Alright, to start, I apologize for the hiatus, but hopefully I will be able to dedicate more time to writing this story now that I'm in college. I read the comments and I'm surprised so many people liked it. Most of the time I hear people say they hate godlike stories, but I guess everyone has their own taste in stories. But just let me say, this story will be godlike like no other, I plan to give a whole new meaning to the term "godlike." That's not to say that the story will be boring though. When you read this chapter you'll realize I imposed some limits on Ichigo though they are temporary. Just know that I plan to be careful on how I write this so that there ARE challenges Ichigo has to actually work to overcome.

Next, I read in the comments that someone wanted Rangiku in Ichigo's harem of sorts. I'm not against the idea itself, but Rangiku would be hard to put in because when compared to the others(which are captain class), I just don't see it working without me forcing it to. It depends on what you want, are you just looking for a lemon, companionship, or just full blown romance. The first two I can work with easily, but romance just wouldn't work. The same would hold true with any other character. If you want me to do something then tell me in the comments or in a PM and I will see how I might be able to make it work.

Also, Sui-Fon along with Kurotsuchi are going to be the enemies of sorts for a good while. Soi-Fon will eventually reform, but Kurotsuchi will ALWAYS be evil. That guy just has no redeeming qualities.

Chapter 3

"Regular Speech"

"Thoughts"

"Hollow Speech"

Techniques

Many hours after his conversation with Ichigo's inner hollow, Urahara was sitting and drinking tea calmly, but on the inside, he was starting to worry about Ichigo, he had been asleep for 12 hours already and it was getting late. It was at this point that he felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure for the first time that day. Before then he had just assumed it was to high to be sensed, a belief that was further cemented when he discovered Ichigo's soul was composed of 100 percent pure reishi. Urahara dropped his tea and ran for the room Ichigo was in, afraid something had happened to his favorite student. When Urahara got there he was surprised to see Ichigo sitting upright and yawning.

"Oh, hey, Kisuke," said Ichigo casually.

"Uh, Ichigo did anything odd just happen to your spiritual pressure?" asked Urahara uncertainly.

"If your asking why you can feel it now, it's because I sealed away almost all my power to get it down to a level where I can be sensed and can touch stuff without disintegrating it. I'm just lucky that no one touched my bare skin before I got it sealed," said Ichigo, paling slightly at the thought.

"You sealed it. But how? Better yet, when?" asked Urahara, greatly surprised .

"I sealed it when I went to my inner world and talked with Zangetsu," explained Ichigo, still casual.

"You talked to your sword?" asked Urahara, numerous questions seemingly appearing in his mind with every word Ichigo spoke.

"Ya, when I fell unconscious."

Groaning, Urahara thought, "Uhhhhg. This must be how other people feel when they come to me for answers." "Alright listen. I want you to start from the beginning and go from there."

Putting on a thoughtful face, Ichigo said, "Alright, I guess I'll start from when I entered my inner world.

FLASHBACK

"Uhhh, where am I and why am I so warm," thought Ichigo to himself. He didn't know where he was or how he got there to begin with, but he could feel warm sunlight coming down from above and a cool breeze tousling his hair. When he opened his eyes, he was struck speechless at the world around him. Surrounding him was what could only be described as a paradise, there was a massive forest directly in front of him that showed all shades of green as dappled light was filtered through the leaves. Off to his right was a peaceful meadow with flowers of every color sprawled out over gently rolling hills. In the distance he could see towering mountains with snow covered tops and coming down from the mountains he could faintly see a crystal clear river that flowed downwards into the forest in front of him. All of this amazed Ichigo, but when he looked to his left his eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he took in the sight of the magnificent sparkling sea that extended all the way to the horizon and whose waves gently lapped against a sandy beach.

Closing his mouth, which he noticed had been hanging, Ichigo idly began to wonder where he was when a disturbing thought made it's way into his mind. "Is this heaven?" thought Ichigo. "But if that's true then..., wait, what am I thinking, I know what happens when you die," he thought, shaking his head. "But if I'm not dead, then where am I?" asked Ichigo out loud.

"I'm glad you've at least come to that conclusion," said a voice behind Ichigo.

With reflexes honed over the course of many battles, Ichigo seemed to disappear as he jumped several feet away from the voice and made to draw his sword, only to find it missing. When he looked to his side for his missing sword, he heard the voice say, "Looking for me," immediately causing him to look towards it's source, only to stand in shock as he saw Zangetsu with a slight smile.

"Z-Zangetsu, is that you? I thought you and the hollow were dead," asked Ichigo, amazed at what he was seeing.

"Yes Ichigo, it's me. Both myself and your inner hollow survived the destruction of your inner world," said Zangetsu still smiling slightly.

"B-But how is this possible? I saw my world collapse," asked Ichigo, not wanting to get his hopes up.

"It's all because of you and the hogyoku, but before I get into that, I have something that I've been needing to tell you for a long time," said Zangetsu, his smile fading.

Noticing his seriousness, Ichigo swallowed his questions for the moment and instead asked, "What do you need to tell me? Is it about my quincy powers and what happened in my inner world?"

Nodding his head solemnly, Zangetsu said, "Yes, but before I tell you I just want you to know that I don't expect you to forgive me, but please understand I only did what I did to protect you," finished Zangetsu with a slightly desperate look.

Not liking to see Zangetsu so distraught, Ichigo didn't hesitate once in saying fiercely, "I already told you, I don't care what you might have done. I trust you completely and there's nothing you could ever say to change that."

