Soul Reapers and Zanpakuto

In the pitch-black space, Ichiro's appearance brought light to the world, but its reach was limited to about two meters.

Ichiro slowly opened his eyes. He raised a hand and puzzledly examined his body. If he remembered correctly, his body should have been in absolutely terrible shape. Forget standing—just being alive was already a blessing. Then he looked around and finally understood what was happening.

This was probably his Mental World, but unlike the last time he had entered it, there were no specks of light filling the sky, only endless darkness.

"Sigh..."

Ichiro sighed. He more or less knew why this had happened...

A Soul Reaper's Mental World reflected their state of mind. For example, when Ichigo was sad or confused in the original story, it would rain in his Mental World. When he was utterly lost, it could even turn into an underwater world!

But Ichiro's situation was a little different. He wasn't lost. There was only one reason his Mental World had become like this: his Zanpakuto had deliberately severed its connection with him...

Sighing again, Ichiro slowly walked through the dark space. To be honest, he deeply regretted what had happened, because it hadn't been his intention. Otherwise, he would have mastered Shikai through this method long ago.

Anything he could do while in Absolute Reason, he could do normally too. The only difference was the level of precision. Even so, he hadn't chosen this crude approach.

Instead, he had planned to keep studying Zanpakuto, then imitate Shikai without relying on one.

It wasn't impossible. In his research, Ichiro had discovered that Shikai and Bankai were primarily made up of two elements: an increase in spiritual pressure and an evolution of the sword.

The increase in spiritual pressure was simple to understand. After a Soul Reaper spent years pouring spiritual pressure into an Asauchi, it became something much like them. When they released Shikai, a certain circuit formed between the Soul Reaper and their Zanpakuto, linking their spiritual pressure. Once Shikai was complete, the Soul Reaper's spiritual pressure increased by two to five times, depending on how fully the circuit had formed. Bankai formed a more complete circuit, increasing it by six to ten times.

But this increase wasn't permanent. Once the circuit between a Zanpakuto and its Soul Reaper had formed, it wouldn't disappear. Through this circuit, the Soul Reaper's spiritual pressure would grow rapidly for a period of time. Once their normal spiritual pressure reached the level of their released spiritual pressure, the increase would disappear.

But that didn't mean Zanpakuto became useless!

Shikai and Bankai strengthened a Soul Reaper in two ways. The first was spiritual pressure. The other was the sword itself.

Shikai elevated the Zanpakuto's power, producing all kinds of abilities. Bankai took that a step further. Of course, some Soul Reapers' Bankai became less useful in combat even as their power increased—like Soi Fon's Zanpakuto...

Shikai was a Two-Step Kill: against an opponent with similar spiritual pressure, if your technique was better and you could hit the same spot twice, you won. Bankai turned it into a One-Step Kill, but... turning an assassin into an artillery platform... you get the idea... even worse than that bald guy from Squad Eleven...

Still, most Bankai became stronger overall.

So Ichiro had naturally set his sights on this. Once he solved the problem of increasing spiritual pressure, Shikai and Bankai were, at their core, just the evolution of a sword.

In other words, if Ichiro could imitate Shikai and Bankai by replicating their spiritual-pressure boost, then make all kinds of Zanpakuto, he could wield all sorts of Shikai and Bankai!

Hmm... sound familiar? That's right, Ichiro had stolen the idea from the fanfiction he'd read in his first life. But in those stories, the Zanpakuto themselves could copy other swords. Ichiro, on the other hand, would use his technical skills to build new ones. The result was the same, but the process was different.

It seemed quite feasible. After all, everything in the Soul Society was made of Reishi, and Zanpakuto were no exception. Another reason Ichiro felt confident was the way Zanpakuto were classified in the Soul Society.

As everyone knew, Zanpakuto fell into five categories: rule-based, illusion-based, Kidō-type, slashing, and healing. Setting aside the other four, let's focus on Kidō-type Zanpakuto.

Why were they called Kidō-type?

Because their effects were similar to Kido, but they were more convenient.

So if I built a sword with the same effect, would that count as a copy?

That was what Ichiro thought, and that was what he did. By analyzing and disassembling an Asauchi, he had more or less mastered the imitation of Shikai's spiritual-pressure boost. And with his vast knowledge of Kido, he had already built the beginnings of a Kidō-type Zanpakuto. Though it couldn't really be called a Zanpakuto yet—just a weapon. He still didn't understand some key details, so he had stopped working on it.

That was also how things had grown cold between Ichiro and his own Zanpakuto...

Simply put, if Shikai was like pursuing a girl, most people would keep talking to her every day, act like her lapdog, and eventually win her over. But not Ichiro!

He wanted the girl, but he wouldn't fawn over her!

So what did he do?

He found someone—or something—that resembled the girl: a sword. Then he analyzed it, even dissected it, figured out how it was put together, and tried to win her over by satisfying her physical needs...

Naturally, his Zanpakuto grew distant from him. But Ichiro didn't really mind. The relationship between a Soul Reaper and their Zanpakuto was special, and he had only gone after other Zanpakuto. There was still a chance they could communicate again in the future—if this whole misunderstanding hadn't happened...

As he thought about it, Ichiro sighed again. This incident had made him consider burying the Absolute Reason skill for good.

No one was perfect, and no plan accounted for everything.

Setting things up in advance could solve some of the problems, but not all of them.

In his previous life, Ichiro had often used this ability because he was usually on his own, with no one else to worry about. But things were different now. The Soul Reaper system was unlike the State Alchemists'; working alone was practically impossible. Sooner or later, Absolute Reason would get him into even bigger trouble.

Though the trouble he was in now was already bad enough...

Thinking about it, Ichiro sighed again.

His instincts told him that if he kept walking, he would eventually meet his Zanpakuto. The question was how to persuade it... No, apologize!

"Sigh..."

Just as Ichiro sighed again, a resentful girl's voice suddenly rang out. After a brief pause, Ichiro turned toward the sound and saw a girl in court dress, hugging her knees. Her Zanpakuto rested across her shoulders, passing between her arms. Her eyes were slightly red, and she stared at Ichiro with a mournful look.

"What? Was stealing my power not enough? Are you planning to steal my Bankai too? Go ahead. Do whatever you want. Your Alchemy can do anything anyway..."

Ichiro felt awkward. He awkwardly wiped his hands on his clothes and said, "If I told you what just happened was an accident, would you believe me?"

"Heh. I believe you. Of course I do. It's just Bankai, right? Go on and take it. Just like before—use your Alchemy to take it."

With that, the girl closed her eyes and raised her chin, exposing her delicate neck, marked with red claw-like scratches.

As for the spiritual-pressure setting, I remember it being mentioned when Yoruichi trained Ichigo in Bankai. But strangely, I couldn't find anything about it online. Maybe it really was a subtitle group's mistranslation. I remember that in my bootleg DVDs, when the Visored appeared, the subtitles were full of over-the-top nonsense. Calling them the Visored was normal enough, but what they called Ichigo was freaking ridiculous. Hirako called him "His Majesty."