The silver-and-gold palace was silent, as if it had been waiting for this moment since the beginning of time. Floating talismans lined the vaulted ceiling, their inscriptions glowing faintly, like the eyes of an unseen audience. The air was dense, charged with a living stillness. Each breath Minato took felt heavier, drawn through lungs that were not entirely his own. His heart hammered against his ribs, not in fear, but in recognition of the threshold he was about to cross.
Across from him, seated upon a white futon, she waited.
Her silver hair spilled across the bedding like moonlight poured over snow, framing eyes that gleamed with unshakable resolve. Her expression softened, just enough to seem human, as she inclined her head slightly.
"Then we begin," she said, her voice quiet but reverberating as if the palace itself carried her words. "Say my name, Minato. You are the only one in existence who ever will."
The talismans above seemed to hold their breath. The palace inhaled in rhythm with his pulse, its walls alive, its golden veins glowing faintly with each beat.
Minato's lips parted, but no sound came out. He swallowed hard, the dryness of his throat sharp and painful. His hand trembled at his side. He had faced death countless times before, walked into battlefields without hesitation. But this was different. This was not survival. This was acceptance.
She leaned forward just slightly, her gaze never breaking. "When you speak it," she continued, softer now, "you will no longer just be Minato Namikaze. You will be Minato, the one who accepted me. The one who moves forward."
Her words slid into the fractures of his soul like water seeping into dry soil. Fragments of memory stirred: Kushina's laughter echoing down sunlit streets, Naruto's newborn cry, the smell of Konoha's summers. They fractured like shards of glass, falling away from him, yet in their absence something stronger rose. Something steadier.
Purpose.
"I…" His sandal struck the polished floor as he stepped forward. The sound echoed like a drumbeat in the silence. "I accept you. Not as a shadow of what I've lost…" His chest tightened, but he pressed through it. "But as my blade. My partner."
Her lips curved then, for the first time, into a true smile, small, but radiant enough to change the atmosphere around her. The air shivered.
"Then speak it."
The talismans ignited. One after another, they burst into cascading light, a storm of falling stars sweeping across the ceiling. The seals along the palace walls unraveled into spiraling threads of brilliance, each stroke of ink dissolving into liquid radiance.
Minato exhaled slowly, grounding himself. His voice, when it came, was steady enough to make the air vibrate.
"Your name is.."
The moment the syllables passed his lips, the palace erupted.
Silver fire exploded from the floor, climbing the pillars like waves of molten light. A deep hum vibrated through the void, resonant enough to be felt in the bones. The doors behind him slammed shut with the weight of a thousand unseen hands.
She rose from the futon, robes flowing like an ocean tide. The glow condensed in her hands, forming into something familiar yet impossibly divine: a three-pronged kunai. Its blade shimmered with silver light, the hilt wrapped in golden inscriptions that pulsed as if alive. Every inch of the steel rippled with shifting script, the surface breathing, whispering. The hilt radiated warmth, like a heartbeat.
"This," she said, her voice solemn, "is the form of our bond. The world will call it a Zanpakutō. But to you… it will always be me."
Minato reached out. The moment his fingers closed around the hilt, a current shot through him. It wasn't pain. It was recognition, hot, sharp, and inexorable. His soul aligned with something greater, something he had been incomplete without.
Her voice was within him now, clear as daylight.
"From this moment, our paths are bound. You will wield my name. And I will carry your purpose."
He raised the blade, feeling its weight, its balance, the unshakable sense of rightness. His body stirred in the real world. Fingers twitched against broken ground.
The palace dissolved into streaks of silver light, her last words carved into his spirit:
"Call for me, Minato, and I will answer."
Kensei's Bankai dispersed in a ripple of fading blue steel. His shoulders rose and fell with ragged breaths, robes torn, body cut and bruised. Blood dripped down his chin as he steadied himself, trying to make sense of what had just transpired.
How in hell am I going to explain this? he thought bitterly, jaw tightening. He had faced enemies far more seasoned than this… this newcomer. Yet his body bore the marks of a man nearly defeated.
He exhaled deeply, but his relief froze halfway through. His eyes widened.
A Reiatsu unlike anything he had ever felt tore through the battlefield. It wasn't merely spiritual pressure. It was sunlight condensed into weight, bathing Minato's battered frame in yellow-gold fire.
"What?!" Kensei's voice cracked, his chest seizing. "This Reiatsu…!"
Every instinct in his body screamed at him. Something was awakening in Minato, something he could not allow.
"BANKAI! Tekken Tachikaze!!!"
Gauntlets of black and silver engulfed his arms, gleaming with lethal strength. He clenched his fists, teeth bared, ready to crush whatever Minato had become.
But then he felt it.
Minato slowly rose from the dirt, wakizashi gripped tightly in his hand. His eyes, cold, piercing blue, locked on Kensei with unflinching resolve. His body was trembling, lungs struggling to draw air, blood trickling down his jawline. Yet none of it mattered. His presence eclipsed his wounds.
