Slime Soul (Tensura x Bleach Crossover) (Patreon)

Chapter 27: The War to Come

Looking at Ichigo’s expectant expression along with the confused looks his friends were sending us, I crossed my arms and shook my head.

“It serves you no purpose right now to know that information,” I said seriously.

A scowl formed on his face, but I ignored it and continued.

“Even if I told you everything, you wouldn’t be able to do anything with how weak you are right now.”

Ichigo winced slightly.

“Tsk… that’s what Zangetsu said too,” he admitted reluctantly after a moment.

“See? Even your Zanpakutō agrees with me.” I shrugged. “Now, any other questions?”

“…Umm, we still don’t really know what’s going on,” Orihime said nervously, raising her hand slightly, with Sado nodding beside her.

I turned to Ichigo with a raised brow, only to receive an embarrassed huff as he crossed his arms and looked away.

“I was planning to tell them when we got here,” he muttered.

“Right,” I replied flatly before turning back to the others. “Basically, you’re here to train because some shady people are after Ichigo, Soul Society might be in danger in the future, and our Strawberry here can’t help but get involved.”

They blinked in surprise before turning to Ichigo, who gave a small nod.

“Yeah… the dumbass is telling the truth,” he said with a frown.

“For now, Ichigo will be working on unlocking his Fullbringer powers under Riruka’s guidance, while Nel will train Inoue and Sado,” I continued.

Nelliel nodded happily. “You can count on me~”

“I still don’t get why I need to unlock these so-called Fullbringer powers when I already have my Shinigami ones back,” Ichigo said, crossing his arms.

“Haah… you really are an idiot, aren’t you?” I sighed, ignoring the tick mark on his forehead. “Did you forget that with Fullbringer powers, you can fight in your human body without transforming?”

Ichigo flushed in embarrassment, but I kept going.

“On top of that, it will boost your overall abilities. Now, should I continue, or do you have any more stupid questions?”

“S-Shut up! Let’s just start already!” Ichigo snapped, earning quiet giggles from Orihime and Nelliel.

“Oh, by the way, Ichigo,” I added, suddenly remembering something.

He looked at me curiously.

“Did you bring your Substitute Badge like I told you?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it right here,” he said, pulling it from his pocket.

“Good. Keep it on you. You’ll understand why later,” I said with a nod. “And just so you know, you’re not allowed to transform into a Shinigami until you unlock your Fullbringer.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Ichigo muttered dismissively.

“One more thing,” I added, my tone turning more serious. “I took the liberty of disabling a few… annoying features from your badge. Like the monitoring function, and the one that was subtly restricting your power.”

Ichigo blinked and looked down at the badge in surprise.

“If some of your Shinigami friends ask about it later, just tell them I’m the one responsible for messing with it. Only heaven knows why you’re still loyal to that corrupt organization, but that’s your choice,” I said with a casual shrug.

“…Right,” Ichigo muttered, still clearly processing everything.

The slightly awkward atmosphere was thankfully broken by Riruka.

“Haah, alright, let’s get this over with,” she said as she walked back in, holding a dollhouse in her hands.

“Hah? What are you going to do with a dollhouse of all things?” Ichigo asked, blinking, unknowingly pissing her off.

“Hmph! You should be thanking me for even allowing you inside my dollhouse. I only let cute things in, like Mr. Slime,” Riruka huffed, pouting cutely as she looked away.

Still, she flicked her finger, launching a small pink heart that stuck to Ichigo’s clothes.

“What the heck is—”

“I permit you.”

Before he could finish, Ichigo was suddenly pulled into the dollhouse with a surprised shout.

“Try not to die too quickly in there~” Riruka teased, looking down at the now chibi-sized Ichigo as he scrambled around in confusion.

“D-Did you just shrink me and shove me into your dollhouse!?” he shouted.

“Whoa, a mini-Kurosaki-kun~” Orihime said with sparkling eyes, suddenly appearing beside Riruka and startling her.

“D-Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Riruka snapped, only for her eye to twitch as she realized Orihime wasn’t even listening.

“That’s so cool~ I always wanted to live in a dollhouse when I was little—” Orihime began rambling happily, never tearing her eyes away from an awkward looking Ichigo.

Riruka slowly backed away from her.

Seeing Riruka occupied, I stepped forward and looked down into the dollhouse.

“Since Riruka’s busy, I’ll explain your objective,” I said.

Ichigo snapped out of his confusion and looked up. “Yeah… please do.”

“It’s simple,” I smirked.

He blinked, then turned as he heard something behind him.

One of the dolls—a teddy bear—began to move.

Then it stood up.

Ichigo’s expression shifted instantly.

“What the?”

A second doll joined it—a white rabbit—both towering over him.

“You just need to survive for the next 30 minutes. That’s all,” I finished, grinning.

Then the dolls spoke.

“Uryu! Let me beat you up, old buddy!” came Pesche’s voice from the teddy bear as it lunged forward with a punch.

“It’s Ichigo, damn it! Why are you trying to kill me, Pesche!? And why are you a stupid teddy bear!?” Ichigo yelled, barely dodging.

