Time had to roll back to the day after Higashino Shuuichi obtained the Soul King fingernail fragment.
He had barely gotten home from the Kasumiooji when his Zanpakutō reached out to him on its own.
He sank into his inner world—a classical study lined with bamboo-slip scrolls. At the far end, a middle-aged man in a white cloak, a white-and-green jade at his waist, sat calmly on a straw mat, a half-unrolled bamboo scroll in hand.
This wasn't Shuuichi's first time here. Back when he'd first reached captain-class reiatsu, he'd rushed to materialize his Zanpakutō spirit—only for the blade to refuse and drag him into this "inner world" instead.
Here, he suffered the most inhuman torment of his life. Taking advantage of time's strange flow and the fact that the Shuuichi here was only a projection, the Zanpakutō spirit killed him a full thousand times.
Almost every death was different.
Only when there were no new ways left to kill him did the one-sided slaughter end in total defeat.
That time, the blade gave him no true name. It only faintly praised his moves in Soul Society, then told him he could use the name "Art of War" to commune with it and borrow a portion of the Bankai (Final Release).
After that, the Zanpakutō slammed the channel shut.
No matter how he called, there was no reply.
And that time the blade granted him exactly one Bankai ability:
"Blade Hidden in the Smile."
With it, Shuuichi could deliberately take an enemy's attack and return an equivalent, unavoidable strike.
Chicken-rib tier.
That was the only evaluation he could give it.
He couldn't necessarily tank a strong blow, and if it was weak, returning it back wouldn't matter.
"Unavoidable" isn't "unblockable or indestructible."
So even after gaining that incomplete Bankai, he never tried to use it once.
Still, that Bankai, paired with how the Zanpakutō behaved in the inner world, gave him a hunch:
To unlock further abilities, his Bankai might be tied to what he did in reality.
"Blade Hidden in the Smile" fit his usual style a little too well, didn't it?
He kept testing… and when his Zanpakutō never answered, he gave up.
He didn't expect that, after orchestrating such a grand scheme and earning the fingernail fragment through blood and nerve, the blade would finally react.
"Judging by your face, you know why I pulled you in."
The man spoke without turning, as if everything sat in his palm.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's because what I did this time aligns with the Way of Bingfa—the Art of War."
Shuuichi wasn't dumb. As soon as his blade called, he pieced it together.
His earlier idea hadn't been wrong; his previous tests were just too small, unworthy of his Zanpakutō's eyes.
"Do you know which stratagem?"
The man's tone was unhurried.
"Those who are useful, do not borrow; those who are useless, petition to borrow; borrow what cannot be used and make it usable…"
Shuuichi closed his eyes. The Thirty-Six Stratagems he'd loved in his past life surfaced.
"Offensive Stratagems: 'Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul.'"
"I could have taken the fragment directly and asked Sōsuke to fuse it into me—but I didn't.
That would only spend his trust. The process was unstable besides—I had no idea if Sōsuke had his eye on Rangiku or not.
Under Kyōka Suigetsu, there was no point taking risks without value.
That is: those who are useful, do not borrow."
"The Kasumiooji needed to solve the Bakkōtō's feeding problem; Sōsuke wanted Hollowfication (Hollowfication) experiments; Genryūsai wanted an investigation, and so on…
None of that had anything to do with my goal of getting the fragment. But I leveraged them all to achieve it—without drawing Sōsuke's ire.
That is: those who are useless, petition to borrow."
"Combine the two, and you get: borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul."
Shuuichi opened his eyes. The whole flow of the plan stood crystal clear in his mind.
At the same time, the man who'd been facing away—his Zanpakutō made flesh—turned to face him.
"From today, you may borrow 'Borrow a Corpse to Resurrect the Soul' from me."
"And your true name?"
Shuuichi hadn't forgotten—knowing the name is the key to a complete Bankai.
"You want my true name?"
A not-quite-smile.
"Who wouldn't?"
"Two choices. First: earn my full recognition and you may wield the whole Bingfa."
He rose from the mat. The casual scholar's air vanished. A blade appeared in his hand—fiery red from tip to guard, eighteen paired, wing-like scales along the spine.
Shuuichi had seen it before: unmistakably the fully-released form of his Bankai.
"Second: defeat me, and I will tell you my name."
"Advance, soldier! The good general wins with the unorthodox!"
Shuuichi's answer was a lightning-quick rush and slash—without a shred of hesitation.
He'd wanted this rematch for a long time.
This time, he would wash away his shame.
At the very least—at least this time—he wouldn't die a thousand times!
The result was… encouraging. He didn't die a thousand times.
Only nine hundred and ninety-nine.
"Heh—haha—hahahaha!"
The inner world kicked him out without mercy. Flat on his back, Shuuichi laughed up at the ceiling.
He should have realized it sooner—ever since Shikai (Initial Release), his Zanpakutō's specs had been outside the "host template."
He'd inherited only the original owner's ordinary reiatsu talent—but his soul, his Zanpakutō, remained unique, untouched by that ceiling.
That wealth he'd carried from another world—was his greatest trump card.
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