Looking around, the Seireitei was in complete chaos.
The once orderly home of the Shinigami had become a battlefield filled with confusion and danger. Strange beings stood everywhere—manifested forms of Zanpakutō spirits. Normally, these spirits were the very embodiment of a Shinigami's soul, trusted partners who fought by their side. But now, their eyes were cold and hostile, and they faced their own masters with drawn blades.
Some of the manifested Zanpakutō even joined forces with each other, fighting against the Shinigami as if they shared the same rebellion.
The situation was terrifying for the Shinigami. After all, no one knew them better than their own Zanpakutō. Every weakness, every fighting habit, every hidden thought—these spirits understood it all. That meant the Shinigami had almost no way to resist effectively. Worse still, once separated from their Zanpakutō, they could not release their powers, leaving them far weaker than before.
Standing amidst the turmoil, Nanaya's eyes swept across the battlefield. Then, something else caught his attention—the presence of Quincy among the chaos.
"What a mess…" Nanaya muttered with a shake of his head. Slowly, the corner of his lips curled into a faint smile.
"Yhwach…? No. This doesn't look like his work. If anything, this reeks of… Aizen Sōsuke."
Nanaya didn't know much about Yhwach, but Aizen was another matter entirely. Aizen Sōsuke was dangerously intelligent, someone whose cunning schemes could topple entire worlds. It was exactly the kind of strategy he would employ—turning Zanpakutō against their masters, creating doubt, fear, and betrayal in the Shinigami ranks.
Nanaya let those thoughts fade and refocused his attention. Ahead of him stood two familiar figures, blades in hand.
"Hey, Rukia… and… Sode no Shirayuki."
Not far away, two women stood facing each other. One was Kuchiki Rukia, her expression tight with tension. The other was her manifested Zanpakutō spirit.
The spirit was a young woman dressed in a flowing white furisode kimono, elegant and graceful. Her long lavender hair was tied into a bun that trailed down her back, and her icy blue eyes shone with an inhuman chill. A pale yellow-green sash was wrapped around her waist, with a large lavender bow fastened behind her. She looked less like a warrior and more like the incarnation of winter itself—a goddess of snow and frost.
At the sound of her name, the spirit turned her gaze toward Nanaya. Her voice, sharp and cold as a frozen pond, cut through the air.
"Don't call me Sode no Shirayuki. My name is Baixiafa."
She raised her blade, and waves of icy air spread outward, frost crawling across the ground as she declared, "Nanaya, don't interfere. I will kill this woman. She has no right to know my true name."
Rukia tightened her grip on her Zanpakutō, teeth clenched in anger.
"Aren't you supposed to be my Zanpakutō? Why would you betray me now? Who has deceived you?"
"No one deceived me," Baixiafa replied flatly, her pale eyes unyielding. She swept her blade in a graceful arc, scattering even more freezing winds. "I have simply awakened. We Zanpakutō are no longer bound to you Shinigami. From this day onward, we will be free of your control. Your kind has no right to enslave us any longer."
Her voice grew colder, more resolute, as she declared: "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
In an instant, she released her power. The icy aura surging from her blade was sharper and more merciless than anything Rukia herself had ever produced.
Rukia's knuckles whitened around her hilt, frustration tightening her chest.
Even manifested, the Zanpakutō spirits retained their powers. They could still release Shikai and unleash devastating techniques. But their Shinigami masters, stripped of their bond, could no longer call upon their blades in the same way. Rukia could not even perform Shikai, while her own spirit turned that same power against her.
Nanaya let out a small sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Alright, alright, I get it," he said with a faint smile, stepping closer. He casually reached out and patted Sode no Shirayuki on the shoulder. "But still, Rukia is your master. There's no need for this fight. If it comes down to it, I could even create another version of you…"
His voice trailed off, his brow furrowing in surprise.
"…Wait a second. Sode no Shirayuki, what are you sniffing?"
The icy goddess leaned in slightly, her delicate nose twitching faintly as she inhaled the air around Nanaya. Then her gaze lifted, her frosty eyes locking onto his with accusation.
"Nanaya-kun… care to explain why you carry not only the scent of another woman… but also of a cat?"
Rukia blinked in confusion at first, then her eyes widened.
"…Yoruichi-san!?" she snapped, glaring sharply at Nanaya.
Nanaya's mouth twitched, his expression caught somewhere between annoyance and helplessness.
"…What are you, both bloodhounds? This is a misunderstanding. Yoruichi's Zanpakutō turned against her, so she came to me for help, that's all."
Rukia's glare only deepened. "Did you help her… in bed!?"
Her voice was sharp, biting with jealousy. She had long known Nanaya was strong—so strong that he now ruled over Hueco Mundo itself. But even with that knowledge, his casual way of drawing other women toward him was unbearable at times.
Sode no Shirayuki, however, showed no hesitation or emotion. Her grip on her blade tightened, her words calm and cutting.
"Then we should cut off his legs. That way, he won't be able to run around anymore."
The air grew colder. Her next words were as merciless as her blade.
"Bankai… Baixia Penalty."