“Dondochakka Press!” came the voice from the rabbit as it launched itself at him.

“You too!?”

Chuckling in amusement at what was happening, I decided to leave them to it and turned to Sado, who stood beside me staring down at the chaos with unblinking eyes. My gaze then shifted to Orihime, only for me to blink as I found her and Riruka already eating the donuts we had bought earlier.

Or rather, Riruka was trying—and failing—to keep the box away from Orihime, who was using pitiful looks to devastating effect as she looked like a kicked puppy.

“Alright, you two. Your turn,” I said, snapping Sado out of his daze and drawing Orihime’s attention as she turned to me with a donut still in her mouth.

“We’ll be in your care, Nelliel-san,” Sado said calmly, bowing slightly.

“That’s right! Now go away already, you already ate half the donuts I was saving for later!” Riruka complained, shoving Orihime lightly.

Orihime let out a small whimper before nodding reluctantly as she swallowed the rest of her donut.

“Now then, Sado-san, Orihime-san, follow me,” Nelliel said, taking charge as she led them toward a room I had already prepared and expanded earlier.

That left me alone with Riruka, who returned to watching Ichigo’s struggle while continuing to eat donuts.

“Was it wise to keep the Quincy invasion from them?”

A calm voice broke the quiet.

Turning, I saw Tier standing in the kitchen, silently observing everything.

“Yes,” I replied calmly, walking over and accepting the drink she handed me with a small nod before taking a sip. “We don’t want to alert the Quincy that we’re onto them too early.”

“Besides, I wasn’t lying when I said Ichigo is still too weak to make a real difference at this stage, even with his powers restored and no longer held back,” I added, letting out a quiet sigh at the taste.

“…And their invasion of Hueco Mundo? Do you plan to interfere?” Tier asked, her tone neutral, free of judgment.

“Yes. But I’ll be going alone,” I admitted.

A small frown appeared on her face, though she said nothing.

“I have the best chance of remaining undetected.”

After a brief silence, I tilted my head slightly.

“Do you think I’m heartless for not caring what happens to your former home?”

Tier blinked before shaking her head.

“No. I have no ties to Hueco Mundo anymore. The only people I care about are here, and safe, thanks to you.”

She paused, a rare soft smile appearing on her lips as she looked at me.

“I’m also no longer a Hollow… and I have a feeling that will prove true for my subordinates as well in the future. We are your subordinates now and we all agreed to follow your lead. That’s all that matters.”

Her gaze softened slightly.

“The only thing I don’t like about your plan… is that you intend to go alone.”

I blinked at her sincerity before smiling back.

“Thanks for being honest, Tier. I’m honored you feel that way.”

Then I grinned and flexed my hand lightly.

“But you don’t have to worry. I’m a pretty strong guy, you know~”

“That’s an understatement. Caius-sama is the strongest~” Astra chimed in cheerfully from the back of my mind.

I blinked in surprise, she had been unusually quiet the past few days which probably meant she was up to something.

Her silence afterward only confirmed my words.

“Fufufu… yes, how could I forget?” Tier let out a soft, almost girlish laugh before quickly composing herself, coughing lightly into her fist.

“Would you like to spar?” she asked, clearly changing the subject. “Watching everyone else train has made me a little restless.”

Smiling at her rare display, I nodded.

“Of course.”

With that we headed off into our own isolated area passing Starrk’s room who was watching some kind of drama with Lilynette.

=====

Several Months Later

In what felt like no time at all, five months had passed since we arrived in Karakura Town and began training Ichigo and his friends.

Ichigo, being the freak of nature that he was, only took a few days to fully awaken and master his Fullbring to an acceptable level before I shifted focus to his other abilities.

Almost every day, I would beat him down thoroughly, heal him, and do it all over again until he passed out from exhaustion, then repeat the process the next day.

With his absurd learning curve, the bastard grew stronger at a ridiculous pace. At this point, he was at least four times stronger than he had been during the war with Aizen, excluding his Dangai training, of course.

As he was now, I was confident he could match most Shinigami, barring true monsters like the Head Captain or Ichibe.

As for Orihime and Sado, they had also grown much stronger and refined their abilities significantly. However, being human—even empowered ones—their growth couldn’t match Ichigo’s explosive pace.

Still, I could say with some confidence that they were stronger than they would have been during the upcoming Quincy War… though that was more of a theory from Astra and me.

Uryu, after learning what was going on, joined us occasionally, but far less frequently than the others, preferring to train on his own. I figured that was for the best.

With him set to play the role of traitor in the future, it was in everyone’s best interest that he knew as little as possible about the others’ growth, especially Ichigo’s. It was funny seeing the face he made when he learned that Ichigo was part Quincy though.

That guy had the best reactions second only to Ichigo.

Though, I did take the opportunity to fully analyze him, strengthening the Quincy abilities I had already gained from Ichigo.

With only a month left before Xcution made their move, I figured it was time to come clean with Ichigo, and for us to finally leave this place. We had lingered in Karakura long enough.

I had no intention of interfering with the Fullbringers’ plan unless absolutely necessary. At most, I would appear at the end to devour Ginjo and Tsukishima once everything was over.

