"It's not enough. At this rate, it will take too long." Shen was in a predicament at the moment. After he had attacked Yoruichi and the others, he had thought back on his actions. So far, he had been causing chaos cutting off the original Main Characters at every turn building an image that would stick in there mind, but he had run into a problem.
Through his method, he would keep getting stronger through slowly defeating more and more enemies, one stronger than the last while keeping the ones with worth alive until they reached their peak strength before finally killing them as well. Still, the more he thought about it, the more flaws began to appear in that idea.
First of all, it would take forever for them to reach that level. Shen didn't mind spending time growing more powerful, but years were something that would test his patience. The second was during that time he would still need to grow stronger and keep up with them, or else by the time he comes to harvest his XP, he would be the one to be killed.
Other than those issues, even more, problems would only continue to appear as he continued. 'If only there were an easier method a different way to get stronger.' But Shen was sure that there wasn't. The System told him clearly when he first arrived in this world. He would get stronger only by defeating anyone or anything stronger than an average human. Mauling over this new predicament, Shen tried to think about workarounds.
'Wait... The System said anyone or anything.' Shen never looked into the words of the System, mostly due to the fact creatures like hollows existed, which could be the things the System meant, but now that Shen thought about it more, he started to look at those words differently. 'If the System meant things not as in hollows but...'
Thinking smaller, Shen focused on all of the different things he knew existed within the bleach universe until he finally thought of something. 'It couldn't be I must have destroyed so many of them by now.'
It was currently night in the Soul Society with only torches lighting the paths Shen spread his Ki sensing for any movement. It only took him a moment to find a group of Soul Reapers a perfect way to test his new theory.
After finding the group, Shen dashed towards them without making a sound approaching the group without alerting anyone. As the group unknowingly talked amongst themselves as they were on patrol, unaware of the danger approaching them.
"It's great we finally cleared out all those damn spheres. Luckily the captains and lieutenants showed up when they did." A Soul Reaper walking in front of the group said while the others agreed with him. This was the first time they had witnessed a big event like this before.
A different Soul Reaper spoke after a pause. "What do you guys think those Spheres were doing here, though." Continuing to walk, he didn't get a response he was surprised. "What you guys don't know?" The Soul Reaper turned his head only to see no one was behind him nor in front of him, all the other Soul Reapers disappeared in an instant.
"What the hell. Where did they all go." Turning back around, he realized he was utterly alone. Placing his hand on his Zanpakuto, he was on guard only to hear a voice from behind him. "Relax, I need you alive for a quick experiment." The Soul Reaper heard Shen's voice before collapsing to the ground, his Zanpakuto clinking against the floor as he fell.
'Im sure I must have destroyed dozens of Zanpakuto during my attack.' With that in mind, he couldn't help but wonder if his theory was genuinely correct. What one sees is a Zanpakuto's physical form however, Zanpakuto also has spirits that represent the true form of the Zanpakuto. Looking down, Shen picked up the Zanpkauto that laid on the ground by the Soul Reapers side.
'A Zanpakuto like a shinigami has an inner world where their true self resides. If I could access that inner world, would I then be able to destroy the Zanpakutos spirit?' The thought alone opened Shen's eyes. A Zanpakuto could be considered the source of a Soul Reapers powers though some Soul Reapers are strong even without using one they are still a requirement none the less.
If Shen's theory was correct and the System indeed did allow him to gain XP from destroying a Zanpakuto's spirit instead of merely killing its master, then he would no longer need for them to grow stronger. He would be able to obtain XP from not only Ichigo's Quincy powers but also his hybrid powers as well.
Looking at the Zanpakuto in his hand, Shen stared at its blade. If one peered at Shen's eyes, one could see they were turning red as if his eyes were transforming. It only took a moment for Shen to activate the Sharingan as the two tomoes appeared. Another reason Shen got the Sharingan other than for Kamui is its ability to enter one's mind and hypnosis.
Although he never expected he would be trying to use these abilities on a Zanpakuto instead of an actual person, Shen guessed he might as well give it a shot. Looking at the blade of the Zanpakuto, the Sharingan began to spin, getting faster and faster.
It was at the moment the resistance completely stopped that Shen felt his vision change as everything around him turned white. 'So this is the inner world of an unnamed Zanpakuto.' The world he was in was bare, just a blank void with no special features. However, in the distance, something could be seen merely bobbing up in down as if it was dormant.
'I'll take a wild guess and say that this is the Zanpakuto's Spirit.' Something like this was never shown within the story of bleach. Walking closer to the Zanpakuto's Spirit, Shen observed it for a moment.
'Well, time to see if my theory is correct.' Preparing to destroy the Spirit, Shen wasn't sure if Ki would work in this place, so he decided to use his physical strength. Grabbing the Spirit with his bare hand, he applied a large amount of pressure. As this was happening, the void around him began to tremble as cracks started to appear. Using more and more force, the cracks multiplied around the spirit until the void began to shatter.
Outside the Soul Reaper, who was lying on the ground, jolted up, feeling immense pain. This was the pain of having a part of you destroyed. The pain was unbearable to the point the Soul Reaper couldn't scream, nor could he fall unconscious again. All he could do was feel the pain.
After a few more moments, the Zanpakuto Spirit finally broke along with the Void sending Shen back into the real world where he saw the Soul Reaper clutching his chest. Ignoring that Shen looked at Zanpakuto in his hand, although he couldn't feel spiritual pressure just from a glance, one could see that it had lost its shimmer as the Zanpakuto Spirit was now dead.
The ability to destroy the spirit of a Zanpakuto opened a whole new world of possibilities. Not only that, but it couldn't help but make Shen think of another object within the realm of bleach. 'If destroying a Zanpakuto Spirit is possible, then what about the Hogyoku?'
Pushing that Idea aside for the moment, he saw a notification appear. Shen didn't expect much from this Zanpakuto Spirit, but the moment he saw the amount XP from this single Zanpkuto, his eyes widened.
Now I want to say this is uncharted territory were entering with the whole Sharingan entering a Zanpakuto's inner world.
I'm basing this entirely on the fact that the Sharingan can enter a person's mind, and Sasuke can enter Naruto's inner world and see the Nine-Tails.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, though.