Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Chapter 4 – Zanpakutō Rebellion

Inner World

Ichigo opened his eyes and discovered that he had awakened in his Inner World in his usual position was Zangetsu standing on a pole.

"What's up old man?"

"Can you hear it, Ichigo?"

Ichigo just looked confused, "What is it? I can hear you voice-"

"Not my voice." Zangetsu cut him off and Ichigo look startled and then focused on his surroundings.

"I can't really hear anything else. What are you talking about?"

"Then all is well."

Karakura Town

Ulquiorra walked across the grass towards his destination that Aizen had informed him with the required items in order to make contact. He had to admit it was a strange but nice feeling walking along grass, he was used to sand, rock and cement which were hard and rough but grass was soft. Thankfully Aizen had found a way to suppress his Reiatsu so that Soul Society would be unable to sense his presence in the real world. He finally reached the end of the grass and looked over at the lake that stood before him and noticed the island in the middle with a few large trees surrounded with butterflies and realised that this was the place.

He sonidoed in front of the island, he could feel the Reiatsu surrounding it and he raised his hand and pressed it towards the trees and felt it collide with a barrier. He pulled out the sheet of paper that had the words 'Zanpakutō Communication' written on it and he placed it against the barrier and muttered the words that Aizen told him to say and all of a sudden found himself in a watery world that had small platforms. He noticed a figure standing on a platform frowning at him.

The figure was tall thin man with pale skin and shaggy, dark brown hair and two bangs dropping and crossing over the bridge of his nose. He had turquoise-colour eyes circled by purple marks similar to his tsuba and the design of his clothes. He had long fingernails; he wore a long white robe-like coat, somewhat reminiscent of an Arrancar's. The collar of the robe was covered with a thick fur, featuring a purple ascot fastened by a ruby brooch. He wore a wide sash at his waist, decorated by a purple stripe and boots with pointed tips similar to those worn by Gillian-class Menos.

"You are not Koga. Only Koga is capable of entering here."

"Aizen-sama developed a seal that can enter someone into the inner world of a sealed Shinigami." Ulquiorra told him emotionlessly full well knowing that his words would gain the man's interest.

"Sealed? What do you mean by that?" He asked anxiously, was this the reason why he couldn't hear Koga? How long had he been sealed?

"Your Shinigami was sealed a few centuries ago by the Captain Commander and now I have come to offer you a way to release yourself back into the real world. You are not capable even with your talents to escape but with Aizen-sama's knowledge you can."

"And what does this Aizen want in return?"

"For you to release your Shinigami but you have to discover the location for yourself, the Captain Commander is the only one with the knowledge on how to break the seal and you will have to lure the Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo into your quest."

The man nodded in acceptance and Ulquiorra began the ritual as the Zanpakutō spirit thought to himself, "I will release you from your prison Koga, I swear it and together you and I will get revenge on Soul Society. First I must release the Zanpakutō from the Shinigami and enter the inner world of the Captain Commander to discover Koga's location and knowledge on how to unseal him. Also I will have to discover a way to get this Kurosaki Ichigo to Soul Society. I wonder what is so important about a mere substitute Shinigami."

Everything went black all of a sudden and a few minutes later, he found himself in Soul Society.

An Hour Later – Las Noches

Ulquiorra entered the room where Aizen was located and informed him that he had freed the Zanpakutō and it had begun its revenge.

Aizen nodded pleased with Ulquiorra's success even though he knew that he had a 0% chance of failure.

"And you informed him to involve Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"Yes Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra answered and Aizen relaxed in his chair with a smile on his face and spoke softly,

"Excellent, Ichigo-kun's development is going to rise significantly."

Ulquiorra looked on emotionlessly which would have fooled everyone except Aizen, who had noticed the very brief flash of curiosity and confusion. He was his most loyal servant, and even though he believed that he had been able to hide his second resurrection form from him he was sadly mistaken.

Aizen knew that while he was in his first release he was the 4th strongest Espada and Yammy's resurrection made him the most powerful. However in his second release, Ulquiorra is the strongest and also was a similar fighter to Ichigo, so he knew that it would be Ulquiorra to bring out Ichigo's true power. And once that happened, only he himself would be able to stop Kurosaki Ichigo and it wouldn't be easy to do, which made it all the more interesting. A worthy opponent finally.

He would allow Grimmjow to continue pushing Ichigo but at the rate he was developing, Grimmjow wouldn't stand a chance.

Visored Hideout

For the next few days, Ichigo trained at the Visored's place working on his mask endurance training but unfortunately it was a slow process as he had only improved it by a couple of seconds and it was starting to aggravate him.

He swung his sealed sword at Shinji who deflected it before attempting to pierce his chest but Ichigo was able to dodge it and prepared to strike at Shinji once again unfortunately his mask broke away. Seeing the opening Shinji kicked him in the gut which sent him skidding to the ground a few metres away.

"Dammit!" He swore punching the ground panting hard from the loss of his Reiatsu that came from losing the mask.

"Kensei, how long?" Shinji asked the Visored who was sitting on a rock, a scowl on his face holding a stopwatch.

"6 ½ seconds" He grunted before chucking the watch to Rose and telling him he was going to stop wasting his time and train.

"Man, ya really suck at this Ichigo" Shinji told him.

"Piss off Hirako, instead of criticising me, how about you give me some advice?"

"Keep it on ya face for longer" Shinji mocked him.

"Bastard" Ichigo growled at him before sheathing his sword making Shinji raise an eyebrow.

