"As Hollowfication deepens, it's not just the boundary of the soul that collapses. Even the boundary between the soul and the outside world breaks down, causing the soul to self-destruct." Muten Natsu stared at the white-haired version of himself before him. "When reason is lost, life is lost as well."
"Reason, nya?" White-haired Muten Natsu raised Myōki. "Isn't your reason... already under my control, nya?"
Myōki... Muten Natsu's gaze shifted slightly. In a sense, Myōki really could be considered the embodiment of his own reason, or rather, his rational mind.
Then Bokukō was...
"Looks like you've figured it out, nya." White-haired Muten Natsu swung Myōki. Cracks split open through the deep darkness, and images flickered within the widening fissures. "So let's remember together, nya. What was it... that supported you and kept you alive in the beginning?"
In the images, Hollowfied Muten Natsu, wrapped in karmic fire, tore off the lizard Hollow's arm.
"It doesn't look like reason, and there wasn't any Myōki either, nya." White-haired Muten Natsu sneered. "It was me, nya. I was the one who ignited the Hell Flames and killed that damned Hollow, nya!"
White-haired Muten Natsu grabbed Muten Natsu in his Bokukō form and lifted him up in front of his face. "And what were you doing back then? You were afraid, you were sad, you were sniveling and crying, nya!"
Muten Natsu clawed at him desperately, leaving bloody scratches all over white-haired Muten Natsu's arm.
White-haired Muten Natsu had no intention of letting go. Instead, his fingers tightened even more. "I'm the one who kept you alive. That life should have belonged to me in the first place, and yet you feared my power, suppressed my power, and sealed me inside your Zanpakutō, nya!"
Muten Natsu's slit pupils widened.
After receiving the Asauchi distributed by the Shin'ō Academy, he had been unable to grasp Shikai for a long time.
At first he thought the problem lay with himself, but after trying again and again without success, he began to suspect there was something wrong with the Asauchi instead.
So he had tentatively burned it with the Hell Flames.
At almost the exact moment the Zanpakutō was ignited, Muten Natsu immediately felt again that violent savagery that had burst out from the bottom of his heart after he killed the lizard Hollow.
Afraid of losing his sanity, he poured that surging power together with those frenzied thoughts into the burning Asauchi, forging Bokukō.
And after that, he successfully mastered Shikai.
"It was you..." Muten Natsu stared at white-haired Muten Natsu and forced the words out with difficulty. "You were the one who told me your name. You said your name was Bokukō..."
"I said erase all, nya!" White-haired Muten Natsu tightened his grip. "I told you to erase everything, and you named me Bokukō instead? Do I look like Bokukō to you, nya?"
"If I'm Bokukō..." Muten Natsu's body suddenly melted. "Then there's no way you could hold on to me."
Thick black ink flowed and slipped free from white-haired Muten Natsu's grasp.
Muten Natsu reappeared in the darkness, the flowing ink peeling away to reveal his human form.
Black-haired Muten Natsu stood on the darkness and met white-haired Muten Natsu's gaze.
"So it looks like you've accepted your identity after all, nya." White-haired Muten Natsu showed no frustration at all over Muten Natsu slipping free. On the contrary, he smiled. "From today on, you are the Zanpakutō named Bokukō, and I am the Muten Natsu who wields you, nya. I won't be as timid as you, shrinking back in fear of power that should have belonged to me in the first place!"
"What I feared... was never power. I need power, and I know that very well. But that doesn't mean I need to be controlled by power." Muten Natsu raised a hand, and Myōki popped out into his palm. "You remember, don't you? When we killed the lizard Hollow, it wasn't only our power we relied on. There was her power too."
The lizard Hollow survived by shedding a limb as a substitute and fled far away.
Muten Natsu wanted to pursue it, but he did not have enough strength.
At that time, it was Unohana Retsu who voluntarily gave up her Reiatsu defenses and allowed the Hell Flames to erode her body, giving Muten Natsu the power he needed.
"She came to save me, and because of me she was left with a scar that can never be erased." Muten Natsu remembered the blood-red mark at the center of Unohana Retsu's collarbone, wild and disordered, like a cluster of red spider lilies blooming on her snowy skin. "It shouldn't have been like that. It can't be like that."
"Your resistance to losing control, and your desire for power, gave birth to Myōki. Sealing me away wasn't enough for you. You even locked yourself inside a cage..." White-haired Muten Natsu appeared directly before him and slashed down. "How stupid, nya! A beast shut inside a cage is nothing but a pet for others to look at! Now that the pure-white prison has already shattered, do you really think you can still stop me, nya?"
