"Visored…!!"
"Kurosaki Ichigo went straight into Hollowfication!!!"
On the screen,
that Hollow mask with three red streaks
was rapidly taking shape.
In that instant, shock rippled everywhere.
The suddenly shifting, berserk battle atmosphere
left everyone utterly stunned!
Right now,
even through the screen,
everyone could clearly feel
that Ichigo's very presence had completely changed.
It was no longer the ordinary aura of a human.
Instead… it was overflowing with wildness and power!
He had completely fallen into
that uniquely feral brutality belonging only to Menos-class Hollows!
That savage aura was terrifyingly fierce,
surging out of the screen in waves!
It actually…
made those viewers with weaker wills
instantly suffer a flood of negative emotions.
They became irritable,
their hearts filled with unease, fear, and discomfort,
some even feeling a severe vertigo!!!
The appearance of this phenomenon
only made the audience feel even more afraid.
When they turned their eyes back to Kurosaki Ichigo,
whose body had already been taken over,
even captain-class powerhouses
felt a powerful sense of dread and… reflexively stepped back!
Driven purely by instinct, they moved away from the screen,
showing exactly the kind of retreat
that only the weak display when faced with someone overwhelmingly strong!!!
——
"This is way too insane…"
"I never thought that monster Hollow Ichigo would just directly take over the real body!"
"Looks like from now on, anyone who fights Kurosaki Ichigo absolutely cannot just casually punch holes in him!!!"
On the outskirts of Karakura Town,
inside the territory of the Visoreds,
Shinji Hirako stared, slack-jawed,
and immediately realized what the real problem was.
Punch a hole in him—
or slice him open—and the cheat activates!
In minutes, it forcibly drags Hollow Ichigo online
to tag in for free and fight in his place!
Looked at this way,
Byakuya Kuchiki was honestly a real good guy.
He used his own life to help the audience find the land mines,
testing out the taboos of fighting Kurosaki Ichigo for everyone.
He really deserved a medal for that!!!
"So that means… in Ichigo's cheat skillset,
he basically comes bundled with an extra 'immortality protection', doesn't he?"
Kensei Muguruma's mouth twitched; he was completely speechless.
The moment Ichigo is on the verge of dying,
he provokes Hollow Ichigo into showing up.
From now on, in any future battles,
there probably won't be any other idiot
who dares casually
to punch holes in Kurosaki Ichigo's body again, right?
"No matter how you look at it…"
"This guy Byakuya Kuchiki is totally done for this time!!!"
Hiyori Sarugaki folded her arms,
speaking in pure schadenfreude.
The moment she saw that fully formed mask,
she had already subconsciously started treating Kurosaki Ichigo as one of them.
And deep down, she had a strong premonition.
That same premonition as before—
that Kurosaki Ichigo would join the Visoreds
and become their ninth new member!
That feeling…
in this very instant,
became even stronger!!!
——
Back to the video.
Just like the audience,
faced with this sudden twist, Byakuya Kuchiki's pupils shrank sharply.
His expression was no longer cold;
it had clearly turned panicked.
He frowned and barked in a low, harsh voice:
"Who… are you really?!"
"Who am I?"
"Ha!!!"
Facing the camera,
Hollow Ichigo suddenly raised his head,
letting out his signature laugh,
a piercing, electronic-sounding cackle:
"A name… I don't have anything like that!!!"
And at that very moment,
for the first time since the countdown video started playing,
something unprecedented happened—
BGM actually kicked in!!!
"Dun-dun-dun…"
The passionate beat
instantly rewrote the entire battle atmosphere.
It was no longer heavy and oppressive,
but instead made everyone's blood surge uncontrollably!
This sudden change
immediately caused an uproar as the viewers once again felt utterly shocked!!!
"Holy crap…"
"They actually gave Hollow Ichigo special background music, just for his first time subbing in?"
"That's some serious VIP treatment!!!"
"The video creator is seriously biased!"
"Even Aizen never got this kind of privilege!!!"