"Givin' up are ya?" Shinji asked him but Ichigo just shook his head and explained;

"No, I just need a break for a couple of days, right now I'm frustrated, worried, angry and tired that I just can't focus. First Rukia is kidnapped, then I had to get my powers back before 5 days of nothing but training and then I invaded Soul Society and battled many different opponents. Then the second I get back to the world of the living, I am training again and dealing with my Inner Hollow and fighting Arrancars, I'm mentally exhausted right now. I'm a human first and then a Shinigami or Visored or whatever I am second. You guys are how old? Could be 100? 200 years old for all I know but I am only 15."

Shinji whistled it was easy to forget how young this kid was, "Very well Ichigo, we will see ya in a few days."

"Thanks Hirako"

As Ichigo left the warehouse, using Shunpo he was able to get home quickly however he wasn't prepared for the horror that was waiting for him. As he opened the door he was greeted to the sight of his father, his sister Yuzu and Rukia all wearing bunny ears and cheering while watching the Chappy the rabbit cartoon. He glanced around to see Karin at the kitchen table with her head face down on the table and her hands covering her ears. She seemed to sense him come in as her head shot up and looked at him with pleading eyes that were begging him to help her, she never begged for help so he nodded to her.

"ICHIGO!" Isshin suddenly noticed Ichigo making his eyes widen as Rukia and Yuzu took notice before Isshin bounded over to Ichigo with another pair of Bunny ears.

"Time to join the party with your manly father, adorable sister Yuzu and beautiful Rukia-Chan"

Isshin attempted to put the ears on Ichigo but was met with a hard punch in the face followed by a knee into the gut and then thrown across the room into the wall.

"I would rather die than wear that crap!" He growled at his father but quickly glanced at Karin and calmly told him, "Besides I already promised Karin that I will play Soccer with her today."

Karin looked at him hopefully whilst Rukia was looking in him in confusion wondering why he was here and not training at the Visored's.

It wasn't long before both Ichigo and Karin were at the public soccer pitch; Ichigo occupied the goals so Karin could practise her penalty kicking. He was cornered by Rukia before he left; she had no embarrassment about the fact that she was wearing bunny ears and questioned him why he wasn't training. He told her that he was tired and just wanted the day to relax. Which he of course had to remind her that she wasn't responsible and that he chose to train and fight.

Focusing his attention on guarding the goals he called out to Karin,

"All right whenever you're ready."

He prepared himself for Karin's incoming kick, and was shocked when the ball went speeding past him and into the top right corner of the net. He looked back at Karin with wide eyes and then scowled at the smug look on her face before recovering the ball and throwing it back to her.

"What's wrong Ichi-nii, can't keep up?" She taunted him, which ignited his competitive side and he growled,

"It won't happen again."

Her next shot was saved by Ichigo who channelled his Reiatsu into his feet in order to block it and from there it turned into a fun game that they both enjoyed. It was times like this when Karin would open up to Ichigo and he was the only she ever opened up to and it was very rare. So he was only one to ever see the child like attitude that Karin hides and her insecurities.

At the end of their competition, in which much to Ichigo's annoyance, Karin had won 27 to 26 and Ichigo was amazed by how much progress Karin had made using her Reiatsu. What was even more amazing was that it was all her natural instinct; her powers were developing even faster than his did much to his concern.

Now he found himself walking back home kicking the soccer ball while carrying a tired Karin on his back, she had used up most of her Reiatsu and Ichigo suspected that she didn't even know she was using it.

Once they had arrived at their house, Ichigo discreetly opened the door and saw that the rest of the family plus Rukia was watching a sappy romance movie but Ichigo was surprised to see the look of horror on his father's face. He was also quite surprised to see that Rukia was quite engrossed on the movie, shaking his head at that, he carefully pushed his Reiatsu level down to avoid being detected by Rukia and headed up stairs to Karin and Yuzu's room.

After he put Karin to bed, he headed into his room and was thankful that Kon wasn't in there and didn't bother to wonder where he was and collapsed onto his bed, letting sleep take him.

As Ichigo was sleeping upstairs, Rukia departed the house having had enough 'family bonding time' as Isshin put it. She smirked to herself as she thought of Ichigo trying to mask his presence and sneak upstairs but what he didn't know is that no matter how little Reiatsu he released, she could always sense it.

It was easy to forget that he was only 15 and not used to fighting continuous battles, work or train all day and she couldn't help but feel guilt for putting him in this predicament. However she was unable to ponder on this any further as Renji suddenly appeared in front of her in his Shinigami form with an anxious look on his face.

"What is it Renji?"

"We have to return to Soul Society." He told her solemnly knowing exactly how she was going to react.

"What?" Rukia asked outraged, "We can't just leave; we have to protect this town in case of Arrancar."

"I know that Rukia." He told her calmly, "But it's the Commander's orders, and we both know that he wouldn't summon us back if t wasn't important."

Rukia just glared at him before sighing and exiting her Gigai as Renji opened up a Senkaimon and Rukia along with her Gigai follows him inside.

Karakura Town – Later that Night

"HOLLOW! HOLLOW! HOLLOW!"

Ichigo groaned as he opened his eyes and saw that the time was 2 in the morning, he jumped up as he was wide and awake from all the noise that his stupid badge was making. He grabbed it and smashed it against his chest, and released his Shinigami form as his body fell face first onto the bed and he jumped out of the window.

