Ichigo blinked and looked around at his surroundings, and he found himself surrounded by a dream-like landscape. He was in the dangai again.

"Well," Yoruichi asked, seeing how he was conscious again, "how'd it go? Did you manage to tap into your Hollow side?"

"N-no, actually nothing happened in there except for me being brought down to my knees before a battle actually started." Ichigo responded, with surprise still printed on his face.

"You look surprised, did you see something disturbing in there?" Yoruichi asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess. Instead of the normal, pale Hollow guy, instead there was a beast with a hole in his chest and the horns of a bull whose spiritual pressure I could feel a mile away, and before, he sent me back he said something like 'You are not ready to wield this power yet, now begone,' or something like that." Ichigo replied.

Yoruichi nodded and said, "Sounds like you saw your resurrección."

"Wait, what?" Ichigo asked, curious about this new term.

"Well, Soul Reapers can wield the powers of their Hollow side to become stronger, right?" Yoruichi asked Ichigo, who nodded. "Well, Hollow's can take off their masks to become more Soul Reaper or human like, and wield Zanpakutos, yet there is something distinctive about their release. Unlike Soul Reapers who have a shikai and a bankai, when an Arrancar, the name for a Hollow who took off their mask to become more human, released their Zanpakuto, they reveal their powerful form, or their original state."

"Okay," Ichigo asked, "and what does that have to do with me exactly?"

"Well, you're half human, correct, and, in theory, you're half Hollow right? Well, that should allow a resurrección to be possible." Yoruichi explained.

Ichigo nodded and responded, "Okay, I get it now. So, um… What do I do now then. It's obvious that I'm not strong enough to go battle my resurrección, so how do I train?"

Yoruichi nodded as Ichigo spoke and said, "Well in order to defeat your Hollow side, you need to learn from the person that knows him the best."

Ichigo nodded. "And who would that be?" he asked.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes a little bit, like she expected him to know the answer, and said, "Why the other side of Zangetsu of course! Now get back in there, and this time learn from the other side of Zangetsu. Come on then hurry it up, will yah!"

Ichigo nodded and quickly got back into position, not wanting to see what Yoruichi would do if he didn't. So Ichigo concentrated, tried to get back into that world, then he opened his eyes and found himself in an area similar to that of the one beneath Kisuke's shop.

He was in.

Ichigo looked around and, surprisingly, found Zangetsu relatively close to him, weird, he normally was in the distance then appeared out of nowhere from behind Ichigo.

As Ichigo approached Zangetsu, he said, "Hey old man!" Zangetsu was unfazed as Ichigo approached, and soon enough Ichigo was right in front of him. "I need to become stronger, and the understanding between Zanpakuto and a Soul Reaper is very important to do so, so please, if there isn't anything you haven't taught me, please teach me now."

Zangetsu stood motionless, staring at Ichigo. "All right," Zangetsu said, "however it will not be easy. This move I am about to teach you will require you to battle for a long period of time without end, the opponent will not be easy on you. However, this new move will prove beneficial, you are becoming stronger in order to conquer your Hollow side, correct?" Zangetsu asked, although it wasn't really a question.

Ichigo nodded and Zangetsu nodded, "Well this move will invoke and stir up your Hollow side, and he can be a wild one so be careful, now I want you to find a place, any place, to stand, and the duel shall begin." Zangetsu said, slowly walking away, or was he floating?

Ichigo nodded, he had followed along Zangetsu's speech, but he asked, "And, who is my opponent exactly?" Ichigo asked, pulling out Zangetsu and getting into his battle stance.

Zangetsu turned around, and said creepishly, "Me, now lets begin."

Ichigo barely had any time to react, even though Zangetsu was on the other side of the room, Ichigo felt a slight wind behind him and just barely spun around and blocked Zangetsu's… Well, he blocked Zangetsu who was using Zangetsu, so he blocked Zangetsu basically. Ichigo tried to get a jab in, however that was a bad move. When Ichigo stepped out to jab, his back was left wide open, so Zangetsu merely pivoted to the side and with a sweep of his sword got Ichigo pretty well in the back. Luckily, however, Ichigo avoided being cut in two by ducking, and then sweeping his sword horizontally while pivoting in the direction of Zangetsu. Ichigo managed to clip Zangetsu in the legs, but not before Zangetsu started jabbing the ground. Ichigo rolled to the left, he rolled to the right, just barely having his head stabbed. Luckily, he managed to get up before Zangetsu jabbed again. So as Ichigo stumbled to his feet, he turned and saw Zangetsu swinging himself, well, his sword form, in the air by the cloth attached to the end.

Ichigo was caught off guard momentarily due to this generally new attack, and barely managed to sidestep the blade as it came flying through the air at him. So Ichigo grabbed the sword and he, he… He stopped. What was this strange sensation, no, feeling coming from this sword, no, Zangetsu. It felt sad, alone. That's it. It's loneliness. What was one of the things Zangetsu said when he was summoned to this inner world for no reason? Zangetsu said that it got lonely in here sometimes. Ichigo knew what he had to do, and while all of this sped through his mind, Zangetsu had approached, sword in hand, and now, when Ichigo had come to his conclusion, Zangetsu came face to face with Ichigo and stabbed him in the chest.

