"Good! Good! Good!"
Sasakibe Chōjirō said the word three times in a row, his eyes flashing with excitement.
He had originally been worried that he would not be able to fight freely, afraid that he might accidentally kill Ichigo.
But now, it seemed those worries were completely unnecessary.
Since Ichigo possessed such powerful regenerative ability, Chōjirō could let go of his concerns and fully display his swordsmanship without carefully controlling his strength.
Thinking of this, Chōjirō felt a little excited, as though he could already see a spectacular battle unfolding before him.
However, at that moment, Chōjirō suddenly realized something.
The Ichigo before him seemed completely different from before.
He carefully observed Ichigo's expression, movements, and eyes, and found that the aura coming from him was entirely unlike what it had been earlier.
This made Chōjirō suspicious.
Had Ichigo been possessed by something?
Or had he undergone some special change in a short period of time?
That doubt lingered in Chōjirō's heart, making him even more curious about this battle.
"Forget it. I'll cut first and think later."
At this moment, White Ichigo was completely enraged.
His wild, violent gaze seemed ready to burn everything to ash.
Even though this pinch-hitter had taken over, he still seemed somewhat outmatched against Chōjirō.
That earlier Getsuga Tenshō had only landed because Chōjirō had been momentarily stunned and failed to dodge.
Now, the situation was completely different.
At first, White Ichigo had been full of confidence, believing he could easily cut Chōjirō down.
Yet as the battle continued, he gradually realized something was wrong.
This old man in front of him was actually keeping him suppressed the entire time.
Every slash carried pressure that he could clearly feel.
A slight difference with one slash became a difference with every slash.
That gap made White Ichigo feel incredibly frustrated.
He began to suspect that this old man had been hiding his true strength all along and had not fought seriously before!
Unlike Ichigo's frustration, Chōjirō only grew more excited the longer they fought.
During their fight, he brought his Shunpo and Zanjutsu into full display.
Every time he avoided one of Ichigo's slashes, he countered and added a fresh wound to Ichigo's body.
Right now, this pinch-hitter had High-Speed Regeneration. Otherwise, after being cut so many times, he would have already bled dry.
White Ichigo was beyond irritated.
He felt as if the old man in front of him was playing with a monkey.
That's right.
And he was the monkey being played with.
White Ichigo let out a furious roar and decided to unleash his full power, refusing to give Chōjirō any more chances to toy with him.
He gathered all of his reiatsu and wrapped it around his Zanpakutō, preparing to launch an even stronger attack.
However, Chōjirō was not worried at all.
He nimbly turned sideways and avoided the slash, then followed through with a counterattack that cut into White Ichigo's arm.
White Ichigo hissed in pain, nearly dropping the Zanpakutō in his hand. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Chōjirō.
Unfortunately, Ichigo himself had not yet learned Bankai.
Because of that, even White Ichigo, acting as the pinch-hitter, could only draw out power within the limits of Shikai and could not break through any further.
If the original owner of the body could take another step and grasp the power of Bankai, White Ichigo was confident that he could defeat Chōjirō.
After several probing attacks, Chōjirō believed he had roughly understood Ichigo's current combat level.
Judging by the situation, Ichigo's strength was currently about equal to two 'Muguruma Kenseis.'
Since he had not yet mastered Bankai, that was where his limit stood.
Otherwise, he might have been worth a few more Kenseis.
No longer wanting to drag out the battle, Chōjirō erupted with powerful reiatsu and wrapped the power of thunder around his Zanpakutō, preparing to deliver a decisive blow that would completely strip Ichigo of his ability to fight.
"It's over, Ichigo," Chōjirō said.
His Shunpo instantly reached its peak.
In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Ichigo, then thrust his blade through the other man's body.
At the same time, the power of thunder poured endlessly into Ichigo.
Blue sparks of lightning began flashing across his entire body, to say nothing of the internal damage he was suffering.
"Arghhhh…"
After suffering this sudden attack, Ichigo screamed in agony.
He could even smell something like roasted meat, as if his body was about to be cooked through by the electricity.
With a scream, White Ichigo dropped to his knees with and the Zanpakutō in his hand fell to the ground.
Seeing this, the corner of Chōjirō's mouth lifted slightly, and a trace of disdain flashed through his eyes.
"Hmph. As expected, you are still too inexperienced…"
However, just as he thought the outcome had been decided, something changed.
A large amount of white liquid began to secrete from White Ichigo's mouth.
The liquid wrapped around his cheeks and slowly gathered into a broken mask.
Most of the mask was white.
There were three black markings on the forehead like bangs, and beneath the left eye were two darker lines that seemed to merge together near the end.
It turned out that after suffering heavy damage, White Ichigo could no longer suppress the rampaging Hollow power inside him and had passively entered a Hollowfied state.
As the Hollowfication completed, White Ichigo's previously dim eyes began glowing red, and a powerful reiatsu leaked from his body.
Now he was about four Kenseis worth of strength!
He suddenly raised his head and looked at Chōjirō in front of him.
Then he stretched out his right hand and grabbed the Zanpakutō Chōjirō had stabbed into his body.
Seeing this, Chōjirō's heart tightened.
He tried to pull out his Zanpakutō, but Ichigo's hand gripped the blade like an iron clamp.
No matter how hard Chōjirō tried, the blade did not move at all.
At that moment, White Ichigo slowly opened his mouth.
A violent black-red Cero instantly gathered and shot straight toward Chōjirō's face.
At such close range, Chōjirō felt the enormous energy contained within the Cero, and shock appeared on his face.
He struggled desperately again, trying to pull out his Zanpakutō, but the blade was still held firmly by Ichigo and would not come free.
At that instant, Chōjirō made a decisive choice. He abandoned the Zanpakutō in his hand and retreated madly.
However, it was already too late.
"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen."
At the critical moment, Chōjirō hastily abandoned the incantation and directly used defensive Kidō.
But the power of a Vasto Lorde's Cero was not something Kidō of that level could withstand.
The Cero easily shattered Enkōsen and continued blasting toward Chōjirō.
Chōjirō had nowhere to dodge and could only watch the Cero rush toward him.
At the final moment, he gathered all of his reiatsu and wrapped it around his body, preparing to withstand the Cero head-on.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion rang out, and a small mushroom cloud rose into the air. The shockwave from the blast swept through the surroundings.
Fortunately, Enkōsen had offset part of the Cero's power earlier, allowing Chōjirō to successfully endure the attack.
As the smoke and dust gradually dispersed, Chōjirō's figure slowly appeared.
At this moment, his once-neat shihakushō was tattered beyond recognition, and his body was covered in dust and blood.
The worst part was his carefully maintained mustache, which had been burned to ash in the explosion.
His usual gentlemanly elegance was completely gone.
After doing all this, Ichigo slowly stood up, still holding Chōjirō's Zanpakutō in his hand.
His eyes were filled with cold killing intent as he walked toward Chōjirō step by step!