GODDESS OF ICE: CORRUPTING BLEACH - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Information Gathering








Chapter 2: Information Gathering

Inside a small room, two young children were sitting opposite of each other with their eyes closed and in a crossed-legged position, making it look like they were meditating.

They held this position for a few minutes longer before they opened their eyes simultaneously and sighed in frustration.

"Yeah, this isn't working out at all, nee-san."

"Yup, not at all. It's laughable how thin the Nature Energy in this place is, making cultivation beyond frustrating."

Cultivation is the act of absorbing the energy naturally produced by the world itself and making it your own. In Yuna's previous life, she lived in Konoha, a city surrounded by forests, offering her plenty of Natural Energy to cultivate. Well, she usually went to the world's highest mountain to cultivate as she was more aligned with ice than the forest, but that is beside the point.

Currently, Yuna and Naruto were located smack in the middle of the city. A snowstorm is part of nature, and so is a forest, but a concrete city is unfortunately not. There was so little Natural Energy in the air, that it was even enough for one person to use.

Well, both of them were at an age where an average child shouldn't cultivate yet, so they weren't precisely wasting their potential, but it was still a little annoying that they could only advance at a snail's crawl.

"Haa~ How frustrating. We really need to move somewhere else as soon as we can."

Naruto could only smile wryly when he heard that. In their previous life, Yuna managed to finesse them into a new home despite only being three years old, but the circumstances were completely different this time. It all boiled down to one thing:

"Haa~ I miss the [Henge-no-Jutsu]~"

Yes, in their previous life, a convenient technique could transform them into another person. Unfortunately, that technique was fueled by chakra, a energy that didn't exist here.

"Any advancement on figuring out a working rune language, Naruto?"

In Yuna's first life, there was a technique to draw runes to get the desired effect. There was basically no limit to what could be done, making it an incredibly versatile craft. In her second life, those runes were called seals instead. Despite using different words and symbols, the effects that could be produced were pretty much on the same scale.

So, Naruto had spent a lot of time experimenting with different techniques to determine if this world had a similar system and, if it had, how it worked. However, when Naruto heard Yuna's question, he could only smile wryly.

"It going slow. Very slow. The fact that I barely have any energy to experiment isn't helping this matter either. Have you figured anything out, nee-san?"

While Naruto was experimenting centered around runes, Yuna was researching something else. In her first life, there were three different types of energy: Physical, spiritual, and natural. These three energies could be used separately and couldn't be combined. Obviously, attacks could be used that needed more than one type, but the different energy types would never mix together and form something else.

In her second life, it was the exact opposite. Physical and Spiritual Energy formed chakra, and after bringing Natural Energy into the mix, it became sage chakra.

So, Yuna was experimenting with what could be mixed and what ratio she should use while combining the different energies. The problem with that was that the whole thing was a very delicate process, as certain combinations might damage her body if she wasn't careful. In conclusion, she had to tread very carefully. Despite that, a smirk appeared on her face when Naruto asked that question.

"Yup, I figured something out."

Naruto's eyes widened when he heard that, and a broad smile appeared on his face. Now that they have taken the first step in the right direction, his own research should be getting more manageable as well.

"Quickly, tell me, nee-san."

Yuna nodded her head and started concentrating. The familiar feeling of entering her mindscape overcame her, but she gave it a jank just before she entered it. Naruto staggered backward as a second Yuna suddenly fell out of the first one, baffling him greatly.

He was just about to ask what was happening when he noticed that the two Yuna's were connected by a chain. Naruto squinted his eyes when he saw that while simultaneously thinking that something felt wrong.

Moments later, one of the two Yuna's started swaying slightly, but she managed to stabilize herself quickly.

"Urg, a human body. I'm not a fan."

Although she was still talking with her original voice, there was something slightly off about how she spoke. Naruto squinted his eyes at her, and moments later, he realized what was happening.

"Kurama?"

Before the first Yuna could answer, the second one started speaking.

"Yeah, but that is just a side effect of me pulling the soul out of my physical body. Since my body is empty anyway, Kurama can temporarily control it."

Naruto couldn't help but be dumbfounded by that. First of all, he had seen souls before, and Yuna looked nothing like one. She was fully visible, and there was no transparency to her. Additionally, that chain connecting her soul and body was something Naruto had never seen either. Additionally, he and Yuna had given Kurama control over their body before, but that would always result in their facial features getting slightly more feral. However, although Kurama controlled it, Yuna's first body still looked completely normal.

