High-quality ingredients often require the simplest cooking methods. After two hours of busy work, Hoko and Isane Kotetsu brought the finished dishes to the table one by one:
Five bowls of brown rice, a large bowl of miso soup, a plate of cabbage, a dish of pickled vegetables, five wrinkled pan-fried saury, and a plate of boiled mushrooms.
Crunch!
Crunch!
Kibune Makoto held a bowl of brown rice and devoured it with crisp cabbage. Judging by how much he could eat, his future spiritual pressure would definitely surpass that guy next door, Shihōin Sōgo!
Fūjin Taichi placed a saury into his bowl and slowly chewed it together with the cooked brown rice. The taste wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad either. For someone like him who wasn't picky about food, it didn't really matter.
Sitting beside him, Fujiwara Tatsuma seemed especially fond of soup over rice. He scooped a large spoonful of miso soup into his bowl and shoveled the food into his mouth with fierce speed.
As for Hanatarō Yamada, he was quite particular about his manners. Holding his rice bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, he took small bites of rice and vegetables, chewing slowly and carefully.
Across the small dining table, Hoko and Isane Kotetsu chatted nonstop while eating. Ever since they sat down, their mouths hadn't stopped moving.
But their topic always revolved around one man:
"Captain Aizen is such a gentle person! It would be wonderful to work under him!"
"Exactly! If I could, I'd happily attend calligraphy class five days a week!"
"Mm-hmm! I really hope the academy adopts our suggestion and opens more calligraphy classes. That way Captain Aizen could come teach here more often!"
Crunch!
Crunch!
Kibune Makoto glanced at the clearly love-struck Hoko and viciously bit into the cabbage, chewing it together with the rice before swallowing it down.
"Anyway, Captain Aizen is really amazing! The spiritual pressure coming from him is completely different from ours!"
Hoko set down her bowl and chopsticks, gazing up at the star-filled sky with endless longing in her eyes.
"If only I could join the Fifth Division in the future… then I could see Captain Aizen up close…"
"Hey! Hoko!"
Kibune Makoto finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"When did you become this talkative during meals? If that's the case, why don't you just stay at the academy during holidays instead of coming back here!"
Hoko and Isane exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with amusement.
"Men really do have such strong jealousy."
"I told you already, I'm not jealous!"
Fuming, Kibune Makoto left the table and stormed back into his room.
Hoko didn't understand why he suddenly lost his temper. She gave the others an awkward smile and quietly continued eating.
Clearly, Hoko didn't understand the real reason for Kibune Makoto's anger. Even childhood friends who grew up together couldn't truly understand each other's feelings without honest communication.
And Kibune Makoto himself couldn't understand what was so special about Aizen Sōsuke that made Hoko talk about him all day long.
Meanwhile, Isane Kotetsu leaned down and whispered something to Hanatarō Yamada, though no one knew what they were talking about.
As for Fujiwara Tatsuma, he finished his meal early. He gave Fūjin Taichi a look, then casually said:
"Thanks for the meal."
With that, he walked straight out of the courtyard.
"Phew…"
Fūjin Taichi finished the miso soup in his bowl down to the last drop, then stood up and bid farewell to the others.
"It's getting late. I should head back as well. Everyone, please enjoy the rest of your meal. See you at the academy on Monday!"
Then Fūjin Taichi stepped out into the bright sunlight, leaving the courtyard. Following a narrow path in front of the house, he walked all the way to the small river at the end.
The midday sun illuminated the river until it shone brilliantly. Aside from the occasional sound of wind and rustling branches, the surroundings were deathly silent.
In other words—
the perfect time for a fight.
"What are you waiting for, Fujiwara?"
Fūjin Taichi urged the man standing by the river with his back turned.
"Let's start early and finish early. I don't want to miss dinner at the cafeteria!"
"As you wish, Taichi."
Fujiwara Tatsuma raised his left hand. A strange golden light began to shine from the center of his palm.
Then—
A blinding flash erupted, and the surrounding scenery suddenly changed.
