At Shutara Senjumaru's request, Sora had to take off all his clothes in front of her.
Shutara Senjumaru's multiple arms moved at once, measuring Sora.
She was going to tailor a new set of clothes for him.
Shutara Senjumaru held the title "Great Weave Guard," and her greatest skill was sewing clothes.
"Wait, you don't need to measure there!"
"Why are you being shy? It's not like I haven't seen it before. The comfort of the clothes also needs to account for changes in the body."
Shutara Senjumaru's craftsmanship required her to pay attention to every detail.
She slapped away his covering hand and continued to measure more thoroughly.
The half-smile on Shutara Senjumaru's face made Sora suspect she was deliberately teasing him.
"Alright, wait here for a moment."
After finishing all the measurements, Shutara Senjumaru finally stopped and left the room with her tape measure.
A moment later.
Shutara Senjumaru returned with a newly tailored Shihakushō and a haori cloak.
"Not bad, it fits well."
As soon as Sora put it on, he immediately felt the difference between these clothes and a normal Shihakushō.
The clothes felt like a part of his own spirit body.
Clothes personally sewn by Shutara Senjumaru were naturally different from ordinary Shihakushō.
This set of clothes had some properties of a spirit body.
It could be reinforced with Spiritual Pressure, much like reinforcing the spirit body itself, strengthening the clothes' defense.
If damaged, it could even be restored using Spiritual Pressure.
"Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni thinks highly of you. It seems he is training you as the next Captain-Commander."
"I am also looking forward to that day, so I didn't put the 12th Division number on the haori."
Shutara Senjumaru held up the white haori cloak, revealing the text on the back.
On the back of the haori cloak, the two characters for "Katori" were written in a bold font.
Shutara Senjumaru had modeled this haori cloak after those worn by dojo masters.
"The clothes fit perfectly, and I really like the haori cloak. Thank you!" Sora said gratefully as he put on the haori.
"Mm, let's send you to the next place. The others are still waiting for you," Shutara Senjumaru smiled.
...
After changing, Sora was sent by Shutara Senjumaru to the Hōōden.
The Hōōden was the residence of Ōetsu Nimaiya, the 'Blade God'.
The environment here was different from the other floating islands. Half of this island was covered in water.
As soon as Sora landed, a spotlight from an unknown source shone on him.
"Yo!!!"
Ōetsu Nimaiya leaped over from a distance and started performing an awkward dance.
"Welcome, to, my, show..."
"Let me, introduce, myself, again. I am, the master of the Hōōden, Ōetsu Nimaiya~"
Ōetsu Nimaiya's voice rose and fell, with rhythmic pauses between words, all matching his dance moves.
Bang bang bang—
Several young women set off party poppers nearby, creating a backdrop of colorful petals and streamers behind Ōetsu.
This performance was clearly arranged by Ōetsu Nimaiya in advance.
"Senior Nimaiya, you have... quite the flair..."
Sora clapped awkwardly.
"Hahahaha, you finally made it! If you took any longer, I would've thought you got lost in the den of beauties back there!"
Ōetsu gestured to the young women behind him. "Let me introduce you, this is my personal guard."
These young women had very different styles. Some looked kind, some were petite and delicate, and others were bold and sexy.
But they all had one thing in common—they were not ordinary spirit bodies!
"Materialized Zanpakutō! Senior, you truly live up to the name 'Blade God,' being able to materialize so many Zanpakutō!" Sora exclaimed in admiration.
"Sharp senses you've got, noticing they weren't Shinigami so quickly!" Ōetsu Nimaiya nodded. "They are indeed all Zanpakutō, and every one of them was personally forged by me!"
"Are you going to make the guest stand here all day!"
The blonde, twin-tailed Zanpakutō directly elbowed Ōetsu.
"Ahem—good point. Come with me, we'll talk on the way."
Ōetsu Nimaiya was very tolerant of the Zanpakutō he had forged.
"After Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni founded the Gotei 13, I forged the Zanpakutō for all Shinigami. Of course, that doesn't include the one you carry."
Ōetsu pointed to 'Kagehime' at Sora's waist. "She is the manifestation of your power, and she's already perfect. Even if I tried to reforge her, I couldn't do better."
Ōetsu Nimaiya pushed up the sunglasses on his nose and continued, "However, that other power inside you... I can forge it into a new Zanpakutō."
Ōetsu seemed to have a natural ability to communicate with others' Zanpakutō. Even though Sora hadn't materialized 'Kagehime', he could see her.
Sora's Hollow power was hidden within 'Kagehime's' shadow. Ōetsu saw this Hollow power through 'Kagehime'.
"Thank you for the kind offer, Senior Nimaiya, but I don't plan on separating my Hollow power from 'Kagehime'."
Sora understood what Ōetsu meant.
His Hollow power was dependent on his Shinigami power; the two had already merged into one.
The forging Ōetsu spoke of meant separating the Hollow power from 'Kagehime' to forge a new Zanpakutō.
But this was different from the path Sora wanted to take.
The separation path wouldn't stop him from becoming a transcendent being.
However, if he took that route, even if all three of his powers reached their limits, it would be difficult to reach the level of the Soul King, let alone surpass him.
As his strength grew, and through his research on the Soul King's power, Sora now understood: the Soul King's power was a fusion of multiple powers!
Hollow, Quincy, Shinigami, and even Fullbring powers were all just different aspects of the Soul King's power.
Therefore, for Sora to reach the Soul King's level, he needed to fuse these different powers, not separate his Shinigami and Hollow powers.
"Hahahaha~ That's quite the ambition, choosing a harder path! If you separated them, their growth would be faster, you know!" Ōetsu Nimaiya laughed heartily.
"But maybe that ambition is exactly why the Soul King has his eye on you!"
"You praise me too much, Senior. But life needs a goal. Simply letting another power grow to its limit is just a matter of time."
"Since that's the case, why not challenge something more difficult?" Sora chuckled.
"Well said!" Ōetsu nodded. "Still, I can't let you come all this way for nothing. Bring out 'Tenzui Shinkotsu'."
"Under the influence of your Spiritual Pressure, it has already changed a bit. I'll reforge it for you, make it match your Spiritual Pressure even better!"
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