Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

"What's going on?" Sasuke opened his eyes and asked directly.

Kisuke Urahara was silent for a moment. He took off the instrument and gently tapped his palm with his fan, as if he was organizing his thoughts.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his tone complex: "Your situation seems to be much more complicated than I imagined."

He looked up at Sasuke, a hint of inquiry in his eyes: "There are some strange powers in your soul."

Kisuke Urahara paused, seemingly thinking about how to explain.

"One of these forces, you should be very familiar with, is full of resentment and hatred. Its essence is very similar to 'Void,' and you could even say it is a prototype of a Void that was forcibly stuffed into your soul."

"This might be the voice in your head that keeps urging you to unleash your hatred."

Upon hearing this, Sasuke's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, but he didn't show much surprise on his face.

He had a premonition that there was something wrong with his body.

"And what about the other one?" he pressed.

"Another one..."

Kisuke Urahara's expression became even more peculiar. "The other power is completely different. It's not as chaotic as 'Hollow,' it's like a power you were born with, but it's not entirely consistent with your soul."

He concluded: "Perhaps these forces are the root of your journey, or perhaps they are unrelated; I cannot determine this for the time being."

Kisuke Urahara shrugged, a helpless expression on his face. "We can't get enough information from this examination alone. How about this, Sasuke-kun, I suggest you stay with me for now."

"On one hand, I can continue to observe your situation and look for a stable method of crossing over; on the other hand..."

He abruptly changed the subject, reverting to his shrewd businessman persona, "I'm very interested in the wondrous powers of that world over there."

"In exchange, I can provide you with food and lodging, as well as some necessary guidance, how about that?"

Sasuke looked at him silently.

With no way to go back right now, staying with Kisuke Urahara is indeed a good option.

Perhaps we can also get this; guidance from the former captain of the 12th Division is not out of the question.

“…Okay.” He finally nodded.

"Then it's settled!"

Kisuke Urahara clapped his hands happily, "Tessai! Prepare a guest room for our new guest!"

Sasuke stood up without saying another word and followed Tetsuzai, who had come after hearing the commotion, towards the backyard of the shop.

As he watched Sasuke's departing figure, Kisuke Urahara's smile slowly faded.

"Shh-"

A black figure silently leaped down from a hidden compartment in the ceiling and landed on the tatami mat; it was a black cat.

"He's gone?" the black cat spoke in a human voice.

"Hmm," Kisuke Urahara responded, his expression still grave.

"So what happened?" the black cat asked, jumping onto his shoulder. "What exactly is on that child?"

Kisuke Urahara sighed and briefly recounted his discovery.

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in the black cat's golden eyes: "A power of resentment? Is it a Hollow? Like Ichigo Kurosaki, does he have Hollow elements in his soul?"

No, they're not the same.

Kisuke Urahara shook his head, denying her guess.

"The Hollow power within Ichigo Kurosaki has been part of his soul from the very beginning. Although dangerous, it is essentially 'of the same origin'."

He paused, as if searching for the right adjective.

Kisuke Urahara paused, his tone becoming even lower: "But Sasuke Uchiha's situation is completely different."

"His power felt more like something he had acquired later in life, or rather, something that was passively generated."

"Isn't that just the Hollowfication of a Shinigami?" the black cat retorted.

No, completely different.

Kisuke Urahara's denial this time was very decisive, with a serious look in his eyes: "Hirako and the others' Hollowfication is a fusion that occurs in order to survive after the boundaries of their souls are broken and their spirits are eroded by the Hollow virus. It is a process of forced injection of external force."

The black cat narrowed its golden eyes: "You mean, Sasuke wasn't corrupted by an external force?"

"At least from my investigation just now, that's not the case."

Kisuke Urahara said slowly, "His soul is very clean, without any trace of being polluted by the outside world. The power of the void feels to me more like it grew out of some emotion deep in his soul."

"It grew on its own?"

