Clang!
Clang clang clang clang!
"Haah!"
"Getsuga… Tensho!"
With Ichigo's loud shout, a white slash flew from the broken sword in his hand, blasting the Quincy Zangetsu away.
At a certain moment, Ichigo's Reiatsu surged violently, and the Zanpakuto in his hand also erupted with white light in that instant-
Even though this Zanpakuto had been chopped full of notches by Zangetsu, its blade broken, leaving only half the blade, Ichigo didn't discard it. Instead, he gripped it tightly with both hands, confronting Zangetsu with it again and again.
But as he fought Zangetsu, reading Zangetsu's true intentions from their sword clashes, he never replaced the Zanpakuto in his hand again.
In the underground training ground, the battle between Ichigo and the Quincy Zangetsu grew increasingly intense.
Initially, Ichigo indeed wanted to rely on 'luck' to draw the 'real Zangetsu' from the hundreds of Zanpakuto.
Ichigo gasped for breath heavily. The blood flowing from the wound on his forehead had almost soaked half his face.
Drip, drip...
"Ichigo, you did it!"
Zangetsu's deep voice came from within the dust.
At this moment, Ichigo discovered that the Zanpakuto in his hand was no longer the broken sword with bumpy edges and only one-third of the blade, but had transformed into that cleaver-like appearance, half black and half white.
"Old man Zangetsu..."
From his battle with Zangetsu, he could feel Zangetsu's concern for him.
Ichigo pursed his lips.
This was similar to how Ichigo felt towards his sisters, Yuzu and Karin.
He both hoped he could protect them forever and wished they could grow strong enough not to need his protection.
But the relationship between Zangetsu and him was much more complicated.
Zangetsu didn't want his strength to increase.
Because, as a Shinigami, increased strength meant the enemies Ichigo would face in the future would also be stronger.
If Ichigo's strength stopped here, the power Zangetsu bestowed upon Ichigo would be enough to keep him safe at this stage.
But once Ichigo stepped into the Captain-level domain, the battles Ichigo would face in the future might be ones where even Zangetsu couldn't be of help.
By then, even Zangetsu couldn't protect Ichigo, and Ichigo would have to rely on himself to fight.
However, as long as Ichigo needed it, the Quincy Zangetsu would still relax his suppression, allowing the Hollow within Ichigo to release more Reiatsu to enhance Ichigo's strength.
Clap clap clap...
In the underground training ground, Kyoya looked at Ichigo, who had gained the Quincy Zangetsu's recognition, and couldn't help but applaud.
It had to be said, Ichigo was quite smart.
Or rather, his combat instincts allowed him to quickly improve himself during battle.
In his fight with the Quincy Zangetsu, what Ichigo improved wasn't just his 'belief' in his own power… his combat skills also significantly improved.
It could be said that before fighting Zangetsu, Ichigo's own swordsmanship was only about the same as an ordinary seated officer's. Winning battles relied more on his powerful Reiatsu.
But after completing Bankai Training and fighting the Quincy Zangetsu, Ichigo's combat had a somewhat 'effortless' feel to it.
In terms of the swordsmanship realms from the One Piece World, Ichigo could be considered a true Swordsman now.
"Not bad, Ichigo."
"I originally thought you'd need three days to complete Bankai Training."
"Now you've completed Bankai training in two days, breaking the Seireitei's history."
"Whoosh-"
Ichigo let out a light sigh and shook his head, "Kyoya-senpai, whether it breaks history or not doesn't matter to me."
"I just wanted to know how I compare to those Captains of the Gotei 13 now."
"Want to give it a try?"
Hearing Ichigo say this, Kyoya spoke up. "Although I've left the Seireitei now, I was once the Captain of the Gotei 13's 11th Division."
"It's not me boasting, but back then, my strength was among the few unmatched among the Gotei 13's Captains."
Kyoya was being modest here.
Even when Kyoya left the Seireitei, his strength wasn't as great as now, but among the Gotei 13 back then, only Captain-Commander Yamamoto could pose a threat to him.
Even Aizen might not necessarily break Kyoya's [Steel Balloon] constitution.
"If you can defeat me, then it can be said that no one will be able to stop you from rescuing Shiba Miyako this time."
"How about it? Want to give it a try?"
At this point, Kyoya placed his hand on the hilt of the Zanpakuto at his waist.
"After all, there's still one day left, right?"
"Spend half a day fighting me, and the last half day resting, maintaining good condition to raid the execution ground."
Ichigo nodded upon hearing this.
"Then, I ask for your guidance, Kyoya-senpai!"
After calming his breathing, Ichigo saw Kyoya draw his Zanpakuto and assume a defensive stance, realizing he wouldn't take the initiative to attack.
Ichigo wasn't surprised by this.
During sparring, the stronger side usually lets the weaker side attack first.
Otherwise, if the stronger side attacks first, the weaker side has almost no chance to resist… what training effect would there be?
Although Ichigo completed Bankai Training and had confidence in his strength, he wouldn't underestimate others.
If nothing else, which Shinigami in the Seireitei hadn't trained for decades or centuries?
He was just a sixteen-year-old youth who had been a Shinigami for less than two months.
He had some youthful spirit but wasn't arrogant.
"Haah!"
Releasing Reiatsu under his feet, Ichigo's figure rapidly charged at Kyoya, his Zangetsu slashing upward diagonally towards Kyoya.
Kyoya slightly raised his foot and stepped on Ichigo's Zangetsu before it could fully exert force.
Clang-
"Ichigo, your attack is too obvious."
"Unless your power is much stronger than others, such attacks won't achieve much effect."
Indeed, in Kyoya's view, Ichigo's strength wasn't bad.
