The Soul Disappearance Incident!

Natsuki was, in truth, a person of very delicate sensibilities.

After his previous life left him unable to engage in strenuous exercise, the torment of chronic illness had honed his sensitivity, making him increasingly attentive to the attitudes and thoughts of those around him.

This time, following his unexpected encounter with Azashiro Kenpachi, Natsuki realized immediately that the man was harboring secrets unknown to others.

His appearance in the Rukon District was by no means a coincidence.

However, Natsuki had no intention of prying into Azashiro Kenpachi's secrets.

Everyone possessed their own private matters, and there was no need to get to the bottom of everything. Much like Natsuki himself, who harbored his own secret—the fact that he was a "transmigrator."

Returning to the Seireitei, Natsuki first headed to the 11th Division to report the mission status to the lieutenant, Gosu. He did not mention his encounter with Azashiro Kenpachi.

Once the handover was complete, Natsuki returned to training within the 11th Division.

His life was, in fact, quite monotonous.

Perhaps because he had witnessed the helplessness of Shinigamis against Menos Grande shortly after arriving in this world, and subsequently saw many members of the Expeditionary Force die in battle, his primary goal was to strive to improve his strength. Only with sufficient power could he survive in this dangerous world.

As for the future, whether his goals would change was a matter for another time.

Time slipped away quietly.

In the blink of an eye, several more months had passed.

For Shinigamis living within the Seireitei, a few months was an incredibly brief span of time.

Because of the long lifespans of Shinigamis, social progress in the Soul Society was exceptionally slow.

During these months, aside from helping Gosu with division affairs, Natsuki spent his time oscillating between hunting Hollows and training. He did not find it tedious; on the contrary, he could feel his own progress.

If nothing else, he had finally broken through that final barrier during this period.

He had successfully mastered the Shikai of his Zanpakuto. It sounded unbelievable.

As a 3rd Seat, Natsuki had not even mastered his Shikai.

But when one considered that this was the 11th Division, it didn't seem strange at all.

In the original story, the captain of the 11th Division, Zaraki Kenpachi, had not mastered his Shikai even as a captain. For a 3rd Seat like Natsuki to be unable to master it was perfectly normal.

"Natsuki, take a look at this document."

In the captain's office, Azashiro Kenpachi was, as always, absent.

Beside the captain's desk was the desk of the lieutenant, Gosu. He was currently sitting behind it, handling tedious division paperwork, while Natsuki acted as his assistant.

As Gosu signed various documents, he suddenly pulled out a new report and handed it to Natsuki.

After months of working together, their relationship had grown familiar; they no longer addressed each other by rank, but by their given names.

Natsuki took the report and began to read.

The content was simple: the 12th Division had recently detected a large-scale disappearance of souls in the Rukon District. Suspecting a conspiracy—whether caused by Hollows or something else—they had reported it to the 1st Division. The 1st Division had then drafted an official directive for the entire Gotei 13, ordering all Shinigamis to remain vigilant. If they discovered similar incidents while on duty in the Rukon District, they were to report it immediately without hesitation.

"I will relay this to the members."

After reading the document and understanding Gosu's intent, Natsuki spoke immediately.

Gosu said nothing more.

After helping Gosu process the paperwork and easing some of his burden, Natsuki went to convey the report's contents to the members of the 11th Division. He told them to keep an eye out, though whether the members of the 11th Division would actually listen was something Natsuki couldn't be sure of.

After all, they were a bunch of brutes.

Shortly after finishing these tasks, news arrived of a Menos Grande appearing in the Rukon District.

Without a word, Natsuki—the highest-ranking officer present aside from the captain and lieutenant—set out.

He did not bring any other members as backup; if it were an ordinary Menos Grande, Natsuki alone was sufficient.

If it were a mid-level or high-level Menos, well, Natsuki had now mastered his Shikai. Once he used it, the outcome would be hard to predict.

It was the same wilderness of the Rukon District.

Hollows seemed to prefer choosing such areas for their arrival.

Hollows that descended directly into the central areas of the Rukon District were few and far between.

It wasn't that they didn't exist, but such Hollows were usually detected and dealt with by Shinigamis before they could cause any damage to the central districts.

No, rather, any Hollow whose arrival caused a significant disturbance would be detected by the Gotei 13, who would then dispatch Shinigamis to handle it.

However, Hueco Mundo was simply too vast. Among the countless Hollows, special ones occasionally appeared—either possessing immense power or unique abilities that allowed them to bypass the Gotei 13's monitoring devices, thereby causing massive destruction within the Soul Society.

This was the reason why, even with early warnings, the Gotei 13 still suffered casualties from time to time, and why even captains could fall in battle.

"Puff!"

With a single strike, a Gillian that had just descended into the Soul Society was cut down by Natsuki before it could even display its terrifying power as a Menos Grande to the nearby civilians of the Rukon District.

Bang!

The towering body collapsed to the ground. To accelerate the dissipation of the Gillian's corpse, Natsuki followed up with a Ghost Way spell, burning the remains until nothing was left.

Although the corpse would have eventually dissipated into reishi on its own if left there, there was no telling if any ordinary souls might wander nearby and come into contact with it during the interim.

Should the Hollow's power accidentally infect an ordinary soul, it would be far from a good thing.

Even if the probability was minuscule, Natsuki still took it into account.

He passed through the Rukon District, heading back toward the Seireitei.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but the area where Natsuki had engaged the Hollow was not far from where he had first met Azashiro Kenpachi in the Rukon District. As he traveled, he could not help but think back to that report.

It seemed the locations where the soul disappearances had occurred were also within these very sectors.

It was while he was on his way back that Natsuki keenly sensed a familiar Reiatsu.

Even though the Reiatsu was extremely faint, almost non-existent, to Natsuki—who possessed an exceptionally unique Zanpakuto capable of absorbing reishi to boost its master's spiritual power even in its Asauchi state, and whose Spiritual Perception was honed to the absolute limit—this trace of Reiatsu was still as conspicuous as a beacon in the night.

"Azashiro Kenpachi, does this incident have anything to do with you?"