The silver-haired girl's words were shocking. The Lord of Hell was also once a part of the Soul King!
"I had that guess too..." Sora frowned. "But it must have been before the three realms were created."
"Some old families have records from ancient times. Before the three realms were formed, there were already records of the Lord of Hell."
"It was a very long time ago.
The original world was made of chaos and Hell.
Hollows kept eating humans, and Hell kept expanding. If left alone, all souls would eventually end up inside one giant Hollow.
The whole world would be taken over by Hell, and everything would fall into complete stillness.
The Soul King tried some things.
But his first try failed, and he lost part of his power because of it.
That lost power combined with a massive Hollow in Hell, one that had eaten countless humans, and it became the Lord of Hell.
Later, he created the three realms, separating them from Hell. This let the Reishi of the three realms flow internally and slowed Hell's expansion.
But it only slowed Hell's expansion..." the silver-haired girl said softly.
"Strong souls that die in the three realms still go to Hell," Sora added slowly.
"The original world had no life or death. Life and death are rules of the three realms.
When a strong soul leaves the three realms, the line between life and death is gone."
The silver-haired girl nodded, explaining why dead captain-level Shinigami revive in Hell.
"Because Hell is part of the original world!"
"The original world has no concept of life or death. All souls are just clumps of Reishi. Even if you break them, they can just gather again."
"But, Quincy power can destroy Hollow particles..." Sora said in a low voice. "What about a spiritual body that has other powers besides Hollow? Can a Quincy totally destroy it?"
He suddenly realized Quincy power could totally destroy Hollows, stopping them from reviving in Hell.
He has Hollow power in him now. He wasn't sure if he would be destroyed forever if a Quincy killed him, unable to revive in Hell.
"Someone like you..." the silver-haired girl shook her head. "If Quincy power killed you, it would only purify the Hollow particles in you. The rest of you would still go to Hell."
"You don't destroy the 'Lord of Hell' because you're trying to slow Hell's expansion?" Sora asked. "The 'Eye of Hell' sealed in Hell, that's also part of the plan to slow it down, right?"
Captain-level souls don't just disappear. They still flow to Hell, so Hell is still expanding.
The 'Eye of Hell' seal that Sora found was constantly moving Reishi from Hell to Muken and purifying it into normal Reishi.
That's why he thought the seal was a device to slow Hell's expansion.
"That's part of it. But over time, the 'Lord of Hell's' remains have absorbed massive amounts of Hell's Reishi. If it revives from those remains, it will be far stronger than before."
The girl paused. "The current Soul King is incomplete. Only a full-power Soul King would be strong enough to fight it."
"That would be a total disaster for the three realms..." Sora's face darkened.
It looked like even if he became a transcendent being, he couldn't beat a revived 'Lord of Hell'. He'd have to reach the level of the Soul King at his peak.
"Correct. So I'll leave that problem to you." The girl spread her hands calmly. "After all, the current 'Soul King' is just a 'lynchpin' sealed in crystal."
"You have that much faith in me...?" Sora's eye twitched.
"You've changed too many things. The future is blurry now." The girl smiled.
"The Soul King can interfere a little and have Ichigo Kurosaki's mother born early, but it's hard to know if he'll be able to carry the world's future."
The Soul King's original choice was Ichigo Kurosaki.
But even the Soul King can't see the future Sora interfered with. He doesn't know if an Ichigo born at a different time will have the same potential as the original.
So, the problem of the 'Lord of Hell' is being left to Katori Sora, the "variable."
"Then does the Soul King have any advice about the 'Lord of Hell'?"
Even if she didn't ask, Sora couldn't ignore this. He and everyone he knew lived in the three realms. He wouldn't let the 'Lord of Hell' destroy them.
"You already found the Hell passage in Hueco Mundo. When you're strong enough, go destroy the 'Lord of Hell's' Zanpakutō. That sword is part of its soul."
"But that sword has also absorbed massive amounts of Hell Reishi. It's at least as strong as Yhwach merged with the Soul King's body."
"The place guarded by a Soul King servant?"
"Yes. The 'Lord of Hell's' Zanpakutō is sealed in that passage."
"But the Zanpakutō is only part of its soul. What about the part sealed in Hell?"
"I already told you. You need the power of a full-strength Soul King to solve that. You'll have to figure it out."
"Ichigo Kurosaki's mother will be born early, as an insurance policy."
The silver-haired girl didn't give him a plan. It was all up to Sora.
"I understand." Sora nodded. In the end, it all came down to power.
But the Soul King would still push for Ichigo's birth, just in case.
Human souls circulate in the three realms, including Ichigo's and his future mother, Masaki Kurosaki's.
The current Soul King clearly still had the power to affect the three realms. He could control Masaki's soul to be born early into the Kurosaki family.
They just need to make Isshin Shiba and Masaki Kurosaki get together, and then have Ichigo's soul be born to them.
This early Ichigo's bloodline and soul would be the same as the original, just born at a different time.
But even then, there could be errors. Children from the same two people, born at different times, might not have the same physical traits.
It was an unknown "gacha pull," just one with a high chance of a good result.
That's why the Soul King wasn't betting everything on Ichigo. He was just an insurance policy.
"It seems I'm not just talking to the Soul King."
Sora watched the girl. He noticed she kept saying "the Soul King," not "I."
"Correct. I am Tenzui Shinkotsu. I am part of the Soul King, but not the Soul King himself."
"It's just like Pernida and Gerard. If the Soul King cut his link to me, I'd be my own person." The silver-haired girl nodded.
The Soul King's consciousness and Tenzui Shinkotsu's consciousness were talking to Sora at the same time.
"The Soul King has disconnected from me. I should go."
After saying this, the silver-haired girl turned to starlight, flew out of the inner world, and returned to the Tenzui Shinkotsu at Sora's waist.
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Bleach Getting Stronger, Starting from Teaching — Status: Completed
Bleach: The Justice System — Status: Ongoing — Latest Chapter: 25
Bleach: The Strongest Soul Society — Status: Ongoing — Latest Chapter: 26
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