Chapter: 01

Once in a while, one must have thought of being reincarnated into a different world full of worldly wonders, magic, and fictional beings. Being able to wield or see those mythical powers, flying in the air unhindered by the lack of needed organs, and having a harem full of beautiful women—those were just some of many dreams a person would have once in a while.

He was no different.

Just that, he had never thought that he would be lucky enough to be able to see his dream come true… albeit in a way he would have never considered.

…

Today too, the sky of Soul Society was clear of any gloomy expression—blue and filled with passing white clouds.

Standing by the fence of the first floor of the 3rd Division, Ichimaru Gin sighed. How many times has he stared at the sky with nothing clear in his mind as if wishing for something extraordinary to happen? For as long as he could remember, it has been at least 24 hours of him doing nothing but staring at the sky and nothing.

'Well, the life of a Shinigami—especially those at the top—was boring in general.'

An expression that would definitely make any single person who knew Gin stare in shock and horror, he sighed once again.

'Fuck man. Out of all possible people in the infinite world, did I have to be reincarnated in Gin's body? And that so far in canon? At least do that before I fell under Aizen's sword for fuck sake.'

Despite his grumbling internally, he was happy more than anything. At least, he wasn't reincarnated as a grunt somewhere. He was given status and power from the start. He could count a handful of stories he read where… Okay, he might have read too many such stories, that is why he wasn't going to dabble over it for long.

"Captain!" Hearing the sound of a person behind him, the usual mocking smile appeared over Gin's face as he turned around, staring down at the person kneeling over one knee with one hand over his chest.

"What happened, Kira-kun? You seemed to be in a hurry." Gin softly inquired while tucking both his hands in the opposite hand's sleeve.

"There has been a report about someone forcefully entering Soul Society through Denkai close to White Road Gate. What should we do?"

"Nothing." With the same smile on his face, Gin replied as if the well-being of the whole Soul Society had nothing to do with him. "Go back and do whatever you want. We will wait until further orders from Captain-Commander."

"But captain…"

"Yes?"

The movement Kira looked up towards his captain, he shut his mouth, not daring to utter a single word further. Staring at the crystal azure eyes of his captain staring down at him, he felt like he would lose his life the moment he said anything. He decided to remain silent.

"If you have nothing else to say, Kira-kun, you may leave."

"... Yes." Bowing once more, Kira vanished.

Gin turned around looking at the sky once more, the smile over his face only further stretching. He had been waiting for this movement for over a week now and was already getting tired of it. Finally, he can enjoy his time here.

…

"Is this really the Soul Society?" Asked the orange-haired youth with slight doubt in his voice. "It looks more deserted than I had imagined."

Looking around him, at the rural-looking town, to Ichigo, it looked like he had entered some dying village or something. This prompted him to look confused, an expression shared by his companions.

"This is Rukongai, a slum town that lies outside of Seireitei and is the place where Souls come to live when they first enter the Soul Society. It is the poorest and freest part of the Soul Society where the majority of the Souls live." Explain the black feline in a rather masculine voice, making the bespectacled man stare down at the deserted town in silence.

Orange-haired youth frowned, staring at the town in the distance; a complete contrast to the village they have landed. The houses looked more detailed and planned, unlike this place, prompting him to realize what the black feline meant by calling this place the poorest of the Soul Society.

"That must be the place where Shinigami lives then." The orange-haired youth said with slight excitement in his voice before turning to look at his champion. "Let's see who is the first one to enter it!" And he ran.

What are you? A five-year-old kid? — thought everyone except for the black feline whose eyes widened in horror as it shouted.

"Stop! You fool! You will die if you get too close to that place!"

"Yoruichi-san, what are you—" The orange-haired male didn't get to finish his sentence as the sky rumbled with a loud noise, causing everyone to look at it. Their eyes widened as they stared at the enormous slabs falling from the sky before circling the whole Seireitei within it, blocking the entrance for anyone trying to force their way in.

The dust clouds rose, covering everything around them and the orange-haired kid. He coughed loudly, waving his hand to blow away the dust from his place as he stared dumbfounded at the stupidly huge wall in front of him with an open mouth.

"Just… What. The. Fuck?"

"Kurosaki!"

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo turned around towards his companion, seeing them running towards him before all of them halted as their eyes widened, making him confused, the confusion that was swept away like the dust cloud around him when he felt a presence behind him.

"It has been a while since someone tried to enter Seireitei from my gate without a permit. I welcome you, unknown Shinigami!"

