"Bankai: Jakuhō Raikōben!"
The cry echoed across the desolate wasteland as a lone figure stood against the wind. Her spiritual pressure, her Reiatsu, surged violently, causing the very air around her to hum with power. Yellow sparks of energy crackled to life, gathering around her outstretched arm. They began to coalesce, swirling together to take the vague shape of a large, deadly missile.
But just as the form was about to solidify, the concentration of lightning wavered.
Boom—!
The half-formed Jakuhō Raikōben struggled for a moment before erupting in a brilliant flash of yellow light. A shockwave of chaotic Reiatsu blasted outwards, kicking up a storm of sand that whipped her black Shihakushō around her.
As the light faded and the dust began to settle, Suì-Fēng stood in the center of the crater, a look of pure, unrestrained joy on her face.
"It actually worked!" she thought, a grin spreading across her face despite the failure. "I felt it. My Zanpakutō responded to its true name!"
The feeling was overwhelming, a wave of relief washing over her after weeks of anxiety. "The failure was just a matter of control. The connection is there. I can do this. Next time, I'll achieve Bankai for sure!"
She clenched her fists, the tension that had gripped her for the past two weeks finally loosening its hold. Looking at the status floating in her vision on the system interface, Suì-Fēng let out a genuine, hopeful smile.
"I'm going to make it."
[Suì-Fēng: Hollow Poison (20%)]
…
This ordeal had begun two weeks ago.
Suì-Fēng was not, in the truest sense, a native Soul Reaper. Two weeks prior, she had been an ordinary office worker, leaving late after another grueling day of overtime. As she crossed the street, exhausted and distracted, a dump truck came roaring around the corner. She never stood a chance. One moment she was there, and the next, she was on a one-way trip to another world.
When she finally awoke, she found herself lying in a bed in the Fourth Division's infirmary, her body wracked with pain from severe injuries. During her slow recovery, she pieced together her new reality. She had been transmigrated into the world of Bleach, into the body of Suì-Fēng, the Third Seat of the Second Division and Captain of the Onmitsukidō's Detention Unit.
The timeline was 101 years before the start of the main story. From the hushed conversations of the healers around her, she quickly learned about the crisis gripping the Seireitei.
"The Captains of the Second, Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Twelfth Divisions, along with several Lieutenants and the Vice-Chief of the Kidō Corps, have all defected and fled to the Human World."
"The entire Seireitei is in an uproar. The Central 46 is demanding answers."
Suì-Fēng, knowing the plot of the series, understood immediately. This was the aftermath of Sōsuke Aizen's infamous Hollowfication experiment. In the original story, a group of Soul Reapers led by Shinji Hirako were turned into unwilling test subjects, transforming into Hollows and going berserk. Captain Kisuke Urahara of the Twelfth Division and Tessai Tsukabishi, the Chief of the Kidō Corps, had tried to save them, only to be framed by Aizen as the masterminds. Just as they were about to be executed, Captain Yoruichi Shihōin of the Second Division intervened, rescuing them all and taking them into hiding in the Human World. These exiled Soul Reapers would later become the Visoreds.
"Good," Suì-Fēng had thought, breathing a sigh of relief from her hospital bed. "The most dangerous part of this event is already over."
The next hundred years would be relatively peaceful. If she was careful, she would have a long time to grow stronger and adapt to her new life. Besides, the original Suì-Fēng was already a powerful Soul Reaper. All she needed to do was get used to the body and its abilities.
Feeling a false sense of security, she began making plans. "First, I'll take a six-month paid sick leave. Then, I'll find an excuse to re-enroll in a few courses at the Spiritual Arts Academy. I can use the time to properly master the fundamentals of a Soul Reaper—Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō. A perfect way to ease into my new life."
She was happily imagining a relaxing period of recovery when a system interface suddenly popped into her vision, shattering her plans.
[Suì-Fēng: Third-Class Spiritual Power] [Current Status: Hollow Poison (6%)]
Her blood ran cold, and a single, furious thought consumed her.
"Aizen, you son of a bitch!"
[Introduction: Hollow Poison is uncontrolled Hollow Reiatsu that multiplies on its own. The percentage indicates the ratio of Hollow Poison to the Soul Reaper's total Reiatsu.] [Hint: Suppress the Hollow Poison to below 5% as soon as possible and convert it into controlled Hollow Reiatsu.] [At 15%, symptoms of Hollowfication will appear during Reiatsu usage.] [At 25%, the Hollow Poison will erupt, causing the Soul Reaper to fully Hollowfy and go berserk until their Reiatsu is depleted and they die.]
It was clear now. Unlike in the original story, she hadn't escaped the incident unscathed. She had been caught in the crossfire. The transmigrated Suì-Fēng had no memory of the event, but at this point in time, anything involving Hollows could only lead back to one person: Aizen.
From that day on, the poison grew at a steady rate of 1% per day. The shadow of death loomed over her, forcing her to find a solution. Her first thought was to seek help from the Fourth Division's healers or the Twelfth Division's new research bureau. But she immediately dismissed the idea. The Soul Society was still reeling from the mass defection of its captains. The atmosphere in the Seireitei was thick with paranoia and fear. The Central 46 had already declared that any Soul Reaper showing signs of Hollowfication was to be treated as a Hollow and exterminated on sight.
To reveal her condition now, while the true culprit Aizen was still hiding in plain sight as a trusted Lieutenant, would be a death sentence.
So, the moment her injuries were stable enough to allow movement, Suì-Fēng discharged herself against medical advice and began desperately searching for a way to save herself.
According to the system, she needed to suppress the poison by increasing her own power. Her first attempt was through simple recovery training, hoping to increase her total Reiatsu and thus lower the poison's percentage. She managed to restore her skills in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō to about 20% of their peak, but there was a problem. Her soul, possibly strengthened by the transmigration, had already pushed her Reiatsu to the Third-Class level—the threshold for a Gotei 13 Captain. Basic training wouldn't raise it any further.
By the time she realized this, the Hollow Poison had already reached the first critical stage.
[Suì-Fēng: Hollow Poison (15%)]
The symptoms began. Whenever she used an ability that consumed a significant amount of Reiatsu, a wave of nausea would hit her, and she'd have to force down a bitter, bone-white fluid that threatened to spill from her lips. She could control it for now, but it was a terrifying reminder of the monster growing inside her.
In the original story, Urahara had saved the Hollowfied captains. But if she went berserk, there would be no one to save her.
With no other options, she turned to a dangerous, unforeseen path: Bankai.
As a transmigrator, Suì-Fēng knew that achieving Bankai granted a massive increase in a Soul Reaper's power—at least five to ten times their normal Reiatsu. If she could unlock it, she could use that surge of power to overwhelm the poison and suppress it for good.
There were two requirements to achieve Bankai. First, one had to materialize their Zanpakutō spirit in the real world and force it into submission. Second, one had to learn the Zanpakutō's "true name."
And that was her greatest advantage. She already knew the true name of her Bankai.
Jakuhō Raikōben.
"Knowing the name is my trump card," she had reasoned. She also knew that, in the original timeline, she was destined to become the next Captain of the Second Division. So, she took a gamble, betting everything on the assumption that the original Suì-Fēng had already completed the first step of Bankai training. After all, her mentor, Yoruichi Shihōin, had recommended Urahara Kisuke for a captaincy nine years earlier. It stood to reason that she wouldn't have neglected the training of her most dedicated subordinate.
…
Back in the present, standing in the aftermath of her explosive failure, Suì-Fēng's confidence was renewed. Her gamble had paid off. The foundation was there. All she had to do now was build upon it before her time ran out.