22
Born, It Is the Zanpakuto
Black sword qi shot up into the sky and slashed toward Naruto Luke, but he calmly extended his fist. An invisible air pressure gathered around his knuckles as the Golden Light Charm coiled around his hand.
Boom!
The fist crushed the sword qi, its remaining momentum only slightly diminished as it continued its assault toward Bleach Luke.
Caught off guard by this unexpected response, Bleach Luke froze for a moment—proof that he still wasn’t quite qualified as a Sword Master. Then he discarded the Falcon, which had failed to achieve anything, and threw a punch of his own.
Body vs. Body.
Hum!
A deafening roar erupted between their fists.
There was no physical contact to trigger sharing because Naruto Luke had taken preventive measures by using the Golden Light Charm as insulation.
Strangely enough, materialized objects were considered extensions of the soul, and contact with them would trigger sharing. However, energy—such as Qi, chakra, or spiritual pressure—did not trigger sharing upon contact with the body.
“I told you before—abandoning the sword for physical combat is the right path,” Naruto Luke chuckled.
“Hmph, being a Sword Master is way cooler than using fists,” Bleach Luke retorted, raising his fist, large as a casserole. “Give up already. We Lukes are one. We share blessings, so naturally, we should share hardships too.”
“I refuse.”
Their fists began raining down on each other in a storm of blows. Powerful muscles collided, the Golden Light Charm constantly dispersing only to instantly reform. The ferocious speed of their attacks was dizzying, yet Bleach Luke still couldn’t land a solid hit.
But he wasn’t the only opponent. Death Luke silently appeared behind Naruto Luke.
“Ruler of the Skies! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Burning heat and chaos, surge across the seas and march southward!”
Hado No. 33: Sokatsui!
This time, the source of the demon arts incantation wasn’t Naruto Luke but Death Luke. He didn’t vocalize the chant but recited it silently—this didn’t affect the release of the demon arts.
The essence of chanting was to spend more time and exert finer control over the spiritual pressure within, aided by incantations that could mobilize it. Whether the words were spoken aloud made no practical difference.
This was somewhat different from the Words of Power in Dragon Raja. Words of Power required Draconic language to resonate with the elements in the air for optimal effect. Apart from the Four Monarchs, who could directly command the elements, and the two Emperors above them, lower dragons and hybrids performed better when they vocalized their Words of Power.
Crimson flames engulfed Naruto Luke, but a moment later, all that appeared within the fire was a log.
Substitution Technique!
“When did you learn that?” Death Luke asked, surprised.
“Just today. Since I didn’t share it with you, you didn’t know,” Naruto Luke explained calmly.
As the number of Lukes increased and their talents improved, Naruto Luke had recently taken to wandering through the Death Forest, pretending to casually pass by Ninja School students practicing Ninjutsu.
His current talent hadn’t reached the level of Uchiha Itachi, who could master the Great Fireball Technique after seeing it just once—without even needing to familiarize himself with the chakra flow during activation. But the most basic Three Body Technique was easy enough for him to copy.
“Hmph, in the Land of Fire, at the pinnacle of shinobi, where there is Luke, there is the sky! Don’t think I’m afraid of you just because it’s 1v2!” Naruto Luke smiled arrogantly, exuding composure.
As the three stood in a stalemate, a hand from the shadows silently seized Naruto Luke, who was focused entirely on the enemies before him.
The next second, physical contact between the two triggered their shared sensation, and intense pain surged through them. Naruto Luke shrieked in agony.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Dragon Raja Luke, who had been lying on the ground playing dead and ignored by everyone, spoke up faintly.
“It’s not 1v2, it’s 1v3. Even you can slip up sometimes, senior.”
Dragon Raja Luke felt a secret thrill at getting payback so quickly.
A figure appeared in the mysterious space as Quanzhi Fashi Luke entered stretching lazily, casually greeting them: “Oh, everyone’s here today. What are you all…”
His words trailed off as he saw the bruises on the four Lukes’ faces. Noticing the murderous looks from the other Lukes, Quanzhi Fashi Luke scratched his head and showed a sudden understanding.
“Well, I just remembered I left the gas on at home. Gotta go, take care everyone.”
“Get him!” x4
Now it’s 1v4 time!
…
The five bruised Lukes sat together in a circle.
“Is this how you ask for help? You’re all acting like you’ve got some serious issues,” Quanzhi Fashi Luke rubbed his cheek, feeling complicated. He never expected the other Lukes to be this shameless.