But his combat intentions were far too obvious.
This way, unless the strength gap was huge and the enemy would be instantly killed by Ichigo, even someone weaker than Ichigo would require considerable time for Ichigo to defeat.
Getsuga Tensho didn't count.
In other words, Ichigo lacked a one-hit kill move in ordinary battles.
That was Zangetsu's ability.
For Ichigo to use Getsuga Tensho, he also needed to consume considerable Reiatsu.
Precisely because of this, in future battles, Ichigo would immediately use Bankai whenever he encountered slightly stronger enemies.
In Ichigo's view, this was a relatively efficient combat method.
After all, the consumption difference between using Getsuga Tensho and Bankai was essentially small for Ichigo.
However, the boost in power and speed from Bankai allowed Ichigo to fight more easily.
It could be said that among Shinigami, Ichigo's Bankai had the lowest prestige.
Other Captains rarely used Bankai from the start unless encountering enemies with strength comparable to their own.
Only later, after Ichigo reforged his Zanpakuto, did he gradually develop some 'powerhouse' demeanor.
But for now, Ichigo was still far from Kyoya!
Such combat methods might have some effect against ordinary people.
But for Ichigo to fight Kyoya this way, in Kyoya's eyes, it was simply full of openings!
After pointing out the flaw in Ichigo's move, Kyoya raised his Zanpakuto and slashed horizontally at Ichigo.
Swish-
Because Kyoya paused to explain before attacking, Ichigo naturally noticed Kyoya's attack.
However, his Zanpakuto was currently pinned under Kyoya's foot. He tried pulling it out but failed.
Immediately, Ichigo placed his left hand on Zangetsu's hilt as well and released his Reiatsu-
Boom!
Black Reiatsu erupted from Ichigo's body, enveloping him.
The Reiatsu boost significantly increased Ichigo's strength. Combined with gripping the sword with both hands, his power was stronger than with one hand.
Thus, Zangetsu, pinned under Kyoya's foot, was actually pried loose by Ichigo.
But facing Kyoya's attack now, Ichigo had no time to dodge.
Immediately, Ichigo lifted Zangetsu upward while bending his upper body slightly, placing himself under Zangetsu to block Kyoya's attack with it.
Boom-
Kyoya's Zanpakuto seemed to move lightly.
However, when this Zanpakuto lightly struck Ichigo's Zanpakuto, Ichigo felt as if hit by a dump truck and was sent flying.
"So strong!"
In mid-air, Ichigo suppressed the shock in his heart, strove to adjust his posture with all his might, concentrating Reiatsu in his left hand and feet to try to stop himself.
This caused Ichigo's left hand fingers and feet to rub against the air, creating black smoke trails and emitting 'sizzling' sounds.
When Ichigo finally stabilized in the air, he surprisingly discovered that Kyoya, over ten meters away, was swinging his Zanpakuto towards his direction.
Buzz-
At that instant, Ichigo's sense of crisis was instantly triggered.
It was as if he would die for sure under Kyoya's attack!
Without time to think, Ichigo's body reacted faster than his mind.
He channeled most of his Reiatsu into Zangetsu, causing Zangetsu to gleam with white light.
Then, Ichigo swung his Zanpakuto forward-
"Getsuga… Tensho!"
A crescent-shaped slash over five meters long flew from Ichigo's Zanpakuto towards the front.
On the other side, Kyoya's sword strike created wrinkles in the air, forming a transparent slash that flew out, colliding with Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho in mid-air.
Boom-
The collision of the two slashes produced a huge explosive sound in the air.
Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho was directly shattered by Kyoya's flying slash.
Moreover, after shattering Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho, the remaining force of Kyoya's flying slash didn't dissipate but continued towards Ichigo.
Ichigo protected himself with Zangetsu, instantly releasing all his Reiatsu to enhance his defensive power.
Boom-
But even so, Ichigo was still blasted away by this flying slash and suffered significant injuries.
"Pfft-"
"So strong!"
This was the third time Ichigo felt Kyoya was powerful.
"Stronger than Old Man Zangetsu!"
At that moment, Ichigo was absolutely certain that Kyoya's strength was much greater than Zangetsu's.
Indeed, although he completed Bankai Training, Ichigo didn't feel he truly made Zangetsu 'yield' to him.
Rather, the reason he completed Bankai Training was because Zangetsu was accommodating him.
Earlier, while fighting Zangetsu, Ichigo could feel that Zangetsu hadn't even used half his strength.
But the strength Kyoya displayed now made Ichigo feel that even if Zangetsu used his full strength, he probably still wouldn't be Kyoya's match.
Just a light swing of the sword injured him.
And that was after his Reiatsu significantly improved upon completing Bankai Training.
From Ichigo's feeling, his Reiatsu at least doubled after learning Bankai.
If he had taken Kyoya's flying slash before completing Bankai, he would have been severely injured instantly!
"Still want to continue?"
Watching Ichigo stand firm again, Kyoya asked.
"Ah, of course!"
Ichigo gasped heavily, the stubbornness in his eyes evident even to Kyoya.
"But in this state, I'm still far from being able to fight you, Kyoya-senpai."
"Next, I'm going all out!"
After taking a deep breath, Ichigo assumed a horse stance punching posture, extending his Zanpakuto forward, his left hand also pressing on his right wrist.
"Bankai-"
Boom!
Vast Reiatsu erupted from Ichigo's body. The surrounding Reishi formed a tornado around Ichigo.
After the tornado dispersed, Ichigo in a black cloak appeared before Kyoya.
Now, the large cleaver in his hand had transformed into a slender black blade, with the guard showing a swastika shape.