Kyūtōryū twirled his Mokugara Blade, releasing a wave of thick white fog that quickly enveloped Senna.
"Hahahaha! Little girl, this is my power—I can elementalize myself within the mist. You'll never land a hit on me!"
Hearing his arrogant laugh, Senna was momentarily stunned.
Seriously? Did this guy just put himself into the perfect trap?
Mist?
That's exactly my specialty…
With a strange expression, Senna released her Zanpakutō.
"Fall into the veiled night, Mirokumaru!"
The moment her Zanpakutō appeared, a formless whirlwind surged from her feet.
The fog, infused with spiritual pressure, was blown away effortlessly!
"What?! What kind of Zanpakutō is this?!" Kyūtōryū shouted, panicked—his elemental form was beginning to unravel.
Senna looked around, unimpressed.
"Too bad for you. My Zanpakutō controls the wind. Your mist? Completely countered."
Raising Mirokumaru, she chanted:
"Devour and swallow! Mirokumaru!"
A vortex of wind formed around her and rapidly expanded into a tornado!
The suction force instantly pulled in the surrounding mist, grinding it like a blender.
And Senna, standing at the center, remained completely unaffected. She continued to twirl her blade, increasing the tornado's power.
Trapped within, Kyūtōryū couldn't even grunt—he was shredded to ash on the spot.
Once the mist had fully dissipated, Senna retracted Mirokumaru and waited. Seeing no sign of her opponent, she turned and left.
But unbeknownst to her, Kyūtōryū's Mokugara Blade hadn't been destroyed. It remained on the ground. Only after she flew away on the wind did assassins from the Kasumiōji family emerge and retrieve it.
Meanwhile, Tatsuki's battle with Enya ended in a clash of raw force—culminating in a fireball composed of one-third of her spiritual pressure, incinerating her foe to ash.
Now, only one battlefield remained.
In the sky, Hanzo Nukui faced Ichigo.
"You're really powerful, Kurosaki Ichigo! I'd only heard your name before, but never imagined your power would be this immense! I've dreamed of fighting you!"
Ichigo stared, unable to understand this fanatic energy.
This guy's even crazier than Zaraki… chasing me down just to fight.
"But I was too weak," Hanzo continued. "So I sold my soul to the devil to become strong enough to challenge you!"
He gripped his glowing Mokugara Blade dramatically.
Ichigo shook his head.
"I don't know where you heard my name, but let me make one thing clear—I don't enjoy fighting."
"What? Someone with your strength doesn't like fighting?" Hanzo was dumbfounded. He and Ichigo were like two completely different beings.
But Ichigo only fought to protect. Not for the sake of battle.
"Then I'll beat it into you!" Hanzo roared, his spiritual pressure surging—almost to Captain level.
Ichigo hadn't expected the Mokugara Blade to boost power this much.
Noticing the mirror on Hanzo's arm, Ichigo knew it was the blade's true core—this was already their third encounter.
Without even using Bankai, Ichigo's Shunpo—honed from Yoruichi—gave him overwhelming speed.
His constantly shifting form left Hanzo disoriented.
"Stop dodging! Face me head-on!" Hanzo yelled, spinning in the air trying to catch Ichigo.
But Ichigo's speed kept increasing—until Hanzo couldn't keep up.
Then Ichigo seized the moment.
Appearing before Hanzo's face, his Zanpakutō already in crescent form, Ichigo slashed—
CRACK!
—not at Hanzo's body, but at the mirror on the Mokugara Blade.
The mirror shattered into countless shards.
"Hmph. Now you can't create your mirror world anymore."
Hanzo sneered.
"True… once, that would've worried me. But now—!"
He raised both hands toward the moon, the shards of mirror reflecting the light in all directions.
Brilliant light surrounded Ichigo, forming a bizarre illusionary realm.
"Haha! This is checkmate!"
But suddenly, the illusion started showing unstable distortions.
"What?! Why?!" Hanzo cried out. The space had become unstable—beyond even his control.
CRACK!
The sound of breaking mirrors again.
This time, far faster than expected.
"RAAAHH!!"
Ichigo's roar shattered the illusion, and he appeared right in front of Hanzo once more.
"No way! That was my strongest illusion technique, the one that sacrifices the mirror—!"
Aizen Sōsuke: Strongest illusion? Yeah, right...
But something had changed about Ichigo.