It wasn't long until he found the Hollow along the river bank close to where his mother died, it hadn't seen him approaching yet as he pulled out his Zanpakutō and shunpoed to the spot right behind the Hollow's head. He swung his blade downwards and before the Hollow knew what was happening it was being cleansed and sent to Soul Society.

Ichigo landed on the ground as he sheathed his sword, and sighed, "Man, and to think I used to have trouble with them. Kinda miss those days."

Just as he was about to head home, a light above him caught his attention and he was shocked to see a wounded Rukia fall out of the Senkaimon. He rushed towards her and caught her before she hit the ground and shook her slightly.

"Hey Rukia! You alright? Rukia!"

Rukia awoke groggily and smiled in relief when she saw Ichigo's face, "Ichigo... Don't worry,"

"Don't give me that!" Ichigo snapped, "What the hell happened to you?"

He was interrupted however when he felt a sudden Reiatsu press down on him from behind, supporting Rukia who had her left arm slung over his shoulder, he shunpoed back a to the top of the hill away from the Senkaimon.

The figure that stepped out of the Senkaimon appeared to be a beautiful Yuki-onna* dressed in white and light blue clothes. She had long, pale lavender hair tied into a partial bun in the back that is clipped at the left side of her head at the front, while on the right it hangs loose and is cut somewhat shorter, pale skin and dark blue eyes. She wore a Furisode kimono with a large pale purple bow in the back attached to a pale yellow obi: The top part of her clothing had long sleeves that reached the ground, and the bottom part was also long and covered her feet.

"Sode no Shirayuki, what on earth is she doing here?" Zangetsu spoke up confusion lacing his voice which surprised Ichigo, he had never heard Zangetsu confused before.

"Rukia's Zanpakutō?" Ichigo asked, he could see why her Zanpakutō was considered the most beautiful in Soul Society and why Zangetsu was so smitten with her. He smirked when he felt a flash of annoyance from Zangetsu as he laid Rukia down on the ground and pulled out his katana and held it in a defensive position before Shunpoing to a few metres in front of her.

She looked at him with interest and a smirk fell onto her face, "Kurosaki Ichigo, nice to finally meet you in person. Hand Rukia over."

"Is there any point in asking that? You're Rukia's Zanpakutō, you should know the answer."

She frowned at him and shot a wave of ice at him, but Ichigo was able to dodge it by utilizing Shunpo to jump over the attack and followed up by releasing Zangetsu. He launched a wordless Getsuga Tensho at her but she shunpoed onto the top of the bridge and all of a sudden she waved her left hand and her Zanpakutō appeared in her hands.

She begun one of her dances that Ichigo recognised as his eyes widened before he heard her say, "Some no mai, Tsukishiro"

Ichigo looked down as he saw the ice tower forming underneath him and before it shot up and froze him; he flash stepped away and appeared only a few metres away. As he watched the ice tower crumble apart, he heard her voice behind him as Reiatsu began to surround his blade,

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren"

He spun around to see her pointing her blade at him and a massive, powerful pure-white wave of ice shot right at him,

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The wave of Ice and Reiatsu clashed in mid air for dominance until both attacks destroyed themselves, seeing this, using Shunpo, he appeared just above her and slashed downwards and cut her in half. However he was shocked to see that she broke into pieces of ice showing that it was just an ice clone and he spun around as she was behind him again.

Could Rukia use an Ice clone?

She then held at her hand and blew a small wave of ice at him and he just blocked it with Zangetsu's blade, confused on why she was using such a weak attack. It became clear however when it stopped as he saw her disappearing into a Senkaimon.

He didn't bother chasing after her, once it had vanished he resealed Zangetsu and sheathed him and ran over to where Rukia lay. One of her shoulders was bleeding heavily; he quickly picked her up bridal style and headed towards Urahara's to get her healed.

Urahara's shop – 8 hours later

Ichigo, Urahara, Chad and Kon sat around a small circular table in a room which Urahara claimed to be the 'conference room.'

"I hope Nee-san will be ok" Kon whined.

"Ishida still in training is her?" Ichigo asked ignoring Kon as he knew that Inoue would heal Rukia no problem. He noticed Ishida wasn't here adding to the fact that he hadn't seen him since the first morning he started training.

"The Quincy training is very top secret, he is currently in a location that hides him from Shinigami, and I however already know where it is but have no reason to go." Urahara told him.

"So you said that it was Rukia's Zanpakutō." Chad questioned him and Ichigo nodded, "Yeah I don't understand how, but she had her powers and Zangetsu confirmed it."

"For the time being, I've asked Yoruichi-san to check things out in Soul Society. So let's sit tight until Kuchiki-san's recovered." Urahara told them, thankfully immediately after he finished, Tessai entered the room and told them Rukia was awake.

Moments later they surrounded Rukia's bed including Inoue who had been healing her apart from Kon who was lying on the cover crying, "Nee-san"

"Don't worry Kon, I'm all right."

"Now Kuchiki-san, why don't you tell us what happened?"

"Yeah" Rukia said and then told them that they had all been summoned to the Sōkyoku Hill and waited for the Captain-Commander but he never showed up. That a man had shown up instead, revealing that it was all a trap and released all of their Zanpakutō's and a huge battle began and she was able to escape to the real world.

She also revealed her fears about Byakuya but Ichigo cut her off, "There is no way Byakuya would die like that. He is far too strong."

"So Zanpakutō are defying their Shinigami and attacking them." Urahara spoke up, "I've never heard of that happening before. After all a Zanpakutō's true form resides within their Shinigami."

"What's a Zanpakutō's true form?" Chad asked him.

