Death: Starting as the Guardian of Avici Hell

"My only regret before I died was that I did not see the Shihouin family rise again."

"Now that I have returned from hell, and seeing that Shihouin is growing stronger under Yoruichi's leadership, and is showing signs of regaining its former glory, I have finally fulfilled a wish."

"Now, I have no regrets."

Naraku Sora said thoughtfully, "I understand."

"But Brother Qianri, have you ever thought about this?"

Upon hearing this abstract term, Shihouin Senhi's eye twitched, and she forcefully corrected him:

"You should call me Uncle!"

"Tell me, what's the problem?"

Naraku grinned, completely unconcerned about the other person's attitude. Even though they weren't married yet, calling him "uncle" felt a bit strange.

What is the meaning of life?

"I'm not referring to answers like 'I just want to grab some fries at the dock,' but rather the answer that best reflects your own heart."

Upon hearing this, Shihouin Senhi showed a hearty smile:

"In all my years, this is the first time I've ever been asked this kind of question."

"It's strange, really. Over the years, I've never thought about the answer to this question."

"I just saw that everyone else was still alive, so I decided to keep living too."

Nai Luokong: "..."

Although he didn't get the answer he wanted, the response was surprisingly to his liking.

As expected of a man who has weathered countless storms.

"So, kid, what are your thoughts?"

After a thousand days of seeing someone remain silent, he took the initiative to ask them a question.

Naraku Sora, on the other hand, answered calmly and sincerely:

"For me, living may not necessarily have meaning, but living may allow me to discover interesting things."

"As it turns out, I was right."

"If I had died young, how could I have witnessed so many interesting things happening now?"

Shihouin Senri was silent for a moment, then revealed a strange smile:

"Kid, how many years do you think I've lived?"

Naraku Sora frowned: "He looks quite young. If we don't count the thousand years he was dead, he should be seven or eight hundred years old?"

Upon hearing this, the first captains standing nearby almost simultaneously revealed enigmatic smiles.

"Actually, I can't even remember my exact age."

Chihiro Shihouin shook her head. "Having spent too much time in Hell, many of my memories were completely lost in that endless cycle of torment."

"But if I remember correctly, it should be over two thousand years old."

Nai Luo Kong: "?"

Chihiro Shihouin, who looks to be about the same age as me, is actually an ancient old man?

Normally, the Grim Reaper is an immortal being, which can be seen from the mountain itself.

This old man was already famous throughout the Soul Society two thousand years ago.

Even Chojiro Sasakibara only came to join Yamamoto after hearing about the name "Genryu," and he was determined to become Yamamoto's second-in-command.

After a great deal of arduous and extraordinary effort, he did indeed succeed.

That was more than two thousand years ago, before the Gotei 13 had even been established.

However, judging from his appearance, Chojiro Sasaki doesn't look as old as Yamamoto; he looks at most like a human in their forties or fifties.

Therefore, it can be seen that the appearance of the Grim Reaper does change with age.

The changes are more pronounced during adolescence, but slow down once one reaches adulthood.

In addition, there are other external factors at play.

For example, Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro are the same age.

However, the former also looked like an older man, while the latter, who had always been sickly, appeared to be very young.

After fully recovering his health a few years ago, he now looks even younger.

Strictly speaking, judging the age of a grim reaper solely by their appearance is often inaccurate.

Seemingly having guessed someone's thoughts, Shihouin Senhi patiently explained:

"The changes in a Shinigami's appearance are more due to his mindset, and the stronger his spiritual pressure, the slower he will age."

"If a Grim Reaper has grown to a level that other Grim Reapers can only dream of at a young age, then he will remain young forever."

Naraku Sora pondered, "Like Sister Lie?"

Shihouin Sennhi's eye twitched, and she decisively chose to skip the topic.

Although he was already determined to die, he could still distinguish between seeking death and looking for death.

Just because that brat can beat Unohana doesn't mean he can.