Smiling slightly in gratitude before frowning again, Zangetsu said, "As you already know, you possess the powers of a quincy, but you neither knew about, nor used them before yesterday. This is because, since your birth I have been blocking them."

Nodding slightly to show he understood, Ichigo asked, "Okay, but why did you block them?"

Lowering his head slightly, Zangetsu said, "When you were still developing within your mother, she was attacked by an experimental hollow and gravely wounded. She would have died, but luckily she was saved just in time by your father. After a short fight between the hollow and your father, the hollow was dealt a fatal blow. What made this hollow unique though, was that, if injured, it could latch onto nearby souls and take control of them after healing. Because of this, when your father dealt that fatal blow to it, the hollow tried to latch onto your mother's soul, but instead of latching on to her soul, it latched onto yours."

"Wait. Are you saying that you blocked my quincy powers because that experimental hollow latched onto my soul; because if that's the case, then the only one to blame is him," said Ichigo firmly.

Seeming to age 100 years, Zangetsu said solemnly, "No, that's not what I mean. I am the one to blame and soon you will see why." Pausing for a moment to gather himself, Zangetsu said, "Before I tell you why, there's something you first need to understand about soul reaper and quincy powers, and that's that they don't mix. Because of this, when I was first forming in your soul, I originally embodied both your quincy and soul reaper powers, but due to the conflict between the two, I was forced to release one. The pain caused by embodying both powers was more than you can possibly imagine. I was constantly at war with myself, the strain all but tore me apart. Eventually, to my eternal shame and regret, I was forced to surrender your soul reaper powers," finished Zangetsu wearily, the remorse he felt bearing down on him.

By now Ichigo had turned slightly pale from hearing Zangetsu's story, but hardening his face, said, "You're right, I am mad"

Flinching, Zangetsu said, "When I resolved myself to tell you this, I never expected you to forgive me. I just wanted you to understand. For what its worth though, I'm sorry."

Ichigo's expression only seemed to harden further at hearing those words. "You can keep your apology because I don't want it," he said through narrowed eyes.

If it was possible, Zangetsu seemed to enter an even deeper state of depression as he said, "I understand. Just know that I will do anything within my power to earn your forgiveness."

"NO, I don't want your apology because you don't have anything to apologize for!" shouted Ichigo angrily.

"What?" asked Zangetsu, completely surprised for the first time in his life.

"I said that you can keep your apology, because as far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to apologize for," said Ichigo fiercely.

"No, what I did is unforgivable. I threw away your soul reaper powers, part of your heritage. Something like that can't forgiven. " said Zangetsu insistently , shaking his head in denial to what Ichigo had said.

"Ya, and somehow I still have them. There wasn't anything else you could have done, so stop trying to apologize for something that you had no control over," responded Ichigo angrily.

"I could have weathered the pain," snapped Zangetsu, trying desperately to get Ichigo to understand the severity of his actions.

"I'd rather have no powers at all than ever force you to suffer through something like that," fired back Ichigo passionately.

Zangetsu just stopped at that point, his resort dying in his throat. Speaking softly, he said, "Thank you Ichigo. I'm sure every zanpakuto spirit tells their master this, but I don't believe any have as much reason as I do now. I truly am very luck to have a master like you to carry me into battle."

His expression softening, Ichigo said, "You don't have anything to thank me for. I just did what any half decent person would do. And also, I'm not your master, I'm your partner, just as you are mine, hell, if the hollow would stop trying to "dethrone" me, then I would be happy to call him a comrade too."

Smiling slightly, Zangetsu said, "Well regardless of whether you think you deserve my thanks or not, you have it none the less, and I would be happy to be your partner."

Smirking, Ichigo said, "Great, but I do have a few questions."

"I'd be very surprised if you didn't," said Zangetsu, slightly amused.

"Alright, well, if you cast off my soul reaper powers, then how do I still have them?" asked Ichigo curiously.

"Hmmm, that deals with what happened after your mother was bitten by the hollow," said Zangetsu contemplatively. "When the hollow bit your mother, it intended to infect her soul, but accidentally infected yours. This you already know. But what you don't know is that at the same time the hollow infected you; I cast off your soul reaper powers. Through some divine intervention or your own uncanny luck, the hollow unknowingly picked up the soul reaper powers and became something akin to an arrancar. There were two differences however, between this hollow and an arrancar. The first being that, instead of losing a part of his mask, he lost all of it, and second, he lacked a hollow hole to signify his loss of heart," explained Zangetsu calmly.

Slowly putting pieces together, Ichigo gasped and said, "My inner hollow!"

Nodding, Zangetsu said, "Yes, your inner hollow is the same as the one that attacked your parents that night."

"That bastard," cursed Ichigo vehemently.

"Yes, but he is the only thing that saved you your soul reaper powers," said Zangetsu.

Grunting unhappily, Ichigo said, "What happened next?"

"When the hollow realized what had happened, he immediately tried to break free from you, but it was to late as his soul had already begun melding with yours as it developed," continued Zangetsu calmly. "This is, in reality, a blessing in disguise. Whereas the ones that call themselves 'vizords,' had their inner hollows implanted after their souls had stabilized, you had yours implanted while your soul was still forming. This allowed the hollow to completely merge with your soul, effectively giving you the potential to learn all hollow techniques, as opposed to only a select few," he finished.

"So does this mean that I can learn how to open garganta and fire ceros and stuff?" asked Ichigo calmly, yet silently hoping for a yes. He had alwaays thought it would be cool if he could fire beams of destruction from his hand or tear open holes in reality.

