Bleach: Starting with Marrying Retsu Unohana

At this point, Araki decided to observe the situation for a while before making any further decisions...

And so, after Araki had been teaching students at the Genji Juku dojo for countless years...

During a duel with one of his admirers, he gained another scar on his head, which had been markedly receding, forcing him to change his name from 丿字斋 to 十字斋. This old man, who was also his master, invited him to join the Seireitei and form the Gotei 13!

Araki resolutely refused his master's invitation to form the Gotei 13, and had a big argument with his hot-tempered master, known as Shizusai. At the same time, he took the opportunity to leave Genji Academy and settle down in Rukongai!

Since Araki arrived in Yuuki Town, he has experienced 'many, many things' and learned about the local customs and culture of the various numbered areas of Yuuki Town. Hundreds of years have passed in the process!

During these hundreds of years, Araki's master, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, was forced to go into hiding for a longer period of time due to someone's departure!

But the final result remained unchanged. Yamamoto still established the Gotei 13 and, with his men, swept through all forces in Soul Society except for the 'Genji Academy'!

Meanwhile, Araki hadn't been idle during those hundreds of years; he had been constantly 'accumulating experience' and increasing his strength...

This accumulation of experience is exactly what it sounds like: continuously completing tasks and watching the value in the experience bar rise and jump.

In fact, over the course of several centuries, Araki did consider adding the experience points in his experience bar to other skills, but after much deliberation, he ultimately gave up on the idea...

After all, a certain man who prefers to remain anonymous and likes to smear hair gel on his hands once said: "The battle of Shinigami is the battle of spiritual pressure!"

At the same time, Araki's prerequisite for fulfilling his long-cherished wish—to marry the first Kenpachi, Yachiru Ueno, or rather, to win his sister's 'love' and thus be completely linked to her through Fullbring—is that he must directly defeat her! And without sufficient power, that's simply impossible.

As for Saito's immortality, Araki met him after settling in Junrin-an, the first district of Rukongai...

Araki always felt that his seemingly immortal encounter with Saito was influenced by the shadow of a meddlesome, balding, and grumpy old man.

After all, Saito is immortal and blind, so why is he bothering to hang around him instead of going to the pharmacy for medicine?!

It's just some bald, filthy old man. I know he's always been kind-hearted and can't stand seeing people get hurt!

Especially when it comes to seeing a petite and adorable, yet voluptuous, little girl get hurt...

cough cough...

What Araki never expected was that his "daily good deed" would create a certain tsundere girl who, like a "yandere," would constantly bother him day after day for decades.

The yandere loli archetype is a really great attribute for 2D waifus.

But if a dream comes true, it might not be a dream at all; it could be a nightmare.

"call……"

Returning to the present, Araki slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and picked up the rolling pin he usually used to roll out dough.

“room~”

With a soft shout from Araki, a transparent domain burst forth from his body and enveloped half of Runlin'an Street in the first district of the Wandering Souls District without the Wandering Souls noticing.

"Om~"

Immediately afterwards, with a soft sound, a Zanpakuto with an ornate wooden scabbard appeared in Araki's hand.

"Long time no see, Yakushi Ruriko~"

Araki gazed at the Zanpakuto in his hand, and a slight ripple finally appeared on his usually calm face, with a faint upturn at the corners of his mouth.

The katana in Araki's hand is his own Zanpakuto!

Its name is 'Bhaisajyaguru!', a name with a deep connection to 'Buddha'!

However, Araki's Zanpakuto has a connection with 'Buddha', which is not an exception in the vast Soul Society.

It seems that the Zanpakuto of the Shinigami are all intricately related to Araki's previous life in Buddhism.

Like the 'Daiguren Hyōrinmaru', which is said to be the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō in Soul Society!

The origin of the 'Great Red Lotus' may be from the eighth level of the eight cold hells in Buddhism, Mahapadma...

Mahapadma: Those who enter will suffer fractures, like a large lotus or a white lotus.

If we think about it this way, then it seems reasonable that Shiro's "Daiguren Hyōrinmaru" is hailed as the number one ice-attribute Zanpakutō in Soul Society.

As for Shiro, besides Shiro, Komamura Sajin, the 7th Division Captain of the Gotei 13 and a member of the werewolf clan, has a Zanpakuto whose Bankai, Kuroku Tenken Myōō, originates from the Kuroku Hell, one of the Eight Hot Hells. The term 'Myōō' has little to do with Buddhism...

In addition, things like Kisuke Urahara's Zanpakuto Kannon Kai Benihime Kai, and the Avici Hell in Seireitei used to imprison powerful criminals, are all closely related to Buddhism.

Therefore, Araki once speculated that perhaps in the religiously themed manga "Bleach," the profession of Shinigami (death god) represents the religion of Buddhism.

As for the Yakushi Ruriko in Araki's hand...

Araki Hikaru could tell from the name of his Zanpakuto that it had a close connection with the Buddhist 'Medicine Buddha'...

As for the healing properties of Zanpakuto, in Araki's opinion, even if all the healing-type Zanpakuto in Soul Society and all the masters of Kido (the Returning Path) are included, none can surpass it in terms of healing ability alone.

And this is merely the initial state of his Glazed Light weapon.

As for the Bankai's capabilities, this made Araki both curious and incredibly excited.

