Seeing the shimmering glint in Yoruichi's eyes, Ren nodded.
"I can."
"However, we cannot stay for too long. I still have a lot of work to do on this side."
Seeing Ren's agreement, Yoruichi's eyes curved into crescents. Her amber vertical pupils overflowed with joy, and she couldn't help but rub her head against Ren's chest.
"Heehee, you're so good to me."
"Get off me for a second; I need to use my full power."
After Ren finished speaking, he slowly crouched down.
Yoruichi tactfully jumped off him, her short legs carrying her in a quick trot to a spot not far away. She watched Ren's subsequent actions with a serious expression.
Ren drew the Zanpakutō from his waist. His Spiritual Pressure surged out, transforming into a visible silver-white pillar of light that shot straight into the clouds.
The ground beneath his feet was compressed into a deep pit by the erupting pressure, kicking up wave after wave of air currents that felt like a typhoon.
Feeling Ren's Spiritual Pressure from such close range, Yoruichi's eyes snapped wide.
'Such massive Spiritual Pressure!'
'Mr. Serious has actually reached this level.'
The heavy pressure wrapped around every cell of her body, making her feel as if her physical form was about to let out a groan of being overwhelmed. If she weren't reasonably skilled herself, she feared that in the face of this Spiritual Pressure, she wouldn't even retain the will to fight.
By her estimation, such a gargantuan Spiritual Pressure far exceeded Second Class Spiritual Power. It was truly difficult to imagine.
Standing in the void, Ren was unaware of Yoruichi's thoughts. He simply focused his consciousness onto his Zanpakutō.
The scenery before his eyes shifted, and he arrived in the inner world of his Zanpakutō.
Currently, he was standing atop a giant compass. All around him, lake water rippled, and a thick mist pervaded the air. However, different from before, Ren looked around and realized he was not at the exact center of the compass but was slightly offset to the side.
The orb of light with the character for 'Sea' written on it was floating directly above his head.
"Going to a new world again?"
Kiritsugu's voice came from behind him.
Ren turned his face slightly, catching sight of the red-and-black figure in his peripheral vision.
"Is the other guy hiding again?"
Kiritsugu nodded and said, "He is very reticent. Under normal circumstances, he doesn't show his face much."
After a pause, he asked, "Do you want to see him? I can drag him out."
"No need." Ren shook his head and asked curiously, "Speaking of which, if I am to cross over this time, what kind of world will it be?"
Kiritsugu remained silent for a moment before speaking slowly, "My apologies, I am not sure about that either."
Hearing this, Ren's brow immediately furrowed.
"You don't know?"
Kiritsugu replied, "I am not an omniscient or omnipotent god. How could I possibly know?"
Ren's frown deepened.
"Didn't you say before that you wouldn't let me choose dangerous worlds?"
"If a world is relatively safe for me to visit, or if a world is very dangerous and you help me avoid it—if even you aren't sure, how can you make a judgment in advance?"
Kiritsugu sighed and said, "It isn't that complicated. It's simply a judgment based on a vague intuition."
"When you open a world passage, you inevitably touch upon many worlds. Simply by sensing the scale of the world, I can get a general feeling for it."
"If the scale of a world is large and the spatial barriers are thick and sturdy—so sturdy that it's incredibly difficult even for my ability to open a passage—then there is a high probability it is dangerous. The reverse is also true."
Hearing Kiritsugu's explanation, Ren nodded slightly. Though the explanation was somewhat abstract, Ren could more or less understand.
He asked, "What is the scale of the world I'm going to this time?"
Kiritsugu pointed at Ren's Zanpakutō, which had yet to strike, his expression looking somewhat speechless.
"You haven't even chosen a direction to slash in yet. How would I know?"
"Fair point."
Ren nodded and opened his eyes again. The scenery shifted back to the Living World.
With his current strength, even if he encountered something dangerous, he could easily manage to escape with Yoruichi even if he couldn't win.
Ren's Zanpakutō glowed with a clear light. He gazed forward as if his sight pierced through the void and fell upon the new world they were about to reach.
He remembered that the last time he opened a spatial passage, it was to the Jujutsu World. At that time, he possessed the peak Spiritual Pressure of Third Class Spiritual Power and was about to enter the realm of Second Class Spiritual Power. Opening that passage had taken nearly an hour.
Now, after two years of accumulation, he had reached First Class Spiritual Power. His Spiritual Pressure had grown exponentially compared to before.
Opening a spatial passage now would only take two slashes.
"Hah!"
Ren let out a sharp shout, swinging the sharp blade in his hand against the void before him. His silver-white Spiritual Pressure whipped out from the blade like a streak of white silk, landing on the void and immediately carving out a massive spatial rift.
The opening was jagged and uneven. Inside was a pitch-black tunnel where the end could not be seen, resembling the deep and oppressive seabed.
With just one slash, Ren had cleaved through the spatial barrier of the Pirate World.
The Pirate World once had a passage connected to the Soul Society, but Ren had stabilized that passage and used a Senkaimon as the gate for travel between the two worlds. To avoid disrupting the normal use of that spatial passage, Ren had opened a new path from the spatial barrier of the Pirate World.
Seeing the passage reveal itself, Ren exerted his full power once more and swung!
The white streak erupted from the Zanpakutō again, flying into the pitch-black spatial rift. It reached deep inside and sliced open another spatial crack.
Sunlight shone through the crack, casting a bit of brightness at the end of the spatial passage.
"The spatial passage is complete."
Ren looked ahead, his gaze traveling through the passage and the crack within it. He caught a glimpse of the scenery in the other world. Though it was like looking at a leopard through a tube, Ren could see clearly—it was also a modern society with high-rise buildings.
"I just wonder... what kind of world this is."
Seeing that the spatial passage was formed, Ren sheathed his sword and waved to Yoruichi.
"Come here, Yoruichi. I'll take you to see."
Seeing this, Yoruichi ran over and leaped into Ren's chest, her sharp claws hooking into his clothes. Ren supported Yoruichi's body and cradled her in his arms.
The black cat's vertical pupils were filled with shock as she looked at the spatial passage ahead. The pitch-black rift and the corner of the strange world deep within it reflected in her eyes, sparking an uncontrollable curiosity.
"This is the passage to another world..."
"Crossing through means a new alternate world!"
Yoruichi then looked up at the lower half of Ren's face, her voice filled with disbelief.
"It's that simple?"
"It's finished just like that?"
Ren straightened his back and nodded steadily.
"Opening a world passage is an easy task for me."
"Let's go."
Ren cradled the black cat in his arms. His Spiritual Pressure paved a path beneath his feet as he walked into the rift toward the new world.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]