"Zanpakutō have a mind and a body that control their powers. Shinigami are able to grow more powerful by communicating with them."

"Does Zangetsu have a different form, too?" Chad asked Ichigo who nodded in return and Urahara confirmed it by stating,

"Naturally my Benihime has one as well"

"Is everyone is Seireitei ok?" Ichigo asked Rukia but before she could answer another voice spoke up,

"They're fine. The Gotei 13 hasn't fallen yet."

They all looked towards the door to see Yoruichi leaning against it with her arms folded across her chest.

"Yoruichi-san? Back so soon?" Urahara spoke in astonishment.

"Yoruichi-dono, what is happening in Soul Society? And Nii-sama... How is Nii-sama?" Rukia asked anxiously.

"Don't panic, I will explain everything." Yoruichi told her calmly as she walked towards her and sat on a cushion. Then she told them everything that she had discovered, that both Byakuya and the Commander were still missing and that there have been heavy casualties to all the squads.

Urahara looked thoughtful and asked Ichigo, "Kurosaki-san, have you noticed anything different with your Zanpakutō?"

Ichigo shook his head, "No not really"

"Oh, really? Actually I have read some reports from Soul Society for a while now stating that Shinigami have been having difficulties with their Zanpakutō. Not that I had any problems with Benihime."

"So he can't control the Zanpakutō in the real world?" Ichigo asked and Urahara answered,

"Are his powers unable to reach the real world? Or is there some other reason behind this? I won't know the answer without doing some research first."

"I'll go back to Soul Society in the morning." Yoruichi told them.

Ichigo's Home – 11pm at Night

Ichigo laid on his bed, deep in thought about what had transpired the previous night and this morning. Rukia was still currently recovering from her injuries; Inoue had only healed her major wounds as Urahara told him that it would be best for Rukia to recover from the minor injuries naturally. He spent the rest of the day just relaxing and doing a bit of study, and already was his mind clearer and was eager to get back to his training. He couldn't risk going to Soul Society and losing Zangetsu, he needed to protect Karakura town from the Arrancar, even without their Zanpakutō, Soul Society was strong enough to defend itself.

His thoughts were interrupted however as he heard a noise approaching his opened window, he looked out it and much to his horror he saw something approaching quickly. He just dodge it successfully and from the glimpse that he saw of it concluded that it was a ball and he scowled heavily when he saw it burst on his wardrobe.

It was just the same stunt that Urahara had pulled before he left to go rescue Rukia, for a genius, he had lame ways of contacting people. His eyes widened as he read the message however, Rukia had returned to Soul Society despite her injuries.

Dammit and just when he said he wouldn't get involved.

He put Kon in charge of his human body and strictly told him that if he did something perverted or anything out of character of he would spent the next year as Yuzu's doll.

He arrived at Urahara's shop a few minutes later, and saw with his own eyes that Rukia had indeed left and the signs pointed to her returning to Soul Society. In the room with him were Urahara and Yoruichi.

"That idiot, she is still injured and goes off running to a battlefield." Ichigo said annoyed whilst Yoruichi grinned cheekily at him, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"Funny, I seemed to remember something similar, but when? I can't seem to remember." She said with mock confusion whilst Urahara chuckled at the look of embarrassment on Ichigo's face.

"Shut up! Urahara-san please prepare the Senkaimon, I'm going to Soul Society."

"Stop right there, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara protested, "It's too dangerous for you to go there now. Just wait until we gather more information."

"But I can't just abandon Rukia." Ichigo told him and before Urahara could protest anymore, Yoruichi cut him off.

"Let him go, Kisuke. I was planning on leaving in the morning anyway. We might get our work done quicker if both of us go."

Urahara sighed and seeing the determination on Ichigo's face, he knew he had no choice. "My, my, there is just no stopping you."

Soul Society

Ichigo and Yoruichi arrived in Soul Society and Ichigo noticed the damage that the place had suffered so far.

"Listen up. Kisuke already told you this, but make sure you don't overdo it. Retreat if you notice anything strange about Zangetsu." She told him sternly but Ichigo just smirked and glanced at his sword.

"Zangetsu will be fine."

"I'll admit that Zangetsu's special...to you."

"Yup" Ichigo told her.

"But everyone thinks theirs is special." She informed him bluntly, "That's how Zanpakutō are."

Ichigo just nodded in response and the final thing she told him was, "I'm going to check things out with the Secret Mobile Corps." And flash stepped away.

Ichigo glanced back at his Zanpakutō for a moment and then tried to sense Rukia's location; this was the first time he had been back to Soul Society. He found it difficult because of all the different Reiatsu around but he was able to successfully locate Rukia and sensed that Sode no Shirayuki was there.

Rukia's Location

Rukia stood in small lawn of grass surrounded by pathways with roofs, with her sword out in a defensive stance as she stared down her Zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki, confusion flowing through her mind. Why and how was this happening? What did she do wrong for making Shirayuki wanting to kill her?

Sode no Shirayuki had already hurt a lot of innocent people, it was her responsibility to stop her, but she wasn't sure how.

"I'm free from your control. I am free. You have no right to stop me." Sode no Shirayuki told her causing Rukia to frown and ask her;

"Fine. But why are you hurting innocent people?"

Sode no Shirayuki responded bluntly, "I am simply doing what I please. And I will not look lightly on anyone who interferes."

"To be honest, I don't want to fight you."

