Despair.
Despair had descended before Ichigo Kurosaki. He had unleashed a self-destructive finishing move, pouring out enough power to cause his very cells to rupture. And yet, the root of all evil—Sosuke Aizen—remained standing, tall and composed.
『...Ah, magnificent. Never have I felt the heavens so close...!』
His voice, overflowing with delight, made the very air vibrate.
Ichigo's despair wasn't just that his enemy was alive. It was the "evolution" born of a predator's survival instinct. The Hogyoku, responding to the crisis of its master, had elevated the Demon King into an even higher state of being.
As Ichigo stood paralyzed with terror, Aizen finished inspecting his new body and slowly turned to face him.
『I see. It seems you have a sense of déjà vu regarding this form.』
"Ah... h..."
Aizen's handsome features twisted into a smirk of dark pleasure.
He was right. The marble-like texture of his body, the folds of spiritual pressure that looked like tattered cloth connecting his chest to the wings on his back... the former was a trait of the Hogyoku-monster, and the latter reminded Ichigo of the girl he had met in the world of memories.
Was it a coincidence, or an inevitability born of a dark causality? Looking at Aizen's alien appearance, a single phrase the "Goddess" had spoken flashed through Ichigo's mind.
—The blade of atonement that bleaches all colors.
It was the metaphor for White, the Hollow she had bestowed upon him. But those words, meant as a protective charm, now weighed on him like a curse.
Aizen's new form was a mockery of that hope. He was a being of "Pure White."
『What is the matter, Ichigo Kurosaki? Why do you stare?』
"I'm... not staring!"
『You are the only one who can protect Karakura Town. Your will to fight is the final hope for the humans living there.』
"I know that! I'm going to... PROTECT THEM!"
Shaking off the ominous chill, the hero stood his ground. He ignored the blood pouring from his ruptured flesh and shattered bones.
The battle resumed. With a single swing, mountains were sliced in half and disappeared. The wasteland was transformed into a canyon by a level of destruction that felt like divine judgment.
"Not yet! I can still fight!!"
『...』
The heavens and the earth were torn asunder. The spiritual pressure of these transcendents erased everything it touched, turning the air into a toxic slurry of spirit particles. The battlefield became a literal hell of vacuum and ash where night and day seemed to swap with every blink of an eye.
I'm the only one left. I have to win.
"Damn it! DAMN YOU!"
Ichigo's face was distorted with exhaustion. No matter how much power he put into his strikes, Aizen parried them all. The power dynamic had shifted completely from their previous clash, where the mere aftershocks of Ichigo's swings had wounded the man. Aizen shifted half a step to evade a vertical strike that split the earth and casually brushed aside a horizontal slash that carved through the atmosphere. With every move, Aizen's white eyes grew clouded with disappointment.
Faced with a hero desperate to break the stalemate, Aizen lowered his sword and stood defenseless, exposing his chest to the full power of Tensa Zangetsu.
"TAKE THIS!!"
—GETSUGA TENSHO—
The blue-black spiritual pressure vaporized the mountain range. The scream of the world being torn apart echoed across the entirety of the Soul Society. In the midst of a dust storm so thick he couldn't tell left from right, Ichigo stood frozen, his sword still swung low.
Blood sprayed from his body as the backlash hit him. Spiritual pressure ate away at his limbs, leaving him unable to move. Even his final ounce of willpower was...
"What...?"
His blade was vibrating violently, let out a low, groaning hum. The sensation of striking something impossibly hard traveled up the hilt. Ichigo went pale.
『—It seems you finally understand.』
Aizen's low baritone reached his ears, forcing him to face reality.
"No... way..."
Aizen released a pulse of Reiatsu, clearing the dust.
In front of the youth stood Sosuke Aizen. His white chest was exposed, without a single scratch or blemish upon it.
『This is the gap between our ranks.』
I won't accept it. I can't. Ichigo let out a ragged gasp.
『...A fine expression, Ichigo Kurosaki.』
"Ah... h..."
『Kenpachi Zaraki, Byakuya Kuchiki, Ulquiorra. Every time you faced a powerful foe and had your confidence shattered, you fell into despair... and every time, you stood back up.』
『—By drawing out a new power from within yourself.』
Ichigo's breath hitched at the words.
『Every one of your enemies underestimated you, and in the end, they lost. Whether you were being cut down by Kenpachi, pushed to your limit by Byakuya's spiritual pressure, or had a hole blown through your chest by Ulquiorra... in the face of death, you always awakened to a power that surpassed theirs and won.』
"..."