Although Yuna noticed Naruto's confusion, she continued her explanation for now.

"Anyway, that is of no importance right now. The important thing is this here."

She lifted up the chain connecting her soul and physical body as she said those words.

"I'm not exactly sure about the meaning yet, but this thing is in the way. A soul should not be physically shackled to its body. Frankly, I would like to cut this chain forcefully, but that is too risky right now."

Naruto pondered Yuna's words, and after thinking about them for a short while, he nodded his head in understanding. Cutting something off your body without understanding the consequences certainly wasn't a good idea, so there were only two choices left.

"We either need to find someone who knows the outcome, or we have to do some... experimenting."

As he said those words, a cold glint passed through his eyes. Yuna saw the cold glint in her brother's eyes and couldn't help but smirk.

"Yup, sooner or later, it's time for a little criminal hunt. Surely, there will be a few murders and rapists around that are very willing to help us without experiments."

Although Yuna was not a big fan of human experiments, she was willing to go through with them if it was done to confirmed criminals. One might say that she was fine with it if it was for the greater good.

While Yuna and Naruto were plotting to do some human experiments, the door opened, and a kind-looking old lady entered the room. Naturally, she couldn't see souls, so she didn't notice the presence of the second Yuna.

"Children, dinner is ready."

Naruto's face immediately shifted into a bright smile as his deep blue eyes shone with innocence.

"Okay, nee-san and I are coming~"

The older woman held her chest due to the cuteness overload before she managed to reign her emotions in and nodded her head.

"Good, don't forget to wash your hands."

"Okay~"

After Naruto answered her, the woman quickly left the room, fearing that she might actually get a heart attack due to Naruto's cuteness. Meanwhile, Yuna couldn't help but look at him with some doubt.

"How in the world do you still manage to pull off an innocent face like that?"

A cheeky grin appeared on Naruto's face as he gave Yuna a smug look.

"I'm a natural."

To that answer, Yuna could only roll her eyes. In fact, she didn't even deny Naruto's claim as he genuinely seemed to be capable of pulling off an innocent smile at any point in time.

Another three years passed peacefully, but despite that, Yuna couldn't help but be dissatisfied with the current situation. The fact that her cultivation speed could at best be described as crawling aside, even physical exercise was out of the question due to lack of nutrition. Although all the children in the orphanage were fed properly, they certainly weren't given enough food to support someone exercising. Especially the protein department was thoroughly lacking to support such an endeavor. Therefore, Yuna had decided to become more active.

It was a few minutes before midnight, and Yuna was currently dressed in black trousers, a black shirt, and a hoody to blend into the night better. Naruto saw her current outfit and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

"What do you plan to do, nee-san?"

"Just robbing a bunch of people."

"Okay, good luck and have fun. Oh, and bring me some ramen while you are at it."

Although ramen was occasionally served in the orphanage, the measly amount naturally couldn't satisfy and Uzumaki's stomach. Well, technically, Naruto was no longer an Uzumaki, but Yuna and he coincidently had the same names as they had in their previous lives. Truly a fascinating coincidence. It is as if someone did so so that things wouldn't become confusing as hell.

In fact, if the other Yuna and this one met, they would no longer be considered the same entity. Usually, if they traveled through one of the previously mentioned portals, they would make a split body and send it to explore a different world. However, things turned out slightly different this time due to Truck-kun's intervention. The split bodies were already dead, while the soul fragments of the bodies were forcefully reincarnated, granting them a new life.

Anyway, as for Yuna casually mentioning that she would go and rob people, he couldn't care less.

Moments later, Yuna was ready to go, opened the window, and jumped out of the second floor towards the ground. Although her cultivation speed might be laughably low, little cultivation was still better than none, so she could easily tank such a fall without receiving any damage.

She landed on the ground with her right fist and right knee strongly impacting the ground, leaving a small dent. A slight smirk appeared on her face as she stood up, her right knee wobbling like crazy.

'Super Hero Landing.'

[Your knee is shaking.]

'That's from excitement due to finally being able to stretch my legs.'

[Sure, tell me more about that as soon as you can walk normally again.]

'F*ck me, it was on grass this time, so I thought it wouldn't be so bad.'

Anyway, an orphanage wasn't exactly a high-security prison, so Yuna could simply walk away from the building without any trouble. Obviously, someone as short as her would stand out during the night, but Yuna had no problems stalking through the shadows without anyone noticing. She might be a high-profile person that enjoys chaotic situations, but just because she didn't usually use stealth didn't mean she couldn't.

