After Orihime failed to restore his broken Zanpakutō, Ichigo had little choice but to seek help elsewhere. Eventually, he turned to the one person in Soul Society whom he believed might be capable of repairing it: Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
Ichigo certainly wasn't fond of the eccentric captain of the Twelfth Division. Mayuri's personality was strange, his methods were questionable, and his approach to scientific research often left Ichigo wondering whether the man was even sane. Nevertheless, there was one undeniable fact that made Mayuri the most suitable person to consult.
He had once managed to restore a broken Zanpakutō.
If anyone could figure out a way to repair Tensa Zangetsu, it would be him.
Unfortunately, the moment Mayuri examined the broken blade Ichigo had brought him, he immediately rejected the request.
"No!"
Mayuri didn't even bother to conceal his disinterest as he looked at the damaged Tensa Zangetsu.
"Wait! Why not? Didn't you repair your own Zanpakutō after it was broken?"
Ichigo had expected some difficulty, but he hadn't anticipated such an immediate rejection. After all, Mayuri had once dealt with a similar problem. Surely, that experience had to count for something.
Mayuri turned his head slightly and cast Ichigo a disdainful glance.
"Idiot! I didn't repair it. I remodelled it."
"What's the difference?"
"The difference is that repairing a Zanpakutō and remodelling one are two entirely different things." Mayuri clicked his tongue impatiently. "If you want to restore a damaged Zanpakutō, the process depends on its wielder. The wielder must pour their own spirit and reiatsu into the blade and spend the necessary time restoring it. There is no shortcut."
Ichigo stared at him, trying to make sense of the explanation.
"So, if I want to restore Tensa Zangetsu, I have to do it myself?"
For a moment, he thought he had finally understood the problem. If neither Orihime's ability nor Mayuri's scientific knowledge could repair his Zanpakutō, then perhaps the answer really was as simple as relying on his own power.
However, Mayuri immediately shattered that hope.
"Listen carefully, Kurosaki Ichigo. I was talking about the destruction of a Shikai. A Shikai and a Bankai are fundamentally different. You cannot apply the same principles to both."
He paused, letting the distinction sink in.
"Once a Bankai has been destroyed, it cannot ordinarily be restored."
"What?!"
Ichigo's body stiffened.
He stared at Mayuri in disbelief, as though the man had just announced that the world was about to end.
"What do you mean it can't be restored?!"
"Exactly what I said."
Mayuri's expression remained thoroughly unimpressed by Ichigo's reaction.
"However, there are exceptions to the rule. Take Komamura Sajin's Bankai, for example. The connection between him and his Zanpakutō is exceptionally close. When his Bankai suffers damage, the consequences are also reflected in his own body. Conversely, if the wounds he sustains are healed and his body recovers, his Bankai can recover along with him."
Ichigo listened carefully, trying to understand how the connection between a Shinigami and their Zanpakutō affected the possibility of restoration.
Mayuri continued.
"For my research, I have studied the Bankai of the Gotei 13. There are very few that I haven't examined in detail, and Komamura's is one of the exceptions. His particular circumstances make it difficult to study through ordinary methods."
He adjusted his head slightly before moving on to another example.
"Then there's Madarame Ikkaku's Bankai. It was damaged during his battle against the arrancar Edrad Liones. Akon subsequently managed to repair it to some extent. Although the weapon regained its original appearance, its performance was nowhere near what it had been before."
"Ikkaku's Bankai was broken too?"
Ichigo was startled once again.
He had known that Ikkaku possessed a Bankai, but he hadn't realized that it had been damaged so severely during his battle against Edrad.
Mayuri's expression suddenly changed.
"Ah, that fool was supposed to keep the matter a secret..."
He paused, seemingly reconsidering whether he should have mentioned it at all.
"Well, whatever. There's no point worrying about that now."
Ichigo barely paid attention to Mayuri's muttering. His mind had already moved on to another person who might provide a useful comparison.
"What about Renji's Bankai? His was also broken during his battle against Byakuya, wasn't it?"
Mayuri looked at him as though he had just asked an exceptionally stupid question.
"Have you ever bothered to examine how many sections of his Bankai were actually destroyed?"
Ichigo blinked.
"What?"
"Renji's Bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru, consists of multiple sections. During his battle with Kuchiki Byakuya, the sections of the weapon were damaged by Byakuya's Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. Do you remember what happened to those parts afterward?"
Ichigo fell silent.
He searched his memories of that battle, recalling the shattered pieces of Renji's weapon scattered across the battlefield.
