Anime/Manga: Bankai Starting with Demon Slayer

"No need for formalities, Miss Butterfly." Aizen's gentle voice came from behind. "Helping a comrade in distress is only my duty. I hope to bring you good news soon."

The heavy doors to the captain's office closed silently after Shinobu Kocho left, isolating the interior from the exterior.

Shinobu Kocho felt genuinely happy.

Captain Aizen is still as understanding as ever. I should have come to talk to him sooner.

Asuka... I hope to see you again...

With that thought in mind, Shinobu Kocho put away the documents and hurriedly headed towards Rukongai.

"We must tell Mr. Xingming and the others this good news..."

Inside the door, Aizen Sousuke remained in the same position, with his hands clasped and his body slightly leaning back, like a frozen sculpture.

"Ha...this is really...this is really..."

Even someone as calm as him couldn't help but become excited at this moment, looking behind the mirror.

"Shinobu Kocho... Shinobu Kocho..."

He kept repeating the name, frantically searching his memory for every last bit.

Demon Slayer Corps, Insect Hashira, Humans, Breathing Techniques...

He quickly retrieved these terms and compared them with the sixth seat of the fourth division that he was familiar with, causing his body to tremble involuntarily.

"No wonder...no wonder a Rukongai girl who appeared out of nowhere has such excellent swordsmanship skills..."

"Is the powerful spiritual energy within you due to the influence of Number Seventy-Eight... Asuka? Is his name Asuka?"

"But why have you been in Soul Society for over seventy years... while Asuka only appeared a few days ago? What did you encounter in the Dangai?"

Aizen's fingers kept fidgeting with each other on the back of his hand, as if trying to clarify the thoughts in his mind—

"Or is this the risk of traveling to another world? Time will be disrupted? Ah... you're shrouded in so many mysteries, Number Seventy-Eight, Asuka..."

Behind the mirror, the eyes had shed all pretense of warmth, leaving only an unfathomable fervor.

"Bird... Bird..." A low, dreamlike murmur escaped from between his lips.

"...Wait a little longer, wait a little longer and see." He forced himself to calm down and turned his gaze to the distant sky:

"...This detestable throne of heaven, compared to the vast world..."

In this world, Karakura Town.

Ding-a-ling—

Kisuke Urahara, behind the counter, tapped the lucky cat with the tip of his fan: "Seventh order, Asuka-kun. The address is 'Spirit Fortune Telling Shop', Chohara 3-chome, Naruki City."

At that moment, Asuka, wearing a navy blue apron with the words "Urahara Shoten" printed on it, was putting a wooden box labeled "Special Spirit-Expelling Incense" into a cardboard box on the back of her bicycle, facing the afternoon sun.

Upon hearing Kisuke Urahara's voice, his forehead twitched involuntarily: "I mean... the last order hasn't finished yet, why are you assigning another one?"

Urahara smiled and handed over the receipt, then took a ceramic jar with a talisman on it.

"The capable should do more, have a safe journey~"

Feiniao pushed the cart out the door, the rusty chain rattling.

This is his daily routine: delivering goods to unscrupulous merchants.

According to the unscrupulous merchant, his spiritual pressure underwent a devastating collapse that night, nearly killing him.

Urahara does not intend to release him from the Gikai until he can properly balance his spiritual pressure.

"What an unreliable guy..." Asuka muttered.

He also tried to delve into his mind, to communicate with his inner being and the thief, but those two went silent again, and he didn't know what they were up to...

Recalling the battle that night, and the words of the black-haired youth.

Was being knocked out of the boundary really that damaging to them? They still haven't recovered.

On the sweltering streets, bicycle wheels rolled over the sun-softened asphalt.

As the red light turned on, the bird landed in front of a 711-Eleven, its reflection in the glass showing its silhouette clad in a cheap modern T-shirt.

His disheveled black hair and dark circles under his eyes overlapped with the radiant smiles of the celebrity spokespeople in the shop window posters, creating an absurd collage.

"Never mind, at least I'm still alive."

"I just don't know... I don't know if Shinobu is really in Soul Society..."

With a push, the bicycle shot off with a whoosh.

Chapter 136 The Extraordinary Deliveryman

Honestly, every time Asuka pedals on this creaking old bicycle, she curses Kisuke Urahara, that shrewd businessman, in her heart.

Under the scorching sun, his work clothes were already half-soaked with sweat.

The feedback from this prosthetic body was so real that it seemed absurd to him.

He was already accustomed to regulating his body temperature through breathing techniques or using his overflowing spiritual pressure to insulate himself from the cold and heat of the outside world.

But now, none of these things work on this prosthetic body; he's just a deliveryman, parched from the sun, forced to pedal hard.

The bird slowed down and stopped in front of a patch of green shade.

He watched the crowd hurrying across the zebra crossing, dressed in strange costumes he had never seen before, rushing toward their respective destinations.

The world moves too fast.

People hurried across the crosswalk, heads down, holding black cubes called "cell phones"; bizarre images played from boxes called "televisions".

