Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

Chapter 655 Empty Nest Elderly

Rukia was speechless. That wasn't wrong. After all, it was a mass-produced battle spirit, so it certainly couldn't be as powerful as a Shinigami, but it was still enough to deal with ordinary Hollows.

Compared to humans, he's practically a superman.

Yuko put down her soup cup and reached out with her right hand to grab at the air: "Although I don't consider myself a Grim Reaper, I guess I'm using the fighting methods of a Grim Reaper."

A long, slender Zanpakuto, entirely dark purple and radiating a faint blue glow, was held in Yuko's hand and placed on the table.

Rukia looked slightly surprised.

What a beautiful Zanpakuto...

For some reason, the first thing that came to mind when she looked at it was butterfly wings.

“Zanpakuto… Is Yuuko-sensei a Shinigami?” After a long while, Rukia suddenly stood up, leaned forward slightly, and brought her head close to Yuuko.

Her excited expression lasted for about a second, then she began to murmur, "No, this area should only be my responsibility..."

"Moreover, Professor Yuko has been in the human world for more than ten years. It is impossible for a Shinigami to stay in the human world for such a long time without a mission."

Yuko continued eating her meal, ignoring Rukia, who was deep in thought, resting her chin on her hand.

"But aside from the Grim Reaper, can humanity truly confront the Hollows head-on?"

When Yuko came out of the kitchen with the lunchbox, Rukia was still muttering to herself, completely unaware that the food in her bowl had gone cold.

“The Grim Reaper isn’t the only being that can control spirit particles.” Yuko interrupted Rukia as she handed her the bento box. “You seem to be having a pretty rough time at Ichigo’s house. This is for tomorrow’s lunch.”

Because Rukia was hiding in Ichigo's house, sleeping in Ichigo's closet, and always avoiding Ichigo's family, she was never discovered.

Due to the suppression caused by his Gikai for over a decade, Isshin Kurosaki has gradually lost his ability to see Shinigami and Hollows. Masaki, having lost her Quincy powers, has also experienced a significant decrease in her ability to sense Shinigami and Hollows.

"No way!" Rukia snapped out of her daze and quickly declined, "Isn't this Yuuko-sensei and Miyu-sensei's lunch?"

Yuko scratched her ear and placed the bento box on the table without saying a word: "There's still some left, enough to make another one. Take it."

"Thank you, thank you..."

Rukia was almost moved to tears, then suddenly realized, "By the way, what did Ms. Yuuko mean just now?"

“That’s what I mean.” Yu Zi extended her index finger, and on her slender, pale finger, tiny blue spiritual particles gathered, gradually forming a ball of spiritual particles the size of a ping-pong ball.

"I did not use any Shinigami power. As long as one's spiritual power is strong enough to see the strength of Hollows and Shinigami, even an ordinary person can roughly sense the spiritual particles in the air."

"While it's far from reaching the level of Kido, defeating low-level Hollows isn't too difficult."

"It's not only Quincy who can manipulate spirit particles from the outside."

"Moreover, as long as enough spiritual particles are gathered and the concentration is high enough, the destructive power of spiritual particles may not be inferior to that of the Ghost Path."

"Of course, to reach that level, one needs not only strong spiritual power, but also extremely strong control over spiritual particles. In terms of control, Quincy are generally stronger than Shinigami."

Rukia was greatly shocked, but...

"What is a Quincy?"

Yuko paused for a moment, then explained, "A kind of human who stands on the opposite side of death and fights by manipulating the spiritual particles of the outside world."

In fact, Quincy seem to be a taboo subject in Soul Society, rarely mentioned by anyone.

Even many veteran Shinigami don't know this, let alone a newbie like Rukia.

Rukia was shocked: "Humans? Can humans compare to Shinigami?"

"That's right. Moreover, the Quincy, being purebloods, possess unique abilities. With proper training, they can have power that is in no way inferior to that of Captain-level Shinigami."

Rukia muttered, "This is unbelievable..."

"But why would Quincy stand against Shinigami?" Rukia couldn't understand it at first. "Shinigami are not the enemies of humanity; on the contrary, they have always been dedicated to helping humanity."

"Good question!" Yu Zi snapped her fingers. "I don't know either."

The Shinigami have always been dedicated to helping humanity... Although Ikuko doesn't particularly like the atmosphere of Soul Society and Seireitei, the Shinigami are indeed doing such things, constantly striving to maintain peace in the human world.

