Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

Nilu seemed to have gotten used to his indifferent attitude. She just pouted in dissatisfaction and skipped back to her own group to play a boring rock-paper-scissors game with Pessie and Dondchaka.

"What an energetic child." Heribel looked at the small figure, a hint of tenderness flashing in her emerald eyes.

Sasuke didn't reply, but his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Not right.

Since subduing Harribel and her group, they have been traveling through this desert for at least two hours.

Logically speaking, this place should be a hunting ground for the Hollows who cannot enter the Hollow Forest, and it should be full of fighting and danger.

But it was too quiet along the way.

It was eerily quiet.

Those inferior beings who are so eager for the soul should have flocked to it like flies drawn to blood.

But now, not only has there been no Adjuchas, but not even a low-level Gillian has appeared.

It was as if this desert had turned into a dead land overnight, a place even the souls of people were unwilling to set foot in.

“Hribel.” Sasuke’s voice was very soft.

“Yes.” Heribel immediately responded and stepped forward to stand beside him.

"Has it always been like this here?"

“No.” Harribel shook her head, a hint of confusion flashing in her emerald eyes as well. “This area, although not belonging to any Hollow territory, has always been the most active place for ‘Farmers’.”

The "foraging creatures" she refers to are those low-level void beings that have not yet evolved and only know how to devour.

Herribel's gaze swept across the vast expanse of sand, her voice deepening, "This is the first time I've encountered a situation like this, where not even a trace of spiritual pressure can be sensed."

Sasuke nodded slightly, indicating that it wasn't just his imagination.

Just then, Apache, who was at the back of the group, suddenly went limp and almost fell to his knees.

"Hey, Apache, what's wrong?!" Mila Rhodes quickly helped her up.

"N-I don't know..."

Apache's face turned deathly pale, his breathing became rapid, and a fine layer of cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "It felt like something very heavy was pressing down on me, making it hard to breathe..."

Before she could finish speaking, Mila Rhodes and Sunsun, who were standing beside her, also showed expressions of pain.

Even the three usually noisy Nile subordinates fell silent, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

An invisible spiritual pressure had enveloped this world without anyone noticing.

It simply exists quietly, yet it seems to drag everything around it into eternal silence, making it incredibly difficult for even a weak soul to maintain its own form.

"Is...is it an accomplice of that Arrancar from before?!" Mira Rhodes' voice carried a hint of panic.

Herribel's expression also turned extremely solemn. She subconsciously placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist, warily scanning every inch of shadow around her.

To be able to suppress several Adjuchas to this extent merely from the aftershocks of spiritual pressure...

The newcomer is an absolutely formidable opponent, beyond imagination.

However, strangely enough...

Herribel's gaze fell on the little girl who was still being carried on Pessie's shoulder.

Nel was still swinging her short legs, and although there was a hint of panic in her big lake-green eyes, she seemed completely unaffected by the spiritual pressure.

It was as if the weight that could have crushed Adjuchas did not exist.

"Hmm?" Sasuke noticed this as well, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes.

He turned around and kicked the unconscious "burden" aside, then turned his gaze to the source of the pressure.

Then they walked step by step toward that area.

“My lady!” Harribel exclaimed instinctively.

"Wait here," Sasuke commanded calmly.

He was very curious about what kind of being could release such terrifying spiritual pressure.

As he went deeper, the pressure of the spiritual energy became clearer, and some crushed white bones began to appear on the surrounding sand.

Finally, he stopped at the foot of a hill made of huge skeletons.

Then, he saw the source of that pressure.

It was a man.

A man with short, slightly wavy brown hair, a bit of stubble on his chin, and a lazy air about him, as if he had no interest in anything in the world.

He was casually leaning against a huge skeleton, with a petite little girl with short hair lying beside him, seemingly already fast asleep.

Neither of them possessed the sharp edge of a strong person; instead, they exuded an unyielding loneliness.

"..."

Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply. The seemingly lazy man in front of him was probably far stronger than himself.

Is that a Grim Reaper? Or is it an Arrancar whose power has reached its peak?!

He raised his hand and grasped the hilt of the knife at his waist.

Seemingly sensing the subtle killing intent, the man finally slowly opened his half-closed eyes.

A pair of grey-blue eyes reflected Sasuke's tense figure.

“My name is Koyatai Stark.”

The man spoke, his voice still in that lazy tone, "This is Lilynette next to me."

He pointed to the sleeping little girl behind him.

"We mean you no harm."

Stark shrugged, a wry smile on his face. "Rather than saying, we just want to stay away from you guys."

Stay away from us?

Sasuke's grip on the sword didn't loosen; crimson Sharingan eyes quietly appeared in their sockets as he coldly scrutinized his opponent.

This argument sounds more like a trap of feigning weakness.

Stark seemed to sense Sasuke's distrust and explained softly.

“If you come near us, you’ll die just like those guys.”

He pointed to the empty sandy area around him.

Sasuke understood instantly, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

It wasn't that there were no Hollows, but rather that all Hollows that approached this area were unknowingly and completely crushed by the spiritual pressure unconsciously emanating from this man.

“This is such a hassle,” Stark sighed. “All I wanted was to find a place to get a good night’s sleep.”

Sasuke saw something in the depths of his eyes that was completely opposite to his great strength—a loneliness that went to the bone.

That loneliness was all too familiar to Sasuke.

For a long time in the past, he would sit alone by the Namga River, just like the man in front of him, surrounded by the loneliness of the whole world.

Sasuke's killing intent subsided somewhat.

When Stark saw that Sasuke had been able to stand up to him for so long, a strong light flashed in his eyes.

He stood up from the skeleton and walked step by step toward Sasuke.

Finally, it stopped less than three meters away from Sasuke, its eyes filled with barely concealed curiosity.

"Why aren't you like them, disappearing just by getting close to me?" Stark asked urgently, his voice even carrying a hint of expectation.

Sasuke frowned slightly.

Stark continued, "I just want to find some companions, I don't want to be alone anymore, but the more I search, the lonelier I become."

He looked at Sasuke, his eyes filled with helplessness.

“I tried splitting my soul to create Lilynette, but that wasn’t enough; we were still too powerful.”

It was powerful enough to silently annihilate any soul that approached it.

Apart from his only "half-body," he had never had a true "companion."

Stark looked at Sasuke, a glimmer of hope igniting in his eyes.

"You are strong; you can withstand my power."

He looked at Sasuke and asked the question that surprised Sasuke in an extremely serious tone.

"So, could you tell me...?"

"Is there any way to make me weaker?"

"..."

Sasuke was stunned.

The man in front of me was different from myself.

He loathed his own power.

Sasuke's expression became somewhat complicated.

He has seen those who crave power, those who fear power, and those who wield power.

But he had never seen a strong person so sincerely seek a way to become weak.

Is this guy crazy?

Or is it that the loneliness he speaks of has become so heavy that he would rather give up his power in order to seek a mediocre companionship?

A strange sense of irritation welled up inside me.

"No." Sasuke's answer was crisp and decisive.

The light in Stark's eyes dimmed instantly.

"Power cannot be given up."

Sasuke's voice was calm: "Weakness only invites destruction."