The Weather Is Excellent

"BOOM!"

One after another, earth-shattering sounds echoed continuously through the forest of Rukongai District East 37, "Ryugan"!

The rumbling lasted for a full two days, then ceased abruptly on the morning of the third day.

As the roar faded, a Soul Reaper of the Gotei 13 rushed to the scene, Zanpakuto in hand, to investigate.

When this Gotei 13 officer saw the miserable state of the Ryugan District in the Rukongai, a chill surged through him, and he couldn't help but mutter, "Damn it, did a natural disaster hit here?! What the hell happened to turn an entire forest into such a wreck?"

In this Soul Reaper's eyes, the once orderly forest had vanished. Patches of trees lay scattered on the ground like wheat mowed down by a scythe. The earth was pockmarked with craters, as if endlessly pounded by heavenly thunder.

This Soul Reaper had never seen such a terrifying scene. Even the daily sparring matches between the captains of the Gotei 13 wouldn't devastate an entire area of the Rukongai like this, as if scoured by a calamity.

"Sigh..."

"How am I supposed to report this to my superiors?"

"Should I tell the captain that Ryugan District in East 37 of the Rukongai was hit by a massive, unexplained 'thunderstorm'?!"

"The captain's not that easy to fool, you know?!"

This Soul Reaper carefully surveyed the entire area, reduced to rubble by some unknown attack, and let out a helpless sigh as he stared at the scorched earth.

There was good news and bad news!

The good news was that, for now, he hadn't encountered any threat to a Gotei 13 officer's life—basically, it wasn't dangerous here.

The bad news was that he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for this land, which looked like it had been swept by the Captain-Commander's Zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka...

He couldn't exactly tell his superior, "It looks like the Captain-Commander went berserk in Ryugan District, right?!" That would get his head twisted off...

This left him at a loss for how to report the situation to his higher-ups.

"What am I supposed to do?!"

For a moment, the young Soul Reaper was stumped by the scene before him.

"Huh?!"

Just as the young Soul Reaper was racking his brain over how to fudge his investigation report, a dark figure in the distant forest caught his attention.

"Whoosh!"

Without a second thought, the Soul Reaper used Shunpo to chase after the shadow in the woods.

"..."

In the forest, a boy who didn't look too old, wearing tattered clothes full of patches, kept glancing back toward the Soul Reaper.

Just as the boy thought he was being careful enough not to draw the Soul Reaper's notice, a single blink later, the Soul Reaper vanished from his sight.

"What?"

The boy stared at the empty ruins, stunned, as alarm bells rang in his mind.

"Hey, kid! What are you looking for?"

Just as the boy wondered where the Soul Reaper had gone, a cold voice slowly sounded from behind him.

"Uh..."

In an instant, the boy felt an endless chill shoot from his heels straight to the top of his head.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong! I didn't mean to spy on you!"

"I was just gathering some wild greens in the forest to fill my stomach tonight, and I happened to catch a glimpse of you, so I took an extra look. I have no ill intentions, please don't kill me."

Without hesitation, the boy spun around as fast as he could, dropping into a humble dogesa bow, sincerely apologizing to the person behind him.

The boy didn't need to think—he knew he'd been spotted by the Soul Reaper. Sure enough, avoiding a Soul Reaper's notice was still too much for a spirit his age.

"Get up. I'm not some evil spirit; you don't need to be that scared of me..."

The Soul Reaper looked at the boy's pitifully practiced apology and let out a helpless sigh. This world was always full of endless malice toward the residents of the Rukongai, especially kids this age.

"Please don't kill me!"

The boy didn't relax at the Soul Reaper's words. His body remained tense as he kept pleading.

"Troublesome brat!"

"You said you came here to gather wild greens to eat, so you must know this area well, right?"

"Then tell me—what do you make of this land that looks like it was hit by a disaster?"

The Soul Reaper frowned, grabbed the bowing boy by the collar, yanked him upright, and then asked him about the scorched earth behind them.

"Uh..."

The boy's eyes flickered with suspicion at the Soul Reaper's question. Clearly, he knew something, but he hesitated to answer truthfully.

"You want to live, don't you?"

At that, the Soul Reaper simply said one flat sentence, and the boy spilled everything.

"Maybe you won't believe me, Soul Reaper-sama! But I really did see it!"

"That was a person, a man gripping a Zanpakuto, bathed in a Lapis Lazuli glow, who tore this entire forest into this state."

The boy, hearing this, dared not delay and truthfully told everything he knew to the Soul Reaper before him.

"Huh?!"

"Could it be a squad member from another division, training their Bankai here?"

"Looks like they actually succeeded..."

"Honestly, training Bankai without notifying the other divisions—making me end up like this."

The Soul Reaper, hearing this, immediately thought of something.

'A man gripping a Zanpakuto' and bathed in a Lapis Lazuli glow, destroying an entire forest—a Zanpakuto capable of that was undoubtedly Bankai.

Thinking this, a glint of envy flickered in the Soul Reaper's eyes. After all, that was Bankai! The highest stage of a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto release, an advanced technique few in the entire Gotei 13 could master—a symbol of Spiritual Pressure and power.

"Um, do you know where that lucky guy who successfully trained Bankai went?"

Though the Soul Reaper already guessed the man was likely a member of the Gotei 13, he still asked the boy before him.

"Oh, that big brother in a White Robe went in this direction."

The boy, hearing this, pointed toward the Seireitei and explained to the Soul Reaper.

"Hmm, so he's heading to the Seireitei after all."

"Wait, what did you say he was wearing?"

The Soul Reaper, looking at the direction the boy pointed, showed an expression of 'just as I thought.'

Then, suddenly realizing something, he looked down at the boy and asked.

"A White Robe..."

The boy thought for a moment and answered truthfully.

"A white outfit? Not Shinigami Robes?"

"Damn, could it be he's not even a member of the Gotei 13?"

The Soul Reaper muttered to himself, as if struck by a troubling thought.

"Thanks for your help. Take this money and buy yourself some food!"

With that, the Soul Reaper casually tossed a few unique coins shimmering with 'Reishi Glow' to the boy and immediately rushed toward the Seireitei.

"I hope my hunch is wrong. I hope it's not too late."

The Soul Reaper muttered inwardly as he sprinted using Shunpo.

In an instant, only the boy clutching the few coins remained in the forest.

"Th-thank you for your generosity!"

The boy, watching the vanished Soul Reaper, bowed deeply toward the direction he had fled, offering his sincere gratitude.

Meanwhile...

Outside the Seireitei, where the Soul Reapers of the Gotei 13 and the nobles who had held power since before Soul Society's birth were stationed.

Araki, gripping his Zanpakuto, stood before this grand, colossal 'city,' gazing at the blazing sun releasing light in the distant sky, and murmured to himself: "What a fine day today~"

With that, Araki's figure vanished from the spot.