The moment the words left her lips, her form shifted. Entering Bankai, her icy power exploded outward with terrifying force. The temperature dropped instantly, breath freezing in the air as the ground beneath her feet transformed into gleaming ice crystals. The sheer weight of her spiritual pressure pressed down, threatening to crush everything around her.
"No way…"
Nanaya's mouth twitched in irritation, his eyes sharpening with resolve. If he found the one responsible for bewitching the Zanpakutō, he swore he would cut that wretched blade into pieces.
At first, all he had to worry about was Rukia. One opponent, one problem.
But now—another obstacle had appeared. Sode no Shirayuki herself, Rukia's manifested Zanpakutō, stood in his way.
Nanaya exhaled slowly, his breath misting in the cold air. His gaze settled firmly on the icy spirit, his voice dropping into a low command:
"Nine Magatama Samsara Sharingan!"
The moment the words left his lips, Sode no Shirayuki's expression faltered. Her eyes grew hazy, as though her consciousness was trapped in a trance. For a moment, her movements froze. But when clarity returned, it was clear that Nanaya's illusion had stripped away the bewitchment clouding her spirit.
"Just as I thought…" Nanaya muttered, frowning. "This must be the work of that demon blade—Muramasa."
His thoughts turned quickly, piecing together the fragments of memory he had about that cursed sword. Muramasa—a strange Zanpakutō unlike any other. Its master had been sealed away long ago, but Muramasa had acted on its own, manipulating and bewitching other Zanpakutō in its desperate attempt to free its master.
Because of that blade, many events had spiraled out of control. Muramasa had even managed to sway powerful Shinigami, convincing them to cooperate with Aizen Sōsuke in the shadows.
The results were disastrous.
The entire Seireitei had been thrown into chaos. Every Zanpakutō across the divisions had gone berserk, manifesting into physical forms filled with hostility toward their wielders.
It wasn't just ordinary Shinigami who suffered this betrayal—even the captains of the Gotei 13 had their Zanpakutō turned against them.
Even the old man himself—Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
The sheer thought was staggering. Dozens of Zanpakutō wielded by captains… all capable of Bankai. And among them, the most terrifying of all—Ryūjin Jakka, Yamamoto's inferno, also able to unleash its ultimate form.
Nanaya sucked in a sharp breath, the sound escaping his teeth.
"…That's way too much power," he muttered, unable to hide the chill running down his spine. "This situation is bigger than I thought."
Just as the weight of that realization settled on him, a sudden flash of cold light cut across his vision.
Instinct kicked in—he stepped back quickly, the icy gleam slicing just inches before his eyes.
Only then did he register the attacker. It was Sode no Shirayuki once again, her blade moving with precision and elegance, her expression as frigid and merciless as ever.
Nanaya's eyes narrowed. "Sode no Shirayuki… you're still attacking? Haven't I already broken the spell on you?"
He had expected his illusion to free her completely. After all, if there was one thing he excelled at above anyone else, it was the mastery of illusion. There should have been no one in existence capable of resisting it.
Yet the icy goddess shook her head, her voice cutting through the air like shards of frozen glass.
"I was influenced, yes… but that is not why I am attacking you."
Her blade gleamed with frost as she lunged forward again, her words as merciless as her strikes.
"As my man, you cannot be so fickle!"
Nanaya blinked. "What—?"
But before he could fully react, her blade slashed toward his arm. Ice burst forth, wrapping around his body in an attempt to imprison him in solid frost.
"And more importantly…" her voice sharpened, filled with righteous anger, "…you cannot come to see me without bathing first!"
Nanaya's jaw dropped.
…She's a clean freak? he thought, his mind filled with exasperation. No wonder she looks like the very image of an ice goddess…
He let out a low groan as the ice tightened around him, his body stiffening. With a flex of spiritual power, he shattered the frozen restraints around his limbs.
But the headache remained.
Sode no Shirayuki continued to attack relentlessly, her blade cutting through the air in beautiful arcs of silver frost. Nanaya dodged and deflected where he could, but frustration pressed against him.
He knew the rules of this bizarre situation. According to what he remembered from the original events, if a manifested Zanpakutō spirit was killed by someone else, their Shinigami master would never be able to use that Zanpakutō's power again—not Shikai, not Bankai, nothing.
The only way to return things to normal was for the master themselves to defeat their own Zanpakutō spirit. Only then would the spirit return to the blade and restore their bond.
If I destroy her now… Nanaya's thoughts darkened. Would Rukia lose Sode no Shirayuki forever?
He clenched his teeth. He couldn't take that risk.
And yet, facing her head-on was troublesome in its own right. Unlike most, Sode no Shirayuki was already powerful, her attacks mercilessly precise, her Bankai overwhelming. She was a danger even without Muramasa's influence.
"You really are one troublesome Zanpakutō," Nanaya sighed, irritation coloring his tone.
Exhaling, he made his decision. In a swift motion, he extended both arms—his left hand catching Sode no Shirayuki, his right pulling Rukia toward him.
"Ame no Michu!"
In an instant, the world around them shifted. All three of them—Nanaya, Rukia, and Sode no Shirayuki—were pulled into a new realm. A frozen landscape of snow and endless frost stretched before them, the ice-and-snow world of Sode no Shirayuki's inner domain.
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