Shihōin Family Ancestral Shrine
The guardian shinigami stared in shock, nearly unable to believe what they were seeing.
Deep, suffocating black shadows stretched out from the gaps beneath the doors, the slits of the windows, and even the cracks in the walls—like living creatures crawling outward, devouring the grand, ancient shrine at terrifying speed.
In just a single instant, the ancestral building—untouched and unshaken for countless generations—vanished right before their eyes, swallowed whole.All that remained was a towering mass of oppressive darkness standing in its place.
"Something terrible has happened!"
"Are we under attack?!"
"Notify the family elders immediately!"
"Mobilize the covert strike squads! Summon the disciplinary troops!"
The shinigami guards, normally so calm and stoic, were completely thrown into panic. Alarm bells rang out in frantic succession, echoing like thunder, their vibrations spreading across the entire Shihōin estate in moments.
Ōmaeda Kishin sprinted to the scene the moment the alerts went off.
When he arrived and saw the shrine's condition, he froze, stunned speechless.
Their most heavily guarded forbidden zone… completely overtaken by an unknown force?And Lady Yoruichi was still inside!
Wait—
A jolt of realization shot through him.
He suddenly remembered—just minutes ago, Lady Yoruichi had brought a guest with her.Kisaragi Akira.
"Did anyone enter the shrine recently?!"
"Yes! Lady Yoruichi and her friend."
Cold sweat instantly drenched Ōmaeda's back, soaking through his undershirt.
Of course. He knew it.Wherever that kid shows up, disaster is guaranteed to follow!
Right now, the most important thing was to figure out what this black shadow actually was—
As members of the covert strike units began arriving one after another, surrounding the shrine from all sides, inside—
Yoruichi stared up at the massive black figure looming over Kisaragi Akira, utterly shaken.
Everything she was seeing… was far beyond her understanding.
She'd originally thought the rumors were exaggerated, nothing more.Inviting Akira to "perform an exorcism" had been little more than wishful thinking—throwing a rock in the dark, hoping for a miracle.
But reality…Reality was worse than the rumors.In fact, the rumors hadn't even come close to describing the truth.
She couldn't understand it.Not at all.
"The sacrifice for this ritual…" Akira muttered, eyes narrowing as he rummaged through the system space.
Because this particular job was troublesome, he felt he needed to offer something at least decent as tribute. It would feel disrespectful to Miwa-Hagi otherwise.
Let us take a look at Kisaragi Akira's private treasure stash:
Bound volumes of the "Seireitei Times," star-shaped konpeitō candy, tofu dishes, grilled fish, dried persimmons, dog chew sticks, "Rosy Path" magazine, a calligraphy piece signed by Aizen…
"This one should work!"
Akira's eyes lit up as he quickly chose the offering.
Seeing him reach into his pocket, Yoruichi's eyes widened. She stared fixedly at his hands, desperate to understand how he managed to pull so many random objects from nowhere.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make sense of it.
Before she knew it, Akira was already setting a small bottle of sake onto the offering table.
The faint aroma of alcohol drifted upward, clearing away some of the oppressive tension.The shadowy being materialized a massive right hand, but its cold, single eye did not look at Akira.
Instead, it remained fixed on the ancestral Zanpakutō displayed at the head of the shrine.
After a moment of silence, that single eye lowered, turning toward the shrine's awaiting priestess.
"Alright, big guy, here's the situation…"Akira launched into a bizarre, rambling explanation, summarizing Yoruichi's request in his uniquely ridiculous style.
Miwa-Hagi—the shadow deity—remained silent for a moment. Its lonely eye drifted between the two humans and the Zanpakutō several times before it finally nodded.
"…Fine."
As always, it spoke little.But the moment its voice fell, a colossal pressure exploded outward—as if the sea overturned or a mountain collapsed—pouring violently across the shrine.
The next instant, the crushing weight fell directly on Yoruichi and Akira.
They had no time to brace themselves.A brutal pulling force yanked at their consciousness, dragging them into momentary disorientation.
When Akira finally regained clarity, the world around him had completely changed.
What he saw—
A barren wasteland.Gray, oppressive clouds hung low enough to touch.Thunder dragons writhed and roared within them, crackling with lethal electricity.
At the center of the wasteland coiled a massive beast—its entire body wrapped in golden lightning, fur bristling like jagged bolts of thunder, shining with blinding radiance.
Even from this distance, Akira could feel the crushing pressure…And the pure, terrifying aura of annihilation.
"So that's the 'evil spirit' inside the Zanpakutō?" Akira muttered, rolling up his sleeves. He reached instinctively for his waist—
And found nothing.
"…Where's my sword?!"
"If I'm correct," Yoruichi said quietly, golden eyes tense, "this is the Zanpakutō's inner world."
Her gaze fixed on the wild thunder-beast in the distance.
"That creature is the Zanpakutō's manifested spirit.Your ritual brought us here."
Akira glanced to the shrine priestess at his side and shrugged helplessly.
"So what now?"
He'd expected Miwa-Hagi to either fix the problem or refuse outright.He hadn't expected the solution to be thrown back onto them.
Unfortunately…This wasn't his Zanpakutō.If it were, he'd have a dozen ways to deal with it.
"Since I'm the next head of the Shihōin family…" Yoruichi's eyes hardened with determination. "Then I'll be the one to earn its approval!"
And with that, she tore off the long sleeves obstructing her movement—revealing a flash of skin and the perfectly toned strength beneath.She removed most of her scarlet hakama as well, exposing sleek, powerful legs.
"Kisaragi Akira, watch from the side. Leave the rest to me!"
Before Akira could protest, Yoruichi used shunpo and vanished from sight, launching herself straight toward the thunder-beast.
The sudden surge of her spiritual pressure jolted the creature awake.It opened its massive jaws, releasing a roar laced with crackling thunder.
Lightning erupted—violently.
Yoruichi's eyes sharpened. Spiritual energy wrapped around her long legs, and with a burst of force, she swung a devastating kick toward the beast's head!
BOOM!
Thunder exploded on impact.A massive claw met her kick head-on.The shockwave rippled outward in violent rings, tearing through the air like layers of thin paper.
In this storm of raging lightning, Yoruichi showed her true power.
Spiritual pressure coated her sculpted frame, electricity rushing wildly around her.As the chosen successor of the Shihōin family, the future captain of Division Two—her talent soared far beyond the realm of ordinary prodigies.
Using only her hand-to-hand techniques and shunpo, she danced through the stormlike an agile spirit from a fairy tale.
Unfortunately—
As the thunder-beast's size increased, the pressure on her grew heavier and heavier.
Even her full-powered strike left no damage on its body—only a momentary ripple across the lightning.
Like wind blowing over a field of golden wheat.
A moment later—
The beast slammed its massive paw down.
Yoruichi was sent flying like a falling star, crashing straight into Akira's arms.
The two locked eyes.Akira sighed helplessly.
"Victory and defeat are part of the game…"
In the distance, the thunder-beast let out a triumphant roar—mocking the foolish challenger who dared oppose it.
Infuriated, Yoruichi sprang back up.
"Fine!We're taking it down—together!"