Bleach: My Zanpakutō Is the Entire Underworld

Elegant inked characters floated on the ancient-style scroll, delicate and beautiful:

Host: Asano Kiyoshi

Zanjutsu (Swordsmanship): 36(Swordsmanship is the art of killing. No matter how beautifully it is phrased, that truth never changes. In the realm of life and death, your swordsmanship has advanced rapidly.)

Hakuda (Hand-to-hand combat): 38(Having absorbed a fragment of Hierro, your skin now rivals leather. Even if someone slashed you with a kitchen knife, they'd only leave a faint white mark.)

Kido (Demon Arts): 40(Perfect control over Kido, perfect mastery over reishi. You've reached the current peak of spiritual control—unimprovable!)

Shunpo (Flash Step): 40(With the physical enhancements from Hierro, and your reishi manipulation sharper than ever, your Shunpo is unmatched among 4th-tier reiryoku users—unimprovable!)

Reiryoku (Spiritual Pressure): Tier 4 – 23%(The blood of the wicked forms your throne. Their corpses pile into mountains, fertilizing the earth. Their filthy souls find redemption here!)

Overall Evaluation: 154(Numerical strength of an average 14th seat officer, but far more powerful in combat—close to a perfect 14th seat!)

Zanpakuto: Yomi (Netherworld)

Shikai: …

As he looked at the scroll's evaluation, a rare smile formed on Asano Kiyoshi's face. As expected, coming here truly had been the right choice.

Only through battles between life and death could he achieve such dramatic growth. Not just thanks to Yomiji's absorption effects—but from a deeper comprehension of combat itself, a forging of spirit and resolve.

He glanced at his bloodstained hands with a complex expression. He wasn't truly cold-blooded. Even now, killing made his heart tremble and his hands quiver.

Asano Kiyoshi couldn't change so easily. He needed time. More importantly, he didn't want to become a cold-blooded creature of pure slaughter. He was a human being. He had to discern good from evil. Even while being resolute in killing, he had to preserve a heart capable of compassion.

"The world is vast, yet we still pity the green grass and trees."

With great power must come an equally strong heart. Otherwise, that power is nothing but a hollow shell.

Power alone does not define a true warrior. It never has—and never should.

Wiping the suffocating mud from his face, Asano Kiyoshi struggled to stand and leaned against a sturdy tree, performing Kaido (healing arts) on himself.

As the reishi restructured within him, his strength gradually returned, and his mind began to calm.

Unbeknownst to him, Gin Ichimaru was quietly observing from within the treetop. His eyes, shimmering like galaxies, opened slightly, filled with curiosity and suspicion. His thin lips murmured:

"A bizarre power that can directly destroy a Cero's reishi structure? No… not destroy—erase? Without even touching it? That blood-red flower field and building… what exactly do they mean? Are his abilities tied to those constructs? If we destroy the building or uproot the field… would it break the ability's effect?"

As thoughts tumbled through his mind, Gin scratched his silky silver hair and closed his eyes again, returning to that signature fox-like smile.

"Maa~ what an interesting kid. Someone like you… better not let Aizen-sama know about you. But hmm… how should I fabricate the story of how you killed that guy? Ahh~ what a pain…"

With a passing breeze, Gin's figure vanished from the treetop, leaving only a few drifting dead leaves to mark his presence.

Kaido worked well—no, his Kaido worked well. In just a short time, Asano Kiyoshi had already recovered most of his strength.

The injuries hadn't been too severe to begin with. Mostly surface damage from the impact and reishi clash. Thanks to the 10% bonus to maximum health, recovery was smooth.

On top of that:

Enkōsen had shielded him from the explosion's core,

Tsūsei absorbed much of the residual force,

and the muddy ground had further cushioned the final impact.

All these layers combined made his swift recovery possible.

Deeper in the underground passage, he found Yamano Yarō, cowering and shivering in a corner. The guy had luck on his side—despite the entire tunnel collapsing, he'd only been pinned under a few rocks and had no life-threatening injuries.

The moment he saw Asano Kiyoshi, Yamano looked like he'd seen a ghost and stammered:

"Y-You… you're still alive?!"

Asano lifted him coldly and said:

"Were you hoping I'd died?"

Yamano laughed awkwardly:

"N-No, not at all! I didn't see anything, I swear! B-By the way, sir, if we keep heading down for another five li, we'll reach the main base of the Enkō Group. Now that Enkō Akira's dead, the rest will be easy pickings. I can show you the way! I promise—you'll wipe them all out!"

Watching Yamano's sycophantic enthusiasm, Asano Kiyoshi merely shook his head and muttered:

"You're really good at turning on your own people."

Yamano simply chuckled and said nothing.

Guided by Yamano, Asano Kiyoshi spent less than half a day wiping out nearly all 86 members of the Enkō Group.

Among them:

34 had over 50 confirmed kills,

3 had over 100,

The rest had varying degrees of blood on their hands.

At the Enkō Group's base, Asano Kiyoshi found women being kept like livestock. They wore tattered, filthy rags and lived in foul-smelling sheds. Chains were locked to their necks and ankles. Some corpses of dead women still lay rotting in corners.

Their faces were full of numbness and pain. Upon seeing Asano, some even began undressing themselves automatically.

Asano saved them—then cut off the limbs of their tormentors and threw their bodies at the women's feet.

Only when the blood of their abusers splashed across their faces did those women begin to show real emotion.

They looked at the maimed monsters with confusion… then hatred.

They killed them—with everything they had.

They bit through throats, blood gushing into their mouths. Fingernails dug into flesh, tearing out organs.

It was a scene of hell on earth, but also of vengeance fulfilled.

Asano Kiyoshi silently watched it all. His body trembled slightly, a numbness creeping through his soul. He wanted to turn away—but he knew…What lies ahead would be far more terrifying than this.He had to grow stronger—Strong enough to protect those he cares about.

T/N: For up to 20 chapters ahead on all my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle

Also check out my other fics