Bleach: The Path to Transcendence

Karakura Town, the night as dark as ink. Inside the Tachibana Bar, the lights flickered, and music blared.

Tsukishima Hanako, having snuck out of the hospital, was now completely drunk.

Supported by her new boyfriend, they stumbled out of the bar, weaving back and forth. Tsukishima Hanako's steps were unsteady, her eyes glazed, yet she still carried a hint of smugness, slurring her words as she boasted to her boyfriend:

"Let me tell you... it's a good thing I was quick-witted and ran fast, or who knows how much I would have had to pay!"

Her voice sounded particularly abrupt in the silent night.

And so, the two of them staggered drunkenly down the late-night street, surrounded by silence, with only the sound of their stumbling footsteps and mumbled words.

"Buzz!"

As they passed an alley at an intersection, the light at the end of the alley suddenly flickered, emitting a harsh electrical sound, before returning to normal moments later. Tsukishima Hanako and her boyfriend didn't pay any attention, continuing to sway forward.

"Ah!"

However, as they passed the alley entrance, Tsukishima Hanako suddenly saw a bizarre monster in the alley—its head was unusually large, its limbs were short and small, its entire body was dark green, and it exuded a creepy aura.

This sudden terrifying scene instantly sobered Tsukishima Hanako up a lot, and the alcohol also dissipated a bit.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to confirm if she had seen it wrong, but when she looked again, she found the alley was empty, with nothing there. Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was just a hallucination, she suddenly felt a warmth on her shoulder, followed by a strong smell of blood rushing to her nose.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound came, and Tsukishima Hanako subconsciously turned her head to look. The scene before her made her pupils shrink—her newly made boyfriend had now become a headless corpse, standing straight before falling to the ground, scarlet blood gushing from his neck like a fountain, splattering everywhere.

"Ah!"

Tsukishima Hanako let out a shrill scream, and fear instantly gripped her heart. She couldn't care about anything else, turning around and desperately fleeing, her footsteps echoing in the empty street, accompanied by her desperate cries...

"Ah, don't come over here!"

Tsukishima Hanako shouted hoarsely, fleeing in a panic driven by fear. As a result, her foot slipped, and she fell heavily to the ground.

At this moment, she knew clearly in her heart that she was being closely pursued by an invisible monster.

That unseen threat was like a shadow, making every nerve in her body extremely tense. She struggled to get up, but felt a piercing pain in her ankle. It turned out that her foot had been sprained the moment she fell.

At this moment, the adrenaline in her body was frantically secreting. She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain, and stood up staggeringly.

However, all of this was ultimately futile. Before she could run a few steps, an invisible yet powerful force of despair struck, easily twisting off her limbs. She screamed, and her whole body collapsed on the ground like boneless mud, the light in her eyes gradually dimming, leaving only endless fear and despair...

Before long, a green light flashed through the night sky like a shooting star, breaking the silence of this bloody scene.

Immediately afterward, a figure wearing a thick overcoat, with his hair combed neatly back, and holding a giant sword in his hand appeared. His eyes swept across the shocking scarlet on the ground, and his brows couldn't help but furrow.

"Am I too late?"

The person who came was Ginjo Kugo.

Since being rescued by Ye Chuan from the hands of Tsunayashiro Tokinada last time, he abandoned his Substitute Shinigami identity, hid in the human world, and silently restored his strength. However, he still occasionally dealt with Hollow incidents.

After a moment of silence, Ginjo Kugo's keen eyes caught a strange spiritual pressure at a street corner not far away.

Taking a closer look, it turned out to be a newly born Hollow hiding in the dark, emitting a subtle and desperate sob.

Seeing this scene, Ginjo Kugo did not hesitate at all, immediately raised his sword and rushed forward, his figure rushing out like lightning, and with a wave of his hand, a sharp blade of light flashed.

A mere newly born Hollow could not resist his powerful blow at all. In just an instant, the Hollow disappeared into the air like smoke, turning into dust.

And that soul that had once been ruthlessly abandoned finally seemed to have been saved. Accompanied by a warm and gentle white light, it slowly rose into the air and reincarnated towards the Soul Society.

After dealing with the troublesome Hollow matter, Ginjo Kugo skillfully put away the cold gleaming giant sword in his hand, and unhesitatingly turned and left this place filled with a bloody aura.

"Hush～"

Ginjo Kugo whistled leisurely, looking relaxed and content.

He put one hand in his pocket, and carried a large bag of carefully selected daily necessities and food from the supermarket in the other, walking lightly towards his house.

But when he approached his door, the scene before him stunned him instantly. At his doorstep, there was a baby lying wrapped tightly in thick bedding, the baby only revealing a small head, appearing so clearly in his sight.

Ginjo Kugo's eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, his face full of astonishment.

He stood there, and it took him a while to recover.

After a fierce ideological struggle, Ginjo Kugo finally carefully picked up the baby in the swaddling clothes at the door and carried it into the house.

As soon as he entered the house, a shocking scene appeared. Ginjo Kugo rushed to the refrigerator in a hurry, took out a can of iced yogurt from it, and then at the sink in the kitchen, picked up an iron spoon with a little bit of grease still on the fan surface, and scooped a small spoonful of iced yogurt, and sent it to the baby's mouth.

This scene shocked 'Tsukishima Shukuro' in the swaddling clothes. His eyebrows twitched uncontrollably, and he regretted it in his heart:

"I knew I shouldn't have let Ulquiorra send me here!"

Ginjo Kugo's face was full of smiles, trying to make a kind and amiable look, and said gently:

"Baby, are you hungry? Eat quickly!"

However, 'Tsukishima Shukuro', who was still in swaddling clothes, couldn't bear it any longer, and immediately shouted sharply:

"You idiot, how can you feed a newborn iced yogurt?"

Ginjo Kugo, who was originally full of anticipation for the baby's reaction, did not expect to hear such a clear and angry scolding. He was so frightened that his hand shook, and even the iron spoon in his hand fell to the ground.

He stared at the baby in the swaddling clothes, stunned for a long time, the familiar tone gradually brought him back to his senses, his lips trembling, and slowly uttered:

"Shin...Shinji...is...is that you?"