Zanpakuto Classifications

A Zanpakuto's shape and ability were built from the Shinigami's own soul.

That was the most basic definition of a Zanpakuto recorded in Shin'o Academy's textbooks.

However, after Akira became a true Shinigami and gained a deeper understanding of Shinigami spiritual bodies through Kaido and medicine, he summarized more patterns regarding Zanpakuto.

On the surface, Soul Society mainly divided Zanpakuto into two broad categories based on their abilities: Kido-type and direct attack-type.

Kido-type Zanpakuto had three subcategories: Hado-type, Bakudo-type, and special creature-type.

Direct attack-type Zanpakuto had two subcategories: direct slash-type and projectile-type.

Retsu Unohana's Zanpakuto, Minazuki, outwardly summoned a strange, one-eyed giant manta. It belonged to the special creature type.

As for Akira's Shinra Bansho, although it had not shown any offensive ability yet, Shin'o Academy had classified it as a special wood-type within the Hado category.

Bakudo-type Zanpakuto tended toward rules, hard control, and interference. Examples included Sosuke Aizen, Thirteenth Division Captain Jushiro Ukitake, and Yumichika Ayasegawa.

Among direct attack-types, the direct slash category was straightforward and thoroughly suited to brutes. Projectile-type Zanpakuto were similar to Senbonzakura and Haineko, abilities that split the blade into various flying weapons.

However, as Akira summarized Zanpakuto categories and combined that knowledge with his memories of Zanpakuto from his previous life, he suddenly realized that beyond those two broad horizontal divisions of ability, there seemed to be a vertical division as well. Namely, the division between Shikai and Bankai.

Enhancement or mutation.

For the vast majority of Zanpakuto abilities, Shikai and Bankai were connected through enhancement. For example, Captain-Commander Yamamoto's Ryujin Jakka had essentially the same nature and essence in Shikai and Bankai. The difference was that its strength underwent a terrifying amplification.

But there were also a small number of Zanpakuto whose Shikai and Bankai seemed almost unrelated at first glance.

For example, the future captain of the Second Division, Soi Fon. Her Zanpakuto, Suzumebachi, was clearly a Bakudo-type within the Kido category in Shikai, possessing the terrifying ability known as two-hit kill. Yet after Bankai, Jakuho Raikoben crossed categories entirely and became a projectile-type within direct attack.

Akira had secretly read a large amount of information on Zanpakuto, but almost none of the written material explained the reason behind this kind of situation.

If a Zanpakuto's ability was fully constructed from the soul at birth, then this kind of apparent deviation should not occur.

That made it unreasonable. And if no one had noticed such a situation across Seireitei's thousand-year history, that was even more suspicious.

The only explanation was that Seireitei had deliberately ignored this piece of common sense for some reason, intending to hide something.

Wait.

Akira frowned, suddenly noticing a small detail from his conversation with Sosuke Aizen.

The first time Aizen asked, his question had been: what method could separate a Zanpakuto from a spiritual body?

The second time he asked, it had become: complete separation, extracting Shinigami power from a normal spiritual body.

In other words, Aizen's judgment was that the true materialized existence of Shinigami power was... the Zanpakuto?

If so, that was enough to support Akira's judgment about Zanpakuto abilities. A Zanpakuto's ability was probably not completely fixed from the beginning. During the process of awakening its ability, the Shinigami's own wishes and will could influence the Zanpakuto, shaping their true Shinigami power.

Yet Akira's frown only grew deeper. He murmured quietly, "Information he revealed by accident? Or a conclusion he intentionally told me? Does he want to guide me into doing something with it, or test something? Sosuke Aizen..."

"If you want to completely separate Shinigami power from a spiritual body, what are you planning to do?"

Thinking to that point, Akira could not help rubbing his temples again. His head felt swollen.

Interacting with a man like Sosuke Aizen, who could easily toy with the entire Soul Society in the palm of his hand, was far too exhausting. Every tiny detail might hide information he had overlooked.

In that moment, Akira suddenly wished his brain could be like Ikkaku Madarame's, simply stuffed full of muscle. Then he would have far fewer worries and anxieties.

'I envy you, Ikkaku...'

Thinking of him, Akira gazed at the night sky outside the office window and could not help missing life at Shin'o Academy.

Back then, everyone had been simple. He could relax, lower his intelligence and thought process to Ikkaku's level, and spend every day cheerfully.

'At this hour, Ikkaku is probably thinking about who to fight tomorrow.'

At the same time, inside the Eleventh Division barracks, Ikkaku Madarame listened to the news Yumichika Ayasegawa had brought back. He stared in disbelief, utterly dumbfounded.

"You... what did you say? Morisawa is in the gynecology department?"

Yumichika nodded. "Yes. I was very surprised when I heard it too. I later contacted someone in the Fourth Division to confirm. The news is true. And in these two months, Morisawa has not treated a single patient."

Ikkaku fought to keep his face straight. Then he slapped the table and burst into loud laughter.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

For a time, Ikkaku's exaggerated laughter echoed through nearly half the Eleventh Division barracks.

Watching Ikkaku roll with laughter in front of him, Yumichika could not help feeling speechless.

"Ikkaku, after experiencing something so ungraceful, Morisawa must be feeling terrible right now. Laughing at him like this is not exactly appropriate."

Ikkaku's face flushed red. He tried to hold the laughter back, only to fail completely.

"S-sorry, but I... hahahaha... I really cannot help it!"

Yumichika pressed a hand to his forehead, at a loss for words.

But as he pictured Akira's normally gentle, calm, handsome face, and imagined him surrounded by a troublesome crowd of women in the future with a bitter expression, Yumichika almost smiled too.

'No... wait. How could I be the kind of shameless person who laughs at a friend? Ikkaku must have infected me.'

Thinking that, Yumichika kicked Ikkaku hard and said, "That is enough. We should think of a way to help Morisawa."

"Right!"

Ikkaku finally managed to sit up again. With a grave and serious expression, he nodded.

"This time, it looks like I will have to personally bring some people to the gynecology department and back him up."

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