Chapter 005: Custom Zanpakuto
Then there was the Rule type.
This category was in a class of its own, which was exactly why so few Zanpakuto actually belonged to it.
Going through his own mental list, the first example that came to mind was that monk with the painted eye up in the Royal Palace. His Zanpakuto could strip away and overwrite the very nature of things. Rule type, no question.
One step below that, Kisuke Urahara's Bankai fell into the same category.
And Matsushita Yusuke was fairly confident that Shuhei Hisagi's Zanpakuto qualified too. After releasing Bankai, Kazeshini could generate a barrier that equalized reiatsu across everything inside it. That ability had clearly left the territory of standard Kido behind. Rule type, plain and simple.
So, to summarize.
Five broad categories. That was the rough taxonomy for Zanpakuto types and abilities.
Working from that foundation, what conclusion could Matsushita Yusuke reach?
What do I actually want my Zanpakuto to be?
The thought had barely formed before the corresponding System prompt appeared.
[Zanpakuto growth system unlocked...]
[Going forward, certain quests will occasionally include rewards that improve your Zanpakuto's abilities. Collect the relevant values to raise your Zanpakuto's stats.]
At the same time, more specific information surfaced behind the five category labels, filling them out like supplementary notes.
[Physical: 0] (Total 100. Shikai unlocks at 30. Bankai unlocks at 70. Final form unlocks at 100.)
...
All five categories had the same breakdown.
The moment he saw that, whatever had still been vague in his mind snapped into clarity.
He got it immediately.
This was the System expanding its capabilities.
So from here on out, quests won't just hand out life skills, reiatsu boosts, and Zanjutsu/Hakuda/Hoho/Kido points... they'll also drop Zanpakuto stat values?
It sounded increasingly complicated, admittedly.
But it also felt strangely familiar.
Wasn't this basically what happened when a game pushed a major patch, raised the level cap, and suddenly the character progression system got a whole new layer bolted onto it?
Man... I transmigrated into another world and the patch notes are still chasing me.
That said.
Just this much wasn't really enough to feel exhausting.
Completing quests wasn't particularly hard. It just meant a longer grind. More of the slow, patient work.
More items in the reward pool. That's fine by me.
At least this wasn't like a gacha game that stuffed every banner with garbage after each update to water down the rates on the stuff you actually wanted. Zanpakuto stat values were genuinely valuable resources. On that front, Matsushita Yusuke had zero complaints.
There was one other thing in the fine print that caught his attention, though.
Shikai at 30, Bankai at 70, those made sense. But what exactly was the "final form" that unlocked at 100?
Did Bleach even have that as a mechanic? Since when?
He thought about it for a moment, then it clicked.
Right.
That was the cheat ability perk.
The thought put a very satisfied expression on his face.
All five categories sitting at zero was fine.
He had time to build them up. Five full years of school left, minimum. Letting things develop steadily over that span, there was no scenario where he didn't come out of it in solid shape.
The future was looking good.
All things considered, Matsushita Yusuke was extremely happy with this reward.
There was also the matter of where the asauchi came from, but that wasn't a headache worth having. Per Academy rules, every student could borrow a provisional asauchi during their enrollment period, with formal ownership transferring at the time they joined a squad.
He'd already looked into this back when he first went through the Zanpakuto orientation material.
Any Academy student could apply to claim one. The whole process was honestly about as involved as adopting a cat or a dog. No real barrier to entry.
Not every student was heading toward becoming a Shinigami, though. Some were aiming for the Kido Corps, or other tracks entirely, and simply opted out of the whole asauchi process. Different goals, different choices. Hard to judge.
Anyway. Given all of that, Matsushita Yusuke walking around campus with a blade at his hip wasn't going to raise any eyebrows. If anything, some people might read it as a sign of dedication.
Because by conventional wisdom, all Shinigami ate, slept, and breathed alongside their asauchi, gradually working their essence into it through sheer accumulated time...
But Matsushita Yusuke's situation was a little different.
He could customize his.
Ha. That was honestly a little absurd.
He spent a few very pleasant minutes imagining a version of himself with all five categories maxed out, demolishing every opponent in existence.
Then reality showed up.
About a week later, his expression had gone noticeably flat.
The reason was simple.
The drop rate was absolutely terrible.
He hadn't missed a single class across the entire week. The System had been clear that Zanpakuto stat values could show up in any quest reward. But a full week in, he'd somehow stacked seven new life skills while all five Zanpakuto categories remained at a perfect, pristine zero.
Looking at those numbers was almost enough to put him in a bad mood.
Then today, things finally turned around.
Because Aizen Sosuke was back.
Matsushita Yusuke looked at the familiar figure standing at the podium and felt something close to genuine emotion welling up.
[Quest: Study calligraphy under Aizen Sosuke]
[Profile: You've gotten stronger. Just a little. But to someone who truly stands above, you might still be nothing more than a slightly bigger ant.]
[Rewards: Calligraphy +1, Reiatsu Level +1, Zanpakuto Kido +1]
There it is!
Say what you wanted about Aizen Sosuke, the man's drop rate was in a completely different league.
Truly the greatest silver-tongue in all three realms, and apparently that extended to functioning as a walking lucky charm. Full marks.
Matsushita Yusuke sat in his seat looking extremely pleased with himself as he read through the reward details. Something was also starting to make sense to him now.
The type of Zanpakuto stat that dropped might actually depend on who you were learning from.
It was common knowledge that the teachers at Shin'o Academy were generally the kind of Shinigami who hadn't made it into the Gotei 13. Most of them couldn't even release their Shikai. Trying to bootstrap yourself to the top using only what those instructors could offer was, to put it charitably, optimistic to the point of delusion.
So for his development during this period of school, the one person who was genuinely going to carry him was standing right up there on that stage.
Matsushita Yusuke's gaze was borderline intense.
Intense enough that even Aizen, up at the podium, seemed to notice something felt slightly off.
He'd only been gone for a week. Why did this student suddenly look like that?