While she was stealthily moving through the city in search of her first target, she noticed someone rather peculiar.

'Is he cosplaying?'

She noticed an average-looking young man wearing a black kimono and white clothes underneath it with a thin sword strapped to his side. The man was occasionally looking at his phone while clearly searching for something in the vicinity. While Yuna was observing him, she noticed something rather strange about the man's constitution.

'That guy is only a soul. Did he get rid of his physical body and the chain connecting it to his soul, or are there other circumstances?'

While Yuna was observing the man, a frown appeared on her face as she noticed a presence looking in on her.

'I wonder how whatever had found me did it? I'm rather confident in my stealth.'

Moments later, Yuna found out what had found her. It was a weird-looking white creature whose body resembled a twisted version of a furless cat. In addition to that, the creature wore a black and white mask and had a huge hole in the middle of its chest.

"Your Spiritual Power smells delicious, little girl. Let me eat you."

"Yes, mister police officer, the suspicious person is over here~"

'Well, jokes aside, what is Spiritual Power and where did this monster suddenly pop up from? Well, Spiritual Power sounds like it has something to do with the soul, but do souls even smell like something? As far as I know, they don't. Additionally, how come this thing can speak? It doesn't look like something capable of speech.'

[You can ask however many questions you want, but we both know that neither of us can answer them.]

'True, I guess. Well, I wonder if I should fight it or run? This guy reeks of small fry, but I'm not exactly at my peak.'

Before she could make a decision, the man Yuna had previously observed stepped between her and the weird creature.

"I finally found you, you damn Hollow."

Seeing someone else appearing in front of it, the Hollow clicked its tongue in annoyance.

"A Shinigami, huh? I was hoping I could enjoy my meal before one of your kind shows up."

'Hollow and Shinigami, huh? Guess that's the first piece of proper information we got about this mess. Shinigami, humans in soul form, fight Hollows, weird unknown creatures.'

[Can't really do much with that, can we?]

'True, but it's better than nothing. Now we at least know that some form of supernatural fighting is taking place.'

While Yuna and Kurama were casually talking with each other, the Hollow was considering whether to run or fight. After all, Shinigami were trained to kill Hollow and posed great danger to them. On the other hand, the Hollow had eaten a Shinigami before, and it was the most delicious meal it ever had. That, and the fact that another delicious meal would follow after the Shinigami, tipped over the scales and made the Hollow attack the Shinigami resulting in a fight.

The fight itself was... not very interesting. The Shinigami was clearly trained in swordsmanship, but it was painfully evident that he wasn't used to fighting opponents that wanted to kill him. The Hollow, however, had no problem fighting to the death but lagged proper technique. It was pretty much attacking like a wild animal.

'Maybe. I don't know how Seireitei will react to a dead Shinigami. I could probably blame his death on the Hollow he previously killed, but I don't know what kind of investigation methods they have. For now, I've decided to take the less stabby approach. No need to make them my enemy from the word go. I can do that later.'

[As expected, so you will make them your enemy.]

'Mah, we'll see about that. Since Hollows are already pretty much guaranteed enemies, the Shinigami might be useful tools... *cough*... allies.'

[Right. Anyway, where the hell did you get that cake from?]

'A good cakeomancer is never out of cake.'

[What the hell is a cakeomancer?]

'It's the job name I just came up with.'

[DING! Due to extremely shameless behavior, a new job was unlocked: cakeomancer. Would you like to change your job?]

'No need to change. As a reincarnator, I naturally can equip two jobs: cakeomancer and sexomancer.'

[Seriously, I think I asked this before, but what happened to the ice?]

'Mah, minor details. Besides that, that guy's sword felt somewhat weird. It was like something was missing. It felt incomplete.'

[Oh? What was missing?]

'Not sure, but that sword definitely wasn't something simple. I wonder if all Shinigami swords are like that?'

Meanwhile, back in the dark alley, the Shinigami was still a little dazed due to what had just happened. He could already see his life flash before his eyes, but before he could do anything, a cake smacked into his eyes while his captor simply walked away.

"D-Did that guy just throw a cake into my face? Why? What is going on?"

Moments later, he managed to regain his wit and shook his head with a mirthful smile on his face.

"I have no idea what just happened, but I survived, which is all I need for now. Guess I'll go back to Seireitei for now and make a repo..."

Before he could finish speaking, he paused as he just made a rather awkward realization.

"S-Should I report that he threw a cake in my face or not? Oh well, I'll just do it."

