Chapter 4: Dark Thunder Prison

Two sharp whooshing sounds echoed as chains wrapped around Yu Mikami's hands, rendering him completely helpless.

Yu Mikami snapped back to reality, fearfully taking in his surroundings. Darkness and crimson dominated the scene, punctuated by a continual crackling and roaring of thunder.

As his eyes adjusted, Yu Mikami realized to his horror that he could see nothing except the raging black-red lightning surrounding him. Only the additional chains bound him now. His solitary figure sat at the center of a massive, turbulent storm of lightning, emphasizing his insignificance.

An overwhelming sense of danger flooded Yu Mikami's mind, making his hair stand on end.

"No..."

A terrified scream tore from his throat, and he struggled fiercely, but his efforts were in vain.

Crack! A sharp ping of thunder echoed, and through Yu Mikami's hoarse cries, a thick black-red lightning bolt separated from the storm and struck him violently.

"Aah..."

The immense pain shot through his body, and he screamed as residual black-red electricity crackled and coiled around him.

Boom! Before Yu Mikami could recover, one bolt after another rained down on him, and his screams of agony never ceased.

Unbeknownst to Yu Mikami, he had entered Hell's mysterious realm known as the Dark Thunder Prison. He was the first soul ever to receive this place's attention!

This was partly due to Yu Mikami's unique spiritual body—not just because of his strange revival before being dragged into the Gates of Hell. It was more so because half of his soul didn't belong to this world. The Dark Thunder Prison existed to eradicate all souls not belonging to its domain!

Each time the dark red lightning struck Yu Mikami, his body would channel small tendrils of translucent, dark red electricity—more vibrant than the prison's lightning. It was the remnant of the lightning that had originally brought Yu Mikami to the Bleach World.

Curiously, instead of being obliterated by the Dark Thunder Prison, Yu Mikami's body underwent transformation due to these remnants. His body began to evolve unexpectedly—a phenomenon the Dark Thunder Prison never anticipated!

A year passed, though Yu Mikami had lost track of time. All he knew was he had grown accustomed to the lightning's pain and no longer screamed when struck by the lightning of the Dark Thunder Prison.

"? Is my body evolving?"

As Yu Mikami endured the relentless torment of the dark red lightning, he found himself contemplating this question with a sense of intrigue.

Despite being unable to break free from the chains binding him, Yu Mikami noticed changes in himself. While he initially looked like a wolf Hollow, his limbs were slowly reverting to a human form, filling him with both surprise and joy.

"If this continues, will I turn back into a human form or even evolve into an Arrancar?"

Either outcome excited Yu Mikami immensely. He also discovered what was causing these changes in his body.

"I knew the protagonists in those novels who cross worlds don't die easily! The key was hidden in my body all along!"

Yu Mikami mused, focusing on the small, residual lightning bolts that appeared alongside the black-red lightning strikes—his "transcendence lightning."

Realizing he wouldn't be tortured to death by Hell, Yu Mikami endured the pain and began to actively sense the residual transcendence lightning within his body.

Immersing his consciousness within, Yu Mikami quickly detected the presence of the residual transcendence lightning. It was dispersed throughout his body. Boom—another bolt of dark red lightning struck him, and Yu Mikami's consciousness clearly identified how this lightning, influenced by his internal transcendence lightning, slowly evolved every cell of his body until its energy dissipated, although much of it dissipated externally.

Having discovered this, Yu Mikami first attempted to see if he could actively control the transcendence lightning within him, trying little by little.

As time continued to pass, once Yu Mikami could fully control the transcendence lightning inside him, he was freed from the pain of being struck by lightning.

Zap—a dark red lightning bolt separated from the storm to strike Yu Mikami, but in that rapid moment, a more refined lightning color emerged from his body, swiftly consuming the dark red lightning and drawing it back inside him.

Now, Yu Mikami was actively absorbing the dark red lightning and using it to further evolve and refine himself back into a human form!

Gradually, Yu Mikami's Hollow body transformed back to a human appearance, although he still wore a white mask. He continued to absorb the dark red lightning from the Dark Thunder Prison, aiming to shatter the mask.

However, Yu Mikami didn't realize that his actions were not just leading towards Hollow's Arrancar transformation; they were also refining and evolving his body—more accurately, reconstructing it. Using the power of the dark red lightning, his Hollow body was being completely remodeled…

Three years later, Yu Mikami's body had fully reverted to a human form, with the mask entirely gone. Only the Hollow hole in his chest remained as evidence of his Hollow identity. A dark red Zanpakutō also appeared at his waist, signifying his successful, and uniquely complete, Arrancar transformation—without any trace of a Hollow mask left.

"I've got to get out of this damn place..."

Yu Mikami bellowed in the Dark Thunder Prison, having realized that absorbing any more dark red lightning no longer evolved his form. However, he remained bound by the four black chains.

"Damn it! What are these chains? I can't break them at all..."

Yu Mikami cursed furiously, frustrated by the restraints.

"Wait! I'll try using the red lightning!"

A sudden idea struck him, and his eyes lit up. Yu Mikami concentrated his transcendence lightning, massively absorbing the incoming dark red lightning, then directed it forcefully at the chain binding his right hand.

The sky was alight with dark red lightning, which Yu Mikami commanded to strike the chain relentlessly. Sparks flew, and a sharp clang resounded, but apart from a few glittering sparks, the chain showed no signs of damage, remaining perfectly intact.

"Ah, crap!"

Yu Mikami swore, but he was undeterred. He didn't expect the chains to break easily.

"Keep striking… transcendence lightning..."