Bleach: The Path to Transcendence

(For convenience, Yoru Chikao's Soul Society clone will hereafter be referred to as Ito Makoto.)

Ito Makoto took out his identification card and, following the instructions on it, headed for the residence assigned to him by Soul Society.

He had only taken a few steps when a timid voice came from behind him.

"Um, excuse me, are you also heading to the residence?"

Ito Makoto turned around and saw a short, very thin girl in a floral kimono who had called out to him.

Upon seeing this girl, Ito Makoto suddenly remembered he had seen her at the front of the line, in the same queue as him. He hadn't expected her to be assigned to District 57, just like him.

"Hello, my name is Iwasaki Eri. I... I can't read maps. Would you mind taking me to the residence with you...?"

The more Iwasaki Eri spoke, the redder her face became and the softer her voice grew, until it was barely a whisper, like a mosquito's hum.

"So, she's directionally challenged!"

Ito Makoto rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit helpless.

"Alright, then you can come with me!"

...

And so, Ito Makoto took Iwasaki Eri to the residence. Along the way, as Iwasaki Eri chattered on, picking up conversations intermittently, the two became more familiar with each other.

"Makoto-kun, you don't remember anything from your life before either?"

"Of course not. We can only resolve our obsessions from our previous lives and be reincarnated in Soul Society if we lose all our memories!"

What Ito Makoto said was, of course, a lie—or rather, not entirely a lie. When he first arrived in Soul Society and reincarnated as a human, he did lose his memories and was briefly confused.

His main body, far away in Hueco Mundo, instantly awakened him through a special connection between their souls.

After some conversation, he realized that this girl talked an unusual amount. However, this was Ito Makoto's first time conversing with a human since his transmigration, so he didn't feel impatient.

The next moment, the identification card in Ito Makoto's hand began to glow brightly, indicating that the residence assigned to him by Soul Society had been reached.

Looking around, there were rows of small wooden houses. Ito Makoto and Iwasaki Eri walked forward together and knocked on the front door.

Soon, an old woman, less than 1.4 meters tall and wearing geisha makeup, opened the door.

"Two more newcomers assigned today? Those guys in Seireitei are always bothering an old woman like me, really! They don't even pay me more rent!"

The old woman grumbled impatiently, but when she looked up and saw Ito Makoto, a blush actually rose on her face.

"What a... handsome young man. This old woman feels her youth returning!"

"Come, come, please come inside!"

The old woman immediately welcomed Ito Makoto in with enthusiasm. Iwasaki Eri, seeing the huge difference in the old woman's attitude, couldn't help but curl her lips in resignation and followed them inside.

"My name is San Hana, you can call me San Hana-bāba. Seireitei arranges accommodation for every new resident arriving in Rukongai. The first three years' expenses are covered by Seireitei; after three years, you'll need to pay the rent yourselves."

San Hana-bāba then looked at Ito Makoto's handsome face again, and said shyly:

"Of course, if it's this young man, he can stay as long as he wants!"

Ito Makoto looked at San Hana-bāba's wrinkled face, which resembled a blooming chrysanthemum when she smiled, and couldn't help but gulp. Iwasaki Eri, beside him, had a face full of black lines.

San Hana-bāba led Ito Makoto and Iwasaki Eri to a spacious guest room, took out two cushions, and asked Iwasaki Eri and Ito Makoto to sit down.

Iwasaki Eri skillfully took a cushion and knelt down. Ito Makoto paused for a moment before imitating her, placing the cushion beneath him and kneeling down.

He was genuinely a bit unaccustomed to it.

He took a cup of hot tea poured by San Hana-bāba and drank it in one gulp.

"Phew!"

Ito Makoto let out a long breath. This cup of hot tea was the first human food he had enjoyed since his transmigration.

Feeling the warm tea with its refreshing fragrance spreading in his throat, Ito Makoto was so excited he almost cried.

In his previous life on Earth, he didn't like to drink tea, but after transmigrating and being separated from human food for so long, he finally felt the aroma of tea.

One must know that he had been living a primitive, savage life in Hueco Mundo.

"Roar!"

Just as Ito Makoto was drinking tea, a roar, exceptionally familiar to him, entered his ears.

"Rumble!"

Suddenly, a pale, large claw crashed through the roof, reaching for the three people inside.

Just as the giant claw was about to grab the three of them, Ito Makoto, carrying both of them, vanished from the spot with a Shunpo.

He used Shunpo according to the method in Ito Kaito's memory, successfully taking the two away and placing them in a safe corner outside the house.

Then, he first leaped onto the eaves, then deliberately slowed his pace to lure the Hollow away. He didn't stop until he had gone a certain distance.

Although he had reincarnated as a human, his Adjuchas-level spiritual pressure was still there. Seeing no one around, he confidently used a Shunpo to rush in front of the skeletal-looking Giant Hollow and punched its mask!

Although the current Ito Makoto had lost his Menos Grande body and could not use skills like Cero or Sonido, with the enhancement of his Adjuchas-level spiritual pressure, a pair of bare fists was enough to obliterate this Giant Hollow.

One punch directly shattered the Hollow's mask, sending it flying backward, rolling over ten meters away.

"Whoosh!"

Ito Makoto pursued the advantage, flashing to catch up with the Giant Hollow.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A series of lightning-fast straight punches were aimed directly at the Giant Hollow's face.

In just a few breaths, Ito Makoto had already thrown forty to fifty punches.

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a roar of unwillingness, the Giant Hollow strangely turned into dust and scattered.

A tiny particle, like a speck of dust, shimmering with a faint blue light, was caught by Ito Makoto in his hand.

"What is this?"

Suddenly, Ito Makoto's keen spiritual perception detected several other unusual spiritual pressures.

"Hmm? There are a few more!"

Noticing the anomaly, Ito Makoto first put away the unknown small particle. Then, he used Shunpo again, tapping his feet repeatedly to walk on air, moving towards a certain direction.

Soon, he arrived at the outskirts, full of haystacks. Looking from afar, he saw several Giant Hollows rampaging ahead, and many Rukongai residents were being devoured by them.

Ito Makoto fell into contemplation as he watched the Giant Hollows. If Giant Hollows were pouring out of Hueco Mundo, as a former Hollow, he would have immediately detected the fluctuations of Hueco Mundo. Yet, he hadn't noticed any signs of disturbance in Hueco Mundo. These Hollows seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

Then there was only one possibility: these Hollows were born in Soul Society, artificially created by someone using special means.

As Ito Makoto thought of this, a figure immediately came to his mind.

Aizen Sōsuke!

Thinking of this, he abruptly stopped his steps. He didn't want to get involved in this mess. He hadn't truly grown strong yet, and entering Aizen's line of sight now was a bit too soon.

Therefore, he did not go forward to stop those Giant Hollows from devouring souls. If these Hollows were indeed concocted by Aizen, then he must be observing from somewhere, recording experimental data!

Moreover, Hollow incidents should be handled by the Shinigami of Soul Society. As long as his own life wasn't threatened, what did it matter to a new resident of Rukongai!

Not long after, a squad of Shinigami wearing Shihakushō arrived on the scene using Shunpo and began to clear out these soul-devouring Giant Hollows.

These Shinigami were just ordinary Squad Members, and they quickly found themselves in a tough battle, entangled with the Giant Hollows.

Just then, a dark-skinned, curly-haired Shinigami wearing a Shihakushō and goggles arrived on the scene with a Shunpo.