He lifted his blade in reverse grip. His lips parted. A stale breath escaped.
"Transcend…"
Golden Reiatsu wrapped around him, folding into the steel.
"SORASEN"
The wakizashi bloomed into its true form, a three-pronged kunai, etched in golden inscriptions, its blade shimmering as Reiatsu bent unnaturally around it, warping the air itself.
Kensei's breath caught. His mind reeled. "Shikai…?! You awakened it here?!" He clenched his fists tighter, forcing down the tremor in his voice. "You really are a monster. But don't fool yourself, your Shikai is no match for a Bankai!"
Blue Reiatsu roared around him, the ground beneath his feet cracking as he launched forward at blistering speed.
But halfway through his stride...
A wind like a razor brushed his cheek. Blood welled.
His eyes widened in disbelief. He's—!
Minato was already beside him, spinning through the air as he caught Sorasen with his other hand. The blade cutting through the air with such precision it had nearly severed his head.
Fear.
For the first time since wearing a Captain's haori, Kensei felt it.
He swung desperately, but the world blurred. A crushing orb of spiraling Reiatsu smashed into his back, forcing him into the earth with bone-shattering force. His insides churned. He coughed blood, eyes rolling back.
Minato landed softly, chest heaving. He looked at the kunai in his grip, and for the first time since waking in this world, he smiled, not with triumph, but with recognition. He had reclaimed a part of his soul.
But it was far from over.
"Kensei!!"
Minato turned sharply. A group of figures were rushing toward them.
Mashiro leapt forward, her voice shrill with panic. Rangiku trailed behind, her eyes wide with shock. And among them, sharp as a drawn blade, was Lieutenant Soi Fon.
Her gaze locked onto Minato with murderous clarity.
The other lieutenants unsheathed their blades, killing intent saturating the air. Two Shinigami launched themselves from the sky, descending upon him with red-eyed fury.
Minato exhaled, his eyes hardening.
So be it.
Sorasen soared upward in a blur.
SLASH!
The first Shinigami's throat parted before he hit the ground. Blood sprayed the dirt in violent arcs. His lifeless body crumpled, eyes frozen in disbelief.
The second hesitated at the sight, but hesitation was death.
Minato vanished. The world snapped back around the Shinigami just in time for him to realize his error. A blade glimmered before his eyes. Then...
RIPPP!
His skull burst apart, blood and bone raining down as his body collapsed in twitching ruin.
"Bastard!!" Soi Fon roared, fury igniting her movements. "Sting all enemies to death...Suzumebachi!"
A golden stinger wrapped her finger as she blurred forward with blinding speed. Her murderous intent was like a spear aimed at Minato's heart.
BOOOOM!
A massive ball of flame erupted in her path. The blast scorched the earth, but she slipped free, her speed carrying her out of the inferno. She broke through the smoke, stinger poised.
And froze.
A kunai was buried in the earth at her feet. Her eyes widened..
And Minato was there.
The blade ripped into her abdomen, his cold eyes reflecting her shock.
RIPPP!
Her blood sprayed as his kick sent her flying, her body crashing into a tree.
Mashiro screamed, launching forward in a burst of green Reiatsu, her fist cocked with raw force.
But Minato was faster. His kunai gleamed as it carved a path toward her skull. She tried to dodge..
A hand yanked her back. Lightning sparked.
"Raikiri!"
The crackling blade tore into her shoulder, saving her life at the last instant. Minato's eyes narrowed, pulling back just as a cascade of black-and-silver ash ripped across the battlefield, detonating the ground where he had stood.
He shunshined away, landing lightly, his gaze narrowing.
And there she was.
Rangiku.
The air between them trembled with tension.
Minato tightened his grip on Sorasen. He knew what had to be done. If any of them survived, they would come for him again. The only way to ensure his survival was to erase them all. His foot shifted forward...
And then she spoke.
"I met with your student earlier."
The words stopped him cold.
His chest constricted. His breath hitched.
"You're Minato, aren't you?" Rangiku's eyes searched his. Her tone was calm, but heavy. "I know what you did. And I know what you truly are. So go."
Her words staggered him. For a heartbeat, the world seemed to tilt. Slowly, painfully, he exhaled. Sorasen dissolved back into his wakizashi, the blade sliding into its sheath across his lower back. Blood dripped from his mouth and nose as he turned away.
"They'll come for you," Rangiku whispered, her gaze fixed on his back.
Minato's head dipped in acknowledgment. And then..he was gone. The space he had occupied collapsed into silence.
Rangiku stood rooted, eyes lingering on the void he left behind.
A/N: I'm back guys. I'll resume posting according to the normal schedule. Get me reviews guys. Somehow, I think Webnovel has decided not to support me or my fanfics again because I turned them down. I've tried everything else, nothing works. The only way to reach more readers out there is through your reviews and powerstones.
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