Chapter 190: Hollow Ichigo Appears, Ichigo's Final Trial
"What?"
Looking at the young Zangetsu, Ichigo pointed at himself in confusion.
"Do you remember why you came here?"
Ichigo heard Zangetsu's inquiry and recalled Kurosaki Isshin's cryptic words from not long ago.
"Protect yourself. Enter the space within, reach into your heart, and find a way to learn that technique!"
That technique? What exactly was that technique? Was it something he needed to learn from Old Man Zangetsu?
Thinking of this, Kurosaki Ichigo looked at Zangetsu. "I think—"
However, before he could finish speaking, Zangetsu spoke first. "Learning the Final Getsuga Tenshō?"
Hearing Zangetsu's words, Ichigo was stunned. Was this his father's purpose—to have him learn this technique? Then why hadn't Isshin told him the name outside, instead making him guess the entire way here?
"It seems like it..."
Because he wasn't certain, Ichigo could only speak ambiguously.
"Sorry. Go back. I won't teach you!"
Zangetsu looked at Ichigo with cold eyes and spoke in an icy tone.
"Why?" The instant Ichigo finished speaking, a black blade materialized before him.
SWOOSH!
The black blade slashed past Ichigo's face. Kurosaki Ichigo, who narrowly evaded the blow with his extraordinary perception, looked at the young Zangetsu with his back turned and demanded, "What are you doing?! I didn't come here to fight you!"
Zangetsu turned his head, his eyes frigid, and spoke in a harsh tone. "I cannot teach you that kind of technique. So go back!"
"Really?" Ichigo smiled instead of showing anger. He clenched the hilt with both hands, raised Tensa Zangetsu, and continued, "Then I'll have to insist that you teach me!"
"Haa!"
Immediately, he leaped high into the air and swung Tensa Zangetsu toward his opponent against the backdrop of the dark seabed.
Looking at Kurosaki Ichigo who'd jumped into the air, Zangetsu's figure flickered and appeared directly before Ichigo. Without giving his opponent any chance to attack, he seized Ichigo's wrist and said coldly, "So what?"
"I don't care what you want to protect—because that has nothing to do with me!"
Kurosaki Ichigo looked at Zangetsu in disbelief, because the other party had suddenly voiced the very thoughts in his heart that he hadn't yet articulated.
While Ichigo stood stunned, Zangetsu raised the handle of his blade and struck Ichigo directly, smashing him into the building below once more. "Don't be mistaken, Kurosaki Ichigo!"
"What you want to protect is not what I want to protect!"
Ichigo rose to his feet again and looked at Zangetsu with complicated emotions. He felt utterly confused at this moment—not only about himself, but about the future as well. "What do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean?" Zangetsu asked, puzzled.
"Didn't you just say it? 'I don't care what you want to protect'—I'm asking what you meant by that statement?"
"I thought you gave me strength for my sake. Could it be that I was wrong?"
"Up until now, I've been fighting to protect my companions, and you've been granting me power. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"If that's the case, then why do you give me strength at all? Answer me! Zangetsu!"
Ichigo clenched his fists and spoke with a conflicted expression.
Seeing Kurosaki Ichigo staring at him so earnestly, Zangetsu closed his eyes tightly. After thinking for a moment, he opened them and said coldly, "What I said is exactly what I meant!"
"Look at this world, Kurosaki Ichigo!"
Suddenly Zangetsu's expression became severe. He gestured with his finger toward the submerged buildings below and said sharply, "Your world—once full of hope, standing tall with skyscrapers reaching toward the clouds."
"Now look at its state of desperation. The reason this world has become like this is entirely because of you, Ichigo—because you took that step into despair!"
In an instant, Zangetsu's figure appeared directly before Ichigo. Without giving his opponent any time to react, he thrust his bare hand into Ichigo's chest, then pulled violently. A white phantom was dragged out along with the wound in Ichigo's chest.
"Now, I will extract the root of this despair from within you!"
As blood sprayed from Ichigo's body, a man wearing a white bull-horned mask appeared before Ichigo.
"What the hell? Why did you drag me out of Ichigo?"
"However... we meet again, King!"
The man slowly removed the white mask from his face, revealing a pale visage beneath.
"You... why did you appear here?" Ichigo's eyes widened in confusion.
"What, you don't understand?"
The corners of Hollow Ichigo's mouth curved upward slightly as he pointed to his chest. "This is your own heart, Ichigo!"
"What?!"
Although he'd communicated with Zangetsu more than once within his inner world, why had his consciousness appeared here when he entered this dark space? And how had the corpses of the Gotei 13 captains materialized earlier?
Ichigo covered his face, his pupils trembling slightly as his thoughts became utterly chaotic.
"How pathetic, King!"
Suddenly, a pale figure materialized directly before Ichigo. The other party delivered a vicious kick straight to Ichigo's stomach, launching him flying hundreds of meters away. He sneered mockingly, "You were fighting alongside me not long ago—so why are you showing such a distressed expression now?"
"If I'd known it would come to this, I should have devoured you directly!"
As he spoke, Hollow Ichigo licked his lips, his eyes filled with malicious intent.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
Ichigo stood up slowly, clutching his aching belly from Hollow Ichigo's kick. "I just want to learn that technique. I've suffered enough in this world! Why should those people judge our fate from on high?!"
"Why should this world become a venue for their wanton fighting and destruction?!"
Although Soul Society had tried its best to prevent the battle's spread, from the moment Aizen left the barrier pillars, numerous sacrifices had become inevitable. Perhaps after this battle ended, many families would be destroyed. Even if Soul Society carried out post-war reconstruction, lost lives could never be recovered.
"So, is this your resolve? King?"
Hollow Ichigo suddenly walked side by side with Zangetsu, and the two looked at Ichigo in unison.
Seeing the two standing together, Ichigo stopped speaking. He slowly raised the blade in his hand and pointed it at them. His actions had already conveyed everything he needed to say.
"That's excellent. You've truly grown!"
Looking at Ichigo's determined face, Zangetsu suddenly placed his hand on Hollow Ichigo's shoulder. After a burst of white light, the two figures instantly merged into one. "Then prove it to me—show me what resolve you possess for what you want to protect!"
The voices of Hollow Ichigo and Zangetsu emerged from the fused body simultaneously. Then the merged being raised the Tensa Zangetsu in his hand and swung the blade toward Kurosaki Ichigo in the distance.
Meanwhile, outside the dark space, in a shadowed alley, Ichimaru Gin leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. His intermittent coughing revealed that his condition was far from stable.
"Ara ara... You really are worthy of being the former Chief of the Kidō Corps. Such a bizarre forbidden technique—even among all the existing techniques in Soul Society, I've never encountered anything like it before!"
"Cough! Hack!"
After saying this, Ichimaru Gin's body convulsed with uncontrollable coughing, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
On a rooftop one kilometer away, Tessai Tsukabishi clutched at his abdomen where it had been pierced by a blade. He scanned the surrounding buildings carefully. He'd intended to use a formation technique to help Urahara Kisuke eliminate Aizen's subordinates, but he'd been counterattacked and forced to flee.
BOOM!
At that moment, another violent explosion erupted from where Aizen and the others were fighting. The battle between the Urahara Kisuke trio and Aizen had reached a fever pitch.
However, on the rooftop behind Tessai Tsukabishi, a figure with long purple hair crouched above, gazing down at the former Chief of the Kidō Corps below.
At such close range, Tessai Tsukabishi remained completely unaware of the other party's arrival. He hadn't sensed even the slightest trace of their presence.
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