Sode no Shirayuki answered by Shunpoing directly in front of a surprised Rukia and fired a wave of Ice but Rukia was able to dodge by flipping up into the air. She yelled out her Shikai command, "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki"

However when she landed, with one knee touching the ground and her sword stretched out to the right, it didn't activate.

"It won't even go into its Shikai form?"

"Of course it won't" Sode no Shirayuki said annoyed, "After all I no longer reside within that katana."

Rukia stood up as Sode no Shirayuki continued, "Up until now, you have had a free reign of my powers as a Zanpakutō. It was something I permitted. But I also had no choice."

"You didn't have a choice?"

Sode no Shirayuki pulled out her sword, "But things are different now. I am free to use my powers as I please. I'm sure up until now, you considered my power as your own. But you were mistaken. In reality, you are incapable of fighting on your own."

Rukia protested, "I have never thought of it as my own-"

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro"

Rukia was forced to dodge the ice tower by leaping into the air to the left and landed on one of the path roofs in a crouched position. Sode no Shirayuki slashed her sword across her body and Rukia was once again forced to dodge another Tsukishiro. However Sode no Shirayuki assumed this and had shunpoed behind her and blew a way of ice that Rukia was forced to block with her sword but the pressure was too much and was sent crashing into the ground.

Sode no Shirayuki landed as Rukia panted heavily, she had bits of ice stuck to her from the attack and asked, "Are you saying I can't do anything without you?"

She stood back up and began muttering, "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws."

After she had finished she raised her right hand with her palm pointing directly at Sode no Shirayuki and yelled, "Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!"

A torrent of blue Reiatsu exploded from Rukia's palm and shot towards Sode no Shirayuki but unfortunately for Rukia, Sode no Shirayuki summoned a large block of ice that blocked the Kido. The ice shattered as the attack dispersed from the impact as Rukia looked on in confusion.

"Are you surprised? You clearly underestimate me. Very well, I will have to correct your way of thinking."

After the last word left her mouth, she vanished and appeared to Rukia's left and swung her sword at Rukia's exposed neck, but Rukia was able to turn around and block it. However the force of the blow made Rukia skid back a few metres and Sode no Shirayuki jumped up high into the air and fired a bunch of ice shards. Rukia dodged them all by jumping backwards with the aid of Shunpo and as Sode no Shirayuki kept up the offence with the ice shards and Rukia kept dodging, she couldn't help but think of her Zanpakutō.

"My Zanpakutō... she's beautiful. She is truly worthy of being called the most beautiful sword in Soul Society. So why? You look down at me as if you hate me! I am you and you are me. Haven't we stood together and fought together for all those years? Have I really hurt you by keeping your power all to myself?"

Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly when Sode no Shirayuki disappear, her eyes widened and she skidded to a stop and looked around for her. Rukia stiffened when he heard a voice behind her, "Whenever you reflect on the distant past, your Reiatsu weakens."

Sode no Shirayuki stood behind her with her blade pointed at Rukia's back, who quickly spun around and struck her blade against Sode no Shirayuki and there was an explosion of ice. Sode no Shirayuki landed on a roof on a building and looked down upon Rukia, who was holding her blade above her head, the flat side facing her head and a hand on the blade panting heavily. The energy consumed to block the attack was too much and Rukia collapsed onto her knees.

"I hate that about you" Sode no Shirayuki told Rukia much to her confusion.

"What do you mean?" Rukia panted.

"Just a moment ago, your focus was on your past. It is one of the things I hate about you. You're so absorbed in your guilt, guilt at killing the man you admired the most, Shiba Kaien and guilt for involving Kurosaki Ichigo into the affairs of the afterlife. When you were happy, your inner world becomes very cold, with light snow falling and it is an amazing feeling. However I have only ever had glimpses of that perfect weather since the death of Kaien and it really pisses me off. For 40 years, no matter what I said to you, the guilt linger, making your inner world warm but not warm enough to melt the ice. Do you know at what moment it was when I finally felt that beautiful freezing cold weather?"

Rukia looked down, full well knowing the moment when she felt truly happy again.

Sode no Shirayuki answered for her, "The moment that you saw Kurosaki Ichigo stop the Sōkyoku, for a few moments I felt it but it didn't last long. You soon began to sink into that guilt, although it has lessened a bit since you apologised to Kaien's family but you don't talk to anyone about your problems. You have been surprised about my power so far, the reason for this is because I am no longer bound to your guilt and have full control over my powers. As long as you are held back by that guilt and keep your heart closed from the people around you, my powers and your own weakened and it's a real shame too, you had so much potential. But currently you are no match for me. Goodbye Rukia, Tsugi no mai, Hakuren"

Sode no Shirayuki pointed her blade at Rukia and unleashed the large wave of Ice as Rukia could only wait for the attack to hit. However she wasn't paying much attention to the attack as he mind was evaluating everything that she had just been told.

Her Zanpakutō was correct. The guilt over Kaien's death tormented her, fear had ruled her that day and instead of fighting of her fear and trying to find a way to save him, she took the quick and easy option and that was to kill him. The guilt that was eating her alive, she felt that she deserved it and that if she tried to find a way to stop it, it would be insulting Kaien. Closing her heart around others was the best way to keep that guilt inside but she had been selfish, she hadn't thought about the impact it would have on Sode no Shirayuki. Now that she thought about it, she always resolved to do the easiest thing, keeping in the guilt instead of trying to fight it. When she was badly wounded against that Hollow in Karakura town, she had accepted death but in the end couldn't bring herself to let the boy and his family die. However, instead of forcing herself to get up and fight, and she knew that she could but decided to do another easy thing and give her powers to Ichigo and let him handle it. Then came the time that she knew that Soul Society would find her, instead of explaining to Ichigo and working together, she ran away and ended up watching Ichigo die. Well at the time she thought he had. Finally she resolved herself to death, feeling that she deserved it but Ichigo broke through and saved her.