The area became a barren wasteland.
Endless yellow sand… desolate ground… rolling white cliffs… and a crescent moon hanging in the night sky.
It was none other than the outermost region of Hueco Mundo — the Wetbone Wasteland.
"Holy crap?! The King's Seal (Ōin) is this useful?!"
Fūjin Taichi looked around in amazement while praising the King's Seal in Tatsuma's hand.
"So all you have to do is go 'pew!' and you can travel through time and space to anywhere you want?!"
"The King's Seal is a secret treasure of the Kazama Royal Family. After the user releases the power of the King's Seal, they can freely travel between the Human World, Hueco Mundo, and the Soul Society!
At the same time, the user gains absolute control over designated time and spatial dimensions.
Throughout history, only the direct bloodline of the Kazama Royal Family has been allowed to guard it.
And every 49 years, under the protection of the Gotei 13, the place where it is kept must be changed.
That… is the King's Seal."
Fujiwara Tatsuma spread his fingers and showed Fūjin Taichi a bronze object resembling an ancient official's seal. At this moment, it was emitting a brilliant golden glow.
"If the King's Seal can travel through space and time, then can it take someone directly to the Royal Palace or even Hell?" asked Fūjin Taichi.
"Of course not."
Fujiwara Tatsuma put away the King's Seal and explained:
"Whether it's the Royal Palace, which exists in Heaven, or the abandoned land known as Hell, both places are sealed off by divine power.
Without special methods, it's impossible to reach them.
The reason the King's Seal can travel between the Human World, Hueco Mundo, and the Soul Society is because it was originally created as the key connecting those three realms."
"Hmm…"
Fūjin Taichi suddenly understood.
So the King's Seal was fundamentally different from the so-called King Key (Ōken).
According to legend, between the Royal Palace in Heaven and the Soul Society lie 72 barriers, and only the King Key can break through them.
The King Key is created when someone is selected for the Royal Guard (Zero Division)—their body is reconstructed by the power of the Soul King, turning them into the key itself.
Under normal circumstances, there are only two ways to enter the Royal Palace:
-Enter through the will of a Zero Division member.
-Enter together with a Zero Division member.
However, the former employee of the Fifth Division Administrative Office, Aizen Sōsuke, due to a misunderstanding, became obsessed with becoming stronger.
He planned to demolish Karakura Town, a spiritually significant area, sacrificing 100,000 souls to achieve his goal.
But the local resident Ichigo Kurosaki, dissatisfied with the demolition compensation, decided to act as a stubborn holdout.
Encouraged by former Twelfth Division staff member Kisuke Urahara, Ichigo led his friends and neighbors—Uryū Ishida, Yasutora "Chad" Sado, and Orihime Inoue—to storm the Soul Society Housing Authority Headquarters: Seireitei.
Originally, the headquarters of Seireitei tried to suppress the matter with authority.
But they soon discovered that Ichigo, the stubborn hothead, was extremely difficult to deal with. So they had no choice but to announce an official investigation.
After investigating, they discovered that the Housing Authority Headquarters had no demolition plan for Karakura Town.
Clearly, Aizen had abused his authority for personal purposes.
According to the Soul Society Regulations, he should have been dismissed from his position and suspended with pay.
Unhappy with the punishment, Aizen decided to appeal the case directly to the Supreme Court — the Royal Palace.
But for certain reasons, the Seireitei Headquarters obviously couldn't just let him go to heaven and file a complaint.
And so—
The Seireitei Housing Authority and Aizen's three-man demolition office began fighting each other fiercely.
The headquarters recruited the "holdout resident" Ichigo Kurosaki, and soon the Visored, former employees who had lost their jobs after being framed by Aizen, also appeared one after another.
Meanwhile, Aizen's trio conquered Hueco Mundo, recruiting the idle residents there as hired muscle to fight against their former employer, the Seireitei Headquarters.
And thus…
The story of Bleach began.
Looking at it from another perspective—
It's really just a tragic yet hilariously ridiculous story about a demolition dispute.
...
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