"Who?! Who did this?!"
Sora Inoue froze, then roared, scanning the room.
A calm voice sounded above him. "Just a passing devil."
Boom!
A deafening blast echoed.
Sora was floored by the sudden attack, heavily injured.
Roy leaped down, summoning a magic circle that enveloped Sora.
In moments, Sora's body shrank, sealed into a palm-sized black box, asleep.
"Pretty handy."
Roy picked up the box, impressed.
The [Black Box] spell, a recent creation, stored weapons and items.
Sora's nature made killing tricky, so Roy improvised, sealing him.
The box's seal on living beings was weak, but Sora wasn't strong.
Boosted Gear's reinforcement ensured the seal held.
Pocketing the box, Roy approached the dazed girl nearby.
Coming to her senses, Orihime Inoue spoke. "Um… Devil-san, thanks for saving me."
"No need. I'm on the clock."
"Huh? Like that?"
Orihime reached for her pocket, then remembered she was in soul form.
Seeing her body and the soul chain, she blinked. "Devil-san, can you put me back in my body? I can't pay like this."
"Sure."
Roy lifted her body, walking toward her soul.
Halfway, he stopped, glancing at the broken wall.
"What's up?" Orihime turned.
Two figures—a man and a woman—jumped through.
"What's going on?"
Ichigo Kurosaki scanned the messy room, finding no Hollow.
Then he saw the unconscious Tatsuki Arisawa and Roy holding Orihime's body.
His mind spun a 10,000-word fanfic. Eyes wide, he roared, "You bastard! Stop!"
Kicking off, Ichigo charged like a blur.
"Ichigo-kun, you've got it—" Orihime started, too slow.
Roy raised a palm, flicking a finger.
Bang!
Ichigo flew back faster, vanishing from the room.
[Congratulations on defeating Ichigo Kurosaki. Obtained Golden Entry: Energy Fusion.]
[Energy Fusion (Gold): Fuse different energy sources, retaining effects while vastly enhancing energy quality.]
Nice guy, delivering like that.
Eyeing the Golden entry, Roy forgave Ichigo's rashness.
Turning back, he placed Orihime's soul into her body.
"How's it feel? Anything off?"
"All good, normal," Orihime said, pulling out her wallet. "Devil-san, this is all my savings. Hope it's enough."
Roy glanced at it, tossing it back. "Keep it."
"That amount'd make a thief cry. I'd feel guilty taking it."
Orihime: -_-
Sorry for being so broke.
Rukia Kuchiki, who'd been watching, approached. "Can either of you explain what happened?"
"Nothing much. Passed by, saw a Hollow attacking a civilian, handled it," Roy said. "Then you showed up, and that dumbass Reaper rushed me without a clue."
Ichigo, just back: "…"
Friendly fire, huh?
Hearing Roy, Ichigo's face turned awkward. "Arigato… sorry!!!"
"No need. Let me punch you again next month, and we're square."
"?"
Why next month?
Ichigo scratched his head, not asking.
"Um… what's a Hollow?" Orihime raised her hand.
"Souls that, due to various factors, fall and become monsters," Rukia explained.
Learning the truth, Orihime's expression grew complex.
So that monster was really Sora.
"Why're you in Karakura, Roy?" Rukia asked, puzzled.
Karakura was Soul Society's turf, managed by Soul Reapers.
Devils or Church folk shouldn't be here.
"Came for you."
"Me?"
"Your captain, after you went dark, sent a private commission to the Underworld."
Roy handed over the commission, summarizing.
Rukia's face turned complicated. "Didn't know Captain Ukitake had Demon Lord connections. First I'm hearing of it."
"Roy, can you pass a message? I can't return to Soul Society yet."
"Why not?"
"Well… due to an accident, I gave my Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo."
Rukia hesitated but spilled the truth.
"Transferring Reaper powers to a human without permission is a grave crime in Soul Society."
"I want to stay in the living world, recover my powers, then go back."
"Whoa, for real?!" Ichigo, hearing this first, gaped.
"Can't they cut you some slack? You saved me with those powers."
"Maybe, but… I don't want to stain the Kuchiki name," Rukia said. "If possible, I'd rather keep this quiet."
"What a hassle. Any way to give your powers back?" Ichigo asked.
"If I knew how, I'd have taken them already. Wouldn't need to hide in this gigai."
"Fair."
Ichigo glanced at Roy. "What about you, Roy-san? Can you return my powers to Rukia?"
"Don't know how to transfer them, but I can speed up her recovery."
"Seriously?" Rukia's turn to be shocked.
"Yup, but you gotta ditch that gigai. It's suppressing your recovery."
"?"
Suppressing recovery?
Rukia froze, then her face darkened. "Wait, this gigai's holding me back? How'd you know?"
"With these." Roy pointed to his blue eyes.
Six Eyes granted perceptive insight.
Paired with his recent Super Perception entry, he could see energy flows.
