Time continued to move along its original course, and in less than two years, Isshin Shiba and Masaki Kurosaki transitioned from passionate lovers to husband and wife.
On the day of the wedding, Kisuke Urahara, Shinji Hirako, and the exiled Visoreds gathered to witness the ceremony, while Kazuma brought Batsu'unsai and his companions to watch the quiet moment from a distance.
For reasons Kazuma could only guess, Isshin had abandoned his prestigious family name, officially taking the name Isshin Kurosaki.
Knowing the fierce pride of the Shiba clan, Kazuma mused that if Kūkaku and Ganju ever learned of this betrayal, they would likely rush over from the Soul Society to cut their uncle down!
A noble's surname represented the blood and legacy of the family, making it something never to be discarded lightly.
With the wedding concluded, Kazuma took Batsu'unsai and his companions on the journey they should have begun decades ago.
Throughout his long life, his understanding of the cosmos had been restricted to three main realms—the World of the Living, the Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo—with his footprint in the human world confined to Karakura Town and Naruki City.
Seeking to explore the vast unknown, Kazuma hoped to find clues regarding his own existence, driven by a deep need to understand why his soul had transmigrated into this universe in the first place.
Beyond his origins, he sought answers regarding the immense gravity and starlight he had inherited from the celestial projection of Hokushin.
Although he had questioned the ancient star spirit residing within his blade, the entity refused to explain plainly, always promising that the truth would reveal itself in time.
...
Crossing the ocean, the group arrived on a distant continent.
Although its political system and recorded history differed from the Earth Kazuma remembered, the sprawling lands were steeped in rich, ancient lore.
Walking through the bustling mortal cities, Kazuma was surprised to find the local populace worshipping unfamiliar gods and passing down unique myths.
Yet, to his astonishment, this vast nation possessed no spiritual organization akin to the Shinigami.
Carrying a heavy sense of curiosity, Kazuma led his companions across towering mountains and winding rivers, searching for Reishi signatures or spiritual practitioners, only to find nothing.
It seemed the local gods were merely mortal legends.
Finally, their journey brought them to a mist-shrouded peak known in local folklore as the Boundary of Souls.
In regional myth, this mountain was revered as the earthly gateway to the afterlife, an ancient crossing point for spirits.
Clinging to a faint hope, Kazuma prayed he might discover a trace of the truth buried in the rock.
Whether the peak concealed the key to his origins or stood as just another mortal landmark, he needed to investigate it personally.
At the foot of the mountain, tourists came and went in a steady stream, their eyes drawn to Kazuma's group.
Seeing an ordinary looking man walking alongside Batsu'unsai, Saitō, and Hiyori stirred local curiosity, drawing countless sideways glances as they hiked up the worn stone paths.
"Kazuma, if you hadn't dragged us out of Karakura, we never would have known the World of the Living had places like this," Saitō sighed, looking up at the aged shrines with a rare, peaceful expression.
"For us Shinigami, the ambient Reishi here feels comfortable. There's a strange sense of familiarity to it, as though we belong here."
"Perhaps we share a latent connection to this specific land," Batsu'unsai offered, adjusting her glasses as she surveyed the mist.
Filled with myths about the afterlife, the mountain created a sense of closeness that made the wandering Shinigami feel as though they were already part of its history.
Hearing their observations, Kazuma smiled faintly, wondering if the sense of familiarity was not a coincidence.
He theorized that, long ago, the Shinigami and the mortal world shared a much closer relationship that had been forgotten by time, only reawakening now that they had set foot on the sacred ground. Looking out over the peaks, a swell of hope rose in his chest.
In the end, however, his search yielded nothing but disappointment.
Aside from aged monasteries and incense-filled shrines, he found no unusual Reishi fluctuations or hidden realms, concluding the sense of familiarity stemmed solely from the local ghost lore.
As they prepared to leave the eastern continent, Batsu'unsai summarized her findings.
"These mortals operate on a strange conceptual framework, Kazuma. In their localized legends, the dead pass through an underground gate to face judgment before reincarnating. It contradicts our established cycle of souls passing into the Soul Society."
A shadow of doubt rose in Kazuma's heart as he listened to her analysis.
Having lived for centuries, he believed he understood the structural mechanics of the universe, but the cultural discrepancies proved many unknowns still waited in the dark.
"These myths are fascinating," Kazuma replied, looking back at the fading coastline. "Perhaps the mortals here developed a unique understanding of life and death isolated from the Seireitei's influence."
Batsu'unsai nodded while adding, "They also document the existence of various demons and nature spirits possessing unique forms and abilities. While our Hollows share some behavioral similarities with these creatures, the fundamental spiritual composition is different."
Pondering her words, Kazuma suggested, "Maybe those cultural differences created the ambient familiarity we felt on the mountain. Either way, the whole purpose of this trip is to explore the fringes of the world."
Boarding a ship, Kazuma and his companions set their sights on the Western world, seeking to explore a culture and historical background divorced from the East.
Immersing themselves in regions where mortals believed the dead ascended to a heavenly paradise or fell into a fiery hell, the Shinigami searched for truth among the legends.
Yet, as the months of travel stretched on, the doubts in Kazuma's heart only grew heavier.
Despite the globe being saturated with countless myths and pantheons, Kazuma never found a single trace of a reigning deity, leaving him to wonder if the Shinigami and the distant Soul King were the only divine authorities in existence.
Refusing to give up his search, Kazuma eventually stumbled upon a chilling, unnatural phenomenon.
Observing the local mortal deaths in these foreign regions, he realized the Pluses did not linger or pass into the Soul Society as expected, instead, their souls vanished into thin air without leaving a trace of Reishi behind.
The astonishing discovery plunged Kazuma into deep thought, his brow furrowing as he stared at the empty space where a soul should have been.
A massive secret was hidden in the blind spots of the Gotei 13's jurisdiction, leaving him desperate to uncover the truth behind the disappearing dead.
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