"What traps a beast is a cage. But a place where people live, I'd rather call..." Muten Natsu raised his blade and blocked white-haired Muten Natsu's attack. "...home. Even if half that house has collapsed, the other half is still standing."
The twin blades collided. The pure-white Myōki in white-haired Muten Natsu's hand gave a sharp sound, shattered into fragments, and vanished into the darkness.
"How is that possible, nya..."
"Looks like your side's the one that collapsed." Muten Natsu raised Myōki. "There's nothing surprising about it, is there? Myōki is the embodiment of your reason and mine, and clearly I'm the more rational one here."
Cold light swept in. White-haired Muten Natsu reached into the darkness, and a broad Bokukō dropped into his hand, blocking Myōki. "Don't think that just because you've got Myōki, you can beat me, nya!"
Spiritual ink flew off Bokukō. White-haired Muten Natsu moved at extreme speed, slashing again and again and forcing Muten Natsu onto the defensive.
"Every second of my life has been spent studying how to become stronger, nya!" White-haired Muten Natsu emerged from an ink blade, swung Bokukō to release another ink blade and trigger Muten Natsu's Ink Fortress, then flashed to the other side and cut open Muten Natsu's shoulder. "And what about you? You've been weighing pros and cons, analyzing gains and losses, wasting your time making choices, nya!"
The two swords met. White-haired Muten Natsu used Bokukō to pin Myōki hard against the wound on Muten Natsu's shoulder. "I'll tell you how to choose. As long as you're strong enough, you can have it all! I want your power, and I want Myōki's power too! The winner takes everything, nya!"
A bone-white skull mask covered white-haired Muten Natsu's face, and his power surged. He violently sent Muten Natsu flying. "It's exactly because you only care about clinging to the little things you already have that people want to take them away from you. Only when you start taking what belongs to others will they pull back their hands and defend what's theirs, nya."
A jet-black ink blade struck Muten Natsu's body. White-haired Muten Natsu emerged from the ink blade and drove his sword straight through Muten Natsu's chest. "Your reason is just that fragile, nya."
"It's obvious that you really did spend time studying how to fight, but unfortunately, you did all that by yourself. You've never fought the Primordial Form." Muten Natsu gripped Bokukō's blade. "You should've twisted your wrist again."
The inward-curving blade of Myōki closed in on white-haired Muten Natsu's throat, but surging spiritual ink blocked it.
"Bankai..." More spiritual ink poured out from both arms, and white-haired Muten Natsu's body was lifted by the ink. "Rin'en Bokukō... nya!"
With a high, far-reaching cry, the enormous beast burst from the spiritual ink and swallowed the tiny Muten Natsu whole.
Terrifying force crashed into his body. It felt as though Muten Natsu had fallen into an abyss lined with spikes. The Ink Fortress he used for defense lasted only a moment before collapsing completely. The thick spiritual ink washed over him, scraping away layers of flesh while corroding deeper inward.
Muten Natsu erupted with Reiatsu and swung Myōki against the overwhelming flood of spiritual ink. The fierce blade-light tore open a crack by force, leaving him a sliver of hope.
Rin'en Bokukō roared past. When Muten Natsu reappeared, his body was mangled and bloody, and the bone in his sword arm was already exposed.
"Pointless struggling!" Hellfire flared across the skull mask of white-haired Muten Natsu. With a sweep of his arm, the cold karmic fire ignited the already-fading Rin'en Bokukō. With a howl, Rin'en Bokukō turned around behind Muten Natsu and opened its jaws again within the rising flames. "It's over, nya!"
Boom!
Hollowfied Muten Natsu's long tail swung, stirring the gathered black smoke into a vortex, and then it detonated.
The massive blast sounded like thunder. The exploding black fire surged outward and formed a pitch-black corridor stretching into the distance. Everything along its path was burned away and erased by the karmic fire, including Kikkō no Jōmon, the strongest defensive gate within the Shijū Saimon, which was pierced through in an instant.
Even just the aftershock required several of the Visored working together to block it.
Shinji Hirako hooked a finger through the ring at the end of his sword hilt and looked at the black corridor slanting off into the distance. "That was close. Getting hit by that would've been bad news."
"Tsugi no mai..." Rukia Kuchiki gripped Sode no Shirayuki with both hands, fixed her eyes on Muten Natsu ahead, and thrust her blade straight forward. "Hakuren!"
