Your Excellency Is Strong, but My Art Style Is Above Yours!

Kurotsuchi Mayuri narrowed his eyes. "I don't know where you heard about it, but that technology has indeed been approved as a project... Though that's all. Actual results are still far off, and I'm not even the one in charge of it."

"Then who is?"

"Our Vice-Captain, Hikifune Kirio... Ah, and one other annoying fellow."

"Is that so? Then forget it. I won't force the issue if it doesn't exist." Iori could roughly guess who Mayuri meant—Urahara Kisuke.

A "Gigai" was an artificial body capable of housing Shinigami souls, allowing a Shinigami to move about the Living World in physical form. Humans could see, touch, and even communicate with them.

Iori had always been interested in it, but since it had not been developed yet, he could only set the matter aside for now.

"You really are a strange one. Plenty of people come to me for private work, with all sorts of requests. I've seen my share of shady business, but your commissions always leave me with an inexplicable feeling."

Mayuri frowned. "You aren't even going to the Living World. What do you need a Gigai for?"

"I'm just interested. Lots of people buy dolls to take home too, don't they?"

Iori gave a bright laugh.

Do you expect me to tell you that I transmigrated?

Time Was About to Accelerate!

As mentioned before, the CGs collected by the Catalog System fell into four categories: ordinary, bond, Art Style, and plot. Art Style CGs undoubtedly offered the greatest boost in strength, but when it came to the lowest drop rate, that would have to be plot CGs.

After all, Iori had only gotten one in several years...

When Iori officially entered the Soul Reaper Academy and became a "Candidate Shinigami," he received a plot CG. Its reward was a gate fixed to a certain other world.

Naturally, Iori valued something so convenient. In his previous life, he had read quite a few novels about interdimensional traders, so he understood just how fortunate it was to possess a passage between two worlds.

However, after personally trying it out, he discovered several limitations. It was not nearly as convenient as he had imagined.

The first limitation concerned the crossing itself. Iori could only bring through things that he was physically touching and that belonged to him. The judgment was based on Iori's subjective perception—his true thoughts, not merely saying, "This is mine."

The second issue was time.

Time flowed at the same rate in both worlds, while Iori could not split himself in two. If he stayed too long in another world, it would inevitably arouse suspicion on the Bleach side.

Never mind Yuki Aizen—Soul Reaper Academy would notice if one of its students kept mysteriously disappearing. Even if he could handle everyone else, what if word reached old man Yamamoto, the honorary dean... Heh!

If those first two were merely minor problems that could be solved by learning more from the "Ancient Fat Tiger King" and "Time Management Master Emiya," then the final issue was far more troublesome:

Iori was a spirit body!

Everyone in Soul Society could eat, drink, sleep, and even marry and have children as usual, so people generally did not realize it, but they truly had no physical bodies!

Until Iori obtained Gigai technology or power similar to Type-Moon's Third Magic—materialization of the soul—he would remain a spirit body rather than possessing flesh.

Under the Bleach setting, Shinigami could touch objects in the material world, but humans could neither hear their voices nor see their forms, except for those with exceptionally high spiritual sensitivity.

(This had its advantages too. Uh, invisible human... and so on.)

But that was because the theme of Bleach was "souls"!

Even the human world possessed relatively abundant Reishi, while Soul Society was simply composed entirely of Reishi.

Most other worlds, however, did not favor spirit bodies or souls!

Fantasy worlds or worlds with supernatural powers were manageable. In settings like Dragon Ball or Type-Moon, souls could even return to the Living World to participate in martial arts tournaments.

But in relatively low-magic worlds, it became quite inconvenient for spirit bodies like Iori to act:

The main issue was that it was difficult to replenish Reishi or similar energy from the outside world. Without a physical body, he also could not sustain himself by directly consuming calories, leaving him in the awkward situation where every bit of power used was one bit less remaining.

Iori went to other worlds to travel, adventure, and seek power. If he instead left himself weak and exhausted, that would be completely counterproductive~

The world tied to the plot CG in Iori's possession did contain ghost-related elements, but their overall influence was limited. The natural environment was also extremely lacking in Reishi, with only places like battlefields containing somewhat more. It would be very difficult for Iori to move freely there.

—Those were the objective problems.

But as a mature-minded man, Iori naturally would not resign himself to fate. Instead, he actively searched for solutions.

Fortunately, Shinigami had long lifespans, and Iori was also a patient person. After repeating who knew how many attempts, he finally solved the last problem not long ago.

First was the issue of carrying items across worlds. That was not a major concern. If he had the chance to acquire spatial storage items in the future, he could naturally bring more things without being restricted by the condition of "physical contact."

Then there were the time and spirit-body issues... Iori had burned plenty of brain cells before a flash of inspiration gave him a solution.

