"My name is Gosuke Shigure. I am… most likely the Ninth Generation Kenpachi."
Gosuke Shigure answered Ōetsu Nimaiya's question plainly.
At that, Nimaiya's sunglasses glinted, and he paused in thought.
"The ninth already, huh? Time flies like crazy."
"The last Kenpachi I personally dealt with was the Seventh—Kenpachi Kuruyashiki."
"I invited that monster to join the Royal Guard, y'know? Guy turned me down flat."
"So I'm guessing he's dead now?"
He clicked his tongue.
"A damn shame, man. When Kuruyashiki died, his Zanpakutō died with him. That blade was one of the loudest miracles I ever forged."
The way Ōetsu spoke made it painfully clear:
He regretted losing the sword, not the Kenpachi.
But his rambling clarified a long-standing rumor for Gosuke Shigure.
Years ago, whispers spread among the Eleventh Division—that the Royal Guard had tried to recruit Kenpachi Kuruyashiki, and that he rejected them.
Now Shigure knew which Royal Guard member that had been: the Sword God before him.
Senjumaru, standing beside Shigure, watched his contemplative expression and assumed he was annoyed by Ōetsu's constant chatter.
She interrupted smoothly.
"Enough idle talk, Ōetsu. Take us to the true Phoenix Palace. You can't work with distractions standing around."
"Huh? You really wanna go there right now?" Ōetsu scratched his cheek.
"You don't want a proper tour first? I didn't even get to show this Kenpachi-kun my beautiful palace!"
Senjumaru raised an eyebrow.
Despite Ōetsu's seniority—second only to Ichibei Hyōsube—Senjumaru never showed him reverence or hesitation.
He sighed.
"Alright, alright—ya win."
He waved dramatically to the women around him.
"Okay, girls! Break time! Everybody out!"
The assorted beauties—each of them a manifested Zanpakutō forged by Ōetsu—bowed and dispersed.
Ōetsu turned to Shigure.
"Yep, all of them are my Zanpakutō creations, every last one."
Shigure already knew, but still found himself impressed.
"Amazing," he said sincerely.
Ōetsu simply laughed, brushing it off, and motioned for them to follow.
He led Shigure and Senjumaru through a doorway—one that immediately distorted space.
On the other side was a barren hill crowned by a small, weathered shack.
"This," Senjumaru explained, "is the true Phoenix Palace, Ōetsu's actual workspace. The lavish compound outside is merely a façade he built himself. But the forging of Zanpakutō can only be done here."
Ōetsu let Senjumaru explain.
Only after she finished did he turn to Shigure with a direct question.
"So—what's wrong with your Zanpakutō?"
"Did it snap during Bankai or somethin'? 'Cause if your Zanpakutō broke in Bankai, that's not small potatoes. That means I gotta reforge the whole thing."
If something went wrong with a Shinigami's Zanpakutō, the most common cause was catastrophic damage during Bankai—damage that was truly irreversible. That was the reason anyone would seek out Ōetsu.
But Shigure shook his head.
"There's nothing wrong with my current Zanpakutō. I've actually… never used Bankai."
"Oh?" Ōetsu tilted his head.
"Then what are you here for?"
Shigure unfastened a second sword hanging at his side and held it out.
"The issue lies with this one."
Ōetsu took the blade into his hand.
Although every Zanpakutō spirit awakened through the wielder's soul, every asauchi—the blank base form of all blades—originated from Ōetsu Nimaiya. Every sealed Zanpakutō in Soul Society was once forged by him.
The moment he touched the sword, he felt its condition.
"…This thing's half-dead," he muttered.
Its spiritual connection had long been severed. The sword was clinging to existence purely by stubborn will—a rare phenomenon.
Ōetsu's expression shifted.
"This ain't your sword. No way."
"If it were yours, it wouldn't have lost its spiritual power supply. And besides—this Zanpakutō… I know this one. This blade's birth was one hell of a miracle."
Shigure didn't hesitate.
"No. It is my sword—just not from this lifetime."
"It was the Zanpakutō of my previous life."
Ōetsu froze.
"Previous… life?"
Shigure continued calmly.
"The soul is an incomprehensible thing. Even Shinigami, who deal with souls constantly, cannot fully grasp its nature. Kirio Hikifune was promoted to Zero Division because she discovered one small part of that mystery and created the artificial soul."
"The soul system—and Zanpakutō—are far more mysterious than we admit."
"In my previous life, I died unexpectedly. But because of this sword, I reincarnated."
"After my rebirth, the blade returned to me again. Except… my soul wasn't the same anymore. I could no longer use it."
Ōetsu fell silent.
After a long moment, he exhaled.
"…So it was really you, Shigure-kun."
When he had touched the blade earlier, he had already sensed its original owner.
That was why he had insisted the blade could not belong to Shigure.
He never imagined the truth would be this outrageous.
Even for the Sword God of the Royal Guard—this was beyond anything he had expected.