Bleach: From the moment I was invited by Squad Zero.

They all straightened their backs and turned their gazes toward the entrance.

Yanagawa's senses were the most acute; the "quality" of this spiritual pressure was unlike any Shinigami he knew.

It is filled with the purest desire for battle and destruction, almost like an instinct that is innate and honed in endless battles, rather than something that can be cultivated.

"Hey~ Something interesting looks like this! Little Sword, come and see!"

A sweet, childlike voice rang out first, and a petite girl with pink hair, looking like a doll, was leisurely sitting on the shoulders of a tall man.

Swinging her legs, holding half a string of konpeito in her hand, her amber eyes scanned the room with interest, pausing particularly on Yanagawa, a "new face".

The man carrying her—Kenpachi Zaraki, the captain of the 11th Division—walked in with a nonchalant air.

With wild hair, a scar running across his eye, and his open shihaka outfit revealing his muscular chest, he exuded an aura of "I'm the best fighter in the world."

His single eye barely glanced at his own teammates, but instead, like a beast that had smelled blood, it fixed its gaze on Yanagawa in the center of the field, and on Renji, who had just regained his footing and looked somewhat disheveled, opposite Yanagawa.

"Oh?" Kenpachi's lips curled into a grin, a smile purely born of the excitement of spotting a potential prey. "Renji, looking like this, who beat you up?"

Renji quickly stood up straight, and although he looked disheveled, he still tried his best to maintain his composure in front of the captain: "Reporting, Captain! My former classmate, now a member of the Kido Clan! We... were sparring!"

"A sparring match? And it turned out like this?" Kenpachi's one eye swept over Yanagawa, his gaze sharp as a knife, as if he were assessing how tough Yanagawa's bones were and how resilient he was to being cut.

"It's interesting that I managed to beat you up like this. Hey, you," he gestured with his chin toward Liu Chuan, "what's your name? Come on, let's have a fight."

The invitation was taken for granted, and the fighting spirit was made no attempt to hide.

However, before Yanagawa could respond, Renji subconsciously added, his tone still carrying the shock of being bombarded by Kido: "Captain! Yanagawa is skilled in Kido!"

"The Way of the Ghosts?"

This word was like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing most of the burning light in Kenpachi Zaraki's eyes.

His grin turned down, his brow furrowed impatiently, and the interest in his single eye visibly faded, turning into undisguised disdain.

"The Ghost Path?" he repeated, his tone filled with an "Is that all?" as if he had heard something extremely boring.

He carried Kusajiro Yachiru and took two steps forward, approaching Yanagawa, but the oppressive fighting spirit had dissipated considerably.

"So, after all that, it was just some kind of magic trick involving thunder and fire?"

He clearly had no interest in the Kido, which required chanting, skill, and control, rather than pure power and the clash of swords.

In his view, fighting should be a bloody, brutal battle, and any "tricks" are utterly tasteless.

Kusajishi Yachiru tilted her head on his shoulder, looked at Yanagawa, then at Kenpachi, and whispered:

"But Ken, that 'trick' just now made a lot of noise, Renji even bled."

"That only proves that Renji is too weak," Kenpachi commented bluntly, completely losing interest in fighting Yanagawa.

“Yeah, Yanagawa!” Renji suddenly asked.

"Where's your Zanpakuto? Even if your Kido is powerful, the Zanpakuto is the core of a Shinigami, isn't it? Your sword... could it have rusted from being stored away by the Kido sect?"

That's a great question. In Soul Society, Zanpakuto are symbols of a Shinigami's power, identity, and even soul. The vast majority of Shinigami consider training in Zanpakuto fundamental.

It is truly an anomaly that someone like Liu Chuan, who is clearly quite strong, does not even draw his sword when sparring with an opponent of the rank of Grand Master.

In an instant, everyone's attention was focused on Yanagawa again. Even Kenpachi Zaraki, who had already lost interest, looked over with a hint of amusement, wanting to hear what this "kido enthusiast" had to say.

