Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 165 - The Reason

"Did you hear? That first-year, Tsukishiro Hinamori. His Zanpakutō awakening failed."

"Seriously? Didn't he beat even the sixth-years? How could his awakening fail?"

"I don't know, I heard it from my classmate — he was in that group of trial-takers. Apparently fourteen people succeeded and six failed in that round, and Tsukishiro Hinamori was one of the six."

"That's strange. With his ability, it shouldn't have happened. He's the undisputed second-ranked student in the Academy."

"Who knows. He couldn't even learn Kidō, after all — he's only ever fought using swordsmanship and Shunpo. I'm not surprised he failed to awaken his Zanpakutō."

"A tree that stands taller than the forest will be cut down by the wind. Perhaps his brilliance will be buried from this moment on. You have to understand — after awakening a Zanpakutō, the user's Reiatsu gets a major boost depending on the individual. If he can't awaken his Zanpakutō, his glory might well stop here. What a waste. He took up a trial slot for nothing. If it had been me, I definitely would have succeeded."

"Hmph. You just can't reach the grapes so you're calling them sour, aren't you? He beat plenty of upperclassmen who had already awakened their Zanpakutō. Even without one, you're no match for him."

Throughout the Academy, rumors about Wayne spread quickly. Some felt sorry for him; others turned it into gossip.

For a time, Wayne once again became the talk of the entire Academy.

And it wasn't just within the Academy, word had reached the Shinigami divisions as well.

"Huh? You're saying Tsukishiro didn't awaken his Zanpakutō?" In the 10th Division barracks, Isshin Shiba's face was full of surprise. "He's so capable — how could his awakening have failed? I was convinced that once his Zanpakutō awakened, he'd instantly step into the lieutenant-level."

"Captain... what do we do now? I was really hoping to recruit Tsukishiro into our division." Rangiku slumped over the table, listless. She had never imagined that her drinking companion would fail at this particular hurdle.

"He already told you about that a long time ago, didn't he? He's not joining any division." Isshin scratched his head. "Although, I have a feeling I'm about to get impeached by a few of the old-timers below me. A guest elder I personally recruited, and his Zanpakutō awakening ends in failure — looks like I'll have to go back and do some explaining. Let's keep watching for now. After all, that kid shouldn't be the type who simply can't awaken. Maybe next time, maybe some day, he'll awaken it on his own."

"Alas... that's all we can hope for." Rangiku wore a downcast look, then shifted to business with her captain. "Oh, right, Captain — the sixth-year students have already gone to the living world for their graduation assessment. Should we send someone to monitor the situation?"

"We're the patrol corps, our job is patrolling and handling special incidents. Rescue and support are the 3rd and 5th Divisions' business." Isshin shook his head, dismissing Rangiku's suggestion. "There are no special instructions from above, so we don't need to go."

"Yes, sir."

At the same time, inside an izakaya, Iba and Ikkaku were drinking together.

"I heard Tsukishiro's awakening failed?" Iba said, swirling his cup.

"Yeah." Ikkaku nodded. "Word's gotten out already. I really didn't think that guy would fail. But it doesn't matter all that much, even without a Zanpakutō, Tsukishiro could still reach the top ten seats in our division. I think if the other divisions don't take him, Captain would be more than happy to accept him. After all, Captain himself can't release his Zanpakutō either."

"In some ways, Tsukishiro has a bit of Captain's style, though his fighting method is completely different."

"Eh... it doesn't matter." Ikkaku drained his cup in one long pull. "With Tsukishiro's talent, failing this time doesn't mean anything. Maybe next time he'll succeed."

"True enough." Iba raised his cup and drank deeply as well. "He's not someone we need to worry about."

"Speaking of which, Iba, how did your promotion go?"

"It's done." Iba tilted his head back and let out a long breath, as though he had just finished something that had been weighing on him enormously. "The day before yesterday, Captain Komamura met with me personally. He didn't just test my combat ability, he also asked about my views on Soul Society's future. I have Tsukishiro to thank for that. If he hadn't helped me put my own planning ideas into words, I probably wouldn't have passed Captain Komamura's test so easily."

"That kid is something else. He seems to be good at everything, except Kidō." At the thought of Wayne's complete inability to feel Kidō, the two of them broke into laughter without meaning to.

"Hahaha. Once Tsukishiro pulls himself out of the shadow of this failure, we'll have to sit down and share a proper drink with him."

