Explosions like thunder shaking the heavens echoed endlessly from the dense woods of Ryugan, located in the 37th District of East Rukongai.
For two full days, the earth trembled with violent tremors—then, just as suddenly, everything fell silent on the morning of the third day.
A lone Shinigami from the Gotei 13, drawn by the unnatural silence and devastation, arrived on site with his Zanpakutō in hand.
What met his eyes chilled him to the bone.
"Damn... Was this a natural disaster?! What the hell happened here?!"
The once-pristine forest lay in utter ruin. Trees, which had stood tall like sentinels, were now felled and scattered like sheared wheat. Deep craters pockmarked the land, as if the area had been relentlessly hammered by lightning strikes or Zanpakutō explosions.
Even the most intense sparring matches between Gotei captains rarely left such widespread destruction.
"Ahh... How am I supposed to report this?" he muttered, exasperated. "Do I just say East Rukongai's 37th District got hit by a giant... thunderstorm?"
He stared at the scorched land beneath his feet and sighed. The scene before him almost rivaled the devastation wrought by Ryūjin Jakka—Yamamoto-soutaichō's Zanpakutō—and that comparison alone made the report a dangerous one.
He could already hear his superior's response: "So you're telling me the Captain Commander went berserk in Ryugan?"
...And then imagine his head getting twisted off.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?"
As he stood there lost in thought, a shadow flickered at the edge of his vision—deep within the charred woods.
With no hesitation, the Shinigami vanished using shunpo, instantly giving chase.
Further within the forest, a young boy in patched, ragged clothing treaded cautiously. His wary eyes scanned the surroundings, occasionally glancing back.
Just as he felt safe enough to breathe—blink—the Shinigami was gone.
The boy froze, staring at the ruins before him. Alarm bells rang in his mind.
"Hey, kid... what are you looking for?"
A cold voice spoke behind him.
Goosebumps crawled up the boy's spine. Without thinking, he spun around and dropped to his knees.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to spy! I—I was just picking wild vegetables… I saw you and got curious! I swear I don't mean any harm. Please… don't kill me!"
His body trembled as he bowed in practiced submission—an all-too-familiar gesture among the orphans of Wandering Soul Street.
"…Get up. I'm not a Hollow. No need to be that scared," the Shinigami replied, a sigh escaping his lips. The boy's reaction was sadly too common among the desperate children in outer Rukongai.
Still, the boy remained kneeling, his body tense. "Please… don't kill me…"
The Shinigami grabbed the boy by the collar and pulled him to his feet.
"If you're out here collecting food, you clearly know the area well, don't you?"
He gestured toward the devastated land behind them.
"Then tell me—what do you think happened here?"
The boy's eyes flickered with hesitation. He knew something.
"You want to live, right?"
In response, the Shinigami just said a few words to the boy, and the boy confessed everything.
"Maybe, Lord Shinigami, you don't believe me! But I really saw it!"
"It was a man—holding a Zanpakutō, bathed in a glazed light—and he destroyed the entire forest just like that."
Upon hearing this, the boy dared not delay and told the Shinigami everything he knew.
"Was there someone from another squad practicing Bankai here?"
"It seems he succeeded..."
"Really, practicing Bankai without notifying the other squads—it's embarrassing."
At these words, the Shinigami's expression changed.
"A man holding a Zanpakutō, bathed in glazed light, destroying a forest... that has to be Bankai."
The Shinigami's eyes glinted with envy. After all, Bankai represents the highest release of a Shinigami's Zanpakutō—a level that few in the entire Gotei 13 can achieve. It's a symbol of power and spiritual pressure.
"Do you know where the man who mastered Bankai went?"
Though he suspected the man wasn't part of the Gotei 13, he asked the boy anyway.
"Oh! That big brother in white went that way," said the boy, pointing toward Seireitei.
"So... he's heading for the Soul Society?"
"Wait—what did you say he was wearing?"
"A white robe," the boy replied after a moment's thought.
"A white robe? Not a standard Shinigami uniform?"
"Damn it... he's not from the Gotei 13 at all, is he?"
The Shinigami muttered, suddenly alarmed.
"Thank you! Here—buy some food with this."
He tossed the boy a few glowing coins of spiritual currency and immediately flash-stepped toward Seireitei.
"Please... let my premonition be wrong," he thought as he sped through the air. Chapters first released on novelFɪre.net
In a blink, the boy stood alone in the ruined woods.
The boy bowed deeply in the direction the Shinigami had vanished.
Outside the gates of Seireitei, the Shinigami stronghold and seat of the noble families,
Araki stood silently, gripping his Zanpakutō.
He gazed at the burning sun in the distance and murmured,
Then, in a flash, his figure vanished.