"What is going on?!"
"Yhwach showed up again… that guy who might actually be the sword spirit!"
"Don't tell me… even with the Zanpakutō broken, he's still going to revive Ichigo Kurosaki again in a moment?"
In that instant, audiences all over the world were completely dumbfounded.
The reason everyone was so shocked was that the picture on the screen looked frozen in place—the scene of Kenpachi Zaraki dragging his Zanpakutō behind him as he walked away, his broad back turned, was still fixed there like a paused frame.
However…
"Yhwach."
The man who looked like him suddenly shone into view again.
He was moving, striding straight toward Ichigo Kurosaki!
Faced with this situation, even the battle-hardened captains of the Gotei 13 could only stare wide-eyed at each other, completely stunned in place.
They were shaken to the core by what was playing out before their eyes.
"Captain Kyōraku…"
"Can you explain this?"
"Why did the spirit of Zangetsu suddenly materialize like that, and why, as the one facing him, did Kenpachi not sense a thing?!"
The captains found it unbelievable.
They all knew that if you wanted to interact with your Zanpakutō's spirit, there was only one way:
You had to use jinzen—blade meditation—to let your consciousness enter the inner world where the sword spirit resides.
Only then could you communicate with your Zanpakutō and actually meet the spirit.
But right now, Ichigo Kurosaki and his Zangetsu were completely ignoring that rule.
He was clearly on the verge of dying…
Yet his sword spirit had jumped out on its own.
And judging from the looks of it, "Uncle Zangetsu"—that Yhwach look-alike—seemed to have come to hand him a resurrection token.
That was even more ridiculous.
"Explain it?"
Facing the gazes of the various captains, Mayuri Kurotsuchi let out a cold laugh and spread his hands.
"It seems you still don't get it… Anything that happens to the protagonist doesn't need an explanation in the first place."
His voice was hoarse, but his expression was alight with excitement as he grinned.
"Don't ask. It's just cheats. All we have to do is sit back and enjoy Ichigo Kurosaki's performance!"
It wasn't even that Mayuri wanted to be deliberately flippant.
It was because…
With the sheer size of his brain, his vast knowledge, and the countless experiments he had carried out on his own Zanpakutō, Ashisogi Jizō…
All of that was useless in front of this scene.
Everything he thought he knew had been overturned.
That was why Mayuri felt that any scientific theory, any rule about how the world is supposed to work…
Could not compete with the protagonist halo wrapped around Ichigo Kurosaki.
With that kind of plot armor, what explanation did you even need?
Cheats solved everything.
Meanwhile, in the shadow realm of the Wandenreich, the pure-blood Quincies felt like the sky was collapsing on them.
"His Majesty…"
"He's appeared again!!!"
"Why does he keep fussing over Ichigo Kurosaki again and again?!"
"Isn't this just another way of raising a future mortal enemy with his own hands?"
"With His Majesty's wisdom, how could he make such a stupid mistake?!"
There was shock.
There was resentment.
But above all, there was confusion and helplessness.
Granted, most of the pure-blood Quincies still had enough clarity to understand that "Uncle Zangetsu" was not actually Yhwach himself.
But that didn't change the fact that the nine-tenths similarity in their faces naturally filled the Quincies with awe and pressure whenever they looked at him.
What really made their heads hurt, though, was something else.
Every one of their powers—the Schrift letters they received—had been granted to them by Yhwach.
So…
Would this "Uncle Zangetsu" one day grant Quincy abilities to Ichigo Kurosaki as well?
Perhaps…
A brand-new, top-tier, A-rank Schrift?
If that kind of absurd thing really happened…
Then Ichigo Kurosaki would, in an instant, surpass every one of them, trampling the pride of all the Sternritter under his feet.
That was the outcome they feared most.
"As Ichigo Kurosaki grows, and as the truth behind that 'Zangetsu' gets revealed, this whole reset of the story is becoming more and more fantastical…" Jugram Haschwalth frowned, his tone complicated and cold.
Before this, everyone had been joking that Aizen was just power-leveling a side account to replace the Soul King one day.
Now it looked like Yhwach was doing it too.
He had clearly stepped in as well. Two big bosses—Aizen and Yhwach—were jointly raising Ichigo Kurosaki together.
It was basically official endorsement from both final bosses.
Even if the audience didn't want to accept it, they had no choice but to.
Back to the video.
Footsteps rang out.
The scarlet cloak fluttered, swirling in the air like a vortex.
Very soon, moving straight toward the camera, "Uncle Zangetsu" stopped at the edge of the blood-soaked pool.
Behind his sunglasses, his eyes drooped as he looked down at Ichigo Kurosaki and asked,
"Do you want to fight?"
"Do you want to win?"
"Or do you… just want to stay alive?"
Three questions in a row.
He sounded just like some cheat-menu system, giving Ichigo a choice.
And those words seemed to inject energy straight into Ichigo's broken body.
