Bleach: In Soul Society, I just want to retire

"Who… who's speaking?" Yamabuki Ditang wondered aloud, his voice trembling.

Could it be… his Zanpakutō?

Before he could process the thought, the world around him began to shift. Everything—the ground beneath his feet, the sky above, even the very air itself—started to collapse. It was as if reality was being sucked into a single point: his Zanpakutō.

Within moments, the entire world disappeared. All that remained was an endless void, pulling Yamabuki into its center.

When he regained consciousness, Yamabuki found himself standing in a vast, featureless expanse of pure white. The space stretched endlessly in every direction, with no walls, no ground, no horizon—just an infinite white void.

Hovering above him was an enormous structure: a nine-by-nine Rubik's Cube, each of its colorful squares shifting and rotating in seemingly random patterns. The cube floated lazily, spinning in defiance of gravity or logic.

For some inexplicable reason, Yamabuki felt a strange connection to this place.

"Is this… my inner world?" he muttered, looking around in awe.

He had read enough of Bleach in his past life to recognize what was happening. This must be his mental world, the place where the spirit of his Zanpakutō resided. He remembered how Ichigo Kurosaki, whenever he was on the brink of death, would be dragged into his inner world for a pep talk or training session with Zangetsu.

For the first time, Yamabuki felt a flicker of excitement.

"What will my sword spirit look like?" he wondered.

The spirits of Zanpakutō were known to take many forms. Some resembled majestic warriors, like Zangetsu, while others were more eccentric. He recalled Mayuri Kurotsuchi's grotesque Hikōtsu Jizō, a bulbous, worm-like monstrosity.

Yamabuki couldn't help but laugh nervously. "What if my sword spirit's a lazy bum like me?" he joked to himself. "It'd be just my luck to get a Zanpakutō that's a total slacker."

But before he could dwell on the thought, a sharp, feminine voice cut through the silence.

"You are the salted fish! Your whole family is salted fish!"

Yamabuki barely had time to process the insult before a small foot, wrapped in pristine white stockings, slammed into his face. The impact sent him flying backward, tumbling through the void.

"Ow, ow, ow! That hurt!" Yamabuki groaned, clutching his face.

Rubbing his cheek, he looked up at his attacker—and froze.

Standing before him was a girl, her posture brimming with disdain. She was clad in a pristine white military uniform, complete with a saber in a silver scabbard at her waist. Her long, silver hair was styled into twin tails that shimmered like silk, and her icy blue eyes practically radiated arrogance.

Her legs, wrapped in immaculate white stockings, exuded elegance, but the look of disgust on her face shattered any illusion of grace. She was staring at Yamabuki as though he were a particularly unpleasant stain on her otherwise perfect world.

Yamabuki blinked, trying to process what he was seeing.

"This… is my sword spirit?" he muttered, dumbfounded.

The girl's appearance caught him completely off guard. He had expected something grand or intimidating—maybe a stoic warrior or a mystical beast. Instead, his Zanpakutō spirit looked like a cosplaying tsundere fresh out of an anime convention.

His thoughts began to spiral. Could her appearance be tied to his Zanpakutō's abilities? What if his weapon's power revolved around… seduction?

"Maybe my Zanpakutō summons cute girls to fight for me," he thought, unable to suppress a grin.

The girl's expression darkened, and before Yamabuki could react, her foot connected with his face once again.

"F-Fuck your seduction powers!" she screamed, her voice dripping with outrage.

The force of the kick sent Yamabuki spinning like a top, and it took him several moments to regain his balance.

When he finally steadied himself, he looked up to see the girl glaring at him, her arms crossed.

"Hmph! How did I end up with such a useless master?" she sneered. "Do you realize that if I hadn't intervened, you'd already be dead? And here you are, cracking jokes like a moron!"

Yamabuki winced under her tirade but couldn't resist muttering, "You didn't have to kick me in the face twice…"

The girl ignored him, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Listen up! If you keep treating this world like some kind of game, you'll die. This isn't some anime or manga. This is reality. Act like it!"

Yamabuki sighed, a weary look on his face. "Life and death… what does it matter? I'm not special, okay? If I die, I die. It's not like I expected a Gillian to evolve on the spot and become an Adjuchas."

He shrugged helplessly. "I've been careful this whole time. I didn't hold back when I fought. If things went south anyway… well, I guess that's just how life works."

The girl's icy blue eyes softened for a brief moment, but her voice remained sharp. "You idiot. You're giving up too easily. Don't you want to live? Don't you want to know why you were brought into this world? What impact you might have on it?"

"Nope," Yamabuki said flatly.

"You're lying," the girl snapped.

"I'm not."

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

"YOU ARE!"

The absurd argument continued until Yamabuki finally threw his hands up in exasperation. "Fine! Whatever! Just send me back if you're going to nag me like this. I'll figure things out on my own."

The girl clenched her fists, visibly shaking with frustration. After a long pause, she sighed, muttering something under her breath.

"I was going to save you anyway…"

Yamabuki's ears perked up. "What did you say?"

"Nothing!" the girl snapped, her cheeks turning pink. "Anyway, I can save you, but there's a condition: you have to let me take control of your body."

Yamabuki's response was immediate. "Deal! Use it however you like!"

The girl blinked, caught off guard by his quick agreement. Her expression darkened as Yamabuki added with a cheeky grin, "Since you'll be using my body, does that mean I can control yours—"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

Meanwhile, in the cave, the captives watched in horror as the newly evolved Adjuchas continued to pummel Yamabuki's body into the ground. Each blow from the creature sent shockwaves through the air, leaving the Shinigami bloodied and broken.

Daxu, the Adjuchas, raised its fist, a Cero forming in its palm.

"This is the end for you, Shinigami!" it roared, its voice filled with malicious glee.

The captives closed their eyes, unable to watch the final blow.

But as the Cero descended, something unexpected happened. Yamabuki's hand shot up, his Zanpakutō intercepting the attack.

"What?!" the Adjuchas bellowed. "How are you still alive?!"

Yamabuki rose to his feet, his movements jerky and unnatural, like a puppet controlled by invisible strings.

His head tilted slightly, and a cold, feminine voice escaped his lips.

"Really, you let your guard down? How pathetic," the voice said.

The Adjuchas froze, its instincts screaming danger. "You—what are you?!"

Yamabuki—or rather, his Zanpakutō spirit—smirked. "You're already dead."

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