『I have watched every step of your journey. And with every victory you claimed, my suspicion grew into a certainty: that your blade would eventually reach my own throat.』
The talent Aizen had granted Ichigo was the blood of an elite spiritual race and the power of a mighty Vasto Lorde. As an existence that could never occur naturally, his potential was bottomless—making him the perfect subject for Aizen's research.
『And simultaneously, I realized something. The power of my original Hogyoku was insufficient to surpass your rate of growth.』
The Demon King continued.
Aizen's first Hogyoku, nurtured by consuming the souls of thousands of unremarkable Soul Reapers, possessed a great "diversity of evolution," but lacked the "depth of evolution" required to fight Ichigo Kurosaki. He had realized this after comparing it to the second Hogyoku he had given Momo Hinamori. The reason was simple: the souls that made up his first Hogyoku were—unlike Momo's—nothing more than the souls of the weak, people who were easily left behind by his own bottomless ambition.
『I am the only one who can follow the heights I seek. And the only one who truly understands those heights... is "Her."』
"!!?"
Ichigo was speechless as the implication hit him. If that's true... if that's really it...
Then the true nature of his Hogyoku is...
『...Truly, I am constantly reminded. The true divide between the divine and the mortal... exists within the "Heart."』
The Demon King, wearing that same cold, thin smile, delivered the ultimate truth to the broken hero.
『—Exactly, Ichigo Kurosaki. The souls that serve as the core of this Hogyoku...』
...are the cloned souls of myself, and the cloned souls of Momo Hinamori.
***
"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!"
A flash of violet-black light incinerated the horizon.
Ichigo screamed in agony as his body was scorched by a barrage of astronomical spiritual pressure.
『...Hmm. As I thought, power on this scale is difficult to handle. A single misstep in adjustment and even a warrior like you is reduced to ash.』
The master of the divine flame, Sosuke Aizen, looked down at the youth on the ground from the air. This was the difference in their "Rank."
『This is a pathetic display, Ichigo Kurosaki. Anyone who looks at your past battles would know you are still hiding the depths of your power. A man loved by the Goddess should not grovel in the dirt so pathetically.』
"Gah... h... damn it..."
『If it is impossible for you as a human, then surrender your body to the Hollow within you. Just as you did to defeat Byakuya and Ulquiorra, use that high-speed regeneration to mend your broken limbs. An existence created by her should have the means to fight me.』
The Demon King boasted to the battered Ichigo. Before that power, I will show you even further evolution, he seemed to say.
But the youth only breathed heavily. Aizen, growing irritated, flicked his wrist and sent a barrage of falling comets crashing around Ichigo.
『...Did you not hear me? I told you to stand.』
"Gah!"
Ichigo was blown back by the shockwave, flying through the air like a piece of trash. As he collapsed onto the desertified earth, his consciousness fading, a single memory surfaced in his mind.
—You are a treasure, Ichigo.
It was a sad, tragic farewell.
『Before you came here, you already broke through one wall with that girl's help. A wall so high and thick it separates the insects from the transcendents.』
"Ugh... a..."
The "Hero of Inevitability" rolled across the sand, helpless against Aizen's follow-up. But looking into Aizen's white eyes, he saw that the heat of expectation was still burning.
『If you could do it once, then surely you can overcome any new wall that stands in your path. Is that not right, Ichigo Kurosaki?』
Step by step, death approached. As his body was scorched by the terrifying spiritual pressure, Ichigo stared into the Demon King's eyes.
Ah... there it is again. That look.
He remembered this feeling. He had felt it when he faced Gin Ichimaru.
He's looking at me, but he isn't. It's like he's looking right through me at someone else. It's unsettling. It's disgusting.
Who is he looking at? What is he looking for? My power? My talent? Or...
『What are you doing, Hero of Man? Surely this cannot be the end of your evolution.』
"..."
『Or did that girl really fail to realize the true nature of my Hogyoku? Did she think that meager amount of help was enough to send you against me?』
Ichigo gripped his sword, looking up into the blank irises filled with disappointment.
My soul-partner, Zangetsu.
I wonder how they're doing right now. Are they angry at their pathetic King? Are they disappointed? Or are they screaming at me, trying to cheer me up?
He had wanted to be with them for even one second longer. He had wanted to fight with them and claim victory together.
Ah, but...
『It seems that to draw out every bit of your potential, you require the pure terror of death.』
The white angel of death raised his sword—a blade that had fused with his hand. It was the same state Ichigo was in.