Facing the gaze of the crowd, Liu Chuan remained calm and composed as he answered:

"I do have a Zanpakuto, but it's been a long time since I've used it."

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, but what he said surprised those familiar with the Death God's combat system:

"For me, the way of the ghost is the exploration and application of the essence of spiritual power."

He glanced at his empty waist: "As for the Zanpakuto, it is very strong. It is an extension of the soul and an amplifier of power."

"But relying too much on it can limit one's power to some extent. I prefer to directly harness spiritual energy itself and use it in the way that best suits the situation."

These remarks sounded quite "heretical" to Shinigami who revered the power of Zanpakuto and many even considered Shikai and Bankai as their lifelong pursuit.

Even the Third Seat of Madarame couldn't help but mutter, "This kid has quite the nerve... looking down on Zanpakuto?"

After hearing this, Kenpachi Zaraki turned around, hoisted Yachiru Kusajishi onto his shoulder, and walked towards the barracks, his lazy voice drifting over:

"What's the point of a fight if you can't have a good, satisfying battle? Renji, if you lost, go back to extra training and stop embarrassing yourself here." He didn't even bother to turn around, just waved his hand.

Kusajika Yachiru perched on Kenpachi's shoulder, waved her little hand at Yanagawa, and said with a smile, "Bye-bye, big brother who generates electricity~" Then she was carried by Kenpachi and disappeared into the shadows deep in the training ground.

With Kenpachi's departure, the atmosphere in the training ground became more relaxed, but the gazes of everyone towards Yanagawa became even more complicated.

There was both apprehension at his ability to defeat Renji and "admiration" for him daring to say such things in front of Captain Zaraki.

Renji didn't think too much about it. He walked over to Yanagawa and patted him hard on the shoulder: "You're still the same as before, your head is full of道理 (principles/truths) that others can't understand!"

Liu Chuan expressed some helplessness; his Zanpakuto... he hadn't truly abandoned it entirely.

He simply devoted more of his energy to studying the nature of spiritual power.

Zanpakuto are more like "samples of special spiritual phenomena".

The most crucial point is that Yanagawa's own Zanpakuto is a bit volatile, not easy to communicate with, and quite noisy and destructive when used.

Therefore, in the vast majority of cases, it can only be placed in a corner of the house to collect dust.

Chapter 8 Two Hyōrinmaru

The next day, before the morning mist had completely dissipated over Seireitei, a piece of news as shocking as thunder shattered the tranquility of the day with astonishing speed.

The sound of explosions echoed throughout every division, the Seireitei, and even the Shinigami Academy, causing an unprecedented shock and heated discussion.

"Have you heard? The Central Academy of Spiritual Arts! Two geniuses! And identical Zanpakuto!"

"Hyōrinmaru! It's Hyōrinmaru, known as the strongest ice-type!"

"How is this possible?! Aren't Zanpakuto unique?!"

"Absolutely true! One is named Hitsugaya Toshiro, and the other is Kusakabe Soujiro!"

"Soul Society has never seen anything like this before!"

The uniqueness of a Zanpakuto is an ironclad rule in Soul Society, a symbol of the uniqueness of a Shinigami's soul.

Now, this ironclad rule has been broken, and by two so-called "strongest" Hyōrinmaru swords, causing an impact no less than a spiritual storm.

The news naturally reached the Ghost Path Clan as well, and Liu Chuan held a freshly brewed cup of tea.

Listening to his colleagues' hushed yet excited discussions, he remained calm, but a thoughtful glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Hitsugaya Toshiro... This name was not unfamiliar to him, because he had seen the white-haired boy several times because of Hinamori Momo.

In my memory, he was a child with a youthful face but precocious eyes, possessing a calmness and arrogance beyond his years.

When Hinamori Momo mentions him, her tone is always full of trust and a little admiration. She calls him "Shiro" and says that he is an absolute genius whose spiritual power grows at an astonishing speed.