The viewers were stunned,
listening to the background music—so unfamiliar, yet so hype.
Once again, they couldn't help but envy
Kurosaki Ichigo, the main character!
Among them
were also those who had already appeared in previous rounds of the ranking—
Kenpachi Zaraki,
Shunsui Kyōraku,
Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and the others…
Every one of them, after their initial surprise,
found themselves frowning,
complaining that the video creator was showing blatant favoritism!
Why…
does only Kurosaki Ichigo
get his own exclusive battle BGM?
We want one too!!!
——
Then,
in the video—
"Swish—!!!"
Tensa Zangetsu was raised high.
He swung down with a brutal slash,
a strike aimed straight at his opponent.
With the passionate music pounding in the background,
a spray of blood erupted!
Byakuya Kuchiki took damage instantly,
his captain's haori split open by the cut.
And then came another swing!
Right in front of everyone's eyes,
Tensa Zangetsu went wild, hacking away in a frenzy,
sending out slash waves in a completely chaotic pattern!
In the blink of an eye,
the man who had held absolute advantage just a moment before,
who had been one step away from ending the battle,
Byakuya Kuchiki—
suddenly became drenched in blood.
Under Hollow Ichigo's ferocious onslaught,
he had no power to resist at all,
reduced to nothing more than a sandbag.
Hollow Ichigo vented to his heart's content—
all the frustration and anger he'd bottled up
because Kurosaki Ichigo was too weak,
and had been forcing Zangetsu to be suppressed!!!
"Gulp…"
Inside Squad One's barracks,
the sound of throats swallowing echoed one after another.
Right now,
including the Head Captain,
all the Gotei 13 captains stood frozen on the spot,
their eyes filled with shock!
Too outrageous…
Too violent…
In less than a single minute,
Byakuya Kuchiki had been hacked all the way into critical condition?
As expected—
if you're not strong enough, don't blame the road for being uneven.
The same Zanpakutō, in different hands,
has a ridiculous difference in power!
It's not that Zangetsu is weak.
Even in Bankai, it had been unable to beat Byakuya's Senbonzakura.
The problem is…
right now,
Kurosaki Ichigo simply lacks experience,
so he hasn't been able to draw out
the true power that this god-tier Zanpakutō ought to have!!!
"Heh-heh…"
"Byakuya Kuchiki, your luck really is awful…"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi's eyes rolled,
as he sneered coldly:
"With this exclusive BGM going on right now,
no matter who it is,
there's no way they could beat Kurosaki Ichigo in this state!"
"If I were you, I'd quietly step off to the side and just watch the video."
"Otherwise, once you get beaten up too badly
and have to watch yourself lying there as a corpse,
won't that just make you feel even more miserable?"
In truth, these words
perfectly summed up the shared feelings of the other captains.
They all turned their heads,
pulled back their gazes from the screen,
and shifted their eyes to Byakuya Kuchiki.
One after another, they gave him looks
full of sympathy and pity.
Too tragic…
As fellow opponents,
Kenpachi Zaraki had also been cut to a bloody mess,
and lost to Ichigo's resurrection cheat.
But at least,
he'd fought Kurosaki Ichigo himself!
And even then, the result had only been a draw,
both sides badly wounded!
But now,
his opponent had been switched out for Hollow Ichigo.
And mercy was definitely not on the table!
If Hollow Ichigo really decided to kill,
there was every chance he'd just straight-up butcher Byakuya Kuchiki!
That would be the most terrifying outcome of all!!!
"…"
Byakuya Kuchiki stayed silent, at a loss for words.
His face was as cold as ever,
but the corner of his eye twitched heavily.
Because—
the other captains… weren't wrong!
Right now,
if not for his pride
and worry about losing face,
Byakuya really was on the verge of breaking down,
almost unable to bear continuing to watch!
Honestly speaking,
as the heir of a noble house,
he had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
He'd always lived in comfort, never truly suffering losses.
To now be beaten this brutally,
in front of such a huge audience—
this was a first!!!