…

'It sure is massive. Makes me dizzy every time I see it.' His white haori gently waves in the air, with his hand within his sleeves and his sword by his waist, with his usual mocking expression, Gin stared at the wall surrounding Seireitei, specifically at the White Road Gate.

The ground below him shook from time to time allowing him to understand what was happening at the other side of the gate. It didn't take a wise man to know that a fight was happening, to which Gin patiently waited to end.

Anyhow, being a captain with a shit ton of Spiritual Energy, he had all the time in the world in his hands. He could stand here and wait for years and nothing would happen to him.

'Damn you Aizen! If not for his bullshit sword and hypnotism, I would have been banging Rangiku by now! Every time I see her eyes pleading to talk to her, it makes me want to just bang my head on the wall. The Essence should be unlocked soon, so I can patiently wait.'

While he was 'reborn' in this world without his choice, he at least was given a chance to choose an essence for himself. Gin (the reincarnator) was a greedy person and, if he could, wanted to get the most OP essence out there on his hand. Sadly, the choice of Essences he was provided wasn't much appreciated by him. So he picked the one which held the most potential for him and something that would definitely make him OP in time.

Just that, he had to wait for at least a week for whatever bullshit reason for Essence to activate. And today ended the week of him being transmigrated into this world. He was quite excited though since soon it would mark the end of his week's worth of waiting. Only he knew how hard it was to not slip his visage in front of Aizen. Thankfully, he retained all of Gin's memories and personality allowing him to live 'as Gin' rather than 'him'.

If that wasn't the case, he might have found himself at Aizen's experiment table and that wouldn't have been the most pleasing thing to see.

While he was lost in his thoughts, the gate in front of him started to shake, and followed by a small earthquake, it started to rise. Gin calmly waited for Jidanbō to lift the gate fully, or not? Because the moment Jidanbo lifted the gate to a certain level where he could see Gin, his movement stopped and the same with his heartbeat as beads of sweat started to form over his large forehead.

"C-Captain… Ichimaru…"

"Who is he?" Ichigo, who was standing beside Jidanbo, asked confusedly, making Jidanbo sweat even more.

"3rd Division Captain, Ichimaru Gin." Before Jidanbo could speak, Gin introduced himself while doing a slight theatrical bow with his hand on his chest. "You do not need to be so afraid, Jidanbo, I am not going to eat you or anything."

Despite his joking tone, his expression betrayed whatever he said. He looked like a snake acting friendly while the moment he was bored, he wouldn't mind killing everyone present here. And Jidanbo, who knew more about Gin than Ichigo, understood this fully.

"But I might ask, why are you opening the gate for a Ryoka, Jidanbo? Was there a mistake in your gatekeeper training or did you not read the manual with open eyes? Maybe that giant mind of yours is filled with gas?"

"I was defeated!" Jidanbo hurriedly replied, to which Gin tilted his head.

"And? Did you hurt your head perhaps? Is that what you are trying to tell me?" Gin inquired.

"As long as the gatekeeper is defeated—"

"No, no, no." Gin shook his finger left and right. "You must have read it wrong. The Gatekeeper's duty is to make sure no intruder enters, and if he can't stop the intruder, then he should die trying. But here we are, with you trying to help Ryoka to enter Seireitei. Tell me then, Jidanbo, what should be done to you?"

"I—GHAAAA!" The moment Jidanbo opened his mouth to explain something, his hand was cut away from his shoulder causing him to lose the gate and almost fall, though he stopped himself by kneeling and stopping the gate from fully falling.

Gin still stood at his place with the same mocking smirk, his hand clasped in front of his face as his smirk seemed to widen by a margin.

"Oh my, it seems that my hand slipped." Ichigo and Uryu stared at Gin with wonder, trying to comprehend what had just transpired. They didn't even catch what happened!

"You really are one of the strongest giants." Gin clapped his hand in amusement. "I am awed at your ability to still hold up the gate. How great!"

"You bastard! What did you do to Jidanbo?!" Ichigo shouted towards Gin who was clearly being sarcastic. While Ichigo shouted, his comrades also reached the gate to see what was happening.

The moment black-feline aka Yoruichi's eyes landed on Gin, her face became extremely gloomy to the point where it looked like she had eaten shit. She was about to tell everyone to retreat but was beaten by Ichigo, who took his sword out and vanished.

"Answer me!" He appeared in front of Gin, his sword raised in the sky as he brought it down at the smirking Gin.

