What does it feel like to enter a boundary-crossing passage?
The answer is, it doesn't feel like much! Just a bit dizzy!
Because the passage Sora followed the Shinigami into wasn't like a Garganta, which he navigates himself.
Instead, this passage was closer to the traditional concept of crossing over.
It was like jumping off a building, or sliding down a tube at a water park.
In this situation, everything around you changes rapidly, and you can only feel yourself continuously falling, falling, falling!
After a long period of bizarre, kaleidoscopic falling, Sora finally reached the destination!
Thud!
Guided by gravity, Sora's feet made heavy contact with the ground.
"Landed on our feet, huh..."
Looking up, Sora gazed at the sky.
The azure sky, covered by thick clouds, made it seem as if he hadn't crossed over at all, but was simply on the planet's surface!
But Sora knew that wasn't true!
He had currently arrived at the innermost part of the planet known as the Ninja World. In other words, this was the inside of the planet!
"So, 'landed on our feet' is somewhat fitting. After all, isn't this a form of orbital drop?"
Sora murmured.
He looked around again.
After the fall, the restraints on the Shinigami had naturally dissipated. Following some kind of program, the Shinigami had also left on its own.
But it wasn't a big problem, as Sora had placed a marker on the Shinigami, so it couldn't escape.
Sora was just examining the place where he had landed.
So, what does the underworld of the Ninja World look like?
Sora didn't know.
In any case, what he saw before him was a place covered in ice and snow, with extremely low temperatures!
His eyes met drifting snowflakes, and his feet trod on thick ice!
As the master of the Strongest Ice-Type Zanpakuto, Sora could clearly sense the temperature here was over a hundred degrees below zero!
"An ordinary Ninja would probably freeze solid just by arriving here..."
Sora pondered. "Unfortunately, the person who came this time was me. The cold, the ultimate weapon that defeated the... well, let's say a certain historical power, is ineffective against me!"
Simultaneously, Sora took a deep breath.
He was surprised to discover there was air here!
But 'air' isn't entirely accurate, as gas exists everywhere.
What people usually call 'air' generally means oxygen!
So what Sora meant was, the Pure Land had oxygen!
But the problem was, shouldn't the Pure Land, as commonly understood, be a place for souls to reside?
Oxygen seemed more suited for the living!
'What's going on?' Sora looked around, even expanding his Reikaku!
Within the dozens of kilometers he could perceive, there was only him, and no signs of life whatsoever!
Sensing this, Sora formed another hypothesis: 'Perhaps this place wasn't originally the Pure Land!'
'Maybe someone made it into the Pure Land...'
Thinking this, Sora leaped up, stepping onto footholds condensed from Reishi as he ascended into the sky!
But using his Reiatsu this time, Sora also felt that the Reishi Concentration here was far higher than the outside world, which did have a bit of an underworld feel.
But the same question remained.
'It's supposed to be the Pure Land, so why can't I see a single person, or even a single soul?'
Sora was somewhat troubled.
He sensed the location of the departed Shinigami again, considering whether to catch up and take a look.
However, just as Sora was troubled, his perception seemed to brush against something!
"Wait, this is…!" Sora sharply looked directly beneath him!
That was the spot where he had crashed down!
Due to the long free fall without deceleration, Sora's impact speed had been extremely high.
Coupled with him applying Blut Vene to enhance his defense...
Even these millennia-old permafrost ice layers had been cratered by Sora's impact!
And what Sora's perception had just detected came from within that crater!
As someone with Rank 6 Reiatsu, Sora's eyesight was exceptionally good.
Now, looking directly down, the object in the crater appeared before Sora's eyes, clear in every detail!
Thus, seeing the thing he had discovered, Sora was shocked!
Because beneath the ice layer wasn't just solid ice…
Frozen within the ice layer here were… people!
A person with peacefully closed eyes, seemingly unaware and unconscious, was frozen within the ice!
"Absurd!" Sora used a Shunpo to return to the crater's edge.
Then, he released his powerful Reiatsu. The substantial Reiatsu swept out like a storm, blowing away everything centered around his feet.
After Sora blew away all the snow covering the ice layer...
More, even countless people appeared before Sora's eyes!
All these people were frozen beneath this who-knows-how-many-millennia-old solid ice!
Looking at those people, for an instant, Sora felt his entire body go numb!