"Yeah, definitely have to drink our fill with him!"

At the same moment.

"Ah... that kid actually failed. How unexpected." In the 5th Division barracks, Lieutenant Gin Ichimaru sat in his chair, leisurely sipping tea. "I was thinking about putting him through a proper assessment, but it seems that won't be necessary now."

"Someone who made it to the sixth-year finals without ever releasing his Zanpakutō, I think there's still reason to recruit him." Across from Ichimaru, Tōsen spoke up. "If there is no need to recruit him, then eliminate him. Lord Aizen's plan cannot afford even the slightest flaw."

"That won't be necessary. Keep him." At the head of the table, Sōsuke Aizen sat behind those glasses that could conceal everything, calmly practicing calligraphy.

"A child who hasn't even graduated from school doesn't warrant that level of concern from us."

"Yes, Lord Aizen."

"A supremely gifted student who failed to awaken his Zanpakutō, perhaps he has the same constitution as Captain Zaraki. And given the abilities he has already displayed, having him participate in our experiments would likely be a fine choice."

"Oh?" A flicker of surprise crossed Gin Ichimaru's face. "But he can't be hypnotized by you. And planting the seed of Hollowfication doesn't seem like it would be easy either."

"That's fine." Aizen's expression remained composed. "The sixth-year assessment has already begun, we simply continue with the experiments. As for Tsukishiro Hinamori, we can use this as an opportunity to test his character. If it does not align with our ambitions, I will forcibly plant the seed in him." With that, Aizen changed the subject. "Gin, how are preparations coming along for your promotion to captain of the 3rd Division?"

"I have no issues." Gin touched the Zanpakutō at his hip. "I've already achieved fairly reliable control over my Bankai. I've been completing many assignments lately. The application form has already been filled out."

"Good." Aizen set down his brush and looked over at Gin. "Then let this experiment serve as the final capstone task for your promotion."

"Oh? Lord Aizen, you mean to..."

"Yes." Aizen nodded. "This time, we will release an Adjuchas-level Hollow to participate in the assessment."

"My, my, those students taking the assessment won't make it out alive." Gin shrugged. "I believe one of the children we have our eye on is in this assessment group. His name was... Kitagawa Sawa, I think?"

"The stronger the Hollow, the more it demonstrates your worth. There will always be sacrifices in the direction our plan takes. Besides, that child seems fixated on becoming a teacher at Shin'ō Academy. I have already hinted at it many times, but his inner intentions have never changed. Let him become the stepping stone for your promotion to captain."

"Heh... Lord Aizen really does have a wicked heart." Gin remarked, half-complaint, half-amusement.

"Everything is for the sake of our plan, is it not. Go ahead and do it. Gin. Tōsen."

"Yes, my lord."

"Yes, my lord."

Whether at the Academy or in the Shinigami divisions, everyone was busy talking about Wayne's situation.

And the subject of it all was, at this very moment, holed up in the 4th Division barracks eating watermelon with Mizusue.

"You know, did you really fail the awakening?" Mizusue sat across from Wayne, mumbling around a mouthful of watermelon as she questioned him.

"Yes, really." Wayne was equally muffled. "If my Zanpakutō had awakened, my Reiatsu would have spiked instantly. You saw it yourself, ma'am. Did I look like someone whose Reiatsu just spiked?"

"That's true... but why do I get the feeling you're not the least bit flustered?"

"Flustered about what?" Wayne tilted his head. "There are still six years until graduation. No rush, take it slow." With that, Wayne went back to eating his watermelon.

"You little, come clean with me right now. What is actually going on?" Mizusue suddenly slapped the table and leaned toward Wayne. She simply did not believe this genius would genuinely fail to awaken his Zanpakutō. "I've already filed your recruitment application. Without a Zanpakutō, you have no qualification to enter the 4th Division, not even your excellent Kaido skills will change that. If you don't explain yourself clearly, I won't let this go."

"Uh..." Wayne sweated. "Alright, alright. The thing is... it's like this."

One month ago, Wayne had entered the world of his Zanpakutō. It looked like Hueco Mundo. Even though it was a construct, Wayne could still recognize it as Hueco Mundo. Yet there were no living creatures there, no Hollows, only a pitch-black night sky, a crescent moon, and vast stretches of white sand and withered trees.