Death is stationed in almost every city, making it convenient to deal with the chaos caused by the undead in a timely manner.

To some extent, Ikuko didn't dislike the Grim Reapers of Seireitei.

"Huh?" Rukia almost fell over.

"On the surface, it seems that the Shinigami and Quincy are enemies because of their different fighting styles," Yuko said calmly. "When the Shinigami destroy Hollows, they mostly sublimate them, which means they end their suffering and go to the Soul Society."

"The Quincy, on the other hand, completely annihilate the Hollows."

“Of course, there are definitely many problems with this reasoning.” Yu Zi spread her hands. “However, I don’t know much about this, so I can’t explain it to you.”

She guessed it was probably related to the battle a thousand years ago.

The battle between that being named Yhwach and Mr. Yamamoto...

"Oh, I see..." Rukia didn't delve into the Quincy topic, her head lowered as if lost in thought, before finally realizing the food was getting cold. "Ah! The food's getting cold!"

"Want me to heat it up for you?" Yuko asked, sitting to the side and resting her cheek on her hand.

"No need!" Rukia picked up her bowl and began to focus, launching a fierce attack on the food.

Cold food tastes good too!

After having a meal at Yuuko's house, Rukia, rubbing her slightly unsatisfied stomach, said goodbye to Yuuko.

"Teacher Yuko's cooking is so delicious. I wish I could come here every day." Rukia thought happily as she carried her lunchbox on the way. After a moment, she stopped. "Ah, I seem to have forgotten to ask about Teacher Yuko's identity."

Why use a Zanpakuto, yet not consider yourself a Shinigami (death god)?

After thinking for a moment, Rukia gave up: "Who cares! Ikuko-sensei can't be a bad person."

He strode back through the window to Ichigo's room.

"Hehe, is the boss's artificial body in the closet?" On the bed, the lion doll stared at the closet with shining eyes.

On the bed, Ichigo, with his legs crossed and reading a manga, said calmly, "I advise you not to."

"How stingy! I'll let you touch it later if you want." The lion plushie crossed its arms, retorted, and strode towards the wardrobe with its short legs.

Just as it was about to slide its hand across the wardrobe, a shadow suddenly rose from the wardrobe.

"What are you trying to do, you bastard?"

Rukia's cold voice rang out from behind.

"Boss, let me explain... Pfft~"

The lion doll shuddered and begged for mercy on the spot, but before it could finish speaking, Rukia kicked it into the wall next to it.

"Oh, you're back. I already told you about Aunt Yuko... Hmm? What's that?" Ichigo put down his manga and pointed curiously at the package in Rukia's hand.

Rukia placed the bento box on the table: "This is a bento box from Ms. Yuuko."

"What?! Aunt Yuko's bento?" Ichigo's eyes widened. "That lazy girl can actually make bento?"

Rukia looked puzzled: "Sloth?"

The word "lazy" has absolutely nothing to do with Ms. Yuko, right?

"I'm talking about her when it comes to food." Ichigo rested his elbow on his knee and propped his cheek with his hand. "Aunt Yuko is a great cook, but she rarely cooks for herself. Whether it's lunch or dinner, she basically just makes do."

"There's a cafeteria at school for lunch, but for dinner I usually just eat instant noodles or something from a convenience store."

"So my parents often invite Aunt Yu Zi to our house for meals."

++

Rukia broke out in a cold sweat: "...I have a feeling of being an empty-nest elderly person."

“That’s about it…” Ichigo’s voice trailed off as he spoke, then he suddenly exclaimed, “Wait!”

"You mean Aunt Yuko... sent you a bento box?"

"You just realized? You idiot." Rukia rolled her eyes, then ignored Ichigo's curious gaze and crawled back into the closet.

Ichigo pointed at the wardrobe and demanded, "Hey, what's going on here?"

Rukia opened the wardrobe and came out, glancing at Ichigo: "How could Aunt Yuuko possibly see ghosts~"

That affected tone made Ichigo's eyelids twitch.

Rukia stretched and moved around the room a bit. "I don't know the specifics either."

"Huh? You didn't ask anything?"

Rukia was silent for a moment, then stuck her tongue out at Ichigo: "Because dinner was so delicious, I subconsciously forgot about it."

"Huh?" A well symbol appeared on Ichigo's face.

Rukia stroked her chin, pondering, "But even though she has a Zanpakuto, Ms. Yuuko hasn't admitted to being a Shinigami."