"Sigh…"
He let out a helpless sigh.
Once he'd thought it through,
Byakuya could only silently pray.
From here on, he could only hope
that Hollow Ichigo would show some mercy!
It wasn't that he couldn't accept defeat.
He just wanted to keep a shred of dignity!
The head of the Kuchiki noble clan
was not some plaything to be casually trampled!!!
——
"Ha! Ichigo…"
"Watch closely now! I'll show you how to use Bankai properly!!!"
Facing the camera,
and the endlessly blaring background music,
Hollow Ichigo swung the Zanpakutō in wild arcs,
using that big finishing move Ichigo had just learned—
Getsuga Tenshō—
as if it were a basic attack!
Under the audience's stunned gazes,
he fired off crazed crimson crescents!
The most absurd part was—
the number of Getsuga slash waves just kept chaining together,
a whole string of them blasting out,
bombarding the ground of Sōkyoku Hill in a carpet-bombing storm!
In the end…
because he couldn't block in time,
Byakuya was swallowed by Getsuga slash waves
coming at him from every direction!
"Rumble——!!!"
After a thunderous blast,
the shockwave of the explosion swept across the entire screen.
Dark-red spiritual pressure surged out of the sword array,
washing across the whole scene.
The red ripples it created
even spilled out of the screen,
blasting away rows of spectators!
In the real world, it triggered
a huge wave of panic!!!
Only after
the dust finally settled
could the audience clearly see
the noble's hairpiece on Byakuya Kuchiki,
the kenseikan symbolizing his noble status—
had been violently shattered with a single slash!!!
His long hair now hung loose,
his previously handsome appearance ruined and utterly disheveled.
Byakuya panted heavily,
his body and face covered in blood.
Such a miserable state
once again brought a powerful visual impact!
It showcased Hollow Ichigo's overwhelming dominance,
and how utterly unstoppable he was
when wielding Zangetsu—
leaving no opening for any counterattack!!!
——
"Too cool!!!"
"I never expected… that Zangetsu could be used like this!"
"Hollow Ichigo basically just gave me a live, hands-on lesson…"
In Karakura Town,
inside the high school,
Kurosaki Ichigo's eyes were wide open,
his face full of excitement.
He'd been completely blown away
by that battle just now
and by those insanely flashy red Getsuga Tenshō!
And,
perhaps because he was the main character,
he seemed to enjoy an extra viewing bonus.
Even as Ichigo himself was too busy watching the fight to notice,
his brain at that moment
was operating at high speed.
It was like he'd turned into an enormous sponge,
frantically absorbing without pause
the correct way to use Zangetsu
that Hollow Ichigo had just personally demonstrated for him!
Just like that,
even though Ichigo right now—
hadn't even awakened his Zanpakutō yet—
inside his mind,
a full set of Hollow-Ichigo-style explosive combat habits
was being loaded in out of nowhere!
It was like a gift-wrapped experience pack from the heavens,
instantly filling up all his empty experience slots.
Even without Ichigo doing anything on purpose,
just by
listening to the background music
while he watched Hollow Ichigo swing Zangetsu around and thrash people,
his strength…
was still skyrocketing!
He became the only viewer
in the entire Bleach world
who truly profited from watching this.
Everyone else could only look on in envy!!!
——
After that,
the plot took a turn.
Kurosaki Ichigo, relying on his willpower,
managed to tear off the Hollow mask once,
forcing Hollow Ichigo out of his spirit body
and taking back control!
On Byakuya Kuchiki's side,
despite being badly wounded,
he still unleashed the final form of his Bankai, Senbonzakura.
"Final Scene—Hakuteiken!!!"
The sword array vanished, space distorted,
all the sakura petals drew together,
compressing into a dense mass of solid spiritual pressure.
They formed a pair of immense, pure-white wings,
coalescing behind Byakuya and spreading out in a stance for flight!
The unveiling of this ultimate technique
naturally drew gasps of awe from the viewers.
And,
it allowed Byakuya Kuchiki
to claw back at least a little bit of face!
However…
on Ichigo's side,
he was likewise pouring all of his spiritual pressure
into Zangetsu with total confidence.
"One blow to decide it all?"
"Don't tell me it's going to be another draw… both sides collapsing again?"
On one side was pure-white wings,
on the other a black sphere of condensed spiritual pressure.
Black and white, clearly distinguished,
clashed against each other, cranking the tension of the viewing experience to the max!
In the end…
"I'm going to kill you, Byakuya Kuchiki!!!"
As Ichigo's body lunged forward,
the two masses of spiritual pressure slammed together violently,
detonating into a gigantic burst of energy.
"Rumble——!!!"
The explosive blast
in an instant engulfed all of Sōkyoku Hill.
The shock even tore straight through the image itself,
reverberating into the living world!
"What a ridiculous clash…"
"Both sides have already used everything they've got, fighting all the way to the bitter end…"
"At this point, who wins or loses honestly doesn't even matter anymore!"
"At the very least, Kurosaki Ichigo and his Zangetsu have proven themselves in overwhelming fashion!"
"They've completely cleared the Soul Society story quest!!!"
Amid a chorus of exclamations,
this chapter of the video was declared concluded.
The viewers could finally see
those scenes that had been hinted at before!
Aizen and his two companions seizing the chance to defect,
standing in the sky—
that scene was now fully revealed.
And everyone realized
that this journey's destination
was now very close at hand.
From beginning to end,
Kurosaki Ichigo's record had been glorious!
Kenpachi Zaraki,
Byakuya Kuchiki,
and earlier, vice-captains like Isane Kotetsu and Chōjirō Sasakibe…
You could say that, relying on his own strength,
he had, while perfectly clearing the stage,
defeated one captain-class opponent after another.
His performance was flawless!
And through this whole experience,
his power had skyrocketed as well!
He had officially gone from a rookie Substitute Shinigami
to leaping straight up
into the realm of a powerful, captain-class combatant!!!
This spectacular stretch of experience
became a favorite topic for the audience:
"Kurosaki Ichigo really didn't let us down!"
"At the very least, he knocked the captains' overconfidence down a peg or two…"
Nnoitra Jiruga sneered,
quite satisfied with the entire story so far.
Even though, up to this point,
Kurosaki Ichigo hadn't clearly taken a side,
and had nothing to do with Hueco Mundo—
still…
the enemy of your enemy is your friend.
Seeing the captains get steamrolled by Ichigo
let Nnoitra enjoy himself immensely.
He found this main character more and more pleasing to the eye!
And then…
"Hey…"
"Don't get too happy yet!"
"Even if Kurosaki Ichigo is a human, at the end of the day he is still a Shinigami!"
"Who can say whether, on his path of growth, his next story quest won't involve us in Hueco Mundo?"
These words from the Skull Emperor
instantly froze everyone where they sat,
their expressions turning terrifying the more they thought about it!
Right—
when you considered Ichigo's lineage,
his body contained the blood and power
of all the different races.
It would be completely natural
for him to cross paths with any of them!
And in that case—
if he finished killing that enemy first…
wouldn't it be Hueco Mundo's Menos and Arrancar on the chopping block next?!
"Holy crap…"
"His next storyline raid isn't going to be our Hueco Mundo, is it?"
A wave of unease surged through the hollows' ranks.
On the Hueco Mundo side, they all looked at one another,
each of them frowning subconsciously.
Given that right now,
the conflict was between Hueco Mundo and the Shinigami—
it was only natural
that the Menos and Arrancar of Hueco Mundo
might end up fighting Kurosaki Ichigo!
In fact, the chances were pretty high!!!
——
Just then,
the transparent light curtain flickered.
A new scene slowly began to play—
"Did D-Roy get rescued?"
"No helping it… next, I'll just have the two of you pay with your lives…"
"Do take care of me, Shinigami…"
"I am Arrancar No. 6—Grimmjow!!!"
Those words
officially signaled the start of a brand-new story arc.
(End of Chapter)
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