The black cat's tone was filled with disbelief, "Are you kidding me, Kisuke? If a Shinigami could be born into a Hollow so easily, then Soul Society would have become Hueco Mundo long ago."

"At first, I also thought it was impossible."

Kisuke Urahara scratched his head in distress. "But don't forget, he went to another world. Perhaps the seed of Hollow was planted at that time."

The black cat's voice also deepened: "This is much more troublesome than Hirako and the others' intangibility, because its root lies in that child himself."

"Yes."

Kisuke Urahara closed his fan with a soft click. "Like Hirako, as long as you can suppress the power of the Hollows from the beginning, it's ultimately just an external thing."

"But the thing inside Sasuke is different."

He looked at the black cat and said, "It's almost the same thing as Sasuke's 'hatred.' How can you kill your own shadow?"

"To solve this problem would mean erasing his hatred, but for that child, hatred seems to be the whole meaning of his life."

Chapter 19 My name is... Yoruichi

On the roof of Urahara Store, Sasuke sat alone cross-legged, his Zanpakuto, Takemikazuchi, lying across his lap, its blade reflecting the desolate night sky.

Karakura Town is much noisier at night than Konoha.

But none of this concerns him.

His thoughts were completely absorbed in what Kisuke Urahara had said not long ago.

"...Its essence is extremely similar to 'void', and you could even say it is a prototype of a void that has been forcibly stuffed into your soul."

Emptiness...

Sasuke frowned slightly, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes.

Hollow is a fallen soul.

When a Plus, that is, an ordinary spirit, lingers in the mortal world for a long time, the causal chain on its chest will begin to be eroded due to its strong attachment to something in the mortal world.

Once the chains are completely corrupted, a hole will be opened in the soul's chest, and its mind will gradually be devoured by desire, losing its reason and eventually degenerating into a monster that only knows how to devour other souls.

This is illusion.

A tragic creature born of obsession, driven by desire, ultimately losing itself and becoming a slave to instinct.

And now, this disgusting thing is actually inside my body?

This was an intolerable insult to him.

He believed Kisuke Urahara's diagnosis, but not entirely.

The truth must be confirmed by one's own eyes.

He slowly closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the depths of his soul.

Blade Zen.

This is the practice he is most familiar with, and it is also the way he explores his own soul.

In the past, when he entered the spiritual world, he was always greeted by a desolate wasteland covered with thunderclouds, with his Zanpakuto floating in the air.

However, this time, when his consciousness coalesced again, what came into view was not that familiar lightning wasteland.

It was a blood-red street, with the doors and windows of the houses all around wide open and corpses scattered everywhere.

The sky was also shrouded by an eerie, blood-red crescent moon.

This is... the territory of the Uchiha clan.

For some reason, his inner world had become this hell he didn't want to look back on.

Sasuke's eyes instantly turned wary. He gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist with his other hand, and his spiritual pressure slowly emanated from his body as he cautiously scanned his surroundings.

Why did it turn out like this?

Just then, he heard footsteps.

It was very light, coming slowly from the end of the street.

A small, thin figure emerged step by step from the darkness, bathed in the blood-red moonlight.

It was a child, wearing the familiar blue short-sleeved shirt he remembered, with the Uchiha clan's fan-shaped crest printed on it.

Sasuke Uchiha's pupils suddenly contracted.

Short black hair, a youthful face... everything about him is exactly the same as when he was seven years old.

Sasuke's soul stood quietly in place, watching "himself" approach step by step.

He waited until the other person stopped a short distance away and looked up.

Eyes facing each other.

Sasuke saw those eyes clearly.

Then, his gaze slowly moved down and landed on the child's chest.

There, a pitch-black void was slowly rotating.

virtual.

Kisuke Urahara did not lie to him.

The monster that dwelled deep within his soul, when it materialized, was actually himself at the age of seven.

It is the weakest, most helpless, and most hated version of myself.

Sasuke's face turned extremely pale, and he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.