Nodding once, Zangetsu said, "Yes, you can learn every hollow technique to the same ability as if you yourself were a hollow," then smirking, said "even ceros and garganta," causing Ichigo to redden slightly in embarrassment, was he so easy to read? "There is one drawback though," said Zangetsu, returning to seriousness.

Frowning slightly, Ichigo said bitterly, "I guess it was to much to hope that there wouldn't be some kind of catch, huh."

"You should know by now that anything worth having takes hard work and effort to achieve. This is no different," said Zangetsu sagely.

"Ya, you're right as usual Zangetsu. I guess I was just a little irritated that I've had to fight tooth and nail for everything I have, but I guess it wouldn't be worth anything if it was just given to me, right," said Ichigo, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

Nodding again, Zangetsu simply said, "Good, I'm glad you realize this." Sighing, Zangetsu said, "To continue my previous statement, there is one drawback with learning hollow powers and its that I can't teach you them."

"What do you mean?" asked Ichigo, confused.

"I mean that I don't know them. I'm not a hollow, so I lack the knowledge necessary to teach them to you," said Zangetsu, slightly irritated at his inability to help Ichigo, though he hid it well.

"Well then, how do I learn them?" asked Ichigo, a growing sense of dread taking root in him.

"I think you know the answer," responded Zangetsu calmly.

"My inner hollow," said Ichigo glumly.

"Unfortunately yes,"said Zangetsu, still calm.

"He'll never teach me. The only thing he wants to do is kill me and take control," protested Ichigo desperately.

Zangetsu put on a thoughtful look for a moment before saying, "If you want my advice, I would suggest trying to form a stronger bond with him."

"Bond with him," said Ichigo incredulously. "How would I even do that? He tries to take control at every opportunity. Besides, how do you know if he even wants to a bond with me?" asked Ichigo.

"I'm not your inner hollow, so I can't tell how he would feel about this, but I know that no one likes to be rejected," said Zangetsu calmly.

Ichigo was quiet for a moment when he heard this, contemplating the truth of Zangetsu's words before asking "But isn't he evil? I mean he attacked my parents for crying out loud," he finished, frustrated.

"But you don't know why he attacked. There are millions of hollows in Hueco Mundo, but only a small fraction, driven by the threat of starvation, come to the living world. In fact, most hollows avoid the living world like the plaque due to the presence of soul reapers. How do you know that your inner hollow wasn't forced to do something similar? Would you really condemn him for just trying to survive?" questioned Zangetsu

Stunned by Zangetsu's speech, Ichigo was speechless for a moment before saying, "No, I could never condemn someone for just trying to survive, not even him. Alright Zangetsu, I'll try to bond with him."

Smiling, Zangetsu said, "That's all I ask."

They stood in awkward silence for several moments that neither seemed willing to break until Ichigo asked, "Sooooo, where are we anyway?"

Looking slightly surprised, Zangetsu said, "You haven't guessed."

"Uhhhh, Soul Society," guessed Ichigo poorly.

Sweat dropping, Zangetsu said, "No, not quite. Were in your inner world."

"What!" exclaimed Ichigo. "This can't my inner world. My inner world is supposed to be filled with skyscrapers, not trees and mountains and stuff," he said, shaking his head in denial.

"Your last inner world was destroyed though, remember," pointed out Zangetsu. "This world was formed in its place by the hogyoku and your self," he said gesturing to the paradise around them.

"What do you mean the hogyoku helped make this world?" asked Ichigo, still slightly shocked at hearing that this paradise was his new inner world.

"I mean exactly that. After Aizen was sealed and you fell unconscious, something odd happened. The hogyoku, which you had been holding in your hand, disappeared in a flash of light and assimilated with your soul. At the ti-" explained Zangetsu before being cut off by Ichigo.

"Alright, wait, wait, wait. The hogyoku merged with my soul. How is that even possible? I thought Aizen was it's master?" asked Ichigo, shaking his head to stop Zangetsu form continuing as he tried to comprehend what he was being told.

"I have a suspicion, but I'd prefer to keep it to myself until I learn more. Will that satisfy you?" asked Zangetsu patiently.

"Ya, I guess I can wait to find out," said Ichigo, slightly put out that he had to wait.

"Good. Now to continue my previous statement, neither you, nor myself noticed when the hogyoku merged with you, most likely due to the collapse of your inner world being a more pressing matter. As such, when this new world came and replaced your previous one, I was just as surprised as you," resumed Zangetsu as if he had never been interrupted.

"Alright, this is interesting an all, but how does this explain why my inner world is the way it is?" asked Ichigo, slightly impatient.

"Be patient and I'll tell you. Of all your qualities, your impatience is the one most likely to get you killed," said Zangetsu reproachfully, causing Ichigo to look to the side, slightly ashamed of himself for his impatience.

Seeing that Ichigo had been properly admonished, Zangetsu continued, "Skipping ahead to when you jumped from the building and into Final Getsuga Tensho's reiryoku," at this point Zangetsu sent a light glare at Ichigo, only to be met with Ichigo's own steadfast stare that showed his lack of remorse at his actions. Shaking his head in annoyance, Zangetsu said, "I guess you wouldn't be you if you didn't heedlessly rush into danger without thinking it through." Then continuing as before, said, "After you managed to absorb rampant reiryoku of the Final Getsuga Tensho, your soul seemed little more than a roughly humanoid shape that was quickly disintegrating. Right before your soul would have been completely destroyed though, it disappeared and a purple flash flared brightly in the sky for just a moment before the hollow and myself fell into unconsciousness."