Ichigo... his determination was incredible, but had the same problem that she did, guilt and unable to talk about it however unlike her, he fought to make himself stronger and to never fail again. Now it was time that she fought back, to never let herself be put in those situations, to protect and save her friends. Sode no Shirayuki said she couldn't do anything on her own, it was time to prove her wrong and time to make up for her mistakes and Sode no Shirayuki would be the first.

As she saw the incoming wave her ice, her resolve set, she gathered her Reiatsu and raised her hands with her palms facing the incoming ice and positioned them in a blocking form and said, "Bakudo #39: Enkōsen!"

The spell generated a dull yellow energy in front of Rukia that took the form of a large spinning disk of condensed Reiatsu and she braced herself for the impact. The Ice impacted on the shield and much to Sode no Shirayuki's shock, the ice began to be shredded because of the spinning and she stopped the attack.

The shield faded once the attack ended and Sode no Shirayuki's eyes widened when she saw something in Rukia's eyes that she hadn't seen in a very long time. There was a fire lit in her eyes and she was confident that if she were still in her inner world, it would be freezing. Her interest was raised as she saw a large amount of Reiatsu was being gathered in her hands, something that she was unfamiliar with.

Rukia as she gathered a lot of Reiatsu in her hands, preparing for an attack that she had never mastered properly but now seemed the best time to try in. She muttered, "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens."

Once she had finished the chant, she aimed at Sode no Shirayuki and yelled, "Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"

Rukia fired the attack which was very similar to the Hadō #33 however the size of the Reiatsu was much larger and faster which forced Sode no Shirayuki to dodge it with Shunpo. However she didn't have much time to launch a counter attack as she heard from behind, "Bakudō # 4: Hainawa!"

All of a sudden she was tied up in a rope of yellow Reiatsu and had covered her arms so she couldn't move them and it got worse for her as she heard Rukia's next attack.

"Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!"

Electricity surrounded Rukia's blade and then she leant it against the binding rope and the electrical current sore up the rope until it connected with Sode no Shirayuki who had let out a shriek of pain. Thankfully whilst Sode no Shirayuki was in air, Rukia was still on the ground, and she stabbed her blade through the rope into the ground keeping it in place. Using the time that Sode no Shirayuki was disabled from the lightning and still bound to the rope, Rukia began to gather Reiatsu into her hands and fired another Sōren Sōkatsui.

The attack connected causing a huge explosion which destroyed her rope that was binding her. Rukia was panting hard, as she picked up her sword, praying that she had won, she could only use two more high levels of Kido's.

The smoke cleared to show a damaged Sode no Shirayuki, her left sleeve up to her elbow was destroyed, the bottom of her dress was ruined up to her knees, both legs and left arm had bad bruising and there was blood flowing just above her left eye.

Sode no Shirayuki descended onto the ground as she prepared for what Rukia was going to do next, she was very surprised so far, and perhaps there was some hope for her. However it didn't make up for all of the suffering that she went through, never getting any happiness, she would destroy her former master and be free to do as she wished.

Rukia glanced around at all of the injured Shinigami in the area as she picked up her sword and holding it defensively and told Sode no Shirayuki;

"If you must hate someone, hate me."

Sode no Shirayuki frowned and replied, "I do, I absolutely loathe you. Therefore... in order to make you truly suffer, I shall take away all that you hold dear. Your family, your friends, your pride as a Shinigami! If you hadn't closed your heart, you could have much closer to your brother, Byakuya, you could have been much closer to Ichigo, Renji and your other friends and you could have been a much better Shinigami than you currently are. All you need to do is watch."

Rukia sighed, she knew where to hit it where it hurts most, "I see, that is what I'd expect from my Zanpakutō. You know exactly how to make me suffer. You are beautiful, smart and powerful, I was proud of you! I was proud that such a beautiful, smart and powerful Zanpakutō belonged to me."

"I don't belong to you!" Sode no Shirayuki snapped at her.

"That's right... you're free" Rukia agreed much to Sode no Shirayuki's shock and confusion, "I hereby set you free! So please overcome your hatred! I am grateful for the time we spent together and I am deeply sorry about how much I made you suffer. I was selfish and caught up in my own problems that I hurt my most important friend; you!"

Sode no Shirayuki just stared at her shocked and asked perplexed, "You're just going to live without me?"

"Yes! Even if I lose everything and have to crawl across the earth... Even if I have to go back to Rukongai..." Rukia told her as she slowly approached with her head down and sword pointing to the ground as Sode no Shirayuki could only look on in shock. She began muttering under her breath as she did however but it was too low for Sode no Shirayuki to hear, "Masked with blood and flesh, under all creation, he has been crowned with the name of man."

Sode no Shirayuki pointed her blade, startled at Rukia's approach and said, "Do you really think you can defeat me?"

Rukia ignored her, focus on what she was doing; she was combining two Incantations and shorting them at the same time. She had never done it before, but for the first time, she truly believed herself capable.

"Through the gap of the thunder carriage's wheels, have this light break into six pieces."

"Aren't you afraid of losing me?" Sode no Shirayuki asked but again Rukia ignored her.

"Carve twin lotuses in the wall of blue fire! Wait within the fiery abyss in the distant heavens!"

Sode no Shirayuki panicked as Rukia got to close and surrounded herself in a sphere of icy wind but Rukia just walked right through it as if it didn't affect her much to Sode no Shirayuki's shock and yelled,

"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō"

Inside the sphere of icy wind, both Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki found themselves trapped by the six thin, wide beams of light which was Rukia's intention.

"I can't let you take away everything I am supposed to protect! I'm about to lose everything." Rukia told the shocked and immobilised Sode no Shirayuki who responded, "What are you doing?"

"Let it all go... Anger, hatred, sadness..." Rukia said as she let go of her sword, "You aren't me. You aren't a part of me."

"Don't!" Sode no Shirayuki protested as she realised what Rukia was about to do.

"And I'll let you go... You were a part of me, Sode no Shirayuki... Your beauty... The power you gave me as a Shinigami... The times we shared together in the past... I give it all up." Rukia told her as ice began crawling up the front of her body, "It forced both of us to carry a very heavy burden."

"Stop it... Stop it!" Sode no Shirayuki pleaded but again Rukia ignored her as she raised her hands, blue Reiatsu gathering in between them, this was the final if she survived would use up her Reiatsu.

"Sode no Shirayuki, I set you free! Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"

Both Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki were engulfed in the large explosion of Reiatsu and Rukia landed roughly onto the ground, alive but unconscious. As Sode no Shirayuki impacted onto the painfully but still awake, she thought to herself after hearing Rukia's final words after the explosion and before they landed.

"Shinigami are too afraid to lose you, so we're no match to you in a fight. We care... for our Zanpakutō as much as our own lives. Farewell my sword, my friend, my other half."

"Kuchiki... Rukia..." Sode no Shirayuki thought to herself, "Was I wrong? Did I overreact? I was given the chance to make her pay for the treatment that I received, but it wasn't what I truly want. That was the Rukia I knew she could be, the one I wanted her to be. Confident in her abilities, opening her heart, maybe it's not too late. I want to go home!"

With that final thought, she transformed into her Shikai form, her soul rejoining Rukia.

"RUKIA!" Ichigo yelled a few minutes later as he arrived at the battlefield, and to his horror he saw a lot of injured Shinigami lying around, but his heart leapt to his throat when he saw Rukia lying in a large crater.

He crouched down and lifted her up slightly, checked her vitals and smiled when he saw that she was just unconscious and put her gently back on the ground. He glanced to his right and saw that her Zanpakutō in its Shikai form was lying on the ground and quickly retrieved it for Rukia before shaking her in an attempt to wake her up.

Her eyes opened painfully after a few minutes of prodding from Ichigo and smiled slightly when she saw his face.

"Ichigo..." She murmured, Ichigo smiled in relief before scowling at telling her sternly, "Hey what were you thinking coming here on your own while you were still injured."

Rukia attempted to give Ichigo a piece of her mind but was quickly cut off as Ichigo followed up by saying, "Don't bother, I have been guilty of doing the same thing."

He then grinned at her and gave her Zanpakutō much to Rukia's surprise, "Look's like your Zanpakutō wanted to come home."

Rukia just stared at it in wonder and was overjoyed when she felt Sode no Shirayuki's approval in her mind.

"I'll do a lot better, I promise." She told her Zanpakutō, "I will move past my guilt and be the partner you deserve. I will give you plenty of those freezing days."

"Thank you Rukia" Sode no Shirayuki replied, "In return, I will always lend you my powers, the stronger our bond is, the more powerful we will become."

Ichigo was about to say something else, when they were pressed down by a sudden Reiatsu and Ichigo stood up, withdrawing his sword and spinning around to the direction it was coming in all at once.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked as he stared down the man that had suddenly appeared.

"Muramasa" The man replied looking at the Substitute Shinigami, wondering what was so important that he would needed to be involved in his plot.

"Muramasa... Who are you? I have never seen you before. Are you a Shinigami?"

Muramasa smiled, "I'm... a Zanpakutō."

Ichigo's eyes widened at that information, "A Zanpakutō?"

"That's right; my goal is to free all of the Zanpakutō from Shinigami control."

"So you are the one behind all of this. Why are you doing this?" Ichigo asked him curiously.

Muramasa stared blankly at him and then asked, "Kurosaki Ichigo, what are Zanpakutō?"

"What?"

"Zanpakutō are souls born within their Shinigami's heart." Muramasa started explaining, "We share the same source of Reiatsu as our Shinigami and therefore we are always within our Shinigami. Once a Shinigami discovers his Zanpakutō's power, power hidden within his own soul, they converse and grow closer. By learning our names, they can use our powers and then a few special Shinigami are able to force their Zanpakutō the embodiment of the Zanpakutō to materialize. By beating them into submission, they gain even greater power with Bankai. As you, and all of the other captains have done but Zanpakutō don't have to live in symbiosis with Shinigami."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked he knew all of his except for the final part.

"I mean that Zanpakutō's have wills of their own."

"Zanpakutō's have wills?"

"Yes, Zanpakutō aren't a part of their Shinigami. We have our own souls and our souls are just as important as a Shinigami's soul." Seeing the frown on Ichigo's face, he said, "You don't believe me? That's what makes you Shinigami arrogant."

Ichigo protested, "We're not-"

Muramasa cut him however, "I exist because you are. I understand the Zanpakutō's way of thinking. I can reach out to their souls and those who commiserate with my plans take on their true form. The Zanpakutō who respond to my summons appear in this world as completely different entity from their Shinigami. That is my power."