"So you found out." Zangetsu said. "Clever boy, yes, the point of this training is to accept the blade you wield, now, let the technique and all you need to know about it flow to you through this blade."

Ichigo nodded, he felt no pain from this sword, and instead he found comfort in it, and slowly Ichigo started to understand what he must do. Ichigo nodded, a smile on his face as this world turned darker, and right before everything turned black, Ichigo swore he saw a smile on the face of that old man…

Ichigo blinked, he was back. Ichigo stood up and looked at Yoruichi.

"You were right," Ichigo said, "the old man did teach me a thing or two."

Yoruichi smiled, and said while taking out the shuriken like things,"Good, now come on, we must train now."

"But, we're in the middle of the dangai, why not train here and save some time?" Ichigo asked.

"Uh, hello smart guy, this place not only looks like marshmallows, but it can be destroyed as easily as one!" Yoruichi said, getting all up in Ichigo's face while she said it. "Now come on, plus I'm starting to get cramped in here, lets go through the Seireitei and get back to the training room, it'll be much easier to train there."

Ichigo nodded and walked through the Seireitei to the training room, and Yoruichi said, "Now come on, we don't have all day. What is this new move Zangetsu taught you?"

Ichigo nodded, "Well, every Zanpakuto has a certain technique, and the move Zangetsu taught me is his technique. It is much more powerful when you know the name, so he told me… And he calls it the Getsuga Tensho (Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer)." Ichigo explained.

Then, with a little thought, some spirit energy, and the cooperation of Zangetsu, Ichigo aimed to the lifted Zangetsu, aimed nowhere in particular, and out came a brilliant flash of light in the shape of a crescent. It struck a rock, and upon contact the rock blew up, causing little remnants of rock to fly everywhere reducing a big boulder to a mere many rocks upon the ground.

Yoruichi clapped a little, then started walking away waving her shoulder at Ichigo and said, "Come on hotshot, we ain't training here."

Ichigo looked surprised, and asked Yoruichi while trying to catch up, "Well then, where are we training?"

Yoruichi stopped, turned, and looked at Ichigo like it was obvious or something and said, "Why isn't it obvious? We're going to put your new skills to the test against some real enemies, Hollows."

Ichigo nodded and they kept going, but there was one thing Ichigo was concerned about, so he asked Yoruichi, "Well, how are we going to really train without many Hollows?"

Ichigo could tell Yoruichi was smiling, even behind her, and Yoruichi didn't respond until they had reached the outside of the shop, which she then turned to face Ichigo and pulled out what looked like a penny, but was bigger all around, and for some reason it looked familiar?

"This, is Hollow bait, and I'm pretty sure that you're already familiar with this already huh?" Yoruichi said.

"Yes, it was pretty bad if Kisuke didn't already tell you about it. So don't you think we shouldn't try doing that again?" Ichigo responded.

"It's fine, Hollow bait merely summons many low level Hollows, it should be perfectly fine for someone of your level, plus I'm here, so, the deal's sealed." Yoruichi said reassuringly.

"Wait, bu-" Ichigo said, when Yoruichi interrupted.

"Here it goes." Yoruichi said, and she crushed the Hollow bait between her fingers, and Ichigo watched as it slowly floated away on the wind.

Ichigo looked down at his feet, what have I gotten myself into he thought, and Ichigo took off, already sensing a new Hollow presence. As Ichigo rushed he talked to Zangetsu.

"I'm going to use that new move you taught me Zangetsu." Ichigo said

Zangetsu's voice rang in Ichigo's head. "Good, just remember what you've been taught, all right?" he said.

Ichigo nodded and went for the first Hollow he saw, an ugly beast much like that of a frog, like the one he and Don Kanonji had faced long ago, this one was bigger though and uglier too. However Ichigo got it quickly with a single Getsuga Tensho. Then Ichigo felt the presence of someone behind him and turn around quickly and fired a Getsuga Tensho, nailing a Hollow right across the chest. Ichigo shook his head, what had he gotten himself into, then Ichigo felt a strange tingling, all over his body, it was strange. It felt like someone or something was watching him, or lurking over his shoulder, but Ichigo looked everywhere and saw nothing. But Ichigo forgot about all of that when a big Hollow, and we're talking pretty big here, landed in front of him.

Ichigo faced the beast and stared him in the eye, it had a tiny body, like stick figure skinny, and a big dome of a head with one big eye and a mouth all the way up there and little holes in various spots on the edges, and underneath the big empty dome was hanging little balls, it looked like a drop of water running along a surface and just about to drip down, but not yet. As Ichigo stared at this strange Hollow, it sat down and the dome kind of made a sucking noise, and as Ichigo walked up and kicked the dome, not only did it not shift at all, but his foot hurt, badly!

Then Ichigo heard an even worse noise, it sounded like a dozen eggs beings cracked open, and suddenly a ton of small Hollows burst from the holes in the side of the Hollow's dome-like head. They all seemed to have one goal too, to eat Ichigo's soul. Ichigo backed up, not sure if they were full of explosive things or what, but when it was obvious they weren't, Ichigo went in for the attack. Then, even though Ichigo had backed up considerably far, Ichigo noticed the small Hollows at his feet, in fact, they all were. How could that be? Then Ichigo noticed something, he looked at the giant Hollow spawning all of the other Hollows, and he saw one mini Hollow pop out, and then in a flash it disappeared. So not only are these mini Hollows never ending and small targets, they also happened to have super speed. Ichigo had heard of Yoruichi and something about a flash step in the Soul Society, however he didn't really know how to do that yet.

So, while all these thoughts ran through his head, Ichigo had been swinging his sword this way and that. Ichigo didn't want to risk firing a Getsuga Tensho, not when everyone was on top of him, however Ichigo did talk to Zangetsu.

"Zangetsu," Ichigo said, while struggling to keep back these Hollows, "please help me, teach me of a way to defeat these Hollows."

Ichigo could hear Zangetsu respond, "You are correct, it is dangerous to fire a Getsuga Tensho, so why not do something else."

Ichigo thought about it, then it hit him, of course, why hadn't he thought of that! Ichigo quickly summoned a Getsuga Tensho, but instead of firing it, he wrapped it around his blade. The Hollows all stared curiously at this new discovery, but most of them made the smart choice and started to back away. However they were too late, and Ichigo swung Zangetsu and as Zangetsu struck the Hollows, it had the force of Zangetsu, and the destructive power of the Getsuga Tensho, it worked perfectly, wiping out that entire crowd around Ichigo.

Ichigo rushed at the Hollow, who had opened its eyes and temporarily stopped making mini Hollows. The moment was perfect. Luckily, because Ichigo had kicked the Hollow, he knew that event the destructive power of a Getsuga Tensho wouldn't cause much damage. So, Ichigo leaped into the air, wrapped a Getsuga Tensho around his blade, and struck the Hollow in the eye, while it was still open. It was gross, however no part of the Hollow is vulnerable with that iron skin exposed. The Hollow began dissipating and Ichigo ran off to fight the next Hollow…

Later, Ichigo and Yoruichi went down to the training room again to train some more, like they haven't done enough already.

Ichigo walked slowly, tired out from all the training. It had seriously probably been a day or two without sleep, depending on how long he was in the dangai, and he was practically living on adrenaline. "Must we train some more, I don't know how long it took in the dangai for me to learn the Getsuga Tensho, but it feels like I haven't slept in days." he complained to Yoruichi.

Yoruichi looked back at Ichigo and smiled. "Now, it is only when you are pushed to your limits and exceed them that you can truly improve, now come on, let's make our way to the Seireitei." she responded.

Ichigo nodded, but then that feeling, that tingling sensation of someone being there returned. He stopped suddenly when that happened and grabbed his chest. Yoruichi noticed he wasn't following and turned around to see what was happening.

"Ichigo, Ichigo are you alright?" Yoruichi asked approaching him.

"I, I." Ichigo said, unable to finish his sentence.

Then he remembered. This presence, it was his Hollow side, that's right, the Getsuga Tensho invokes his Hollow side, and he had been doing that alot today. That's right. Ichigo looked around, trying to see who said that. Then he collapsed to his knees his hand on the ground. I understand you want to control me, right? Well think again, I control You, Ichigo. Ichigo then started to feel something, like, like he wasn't in his body anymore, like he was merely watching from the background. Like he, he wasn't in control. Then all went black. Yoruichi saw all of this of course, but had no idea what was happening.

"Ichigo," she said, on the ground next to him, her hand on his shoulder, "are you okay. Answer me!"

Ichigo was suddenly still, then he looked up and his face was normal, no mask, yet his eyes, they were dark and the pupils were bone white. Then out of nowhere Ichigo, or was it Ichigo anymore, grabbed Yoruichi, smiled, then locked her in a ferocious kiss. Yoruichi was surprised at first, but then she started to subdue to Ichigo's attack of passion.

And after who knows how long the kiss ended, and Ichigo leaned back, winked, and said, "Catch yah later Shihoin."

Then the darkness slowly faded from Ichigo's eyes and Ichigo blinked. He had no idea what had just happened, but by the look on Yoruichi's face he could tell that something was up.

Yoruichi had not really noticed the darkness in his eyes, and did not know that Ichigo was not in control at that time, and said, "Ichigo, I always had this creeping suspicion that you liked me ever since you saw my true form, but I must say, I have always kind of liked you too." She said and stood up, and as she walked away she turned her head over her shoulder and said," Let's do that again sometime Kurosaki. Training over."

Ichigo looked around, having no idea what just happened, and when Yoruichi left Ichigo shouted, "What!"