"Old Man Zangetsu, what do I need to do?"
Ichigo himself did not notice that a trace of nervousness had entered his voice.
His Schrift awakening would involve Tsunayoshi as well, and he did not want to fail.
"Relax your mind. Leave the rest to me."
After Old Man Zangetsu finished speaking, he walked toward Ichigo. Just as Ichigo thought Old Man Zangetsu was about to collide with him, the man transformed into a surge of power and merged into Ichigo's body.
Inside Ichigo's inner world.
Old Man Zangetsu had just appeared in the living room of the Kurosaki house when a mocking voice rang out, full of sarcasm and amusement.
"You've decided? You're really going to hand that power over to Ichigo?"
The one speaking was White Ichigo. He was sitting smugly on the sofa, his long legs propped up on the coffee table.
"That power belonged to Ichigo from the beginning," Old Man Zangetsu said calmly.
He still could not get along with this guy.
"Heh. Sounds nice," White Ichigo sneered. "That Sawada Tsunayoshi was right. You never truly trusted Ichigo."
Old Man Zangetsu fell silent for a while.
That was a stain he would never be able to erase.
"I was indeed wrong in the past," he said. "But from this moment onward, I will hold nothing back from Ichigo."
"Tch. Hope you actually mean that."
When it came to giving Ichigo power, White Ichigo could mock Old Man Zangetsu for the rest of his life.
He had never been stingy about giving Ichigo his power. It was just that Ichigo, that massive idiot, had always rejected it.
That issue had only been resolved after Tsunayoshi explained the truth to Ichigo, allowing White Ichigo to return to his rightful position as Zangetsu.
"I'm leaving. Ichigo is coming."
White Ichigo waved his hand and disappeared from the living room.
He disliked Old Man Zangetsu, but that was one thing. He would not interfere with Ichigo.
Today belonged to Ichigo and Old Man Zangetsu. He would not become the unnecessary extra.
"Old Man Zangetsu, why are we back here?"
Ichigo had already entered the living room.
In his mind, training Quincy power should have taken place in a wider outdoor area. The Kurosaki house was still a bit too small and inconvenient for combat.
"To retrieve something I left here."
Old Man Zangetsu did not explain further. He walked straight upstairs.
Following Old Man Zangetsu, Ichigo soon returned to his room.
It was exactly the same as his room in the World of the Living. Ichigo knew this place all too well.
"Old Man Zangetsu, what exactly are we getting?"
Ichigo sat down on his bed and asked.
Old Man Zangetsu bent down in front of Ichigo and dropped to one knee.
Ichigo was so startled that he immediately jumped up.
He had never considered his own power to be a servant, so naturally, he could not accept Old Man Zangetsu making such a gesture.
"Old Man Zangetsu, what are you doing? Hurry up and stand!"
Ichigo shouted anxiously.
"I apologize for my arrogance in the past," Old Man Zangetsu said. "From now on, I will trust you unconditionally."
"Why are you saying this? Old Man Zangetsu, hurry up and get up."
Ichigo walked over and grabbed Old Man Zangetsu's arm.
However, no matter how much strength Ichigo used, Old Man Zangetsu did not move at all.
"Ichigo, apologizing is only the first matter. What comes next is the most important."
Old Man Zangetsu reached under Ichigo's bed.
Then he pulled out something shaped like a black cross.
In truth, Ichigo had overreacted slightly. No matter what, Old Man Zangetsu had needed to bend down to retrieve this cross.
This was the secret he had kept hidden in Ichigo's room all along.
It was the portion of Quincy power that belonged to Ichigo.
"Old Man Zangetsu?"
Ichigo stared blankly at the cross.
He had never known something had been hidden in his room.
Old Man Zangetsu slowly stood up.
The black cross transformed into strips of black cloth that gradually unraveled, revealing pale-blue light.
It was a greatsword.
Including the blade and hilt, it was as tall as Old Man Zangetsu himself. Its guard was also exaggeratedly large. That was why, when wrapped in black, it had taken the form of a cross.
"Ichigo, this is your Quincy power. I sealed it in your room all this time. Now, it is time to return it to you."
Old Man Zangetsu gently pushed it forward.
The blue greatsword, formed from Reishi, stood between him and Ichigo.
Ichigo stared at the sword in a daze.
He could feel warmth from it.
It was the same feeling he had only ever felt from Masaki.
Quincy power.
This was the power his mother, Masaki Kurosaki, had passed down to him.
Drawn in by the greatsword, Ichigo unconsciously raised his hand.
The moment his hand gripped the hilt, blue, tree-like Reishi patterns surged across his entire body.
It was Blut.
Just touching the sword strengthened Ichigo's Blut by several levels.
Immediately afterward, the greatsword transformed into a pure surge of power and flowed into Ichigo's body.
At that moment, the Quincy techniques Ryūken Ishida had taught him became incomparably clear in Ichigo's mind.
He finally understood the structure of those powers from their very roots.
He was no longer forcing his body to memorize those techniques.
Ichigo was evolving.
His entire body was being remade by Quincy power.
Old Man Zangetsu looked deeply at Ichigo, then left Ichigo's inner world.
He was not worried that Ichigo's transformation would fail.
This had belonged to Ichigo from the beginning.
In Soul Society, Old Man Zangetsu once again stepped out from Ichigo's body.
