A Response from the Zanpakuto

After leaving the Hokage's office, Narak went straight to the hillside outside Konoha.

For years, Narak had been training here, and this slope had become his exclusive training ground.

"That old geezer Third Hokage, refusing to make me a Jonin and instead sending me to do the hardest, most exhausting work—isn't that forcing me to bust my ass? Annoying. I just want to lie low and quietly check in." The more Narak thought about it, the more speechless he felt.

But obviously, Narak could only complain. After all, he didn't have the power to resist right now. Since that was the case, he had no choice but to accept it.

"Forget it, I'll just get stronger as fast as I can. Once I have strength, no one can order me around anymore."

Having sorted out his thoughts, Narak calmed down, sat cross-legged, and began to call out to his Zanpakuto from the depths of his heart.

For eight years, ever since the day he obtained the Zanpakuto and spiritual pressure, calling out to the Zanpakuto from the depths of his heart, hoping to gain its resonance, had become Narak's daily practice.

But all these years, no matter how persistently he called out every day, the Zanpakuto remained completely silent.

This made Narak wonder at times if the system had given him a fake Zanpakuto just to mess with him.

To this, the system replied: "Everything sold by this shop is genuine! The reason you can't get a response from the Zanpakuto lies entirely with the host. Please work hard on your research and strive to achieve Shikai as soon as possible. Mwah! (╹▽╹)"

That explanation was as good as saying nothing. Narak could only rely on himself to keep exploring, persisting every day in communicating with the Zanpakuto.

To that end, Narak even thought it was because he wasn't sincere enough. So for a while, he would bathe and burn incense every day before calling out, but nothing changed.

Later on, he even placed the Zanpakuto on an incense altar and kowtowed to it with utmost reverence, but the Zanpakuto still gave him no response.

And that scene of him kowtowing happened to be seen by Hyuga Hiashi passing by, which made Hiashi feel utterly unsettled.

"My eldest son... could he have something wrong with his head? Why is he starting to kowtow to a sword... Have I been too harsh on him lately, causing him so much stress that he's lost his mind... This won't do. Narak is the hope of my Hyuga Clan. He absolutely can't go crazy... No, I need to have a good talk with him and relieve his pressure..."

So, for the next few days, Hiashi stopped Narak's training and fussed over him with constant care and attention. At first, Narak thought Hiashi had taken the wrong medicine, but later, when he learned the reason, his face instantly darkened.

Someone actually saw me doing something that embarrassing? Should I silence them? Forget it, forget it—that's my old man. Hold it in!

Calming down, Narak called out to the Zanpakuto, expecting it to be another futile attempt like before. But the next moment, he felt a pulse from the Zanpakuto in his hand.

Joy surged in Narak's heart. Was this... a response from the Zanpakuto?

Overflowing with excitement, Narak seized that pulse and strengthened the connection along it.

The next instant, Narak felt his consciousness pulled into a pitch-black space.

Looking around at the space, everything was dark, and a sphere-like object floated before him.

"What's this? Is this the true form of my Zanpakuto? Then what should I call it? Ball? Egg?"

Narak stared curiously at the sphere in front of him, but it gave no response.

So, unable to resist, Narak reached out and poked the sphere.

"Boom!" The moment his finger touched it, the sphere burst open.

At the instant of the explosion, Narak seemed to hear a deafening, earth-shattering roar that shook his very soul, yet it also felt like he heard nothing at all, as if the roar was just an auditory hallucination.

Narak felt dizzy and disoriented, instinctively reaching out to hold his head to ease the vertigo.

The burst sphere turned into a wave spreading in all directions, instantly illuminating the once-dark space into a riot of colorful light.

With his consciousness still hazy, Narak thought it was over, but the next moment, the colorful light surged, and a vast land appeared under his feet, extending outward, growing larger and larger until it stretched beyond sight.

"What... is this?" Narak stood there dumbfounded.

Wait, that's not right? Other people's Zanpakuto are either humanoid, animal-shaped, or at least a consciousness entity. Why is mine a ball? And it bursts with just a poke? What, too much air pumped in, so it exploded?

And that scene just now—didn't it look exactly like the creation of heaven and earth?

"Hey... Ball, are you still there?"

"Ignoring me? Then... Egg, are you there?"

"Not answering either? Then what's your name? Give me a response. You pulled me in here but won't tell me your name—what's the point of giving me a cigarette without a light?" Narak shouted in the consciousness space.

"Host, stop yelling. The Zanpakuto won't respond to you anymore, because in that instant just now, it has perished."

The system, which had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

"Uh... System, what do you mean? Perished? The Zanpakuto's spirit perishing—doesn't that mean... my Zanpakuto is destroyed?" Narak asked the system in panic.

After all, a large part of a Shinigami's strength depends on their Zanpakuto. If Narak's Zanpakuto was ruined, it would have a huge impact on his future growth.

"No, host. Your Zanpakuto can be said to have perished, but it can also be said not to have perished."

Hearing the system's unclear explanation, Narak was even more confused.

"Cough, cough, System bro, can you be clearer? I understand every word you say, but when you string them together, I can't quite follow..."

"By 'perished,' I mean that in that instant, the Zanpakuto's original consciousness dissipated. As for why it hasn't perished—that's because this system, at the moment of its dissolution, merged the Zanpakuto's inherent abilities with the host's soul. In other words, from this moment on, the host yourself are the Zanpakuto's consciousness," the system explained patiently.

"I am the Zanpakuto's consciousness?"

"Correct. Originally, for a Shinigami to gain the Zanpakuto's power, they needed to converse and synchronize with it. The higher the compatibility, the stronger the power they could unleash. But now that the host has merged with the Zanpakuto, the two are one and the same. The Zanpakuto's power is the host's power."

Narak finally understood what the system meant, but another question arose.

"System, why did my Zanpakuto's consciousness perish?"

"Because it was too weak to begin with."