The scene repeated: Ichigo groveling, Aizen holding his life in his hands. But there would be no mercy this time. Yet, even as death loomed, Ichigo's mind was elsewhere.
"Zangetsu..."
A stroke from the Demon King—one that far surpassed any Getsuga Tensho—descended toward Ichigo.
In the moment before his death, his mind fled to a landscape of dreams.
To the world of the Zanpakuto, where countless navy blue skyscrapers pierced the heavens.
***
The sound of clashing steel stopped.
How much time had passed? The three-month battle in his inner world—an eternity of struggle—had finally ended because he had surrendered himself to the intuition he had found at the peak of his spirit.
『...You finally noticed, Ichigo.』
The youth known as Tensa Zangetsu, with chains running along his right arm and a single horn mask covering half his face, finally spoke.
"There's... no pain..."
『Of course. We are your own power. If you accept us, we have no reason to hurt you.』
He spoke in a voice that sounded like he was suppressing something deep inside.
It was a strange sight. The youth's white blade was thrust through Ichigo's chest, yet not a single drop of blood fell from the wound. Instead, something fell onto the roof of the skyscraper.
Drip.
"Zangetsu...?"
Ichigo asked in confusion. Through the tip of the blade, a bottomless, tragic emotion flowed into his chest.
『...Ichigo.』
The white Zangetsu looked up and called his master's name. Ichigo gasped at the single trail of light on the spirit's face and the tremor in his voice.
It was a tear.
Zangetsu—his "power"—was crying.
"Why...?"
『Ichigo... you are my treasure. I have learned so much from you... and you have given me so much.』
The youth's monologue continued.
『The name I first gave you did not reach you... but thanks to you, we were able to meet you under the name "Zangetsu."』
"..."
『I was happy. I was fulfilled. Finally, my voice could reach you. The emotion of that moment... it was a happiness worth any price...』
Price. He had used that word. Zangetsu answered the King's unasked question.
『I wanted you to live without knowing conflict.』
"!"
Ichigo's eyes widened.
『I wanted you to live in a world without the pain of the blade or the terror of the battlefield. I wanted you to live a life of peace, as an innocent human born into a peaceful age.』
"Zangetsu..."
Those were not words a Zanpakuto—an embodiment of a Soul Reaper's power—should speak.
『But you were born with a great destiny. A tragic fate that only you could fulfill.』
Zangetsu claimed that "all the blame lies with me," speaking with a profound sense of regret. Ichigo didn't understand the meaning, but he vaguely realized that his spirit—like the masked girl—was carrying a secret he couldn't share.
『...The Final Getsuga Tensho.』
Ichigo braced himself. He had endured this long, grueling trial for one reason: to master this technique. But as he reached for it, his chest—pierced by Zangetsu's blade—was filled only with loneliness.
『The technique will flow into you from the Tensa Zangetsu you have accepted into your heart.』
"Ah..."
The white youth let go of the blade and began to pull away.
At the start of the trial, Ichigo had asked why what he wanted to protect was not what Zangetsu wanted to protect. As he looked back at his King one last time, Zangetsu finally answered.
『What I wanted to protect was—』
***
Thump. A powerful spiritual pulse made the atmosphere tremble.
Aizen stopped his descending blade at the precursor of the change. He watched in shock as the hero transformed before his eyes.
"I'll show you..."
"—the Final Getsuga Tensho."
A spiritual power of astronomical scale surged toward the sky. It was a torrent of shimmering darkness, as if the Milky Way itself had erupted from the earth. The Demon King reflexively put distance between them, and there, he saw a hero.
『...You... can it be...!?』
Long, pitch-black hair fluttered in the wind.
Bandages of blue-grey spirit energy wrapped around his entire body, leaving only his left shoulder exposed.
From the gap in the bandages around his eyes, a pair of crimson irises—the same color as his spiritual power—stared out.
The Zanpakuto that had been fused to his right hand was gone, replaced by a flickering, clinging aura of pitch-black spiritual pressure.
The hero clad in every shade of "Black" was Ichigo Kurosaki.
Possessing a power that was clearly neither Soul Reaper nor Hollow, the resurrected hero stood there, radiating a spiritual pressure that felt infinite.
『Tch! This is...』
The surrounding terrain began to vaporize. His very existence was a threat to the world—it was the spiritual status of a god. Facing the human youth who had reached such a height, Aizen gasped for a second...