A while later, the Shinigami stabbed his sword into the air and twisted it around as if it was a key, resulting in a big door opening in front of him, which swiftly opened, allowing a small black and purple butterfly to fly out of it. This was a Hell Butterfly, and it was the Shinigami's guide back to Seireitei.

Moments later, he appeared at one of the designated arrival places and immediately moved toward his division. The Eighth Division. He quickly found his superior: Nanao Ise, A young woman with frameless glasses, black hair, and the standard Shinigami uniform. She was the Lieutenant of the Eighth Division. After finishing his report, he could only scratch his head with an awkward expression due to how Nanao looked at him.

"Are you... drunk?"

"WHAT!? NO! I swear everything I just said is true!"

She squinted her eyes as she looked at him with suspicion, but moments later, she sighed deeply.

"This story is too weird for me to judge correctly. Let's report this to Captain Shunsui for now. He will be able to evaluate this better."

Despite already having expected this, the male Shinigami couldn't help but gulp when he heard that Captain Shunsui would have to get involved.

Moments later, the duo reached the captain's room, and Nanao walked straight in without bothering to knock.

Inside the room, a tall Shinigami with grey eyes and long wavy brown hair was leisurely sprawled on the ground with a bottle of sake next to him on a small desk. His hair is tied in a long ponytail, and he has long bangs that frame the left side of his face. He wears a Sugegasa straw hat and a pink, flowered lady's kimono, which he drapes across his shoulders and over his captain's uniform. As soon as he noticed Nanao enter, a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

"Ohh, is it isn't my cute, cute Nanao-chan~ What can I do for you~"

An annoyed scowl appeared on Nanao's face, and she was just about to rant about Shunsui's lax attitude when she reminded herself why she was here.

"We don't have time for your antics Captain Shunsui. I have just gotten a rather interesting report."

"As she said that, she pointed at the nervous Shinigami behind her, who quickly started retelling what had happened to him.

After he finished speaking, Shunsui took a sip from his bottle and sighed deeply.

"I know I'm not exactly a good example, but you shouldn't drink while you are working. Especially not when you might have to fight something."

"Captain, I swear that is exactly what happened and that I'm not drunk. I'm fully aware of how ridiculous the situation is, but I reported it anyway because it's the truth."

Shunsui stroked his beard as he observed the young Shinigami in front of him with curiosity. After seeing no deceit or confusion on his face, he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Very well, I will send someone to investigate the situation. Since that person could knock you out so easily and possed considerable amounts of killing intent, I'll have to send the Third Seat at least."

After giving out his orders and dismissing the duo, Shunsui took another sip of alcohol while pondering the situation. He allowed his body to fall back on the floor and sighed while being deeply confused about the report he had just heard.

"Why cake?"

Unfortunately, most Shinigami were busy with their official duties, and this case was far from important enough to warrant a quick investigation, so it would take a long time before Shunsui could actually send someone to investigate whatever happened.

Anyway, Yuna was currently stalking through the night, looking for her first victim. First, she was stalking a weird-looking man with green hair and three swords strapped to his side. He constantly ran in circles while complaining about how everyone got lost again.

'Why does he have three swords? Is he using one of them with his mouth?'

[Yeah, sure. That would be beyond silly.]

'Didn't that Killer B guy do the same?'

[Yeah, but he was a complete weirdo.]

Yuna nodded her head in agreement and decided to search for another target. This guy was clearly used to combat, and she would instead not test the limits of her six-year-old body.

A few minutes later, she finally found the jackpot. Six people, three men and three women, were galvanizing through the streets. While the three men wore expansive-looking clothes and quite a few accessories, the women wore very little and were clinging to the men.

'Perfect, a group of three modern-day young masters ripe for the picking.'

She stealthily approached the group from behind while making sure to stay in the shadows. Frankly, she didn't even need to use much stealth due to the group of six being rather loud, but she preferred caution.

Then, after making sure that there were no cameras in the vicinity, she approached the first man, and after a quick scan, she easily located the position of his wallet. She timed the theft perfectly with the woman by his side touching him and easily pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

Yuna quickly approached the other two and did the same with them. Then, after taking out around half the money they had, she swiftly put the wallets back into their pockets and vanished into the night.

[Why not just take the whole thing?]

'They are drunk, so when they notice that they have less money left than they expected, they will simply assume that it is due to their drunkness and not because someone stole some of it. People like that care very little about money. I highly doubt they would assume someone stole from them and that that someone somehow managed to do so while giving them their wallets back.'