By the time he left Kurotsuchi Mayuri and returned to the Spirit Art Academy, it was already late. Iori lived in a single room, so he did not need to worry about disturbing a roommate. After eating a little, he closed the door, put out the lights, and made it look as though he were going to sleep.

In reality, he felt around in the darkness and retrieved a square box from a hidden compartment in the corner. Opening it, he took out something that looked like a flashlight.

Iori operated it with great familiarity. He gripped both ends and twisted them in opposite directions. Amid a series of interlocking gear sounds, he silently counted to seventeen, then shifted his hands and continued twisting...

After doing this three times in succession and entering different numbers each time, the "flashlight" finally activated. The disk at its tip began spinning continuously, and a strange power seeped into the surrounding space, raising ripples visible to the naked eye!

The space before Iori seemed to gain substance, like a black curtain slowly being stirred. Those lines formed a spiraling vortex that eventually became a hollow opening tall enough for a person to pass through!

By the starlight and moonlight spilling in through the window, Iori's sharp vision could see that the hollow was unimaginably deep, leading to somewhere unknown.

—A Senkaimon!

This was the gate Bleach used to travel between Soul Society and the human world. The relevant technology was already highly developed in Soul Society, and as an Officer of the Twelfth Division, Kurotsuchi Mayuri naturally had access to it. Learning it was not difficult for him.

However, this thing was strictly forbidden in Seireitei. Private ownership was prohibited!

When Shinigami went to the human world on missions, they generally used the large public Senkaimon shared by the Thirteenth Division.

Other than that, only certain ancient noble families possessed additional Senkaimon.

For someone like Iori, who wanted one exclusively for himself and intended to use it whenever he pleased... Kurotsuchi Mayuri was probably the only one daring enough to accept such a commission!

The device Mayuri made was small and could only allow one person through, but its Reishi fluctuation was also extremely faint, roughly comparable to practicing low-level Kido. In a place like the Spirit Art Academy, no one would notice it at all.

Of course, Iori was not using the Senkaimon to travel to the human world and slay demons in defense of justice. He had other plans...

After putting the device away in his clothes, Iori looked at the Senkaimon that was about to disappear and decisively jumped inside.

After a brief spell of dizziness, the scenery around him shifted like the turning of stars. In the blink of an eye, even the faint moonlight had vanished. Even with a Shinigami's eyesight, he could only make out vague outlines.

The environment here could be summed up in one sentence:

There was nothing.

The only things visible were a narrow one-way passage and unidentified sludge-like substances secreted from the walls on every side.

This was not the human world, but the unavoidable passage leading to it—the gap between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the human world—

The Dangai!

The Dangai was the crack between worlds. Multiple layers of separated spaces overlapped here, while torrents of time surrounded it on all sides, creating an extremely unique environment. Anyone wishing to travel between the three realms had to pass through this place.

Looking at this familiar location, Iori curled his lips slightly. He was going to cross into another world here!

The reason was simple:

The time density inside the Dangai was overwhelmingly greater than outside. In numbers, it was two thousand times greater!

In other words, while one year passed outside, two thousand years would pass in the Dangai.

He had already verified his hypothesis. If he crossed worlds from within the Dangai, then the days he spent in the other world would correspond to the time within the Dangai!

If he spent two thousand hours in another world, then used the Dangai as a transit point to return to Soul Society, only one hour would have passed there!

Moreover, after returning, Iori only needed to make one direct crossing "from Soul Society to the other world," skipping the Dangai step, and the flow of time between the two worlds would readjust to a one-to-one ratio.

Then Iori summarized a rule:

Time in another world always corresponded one-to-one with the world from which he crossed through the plot CG.

When Iori traveled from the Dangai to another world, Dangai: other world equaled 1:1.

The ratio between the Dangai and Soul Society was 2000:1. Since Iori entered Soul Society through a Senkaimon, he did not alter the ratio between the Dangai and Soul Society. Thus, the situation of "one day in Soul Society equals two thousand days in another world" occurred.

When Iori used a plot CG to cross directly from Soul Society into another world, the flow of time on both sides corresponded again, returning to one-to-one.

Simply put, as long as he followed the sequence "Soul Society—Dangai—other world—Dangai—Soul Society," he could successfully accelerate time in the other world by two thousand times. Two thousand days in another world would equal only one day in Soul Society!

Afterward, one more crossing of "Soul Society—other world—Soul Society" would restore the time flow to equality: one day in Soul Society would equal one day in the other world.

—This was to prevent the human tragedy of spending only a few days in Soul Society while all his acquaintances in the other world grew old and died.

When Iori first discovered this time equation, he had been ecstatic. Still, afraid of causing paradoxes, he did not continue researching nested applications of it, lest he drown himself in the river of time.

