"I don't think it's likely." Hacker Makiya pushed up his sunglasses. "His heart is in turmoil, his will is shaky, and he's always looking back and overthinking things. A Zanpakuto won't acknowledge a master like that."
"There's no other way." Ninja World Makiya sighed. "If you had bosses like Aizen and Yhwach on your side, your heart would be in turmoil too."
"The Machine Emperor is a dimensional strike against humanity; it's no different from Aizen or Yhwach." Hacker Makiya turned to leave the space. "After surviving several brushes with death, I finally understood what I truly wanted. You can't teach someone through words; they only learn through experience. Soul Reaper Makiya just lacks a catalyst."
The other Makiyas looked at each other. Although they all originated from the same soul, their experiences after crossing over were vastly different, giving each of them a unique personality.
Looking through his memories, Hacker Makiya had spent years infiltrating the Matrix, brushing against death many times. As his comrades fell one after another, his heart had been tempered into steel. He hoped for Soul Reaper Makiya's success but wouldn't get his hopes up too high. After strengthening himself in the mysterious space, he planned to return to his original world, log into the learning pod, and download as many martial arts and general skills as possible to contribute to the growth of all the Makiyas.
Soul Society, Seireitei.
Inside a private room of a certain izakaya, the table was a mess of plates and cups.
An elegant screen blocked the view from the corridor, while the low table was covered with appetizers and empty sake bottles.
Makiya, dressed in his Shihakusho, sat cross-legged on the tatami. He opened his eyes, ending his Jinzen.
Looking at the Asauchi lying horizontally across his knees, he let out a long sigh.
"Still won't respond to me?"
His spiritual pressure had broken through his physical limits and improved further, but the Zanpakuto remained silent, devoid of any voice.
Yet, for some reason, his heart began to race inexplicably. He had an ominous feeling, as if he were being watched by countless pairs of eyes.
Knock knock knock...
"Guest, may I come in?"
"Please enter." Makiya put away his Asauchi.
As the Asauchi entered its sheath, the blade emitted a faint red glow, as if expressing dissatisfaction.
The landlady, dressed in a yukata, carried a tray around the screen. Her eyes lit up upon seeing Makiya, and she hurried to his side to kneel, placing the hangover tea from the tray onto the low table one by one.
"Oh my..."
The landlady accidentally stepped on a sake bottle and tilted toward Makiya's shoulder. Her yukata seemed a bit oversized, and Makiya was suddenly met with a face full of soft, fragrant warmth as the scent of orchids and musk filled his nose.
"I'm so sorry, guest. It's all because I was careless just now. You aren't hurt, are you?"
"It's fine. Just be more careful." Makiya pulled her slipping collar back up and steadied her with one hand.
'Tch, so unromantic!'
The landlady gritted her teeth inwardly and exited the room with a forced smile.
Makiya and his colleagues were regulars at this izakaya. Being handsome and important figures in the Gotei 13, the girls at the izakaya all wanted to throw themselves at him. They secretly competed to see who could be the first to claim him, but unfortunately, no one had succeeded.
If they could latch onto a big shot from the Gotei 13, these bar girls could change their fates.
The wicked noble system of the Soul Society demonstrated the dog-eat-dog nature of the world perfectly. Those without talent weren't even fit to be dogs for the nobles; they could only fight for the meager food available in the Rukongai.
The worldview of the Soul Reaper world was quite bizarre. After humans in the Living World died, they entered the Soul Society through a Soul Burial performed by a Soul Reaper. Despite being spiritual bodies after death, they possessed internal organs, bled when cut, and could even die from blood loss—nothing like the spiritual souls in his memories.
The East Branch of the Soul Society centered around the Seireitei, with the Rukongai where other souls lived surrounding it. The Rukongai was divided into four directions—East, South, West, and North—with each direction further divided into 80 districts, totaling 320. The lower the number, the closer it was to the inner Seireitei and the more abundant the resources. The closer it was to the outskirts—like North 80, the Zaraki District—the worse the security became. Theft and robbery were commonplace, and one would have to fight with their life even for a sip of water.