『—HAHAHAHAHA!!』
...and then erupted into a crazed laughter of pure joy.
『Hahahaha! Magnificent! Truly splendid, you gifted doll! Is that the "Third Power" sleeping within you!? Or is it the blessing of the oracle—the masterpiece the Goddess wrote to defeat me!?』
"..."
『No, it doesn't matter! The fact that you have shown me the possibility of even further evolution right now... that is the only thing that matters!』
I knew it. He is the ultimate guide. The ultimate subject. At the final moment, he had drawn out a power that transcended even Aizen, seeking victory. Just like his battles against Renji, Kenpachi, Byakuya, Grimmjow, and Ulquiorra. He was actually trying to defeat Sosuke Aizen.
The fact stimulated the man's bottomless hunger for the heights.
『Look, Hogyoku! A new path! A new domain! The world we seek is opening up!』
He wished for a guide—a way to reach an even higher dimension. Using his own clones as the Hogyoku's will and the Goddess's clones as a guidepost for evolution, Aizen poured every ounce of his soul into a single strike to shatter the wall before him.
『Come, Hero of the Goddess! Throw your power at me! Clash your genius against me, I who have transcended both Soul Reaper and Hollow! Everything you give will become the fuel that leads me to the heavens!』
The Demon King's laughter echoed across the wasteland. Ichigo listened to the sickening joy that would have made anyone else tremble, and silently fed it into the furnace of his rage.
"Are you still talking about that, Aizen?"
His voice was a mixture of frustration and exasperation. Aizen's smile faltered, his brow furrowing at the interruption.
"You're always like this. 'Experimental animal,' 'manufactured emotions'... you haven't looked at me as a person once."
Ichigo thought back to their fight in the fake Karakura Town. Aizen's words, his eyes, his attitude, and his attacks—all of them had conveyed a single message.
You're fighting me, but you're fighting someone else. You're looking at me, but you're looking at someone else.That was Sosuke Aizen.
"I could understand it before I trained in the Dangai. I was weak. It would have been a joke to ask you to treat me as an equal."
『...』
"But even after I got stronger... even before you took that form... when my attacks actually had you on the ropes... you didn't see me as an equal. You didn't even see me as an 'enemy.' It wasn't the pride that all strong guys have. You honestly just saw me as an object."
Since awakening his powers, Ichigo had fought many battles and learned one truth: combat is a clash of feelings. The strong and the weak both have their convictions, and they communicate them through their blades. As a human, Ichigo didn't understand the culture or the etiquette of the Soul Reapers, but that "clash of feelings" always struck a chord with him.
He felt that was the true way to fight.
『...I see.』
And Aizen lacked it completely.
『The fact that it looked that way to you means I have truly obtained the heart of a "God."』
Yeah, there it is. The man who praised his own abnormal psyche with a vicious grin was truly beyond saving.
...That's why I hated this. Having to use this technique on a guy like you. More than the backlash, I hate that this move—which carries so many feelings—has to be used on an enemy like you, someone who gives me zero emotional resonance, only a bad taste in my mouth.
"The Final Getsuga Tensho is..."
"—...to become the Getsuga itself."
Ichigo reached out as if to grab the void. In the space within his empty fist, a stream of pitch-black spiritual pressure began to gather, forming a blade.
"I become the Getsuga... meaning I consume my Zangetsu, my Hollow, and every ability I possess to become a single strike. And when I use it, I will lose all of my power."
『...!』
"That's why it's called the 'Final' one."
The strongest—and saddest—strike, fueled by the sacrifice of his own self. Ichigo stared down his enemy, his heart full of regret but his spirit firm. He knew exactly what would happen to his power depending on his resolve.
『...I see. That is a power truly worth devouring.』
Aizen's smile deepened. "I thank you for your sacrifice."
"Tch. I knew we'd never understand each other."
『There is no need for such pessimism. Your performance as a brilliant clown will be remembered by us forever.』
Whether it was a provocation or his true thoughts, it was a disgusting thing to say.
The two legends faced each other. One final clash.
The youth who poured a million feelings into his empty hand. The Demon King who sought infinite evolution. The spiritual pressure reached its peak, warping the scenery and the air as if looking through water.
"One last thing."
『I'm listening.』
"I'm not your doll. And I'm not the 'Hero of the Goddess'—"
The two transcendents reached the moment of judgment.
"I am—"
"ICHIGO KUROSAKI!!"
"—MUGETSU—"
And so, the blade fell...
***
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