Don't you see how miserable that idiot Shijima Chigiri was when he went after the Fourth Division? He was chopped into minced meat, and not a single piece of meat could be found.

"What I really want to tell you is that more than two thousand years is enough time for me to encounter many interesting things."

"Instead of dragging my crippled body through life, I might as well make a clean break and start a new chapter in my life."

“I heard from your researchers that I can now return to the Soul Society and re-enter the cycle of spirit particles.”

Naraku Sora nodded, not trying to deceive the other party on this matter.

Reincarnation is one of the rules of the Three Realms. As long as the Impure World Reincarnation is lifted and it is ensured that there are no gates of hell nearby to forcibly take people away, then Shihōin Senri can enter the cycle of reincarnation.

As for what I will be like in my next life, that remains to be seen.

"I understand what Brother Qianri means."

Naraku Sora sighed, "But I still want to offer some advice. After all, it's only two thousand years, which is nothing at all."

"I once met an old man who had lived for who knows how many years, and he still maintained his passion for life."

Compared to him, your time is nothing compared to that of your grandson's grandson.

Upon hearing this, Chihiro became somewhat anxious: "Old man Yamamoto is indeed a bit older than me, but surely he wouldn't demote me to the great-great-grandson level?"

Naraku Sora gave a strange smile: "Who said I was referring to the teacher?"

Now it was the others' turn to be confused.

In the original understanding, Yamamoto was already the oldest Shinigami. Even if there were other Shinigami who lived longer than him, none of them were as energetic as this old man.

He's already thousands of years old, but he acts like a child all the time, always fighting with his own apprentice.

After thinking for a few seconds, Shihouin Senri seemed to have thought of something, and then looked at Naraku Sora with a hint of surprise and doubt.

"Let me tell you the truth, kid."

Saito crossed his arms in front of him, looking like a little devil, and said arrogantly:

"I don't know what these guys are thinking, but it's absolutely unacceptable for me to live like this."

"I have spent my whole life pursuing battles and killings, enjoying the thrill of bloodshed."

"But now, if I get stabbed, I don't even bleed much, so how can I talk about enjoying myself?"

Shikaku Hakunsai also quietly echoed from the side:

"Compared to our time in Hell, our strength has diminished considerably, just as it has in our past lives."

"We can see that everyone in the Gotei 13 has grown up, so there's nothing to worry about anymore."

"Besides, isn't there Lord Naraku?"

Naraku Sora stroked his chin, deep in thought.

As it turns out, Edo Tensei (impure world resurrection) is not a panacea.

He didn't have any better solutions, so it seemed like it was time to activate Plan B.

But before that, he had something even more important to do.

"By the way, weren't you guys always going to thank me?"

He raised his head, looked at the original captains, and said seriously:

"Now, the time has come."

"Come with me."

After saying that, he left the training ground and headed towards the underground prison.

The group looked at each other, confused about what Naraku was up to, but out of trust, they followed him.

The group arrived at the "Waiting for Work" area.

After repeated renovations and optimizations, the current "Waiting for Life Hell" is no longer the dark and cramped place it once was.

Not only were the prisons for holding criminals expanded several times over, but the outer corridors and other facilities were also completely replaced with the latest models.

Furthermore, Kisuke Urahara and Mayuri Kurotsuchi developed a series of cutting-edge technological devices, which they then crammed into the prison.

Examples include automated torture machines, integrated feeding machines, and lie detectors.

A large part of this was done by Kisuke Urahara in his spare time, while Mayuri Kurotsuchi rarely got involved.

In his eyes, these were all worthless things.

Besides wasting time.

If it weren't for the requests from Kuchiki Hibiki and the others, he wouldn't have bothered to even ask.

When we first arrived at the Central Prison, the first captains had already toured it, so there's nothing new about it now.

Naraku walked at the front, directly pulling open the most commonly used prison door, and gestured: