Seeing that his Heilig Pfeil could shatter the blades, a flash of inspiration struck Ichigo Kurosaki.
He immediately leaped up, jumping high into the sky.
Rapidly pulling the bowstring, he rained down countless Heilig Pfeil to strafe the blades stuck in the ground.
He intended to destroy all the fake blades!
The real Zangetsu would not be easily pierced by Heilig Pfeil!
His idea was quickly verified.
The rain of arrows descending from the sky pierced the blades on the ground, and the number of intact blades decreased rapidly.
Soon, only one blade remained on the ground that the Heilig Pfeil could not pierce.
"That's the one, the real Zangetsu!"
Ichigo rejoiced in his heart and vanished from the air.
In the next moment, Ichigo appeared beside the blade, grabbed the handle wrapped in bandages, and pulled out the real Zangetsu.
"Old Man Zangetsu!" Ichigo slashed out a golden crescent moon toward the group of Old Man Zangetsus. "I win!"
"Well done... Ichigo..."
The Old Man Zangetsus did not dodge and were instantly swallowed by the golden crescent moon.
Boom—!!!
A voice rang out from the bottom of Ichigo's heart along with the sound of the explosion: "When you need power, call out the true name of 'Tensa Zangetsu'..."
Ichigo used Shunpo to get to Sora's side and said excitedly: "Grandmaster, I succeeded!"
Sora nodded gently: "Congratulations! Your Quincy foundation is very solid, which is why you could complete the training so quickly. Now, try out the power you just mastered."
Ichigo had been a Quincy for many years; his foundation was solid and his Spiritual Pressure was abundant, so it was only natural for him to quickly gain Old Man Zangetsu's recognition.
Ichigo raised Zangetsu, Spiritual Pressure surging in his body, and shouted in a low voice:
"Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu!"
The Zangetsu in his hand immediately emitted a dazzling light.
Sora was also curious about Ichigo's so-called "Bankai," so he observed the flow of Spiritual Pressure within Ichigo.
A part of the Spiritual Pressure in Ichigo's body was contracting and condensing on his body surface, transforming into a slim-fitting long black coat.
In this instant, Sora, who was familiar with both Quincy power and Shinigami power, sensed that Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure possessed the characteristics of both powers simultaneously.
In the next moment, Zangetsu turned into a black straight sword.
The tsuba (handguard) of the black straight sword was in the shape of a swastika, and a black iron chain was connected to the end of the black-and-red hilt.
"Mainly Quincy power, but including a little Shinigami power." Sora figured out Ichigo's Bankai.
Ichigo's Quincy power, 'Old Man Zangetsu', was still suppressing 'White', which represented Shinigami and Hollow powers; the two had not completely fused.
When he performed "Bankai," the Quincy power combined with a portion of the Shinigami power to achieve a transformation similar to Bankai.
However, this fusion was still very shallow. Most of the Shinigami power in his body was still being suppressed by Old Man Zangetsu, so his strength after Bankai was still far from a true Transcendent.
"Tensa Zangetsu... If 'Zangetsu' represents the Shinigami, then 'Tensa' represents the Quincy power. Tensa Zangetsu is the result of combining the two!"
It could be said that Ichigo was born with the aptitude to become a Transcendent. He only needed to excavate the power hidden in his body to naturally step onto the path of a Transcendent.
"My Spiritual Pressure... has become so much stronger!" Ichigo felt that his Spiritual Pressure had increased more than ten times after Bankai.
Sora glanced at Ichigo's stats panel:
[Ichigo Kurosaki]
[Talent: SSS]
[Spiritual Pressure: lv100]
Sora had taught Ichigo for over ten years as a Quincy teacher. Just now, Ichigo had also eaten the 'Temporary Soul' meatballs made by Kirio Hikifune. The current Ichigo was much stronger than the original version who just mastered Bankai. After Bankai, he directly reached the level of Grade 1 Spiritual Power!
Sora hooked his finger at Ichigo: "Try swinging your sword at me."
Ichigo scratched his head: "I'm very strong right now! I might hurt you, Grandmaster!"
He was getting cocky.
The current him was worlds apart from before.
If he faced himself from before coming to the Soul Society, he could cut him down with a single stroke now!
Even against those Shinigami Captains who had defeated him, he had the confidence to defeat them now, and the process might be quite easy.
So he was worried about hurting his Grandmaster.
Ichigo wasn't a fool. The meatballs Grandmaster gave him increased his Spiritual Pressure so much; they must be precious items.
He also gave him a Substitute Shinigami badge, solving the identity problem completely, and now taught him "Bankai."
He remembered all of Grandmaster's kindness!
So he didn't want to swing his sword at Grandmaster.
Because his power grew too fast, he couldn't control his power precisely for the time being.
He would hurt Grandmaster!
"You worry too much. It's not that easy to hurt me." Sora shook his head gently, raised his right hand, and gestured. "Cut here."
Seeing Grandmaster insist, Ichigo couldn't refuse anymore. He thought about holding back some strength to appease him: "Alright... be careful!"
Whoosh—
Ichigo vanished from the spot instantly. In the next moment, the black blade slashed onto the palm of Sora's right hand.
"Hm?" Ichigo felt the tactile sensation was a bit wrong.
The feeling transmitted from the hilt was the same as cutting into flesh, but it wasn't the sensation of slicing through flesh, nor the sensation of being blocked by Spiritual Pressure.
Ichigo continued to apply force, but the sensation remained the same.
It was clearly a body of flesh and blood, yet the sharp blade didn't harm it in the slightest.
"Use full power," Sora urged.
Ichigo realized something was wrong, and Spiritual Pressure surged in his body.
This time, he didn't suppress his Spiritual Pressure and slashed again.
The black blade slashed onto the palm, but the result was exactly the same as before.
"What is going on!!!"
Ichigo couldn't believe it. His Spiritual Pressure had skyrocketed so much, yet he couldn't even cut Grandmaster's skin. The improvement just now seemed fake.
"Your Spiritual Pressure indeed possesses the characteristics of both Quincy power and Shinigami power simultaneously, but the Shinigami part is still too weak." Sora smiled and withdrew his hand. He had just experienced Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure at close range and confirmed that his guess was correct.
"What?"
Ichigo didn't understand.
"You need to balance the several powers within your body to truly step across the threshold of a Transcendent," Sora said with a smile. "A Transcendent is one who transcends Shinigami, transcends Quincies, transcends Hollows—one who transcends limits."
"Transcend limits? Grandmaster... has already transcended Shinigami?"
Ichigo was stunned. Even Captain-class Shinigami powerhouses still belonged to the category of Shinigami; one couldn't say they transcended Shinigami. But Grandmaster claimed to have transcended Shinigami, which meant Grandmaster and Shinigami were no longer in the same dimension!
Sora nodded gently: "Work hard. Your power has increased a lot suddenly, but don't get carried away. There is still a long way to go."
"Stay in the dojo for a few more days. Spar with other disciples to get familiar with your expanded power."
Sora grabbed Ichigo's shoulder, and the two instantly returned to the dojo.
Rukia was sweeping the floor in the courtyard. Seeing the two return, she couldn't help but wonder: "Weren't you going to train for Bankai? You're back so soon?"
"I have already mastered Bankai!"
Ichigo hadn't deactivated Bankai yet, so he took the opportunity to show Rukia his changes.
"So fast!"
Rukia looked surprised.
"Grandmaster is so amazing... I mastered Bankai but couldn't hurt Grandmaster even a bit..."
"That is natural. Professor is the Head Captain of the Gotei 13 and also the strongest Shinigami!"
"Grandmaster is actually the Head Captain!"