Unexpectedly, this genius boy awakened Hyōrinmaru. Even more unexpectedly, there was another person who awakened the exact same Zanpakutō as him.

Kusakabe Munjiro... Yanagawa didn't have a deep impression of this name. Perhaps he wasn't the most outstanding among his peers, but the fact that he could awaken Hyōrinmaru shows that his talent and soul qualities are extraordinary.

"Two Hyōrinmaru..." This is no ordinary event.

The name and form of a Zanpakuto originate from the soul essence of a Shinigami (death god).

In theory, it is impossible for two individuals to be exactly the same.

Just as no two leaves are exactly alike, no two souls are exactly alike.

Therefore, there are only a few possibilities regarding the "Twin Hyōrinmaru" before us:

One of them is a "fake," a highly sophisticated imitation.

However, top-tier Zanpakuto like Hyōrinmaru contain extremely high levels of rules and power, making them unimaginably difficult to imitate.

Not to mention that the possibility of being able to deceive the True Spirit Academy's monitoring and the senses of countless Shinigami at the very beginning of awakening is extremely low.

Second, a kind of "resonance" that transcends existing knowledge and involves the origin or rules of the soul.

Perhaps deep within the souls of Toshiro Hitsugaya and Soujiro Kusakabe, there exists a striking similarity or special connection that even they themselves are unaware of.

It triggered an extremely rare "loophole" or "special case" in the rules of Soul Society, causing the "name" symbolizing the "ultimate of ice" to respond to both souls at the same time.

This sounds unbelievable, but in Yanagawa's view, it's more likely than a perfect imitation.

After all, the world is vast and full of wonders, especially when it comes to the most mysterious realm of the soul.

Third, external interference: a powerful force, strong enough to distort the rules governing the awakening of Zanpakuto, intervened.

Who would do this? What is their purpose? Liu Chuan immediately thought of the Spirit King Palace he was about to visit, and the unfathomable Hyosube Ichibei.

But then he immediately dismissed the idea, asking what benefit such blatant breaking of fundamental rules would bring to the Spirit King Palace, which maintains the balance of the Three Realms.

It doesn't make sense. Other possibilities... such as the Hueco Mundo, or some existence hidden in the shadows of history? Insufficient information makes it difficult to judge.

Regardless of the reason, this event itself has already had a huge impact on the Soul Society's established cognitive system.

It is foreseeable that the top brass of the Central 46 and the 13th Gotei 13 are probably in an uproar right now.

How should we deal with the two holders of "Hyourinmaru"? Should they be given priority training or placed under quarantine and investigation? The related debates and decisions are bound to be accompanied by undercurrents.

“Toshiro Hitsugaya…” Yanagawa put down his teacup and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

Based on his understanding of Hinamori Momo, the girl must be worried at this moment, both proud of her childhood friend's talent and concerned about the trouble this unprecedented phenomenon might bring.

As for Hitsugaya himself, that proud and arrogant genius, his feelings were probably even more complex and difficult to describe.

As for the other party involved, Sojiro Kusakabe, his situation is perhaps even more delicate.

“The rules have been broken…” Liu Chuan muttered to himself, his interest in the researcher growing stronger.

This incident, like a suddenly appearing "abnormal data point," has extremely high observational value for him as he tries to understand the power system of this world.

The secret behind this intrigued him.

Unfortunately, he will soon be heading to the Spirit King's Palace, so he will probably miss the opportunity to closely follow and study the subsequent developments of this incident.

Captain-Commander Yamamoto and many other high-ranking officials are likely paying close attention to this matter, and may even have already intervened.

"It seems the Seireitei is going to be lively for a while." Yanagawa looked out the window, as if he could feel the unusual restlessness and tension in the air.

The rise of geniuses and the exception to the rules are often accompanied by turmoil and change.

He withdrew his gaze and turned back to the latest calculation draft on the spirit particle steady-state barrier spread out in front of him.