"In the original timeline, who helped Ginjō Kūgo awaken his Shinigami powers, and who gave him this unique cross pendant, allowing him to use it as a medium to perform Fullbring?"
"Why is everything I do converging toward the original, predetermined plot?"
Ito Makoto instantly caught the scent of a conspiracy.
"Could it be that the timeline is capable of self-correction?"
"Is the world instinctively repairing itself because my existence interfered with its original developmental trajectory?"
"Or is there an invisible hand behind all of this, deliberately ensuring that these events unfold along their originally predetermined course?"
"If there truly is an external intervention, then among the Three Realms, the only existence capable of such influence at present would be the one seated in the Soul King Palace… the one who has become nothing more than a human pillar."
"The Soul King—Adonai!"
At that thought, Ito Makoto's scalp went numb, his hair standing on end. If this hypothesis was correct, then everything he was experiencing now had been premeditated, arranged long before his arrival.
But in the very next instant, he forced himself to calm down. If reality truly functioned as he suspected, then resistance was meaningless. The only thing he could do was grow stronger—strong enough that no one could scheme against him, manipulate him, or treat him as a pawn.
If there was a problem, he would simply cut it down with a single strike.
"I hope I'm just overthinking it."
With that, Ito Makoto forcibly adjusted his state of mind.
"Makoto-Nii, what's wrong?"
A soft, childish voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Ginjō Kūgo had noticed Ito Makoto's abnormal silence almost immediately and asked with concern.
"Nothing. Let's head back."
…
Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, two months slipped by. There were now only three days left before Ito Makoto would complete his mission handover in the Human World.
"The Human World really is comfortable."
Ito Makoto lay sprawled across the small sofa in his rented room, a straw dangling from his lips as he continuously sipped ice-cold happy water.
"Beep—beep—beep!"
Suddenly, the phone placed beside his bed rang sharply. He glanced over and saw that the alarm he had set was ringing.
"It's already time."
Without hesitation, Ito Makoto flopped backward onto the bed. In the next instant, dressed in his Soul Reaper uniform, his soul burst cleanly out of the gigai, leaving only the seemingly sleeping body lying quietly beneath the blanket.
Ito Makoto headed straight for the unfinished building. Tonight, he intended to give Ginjō Kūgo his final 'graduation' special training.
Because Ginjō Kūgo was only seven years old, he remained under the supervision of the orphanage's teachers and caregivers during the day. To avoid drawing attention, Ito Makoto deliberately scheduled their special training sessions for the middle of the night.
Once everyone had fallen into deep sleep, he and Ginjō Kūgo's spirit bodies would leave their physical shells and gather at the unfinished building.
Before long, Ito Makoto arrived at the location with practiced ease—only to discover that Ginjō Kūgo had not yet shown up.
"That's strange. This kid is always here before me. What's going on tonight?"
"Did he fall asleep?"
Just as doubt surfaced, Ito Makoto suddenly sensed a familiar spiritual pressure erupting somewhere within Yuhua Town.
"So that's how it is."
Feeling the fluctuations ahead, Ito Makoto immediately understood. His feet vanished in a Shunpo as he rushed toward the source.
Above a single-story house in Yuhua Town, a powerful Hollow shaped like a giant snail was spitting corrosive acid downward at a freckle-faced young woman of about twenty.
"Sizzle!"
The yellow-green acid splashed onto the concrete wall, instantly corroding a deep crater.
"Help!"
As the woman screamed, a small figure suddenly appeared before her, grabbing her arm and pulling her away with a Shunpo, narrowly dodging the incoming acid.
The woman stared at the gaping pit where she had been standing only moments earlier, terror lingering on her face.
"Tha—"
Before she could even thank him, she realized that the small figure had already drawn the long sword from his back and was engaging the snail Hollow mid-air.
That figure was none other than Ginjō Kūgo.
Gripping the Zanpakuto—nearly as tall as himself—with both hands, Ginjō Kūgo used Shunpo to close the distance instantly. A horizontal slash flashed out, severing one of the snail Hollow's tentacles.
"ROAR!"
The Hollow howled in agony, its mouth gaping wide as it spat a compressed arrow of acidic fluid straight toward Ginjō Kūgo.
Ginjō Kūgo retreated with Shunpo at the critical moment, extending his small palm forward as he pointed.
"Hado Number Four—White Lightning!"
A finger-thick bolt of pure white lightning collided head-on with the acid arrow.
"Bang!"
A violent explosion followed. Black smoke surged upward as the scattered acid splashed in all directions, corroding the once-flat road into a pitted, uneven mess while a choking stench filled the air.
Ginjō Kūgo's eyes sharpened like blades. Stepping forward repeatedly with Shunpo, he closed in on the Hollow's face, gripping his Zanpakuto with both hands and thrusting it straight through the mask embedded in the creature's forehead.
"ROAR!!!"
The snail Hollow let out a final, unwilling scream, clearly never expecting to be slain by a mere child.
The rescued woman stared at Ginjō Kūgo, sword still in hand, and spoke timidly.
"Um… thank you, little brother."
Ginjō Kūgo turned his head in surprise and looked at her.
"Oh? Sister, you can actually see me?"
Without hesitation, he pulled out the memory converter Ito Makoto had given him and lightly tapped it against her forehead.
"Huh?"
Amid her startled cry, a puff of black smoke rose, and the woman collapsed unconscious to the ground.
"Clap, clap, clap."
A rapid round of applause echoed from nearby as Ito Makoto slowly emerged from the alley behind them.
"Well done, Little Ginjo."
With his Shunpo, Ito Makoto had arrived much earlier. The reason he hadn't intervened was simple—he wanted to see just how much Ginjō Kūgo had grown under nearly two months of relentless special training.
Reality proved his methods effective.
"Makoto-Nii, you're too sly! You got here so early and didn't even help!"
Ginjō Kūgo puffed out his cheeks, glaring at Ito Makoto with clear dissatisfaction.
Ito Makoto merely smiled faintly, ignoring the complaint.
But in the next moment, what followed made his expression change completely.
He watched as Ginjō Kūgo rubbed his small hands together and walked toward the unconscious woman. With a gentle squeeze, a glowing white light point was slowly pulled from her body.
At the same time, Ginjō Kūgo spoke in an innocent, childish tone.
"Without this little light point, sister, you won't be targeted by Hollows anymore."
In an instant, Ito Makoto flashed forward with Shunpo, grabbing the glowing white light point from Ginjō Kūgo's hands and examining it closely.
"This is…"