A few more weeks passed, and the caretakers of Yuna and Naruto's orphanage were in an excellent mood. None of them knew exactly why it happened, but over the course of the last few weeks, someone had frequently been donating a lot of money to the orphanage, making life significantly more relaxed while allowing for better meals. Inside one of the many rooms, two young children were seated opposite of each other and appeared to be in deep concentration. Naturally, these children were Yuna and Naruto.

Moments later, they opened their eyes simultaneously and pointed their fingers at each while consciously moving their Spiritual Power. A small light beam shot out of Yuna's finger towards Naruto, causing him to click his tongue as he changed his hand gesture. Now, the palm of his hands was pointing at Yuna, or rather, at the tiny light beam flying towards him.

Just before the beam could get in contact with his palm, a small yellow energy layer covered his palm and blocked the attack.

Yuna and Naruto both nodded in satisfaction when they saw what had happened. They had been training to utilize their Spiritual Power for a few weeks, and by now, they were getting the hang of it. Well, they could only use light beams that stung a little and a shield barely strong enough to block those light beams, but it was a good start.

"Well, slowly but surely, we're getting the hang of it, Naruto."

"Yeah, I think as soon as we get more used to controlling our Spiritual Power, we will rapidly increase what we can do."

Yuna was just about to continue training when she noticed someone approaching their door. Moments later, the door was opened, revealing a kind-looking woman with brown hair and eyes.

"Are you two ready to go? If you wait any longer, you will be late for your first day of school."

Right, today was Yuna and Naruto's first day at school... How... exciting. Well, it wasn't all bad, as this would at least allow them to move around more independently. Yuna was pretty sure that at least learning about this world's history should prove to be somewhat valuable.

Anyway, a moment later, the duo left the orphanage, quickly followed by one of the caretakers. The school was within walking distance, and the caretakers had already noticed that Yuna and Naruto were significantly more mature than the other children, but they still wouldn't allow them to go by themself. At least not yet.

Anyway, they quickly reached the school and headed to the assembly hall first. At the start of every school year, the principal would hold a speech in there, so that was everyone's first destination.

Yuna half-expected the principal to start talking about the Will of Fire or something similar, but she noticed no signs of indoctrination during his speech, which she found rather satisfying.

After the speech was over, they were assigned a classroom and were told to follow their respective teacher so that they could guide them to their destination. As the small groups formed, Yuna noticed a rather particular child, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

The girl she noticed had almost water-like blue hair and blue eyes. However, that wasn't what Yuna noticed first. No, the first thing she noticed was how that young girl moved. Her steps were measured and controlled, allowing her to move around without making a single sound.

While Yuna was looking at the girl, she also noticed someone staring at her. So, when she turned around to see who was looking at her so openly, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Yuna and Naruto standing next to each other. The first thing she noticed was the combination of Yuna's red and blue hair and Naruto's blonde one. A moment later, a broad smile appeared on her face as Yuna and the unknown girl walked toward each other.

"It's been a while, Hinata."

"It's good to see you again, Yuna."

The young girl unexpectedly was Hinata, who traveled to this world together with Yuna and Naruto, but wasn't reborn in the same place as them. So, without a moment of hesitation, the duo started walking together while h*lding h*ands (That's right, two lolis h*lding h*nds. I might be going to jail, but you are all coming with me.)

The teacher saw that two kids had apparently already become friends and smiled widely.

"Oh? You two have already become friends? That was really fast."

However, Yuna only shook her head when she heard the teacher's words.

"She is not my friend."

That confused the teacher and what puzzled him even more, was that Hinata nodded in acknowledgment. Before they could ask any questions, Yuna continued talking.

"She is my wife."

Question marks popped up above the teacher's head when they heard Yuna's words and saw Hinata yet again nodding in agreement.

'What is going on here? Oh well, I guess it's just two kids playing around or not understanding what they are saying.'

Yuna saw the teacher's confusion and chuckled a little while kissing Hinata's cheek, causing her to giggle and the teacher to shake his head while putting his attention elsewhere.

"It's good to have you back, Hinata."

"Mhh~ I missed you, Yuna."

""I love you.""

After seeing Yuna and Hinata disappearing into their own world, Naruto could only smile wryly.

'I should have convinced one of my girls to come with me as well.'

[It's not like it would have been guaranteed that you could have found her this quickly.]

'True, I guess. Oh well, at least I have you with me, grumpy fox.'

[*Tsk* Who are you calling grumpy, you damn brat.]