In his right hand, he still held his classic oversized Zangetsu.
But his left… now wielded a completely new, pitch-black Zanpakutō, resembling a massive ōdachi over three meters long.
"Impressive," Ichigo said calmly, pointing the blade at Hanzo. "You actually forced me to use this."
"Wait… you're not supposed to have two Zanpakutō!" Hanzo stammered.
Ichigo tilted his head.
"Says who?"
Hanzo's face darkened. He tore off his heavy armor—revealing the grotesque truth beneath.
Half his body was wrapped in monstrous, octopus-like tentacles.
On his right arm, a large yellow eye blinked.
"Ugh…" Ichigo's pupils contracted.
"What is that?"
Hanzo's face contorted with pain.
"To gain the power to fight you, I had to pay a price!"
He raised his spiritual pressure again.
"GYAAAAGH!"
The tentacles began devouring more of his body—his entire upper torso became engulfed. Though stronger, Hanzo now looked like a man doomed to die.
Ichigo stared.
"Why? Why go this far just to fight me?"
"For the Kasumiōji family!!" Hanzo screamed.
"But Rurichiyo's right here—why not protect her instead of trying to kill her?!"
"You don't understand!" Hanzo shouted, enraged.
"I was born in the Kasumiōji household. Our family once forged secret blades for the royal family—blades so forbidden, they killed their own allies after defeating Hollows to preserve the secret!"
Ichigo was stunned.
He had no idea the Kasumiōji family did such things.
"This legacy shouldn't have continued… but as long as Hollows exist, so must Kasumiōji!"
"But look at our heir—Kasumiōji Rurichiyo! She's just a child! What can she do? Can she uphold the ancestral ways? Can she even wield a Mokugara Blade?!"
"She can't! So for the good of our house—she must die! A child like her can't inherit the family legacy!"
After his outburst, Hanzo looked at Ichigo.
But Ichigo only stared back, completely bewildered.
"…I don't get it," he said. "None of what you're saying makes any sense."
Hanzo sensed Ichigo's fury.
"That kind of filthy tradition… is that really worth preserving?"
"She is just a child. And that's exactly why you don't force such darkness onto her!" Ichigo's rage boiled over.
Hanzo sighed.
"It seems we'll never agree."
Ichigo nodded grimly.
Hanzo's Mokugara Blade began glowing purple, compressing massive energy into his right arm.
"Then DIE!!"
Hanzo swung his blade.
A violet slash tore toward Ichigo.
Ichigo merely lifted his black blade and gently swung.
CRASH!
Hanzo's "full-power" strike was shattered instantly.
"Not enough. You need more power. Only then can you protect Kasumiōji…"
Hanzo had gone mad.
Ichigo sighed.
At this point, it wasn't clear who controlled who anymore—the man, or the blade.
"Stop. That thing will devour you!"
Even though Hanzo had come to kill him, Ichigo couldn't help but respect his conviction.
He knew—sometimes, people had no other path because of the world they lived in.
"No, Kurosaki Ichigo! Even if it consumes me—I'll KILL YOU! I won't let you ruin Lord Kagerōza's plan!"
Hanzo's voice began to distort.
Ichigo watched as his body swelled, emitting purple light.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, Hanzo Nukui expanded to his limit—and was obliterated into dust.
Ichigo looked on in silence.
"These Mokugara Blades really are an abyss… once you touch them, they'll consume you piece by piece."
He turned to return to Rurichiyo's side.
Meanwhile, in the Kasumiōji family's underground chamber…
Kagerōza stood before four Mokugara Blades, shaking his head.
"All turned into nourishment for the blades, huh?"
No one answered.
From the shadows, Kifune, Third Seat of Squad Three, stepped forward.
Seeing him, Kagerōza smiled in satisfaction.
As the Gotei 13 prepared for a new joint-training operation proposed by Captain Amagai Shūsuke, the Kasumiōji family also began their next phase.
The very next day, they announced the engagement of Rurichiyo Kasumiōji to Yanezaburō.
The news quickly reached the World of the Living.
At Urahara's shop, Ichigo and the others were summoned for an urgent meeting.
"What's going on, Sandal Hat?" Ichigo asked as he entered.
Yoruichi answered calmly, "Take a seat first, Ichigo. We'll explain everything."
Ichigo clicked his tongue but sat. Rukia and Senna came in behind him and sat at his sides.
(End of Chapter)
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