"Kawahara, don't be impulsive."
As the delinquent youth—sporting a "777" knuckle duster—charged toward Daniel Davis, the purple‑red‑haired woman by his side immediately tried to stop him. But it was already too late; by the time she managed to speak, the youth had already rushed forward.
The youth, driven by hot‑blooded anger, acted without much thought and charged at the enemy on sight. Unlike him, though, the woman—did she not notice that even Ginjō Kūgo and his cohorts act as if they're oblivious to life or death? Such an enemy is not to be taken lightly. Still, despite that realization, she had no intention of retreating; when she saw there was no way to halt his advance, she promptly produced a handgun that looked more like a toy.
"Room."
At that moment—both as the delinquent youth barreled in and as the purple‑red‑haired woman brandished her toy‑like pistol—Daniel Davis chuckled softly. With his right hand, he reached out and grabbed the youth's wrist. Although he wasn't entirely sure what powers lay hidden in the "777" knuckle duster on the youth's fingers, he assumed it wouldn't harm him—and he wasn't about to take any unnecessary risks.
Then, with a forceful jerk of his right hand, he flipped the youth's body, slamming him hard onto the bar's floor. Simultaneously, he unleashed the power of his Surgery Fruit with his left hand, swapping the positions of a nearby chair and the purple‑red‑haired woman—and in one swift stroke, he decapitated her. Even though she was undeniably attractive, Daniel showed no mercy.
Of course, compared to the gruesome fate met by the woman, he was relatively lenient with the delinquent youth—ensuring that the youth felt not the slightest pang of pain. Still, the youth's battered body ended up embedded in the bar's floor, and he passed out.
"This must be his Complete Manifestation Technique tool," Daniel murmured, examining the "777" knuckle duster he'd removed from the youth's hand. Clearly, it harbored hidden spiritual energy.
Although Daniel was familiar with practitioners of the Complete Manifestation Technique, he had never really paid attention to the specifics of their abilities. Their powers were entirely different from those of the vast majority of Shinigami in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads—with their zanpakutō's Shikai, Bankai, and the Hollows' reverted blades.
"This is the Shinigami proxy certificate. Next up, I need to figure out how to get my hands on a standard‑issue zanpakutō."
After subduing Dufeng Liluca and Lion Kawahara, Daniel wasted no time with words when dealing with Ginjō Kūgo. Instead, he delved straight into his mind, extracting memories that revealed knowledge about the Complete Manifestation Technique as well as some secrets regarding the Soul Society and its practitioners—and finally, the Shinigami proxy certificate.
By this point, Ginjō Kūgo had already removed the Soul Society's surveillance devices from the certificate.
Through the proxy certificate, Daniel Davis was instantaneously transformed into a Shinigami. However, this new Shinigami was merely an appearance; he lacked the true powers of a Shinigami. Unlike Ichigo Kurosaki—who, after being turned into a Shinigami by Rukia Kuchiki, immediately manifested his own zanpakutō—Daniel had no zanpakutō of his own.
For a Shinigami to obtain their own zanpakutō, there are two methods. One is to acquire the Soul Society–issued standard‑zanpakutō, which quickly furnishes a Shinigami with a weapon. The other is to manifest a zanpakutō from one's own soul—as Ichigo did when he first received Shinigami powers, even without a standard‑issue one. (Standard‑issue zanpakutō are crafted by members of the 0th Division; before that, Shinigami created their zanpakutō from their very souls.)
For Daniel, although he could also manifest one from his soul, that method takes time—certainly not as quick as obtaining the issued weapon.
In truth, the zanpakutō produced by either method aren't inherently superior to one another. It isn't that a zanpakutō formed from one's own soul is necessarily mightier—the real strength lies in the Shinigami themselves. If one isn't strong, even Captain Yamamoto's Ryujin Jakka won't amount to much. And if one is strong enough, even a zanpakutō without any flashy special abilities can be formidable. (Case in point: Ichigo's own zanpakutō, which possesses no extraordinary powers, yet he remains immensely powerful.)
"This guy is really useless—he doesn't even know any Kidō. But then again, he's only a proxy Shinigami; there's no way he'd have access to the True Spiritual Arts Academy of the Soul Society."
In the Soul Society, Shinigami employ techniques like "Zhanquan Zougui," yet Ginjō Kūgo only relies on slashing and Shunpo—that is, swordsmanship and flash‑step. In terms of raw power, he's about at the level of an ordinary captain. It took him years of relentlessly amassing a considerable measure of Complete Manifestation Technique power to reach that level—in his early days as a proxy Shinigami, he was merely a lieutenant captain.
"Thank goodness Kamataiji's magic is still operational—in this world, that counts as Kidō, I suppose." Glancing at the golden circular shield that materialized in his hands, Daniel then allowed his body to reassemble itself.
