Greatness Is Earned

Soul Society! Seireitei! Shino Academy!

Duke woke up in the student dormitory with no desire to keep sleeping. He got dressed, intending to make a trip to Rukongai and hone his swordsmanship.

"Heading out?" Iba Tetsuzaemon, his roommate, propped himself up and yawned.

Iba Tetsuzaemon, the future captain of Soul Society's 7th Division, was still just a rookie. Bold and unrestrained, he spoke his mind and acted decisively—a man who dared to take responsibility for his actions. He had entered Shino Academy the same year as Duke, and being roommates had quickly made the two close friends who could talk about anything. Duke had only watched half of Bleach, so he did not know what Iba would achieve in the future. Still, he knew Iba had a mother who was a vice-captain, a woman with the air of a yakuza boss's wife. Much of Iba's personality had been influenced by her. He looked rough and fierce, but once you got to know him, you found him thoughtful and extremely dependable.

"Sorry, I woke you up, Iba," Duke said apologetically, tightening his clothes. Having fused with the swordsmanship of several swordsmen, he could not wait to go out and test it.

"It's only five in the morning. Even training this early is too much. Give me another two hours. I'll sleep a little longer, then come with you."

"I'm not going to train. I'm heading to Rukongai. There's something important I need to do." Duke glanced out the window. The night had not yet faded, but he could no longer wait.

"Rukongai..." Iba knew Duke had lived in Rukongai before enrolling, and in an area with particularly poor security at that. He had even picked up his Zanpakuto there. Hearing that his friend was going there on business, Iba wanted to stop him but did not know how to begin, leaving him speechless.

"Please ask for a week of leave for me. If I'm not back after a week, ask for more leave. Sorry to trouble you, Iba." Duke picked up his Zanpakuto. It had been nearly ten years since he found this Asauchi. He had poured countless efforts into it, yet had always been lost, unable to hear its name clearly. But tonight was different. Somewhere deep within, he sensed a premonition, as though the Zanpakuto were calling to him, making him desperate to glimpse its true name.

"A week... and you might not even be back by then? What are you going to do?" Iba was fully awake now. A week was enough to reach Rukongai's more dangerous regions, places filled with countless threats. Even members of the 13th Division rarely went there unless their missions required it, because they could not guarantee they would return alive.

"My sword is calling to me. I have to go." Duke gave a reason Iba could not argue against. A Zanpakuto was born and died alongside a Bleach, an irreplaceable part of one's life. No matter how dangerous it was, when it concerned their Zanpakuto, a Bleach would not retreat—and could not retreat.

"If that's the case, be careful. And... make sure you come back as soon as you can." Iba sat up, crossing his arms over his chest. He put on his sunglasses and gave Duke a thumbs-up. "In another month, our class will graduate. That will also be the day we enter the Gotei 13. Don't let this delay you."

"Don't worry. A month is more than enough." Duke pushed open the door, then turned back to look at Iba's sunglasses in utter disbelief. "It's not even daylight yet. Why are you wearing sunglasses?"

"Seeing a friend off calls for solemnity. Sunglasses are not merely tools for blocking sunlight. You'll understand their true purpose once you mature. This is a man's romance!" Iba said mysteriously.

"You're just trying to look cool!"

After leaving Seireitei's gates, Duke picked a direction at random and raced toward the outermost reaches of Rukongai, using Shunpo to travel. Rukongai spread outward around the center of Soul Society, which was Seireitei, and was divided into east, south, west, and north. Each direction contained eighty districts by number, for a total of three hundred and twenty districts. Due to Seireitei's deterrent power, the lower-numbered districts were safer and more prosperous. The first districts in all four directions had excellent security and living conditions, with abundant food. The eightieth districts, however, were barren wastelands plagued by famine, practically hell itself. Souls decided who had the right to survive—meaning who got food and water—through theft, plunder, and murder. By the same logic, as district numbers increased, security and living conditions declined, growing ever harsher.

Under the moonlight, Duke traveled without stopping. He did not pause for a brief rest until dawn was about to break. No one knew how vast Rukongai truly was. Compared to it, Seireitei at the center was no more than a drop in the ocean. Crossing eighty districts was not something that could be done in a short time. Ravenous with hunger, he found a quiet corner, took out dried rations and water from his bundle, and ate slowly.

"Why can souls feel hunger? Why do they need to eat, drink, and use the toilet... Their bodies are no different from those of living people. Their organs, blood vessels, and tissues are all the same. I can clearly feel my heart beating. Even my blood is bright red, and warm... Can this really be called a soul?"

Duke was deeply baffled by this absurd world that no subject could explain. Though he was a soul after death, there was little difference from living in the Human World. It was as though he had simply changed places and lived another life. The only difference was that souls could survive merely by absorbing Reishi from the atmosphere. But there were exceptions: souls with high Reiryoku had to sustain themselves through food and water...