"Wow," said Ichigo quietly, surprised that he had actually managed to survive.

"If I had to wager a guess as to what happened thereafter, I would say that right before you fell unconscious, your most heartfelt wish was for us to survive and the hogyoku made it so by adapting your body so it could handle the power of the Final Getsuga Tensho," said Zangetsu, a contemplative look on his face.

"That makes sense. I remember the last thing I felt before I fell unconscious was an overwhelming desire to somehow have saved you two," said Ichigo thoughtfully, then remembering something that unnerved him greatly, asked, "Uh, does this mean that I'm going to have the hogyoku sticking out my chest and have butterfly wings coming out my back, cus I'll be honest, I'm really hoping I don't?"

Slightly amused, Zangetsu said, "No, as soon the hogyoku changed your body, it fell apart."

"What!" said Ichigo, shocked. "I thought the hogyoku was indestructible?"

"It appears not. Immediately after the purple flash, but before I fell unconscious, I saw the hogyoku crack and shatter," said Zangetsu.

"Wow," said Ichigo quietly to himself. Looking back at Zangetsu, he said, "Well its probably for the best, right. I mean, I can't imagine what would happen if I walked into Soul Society with butterfly wings coming out my back. Renji would never let me live it down and besides, at least now Kisuke doesn't have to worry about destroying it."

Refocusing, Ichigo asked, "Alright, last question, how does this affect me now and is there anyway to return to how I was before?".

"Ah yes, the big question, "how does this affect me now." To tell you the truth though, I'm not entirely sure myself." At Ichigo's disgruntled look, he continued, "That is not to say though, that I know nothing. The Final Getsuga Tensho works by changing all the reiryoku in your body into what you might call 'pure reiryoku.' By doing this you gain nigh unlimited power, but only temporarily as no normal soul could ever hope to contain that much power and survive."

Seeing that Ichigo understood thus far, Zangetsu continued, "I believe the hogyoku saved you by changing the composition of your soul so that it could handle the raw power of the Final Getsuga Tensho, thus your soul being composed of pure reishi. There are drawbacks however, your power is now so great that no one on a lesser level can comprehend it. Meaning that you can no longer be sensed by regular soul reapers. Alongside this, your spiritual pressure can no longer tolerate anything less than itself. Essentially this means that anything coming into contact with your spiritual pressure will disintegrate," he finished.

"And the teleportation?" asked Ichigo calmly; keeping a straight face despite hearing that he could no longer interact with the world without turning it to dust.

"As the scientist said, I believe it has to do with the amount of pure reishi contained within your soul. And as your entire soul is composed of pure reishi, I would not be surprised if you discovered further powers beyond teleportation as you develop your new skills," explained Zangetsu.

"What other powers will I develop?" asked Ichigo curiously.

"As I said before, I'm not entirely sure, but it is possible you could develop a power similar to your friend Orihime's as it was formed due to the high amount of pure reishi in her soul. Unfortunately, that's all I know " answered Zangetsu.

Thinking on the information he had just learned for a moment, Ichigo said, "It's neat to be able to teleport an all, but I think I'd like to go back to how I was before. How do I do that?"

Grimacing slightly, Zangetsu said, "Unfortunately, I don't believe you can."

"WHAT!" shouted Ichigo, horrified at the thought that he was stuck like this. "I've got to be able to change back. How am I supposed to live if I can't touch anything?" he asked, a desperate look in his eyes.

"Calm down, its not as bad as you think. Before it was destroyed, it seems the hogyoku placed several seals on your power. From what I can feel now, you've got about .500 percent of power at your disposal, which also seems to be the border for transcendence. The rest of your power has been sealed away into three seals, the first seal when unlocked, will give you about 10 percent of your total power, the second will give you 50 and the last seal will release the rest to you," explained Zangetsu, trying to calm the frantic teen.

Calming down when he found he wasn't completely screwed, Ichigo asked, "How do I undo the seals?" He doubted he would ever need more power than what he already had, but you could never be to sure.

"From what I've managed to learn about them, the seals seem to be set to unlock, but I don't know how or when," said Zangetsu, perplexed at the seals odd workings.

"So that means that I won't be able to access the power if I need it, right?" asked Ichigo, wanting to make sure that he understood everything.

"Yes, but you severely underestimate your own power if you believe you will run into many occasions where what you already possess proves to be insufficient," said Zangetsu.

"That wasn't what I meant. I just wanted to make sure I had all the facts straight," said Ichigo.

Staring up t the sky for a moment, Zangetsu said, "You will wake soon. Is there anything else you require of me?"

Thinking quickly, Ichigo said, "Ya, would it be possible for you to seal away more of my power. I don't want to walk into the soul society and have everyone immediately knocked unconscious ?"

Nodding, Zangetsu said, "I can, but it would only be temporary and I would only be able to seal away so much."

"How long would I have?" asked Ichigo.

"I would wager that I could keep it sealed for a week, maybe a little more, but no more than that," guessed Zangetsu. "During that time, you will need to learn how to suppress your power so that you can interact with the world freely."

Feeling himself beginning to regain consciousness, Ichigo said, "Then do it. It wouldn't be good if people couldn't stand being next to me."

END FLASHBACK

As Ichigo disappeared into consciousness, Zangetsu immediately looked to the side and said, "Why didn't you confront him?"

