Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 98 - My Name Is—Muramasa

"Oh, oh... so this is what it looks like inside a Garganta!"

The surroundings were pitch black. Beneath his feet, a blue pathway condensed from his own spiritual pressure. With a single shift of will, it dissolved, replaced by a shield of light that carried him automatically toward his destination.

"As expected, Hirenkyaku really comes in handy at a time like this."

He nodded to himself. The scenery never changed, but Ichigo knew clearly that he was moving fast, faster than his own two feet, and considerably more stylish.

"Come to think of it, is this also the Dangai? If a proper Soul Reaper traveled this route... it feels pretty different from the space the Valley of Screams is in."

The Dangai opened by the Garganta was nothing like the one he'd passed through before, the one with Koryu and Kototsu. It seemed that depending on the dimension, the Dangai separating them differed as well.

"The space is really stable..."

Having survived the Valley of Screams crisis firsthand, Ichigo took his time surveying the space around him. The Valley of Screams was something else entirely, a void, pure and structureless, nothing like this Dangai space, which felt almost artificially constructed. The former had been saturated with danger and chaos. This was far safer.

"Looking at it this way, the Soul King who divided the Three Realms really was something else..."

Even Ichigo, who felt his own power had reached its fullest maturity, couldn't help but marvel at that. He didn't know what he was truly capable of at full output, but dividing the Three Realms, a feat on par with an act of creation? He had a feeling that was beyond even him.

"So then... if it's really as Sosuke Aizen said—that the Soul King now exists as nothing more than a torso, serving as a wedge to stabilize the Three Realms—then just how was a being with that kind of power reduced to that state?"

Let the clock wind back a little. Before Ichigo had clashed with the Espada, three figures had entered the Dangai.

"Captain Aizen..." Gin called from the back of the group, laughing. "Aren't you afraid Ichigo Kurosaki will kill off every last one of your carefully crafted Espada?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki won't do something like that." Sosuke Aizen chuckled softly. "At most he'll cut down a few of the weaker ones. After all, there are still the quincy to deal with."

"Besides, the Espada's weakness has exceeded my projections. I had assumed that Arrancar evolved from Vasto Lorde would possess power on the level of Shunsui Kyoraku. I didn't expect the gap to still be quite this considerable."

"They're already plenty strong, aren't they? The ones like Number Two and Number One feel genuinely terrifying."

"Against an average Soul Reaper captain, they're sufficient. But faced with someone on the level of Shunsui Kyoraku or Unohana, they fall noticeably short."

"Is that so..." Gin's smile stayed fixed, eyes still narrowed. "Well then, Captain Aizen, surely you don't intend for just the three of us to face the entire Gotei 13?"

"Naturally not." The corners of Aizen's mouth curved into that self-assured smile. "I nearly forgot, at that time you were still lying in Squad 4 after being cut down by Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Do you remember, Gin, after learning of Soya Azashiro's existence, we found a way to detect the presence of Soya Azashiro's Zanpakuto, intending to make contact and reach an agreement for cooperation?"

"I remember." Gin opened those narrow eyes just slightly. "But didn't it end in rejection?"

"That it did." Aizen nodded, unhurried. "However, on the very night you were cut down by Ichigo Kurosaki, I detected another, a Zanpakuto drifting loose in the world."

"...A Zanpakuto drifting loose?"

"Indeed." Aizen recalled the materialization of that Zanpakuto, and something unreadable entered his voice. "For Soul Reapers, the ability that Zanpakuto possesses is exceptionally formidable."

"After all, the overwhelming majority of Soul Reapers depend entirely on their Zanpakuto to fight."

Soul Society. Seireitei.

"Hey! Who are you?!"

A Soul Reaper moving at a brisk pace came to an abrupt halt. A tall, slender figure with a pale complexion and long white robes had appeared in the path ahead, without warning, without any sense of approach. From appearance and dress alone, this was clearly no colleague.

"A noble... no, those noble lords would never appear in a place like this." The Soul Reaper drew the Zanpakuto at their hip and assumed a full combat stance. "State your name! What are you doing, infiltrating Seireitei at a time like this?!"

Just minutes ago, Squad 12 had broadcast an alert to all of Seireitei: the spatial lockdown over Hueco Mundo had been lifted ahead of schedule. That meant the great criminal Sosuke Aizen was about to make his move against the World of the Living, to create the Oken.

The Gotei 13 was immediately placed on full war footing. Under Sosuke Aizen's years of organization and command, however many years that amounted to, no one knew what strength Hueco Mundo truly possessed. The worst-case scenario was all-out war between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society. A total war the likes of which hadn't been seen in over a thousand years.

"Who am I... it has been a very long time since anyone called my name?" The tall, slender figure gazed at their own long fingernails, voice heavy with melancholy. "I am merely a wandering thing that has lost its master."

"...Master?" The Soul Reaper's frown deepened. "State your name! Just who are you?!"

"My name..." The figure looked at the Soul Reaper, voice flat. "If you want to know, I'll tell you."

"My name is—Muramasa."

The words fell. A pale violet spiritual pressure released from Muramasa's body and spread slowly outward in all directions.

"What is this?"

The pale violet spiritual pressure passed visibly through the Soul Reaper's body, no discomfort, no pain, nothing. Staring in confusion at the one who called himself Muramasa, the Soul Reaper tightened both hands on the Zanpakuto, planted a foot hard against the ground, and lunged forward, fully prepared to,

SHHK

The arm moved without control. It twisted and swung the blade toward its own chest. The Soul Reaper's eyes went wide. In the instant before death arrived, they stumbled back half a step.

That half a step was everything. The blade carved only a gash across the chest rather than a killing blow. A moment later and they would already have been on the ground.

"What kind of ability... is this?!"

Every effort to reclaim control of both arms produced nothing. The Soul Reaper felt a grim flash of relief, though a defector now, the former captain's teachings had, in this one critical moment, preserved their life.

"Quite lucky." Muramasa said, flat. "But there is only the one chance."

Swish,

No unknown ability this time. Muramasa used Shunpo, closed the distance in an instant, drew the blade at the hip, and brought it down.

SHHK

"Urgh...!"

The Soul Reaper's own blade refused to parry as its owner intended. Muramasa's sword swept across the Soul Reaper's body. Blood sprayed. The Soul Reaper collapsed into a pool of it, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Soul Reapers..."

Muramasa returned the blade to its hip and tilted a gaze toward a building in the distance, the direction of Squad 1's barracks.

"No matter how powerful a Soul Reaper, if their own Zanpakuto becomes their enemy, winning is very difficult."

Murmuring this, Muramasa walked toward Squad 1. Having forged an agreement with the great fugitive Sosuke Aizen, Muramasa set their sights on the mightiest Soul Reaper of them all, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

➤ Next: The Zanpakuto Rebellion