The nobles lived in luxury, reigning high above and ruling over everything regarding the souls in the Soul Society. Souls with talent entered the Shino Academy to learn to become Soul Reapers, joining the Gotei 13 to maintain the nobles' rule. Aside from the exceptional Zero Division and the Soul King, this was the general structure of the Soul Society.
Makiya was in the 5th Division, which was primarily responsible for emergency rescue operations. The Captain, Shinji Hirako, was a guy who looked like a punk on the surface but was actually very gentle and responsible toward his subordinates.
The real trouble was the Vice-Captain, Sosuke Aizen!
Makiya believed he was the most impressive boss in all of the Big Three manga, bar none.
"Sigh, Captain Hirako, you've really put me in a tough spot."
Makiya took a sip of the hangover tea, his face full of worry.
He hadn't wanted to join the 5th Division. If he could have chosen, he would have preferred the 10th or even the 11th Division. Staying by Aizen's side was extremely stressful.
Unfortunately, during graduation assignments, 5th Division Captain Shinji Hirako had some kind of whim and took a liking to him. He insisted on bringing Makiya into the squad and even specifically went to the Captain-Commander for it. What else could Makiya have done?
Later, Makiya had asked Captain Hirako why he had specifically chosen him. Captain Hirako just shrugged and smiled, saying it was just intuition and that he didn't know why either.
"Hey, hey, stop sleeping. Get up and let's go back."
Makiya shook his three companions awake and forced a cup of hangover tea down each of their throats.
Heizo Kasaki, 3rd Seat of the 9th Division.
Shinobu Eshima, 4th Seat of the 9th Division.
Todo Gizaemon, 6th Seat of the 9th Division.
These three were Makiya's schoolmates and drinking buddies. More accurately, Makiya accompanied them to drink while also dodging Aizen's squinting eyes.
"Mhm... Makiya, is it dawn already?" Heizo Kasaki rose groggily, removing a sock from his face. Makiya remembered it belonging to one of the bar girls from the previous night.
"Almost, but soon."
"I think I remember we had something to do today." Heizo Kasaki scratched his head. After a night of drinking, his head hurt badly, and his IQ hadn't quite returned to its peak.
"I also remember there was something." Shinobu Eshima wasn't in much better shape, his eyes glazed over.
"Actually, I also vaguely remember having something to do." Todo Gizaemon drank the hangover tea and patted his head, thinking hard.
Makiya mused, "If all three of you remember having something to do at the same time, could it be a collective duty for your squad? Like a group training or a meeting?"
"Right, a meeting!" Heizo Kasaki slapped his forehead, quickly shoved the sock into his pocket, grabbed his Asauchi, put on his shoes, and bolted. "I'm doomed, the Captain's going to kill me."
He was the 3rd Seat of the 9th Division, part of the high-level management and responsible for the squad's daily operations. In other words, he was the one who was supposed to organize the meeting.
Shinobu Eshima and Todo Gizaemon's expressions also changed drastically. They quickly gathered their things and scrambled out of the izakaya.
The landlady, startled by the commotion, came to check. Seeing Makiya unhurriedly packing his things, she breathed a sigh of relief. Patting her ample chest, she said with a beaming smile, "Master Makiya, would you like to settle the tab?"
Makiya: "..."
He suspected there was no meeting at all, and those three idiots just wanted to skip the bill.
The salary for a seated officer was quite high. As the 6th Seat of the 5th Division, he didn't care about the cost of the drinks. After settling the bill, Makiya pushed open the door and left the izakaya, only to suddenly feel the three spiritual pressures ahead of him rapidly vanishing.
"That direction... it's Heizo Kasaki and the others. How can this be?!"
In the next second, a hideous roar echoed through the sky, and the Rukongai was filled with screams and chaos.
ROAR!!!
Heizo Kasaki roared as he plummeted from the sky, swinging his Asauchi down heavily toward Makiya.
A thick white liquid continuously flowed from Heizo Kasaki's seven orifices. A cold, ominous spiritual pressure enveloped Makiya as a bone mask unique to a Hollow gradually covered Heizo Kasaki's face.
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