Coming out from behind a large stone, the hollow said, "Psh. And why should I. Hes a big boy now, he'll figure it out."

"You know that you can no longer take control as you intended. You now have nothing to gain form fighting him," stated Zangetsu, trying to get the hollow to see things logically.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I know that I will never be his slave," said the inner hollow in disgust.

Frowning, Zangetsu asked, "Is that how you see me, a slave?"

Sneering, the hollow said, "You have it easy. He treats you like a partner and actually listens to you, while I on the other hand, get stuck being the horse. Unlike you, he thinks I'm evil." He might have imagined it, but Zangetsu could have sworn he sensed just a tad of bitterness in the hollows tone.

His frown lessening slightly, Zangetsu said, "You severely underestimate his character if you think he would turn you into a slave. If you gave him the chance, I'm sure he'd surprise you."

Instead of answering, the hollow sneered once more and vanished in a sonido, likely heading towards the mountains in the distance to blow off some steam.

Sighing, Zangetsu went to his new favorite spot in Ichigo's inner world, a bluff overlooking the ocean that gave a panoramic view of the surrounding world, and looking outward towards the horizon, watched as the sun slowly began to set.

Back at the Urahara Shop:

"Is there anything else?" asked Urahara, calmly drinking his tea as Ichigo described events that to anyone else would seem too unbelievable to possibly be true. He, on the other hand, had learned to just accept that as long as Ichigo was involved, nothing was impossible.

"Nope, I think that about covers it," said Ichigo casually.

Putting on a thoughtful expression, Urahara said, "You answered most of my question, though there's still one thing I want to know."

"What is it?" asked Ichigo curiously, he though he had answered most of the crucial questions in his explanation.

Looking back at him, Urahara said, "How does this change affect your fighting capability exactly. I notice you don't have a zanpakuto."

"What do y-, hey you're right. Wheres Zangetsu?" asked Ichigo looking over his person for the sword of his soul.

"Well, when was the last time you had it?" asked Urahara, becoming more and more excited at the mysteries presenting themselves to him, just waiting to be solved.

"I think the last time I had it was right before I used the Final Getsuga Tensho," he said thoughtfully. Looking at Urahara expectantly, he continued, "That must be it then. When I used the Final Getsuga Tensho, Zangetsu's physical form disappeared and I was only able to use Mugetsu by forming a sword out of my reiryoku."

Covering the bottom half of his face with his favorite fan, Urahara happily said, "Well, it seems we have our answer then. In order to get your zanpakuto back you have to form it out of your reiryoku."

"What? Are you sure?" asked Ichigo, surprised at his quick conclusion.

Smiling broadly, Urahara said, "Nope."

Growing a tick mark on the side of his head, Ichigo said, "Well then why would you suggest something like that."

"Well it just seems to be common logic. If it worked when you used the Final Getsuga Tensho, then I believe its at least worth a shot here. Regardless of the results, you won't have lost anything," said Urahara happily.

Grumbling about stupid shopkeepers, Ichigo thought for a moment on how he was going to do this before deciding to just follow his instinct. Focusing on the feel and flow of his reiryoku, Ichigo tried to push it out of his body while also trying to imprint his soul on to it. Although it took a few attempts, he managed to form his zanpakuto. It just wasn't what he was expecting. He had expected to form Zangetsu in his shikai state as a giant Khyber knife type sword, instead though, he had formed him in his bankai state, and even then, he now held Tensa Zangetsu as he appeared after his training in the Dangai.

"What the...," said Ichigo, thoroughly confused.

"Hmmm, If I recall correctly, your zanpakuto didn't look like that the last I saw," said Urahara helpfully.

Sweat-dropping, Ichigo said, "Wow, thanks. I didn't realize that."

Smiling broadly, Urahara said, "Its no problem at all, I'm always happy to help a person I need."

Grumbling about smart-ass shopkeepers, Ichigo said, "Whats confusing is that this is the form that Tensa Zangetsu took when I finished my training in the Dangai, but before I used the Final Getsuga Tensho. When I tried to form Zangetsu, I expected him to be in his shikai, but I guess this makes about as much sense as anything else at this point."

"Hmmm, Tensa Zangetsu is your bankai, correct?" asked Urahara contemplatively.

"Ya."

"I have an idea, but I'm not certain. When you get time, you should speak to your zanpakuto about it, but now, it's experimentation time," said Urahara with a mad gleam in his eye.

"What?! Fuck you. I'm not going to be your guinea pig for some weird and perverse experiment!" shouted Ichigo angrily.

Putting his hands up in surrender, Urahara said, "Calm down, that's not what I meant. I want you to go down to the training room where we'll see just what exactly happened to you."

In the training room:

"Alright, what do you want me to do?" asked Ichigo, ready to find out how this change would affect his soul reaper duties.

"Hmmm, well, to start, I just want you to swing your sword as fast and as hard as you can so we can see if you kept the effects of your training in the Dangai," said Urahara

Grunting to show he understood, Ichigo raised his sword and swung it as instructed. To the untrained eye, it seemed as if his sword had seemingly teleported at the same time a massive wave of force emanated from the path the sword would've taken. Spreading outwards from his sword, the wave of misplaced air traveled at near untraceable speeds until it crashed into a series of distant mountains, completely leveling them in one clean slice.

Nodding in affirmation, Ichigo said, "I guess that answers that question."