The eyes that had been filled with almost total despair suddenly became firm again, blazing with fighting spirit.
Ichigo's answer did not disappoint the viewers.
"If it's only to fight, then it's meaningless."
"And if it's just to stay alive… that's even more meaningless."
"So… I want to win!!!"
He roared.
Ichigo Kurosaki shouted out his choice at the top of his lungs.
On that blood-stained ground, his desire to win and his fighting spirit stood out even more starkly.
At that moment, the playback suddenly slowed.
Under the gaze of everyone watching, Uncle Zangetsu slowly bent down. The fringe of his coat fluttered behind him as his whole body leaned forward toward Ichigo, his silhouette gradually covering Ichigo's entire body.
"All right then…"
"In that case, I'll take you over there."
"I'll help you get your strength back!"
Once this exchange was revealed in the ranking video, the "revive on the spot" screen—something only players who recharged a lot of money ever got to see in games—
Along with Uncle Zangetsu's final line…
Inevitably set off a storm of discussion.
"?!"
"What does that mean?"
"Isn't that Yhwach guy supposed to be the Zanpakutō spirit?"
Inside Squad One's barracks, Kenpachi Zaraki frowned in annoyance.
"He's already materialized, hasn't he? Next he either possesses Ichigo and fights in his place, or he just throws down personally himself…"
"So why's he making a big deal out of 'getting his power back'?"
Kenpachi felt something was off.
A sword spirit was supposed to be the very embodiment of a Zanpakutō's power.
Why would he need to go get outside help?
"Captain Zaraki…"
Ikkaku Madarame swallowed nervously. "Could it be that he's talking about that Hollow… the Vasto Lorde that Aizen created, the so-called 'Shiro'?"
However, that guess was immediately shot down by Sajin Komamura nearby.
"Impossible. You just said it yourself—that thing is a Menos Grande."
"How could that possibly have anything to do with a Zanpakutō?"
"If Shiro appears, wouldn't that only make Ichigo Kurosaki's situation even worse?"
The big wolf captain spoke with total conviction.
As for Ichigo learning Hollowfication or anything like that, Komamura found that idea even more far-fetched.
Ichigo's Zanpakutō was broken; his Shinigami powers were about to collapse.
What could he use to balance and control Hollow powers with?
As the others argued, the picture in the video abruptly changed.
Ichigo Kurosaki and Uncle Zangetsu vanished together from the battlefield.
The scene switched again—
And once more, we were back inside that inner world of skyscrapers flipped upside-down.
Only this time, that city-scape was no longer quiet.
The atmosphere was suddenly shattered.
A sharp, rasping electronic voice, filled with a crazed, violent undertone, rang out of nowhere, jeering loudly:
"Ha!!!"
"Ichigo… do you even understand…"
"How to use Zangetsu properly?!"
A terrifying, manic laugh exploded through the inner world.
Just hearing that strange electronic timbre made everyone watching feel their scalps go numb all at once.
They blurted out, almost in unison:
"Is that… Shiro?!"
"That Vasto Lorde-class Hollow?!"
"Holy crap, I can't believe it, it actually talks!!!"
At the same time, inside Urahara's shop—
"That's terrifying…"
"Just one shout like that…"
"And I'm already breaking out in a cold sweat. Even my body hair's standing on end…"
Isshin Kurosaki stared in shock, subconsciously glancing down at his forearm.
Thanks to that electronic roar Shiro had just let out, his skin was crawling with goosebumps and his scalp tingled.
"Yeah…"
Under the brim of his green-striped hat, Kisuke Urahara also sighed in amazement.
"Who would've thought… it's only been twenty years, and Shiro's evolved again?"
"Back then, when it fought you, Isshin-san, all it could do was let out those Menos-class roars, remember?"
With Urahara's experience and knowledge, even he couldn't help his eyes widening slightly in surprise now.
Even though, like Aizen, he had subconsciously questioned Uncle Zangetsu's identity—
Thinking that this figure might not actually be a sword spirit, but simply the manifestation of Vasto Lorde-level power—
And that possibility was quite high.
But with no solid proof…
And with Uncle Zangetsu's behavior in every appearance of the current ranking video having been flawless—no cracks, no obvious inconsistencies—
Even if Urahara was suspicious, he'd had no choice but to temporarily put those thoughts aside.
Now, though, things were different.
Shiro was about to appear. That might provide new clues.
And what kind of chaos a further-evolved Vasto Lorde-class Hollow would stir up inside Ichigo's inner world—
That was something Urahara was very curious about as well.
"Don't tell me…" Tessai Tsukabishi thought of an even more terrifying possibility. "In a moment, Ichigo Kurosaki will just get killed outright by Shiro?"
Hollows devouring Shinigami souls was nothing new.
Even in the Seireitei, Kaien Shiba had died that way.
