CHAPTER 69: Visión del Diablo

Kazuya let out a sigh, running his hand through his silver locks. "I'd honestly prefer it if you were a busty chick sitting on my chest." he said, the corner of his mouth pulling into a slight grin. "Well, do you have a name, or should I provide one for you?"

"My name… what was my name again? ...Nami? It's only a fraction of my name… Just call me Nami. Not the Nami from One Piece mind you." She scrutinized Kazuya's expression, finding it calmly unsurprised. "You already knew, didn't you?"

"It's only logical that my Zanpakutō will get access to my memories."

"My partner is as calculating as I'd anticipated," Nami mused, her praise tinged with a hint of reluctant respect. "This intelligence works against you sometimes. Take, for instance, your recent incident with the Hogyoku... Your instincts were screaming at you to consume it, yet you perceived this urge as a potential trap. You suspected that the Hogyoku was tricking you… or you were scared of becoming an actual monster."

"Kinda. I don't want to end up like Aizen. Harribel and others won't like it."

He'd never cast away Harribel and the others for a surge of power, no matter how tantalizing the temptation. For a woman who'd sacrifice everything for his sake, it was a negligible price to pay.

"Halting your natural growth for your women? You aren't cold enough, Partner. You—we missed a massive opportunity to evolve to our next stage. What's more, I burned my blood essence to awaken the Hōgyoku. My sacrifice turned out to be meaningless."

The Reiatsu that was the catalyst in Hōgyoku's awakening — it was drawn from her life essence, the crimson drops that glistened on her feathers.

"Relax. It's not like I can't get the Hōgyoku again."

"You absolutely can."

"So, why do I feel anger from you? Like 'you'll throw a punch at me if you had hands' type of anger."

He was able to sense her emotional state, likely an effect of their deep connection. Her internal state was chaotic, a storm of conflicting emotions.

"Forget it." She tilted her head towards the unseen ceiling, eyes closed as if she was having the inner monologue of a protagonist. "It's raining outside…"

"Even though you're a part of me and I can sense your emotions, I can't understand you. My Zanpakutō is such a mystery."

"Hmph!"

"Quit being such a tsundere." Gently, he picked her up by her sides and sat up, nestling her comfortably in his lap. Like soothing a child, he patted her head. "There, there. Everything will be fine."

She stared back at him, rendered speechless by his actions.

"Just out of curiosity, do I get a release form now?"

"No, you don't. Not until I finish my evolution. As things stand, I'm about the level of an Adjuchas. We both need to be on the same level to trigger a Resurrección."

"That's sad."

"Sad indeed, Partner. I could've hatched as a Vasto Lorde in a few weeks at max… now, I have no idea how to evolve my form."

Kazuya gradually understood the root of Nami's anger — her premature awakening had disrupted her evolution. However, he harbored no regrets about his decision not to consume the Hōgyoku.

"You are like that… Partner." She let out a puff of fire as a sigh. "I'll rest in your inner world and try to find a solution… Let's forget about eating Hōgyoku until I evolve."

"Sure."

With that, she vanished from sight. But Kazuya could still sense her presence nestled deep within his being. Her existence seemed to deviate from a typical Arrancar's Zanpakutō, which remained as a physical object on Arrancar's body. Instead, she was more akin to a Shinigami's Zanpakutō Spirit, yet even they had a physical manifestation as a weapon.

'Mine is abnormal like always.'

Every aspect of his existence appeared to diverge from the norm. His Arrancar form, the disappearance of his Hollow holes, his unique ability to manipulate Reishi, and now his Zanpakutō, all chose to tread a different path. Concern gnawed at him regarding what his future might hold for him. Would he end up being similar to the Soul King?

[Racial Ability: Resurrección (Partial Mode) unlocked.]

[Current Mastery Level: Yet to learn.]

The System's notification presented a stark contrast to Nami's earlier assertion about their Resurrección form being unattainable at the moment. Was Nami, his Zanpakutō, more knowledgeable than his System? Who was speaking the truth?

Intrigued, he decided to put Nami to the test to determine if she shared his manipulative tendencies.

"Nami, I feel like I can use your Resurrección."

"Huh? How?" she asked, shock apparent in her voice. "It's impossible!"

Closing his eyes, he sought to tap into the primal instincts that knew his body better than his conscious mind. Suddenly, a surge of dark red flame, akin to Nami's own, erupted from him before disappearing. He opened his status, finding no discernable change except for a black blindfold materializing over his eyes and a blood-red gem embedded in the center of his forehead. Interestingly, the blindfold seemed to be of a spiritual nature, as it brought no impairment to his vision.

The blindfold twitched as Nami made her presence known. "You did it. I remember our original ability now."

"What is it?"

"Focus, Partner. Let your eyes breathe the world around you."

"Don't talk like me!"

With a playful retort, he focused his gaze over his surroundings. The world seemed to plunge into darkness, with only the white outlines of his room giving it form. His gaze fell on the low table before him, and suddenly a torrent of knowledge gushed into his consciousness — its physical structure, components, density, mass, dimensions, volume, temperature, and a multitude of other properties.

Overwhelmed by the flood of information, he reeled back, eyes clamped shut.

'This ability is gonna explode my brains.'

"You can analyze an object to gain an abundance of information. It should take away the weakness of your Aspect of Death: Oppression."

His Resurrección ability allowed him to adapt in fights on the fly. It also took away his biggest gripe with the Oppression ability, which was digesting countless books.

"This is honestly creepy how well my wish came true. Is it an effect of Hōgyoku?"

"Don't glaze over minor matters, Partner. Shouldn't we name this ability?" asked Nami in an upbeat voice. "Something Spanish like other Hollow abilities… how about Visión del Diablo (Vision of Devil)?"

"What does the devil have to do with it?"

"Who cares?! It sounds cool. That's what matters the most."

It seemed like his Zanpakutō became fond of hobbies often associated with the 'edgy phase.' One of those struck with the 8th grade syndrome.

"Visión del Diablo is only a fraction of our power. It's not even connected to our original ability. You'll be surprised when you wield a full hundred percent."

"Damn. What's our true ability?"

"The power of life and death. That's all I'll say for now," she said cheerfully. "I'm canceling the release. Adiós!"

She retreated to his inner world, where she could rest without any disturbance.

Sitting there in silence, he processed everything that happened for a couple of moments.

'No point stressing over it now. I'll see when Nami's powers fully awaken.'

He called out to Nami to withdraw her barrier of flames and opened the door. Kisuke and Yoruichi, who were waiting at the end of the hallway, approached him.

Yoruichi burst into laughter. "Sneaky brat, you put a barrier kidō."

Kisuke gently hit her head with his paper fan. "We agreed to give him privacy, Yoruichi-san. Kazuya-san, let's talk inside."

…

Once they were seated, Kisuke unfolded his paper fan to cover his mouth. "Kazuya-san, I want you to enter the Gotei 13 and become a Shinigami."

Kisuke dropped a bomb out of nowhere.

***

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