Chapter 457 - 457: I Could Smell the Blood on You From a Mile Away

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Hinamori's reaction, Cyrus asked directly.

"You actually called Captain Aizen by his name!"

Momo puffed out her cheeks and glared at him.

"Captain Aizen was the one who brought you here from Rukongai. I came from there too, so I know how hard life is outside Seireitei."

As far as she was concerned, Aizen had rescued Cyrus from a miserable life in Rukongai and brought him into Seireitei.

That was an enormous debt.

Was showing a little respect to his benefactor really too much to ask?

"Oh. That's what this is about."

Cyrus understood immediately.

After all, Hinamori was practically Aizen's number-one fangirl.

Judging by her appearance, she probably hadn't been serving under him for very long either, which meant the rose-tinted image she had of him was still very much intact.

Then again, considering how things developed in the future, her devotion to Aizen wouldn't truly collapse until the moment he personally drove a sword through her.

And knowing her, even after being stabbed, she might still convince herself that Aizen must have had some tragic reason for doing it.

"Exactly! Captain Aizen is—"

Momo eagerly began nodding, clearly preparing to launch into a full speech.

"That's enough."

Cyrus raised a hand and cut her off.

"I call him Aizen even when he's standing right in front of me. He doesn't complain, so why are you?"

He gave her a flat look.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure Aizen didn't send you here to argue with me about how I address him."

If Cyrus didn't know what Aizen was really like, he probably wouldn't have cared about listening to her praise him.

But since he did know, he had absolutely no desire to sit through it.

Momo's cheeks puffed up again.

Then she abruptly shoved the short sword she had been carrying into Cyrus's hands.

"This is what eventually becomes a Zanpakutō."

She spoke in a slightly huffy tone.

"You have to treat the sword as part of yourself. Only then will you gradually begin to sense the soul within it."

"But today I'm just here to meet you and deliver the blade. Spend a day getting used to it, and I'll come back tomorrow to start teaching you properly."

With that, she turned and hurried away.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow, then looked down at the Asauchi in his hand.

This was the precursor to a Zanpakutō—or, more accurately, a nameless Zanpakutō that had not yet been imprinted by an owner.

It had been forged by one of the members of Squad Zero.

Much like the Shihakushō made by that strange woman earlier, an Asauchi was essentially standard equipment for a Shinigami.

What interested Cyrus was the question behind it.

Every Shinigami eventually developed a different ability.

Did that power originate from the sword?

Or from the Shinigami themselves?

Thinking about Hinamori naturally reminded him of her childhood friend.

The short prodigy who wielded what was known as the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō in Soul Society.

Hitsugaya Tōshirō.

He had mastered Bankai at an absurdly young age and risen to the rank of captain while still looking like a child.

Before becoming a Shinigami, his spiritual power had already begun leaking out uncontrollably and affecting the people around him.

That was what first drew attention to him.

He was eventually brought into Shin'ō Academy, graduated at extraordinary speed, and climbed the ranks just as quickly.

Even before he ever wielded Hyōrinmaru, the nature of his spiritual power had already manifested as ice.

Only afterward did he obtain the Zanpakutō that matched it.

'So that means…'

Cyrus closed the door behind him and sat down.

He drew the Asauchi from its sheath with his right hand and examined the blade.

The material wasn't anything he recognized from the One Piece world.

The forging method must be fundamentally different.

That made sense.

No matter how normal this place looked, it was still a realm inhabited by souls rather than living humans.

Cyrus raised his left hand.

Flames appeared in his palm.

They twisted and condensed as though they were solid matter, taking the shape of a long sword within moments.

Then flames spread from his right hand as well, flowing onto the Asauchi and wrapping around its blade.

A moment later, Cyrus narrowed his eyes.

The flames vanished instantly as he pulled them back.

The Asauchi couldn't handle his fire yet.

The instant he increased the output even slightly, signs of collapse had begun appearing across the blade.

It reminded him of En in the beginning.

Back then, En had been nothing more than a crude sword.

But after spending so many years in Cyrus's hands, it had been completely reshaped by him.

Fire was the blade.

And the blade was fire.

Still, this gave him an interesting idea.

Perhaps he really could forge another fire-type Zanpakutō for himself.

The only problem was the nature of that power…

Cyrus turned his head toward the deepest part of Seireitei.

If he truly wanted to understand the pinnacle of this world's power, sooner or later he would have to exchange a few blows with that old man.

Especially since they both used fire.

It would be embarrassing if Cyrus couldn't find a way around the Captain-Commander's techniques.

He had time to spare anyway.

The experiment was worth a little effort.

With that thought, the flame sword in his left hand dissolved back into fire and vanished.

Cyrus sheathed the Asauchi, picked it up, opened the door, and walked outside.

The Fifth Division Shinigami stationed nearby immediately tensed when they saw him.

Then they remembered who he was and relaxed again, simply watching as he left.

"That's the guy the captain brought back from Rukongai?"

"Is he really some kind of genius?"

"Then why didn't Captain Aizen send him to Shin'ō Academy?"

Only after Cyrus had walked some distance away did the two Shinigami exchange looks and begin whispering.

For Cyrus, the sword in his hand functioned almost like an identification badge.

Even though he wasn't wearing a Shihakushō, the Asauchi at his side meant he attracted little more than a few curious looks.

As he walked, Cyrus fully extended his Observation Haki.

His perception spread across the entirety of Seireitei.

It didn't take long for him to identify several unusually powerful presences.

Those were clearly the captain-class Shinigami.

The most conspicuous of all was the figure deep within Seireitei whose presence felt like an enormous dormant volcano.

And even farther beyond that…

At the deepest point of Soul Society…

There was something vast.

Immense.

Yet strangely lacking in any true sense of self.

Cyrus observed it only briefly before drawing his Observation Haki back in.

Because someone was heading straight toward him.

Literally straight.

No matter how many walls or buildings stood in the way, the approaching figure didn't bother turning.

He simply smashed through everything between them.

The presence felt almost animalistic.

Zaraki Kenpachi.

'What does this lunatic want?'

Cyrus turned toward the direction he was coming from.

Boom!

A thick wall exploded inward.

A massive figure came charging through the rubble and entered Cyrus's line of sight.

"Ken-chan! Slow down!"

Far behind him, a tiny figure came racing after him.

"Hahaha!"

Kenpachi ignored Yachiru Kusajishi completely.

His single visible eye locked onto Cyrus with manic excitement.

If not for the eyepatch covering the other one, both eyes would undoubtedly have been staring just as intensely.

"A strong one."

Cyrus turned slightly to face him.

"Come on."

Kenpachi drew his sword without the slightest hesitation.

The battered, jagged blade looked more like a saw than a proper Zanpakutō.

"Let's kill each other for a while."

"I'm not a Shinigami."

Cyrus looked at him and shook his head.

"Who cares?"

Kenpachi's grin widened.

"As long as you're strong enough to make the fight worth it, that's all I need."

His visible eye burned with excitement.

"I could smell the blood on you from a mile away."

He tilted his head, grin growing almost feral.

"How many people have you killed?"

"Must've been one hell of a good time, huh?"

Kenpachi was just about to charge when a tiny figure suddenly launched herself forward and wrapped both arms around his leg.

His body stopped.

Kenpachi looked down at Yachiru clinging to him.

"Go wait over there."

He jerked his head toward the side.