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"What the hell is going on?!"
In the Soul Society, along the frigid White Way, Tōshirō Hitsugaya squinted at the screen, eyes stinging from the golden spiritual pressure erupting skyward. It was so violent, so overwhelming, it didn't feel like something that belonged in the human world at all. He couldn't make sense of it.
"That's the roar of Hell. The manifestation of Hell's will itself."
Shunsui Kyōraku took a long drag from his pipe, his usual lazy tone gone. For once, he sounded grave.
"That being they called the 'Guardian of Hell'… was actually Hell's anchor. Kurosaki Ichigo is devouring that anchoring power."
It took sharp instincts and a sharper mind to sit in a captain's seat. Kyōraku had both.
"Oh? So the brat fused with Hell, huh?"
Kenpachi Zaraki's eyes gleamed, pure killing intent burning bright. He looked like a predator who'd just spotted the perfect prey.
"This version of Ichigo? Cutting him down would be more fun than ever."
He should have been rampaging on Hell's battlefield already, but Jūshirō Ukitake stepped in and stopped him in time.
"No matter what happens, what we're seeing now is hope," Ukitake said quietly. "The Ichigo of the future has power that can tear through the darkness. He'll save Rukia and the others from that Black Blade."
His concern for Kuchiki Rukia had turned into unshakable conviction.
This wasn't mere Hollowfication anymore.
This was something beyond it. Beyond every boundary.
A completely new form.
...
Dragon Ball World
"Untamed instinct. Immense power. The battle frenzy of a beast."
Frieza's lips curled into a cruel smile.
Ichigo's monstrous transformation intrigued him far more than Uchiha Madara ever had. That twisted, unstable state was perfectly aligned with Frieza's aesthetic preferences.
"Lord Frieza!" Captain Ginyu hurried forward, eager and sycophantic. "Judging by their appearance and the coordinates of that insignificant planet, we can almost confirm the weaklings in these recordings live on a world called Earth!"
Frieza laughed brightly.
"Very good. If we fail to find them, I'll personally kill you, Ginyu."
The tone was light. The threat was not.
Sweat poured down Ginyu's forehead.
Earth — Son Goku's Home
"That out-of-control state… feels way too familiar."
Goku watched Ichigo snap off the horn and unleash his feral side. He couldn't help but remember cutting off his own tail to stop himself from turning into a rampaging Great Ape.
"Relax, Goku," Krillin said, patting his shoulder. "You've already overcome that. You can control it now. You won't turn into a mindless giant ape ever again."
...
Naruto World
"Rampaging power, huh… That loss of control feels nostalgic."
Naruto instinctively pressed a hand to the seal on his stomach. His thoughts drifted back to his fight with Zabuza, when the Nine-Tails' chakra first spiraled out of control.
Kakashi heard him mutter but silently compared the two. Tailed Beast transformations were terrifying, yes. But the force behind Ichigo's mask felt like something on an entirely different level.
And Naruto wasn't the only one thinking that way.
Every jinchūriki watching felt the same complicated emotion.
Kindred spirits.
Clang. Clang.
...
On-screen, a flash of cold steel.
The ghostly chains binding Renji Abarai and Uryū Ishida were sliced apart in an instant.
Then, as Rukia—blown back by the earlier spiritual storm—fell from the air, a pair of steady, powerful hands caught her.
The smoke cleared.
With a clean motion, the collar sealing her power was removed.
Ichigo stood before her, reborn.
His body was sheathed in metallic skin like forged iron, dark and gleaming. It was nothing like his earlier ragged Hollow form. Massive skull insignias were branded across his shoulders and left chest. His face was bare of a mask, yet from the left side of his forehead extended a blood-red bone spur, as though tethering him permanently to something sinister.
"Black Blade," Ichigo said coldly, "do you really think your sister would want you drowning in endless hatred just to avenge her?"
"What… what nonsense are you spouting?!"
The Black Blade (Kokutō) was stunned. The existence standing before him was beyond comprehension.
"Would she want you trapped forever in slaughter?"
Ichigo's eyes were sharp enough to cut.
"Hatred will never break the chains of hatred. You've only dragged your sister into eternal suffering along with you."
"My friends didn't entrust me with revenge. They entrusted me with stopping you."
His fist clenched.
Under the iron skin, every muscle coiled with terrifying strength.
"Open your eyes. Hell is choosing me. Embracing me, an outsider. It won't let anyone who tries to escape its prison walk free!"
Golden spiritual pressure erupted like molten lava, engulfing him. He shone like a radiant war god.
"You're insane! Hell… helping a human?!"
"How is this possible?! Why would Hell accept someone like you?!"
The Black Blade's composure shattered. Rage consumed him. He roared and charged forward, ignoring the vast gap in power.
"Yes," Ichigo said calmly, holding Zangetsu. "We were once alike."
His gaze didn't waver.
"But there's one thing I did better than you."
Boom.
With a casual swing, a world-ending golden crescent tore through the battlefield, swallowing the Black Blade whole.
The so-called unbreakable chains of resentment snapped instantly under the golden arc.
That single horizontal slash surpassed every Getsuga Tenshō Ichigo had unleashed before.
The jagged skull platform towering thousands of meters high split clean in half and collapsed.
From the rubble, the Black Blade staggered upright.
A horrific wound ran diagonally from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, dark blood pouring out. He stared at the broken chains wrapped around him.
"The chains… were cut?"
"So that means… I'm free!"
He threw his arms up and burst into manic laughter.
Freedom.
Rebirth.
Or so he thought.
Then it happened.
Black chains burst from beneath the collapsing foundation like venomous serpents. There were countless of them, raining upward in a storm of iron. In an instant, they coiled around the Black Blade, binding him layer upon layer until he resembled a tightly wrapped bundle, only his terrified head exposed.
"These chains are the punishment for trying to deceive Hell," Ichigo said coldly. "Black Blade, atone for your sins in the abyss."
The golden light around him surged again, multiplying.
It felt as if Hell itself was under his command.
A blood-red crescent moon hung overhead.
Then two colossal arms, formed of stone and resentment, manifested in the void. They seized the chains binding the Black Blade and, with irresistible force, dragged him—and the shattered platform—into the deepest depths of Hell.
And in that endless darkness…
Light appeared.
When that light of redemption fell upon Rukia, her tattered prison garments dissolved, returning to the familiar black robes of a Soul Reaper.
Soul Reaper World — Karakura First High School
"It worked! We did it!"
"The crisis of Hell is completely over!"
"Kurosaki's amazing!"
"Kuchiki's safe too! It's finally over!"
"We don't have to worry about Hell invading the Human World ever again!"
Cheers erupted across Karakura First High School.
Urahara Shop
Kisuke Urahara adjusted his striped hat and let out a long breath, eyes gleaming with confidence.
"I knew it… My plan couldn't possibly fail."
"....."