On the roof of the Urahara Shop, Sasuke sat alone in a meditative posture. The Zanpakuto named Takemikazuchi lay across his knees, its blade reflecting the lonely night sky.
The nights in Karakura Town were much noisier than those in Konoha.
But all of that was irrelevant to him.
His thoughts were completely immersed in the words Urahara had spoken not long ago.
'...Its essence is extremely similar to that of a 'Hollow'. One could even say it's the embryo of a Hollow that was forcibly stuffed into your soul.'
'Hollow...'
Sasuke's brows furrowed slightly, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes.
A Hollow is a fallen soul.
When a Plus, an ordinary spirit, remains in the human world for too long, the Chain of Fate on their chest begins to erode due to a powerful attachment to something in the world of the living.
Once the chain is completely eroded, a hole opens in the soul's chest. Its heart is gradually consumed by desire, it loses its reason, and finally degenerates into a monster that only knows how to devour other souls.
This is a Hollow.
A pitiful creature born from attachment, driven by desire, ultimately losing itself and becoming a slave to instinct.
And now, this disgusting thing actually existed within his own body?
To Sasuke, this was an intolerable insult.
He believed Urahara's diagnosis, but not entirely.
He had to confirm the facts with his own eyes.
He slowly closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking deep into his soul.
Zanpakuto Meditation.
This was his most familiar training method, and also his way of exploring his own soul.
In the past, when he entered his inner world, he was always greeted by a wasteland shrouded in thunderclouds, with his Zanpakuto suspended in the air.
This time, however, when his consciousness coalesced once more, what met his eyes was not that familiar lightning-scarred plain.
It was a blood-soaked street. The doors and windows of the surrounding houses were wide open, and disorderly corpses lay everywhere.
The sky, too, was shrouded by a sinister, blood-red crescent moon.
This was... the Uchiha Clan's compound.
His inner world had, for some reason, transformed into this hell he never wanted to recall.
Sasuke's eyes instantly turned vigilant. He gripped the hilt of his sword, Reiatsu slowly leaking from his body as he warily scanned his surroundings.
'Why had it become like this?'
Just then, he heard footsteps.
Very light, slowly approaching from the end of the street.
A thin, small figure was walking step by step out of that darkness, bathing in the blood-red moonlight.
It was a child, wearing the familiar blue short-sleeved shirt from his memory, emblazoned with the Uchiha Clan's fan emblem.
Sasuke's pupils constricted sharply.
Black short hair, a youthful face... It was identical to how he looked at seven years old.
Sasuke's spiritual body stood silently in place, watching that 'self' approach step by step.
Until the other stopped not far from him and looked up.
Their eyes met.
Sasuke saw those eyes clearly.
Then, his gaze slowly lowered, settling on the child's chest.
There, a pitch-black hole was slowly rotating.
A Hollow.
Urahara hadn't lied to him.
The monster entrenched deep within his soul, after manifesting, had taken the form of his seven-year-old self.
The weakest, most helpless, and most hateful version of himself.
Sasuke's expression turned extremely grim, his grip on the sword hilt tightening.
He looked at his other self, at that hollow, about to say something…
"Get out."
However, the one who spoke those words wasn't him.
It was the seven-year-old 'Sasuke' with the hole in his chest.
The moment the words fell, Sasuke suddenly felt a powerful force of repulsion erupt from his entire Inner World!
As if he were the intruder in his own mind.
"What…?!"
Before Sasuke could even react, his consciousness was instantly twisted by this brutal force and violently expelled.
…
On the rooftop, Sasuke's body jolted violently. His eyes snapped open, and he let out a sharp gasp.
He braced himself with one hand against the roof tiles, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.
'That feeling just now…'
'I had been banished from my own Inner World.'
'Kicked out of my own soul by that Hollow.'
An intense sense of humiliation suddenly surged within him.
"Meow~"
A lazy cat's meow broke the silence.
Sasuke followed the sound and saw a jet-black cat stepping out from the shadows of the eaves.
It stopped not far away, tilting its head as if curiously observing him.
'A cat kept by Urahara Kisuke?'
Sasuke's tense nerves relaxed slightly.
He slowly exhaled, forcibly suppressing the irritation within.
Sasuke reached out, picked up the black cat, placed it on his lap, and began stroking its smooth back in a steady rhythm.
The cat didn't resist, merely narrowing its eyes in contentment, a purring sound rumbling in its throat.
It seems easier for people to let their guard down around an animal that can't talk.
"How ridiculous."
Sasuke muttered self-deprecatingly, as if speaking to the cat, or to himself.
"It's my own Inner World, yet I was the one kicked out."
His stroking hand paused slightly as his thoughts were pulled back to that blood-red world.
"Just a coward hiding in the shadows of the past. Sooner or later, I'll drag you out myself, and then..."
"And then what?"
A low, masculine voice suddenly sounded from his lap.
Sasuke's stroking motion froze instantly.
He looked down and met those gleaming cat eyes.
The cat looked up, meeting his gaze calmly, as if it had been the one to speak.
Sasuke was stunned for a moment, then quickly regained his composure, continuing to scratch the cat under its chin at a leisurely pace.
"...You're even calmer than I imagined."
The black cat looked at him with interest, "I thought you'd be so startled you'd throw me off immediately."
Sasuke didn't answer its question, merely gave it a faint glance, though an image of Kakashi flashed through his mind.
He'd seen Kakashi summoned talking Ninken before, albeit with somewhat eccentric personalities.
Besides, though rare, he had seen talking cats in the Uchiha Clan's compound too.
In this world full of various strange abilities, a talking cat didn't seem like something worth making a fuss about.
He collected his thoughts and refocused on the creature in his arms.
"Did Urahara Kisuke send you to monitor me?" Sasuke's tone was flat.
"'Monitor' is such an unpleasant word."
The black cat swished its tail, a hint of laughter in its voice, "I was just curious about the interesting person Kisuke mentioned."
It extended a paw and gently pressed it against the back of Sasuke's hand.
"Just now, your Reiatsu was very unstable."
The black cat shifted into a more comfortable position, curling up on Sasuke's lap, "Did you go in and see 'that thing'?"
Sasuke remained silent, just continuing to stroke the cat's back, which was tacit acknowledgment.
The black cat seemed to sense his poor mood and quietly settled down, not pressing further.
After a long while, Sasuke spoke again, his voice much softer.
"Hey."
"Hmm?" The black cat responded lazily.
"What's your name?"
The black cat seemed surprised by the question, pausing for a moment before chuckling.
"Me? My name is..."
It deliberately drew out the syllable, then lifted its head, its golden eyes shimmering under the moonlight.
"Shihoin Yoruichi."
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