Marrying Unohana Retsu from Bleach

"Boom!"

One deafening explosion after another echoed continuously in the woods of Rukongai's East District 37, 'Ryugon.'

The thunderous sounds persisted for two entire days, finally ceasing abruptly on the morning of the third day.

As the booming noise subsided, a Shinigami from the Gotei 13 hurried to the site, zanpakutō in hand, to investigate.

Upon witnessing the devastating scene in the Ryugon area of East District 37, the Shinigami felt a chilling sensation surge through him and couldn't help but exclaim:

"Damn it, did this place suffer some kind of natural disaster? What on earth happened here to turn the entire forest into such a ruinous state?"

What was once a neatly arranged forest had vanished without a trace. Trees lay scattered across the ground like harvested wheat, and the land was pocked with countless craters as if hammered repeatedly by unrelenting lightning strikes.

The Shinigami had never seen such a terrifying sight. Even the routine sparring matches between the captains of the Gotei 13 didn't wreak such apocalyptic destruction on an entire area of Rukongai.

"Sigh…"

"How am I even supposed to report this to my superiors?"

"Should I tell the captain that East District 37 of Rukongai was struck by a massive and inexplicable lightning storm?"

"The captain isn't exactly someone who's easy to fool."

As he surveyed the vast wasteland of scorched earth before him, the Shinigami sighed helplessly.

There was some good news and some bad news.

The good news was that he hadn't encountered anything that posed a direct threat to the lives of Gotei 13 members, meaning the area wasn't currently dangerous.

The bad news was that he had no way of providing a reasonable explanation for this scene of devastation, which looked as though it had been ravaged by Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka.

He couldn't very well report, "It seems the Captain-Commander lost his temper in Ryugon," unless he wanted to lose his own head.

This left him in quite a bind as to how he should write his report.

"What do I do now?"

The young Shinigami wrestled with the dilemma, staring at the scene before him.

"Huh?"

Just as he was mulling over how to finish his investigation report, a dark silhouette deeper within the forest caught his attention.

"Buzz!"

Without hesitation, the Shinigami employed shunpo, darting toward the shadowy figure.

"…"

Within the forest, a young boy dressed in patched, ragged clothing stole wary glances toward the direction of the approaching Shinigami.

Just when the boy thought he'd been careful enough to avoid detection, the Shinigami vanished from his view in the blink of an eye.

"What?!"

The boy froze in shock, alarm bells ringing in his mind.

"Hey, kid, what are you looking for?"

The boy barely had time to react before a cold voice spoke from behind him.

"Ah!"

Cold sweat drenched the boy as a wave of terror shot through him from head to toe.

"I—I'm sorry! I didn't mean to spy on you."

"I was just gathering wild vegetables to stave off hunger, and I happened to notice you. I only glanced at you; I swear I meant no harm! Please don't kill me."

The boy swiftly turned around, adopting a submissive, prostrate posture as he pleaded earnestly with the figure behind him.

It didn't take much thought for him to realize he had been caught by a Shinigami. Avoiding detection by such an expert was still too much for a boy of his age.

"Get up! I'm not some Hollow—you don't need to fear me so much."

The Shinigami sighed as he looked at the boy's painfully practiced apologetic stance. The world was truly merciless to the residents of Rukongai, especially young souls like this boy.

"Please don't kill me."

But the boy remained tense, continually begging for mercy.

"You troublesome little brat."

"If you say you came here to gather wild vegetables, then you must know this area well, right?"

"Tell me what you think happened to this land, which looks like it's been ravaged by a natural disaster."

The Shinigami lifted the prostrate boy off the ground and questioned him about the ruined landscape behind them.

"Um…"

The boy hesitated, a hint of doubt flickering in his eyes. He clearly knew something but was debating whether to speak.

"You want to live, don't you?"

The Shinigami's calm statement was enough to make the boy spill everything.

"You may not believe me, Shinigami-sama, but I saw it with my own eyes."

"It was a man—a man wielding a zanpakutō. Bathed in a radiant, glass-like glow, he destroyed the entire forest."

The boy spoke hurriedly, recounting everything he knew.

"What?!"

"Was someone training for bankai here?"

"Looks like they succeeded."

"Honestly, training for bankai without informing the other divisions—it's caused me quite a mess."

The Shinigami's eyes glimmered with envy. Bankai, the pinnacle of a Shinigami's zanpakutō abilities, was a rare and powerful achievement mastered by few even within the Gotei 13.

"So, do you know where that lucky person went after successfully training for bankai?"

Although the Shinigami suspected the man was from the Gotei 13, he still asked the boy for details.

"Oh, that white-robed man walked in that direction."

The boy pointed toward Seireitei.

"Hmm, as expected, he headed to Seireitei."

"Wait—you said he was wearing what?"

The Shinigami's expression shifted as he processed the boy's words.

"A white robe."

The boy thought for a moment before answering honestly.

"A white robe? Not a shihakushō?"

"Damn it, could that guy not even be part of the Gotei 13?"

The Shinigami muttered, realizing the gravity of the situation.

"Thank you. Take this money and buy yourself some food."

He tossed a few luminous coins to the boy and immediately sped off toward Seireitei using shunpo.

"I hope my hunch is wrong. And I hope I'm not too late."

The Shinigami thought silently as he raced onward.

In the blink of an eye, the forest was silent again, leaving the boy holding the coins.

"Thank you for your generosity."

The boy bowed deeply in the direction of the Shinigami, sincerely grateful.

—

Elsewhere…

Standing just outside the grand "fortress" of Seireitei, home to the Gotei 13 and the ancient noble families of Soul Society, a man with a zanpakutō gazed at the glowing sun in the sky.

He murmured softly, "What a fine day it is today."

With that, his figure vanished into the air.

=============

"Enjoying the story? Support my work and get early access to advanced chapters on my Patreon! Your support means the world and helps keep the translations coming. We are about to reach the Quincies arc there.

Check it out at: patreon.com/Reborn_noob