"Of course I came to save you! Not just you—Uryū, Sado, Inoue, Ganju, Hanatarō—everyone who helped me, I'm taking them all back!"
Kurosaki Ichigo stood firm, Zangetsu gripped tightly in his hand, his eyes unwavering.
"Idiot! There are so many captains here! You can't possibly escape! And besides, I'm fine now—"
Before Rukia could finish explaining that Aizen and the others were behind everything, Ichigo cut her off, his tone sharp and reckless. "Then I'll just knock them down one by one! Besides…" His expression hardened. "I've already learned Bankai."
"You fool! Learning Bankai in a single day?!"
Byakuya Kuchiki's tone was cold and disbelieving. He stood motionless, yet his eyes held the faintest hint of surprise.
"Learned Bankai in one day?" Shiraha's brows rose slightly. Even he was taken aback.
In the record of events, Ichigo had taken nearly two and a half days to master Bankai using Urahara's Tenshintai. Now, doing it in just one was beyond comprehension—but then again, Ichigo was the protagonist of miracles.
"Ah, Jūshirō," Kyōraku Shunsui said lightly, resting a hand on Ukitake's shoulder as his eyes glimmered with amusement. "This Kurosaki kid really is like Kaien, isn't he?"
Ukitake nodded slightly, his gaze following Ichigo's defiant stance.
"Mr. Shiraha," Ichigo said respectfully, tightening his grip on Zangetsu, "please step aside. I don't want to hurt you."
He remembered the last time—how Shiraha had used that strange ability that rendered him unconscious in an instant. But Ichigo held no resentment. Shiraha had once saved his mother, Kurosaki Masaki, and him as a child. Hurting him was the last thing Ichigo wanted.
"Hurt me?" Shiraha smiled faintly. "You can try."
Ichigo attacking him was nothing more than a delusion. Even Aizen had failed to touch Shiraha—what chance did Ichigo have?
"Hah! Substitute Shinigami, you think you can hurt Captain Shiraha? You're two thousand years too early!"
Omaeda Marechiyo roared with laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. "You say you learned Bankai? Do you even know what a Bankai is?"
Except for Yoruichi and Shiraha, none of the gathered Shinigami believed Ichigo's claim. Learning Bankai in a single day was absurd.
"Well then, Mr. Shiraha," Ichigo said, bowing his head slightly. "Forgive me for what comes next."
He raised Zangetsu high. The white bandages that covered the blade began to coil around his right arm as his voice thundered through the air.
"Bankai!"
A surge of immense spiritual pressure burst outward, sweeping across the area like a hurricane.
Everyone—except Shiraha—stared in astonishment.
"This Reiatsu… it's already at captain level," murmured Shunsui, pressing down his bamboo hat, his tone uncharacteristically serious.
A sharp explosion of energy followed. A radiant blue slash carved a deep gorge into the earth, scattering dust in every direction.
As the dust cleared, Ichigo stood clad in a red-and-black Shihakushō. In his right hand, he held a sleek black blade with a short chain and a cross-shaped tsuba.
"Tensa Zangetsu," he said quietly, the words carrying through the stunned silence.
Every gaze turned toward him. Even the most skeptical among them were shocked. Could something so small and unadorned truly be a Bankai?
"What is that?" Byakuya asked coolly. "That small blade—are you claiming that's a Bankai? It looks no different from an ordinary Zanpakutō."
Ichigo said nothing, only met Byakuya's gaze with steady determination.
"I see," Byakuya said coldly, his hand resting on his sword's hilt. "Whether it's saving people or calling that thing a Bankai, it seems you enjoy trampling on the dignity of the Gotei 13. Allow me to end that arrogance."
"Ichigo! Get out of here!" Rukia shouted desperately.
"Hmph, there's no need for Captain Kuchiki to dirty his blade," Omaeda Marechiyo sneered, drawing his weapon. "I can handle this substitute myself! Crush him—Gegetsuburi!"
His Zanpakutō transformed into a massive spiked meteor mallet.
But before Omaeda could even swing, Ichigo vanished.
A shockwave ripped through the air.
With a single punch, Ichigo shattered the meteor mallet into fragments and sent Omaeda flying backward, his body crashing heavily into the ground dozens of meters away.
Matsumoto Rangiku and Ise Nanao immediately appeared before Shiraha. Rangiku drew her Zanpakutō, ready for release, while Nanao extended her right hand, chanting a Kidō incantation.
"You're not his opponents," Shiraha said calmly, raising a hand to stop them. His expression was composed, almost amused.
"But—" Rangiku began, only for Shunsui to interject gently. "He's right. This one's beyond you, Nanao, Rangiku. Best step back."
The two vice-captains exchanged a helpless glance and withdrew.
"Mr. Shiraha," Ichigo said coldly, "don't think you can use that trick from last time again. It won't work on me now."
His voice carried confidence. The last time he lost consciousness, he had assumed it was simply because he wasn't strong enough. Now, having achieved Bankai, he believed he could resist whatever technique Shiraha had used.
"What a naïve thought," Shiraha murmured.
Ichigo's power had indeed grown—his Reiatsu now rivaled that of most captains. But against someone like Byakuya, he was still lacking. Against Shiraha, whose abilities existed on a different dimension altogether, it was hopeless.
Even if Ichigo unleashed his "Final Getsuga Tenshō," it would be meaningless before Shiraha's Boundless Space—his infinite cognitive domain. At most, it would only shorten the paralysis period.
When Ichigo had fought Byakuya, he'd only won because of the Hollow power buried within him. Without that, he'd have lost decisively.
Shiraha estimated that feeding Ichigo ten years' worth of useless information would be enough to paralyze him for at least a minute or two.
"Boundless Space."
The instant Shiraha activated his domain, Ichigo's body froze. His mind was flooded with countless meaningless memories, visions, and thoughts—decades of irrelevant information forced into his consciousness.
His vision went blank. His grip on Zangetsu faltered. The blade clattered to the ground as his knees gave way. His eyes lost all focus, his consciousness swallowed by the weight of Shiraha's infinite field.
Yoruichi and Rukia were the only ones who remained composed. The others stared in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Ichigo, who moments ago had stood radiating captain-level Reiatsu, now knelt motionless on the ground, utterly broken by a power they could not begin to understand.
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