As I had told Tier before, I would be heading to Hueco Mundo to investigate the situation there, and hopefully get my hands on Quilge Opie.

I had no desire to stop the coming Quincy war. After all, if everything went according to plan, that would be the best opportunity to get my hands on a bunch of new abilities.

Slapping away a Getsuga Tenshō casually, I refocused on the present, on my final spar with Ichigo.

“Tsk, I can’t believe that after all this time, I still can’t make you take this seriously.” Ichigo scowled, resting one of his Zanpakutō on his shoulder while keeping the other at his side. “Just how strong are you, damn it!?”

With his powers no longer restrained, Ichigo now wielded his true Shikai, a dual Zanpakutō, one longer than the other.

As for his outfit, thanks to his Fullbring, he now wore something similar to what he would later don during the Quincy War after training with the Zero Squad. Of course, this version was mostly for show, being nowhere near as resilient as the garments made by Senjumaru Shutara.

“Strong enough,” I replied simply before casually storing my weapon, now evolved into a Legend-grade blade, back into my Imaginary Space.

Ichigo blinked.

“Alright, I think that’s enough training,” I continued, brushing off my clothes for show, despite being perfectly clean.

“Hah? We’re done already?” Ichigo asked, confused, though he still relaxed his stance. Normally, our spars only ended when he was unconscious and half-dead.

“Yeah. With your progress these past few months, I’m confident you won’t roll over like a dog when what’s coming arrives.” My tone turned serious. “It’s time I came clean about the Quincy King, and the war that’s coming.”

“…War?” Ichigo repeated, eyes widening.

“Not here,” I said, shaking my head. With a snap of my fingers, the barrier dissolved, returning the room to normal. “Let’s head to the veranda like last time. You’re going to want to sit down for this.”

I turned and walked out, Ichigo following behind me in stunned silence.

A few minutes later, after grabbing drinks and snacks from the kitchen, we settled outside.

“Spit it out already!” Ichigo snapped, clearly on edge as he watched me casually pour myself a drink. “You can’t just drop something like that and expect me to stay calm!”

“Calm your tits, dumbass,” I replied, rolling my eyes not bothered at all. “As if this is the first time Soul Society’s been threatened. I told you before, they’ve made plenty of enemies in the past.”

“Yes, but this time you actually trained me,” Ichigo shot back immediately. “Which tells me that this situation isn’t like the others!”

I blinked, then looked at him with mild surprise.

“Whoa… you’re actually using your head for once. This really is the end times.” I muttered with genuine awe in my voice.

“Tsk, just say it already!” Ichigo scowled, a faint blush of embarrassment on his face.

“Wahaha, fine, fine.” I waved him off before taking one last sip of my drink. Then my expression shifted as I leaned back.

“Let’s start with this. The Quincy King—Yhwach—is the first Quincy. All Quincies originate from him.”

Ichigo straightened slightly, fully focused.

“There’s also the fact that he’s the son of the Soul King… and he possesses an ability so absurd that no one in Soul Society stands a chance against him. Not even the Royal Guard.”

Ichigo froze at the scenario I was painting for him.

“And he doesn’t come alone,” I added lightly. “He commands an entire army of Quincies, including an elite force that rivals—or surpasses—the current Captains. And they outnumber them two to one.”

I took another sip, as if I hadn’t just dropped something catastrophic.

‘Be glad that I like you Ichigo, otherwise I would have kept this to myself and just watched the massacre that would have occurred.’

“…S-So that’s why you told me there was no point in learning about it beforehand.” Ichigo muttered, dread creeping into his voice as he looked down at his lap for a moment before meeting my gaze again with clear apprehension.

“Caius… tell it to me straight. As I am right now, do I stand a chance against him?” he asked seriously.

“No,” I replied immediately.

Ichigo flinched slightly, but I continued.

“His ability is just that absurd. He can see all possible futures… and choose the one most convenient for him.” I explained briefly, causing Ichigo’s eyes to widen in shock.

“T-That sounds insane!” he stuttered, his voice hoarse.

“Quite,” I nodded before a small smirk tugged at my lips. “So? Going to ask me for help?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ichigo blinked in confusion at the question, then fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.

“No. You’ve made your stance on Soul Society clear from day one… and I can’t keep relying on you for everything.”

I raised an eyebrow, genuinely a bit impressed.

“Well, what do you know. Seems you matured a bit. Only a bit though.”

“Whatever,” Ichigo scoffed, scowling. “You always have to ruin the moment with a stupid joke.”

“Wahaha, of course I do. I’m only nice to pretty girls, you know?” I shot back with a grin, earning an even deeper glare from him.

A brief silence settled between us as I took another sip of my drink.

“…I’ll help.”

Ichigo blinked, clearly not processing my words at first before snapping his head toward me.

“W-What?”

“I said I’ll help,” I repeated calmly, meeting his eyes. “I’ll kill Yhwach.”

I leaned back slightly, my expression turning serious.

“Just understand this, I won’t go out of my way to help the Shinigami. And if any of them come at me…” I paused briefly.

“I will respond with lethal force.”