"The Complete Manifestation Technique, huh? Looks like I won't be able to tap into that special power, at least not for now."
The power of the Complete Manifestation Technique is born of love—by becoming utterly infatuated with something, one can draw out its inner strength. For Daniel, although there are many things he likes, there isn't anything he's completely obsessed with. Even so, the technique's basic capability is more than enough for him.
Among its practitioners, Daniel wasn't alone in this regard. For instance, there's Daoyune Auwula—who spent his time honing only the fundamentals of the Complete Manifestation Technique—so much so that his Kidō abilities were once appraised by Kisuke Urahara as nearly on par with Aizen's. It was precisely because of that that, later on, while trying to protect someone, he was overwhelmed and met his demise. But even in death, for users of the Complete Manifestation Technique it's as if they've merely entered the Hollow realm; unless their soul is utterly destroyed, they retain their consciousness—whether in the Soul Society or in the Hollow realm.
The core philosophy of the Complete Manifestation Technique is that all things possess a soul—be they living creatures or inanimate objects. Even the water in a teacup has its own spirit, which can be manipulated so that the water flies straight into one's mouth. There's also the spirit of the road; by harnessing it, one can run faster or jump higher—and so on. In fact, there are plenty of people like Daniel among those who practice the technique.
"Now that I think about it, the Complete Manifestation Technique is somewhat akin to Transformative Empowerment."
Just as Transformative Empowerment allows one to reshape one's soul and thereby alter one's physical state, so does the Complete Manifestation Technique—for example, by manipulating the soul of a necklace to transform it into a sword. Ginjō Kūgo's technique is embodied in a necklace; however, the longsword it transforms into is no ordinary blade—it brims with immense spiritual pressure and can unleash powerful slashing shockwaves.
"Alright, you two—get out of here."
Looking at Dufeng Liluca and Jaji Tristan standing not far off, Daniel waved them away. After gleaning details about Ginjō Kūgo's past directly from him, Daniel finally decided to let the two go. Compared to Tsukishima Shūkurō and Xuexiu, these two had merely been deceived by Ginjō Kūgo—and had even tried to dissuade him.
"How do you plan to take care of Ginjō and his gang?"
"That's none of your concern. Consider my mercy toward you a one‑time favor—if you ever seek revenge, you're welcome to try, but when that day comes, don't expect me to go easy."
With that, Daniel Davis departed the bar. As for what path Dufeng Liluca and the others would choose later, he couldn't care less. When it comes to turning foes into allies, he doesn't have the knack of heroes like Luffy or Ichigo—his sparing them was simply because they weren't entirely bad, which is entirely different from Ginjō Kūgo, Tsukishima Shūkurō, and the rest.
"The Book of the End… what an incredible ability—time travel. Too bad you chose the wrong opponent."
Among the Complete Manifestation Technique users, only Tsukishima Shūkurō's ability was truly bizarre and hard to counter—he could travel into the past and insert his very presence into an opponent's history. Ginjō Kūgo exploited that power to scheme against many people; later on, Ichigo Kurosaki himself fell victim to it. But unfortunately, his next adversary turned out to be the ultimate sis‑con Byakuya Kuchiki—no matter if he tried to wedge himself into Byakuya's past, he still got cut down.
"It's finally begun—there really are a lot of spectators here."
Ever since Daniel Davis had acquired the method for cultivating the Complete Manifestation Technique, he'd been training non‑stop. As time passed, on that day Rukia—while chasing after a Hollow—arrived at Ichigo Kurosaki's home.
What Rukia didn't know was that as she entered Ichigo's house, several groups of people were watching from outside. Among them were Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki; standing by his side were Kisuke Urahara, Waling Tiezai, and a black cat.
"I wonder where Aizen is hiding—has he come in person to witness all this, or is he watching from the Soul Society through some special device?"
Daniel Davis, concealing himself in the shadows, had spotted Kisuke Urahara and the others—but there was no sign of Aizen. At such a crucial moment, Aizen surely couldn't be indifferent.
Ichigo Kurosaki's transformation into a Shinigami might have been an unexpected twist for him and Rukia, but for Aizen and Kisuke Urahara, it was all part of their grand game. Kisuke Urahara had placed the Collapse Jewel inside Rukia's body—it was inevitable that Aizen wouldn't pick up on it. Frankly, Rukia's plight is entirely Urahara's fault.
After sifting through Ginjō Kūgo's memories, Daniel's disdain for Urahara's faction only deepened. Back in the day, the very reason that proxy Shinigami Ginjō Kūgo defected was due to certain nobles within the Soul Society. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads might be decent, but as for the Central 46 Division—they were rotten. Once Kisuke Urahara discovered the power of the Collapse Jewel, why else would he have sealed it away immediately? Its emergence had the potential to upend the entire system of the Soul Society.