"Back then... it really did break."
The realization slowly sank in.
He had been so focused on the outcome of the battle that he hadn't considered the implications of the damage to Renji's Bankai.
If Mayuri was correct, then the fact that a Zanpakutō could be repaired or remodelled under certain circumstances did not mean that every broken Bankai could be restored to its original state.
And if that was the case...
Was Tensa Zangetsu truly beyond repair?
Ichigo lowered his gaze toward his broken Zanpakutō. The blade that had accompanied him through countless battles, the weapon with which he had protected his friends and confronted enemies far stronger than himself, now lay damaged beyond what he had believed possible.
For the first time since the battle against Yhwach, he felt genuinely lost.
He had always relied on Zangetsu to help him overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. Even when he had encountered enemies whose strength dwarfed his own, he had continued fighting, believing that he would find a way to move forward.
But now, the situation was different.
If his Bankai could not be restored, what was he supposed to do?
Mayuri observed Ichigo's reaction for a moment before speaking again.
"Still, there might be another possibility."
Ichigo immediately raised his head.
"Another possibility?"
Mayuri narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
"You appear to possess hollow powers within your body. Although I don't know the precise nature of your circumstances, if you could master a Resurrección in the same way as the arrancars, you might be able to restore your Zanpakutō's abilities through a different method."
"Resurrección?"
Ichigo was unfamiliar with the idea of using an arrancar's power to solve the problem of a broken Bankai.
Mayuri nodded.
"Yes. I don't claim to understand the underlying principle completely, but I have witnessed something that suggests it might be possible."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"I'm referring to Kyo Mazuru."
The moment he heard that name, Ichigo's expression changed.
"Mazuru?"
"That's right."
Mayuri folded his arms, recalling the unusual phenomenon he had witnessed.
"During his battle against the Captain-Commander, his Zanpakutō was destroyed by the Head-captain's Bankai. Under ordinary circumstances, that should have left him in a rather difficult position. However, he did something completely unexpected."
Mayuri's eyes gleamed with the interest of a scientist discussing an unresolved mystery.
"He fused with an arrancar and acquired hollow powers, allowing him to wield a Resurrección. Somehow, the abilities associated with his Zanpakutō appeared to have been incorporated into that form. When he released his arrancar power, he was able to reproduce the power of his Bankai through his Resurrección."
Ichigo stared at him.
For several seconds, he couldn't find anything to say.
A shinigami's Zanpakutō and an arrancar's Resurrección were fundamentally different manifestations of spiritual power. Although both were connected to the nature of their wielders, they operated according to different principles.
Yet Mazuru had apparently found a way to bridge that divide.
His Zanpakutō had been destroyed, but rather than accepting the loss of its abilities, he had incorporated those abilities into another form of power.
It was an astonishing feat.
"That's... actually possible?"
Ichigo could hardly believe what he was hearing.
Mayuri gave a short, humourless laugh.
"Even I find the phenomenon difficult to believe. I've spent considerable time trying to determine how he accomplished it, but I haven't reached a satisfactory conclusion."
His expression turned slightly irritated.
"Unfortunately, Kyo Mazuru isn't exactly someone I can summon whenever I want to conduct an experiment. Until I obtain more information, I can only speculate about the mechanism involved."
Ichigo looked down at Tensa Zangetsu again.
If Mazuru had managed to preserve the abilities of his Zanpakutō through his Resurrección, then perhaps Ichigo could also find a way to overcome the problem he was facing.
However, that was a possibility, not a solution.
He still didn't know how Mazuru had accomplished such a feat, much less whether the same method would work for him.
Before Ichigo could ask any further questions, Mayuri's communication device suddenly activated.
He glanced at it, and his expression changed.
"Yes, this is Kurotsuchi."
He listened for a few moments, his eyes narrowing as the person on the other end delivered their message.
"Really? So, they've finally arrived."
A brief pause followed.
"Very well. I understand."
After ending the communication, Mayuri turned toward Ichigo.
"Come with me, Kurosaki Ichigo."
Ichigo looked at him questioningly.
"Where are we going?"
Mayuri adjusted his hat and began walking.
"It would be better for you to see them in person. Although, personally, I would much rather avoid meeting them altogether."
He gave a small, irritated click of his tongue.
"Squad Zero has arrived."
…
The outskirts of Seireitei.
Ichigo followed Mayuri to the outer area of the city, where an imposing defensive structure stood before them. The surrounding walls had been constructed using Sekkiseki, a special mineral capable of blocking spiritual power and interfering with the passage of spiritual particles.