"Three days is enough time for me to learn Bankai~"

After Araki's spiritual pressure reached the level of a veteran captain in later generations, the average level of the first Gotei 13, which is equivalent to a second-class spiritual power, he made a decision: first, he would learn the Bankai of his own Zanpakuto, then enter the Seireitei to "cut off" the arrogance of Yachiru Uno and connect with his Fullbring ability.

As for how to defeat Yachiru Ueno, Araki has his own plan.

Although Araki's plan was somewhat insidious, it could indeed bring him a glimmer of hope for victory.

After Araki finalized his plan to confront Uno Retsu, he swaggered out of his noodle shop and headed towards the later-numbered areas of Yuuki Town.

Since it was about practicing the Bankai of his Zanpakuto, Araki wasn't sure if he would cause a huge commotion. He desperately needed a spacious place where he wouldn't be disturbed...

The space that Araki needs is clearly not available in Runlin'an District, the first district of Youhun Street.

As Araki was leaving the noodle shop, he happened to run into several of his family's regular customers.

"Araki-kun, are you planning to go out and buy groceries so early?"

"Looks like business is good today?"

"When you come back, you must make me a bowl of fresh tonkotsu chashu ramen!"

"Looking at the whole Runlin'an District, your noodles are still the best."

The diners looked at Araki with some surprise at first, then greeted him with smiles.

"Haha, you might be disappointed, but my shop is about to close down~"

Araki responded by turning to the side.

"Closed down? When will it reopen?"

The diner paused for a moment, then pressed for more information.

"We won't open it anymore!"

"There are still some ingredients left in the shop, so if you have extra time, you can make yourself a bowl!"

Araki smiled faintly, casually tossed the store keys to the customers, and then walked away with a flourish.

Thus began the first time in its history that Araki's ramen shop, which had been operating in Rukongai for over a century and could be considered a century-old establishment, closed down.

Chapter 5 Cultivating Bankai

Meanwhile, in Seireitei.

Inside the barracks of the First Division of the Gotei 1.

A middle-aged man with a prominent cross-shaped scar on his forehead and a severely receding hairline stood quietly at this high point overlooking the entire Seireitei street, listening to the report from the person behind him.

The middle-aged man's name is Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, and he is the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, which is at the top of the Shinigami system that protects the Seireitei!

However, this man, who was always known for his 'endless majesty', 'absolute strength', and 'violence' in suppressing his enemies, showed obvious surprise upon hearing the report from the person behind him.

"What!?"

"You mean that brat Araki and idiot Saito said they plan to go to Seireitei in the next few days?!"

"Is your information accurate?!"

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni asked the person behind him in a deep voice.

"Absolutely true! This is what Captain Saito said himself after drinking!"

Upon hearing this, the person behind the mountain immediately lowered his head and respectfully replied.

"Okay, I understand! You may leave now!"

Upon hearing this, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's lips curled into a slight smile, revealing his delight. At the same time, Yamamoto waved to the person behind him, indicating that they could leave.

"As ordered."

The First Division member, having received permission to leave from Yamamoto, slowly breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, being with Yamamoto was incredibly stressful for an ordinary soldier like him! Even though he always revered Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni as the guardian deity of the Soul Society…

"Lord Genryusai is so kind! Brother Araki is finally planning to come to Seireitei to help you! Your pressure will be greatly reduced then."

Not long after the First Division soldier left, a young man with gray hair and gray eyes walked out from the shadows of the First Division barracks with a smile and smiled at Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

"Chōjirō, what nonsense are you spouting? When have I ever needed the help of Araki's 'foolish' disciple who's got water in his brain?"

Upon hearing this, Captain-Commander Yamamoto angrily addressed the young man named Chojiro Sasaki.

"Yes, yes, Lord Genryusai is the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society, and he wouldn't deign to offer Araki-nii's help..."

"However, it seems that Brother Araki hasn't fared very well in the hundred years since he left the Yuanzi Academy!"

"As far as I know, in recent years, Brother Araki has fallen so low as to go to places like Rukongai, where he earns money from wandering spirits by using his skills (to fool fools) to make a living!"

"Lord Genryusai, even if it's just for the sake of Araki being your former disciple, you should still lend him a hand! Please arrange a suitable position for your good-for-nothing disciple in the Gotei 13!"

Chojiro Sasaki seemed to understand Yamamoto Genryusai's personality well, and immediately went along with Yamamoto Genryusai's temper to appease him.

"Hmph! There's no need for you, Chojiro, to say anything more about this!"

"Since that 'foolish disciple' Araki once became my disciple, I naturally cannot allow him to embarrass my sect in the Ghost Street!"

"Since my foolish disciple has been banished to the Ghost Street by me and confined for a hundred years, he must have realized his mistake by now! Since he has come to his senses and knows to come to Seireitei to find me, I will naturally give him a chance."

Upon hearing this, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni first snorted coldly, and then began to boast.

"Ah, yes, yes..."

"It was you who made Araki sell ramen in Yuuki Town for a hundred years in order to punish him."

After hearing what Lord Yamamoto Genryusai said, Chojiro nods repeatedly.

If it weren't for the fact that Chojiro knew the inside story of what happened back then, and that Araki had gone on his journey to Yuuki Town because he had a fight with Yamamoto Genryusai and wanted to spite him...