In order to find his Zanpakutō spirit, Wayne walked through Hueco Mundo for a long time, but its expanse was far too great for Wayne to cover in a single month. Even using Shunpo to travel made no difference. On top of that, Wayne had to search area by area.

And so Wayne walked through the desolate desert for most of that month, yet still found no trace of any living presence. Gradually, as time wore on, walking through that endless sea of sand, he began to feel a creeping sense of desolation. That feeling was like returning to the very beginning, when he first arrived in Hueco Mundo, hunting alone, fleeing alone, fighting alone. In his eyes back then, every living thing was an enemy. That loneliness, that isolation, it was all he could perceive in that moment.

Gradually, Wayne sensed that something was wrong. He stopped and walked no further.

"This isn't how it should be." Wayne pushed away the loneliness that kept invading his mind unbidden. "This isn't right. Even in Hueco Mundo, there shouldn't be absolutely no trace of life. This place... isn't Hueco Mundo. It's somewhere else. Or rather, it's a place that looks a great deal like Hueco Mundo." Wayne stood still, scanning his surroundings, searching for any shred of evidence to support his conclusion. Even so, after seven days and seven nights, he still couldn't find a single clue.

By this point, his sense that something was deeply wrong had only grown stronger.

In previous visits, he had also been within Hueco Mundo, but that hazy amber mist had always been nearby, it never went far. At the very least, it always stayed somewhere within his line of sight. But now, Wayne could find no trace of it at all. Even in the Cave of Trials, manifesting his Zanpakutō spirit world more clearly and making this sea of sand more expansive should not have produced a situation like this.

"No, wait, think back carefully. Last time, he wanted to reach out and touch me. But we were blocked by something invisible. That repelling force was like the obstruction of a law, as though we existed in two separate worlds." Wayne stood still, thinking.

"Maybe the problem lies with that wall of force. What exactly is that thing?" He thought carefully, recalling the scene, recalling the moment when the two of them were about to make contact, and that wall of force stood as an insurmountable gulf between them.

"A wall of force that repels, a resistance that pushes back, impossible to cross... a binding seal?" Wayne recalled that when Yagami China had helped him construct the underground space, she had casually had her people lay out four binding-seal formations seven or eight meters beneath the grounds of his residence. The four formations combined into a single invisible seal, like the Seireitei's walls made of spirit-suppressing stone, utterly impossible to break through.

"If it's a seal, it truly can't be forced through. The Cave of Trials amplifies and manifests the entire Zanpakutō spirit world, so is it possible that what was once just a seal blocking me has, under these amplified conditions, grown into a spatial seal? That's why there's no trace of life here, and why I can't find him."

"I recall Yagami China once mentioning that the seal she casually made for me has four cores, that's an inherent property of every seal. As long as the cores are destroyed, the binding of the spatial seal can be broken. And core points are usually one of a kind, making them easy to find. So seal-masters generally use concealment to hide the existence of the cores. But here..."

Wayne looked out again across the vast sea of sand. There was nothing here that could be called truly one of a kind... except...

Lost in thought, Wayne suddenly looked up. In the pitch-black sky above, a crescent moon still hung at the horizon. There was no starlight, only the pale glow of the moon shining down upon him.

"I hope... my thinking is right." With those words, Wayne let out a long breath, fixed his gaze on the moon with steady resolve, then activated Shunpo step after step, pressing forward in the direction of the moon.

The moon is, by nature, something impossibly out of reach, but the moon in this place was different. As Wayne moved, it grew larger and larger before his eyes.

After a long while, Wayne arrived beside the moon. The enormous luminous crescent shone so brightly it stung his eyes, even through the single-bar ink-black sunglasses he still wore.

"Don't disappoint me." Wayne reached out to touch it, yet before he could make contact with the crescent, an invisible force pushed him back, preventing him from advancing even a single step. Without hesitation, Wayne drew the Zanpakutō at his hip and brought it down in a single slash against the invisible seal.

"Break!"

CRACK!

With that single slash filled to the brim with Reiatsu, the barrier before the crescent moon shattered apart. The cracks spread wider and wider at tremendous speed, and then the sky itself began to crack, the ground began to collapse, and countless shards like broken glass exploded outward, shattering the entire space into a fractured world.

BOOM!

Finally, the world collapsed. Countless fragments dissolved into particles of light and vanished into the far end of the galaxy. Wayne's vision was completely consumed by brilliant moonlight, and an invisible force reached out and pulled him free, drawing him into an entirely different space.

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