Grinning again, Urahara said, "Under any other circumstances and if it was anyone else besides yourself, I would be amazed, but after having known you for sometime, I think I'm becoming desensitized to you constantly achieving the impossible."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Ichigo nonchalantly.

Chuckling good naturally, Urahara said, "Alright, seeing as you were able generate that wave of force to begin with means you also kept your speed. Moving on though, I want to test that armor like shell covering your body."

"This?" asked Ichigo, gesturing down to the shell like covering that surrounded his body. "This armor, I guess you could say, is the same as the one that covered my body when I used the Final Getsuga Tensho. I don't know how sturdy it is though."

"Well, were about to find out," said Urahara before lunging in to slash him across the chest.

As Urahara slashed, Ichigo had to fight the urge to instinctively counter slash with his own sword. When Urahara's sword made contact with the armor though, instead of chipping, cracking, or otherwise being damaged, Urahara's sword just grated against the armor, not causing a single scratch against it.

Raising an eye in light surprise, Urahara said, "I may not be the greatest Zanjutsu master, but I would've thought I could at least cause some form of damage to that armor of yours."

Ichigo wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this, but deciding he had to say something, said "Um, well, maybe you could just try hitting harder."

He immediately regretted saying this when Urahara said, "Great idea. Awaken, Benihime."

"Ahhhh, are you crazy!? You could kill me with that!" shouted Ichigo frantically.

Completely ignoring him, Urahara shouted, "Nake, Benihime!"

A glowing, crescent shaped bolt of energy flew quickly at Ichigo and exploded spectacularly, sending massive chucks of dirt and stone flying outward from Ichigo. When the air cleared, Ichigo was left standing there, wide eyed and sweating, but without a scratch on him.

Grinning, Urahara said, "Impressive, to hold up even against Benihime, and without a scratch, too." Looking thoughtful for a second, he continued, "Hold on for a moment, I want to see something."

"What? Are you going to try and use your bankai on me now," said Ichigo angrily, his voice an octave higher than normal. "You could have killed me with that attack!"

"Relax. I wouldn't have attacked you like that if I wasn't already a hundred percent sure you'd be fine. You survived being slashed by Benihime in her sealed state without any damage. There's no way you'd be hurt too badly if attacked by her shikai. I am surprised though that you escaped damage again," said Urahara absently, rummaging through his pockets for something or the other. "Aha," he said, taking out the same device he used to measure Ichigo's pure reishi. "Alright, just hold still. I'm going to try and measure the spiritual composition of that armor of yours. If what I believe is correct then it'll take a lot more than Benihime to damage that armor."

Pressing a few buttons on it, Urahara stepped up and scanned the armor covering Ichigo's chest. Moments later he grinned and said, "Incredible."

"You seem to be saying that a lot lately," said Ichigo dubiously.

"Well, everything about you is fascinating. You are an anomaly that has never before existed. Rules and laws others believe to be absolute, you tread over as if they were nothing. It's only natural that I, as a scientist, be amazed at the prospect of such a being existing!" exclaimed Urahara passionately.

"Alright, Alright, I get it, I'm a freak of nature. Can we continue now?" said Ichigo, sweat dropping. He wanted to get these tests over with as quickly as possible with as little of Urahara's own brand of extravagance as he could manage.

"Hmpf, you're no fun," said Urahara grumpily. Refocusing, he continued, "I measured your armor's spiritual composition and it's as I thought, that armor is composed entirely of your reiryoku in such an amount that it gained a physical form."

"In English, please," said Ichigo, having no clue what the scientist was talking about.

Thinking for a moment, Urahara said,"Hmmm, the nearest thing I could compare it to is Kempachi's own spiritual armor."

"What? Do you mean that thing that keeps people from cutting his skin if there spiritual energy isn't focused enough?" asked Ichigo.

"Exactly that. Do you know how he does it?" asked Urahara in turn.

"I have a vague idea. I think it has something to do with coating your body in your reiryoku," replied Ichigo thoughtfully.

"Correct. By unconsciously coating his body in an even amount of reiryoku, an invisible armor of sorts forms around Kempachi. This armor disperses energy throughout itself so that, if attacked, it is weakened in all areas instead of just one. This means that, when attacked, you would have to overpower all the reiryoku in the technique, as opposed to just the reiryoku in one spot, to cause damage" explained Urahara.

"Wow, I wish I knew that when I was fighting the Espada," said Ichigo, unconsciously rubbing the center of his chest. A thought suddenly coming to him, Ichigo asked, "Do all the captains do this?"

"As a matter of fact, no. The armor itself is extremely useful, but it has its drawbacks. One being, the strength of the armor is directly proportional to the amount of reiryoku put into it and, for most, will not regenerate when damage is dealt. Alongside that, by doing this you throw away any chance of stealth as any person with even a shred of spiritual sense will be able to sense you like a beacon" answered Urahara.

"That's not much of a reason to not use it though. You would just have to be careful when you do that you won't have to hide any," pressed Ichigo, now genuinely curious as to why this technique wasn't used more often.

"Hmm, how to get you to understand?" mused Urahara to himself. "Alright, envision this, when a soul reaper touches a zanpakuto, their reiryoku begins to flow through the zanpakuto as well themselves. As such, when they attack something, the reiryoku that flows through the blade effectively sharpens it. When the blade then meets something like Kempachi's armor, a contest of sorts occurs where if the reiryoku flowing through the zanpakuto isn't greater than the total amount of reiryoku in the armor, no damage will be dealt to the defender. This is the advantage of the armor, as it would take a greater amount of reiryoku than whats in the armor to deal any damage and when you're a captain, that can prove difficult fo rall but the best. On the other hand though, when the armor is attacked and the blow lands, even if the the armor stops the attack, damage is dealt to the armor that doesn't regenerate, while the zanpakuto and soul reaper retain all of their reiryoku. Alongside that, it takes constant concentration to maintain and for it to be of any practical use, needs a massive amount of reiryoku that is beyond most soul reapers.