Right now, Rukia's gigai was stifling her recovery, even siphoning her restored power.
"With that shackle, you'll never regain your Reaper powers."
"Tch, I knew my recovery was off. So the gigai's the problem?" Rukia muttered, puzzled.
Kisuke Urahara had given her this gigai.
They'd just met, with no bad blood.
Why would he give her a faulty one?
No time for that now. To confront Urahara, she needed her strength back.
"Roy, what's your method for speeding up my Reaper power recovery?"
"Senjutsu."
A white glow flickered at Roy's fingertip.
Senjutsu manipulated natural or life energy, with myriad effects.
Used right, it could ease soul weakness, boosting Reaper power recovery.
"How long with Senjutsu?" Rukia asked.
"First time trying, so no exact timeline," Roy said.
"Fair. When do we start?"
"Back in Kuoh Town."
"Kuoh Town?"
"Where I live. Don't worry about danger."
"But… what about Karakura? If I leave, there's no Reaper."
"What're you talking about? That dumbass behind you is a Reaper."
Ichigo: "…"
Stop roasting me.
Ichigo's eye twitched, wanting to snap back but lacking the ground.
"Ichigo's too green. He can't handle Hollows alone," Rukia voiced her concern.
"Easy. Make him strong enough to handle anything."
"How?"
"Depends if he's willing."
Roy turned to the still-processing Ichigo. "I can unlock your potential, making you strong fast."
"But it'll draw attention and drag you into trouble."
"Knowing that, you want my help?"
"Do it."
Ichigo answered instantly.
Rukia's mess started because of him.
If Roy could help her recover fast, he couldn't hold her back.
Trouble for himself was better than trouble for friends.
"Roy, what do I do?"
"Nothing. Stand still, don't resist."
Expecting this, Roy set up a barrier.
Half an hour later, Rukia stared at the hundred-layered barrier, puzzled. "Roy, does unlocking potential make a big scene?"
"Normally, no. But this dumbass is special."
Roy glanced at Ichigo.
Compared to prep, granting entries was simple.
Opening the vault, Roy picked a White entry and confirmed.
[Entry granted. Click to view target panel.]
A hundred meters away, on a Karakura street.
A figure in a bucket hat and clogs appeared.
Scanning around, Kisuke Urahara eyed a black cat on a wall. "Yoruichi, why'd you call?"
"Rukia Kuchiki's in trouble."
Trouble?
Urahara frowned, puzzled.
Before he could ask, a boom rang out.
He spun, staring at Orihime's house.
A massive reiatsu pillar shot skyward.
The hundred-layer barrier trembled, the terrifying aura warping the air.
"…That's something else."
Urahara, silent, sighed. "Yoruichi, this the trouble?"
"…"
"Got it."
Sighing, Urahara didn't rush to check.
"Fill me in first."
At Orihime's house.
"Roy, you're insane."
Rukia gaped at Ichigo's surging reiatsu. "I've never seen someone's power jump this much."
"First for me too."
Roy shrugged, eyeing Ichigo's panel, visible only to him.
[Ichigo Kurosaki]
[Race: Human]
[Strength: Level 5]
[Entries: Medical Mastery (White), Prodigious Insight (Purple), Quincy Bloodline (Purple), Iron Will (Red), All-Severing (Red), Spirit King Fragment (Red), Soul of the King (Gold), Energy Fusion (Gold)]
[Prodigious Insight (Purple): Talent comprehension +300, faster learning.]
[Quincy Bloodline (Purple): Cultivation effect +300, deep mastery unlocks Blut Vene and Blut Arterie.]
[Iron Will (Red): Greatly boosts mental resilience, ignores enemy aura, unleashes full power.]
[All-Severing (Red): Reiatsu capacity greatly increased, sword strikes +1000 power.]
[Spirit King Fragment (Red): Reiatsu capacity greatly increased, cultivation effect +1000.]
[Soul of the King (Gold): Reiatsu capacity massively increased, soul strength has no cap, cultivation effect +3000.]
Two Purples, three Reds, two Golds.
The most stacked panel Roy had ever seen.
With these entries, Ichigo's strength triple-jumped from Level 2 to Level 5.
Without Boosted Gear, Ichigo's stats might outstrip Roy's, rivaling Demon Lords and gods.
Stats were one thing; attribute matchups and combat skill were another.
Freshly awakened, Ichigo was like a baby with a sword to Roy.
Some power, but manageable.
"You need to train hard to control your power," Roy told Ichigo, who approached to thank him. "Reiatsu comes from the soul. Yours is massive and leaking."
"Uncontrolled, just standing there could mess with nearby human souls."
"That bad?!" Ichigo exclaimed.
"I'm underselling it. It's worse."
"What do I do? Got a way to help me control it fast?"
"I do, but someone's better suited to teach you."
Roy turned to a figure leaping through the wall's gap. "Ichigo's training's on you, Kisuke Urahara. No problem, right?"
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