Yoruichi cursed Ichigo internally. She knew full well how strong captains were. If Ichigo fought one right now, he would surely die! And as she had thought, without much effort on his part, Gin calmly raised his hand and caught Ichigo's blade in his hand as if it were a stick. She swore she heard him saying "Aizen Style First Form: Protagonist Blade Catching".

"Are you trying to hurt me by any chance? How cute." His azure pupils glowed as he leaned down to Ichigo's face who had his eyes open wide as if he had seen a ghost. He couldn't believe that this person stopped his sword with his bare hands!

"Ichigo! Run! We can't fight him!" Seeing this, Yoruichi shouted, making Gin look towards her; his face gleaned with excitement.

"Oh my, isn't it our runaway princess? Why isn't your prince here? I am sure those old geezers at Central would be delighted to see him, much like I am right now."

"Gin!" Yoruichi gritted her teeth in anger hearing Gin's mocking tone. So many years have passed and she still found his personality infuriating. She wanted nothing but to scratch his face right now!

"Stop. I already have someone I love. Even if you look at me with such a passionate gaze, I will never cuck her."

"Fuck off! I would rather die than have such thoughts about you!" Yoruichi spits at the side, making Gin nod his head.

"Ah yes. How can I forget about the love dynamics around you and your prince? How about you bring him here next time? I am sure that there are many people who will love to complete that wish of yours."

"Oh. I completely forgot about you." After having his fun with Yoruichi, Gin stared back at Ichigo who was still trying to get the sword out of Gin's hand but was falling spectacularly.

"Leave the sword, you bastard!" Just as Gin was about to say something, he felt a foreign power entering his body making his smirk enlarged enough that it almost split his face into two. And his excitement was also perceived by others as his Spiritual Pressure was released, causing everyone except for Yoruichi to be stunned and breathless. It was to the point where Ichigo, who was closest to him, almost lost consciousness!

"Hahaha. Forgive me. I got too excited there." His voice acted like a beckon as it pulled everyone out of their stunned horrified states as they all stared at Gin with terrified gazes. He looked down at Ichigo and lowered his head, his mouth near his ear as he whispered. "Kurosaki-kun, look at your back."

With difficulty, Ichigo looked behind and saw the horrified gazes of his friends.

"Do you see it? The fear of death in their eyes?" Like a devil, Gin whispered within Ichigo's ears who seemed to not hear the shout of Yoruichi. "Look at Miss Orihime… Do you know, my sword travels faster than the speed of sound? If I attack from here, do you think she will be able to stop it? I can guarantee you that she will die without knowing how."

"What do you want…" Through brash, Ichigo wasn't stupid. Seeing how Gin was being verbal rather than active, he knew that there was something that Gin wanted. Something only he could provide him with.

"I like sensible people." Gin patted his other shoulder while his chin was still resting on the other. "Let's make a deal. You do not have to think much really. Just say yes, and I will allow all of you to run away alive from here."

Ichigo remained silent as Gin continued.

"In return for allowing all of you to return alive, I will be taking your Quincy Bloodline as mine. Don't ask. Don't think much either. All you need to say is yes and your little lover with your party of friends won't die. So, Kurosaki-kun, tell me, do you accept the deal?"

Essence of Merchant was the essence that Gin drank before transmigrating to this world. Though if one talks about its offensive or defensive side, then Gin could say without any problem that there was none. This Essence didn't give him some OP attack that would shatter the realities or some OP defense that would take an attack that would shatter the realities.

As the name suggested, it made him a walking Merchant that could make any deal. And whenever someone agrees with the deal, Essence will make sure that it is completed a hundred percent without any problem. Whatever deal is made by him, it would be absolute! Though of course it made some stuff hard for him like he can't just make fake promises any longer since any promise would activate his Essence and even though he is not outside of the punishment dealt by the Essence, it was naught but a minor defect in his eyes.

In front of gains, such a defect was ignored by Gin.

"Alright." Ichigo didn't understand what Gin meant. How could he? He never knew his mother was Quincy nor his father ever informed him of it. To him, this deal sounded weird and ambiguous. But he didn't care. Even if he knew he had Quincy's Bloodline, he would care less if he could save his friends from the monster in front of him.

The smirk on Gin's face enlarges as he softens his grip over Ichigo's sword, letting it go—to which Ichigo jumps away from him—Gin bowed happily.

"Thank you for your patronage, dear customer."

...

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