"Wait, does that mean that Kempachi is concentrating on maintaining that armor while he battles?" asked Ichigo dubiously.

"No. Remember when I said it doesn't regenerate for most. Well, you and Kempachi are the exceptions. When someone has exceptionally massive reserves of reiryoku that outstrips even most captains, their reiryoku naturally flows out of them and coats their body in itself. This gives those people the armor automatically and when the armor is damaged, it regenerates by itself," explained Urahara.

"Huh, what do you know. I guess that explains why he's so strong. It's next to impossible for anyone but a captain to hurt him," said Ichigo.

"Yep and you've got the same ability now, except yours seems to be much more advanced," quipped Urahara happily.

"How so?" asked Ichigo, refocusing on the task at hand.

"Unlike Kempachi, your reiryoku reserves have reached levels of such magnitude that it now physically manifests itself in the form of this armor when it expels itself through your pores. Also, I probably don't need to mention this, but this is also supposed to be impossible," explained Urahara happily.

"Wait, my pores? I thought you said reiryoku was expelled through the wrists, an also, I'm not expelling any reiryoku right now." said Ichigo, confused at Urahara's seemingly contradictory statement.

"Oh, I'm surprised you were actually listening when I said that," teased Urahara. "To explain though, reiryoku can only be channeled through the wrists unless intense training is undertaken to channel it from anywhere on your body. Alongside that, though the wrists are the major point of expulsion for reiryoku, it can leak out of your pours when not properly controlled. This is what makes you so easy to sense, with the massive reserves of reiryoku and you've always had along with your series lack of control, you're a literal beacon to anyone with a shred of spiritual sense."

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, except one thing, Zangetsu sealed like 99 percent of my power so shouldn't that mean this armor should have dispersed?" asked Ichigo irritated.

"Correct, but as your reiryoku has become physical and thus has mass, you would have to either purposely withdraw it back into yourself or have someone destroy it, which, as I hope you've seen, I can't do," answered Urahara.

"Sooo, withdraw it then?" asked Ichigo, double checking.

"That would be best," replied Urahara amused.

"Okay, how should I do this. Kisuke said that the armor was expelled reiryoku made solid, so I guess I should try and draw it in like I did with the Final Getsuga Tensho's reiryoku," thought Ichigo.

Focusing, he concentrated on how he felt when he absorbed the power from his inner world and tried applying that knowledge to absorbing the armor surrounding his body. Stretching his senses out, he felt his reiryoku swirling around his body like a torrent. "Jeez, is this what everyone sees when they sense me. It's no wonder hollows always find me, I'm a literal beacon," he thought. Grasping the rampant energy, Ichigo slowly began drawing it all back inside himself for Zangetsu to seal away. He didn't know how long he spent just standing there, but when he opened his eyes he saw that he had succeeded. His chest was now bare with the remnants of his shihakusho laying in tatters around his waist.

"Congratulations Ichigo, you managed to successfully withdraw the excess reiryoku surrounding your body and in doing so, miraculously I might add, suppress your own spiritual pressure and it only took you just over an hour to do it," said Urahara mockingly.

"Shut up, it's not my fault I've never been good at suppressing or detecting reiryoku. I'm just happy I managed it at all." said Ichigo irately.

"Yes, yes. Now it's getting late and we'll have to wrap up soon, so to wrap up, I want to try and sense my reiryoku now that you have yours suppressed and it's no longer clouding your vision," said Urahara.

"Fine," said Ichigo simply, eager to get home and sort through everything that had happened to him. Closing his eyes, he stretched his senses outward and was amazed at what he "saw." "Wow! I can see everything," said Ichigo amazed.

Raising his eyebrow at yet another oddity, Urahara said, "What do you mean you can see everything?" He had figured that Ichigo would be able to sense his own reiryoku and if he was lucky, Yoruichi's and Isshin's seeing as they both had the largest reserves in the town, but this didn't seem to be what Ichigo was sensing.

"I mean I can see everything around me, you, that rock to your left, even those ants about about 50 feet away," explained Ichigo as he pointed out all the things he could see.

"Hmm, under normal circumstances I would say your sensing skills rival and easily surpass the greatest sensors to ever exist, but that doesn't seem to be it. Everything in the human world has something resembling a soul including inanimate objects like water and stones, but these objects are impossible to sense because they don't give off any reiryoku like a living soul does. This is why Kanome never came to the human world, he wouldn't be able to sense his surroundings like he could do in the Soul Society," said Urahara, honestly puzzled at what this new ability could be.

"Well, right now the world to me is colorless, but I can see everything above, below, and around me. I can even see behind things to sense beyond them, like Tessai up in the store," said Ichigo, trying to give as much information on this new, and might he say "awesome," ability.

"What? You can sense Tessai?" asked Urahara curiously.

"Ya, he's sweeping the floors in the tea room" answered Ichigo.