Urahara himself isn't a bad person. But by choosing to uphold the existing rules of the Soul Society, he inevitably positioned himself against Aizen—the enemy bent on subverting those very rules. In that sense, Aizen was nothing less than a revolutionary. Yet it's a pity that even Aizen eventually fell—cut down by Ichigo Kurosaki, a descendant of one of the Soul Society's five great families.
Just as Aizen once declared, "One day, you'll finally understand what a product of wicked fantasies a Shinigami really is."
And it wasn't only Aizen who leveled such assessments of the Soul Society—there were similar sentiments from the West Branch Bureau (though, strictly speaking, the Jingling Court is nothing more than the East Branch Bureau).
"The very first—that is, the final zanpakutō—is truly fascinating."
Watching as Rukia's manipulation transformed Ichigo's zanpakutō into a form resembling a death‑dealing armor, Daniel Davis couldn't help but recall what had ultimately transpired with Youhabakh. Originally, the Hollows that Rukia found so hard to handle were effortlessly dispatched by Ichigo's zanpakutō in a single strike—the sheer size of that weapon left Rukia utterly stunned.
Though a zanpakutō isn't necessarily stronger if it's larger, its size does reflect one thing: the magnitude of its wielder's spiritual pressure. Yet even Rukia couldn't fathom that the formidable spiritual pressure in Ichigo's body was but a mere fraction of his total.
Ichigo truly unleashed his spiritual pressure when Byakuya Kuchiki shattered the binding seals and disrupted his "soul sleep," causing him to lose his Shinigami powers.
As the incident wound down, all the onlookers gradually dispersed.
"Hello everyone, I'm Rukia Kuchiki."
On the very next day, Rukia transferred into Ichigo's class, openly flaunting her extraordinary relationship with him—which left many of the boys seething with envy (after all, Rukia was irresistibly cute and beautiful). Even Orihime Inoue's expression soured.
"These spectators—none of them dared to intervene. That's just too much."
Gazing at the sky now choked with countless Hollows, Daniel Davis was at a loss for words. The sheer number of Hollows manifesting in the human world left no doubt: it was Aizen's handiwork.
After Ichigo became a Shinigami, and under Rukia's leadership he rushed about exterminating Hollows, Uryū Ishida soon sought him out, eager to test his skills against a Shinigami. If the Shinigami had still been Rukia, given her distance from Uryū, he might not have cared—but now that his classmate Ichigo had become a Shinigami, things were different.
Yet the outcome that followed left Uryū deeply regretful. The sudden appearance of a vast swarm of Hollows made his bow‑drawing fingers tremble uncontrollably. Still, convinced that it was his own doing, he pressed on with his hunt—even in spite of his exhaustion.
"It seems that the power unleashed by the two of them is growing… I suppose it's time for me to act as well."
Inside the school, while Daniel Davis watched Orihime Inoue and Yuazawa Ryukui—both having brought forth their Complete Manifestation Technique shield "Shun Liu Hua" as they were pursued by Hollows—he immediately sprang into action. A golden chain streaked across space, striking and impaling a flying Hollow that was about to attack them.
"Teacher Davis!"
Seeing Daniel appear with that golden chain in hand, Orihime and Yuazawa were utterly shocked. Yuazawa, in particular, was dumbfounded by the sudden emergence of an unseen "monster," compounded by Orihime's unexpected display of bizarre power and the earlier scene he had witnessed.
Unable to see Hollows himself, Yuazawa could only sense the creature through the commotion caused by its movement—and thanks to Orihime's warning.
"What's going on?"
"We'll discuss that later. For now, you two head home—the trouble isn't over yet."
In the distance, a black fissure split the sky open, and from it emerged a colossal, nearly thirty‑meter‑tall black figure—it was none other than the subordinate giant Hollow, Jili An. Shaking his head lightly, Daniel Davis quickly briefed Yuazawa and Orihime before hurrying toward Jili An's location.
Once Jili An appeared, the numbers of other Hollows swiftly dwindled. It seemed that Aizen had finally called a halt.
"Mirror Flower, Water Moon… what a terrifying power."
For such a massive commotion to erupt in the human world without the Soul Society even batting an eye meant they hadn't received any intel on the matter—in order to reach that level, only the Mirror Flower, Water Moon could be responsible.
"Now that I think about it, Aizen sure is confident. He isn't worried about Kisuke Urahara—or anyone else—snapping this giant Hollow in a heartbeat. Or perhaps it's an unspoken understanding between him and Urahara, using Ichigo as nothing more than a pawn in their game."
With that thought in mind, Daniel Davis reached Jili An and promptly sent his golden chain hurtling straight for the white mask on its head.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]