Muramasa's power was still active, allowing Zanpakutō spirits to freely enter and exit their blades.
"Ichigo is accepting his Quincy power. It will take some time," Old Man Zangetsu said.
He did not need to explain. But for Ichigo's sake, he still came out.
"All right. Thanks, Old Man Zangetsu," Tsunayoshi said with a wave.
Old Man Zangetsu glanced at Tsunayoshi, then returned once again to Ichigo's inner world.
He was not one of those playful Zanpakutō spirits. Unless necessary, he would not leave Ichigo.
More importantly, his appearance was far too similar to the real Yhwach. If he appeared casually in Soul Society, he would only bring Ichigo even greater trouble.
After Old Man Zangetsu disappeared, all the Reishi in the underground space began gathering toward Ichigo.
The Reishi connected into threads, then wove together into a cocoon that wrapped around Ichigo.
Within that Reishi cocoon, Ichigo was undergoing a transformation.
Knowing that Ichigo needed time, no one intended to leave.
They merely sat cross-legged in a corner and quietly waited for Ichigo to emerge.
"Tsunayoshi," Uryū Ishida said, "if I returned the power of The Antithesis to my mother, would it have a greater effect?"
Because of Old Man Zangetsu's words, Uryū had begun thinking too much.
"What are you thinking?" Tsunayoshi said irritably. "First of all, Aunt Kanae definitely wouldn't agree to that. And even if she did, could you really bear to let her go onto the battlefield?"
"This is Schrift A. Once the war begins, Aunt Kanae wouldn't be able to avoid it."
"But…"
A difficult, indescribable feeling clogged Uryū's chest.
His mastery of The Antithesis was indeed not progressing quickly, much less his mastery of the stronger Vollständig.
"The power of The Antithesis was given to you, so use it properly," Tsunayoshi said. "You can be the one to hold up the sky for the Ishida family, can't you? When the time comes, give Uncle Ryūken a good show of attitude."
Because of Tsunayoshi's appearance, the relationship between Ryūken and Uryū had already eased considerably.
However, with Ryūken's terrible way of expressing himself while teaching, Uryū's relationship with him still could not be called especially good.
"I understand," Uryū said. "By the way, why didn't you ask how Quincy Vollständig is trained?"
Uryū was curious.
If there was a shortcut, Tsunayoshi should not have let it slip by.
"The Wandenreich perfected the final form of Vollständig. Putting aside whether Old Man Zangetsu even knows about it, if he really does know, do you think he would hide it from Ichigo, who has obtained Quincy power?"
Tsunayoshi had never planned to obtain that much from Old Man Zangetsu.
Being able to draw out a Schrift was already more than enough to be thankful for.
After all, Old Man Zangetsu was not his Zanpakutō spirit.
As for whether Old Man Zangetsu would later teach Ichigo how to use Vollständig, did they really have to worry that Ichigo would not pass it on to his friends?
So Uryū's concern was completely unnecessary.
They simply had to trust Ichigo.
After half a day passed, the glowing Reishi cocoon began peeling away layer by layer from top to bottom, revealing Ichigo's head.
It seemed Ichigo had finished absorbing his Quincy power.
Everyone immediately gathered around him.
Ichigo's appearance had changed.
His upper body was covered by a Quincy-style white coat with a standing collar and red inner lining. Beneath it, he wore a tight black undershirt with white patterns.
His lower half still resembled a Shihakushō. The upper half of the Shihakushō had been removed and tied around his waist.
The most eye-catching thing was the black bow in Ichigo's hand.
The bow's body was formed from a distorted manji-like shape. It resembled a diamond-shaped manji, and a trace of red Reishi circled around Ichigo.
This was Ichigo's Quincy form.
Its main structure had still transformed based on the power of Tensa Zangetsu, allowing Ichigo to adapt more easily to his Quincy power.
It had to be said that Ichigo in this form possessed a completely different kind of handsomeness compared to his Shinigami state.
He looked far sharper and more dashing.
Orihime's eyes were practically sparkling beside him.
At Tatsuki's signal, everyone tacitly took a step back.
Tatsuki gently pushed Orihime forward, causing her to tumble into Ichigo's arms.
"I-Ichigo… I'm sorry…"
Orihime's face had already turned so red that she could barely speak.
She was both happy and embarrassed.
Happy because she was the first to touch Ichigo in this form.
Embarrassed because she had done such a thing in front of everyone.
Ichigo was not stupid.
After spending so many years with Orihime, he had long understood her feelings.
He gently patted Orihime's head and asked, "Do I look cool?"
"Cool. Very cool!"
Orihime answered firmly.
Of course, her words were not very convincing.
As long as it was Ichigo Kurosaki, she would think he was cool no matter what.
"Hmph, Tsunayoshi, I succeeded."
Ichigo held Orihime's hand and spoke with a smug expression.
"Congratulations," Tsunayoshi said. "So, what is your Schrift power?"
Tsunayoshi was curious.
It was definitely A. That much was certain.
But as the chosen child of this world, Ichigo's exact ability was still something worth being curious about.
"This?" Ichigo said, recalling Old Man Zangetsu's words. "Old Man Zangetsu told me it's Schrift A — Annihilate. The extermination of all things."
Tsunayoshi's face showed an expression that said, As expected.
Whether it was his Shinigami power or his Quincy power, Ichigo's strength was always reflected through overwhelming raw stats.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789