“Alright alright, we’re only sharing the sensation of pain, not actual injuries. If you’re still uncomfortable, I recently learned Healing Arts and can treat you,” Bleach Luke waved his hand dismissively, treating it as no big deal.
“Speaking of Healing Arts, isn’t that for healing Shinigami souls? Have you tested whether it can heal physical bodies?” Naruto Luke asked.
“In Bleach, souls can eat, sleep, and even have sex. It’s hard to say whether these are proper souls or not,” Bleach Luke shrugged. “Other than having an added physical body setting in the living world, they seem just like living people. Test it yourselves.”
“I’ll try it later. Quanzhi Fashi Luke, I’ll leave the One Piece storyline to you. Make time to binge more anime recently – better to be prepared whether we need it or not,” One Piece Luke explained before standing up to leave.
“Wait,” Bleach Luke stopped him with a strange expression. “After sharing your realm of listening to the breathing of all things and your connection with swords, I can faintly sense my zanpakuto now.”
“Ooooh!”
The other Lukes got excited. Obtaining a zanpakuto was a key step in power improvement, and it sounded quite novel.
One Piece Luke, who was a quasi-Sword Master, asked curiously, “What does it feel like?”
“Hard to describe. It doesn’t feel fully awakened yet. It’s like there’s a will appearing in my heart – very intimate and docile, like my own child. I can feel its soul fluctuations,” Bleach Luke answered after closing his eyes to sense it.
“I thought zanpakuto were supposed to be half of yourself. Why does Bleach Luke’s description sound like he’s pregnant?”
“What? One Piece Luke got Bleach Luke pregnant?”
“Huh? They have a child together?”
“Damn, have the Lukes’ preferences expanded to targeting themselves?”
“But we shouldn’t target Bleach Luke! He’s still a shota!”
“Hah, since when has there ever been a forty-year-old shota?”
Bleach Luke’s temple twitched as he listened, wishing he could cut them down right now. As if responding to his impulse, an unfamiliar yet familiar voice echoed in Bleach Luke’s heart.
「Was it you who called for me?」
The communication between a zanpakuto and its master was originally one-on-one, but perhaps due to the unique properties of this mysterious space, it had now become a public channel, audible to all Lukes.
“Oh, such a tender voice—sounds like a child too. Does the blade reflect its master?”
“With such a delicate voice, it’s hard to tell if it’s male or female. Did Bleach Luke give birth to a boy or a girl?”
“Why emphasize Bleach Luke? This should be our shared child. Sob… I never thought my first child would be a sword.”
The conversation gradually veered off track, and several Lukes cast affectionate gazes toward Bleach Luke’s flat abdomen.
But Bleach Luke showed no reaction. His eyes were shrouded in deep darkness as his consciousness descended into the deepest recesses of his mind. Hazily, he seemed to see a small figure standing atop the highest heavens.
Though youthful and not yet fully grown, the figure already carried an air of transcendent arrogance. Surrounded by endless emptiness, he stood at the pinnacle like a noble emperor overlooking all.
Bleach Luke’s gaze pierced through the void, meeting the figure’s eyes. He saw a handsome and elegant boy dressed in deep black regalia, his eyes cold and violent.
As their reflections mirrored in each other’s eyes, the boy’s negative emotions crumbled in that instant. He reached out to Luke, and in the next moment, Luke appeared at the boy’s lofty domain.
“I sense your rage. Then, call out my name. No matter who stands before us, I will slay them for you!”
The boy’s voice echoed in Luke’s mind. Then, he embraced Bleach Luke, his body transforming into a beam of white light and merging into him.
“Death is but the beginning of life; emptiness is the end of all things.”
“Call my name.”
“Extinguish, Gui Xu!”
As Bleach Luke uttered the name, a zanpakuto as thin as a cicada’s wing materialized in his hand. Its blade was pale and emitted a faint mist.
Despite being beautiful enough to be described as magnificent, all Lukes felt a lethal threat in that instant. They simultaneously understood the blade’s innate characteristic:
Annihilation—indiscriminate destruction of everything it touches, guiding all things toward the end of emptiness.
Bleach Luke caressed Gui Xu’s blade with intoxication. As its master, he was the only one immune to Gui Xu’s effects. The next moment, his face broke into the signature sly grin of the Lukes, and his clear youthful voice erupted into maniacal laughter.
“Hehehe, from today onward, I am the boss of all Lukes. Who agrees? Who opposes?”