Ichigo checked and confirmed that Hitsugaya Tōshirō was indeed unharmed. He nodded and said,
"Then I'll leave Tōshirō to you!"
"Go quickly, Kurosaki Ichigo. But you'd better be mentally prepared for what's coming," Hyōrinmaru said, standing guard over Hitsugaya while warning Ichigo.
Ichigo was a bit stunned but nodded. He then flash-stepped away.
Meanwhile, at the Shinigami Research and Development Institute—
The Wuxing Head, who had been knocked out by Ichigo earlier, was now a test subject under Mayuri's care, accompanied by Ōmaeda.
It wasn't that Mayuri wanted to test something else—he simply wanted to see whether a Zanpakutō that had been defeated by someone else could return to its original master.
The Wuxing Head's mouth was sealed shut, and under Ōmaeda's encouragement, Mayuri and Nemu subjected him to a series of cruel and inhumane experiments.
The final conclusion: impossible!
Unless you defeat your own Zanpakutō with your own hands, it won't return to you.
Not only that, a Zanpakutō defeated by someone else might even cause its original wielder to permanently lose their powers!
For the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, this was not a trivial issue.
With this in mind, Shinigami couldn't just recklessly attack other people's Zanpakutō anymore, because that would prevent them from reclaiming their blades.
In fact, even if a Shinigami captured their own Zanpakutō alive, it wasn't guaranteed it would return to them.
Take Haineko and Tobiume, for instance. Even though they were defeated by Rangiku and Hinamori working together, they were now locked up in the carriage, not returning to their masters' blades.
At this point, it was almost certain that the only way to reclaim your Zanpakutō was either to defeat it yourself completely, or to resolve its inner conflict—like Hyōrinmaru and Mirokumaru.
When Haineko and Tobiume were sent back to the Seireitei, both Rangiku and Hinamori sensed the weakening spiritual pressure of Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
Without a word, the two women dashed towards Hitsugaya's location.
But at a crossroads, they suddenly bumped into Ichigo, who had just left Hitsugaya's side.
"Ow, ow, ow!"
Rangiku rubbed her chest, then looked down—Ichigo was pinned underneath her.
Hinamori had narrowly avoided being knocked over and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness I'm okay!" Rangiku exhaled in relief.
Ichigo, pinned beneath her, complained helplessly,
"I'm not okay, though! Get off me already!"
Only then did Rangiku realize someone was under her. Surprised, she asked,
"Oh, Ichigo, what are you doing here? No wonder I didn't feel any pain!"
Ichigo sighed,
"Nee-san, you're crushing me here! Please get off!"
Rangiku rolled her eyes and stood up, asking,
"Ichigo, did you come from the Captain's place?"
Ichigo got up and nodded,
"Yeah, I came from Tōshirō's side…"
He briefly explained the situation with Hitsugaya and Hyōrinmaru. Hinamori and Rangiku both let out a breath of relief.
At that moment, from a nearby abandoned shack, a strange spiritual pressure emerged. Muramasa stumbled out of a crack in the shack, looking worse for wear.
Not only that, he actually dropped to his knees, panting heavily, clearly struggling.
Ichigo stared at Muramasa in confusion,
"Aren't you supposed to be at the Zanpakutō gathering place? What are you doing here?"
Muramasa didn't answer Ichigo's question. Instead, he said,
"Kurosaki Ichigo… I knew you'd come. It seems there's some deep, deep connection between us."
"That special power of yours… it might help me fulfill a long-cherished wish."
Ichigo thought Muramasa's words were odd. He drew his Zanpakutō and pointed it at him.
"I don't know what connection you're talking about, but I do know that my connection to you is to beat you down right here and now!"
Muramasa slowly stood up, looking more stable. He smirked and reached out his hand toward Ichigo, trying to control Zangetsu inside him again.
But this time, Muramasa failed!
Zangetsu, the elder, glared at Muramasa from inside Ichigo's inner world, wishing he could cut him down himself!
If it weren't for Muramasa, the suppressed Shinigami powers and Hollow powers wouldn't have gone out of control!
Zangetsu figured that if he went out one more time, the white Hollow Ichigo's power might become unstoppable.
So Zangetsu simply said,
"Ichigo, Muramasa's brainwashing is more like a suggestion. It only works when we're unconscious. Now, I can control Muramasa's voice. His suggestions won't work on me anymore."
White Ichigo watched Zangetsu's nonsense with a face full of disdain. He was itching to see if Zangetsu dared to step out again—if he did, White Ichigo was confident he could push Ichigo's power to the next level!
Ichigo nodded, turned to Muramasa, and said,
"Muramasa, your little tricks are completely useless on me now!"
Muramasa tried again but found it truly ineffective—Zangetsu no longer listened to him!
But Muramasa wasn't one to give up easily. He immediately cast a binding spell, trying to restrain Rangiku, Hinamori, and Ichigo all at once.
Yet again, Muramasa miscalculated!
His spiritual pressure wasn't enough!
As he forced it higher, blood tears streamed from Muramasa's eyes. He couldn't maintain the binding spell at all!
"Cough cough cough!" Muramasa let out a few coughs, hands dropping.
Ichigo wasted no time and flash-stepped toward Muramasa with a slash!
But at that critical moment, someone appeared in front of Muramasa—Senbonzakura!
Senbonzakura blocked Ichigo's Zanpakutō.
Ichigo frowned and asked,
"Whose Zanpakutō are you?"
Senbonzakura smirked,
"Even if I don't say, you'll know very soon!"