The enormous structure served as a defensive boundary, separating Seireitei from the outside world.
Several shinigami had already gathered in the vicinity, apparently waiting for something to happen.
The moment Ichigo arrived; he recognized several familiar faces.
"Hirako!"
Hirako Shinji turned at the sound of his voice and raised a hand in greeting.
"Ah, Ichigo. You came to watch, too?"
He tilted his head, looking rather amused.
"Personally, I wouldn't recommend it. You might end up regretting it."
Ichigo frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Before Shinji could answer, Ichigo glanced around and noticed the other members of the Visored standing nearby. Their presence suggested that something significant was about to happen, but he still had no idea what Squad Zero's arrival had to do with the current situation.
He turned toward the captain standing beside them.
"Where exactly does Squad Zero come from? Seireitei has been through all this trouble, and they still haven't shown themselves. Where do they usually stay?"
"The Royal Palace."
The answer came from Kyouraku Shunsui, who had been standing nearby.
Ichigo turned toward him.
"The Royal Palace? Isn't that part of Seireitei?"
Shunsui gave him a patient look.
"Do you remember what happened when you first came to Seireitei? The defensive walls surrounding the city were raised, cutting it off from the outside."
Ichigo nodded.
He remembered the enormous walls and the way the entire city had been sealed off.
"Well, the barriers and defensive structures surrounding Seireitei can be used to protect the city during emergencies. But think about it for a moment. If those defenses can be raised to protect Seireitei, what happens when the danger is so great that even those defenses aren't enough?"
Ichigo considered the question.
Shunsui continued before he could answer.
"If the purpose of those defenses is to protect Seireitei, then where is the place that normally stands beyond their protection?"
Ichigo's expression grew puzzled.
He still wasn't sure where Shunsui was going with this explanation.
But then the older captain suddenly raised his arm and pointed toward the sky.
"Look. Here they come."
Ichigo immediately followed his gaze.
BOOM!!
A gigantic pillar descended from the heavens and struck the ground with tremendous force. The impact sent clouds of dust and debris billowing into the air, momentarily obscuring the surrounding area.
Ichigo reacted instinctively, leaping backward to avoid the impact. Once the dust began to settle, he turned his attention toward the enormous structure that had appeared before them.
His eyes widened.
"What... is that?"
"Tenchūren," Shunsui explained. "It's the conveyance used by Squad Zero to travel between the Royal Palace and Soul Society."
Ichigo stared at the towering pillar.
"All of Squad Zero is inside that thing?"
"That's right."
Ichigo looked at the structure again, visibly confused.
"All of them? But it's not that big, is it?"
Although the pillar was enormous by ordinary standards, he couldn't help wondering how five individuals, and potentially their equipment, could fit inside it. More importantly, he had expected an organization as mysterious as Squad Zero to make a rather more imposing entrance.
Shunsui seemed to understand his confusion.
"Squad Zero isn't organized like the Gotei 13. They don't have ordinary division members. All five of them are captains in their own right."
He paused, allowing Ichigo to absorb that information.
"And there's something else you should know."
Shunsui's expression became more serious.
"The combined strength of those five individuals surpasses that of the entire Gotei 13."
Ichigo's eyes widened again.
The entire Gotei 13?
He knew that Squad Zero had been entrusted with protecting the Soul King and the Royal Palace, but hearing that the combined strength of its five members exceeded that of the entire Gotei 13 was still difficult to comprehend.
Before he could ask anything else, the enormous pillar began to open.
A doorway appeared along its side, and five figures emerged from within, each possessing a distinct appearance and bearing.
For a brief moment, their arrival carried an overwhelming sense of mystery and authority.
These were the members of Squad Zero, the Royal Guard—individuals whose names and accomplishments had shaped the history of Soul Society.
Ichigo watched them closely, eager to see the legendary figures who stood above the Gotei 13.
Then, without warning, one of the newcomers lost his footing.
His foot slipped.
He stumbled forward.
And the next instant, he crashed face-first onto the ground.
The sudden mishap left the surrounding shinigami staring in stunned silence.
The dignified atmosphere that Squad Zero had carefully established vanished in an instant.
*****
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✓ Killed For 100 Years in Hueco Mundo, Aizen Invited Me To Soul Society!
✓ Naruto: Senmei Asahi
✓ Naruto: The Fifth Hokage Is Naruto's Uncle
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✓ Naruto: The Accidental Incubus [R-18]
✓ Naruto: The Calamity of Amegakure