"Hmm, well that is interesting. When I built this room, I installed several machines to suppress and hide reiryoku while in this room to keep it from being sensed by the outside. Likewise this would also keep you from sensing things on the outside by normal means and yet, you can sense Tessai in the store above," said Urahara, curious at such a development. He knew he should be shocked or, at the very least, surprised at all this, but he honestly couldn't bring himself to be surprised at anything relating to Ichigo. Compared to teleportation and near limitless power, this seemed quite tame when compared.

"Wait, so does this mean I can essentially walk around blind and be fine?" asked Ichigo.

"I don't know, you tell me. How well can you sense the things in the area surrounding you?" answered Urahara, needing more information on this odd sensing ability.

"I can see everything just as clearly as I can with my eyes open, except it's all colorless with everything seeming transparent to show what's behind it, like a radar. Also, everything except for you has a very defined, glowing blue aura around it, while you have a more fiery aura around you. Actually, now that I think about it, only living things have that fiery aura, while everything else just has a light, refined aura outlining it," explained Ichigo as best he could.

"Ok, I think I know what you're seeing. You seem to be able to sense the soul that is present in everything. Most soul reapers sense the reiryoku that all living things give off to some degree. Those trained however, are able to suppress the reiryoku they naturally emit to effectively make themselves invisible to others. You, on the other hand, sense both the soul and the reiryoku. And seeing as it's impossible to hide a soul, you can effectively sense everything, even if it's hidden to other soul reapers.," said Urahara, thinking about all the possible applications of such an ability.

"I must admit, Ichigo, I'm curious to extents of your sensing ability, so before you go, I want to perfrm a few quick tests, alright?" said Urahara, looking back at Ichigo to see him groaning.

"Uhh, alright. After this I'm going home and not moving for the next eight hours"

"Great, now hold on while I get something and don't try to sense what I'm getting or you'll ruin the experiment," said Urahara as he went back up to the shop only to return a few moments later with two things hidden beneath his coat.

"Alright, first, I want you to put on this blind fold, can't have you peaking now can we" said Urahara with a grin to show his excitement at the upcoming test.

Ichigo didn't bother verifying the man's childish grin with a response and simply tied the blindfold around his head to cover his eyes.

"Great now I want you to tell me what you sense in me particularly," said Urahara.

Ichigo stretched out his senses once again and focused on the shopkeeper. "I see you clearly. You have that same fiery aura I talked about already surrounding you and you have some kind of cloak hidden underneath your coat," said Ichigo carefully as he relayed is observations to the man.

"Great, now how bout now?" said Urahara.

"I noticed that the aura surrounding you settled down nearly completely. It's now almost perfectly refined around you with just the occasional flicker, like a fire," responded Ichigo quickly.

"Hm, okay, how bout now?" asked Urahara once again.

"I see that you put on that cloak you had. Your aura, which I presume to be your expelled reiryoku, is now completely suppressed and now I can see only your soul which I see as a light blue, glowing aura around your body, just like inanimate objects," finished Ichigo.

"Alright, you can take off the blindfold off now," said Urahara.

Taking the blindfold off, Ichigo asked, "Alright, now what did this prove?"

"It proved that I was right. You can sense both the soul and expelled reiryoku if an object or person. Alongside this, you're able to sense through objects to look behind them, essentially giving you x-ray vision. You were even able to sense my reiryoku suppressing cloak, which I designed specifically to be impossible to sense by mixing in seki-seki stone. This along with you being impossible to sense, you'd be the ultimate assassin." answered Urahara.

"I feel like I should be shocked, but a this point, I just can't bring myself to it," said Ichigo blandly.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one. After you've done the impossible several times before, it all starts to get rather boring" said Urahara, grinning.

"So, is that it, can I go now?" asked Ichigo. He'd gotten most of his questions answered, so he was perfectly content to just go home and go to sleep.

"In a minute, before you go I want you to try and sense something composed entirely of reishi," said Urahara as he unsheathed his zanpakuto.

"Alright," said Ichigo, closing his eyes.

Spreading his senses out for hopefully the last time today, Ichigo "looked" at Urahara's zanpakuto.

"Whoa, that's different," said Ichigo, surprised.

"What's different," asked Urahara, slightly irked that Ichigo couldn't be bothered to be a bit more descriptive in his sentences.

"I can see it just like everything else, except that it's in color"

"That makes sense. The reishi that makes up objects in the Soul Society affects the qualities and properties it has, so it's no surprise that you could see my swords color," surmised Urahara thoughtfully.

"Alright, can I go now?" asked Ichigo for what felt like the umpteenth time.

"Yes, but come here again tomorrow,we've go tot decide what were going to do now that you've essentially become a god," said Urahara dramatically.

"Shut up, I'm not a god and I don't want to be," said Ichigo hotly.

"Denial is the first step to acceptance, Ichigo," quipped Urahara.

Rather than dignifying his teachers stupid antics with a comment, Ichigo turned around with a muttered "good night" and walked towards the ladder leading up toward the store.

"Uh, before you go Ichigo," began Urahara.

"Ug, what is it now old man, I'm tired," said Ichigo as he turned around to face Urahara only to be met with his serious face.

"I just wanted you to know that despite all the changes you've gone through, you're friends and family will still support you," he said, unusually serious.

"Uh, ya, thanks Kisuke," responded Ichigo, unsure of how to respond. He was touched that Urahara wouldn't leave him to deal with this by himself, no doubt, he was just couldn't find the right words to express his gratitude.

"No problem," answered Urahara with a grin that seemed more genuine. :I just wanted you to know. Good night, Ichigo."

"Night," said Ichigo,still a bit lost as he finished climbing the ladder.