Not to mention that right now Ichigo was in critical condition, down to his last sliver of strength, his Zanpakutō broken.
"…"
Everyone fell silent at those words.
Isshin in particular looked even more anxious and worried.
"No way…"
He muttered to himself.
"That Uncle Zangetsu… he can't be that cruel, tricking Ichigo into walking to his death, right?"
As he fretted, the translucent screen rotated.
The camera swung around to face whatever was in front of Ichigo.
And then—
Shiro's new form was revealed.
White hair.
A white Shihakushō.
Eyes the same yellow-brown as an Arrancar's, burning with savage rage.
Other than the reversed color scheme, the two were identical.
Shiro… was basically a copy-and-paste Ichigo Kurosaki.
You could also call him—
White Ichigo.
The two Ichigos stood facing each other.
Black and white, side by side in the same frame—this double-Ichigo shot instantly caused a huge uproar.
Once again, it set the entire Bleach world ablaze.
The audience was completely shaken.
"Holy crap…"
"I'm not seeing things, right? Why are there two Ichigo Kurosakis?!"
"That's Shiro? Get out of here! Since when did a Hollow look exactly like a human?!"
"Even the strongest Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar in Hueco Mundo shouldn't be able to evolve to this level, right?!"
Shock.
Dismay.
Across the Bleach world, in front of countless translucent screens, it felt like eyeballs were popping out everywhere.
Everyone was scared out of their wits. Their worldviews were crumbling.
You had to remember—
Even in Hueco Mundo, among the entire Arrancar army—
From beginning to end, the only ones who had ever achieved self-Arrancarization on their own were Coyote Starrk and Ulquiorra Cifer.
All the other Hollows—the Espada, and even the former king of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan—
Every one of them had needed Aizen and the Hōgyoku to Hollowfy and evolve further.
Put that beside what Shiro had become over twenty years, and it made Shiro's evolution look ridiculously over the top.
He had directly copy-pasted Ichigo Kurosaki—
Becoming an evil version of the man destined to sit on the Bleach world's throne.
To say people weren't shocked would be a lie.
"Yaaah, amazing…" Gin Ichimaru squinted in a grin on his throne. "Even you didn't see this coming, did you, Captain Aizen?"
Honestly, when that second Ichigo had appeared, Gin had been startled too.
He had originally thought that with how long this ranking video had been running, all the big reveals should've been exhausted by now.
Yet somehow…
When it came to Ichigo Kurosaki, surprises just kept coming.
First there was Yhwach's "clone"—Uncle Zangetsu.
And now—
They'd gone and dropped an even bigger bomb.
White Ichigo.
If he hadn't personally been involved in the experiments with Shiro back then, Gin absolutely wouldn't have been able to stay this calm. He'd have been screaming right alongside the majority of the audience.
On the throne, Aizen still wore his usual calm mask, his handsome face betraying not a single obvious change of expression.
But inside, because of White Ichigo's appearance, his heart was churning, stirred by shock—
And a rare spark of excitement.
"Gin…"
"Rather than just seeing this as the ultimate evolution of Shiro…"
"It might be better to simply conclude that he is the true sword spirit of Zangetsu."
Aizen's eyes flashed slightly.
As he spoke, his gaze never left the screen.
He had clearly noticed that when Uncle Zangetsu flipped his hand and tossed Zangetsu into the air, and White Ichigo snatched it—
The way White Ichigo held the blade was smooth and fluid, unbelievably practiced.
It was nothing like the clumsy, unfamiliar way Shiro and the other Hollows had handled weapons after becoming Arrancar.
No.
White Ichigo wielded the sword with flawless mastery.
It looked like the Zanpakutō was literally dancing around his fingertips.
That abnormal level of familiarity led Aizen to his conclusion:
Shiro himself was the sword spirit, the true, manifested form of Zangetsu.
Which was why there was no barrier at all.
No innate rejection between Shinigami and Hollow.
That was the only way this bizarre scene could exist.
"What?"
Hearing this, Kaname Tōsen was stunned.
"That Shiro we spent so much effort cultivating… is actually Ichigo Kurosaki's Shinigami power?"
"Doesn't that mean we basically handed him a full set of gear for free?"
For once, even Tōsen was at a loss for words.
He had to admit that Aizen's dedication to raising this "side account" had been… very, very thorough.
Because who else, without pushing a Shinigami's powers all the way into the realm of Hollows—
Could have pulled off something this outrageous?
It was basically a buy-one-get-one-free deal.
Not only did they give him Shinigami power, they also threw in Hollowfication as a free bonus, just waiting to be activated.
Thinking about that, Tōsen couldn't help giving Aizen a thumbs-up in his heart, conceding defeat.
First there was the Yhwach clone, watching over him from the shadows.
Now there was the strongest sword spirit in history, sparring with him one-on-one.
Ichigo Kurosaki's cheats… were way too many.
It was completely insane.
(End of Chapter)
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