"Death! A Shinigami?!" Ichigo's eyes widened. "You're saying Aunt Yuko is a Shinigami?"

"How is that possible!"

Rukia looked up at him: "It's true, and that Zanpakuto... is undoubtedly a Zanpakuto that has completed its Shikai."

"But Ms. Yuko said that she was just using the fighting style of a Shinigami, and that she was not a Shinigami."

Ichigo blinked: "What is Shikai?"

Rukia somehow found a small blackboard and started drawing abstract little figures.

It instantly attracted the attention of Ichigo and the modified soul.

"So ugly..." the lion plushie couldn't help but complain.

Without turning her head, Rukia threw a piece of chalk, sending it flying.

Rukia finished drawing the little figure, slammed her hand on the blackboard, turned around, pointed to the rabbit holding a weapon and radiating electricity on the blackboard, and explained to Ichigo.

"Shikai is the advanced use of Zanpakuto. It is the technique by which a Shinigami communicates with and connects with Zanpakuto to unleash its true power."

"At this stage, the Shinigami can unleash the true power of the Zanpakuto."

"For example, there are elemental Zanpakuto that can unleash flames or ice, or direct attack types that enhance power, or even more bizarre rule-based types."

"In short, the Zanpakuto after its liberation is the Zanpakuto in its true form."

Ichigo scratched his head: "Shikai... So, does that mean my Zanpakuto hasn't been released yet?"

Rukia shook her head: "I can't give an answer to that either. In the end, your Zanpakuto is actually the result of the combination of my spiritual power and your spiritual power, and it is based on my Zanpakuto."

"From the appearance, it seems to have achieved the special posture of the initial release, but it does not have any special effects."

"Besides, you haven't even spoken to your Zanpakuto yet, have you?"

Ichigo interrupted, "Wait, talk to your Zanpakuto? You mean literally?"

"Of course, every Zanpakuto that has been carefully crafted by its master possesses its own consciousness; it is no exaggeration to say that it is half of a Shinigami."

"The condition for achieving Shikai is that the master and the Zanpakuto reach a certain level of synchronization."

"I see... Yeah, right! I don't understand at all!" Ichigo muttered to himself. He wasn't particularly interested in Zanpakuto release or anything like that, but...

Ichigo pointed speechlessly to the corner of the blackboard, holding a sword as well. He looked like a tiny rabbit radiating electricity, only with a larger blade and more current, making him appear even more dangerous.

"And what is that?"

“If Shikai is merely an advanced application of a Zanpakuto by a Shinigami, then this is the ultimate technique that a Shinigami can master.” Rukia became interested and excitedly slapped the blackboard. “In this state, both the Shinigami’s spiritual pressure and abilities will be further enhanced.”

"It is the ultimate technique that only a very few Grim Reapers can master, and its name is..."

"Swastika..."

To Rukia's surprise, Ichigo uttered those words.

Rukia's excited expression faltered for a moment, and she asked in surprise, "Where...where did you hear that title?"

Ichigo took two steps back and sat back on the edge of the bed, one hand covering his head: "I think I heard someone's voice somewhere before..."

“Even in Soul Society, only a handful of Shinigami can master this ability,” Rukia said seriously. “You haven’t seen a Shinigami before, have you?”

"Could it be Ms. Yuko?"

If that's the case, Rukia can't imagine what's going on.

That's Bankai!

It's an ability that almost only captain-level Shinigami, like the eldest brother, can master.

Who exactly is Ms. Yu Zi?

Ichigo was instantly awakened, and memories flooded back like a tidal wave.

"That's right! It was when I was in elementary school!"

That's right! That's Aunt Yu Zi's voice!

"So it wasn't a dream after all!"

Rukia tilted her head: "A dream?"

Ichigo told her about meeting a girl on the riverbank during a rainy day when he was nine years old.

Rukia lowered her head and bit her finger: "Hmm... now that I think about it, that girl was probably just a decoy, right?"

"I released my Bankai to save you and your mother."

But how strong must an enemy be to require Bankai to defeat?

Could it be a Hollow?

She seemed completely bewildered; how could a captain-level Grim Reaper have been in the mortal realm for over ten years...?

Ichigo muttered to himself, "No wonder, even after more than ten years, Aunt Yuko is still the same, she hasn't changed much."

"I thought she was the kind of person who doesn't age easily."