For such souls, absorbing Reishi from the air was still not enough to keep them alive. Excessive hunger could leave them too weak to move, and in more serious cases, even lead to death. Because many souls without Reiryoku did not feel hunger, food and water were severely scarce across most of Rukongai. Yet these were precisely the necessities high-Reiryoku souls relied upon to survive. To live, they had to fight for food and water. In some places, water was even used as currency, tied to everyone's survival.

In Soul Society, souls with high Reiryoku had only two paths. They could either keep fighting over food and water until one day they starved to death or were killed, or they could pass through the four gates into Seireitei and become Bleach of the Gotei 13.

When Duke first came to the world of Bleach, he had lived in East 62nd District, far from Seireitei. There, souls gathered together, formed families, and lived in villages. Poor, hungry, and lacking food and water, Duke had resolutely left after learning he was in Soul Society. He wandered toward the center while fighting for survival, and only through a stroke of luck had he entered Seireitei and become a student of Shino Academy with his respectable Reiryoku.

"I only brought three days' worth of rations. After that, I'll have to find food myself." Duke took a small sip from his canteen. After putting away the rations, he immediately set off again. He had already noticed several furtive figures with ill intentions slowly approaching. Clearly, they were after his food and water. They only dared not rush him because of the Zanpakuto at his waist. The district he was currently in still had decent security. By the time he reached the final dozen or so districts, the souls there probably would not hesitate so much. At that point, Duke would not even have a chance to sleep peacefully.

"Four newcomers at once... My Reiatsu is so strong now that even I can hardly believe it. What's even more valuable is that all four are experts with swords." After replenishing his strength, Duke began racing again, occasionally using Shunpo to train his speed.

"With the four newcomers and the original five Dukes, the transmigration team has reached nine members. Double digits are right around the corner. At this rate, it won't be long before the transmigration team can be renamed the transmigration army. The stacking of just nine people has boosted my Reiatsu to this degree. I can only imagine what it will be like when the army takes shape, my Reiatsu..." Duke gave his Golden Finger's ability a five-star review. After last night, not only his Reiatsu, but also his physical abilities and combat experience had risen invisibly by another level.

Zankensoki—swordsmanship, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kido—were the four great skills that had remained unchanged among Bleach for ten thousand years. With the Golden Finger's help, Duke had mastered two of them: swordsmanship and Hakuda. Combined with his already outstanding Kido, Shunpo was the only one of the four skills holding him back.

"Shunpo is an extremely practical life-saving skill, especially important for a Bleach like me who specializes in swordsmanship. Among all martial arts under heaven, nothing can break speed. That's no empty saying. My Reiryoku is enough to squander anyway, so I'll travel with Shunpo from now on..." Duke concentrated Reiryoku beneath his feet and instantly appeared ten meters away. His body swayed, and his footing was slightly unsteady.

Shunpo was a technique for moving the body at incredible speed, instantly reaching an opponent's side—or somewhere farther away—faster than they could see. Whether used to coordinate tactics and deliver a lethal strike or to swiftly retreat when one's side was at a disadvantage, it was extremely practical. It was an advanced footwork technique refined by countless Bleach over thousands of years. When it came to Shunpo, the Gotei 13's 2nd Division was the best. They handled executions, assassinations, and covert infiltration and investigation missions, and Shunpo was the only qualification for joining them. In particular, the captains of the 2nd Division throughout the generations generally also served as Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō. Fast in action and skilled in assassination, they were the foremost Shunpo experts among all Bleach. Their combat style was unconventional. They did not need to release their Zanpakuto; when they encountered an enemy, the result was often an instant kill.

Beyond them, there were other Shunpo experts. For example, the aloof, sister-obsessed super aristocrat Kuchiki Byakuya from the original story had learned his Shunpo from the fastest Flash Goddess Yoruichi. Describing his Shunpo techniques as miraculous would not be an exaggeration. Yet such impressive skill had actually been developed because Yoruichi teased him as a child by playing hide-and-seek with him. Duke admired Kuchiki Byakuya's talent on the one hand, and was amazed by Yoruichi's terrifying Shunpo ability on the other.

Both came from famous noble families in Soul Society and had been born with Reiryoku far beyond ordinary people. In other words, they were geniuses—but that was not the reason they were powerful. Having experienced multiple worlds, Duke knew very well that talent and hard work were both indispensable for a genius.

Talent was bestowed, but greatness was earned!

With that thought, Duke had even less reason to slack off and began training Shunpo with his life on the line. Kuchiki Byakuya was gifted, hardworking, and had Flash Goddess Yoruichi personally teaching him. His strength was inevitable. Duke did not have those advantages, so he could only shed more sweat than his rival.

Without another word, Duke continued traveling with Shunpo. He vanished again and again, reappeared again and again. The pauses between movements grew shorter, the distances he traveled became greater, and his Shunpo grew increasingly proficient and fluid. Whenever he had used more than half his Reiryoku, he stopped to recover. Once recovered, he continued onward.

Diligence could make up for clumsiness, and success came through perseverance. It did not matter if he lacked a good teacher. Duke believed Heaven favored those who worked hard.

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