The shattered ice crystals floating before her shot forward. In an instant, a biting wave of cold swept out, and hard ice rapidly formed, sealing Muten Natsu inside.
Even the leaping black flames stalled for a moment, trapped together with Hollowfied Muten Natsu inside the clear, glittering ice.
"Sōten Kisshun!" Orihime Inoue raised both hands, directing Shun'ō and Ayame through the shattered Shijū Saimon to spread a barrier over the Muten Natsu frozen inside. "I reject!"
Several members of the Visored put on their masks, preparing for the worst that might come next.
"Muten..." Rukia Kuchiki stared at the motionless Muten Natsu in the ice and bit down hard on her lower lip.
In the endless darkness, the burning Rin'en Bokukō abruptly froze, completely encased in clear ice.
"Rukia..." Muten Natsu's eyes reflected the cold ice, yet his gaze only grew warmer.
His ruined body healed at high speed, and in the blink of an eye Muten Natsu returned to perfect condition. "Orihime..."
"Their power..." Hellfire rose from the skull mask of the white-haired Muten Natsu. "Why can it affect this place, nya?!"
Muten Natsu appeared in front of the white-haired Muten Natsu, and the Myōki in his hand pierced straight through his chest. "Because... they're in my heart."
Muten Natsu twisted his wrist with practiced ease.
"Why..." Blood spilled from the white-haired Muten Natsu's mouth. "Why do they only help you, nya..."
"That's one question... you should be asking yourself." Muten Natsu reached out and supported the white-haired Muten Natsu's slackening body. "Why have you always been helping me?"
"I... haven't... nya..."
"I know everything. Bokukō only releases when I'm hurt." Muten Natsu gave a soft laugh. "You may hate me a little, but whenever I'm in danger, you still give me your power, even when that danger is something I brought on myself."
"Damn it..." With the last of his strength, the white-haired Muten Natsu grabbed Muten Natsu's arm. "Don't think you've won... Next time... I'll definitely beat you, nya..."
"You've already won."
The white-haired Muten Natsu looked up in shock.
"Even though you were talking about something pretty serious just now, you kept ending every line with nya, so it was impossible to stay serious." Muten Natsu paused. "Being able to keep that up for so long without changing expression. You've beaten me by a mile, nya."
"...I really do hate you the most, nya." Grinding his teeth, the white-haired Muten Natsu dissolved into the darkness.
The Myōki in Muten Natsu's hand gave off a faint white glow. The light gradually grew stronger, tracing a clear outline in the darkness as the pure-white space took shape once more.
[Reconnecting]
[Connection complete]
[Long time no see]
[Muten Natsu-san]
The familiar light screen floated before him. Myōki's abilities had already returned.
[Congratulations on successfully mastering the power of Hollowfication]
[Further enhancements are being analyzed]
[Please wait for a later notification for the detailed results]
[You have not done anything suicidal for ten seconds]
[Please stay true to your original aspiration]
Mm, looks like it recovered just fine.
"How much do you know about Bokukō?"
[The information I know is synchronized with yours]
[The difference is]
[I cannot understand the emotions between you two just now]
[Especially the emotions represented by the tone of "nya"]
[Given the nature of your relationship]
[My preliminary judgment is tsundere and narcissism]
"All right, that's enough." Muten Natsu waved the light screen away. "See you later."
Violent Reiatsu shattered the ice. The Visored all stood ready, staring tensely at the white beast crouched on the ground.
Even though the Hell Flames had already gone out, none of them dared relax in the slightest.
If, in the next instant, Muten Natsu's soul collapsed and reformed, then he would become a true Hollow.
And what they would be facing then would be a Hollow who wielded Hell Flames and craved souls with extreme hunger.
Under everyone's gaze, Hollowfied Muten Natsu moved slightly.
That single movement made the entire Visored group tense up even more.
Rukia Kuchiki stepped forward and called softly, "...Muten?"
A series of fine cracking sounds rang out as cracks spread across the white shell covering Muten Natsu's back.
Under Rukia Kuchiki's hopeful gaze, Muten Natsu broke free of the fragile white outer shell and stood up.
More cracking followed, and the white shell left on the ground completely collapsed into fragments.
Muten Natsu showed a faint smile. "I'm back..."
Before he could finish, Rukia Kuchiki had already run forward two quick steps. The petite girl leaped lightly into the air and threw herself hard into his arms, wrapping him in a tight embrace.
"Idiot..." Rukia Kuchiki tightened her arms and buried her face in his chest, doing her best to suppress the tears in her voice as she complained in a choked tone, "What took you so long to come back..."