Tōma had lost track of ti.
By the point he noticed, he and Starrk had already crossed an absurd distance in the endless desert. With their physical abilities, that distance would have been unthinkable for anyone else.
Even so, Tōma had deliberately slowed down.
Before eting Starrk, he had traveled almost exclusively using high-speed movent. Starrk, however, couldn’t replicate that technique.
Instead, he used sothing else.
Sonído.
The first ti Tōma saw Starrk use it, his eyes had lit up.
From the outside, Sonído looked similar to high-speed movent. A sudden disappearance. Instant relocation. But the mont Starrk activated it, his presence vanished from Tōma’s perception entirely, if only for an instant.
That alone made it fundantally different.
Tōma’s movent relied on explosive chakra control through the legs, similar in nature to short-range burst movent. Sonído, however, felt closer to slipping between beats of perception itself.
For a mont, Tōma had even wondered if it resembled true spatial displacent.
But after observing it closely, he dismissed the idea.
At full effort, Starrk’s Sonído was still slower than Tōma’s own movent.
If it were genuine space transfer, that shouldn’t have been possible.
In the end, Sonído proved to be a highly refined movent technique, one that erased the process of motion rather than bypassing space itself. It avoided detection and felt almost like teleportation, but it wasn’t true spatial movent.
"...Sha," Tōma muttered once he understood it.
A markless, instant teleport would have been terrifying.
Still, Sonído had its limits. Starrk couldn’t maintain it continuously, while Tōma could chain his movent without pause. That difference alone made it unsuitable for long-distance travel.
And with Tōma spending part of the journey teaching Starrk how to restrain and shape his power, their pace slowed even further.
Even so, objectively speaking, they were still moving far faster than any vehicle ever could.
Yet despite all that, they found very few intelligent Hollows.
Starrk’s progress wasn’t bad. Gillian-class Hollows could now approach him without instantly disintegrating. Unfortunately, most Gillians were creatures of instinct, not reason. When they encountered Tōma and Starrk, they didn’t flee or negotiate.
They attacked.
Which left Starrk no choice but to kill them, disappointnt following each ti.
"Tōma," Starrk said one day, breaking the silence. "You should probably head back. I’ve searched for centuries and only found you. Maybe beings like us are just too rare."
"Let’s wait a little longer," Tōma replied.
"...Alright."
Starrk nodded, already forming another plan in his mind. If Tōma left first, Starrk could continue training until he fully mastered his power, then follow him later.
It wouldn’t be easy.
But he believed he could do it.
Eventually, Tōma checked the ti as best he could and exhaled softly. "Starrk. I need to return for now."
"You should," Starrk said calmly. "I knew you wouldn’t stay forever."
"When I’m gone, keep searching," Tōma continued. "Don’t suppress your presence. When I return, I’ll find you by following it."
Starrk froze. "...You’re coming back?"
"Of course. I already promised soone I’d return. If I don’t, she’ll have a hard ti covering for ."
Starrk hesitated. "You don’t need to do this. I didn’t help you that much. Once I finish my training, I can go find you myself."
"That would be difficult," Tōma replied. "If you show up here, the shinobi forces will notice you imdiately. You can’t ignore them yet."
"...Then what about the living world?"
Tōma thought briefly. "Maybe. Depends on who you run into."
He thought of a certain shop owner and smirked faintly.
Starrk relaxed, nodding. At least his plan was still possible.
"Keep looking," Tōma said. "There should be at least ten Hollows in this realm capable of withstanding your presence."
"...That many?" Starrk blinked. "Then why didn’t I et even one?"
Tōma shrugged. "Bad luck. Or maybe this place is just that big."
Starrk’s eyes lit up with real hope.
If he could search for centuries without knowing such companions existed, then knowing they were out there made all the difference.
"I’ll be going now," Tōma said.
He summoned Moon Sprite, opened a spatial passage directly to his courtyard, and stepped through.
Starrk stared at the fading black distortion in awe. "...That’s impressive."
Shaking himself free of distraction, Starrk continued forward. Ahead, pale shapes rose among endless thickets of bone-white terrain.
Tōma returned to his courtyard and imdiately headed for Unohana’s residence.
"You’re back?" Unohana said, surprised. "You were gone longer than expected."
"It’s always night over there," Tōma replied. "Hard to keep track of ti."
"And the results?"
"Very good," he said, smiling.
She studied him, then asked, "You’re going back again?"
"Yes. And after that... probably the living world."
"You really can’t just stay here, can you?" she said helplessly.
"That’s where my next step is," Tōma replied honestly.
Unohana finally understood. Nothing short of force would stop him.
"What will you do now?" she asked. "Make an appearance so people know you’re still around?"
"No," Tōma said, grinning. "I’m going to see Zaraki."
That answer fit him perfectly.
"Fair enough," Unohana agreed. "That’s exactly what you’d do."
After all, if anyone embodied his reputation, it was those two.
"I’m heading to the Eleventh Division," Tōma said.
She nodded and watched him leave, unease lingering in her eyes. If the higher authorities ever pushed too far again, she wasn’t sure where Tōma would stand.
Or whether anyone could stop him.
At the Eleventh Division, no one tried to block him.
Tōma found Zaraki almost imdiately.
"Tōma! You’re back!" Zaraki roared, eyes blazing as his limiters detonated again.
Nearby, Yumichika pressed a hand to his forehead, utterly defeated by the situation.
"Tōma, are you here to fight Ken-chan again?" Yachiru asked cheerfully from Zaraki’s shoulder.
"Obviously," Tōma replied. "I don’t co here for tea."
"Hahaha! That’s how it should be!" Zaraki laughed. "Let’s go!"
Zaraki strode off imdiately.
"...You’re going the wrong way," Tōma said flatly.
Zaraki scratched his head. "Pretty sure this was the way last ti."
After a long pause, Tōma sighed. "...I’ll lead."
"Works for ."
And just like that, another battle was about to begin.
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