Huge billboards flashed dazzling neon lights in the darkness, illuminating the sky like a never-ending fireworks extravaganza.

The sounds of car horns, advertisements playing on giant electronic screens, and the faint hum of the tangled wires overhead vibrating at high frequencies constantly assaulted his senses.

"Modern society..." Asuka murmured, chewing on the word, before setting sail once more.

These days, he is being forced to integrate into this era in the most awkward way.

He learned to read traffic lights, to discern the intentions of those cars that looked like tin cans, and to survive in a world without demons.

He always felt like an outsider, and every day he was thinking about how to restore the spiritual power in his body and try to break free from this body as soon as possible.

The bicycle stopped in front of a house called Hasegawa. Asuka picked up a package and skillfully rang the doorbell.

"We're here, please wait a moment!"

Light footsteps came from inside the door, followed by a woman dressed as a housewife pushing the door open.

"Oh, you're from the Urahara family. Thank you for your hard work, young man."

Although the other person did not recognize Asuka, they recognized the four large characters "Urahara Store" on his chest.

As a side business selling "exorcism" products to citizens, this is Urahara's most important source of income.

Feiniao bowed slightly and handed over the delivery slip: "Your package, please check."

"Ah, thank you. Karakura Town seems to be a bit unsettled lately. We often hear strange noises at night. Please be careful when delivering goods, sir." The housewife complained casually as she signed for the package.

Is things not going well...? Asuka didn't reply and silently took back the receipt.

His gaze swept towards the green belt at the street corner.

Behind the carefully trimmed bushes, a semi-transparent figure lingered.

It was a boy who looked no more than seven or eight years old, dressed in tattered clothes, with a broken, rusty chain of cause and effect hanging from his chest.

The broken part of the chain had begun to show an unstable tremor, a sign that the soul was about to be alienated.

The boy looked nervous and blankly stared at the bustling street.

To ordinary people, his existence is nothing more than a non-existent mass of air.

A man in a suit passed through his body, and the boy stumbled from the faint flow of life force, looking even more aggrieved.

The bird didn't move, nor did it go up to chat.

In this city called Karakura-cho, such "remodeling" is everywhere.

Although the spiritual vision that sensed the existence of souls did not disappear, the bird, which had no spiritual power, could do nothing in the face of these helpless wandering souls.

Click, click.

Asuka pedaled her bicycle again, letting the wind brush against her cheek.

He could only pretend not to see it, secretly praying for the other person to be guided by the Grim Reaper.

But before he had even ridden to the next intersection, the temperature in the air suddenly dropped several degrees.

The bird's back tensed abruptly, and a spiritual pressure filled with greed and violence vibrated around it.

"This discomfort..."

He slowly turned his head and looked behind him.

The once tranquil void seemed to be torn apart by a pair of invisible claws, and a black crack quietly appeared.

Immediately afterwards, a bloated monster wearing a bone mask squeezed out of the crack.

It let out a low growl, and saliva dripped from its mouth onto the concrete ground, making it look quite ferocious.

That's a lie.

The illusory target is clearly the soul of that boy from before.

The boy seemed to sense the danger and screamed in terror.

He began running frantically through the streets, trying to call for help from passersby, but his voice was inaudible to ordinary people.

One pedestrian after another passed through his translucent body, and no one stopped.

The enormous body of the void bounced on the walls and rooftops, stirring up gusts of cold wind that kept approaching him.

The bird stopped its bicycle.

He stood beside the bicycle stand, his hand unconsciously reaching for his waist.

He forgot that it was empty.

"Forget it, mind your own business. You can't handle this kind of thing anyway." Asuka turned around and started pedaling again.

Judging from the physical functions exhibited by this artificial body, it is no different from an ordinary otaku, and it can be said that it has no means of self-defense.

Rushing over there would only provide that virtual creature with an extra snack; it would be pointless.

Moreover, Kisuke Urahara repeatedly emphasized—

You must never reveal your existence.

Kid, consider it bad luck. I hope you die a quick and painless death...

"Help!! Someone please save me!!"

Tsk.

boom! !

"Uh?"

The ethereal creature, its massive jaws already wide open and filled with sharp teeth, lunged at the boy who lay limp on the ground.

Suddenly, I felt something hit the back of my head.

It turned its head blankly and found a black-haired young man wearing a light blue apron looking at it warily.

This human? Can he see me?

"Run!" Feiniao shouted, leaving the passersby somewhat bewildered.

Instead of rushing over foolishly, he threw the clay pot that Kisuke Urahara had prepared to give to the guest onto the Hollow, attracting its attention.

They claim it can ward off evil and disaster... Anyway, it's just a tool for deceiving people, so let's use it to do some good.

Before the boy could react, Asuka rushed to his side and, without caring whether he could understand her or not, grabbed his arm and forcefully dragged the terrified spirit up.

The boy was stunned; he clearly hadn't expected that someone could actually see him, or even catch him.

"Don't stand there! Come with me!"

Birds don't waste time with unnecessary nonsense.

He grabbed the boy and quickly slipped into the intricate network of residential buildings nearby.