He threw his Zanpakutō to the ground.
"Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Countless cherry blossoms swirled around Senbonzakura.
Ichigo looked at him in shock,
"You're Senbonzakura?! Where's Byakuya?"
Senbonzakura didn't answer. Instead, he launched the cherry blossoms toward Ichigo and the others.
Hinamori quickly stepped in front of Ichigo and chanted,
"Bakudō #39, Enkosen!"
But the Kidō wasn't enough to block Senbonzakura's Bankai. As the petals rushed in, Rangiku threw herself in front of Hinamori, shielding her from the blast!
Senbonzakura's blade swept at them again—
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
Ichigo's massive black Getsuga tore through Senbonzakura's attack. He looked back and asked,
"Are you okay?"
Hinamori was unharmed, but Rangiku was badly injured, slumped against Hinamori.
"I'm fine… but Rangiku…" Hinamori glanced at the unconscious Rangiku worriedly.
Ichigo barked,
"Get her out of here!"
"Got it!" Hinamori replied, carrying Rangiku away.
Ichigo turned to face Senbonzakura.
"So it was you who attacked me before… Your spiritual pressure is exactly the same as Byakuya's!"
Senbonzakura didn't answer.
Elsewhere, Haineko and Tobiume, who had been sent back to the Seireitei, were rescued by a mysterious figure.
This person didn't kill the escorting Shinigami but easily knocked them out with incredible speed and spiritual pressure.
"It's you?!" Haineko and Tobiume looked at the figure in shock.
Back with Ichigo, he hesitated to attack Senbonzakura—he didn't dare to risk defeating another Shinigami's Zanpakutō. What if he did, and Byakuya couldn't reclaim Senbonzakura?
But such hesitation meant he couldn't put any pressure on Senbonzakura.
All Ichigo could do was keep dodging while Senbonzakura relentlessly pursued him, manipulating the petals in a constant assault.
Frustrated by the sticky fighting style, Ichigo finally let loose,
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
The massive black wave shattered Senbonzakura's petals and sent him flying.
Senbonzakura realized that with his current power, he couldn't threaten Ichigo at all.
He decided to use a technique he hadn't unleashed in the previous fight against Hakuryū—
"Kageyoshi, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Countless Senbonzakura blades formed a sphere around Ichigo, spinning rapidly and compressing his space to dodge!
"This is interesting… Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu!"
As the blades attacked, Ichigo finally activated his Bankai.
"Boom!"
A massive explosion shook the area. Rangiku, carried by Hinamori, was jolted awake.
As she opened her eyes, she immediately saw Ichigo standing before them, completely unharmed, spinning Tensa Zangetsu in his hand.
Rangiku cried out worriedly,
"Ichigo!"
Hinamori's expression turned grim.
But as the dust settled, Ichigo stood tall, spinning Tensa Zangetsu effortlessly, not a single scratch on him. He had blocked Senbonzakura's attack with his spiritual pressure alone.
Seeing this, Rangiku and Hinamori both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, Senbonzakura. I can't wait for Byakuya to come defeat you. I'm going to finish this now!"
Ichigo's spiritual pressure flared as he prepared for his final attack.
Senbonzakura, too, readied himself, gripping his twin Zanpakutō tightly, spiritual pressure surging—
"Then let's settle this in one strike!"
Senbonzakura lunged forward.
As always, Ichigo countered—
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
The black and pink spiritual pressures collided violently. Ichigo shielded Rangiku and Hinamori behind him.
Seeing Ichigo step away from him, Senbonzakura thought he had won. But then, he noticed a crack forming on his mask!
He quickly covered the cracked part with his hand, shocked.
Even with only a small part of his face showing, Ichigo, Rangiku, and Hinamori could all tell—Senbonzakura was a handsome young man.
Ichigo looked at Senbonzakura and said calmly,
"Sorry, Senbonzakura. If it were you and Byakuya together, even I wouldn't have won so easily."
"But if it's just you alone… there's no way you can beat me!"
Hearing this, Senbonzakura's pride was deeply wounded.
He stood up, ready to fight Ichigo to the death.
But at that moment, someone suddenly appeared, grabbing his arm—
It was Kuchiki Byakuya, missing until now!
Everyone's expressions turned to disbelief.
"Captain Byakuya!" Hinamori exclaimed in surprise.
But Rangiku, ever perceptive, noticed something off—Senbonzakura didn't attack Byakuya, which was strange.
"Byakuya, I knew you'd be okay! Rukia—" Ichigo started to say.
Before he could finish, Byakuya suddenly raised his hand and, without chanting, cast Hadō #33, Sōkatsui!
Ichigo was shocked and quickly dodged backward.
Byakuya's sudden attack stunned Hinamori and Rangiku.
Even Muramasa didn't understand what Byakuya was up to!
"What the hell does this mean, Byakuya?! Why are you siding with Muramasa? Have you already submitted to your own Zanpakutō?!"
Ichigo's words struck like a blade—pure, brutal honesty.
But Byakuya was unfazed. He looked at Ichigo and said,
"How could I possibly submit to my Zanpakutō? This is my own will."
"Just as a Zanpakutō follows instinct to express its will, I too simply follow my own instinct."
Even Muramasa laughed,
"Hahahaha! You Shinigami are really something. Let me ask you, what is your instinct? What is your will?"
"My instinct is to uphold and protect my honor. That is all," Byakuya replied calmly.
With that, Byakuya drew his Zanpakutō and pointed it at Ichigo.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, you will not interfere with Muramasa any longer."
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My Patreon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/zaelum]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]