But it had undoubtedly solved his greatest problem:

How could he adventure in another world for long periods without arousing anyone's suspicions?

At the same time, a somewhat tragic thought surfaced in his heart:

If I'd had a cheat like this in my previous life, I wouldn't have had to worry about homework or papers, would I?

Top students? I'd grind them all into the dirt!

"Phew..."

After adjusting his mindset, Iori closed his eyes and slowly extended his right hand. With a slight movement of thought, a hazy, brilliant multicolored light appeared at his fingertips like an invisible gemstone, then gently enveloped his entire body.

"Attention, time is about to accelerate!"

Bounty Hunter: Faceless One

Warm sunlight shone into the forest. Lush green leaves rustled in the wind, while occasional birdsong rang out, ethereal and beautiful.

Suddenly, specks of light appeared beneath the shade of the trees, rapidly expanding into a blurry human silhouette emitting a faint glow. The light then receded, revealing a handsome youth.

No one was around, so no startled cries arose. But even if this had happened in a crowded marketplace, most people would have only felt something flash at the corner of their eyes, unable to see what had truly happened.

That was because this youth was Iori Aizen, who had crossed over from Bleach. As a spirit body, he existed outside ordinary human perception.

Crack~

He stepped on a dead branch, producing a faint snapping sound. Along with the solid sensation of touching the ground, it reminded Iori that he had returned to this familiar world once again.

He looked around, then slowly nodded.

The location had not changed. It was where he had left from.

"The air is as fresh as ever... and as barren as ever." Iori took a deep breath and could not help sighing.

"Barren" might not have seemed like the right word to describe air, but Iori was referring to the Reishi density in the atmosphere.

Of course, this world might not use that term. Whether it was called mana, essence, soul power, spirits, or something else, the meaning was the same.

Compared to Soul Society, where all matter was made of Reishi, this place was practically a desert of Reishi. There was very little free Reishi in the atmosphere. Ivan was like a resident of the plains suddenly moving to the Himalayas—every breath made him feel that "thinness."

Iori could not even maintain a balance between income and expenditure here. Every moment, he consumed his stored spiritual pressure. Though the loss was slight, it became impossible to ignore over time. Even while idle, it was like this. If he entered combat, it would be even worse. He was only a little better off than Ultraman with his three-minute limit.

Activating a plot CG to cross worlds took around ten seconds and could not be interrupted.

That meant he could normally return to Soul Society to restore his spiritual pressure, but it would not be easy to withdraw during battle. Once his spiritual pressure ran dry...

Fortunately, compared to the issue of "time flow," this problem was much easier to solve. It did not require a natural wonder like the Dangai. Human ingenuity alone was enough.

The Killing Aura Stone talisman he got from Kurotsuchi Mayuri did far more than conceal his presence.

Killing Aura Stone could break down weak spiritual energy fluctuations, but it did not erase spiritual energy at its source. It merely dispersed it into free Reishi.

Iori's requirement for Mayuri had been to use Seireitei's protective barriers as a reference. When the complete set of talismans was worn in a particular sequence and arrangement, it would form a barrier around his body that blocked Reishi fluctuations, containing the Reishi naturally leaking from Iori while he was idle and greatly reducing the rate at which his spiritual pressure was consumed.

That way, Iori's standby time would multiply.

However, this barrier would also interfere with Kido casting, so it had to be removed in battle.

Furthermore, although the Reishi concentration in this world was very low, there were occasionally objects that had gathered considerable Reishi. By using such items in battle, he could greatly reduce the loss of spiritual pressure.

As long as he collected enough Reishi-infused objects and kept himself in peak condition at all times, he would have nothing to fear even if he encountered a troublesome enemy.

After all, Flash Step was an escape god-skill in most settings!

"Was it this way?"

After checking his bearings, Iori went around to the eastern side of the shade. After searching carefully for a moment, he brushed aside a layer of fallen leaves and gathered spiritual pressure in both hands like shovels, digging through the shallow soil. Before long, he pulled out an iron box two feet long and one foot wide.

He had entered and exited this world several times, spending roughly half a year here in total. Although the environment prevented him from training Zanpakuto, Hakuda, Kido, he had collected quite a few external possessions while exploring.

However, as material objects, these things could not be taken directly into Soul Society, a place where only Reishi was permitted to exist. Otherwise, they would dissolve as if dropped into strong acid—just as Ichigo Kurosaki and the others had needed to convert their physical bodies into spirit bodies before sneaking into Soul Society in the original story.

(Of course, that did not mean this world lacked things worth taking.)

Thus, he had established several supply points in this world. The box contained only ordinary items useful for getting around, so he had casually buried it in the ground.