapon.
So Tōshirō doesn't know that his sword has been switched. Actually, it wasn't switched; only the Sword Soul was. The current Sword Soul is a smaller version, while the original Sword Soul is missing.
The book fell to the ground, Tōshirō stood there dumbfounded, staring blankly at his Hyōrinmaru.
"You... you abandoned me?" Tōshirō, recalling his experiences over the past ten months, suddenly knelt on the ground. Hyōrinmaru fell in front of Tōshirō, the Little Lion crying, "Yes! Yes! What right do I have to be recognized by you now! I... I don't deserve you, I don't deserve to have you!"