"Why are the Zanpakutō listening to you?" Ichigo asked him.

"It is their desire, birthed from your oppression." He answered before he took notice of the struggling Rukia.

"Don't push yourself Shinigami, your job is done."

Rukia looked confused, "What do you...?"

"Do you think you escaped to the real world on your own?" He asked her, "I will free every last Zanpakutō from their Shinigami. There are no exceptions! In order for that to happen, I needed you to come to this world, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"You bastard, you had Rukia-!"

"Welcome to my world" Muramasa said cutting him off again.

"Ichigo..." Rukia murmured, he glanced at her and told her, "I'm fine, just stay there and rest and don't you dare beat yourself up over this. If his intention is truly to free all Zanpakutō, he would have come after me eventually."

He focused his attention back on Muramasa and said, "You won't get away with this. Let's change location."

"As you wish." With that they both vanished with Shunpo leaving Rukia on her own and with that she fell back into unconsciousness.

Another part of Seireitei

Muramasa shunpoed onto the top of a building and looked up as he saw Ichigo descending from the sky coming in for a downward strike. He summoned his blade into his left hand and raised it and blocked Ichigo's strike and threw him away with force. Ichigo landed on top of a wall before shooting towards him again and aimed a strike at his chest, but was blocked however Ichigo was the one that pushed Muramasa back. Once again, Ichigo charged Muramasa and engaged him in a blade lock and pushed him down to the ground level where they disengaged and Ichigo quickly swiped at his head. Muramasa dodged this however by jumping a few metres back, taking this moment of reprieve, Ichigo glanced at his surroundings.

He didn't know where he was but it was similar to the path the he and Ganju where chased by hordes of Shinigami. He also took notice of the sword Muramasa was using, it had a purple hilt-wrapping and a guard, consisting of a circle with a pentagon-like shape in the centre and three points protruding from the edges evenly spaced apart.

He returned his attention to the fight; he was still fighting in his sealed form as he was worried that if he released Zangetsu, then he would be susceptible to fall under Muramasa's influence. Muramasa raised his hand, palm facing Ichigo, however Ichigo wasn't interested in finding out what he was going to do and raised his sword straight in the air.

He swung it downwards as blue Reiatsu was released in a the form of a crescent moon however it broke apart when it collided with Muramasa's hand and he didn't even flinch.

Ichigo scowled, he was afraid that it was still too ineffective to use in battle, it was a Getsuga Tensho without the aid of Zangetsu and it was currently far too weak to be used. Once the smoke cleared from the impact, Ichigo's eyes widened as he noticed that Muramasa was nowhere in sight. He looked around but couldn't find him when all of a sudden everything started to become disorientated, and a voice spoke to him.

"Sheathe your Zanpakutō" Ichigo ignored it and started swinging in different areas without much success. If it wasn't bad before with everything seemed to be moving around him, now everything was upside down and it just kept spinning until he fell onto the floor, facing upward unable to move.

Muramasa suddenly appeared above him, and stepped on the hand Ichigo was using to hold onto his sword making Ichigo flinch in pain and releasing the sword. He then held his hand over Ichigo and said,

"Obey your instinct and break your soul free. Abandon your fear."

Reiatsu began to swirl under Ichigo, as Muramasa continued his chant, "Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate."

Muramasa's hand suddenly pierced Ichigo's stomach causing him to yell out in pain as he felt a part of himself being ripped out of his body.

"Come and stop the rain Zangetsu!" Muramasa finished as he pulled a large thread of blue Reiatsu from Ichigo's body and it followed up with a large explosion of blue Reiatsu.

Ichigo got up groggily, grabbing his sheathed sword; at least things weren't spinning anymore however a voice a few metres away from him caught his attention.

"Ichigo..."

Ichigo looked up to see Zangetsu holding his sword that was in its usual Shikai form standing next to Muramasa, but before Ichigo could ask what he was doing here Zangetsu charged towards him. Ichigo quickly fell into a defensive position and blocked the attack but Zangetsu pushed him back a few metres. They engaged in a blade lock, trying to overpower the other and Ichigo asked him,

"Zangetsu! Old Man! What's going on?" Zangetsu remained silent however, annoying Ichigo, "Answer me!"

Zangetsu continued to remain silent as he began to put more pressure on Ichigo, who was starting to buckle under it, and much to his annoyance, he was using two hands and Zangetsu was only using one.

"Weren't we of one soul, one body? Shit!" Ichigo swore and forced all of his power and pushed Zangetsu back making him jump into the air but the second his feet hit the ground he used Shunpo.

He reappeared on Ichigo's left and Ichigo could only muster up the time to raise his sword to block his before he was sent into the wall hard. Amazingly, the wall didn't break and Ichigo slid down into onto the floor, grimacing in pain before looking up to see Zangetsu slashing downwards and sent out a wave of Reiatsu at Ichigo. He didn't have the time to put up a reasonable defence and once the attack hit him, this one did send him through the wall.

As rubble and smoke filled the place where the wall was, Ichigo was lying on his back and began to get up slowly as he contemplated on what he had to do. He was confident he could take on Zangetsu, but this wasn't Bankai training, he was worried what would happen if he killed him and was also worried if Zangetsu could use Bankai.

Just before he got up however, another voice spoke up in his head, a voice he thought he had vanquished forever.

"King! I'm back!"

His vision then went black.

Inner World

Ichigo opened his eyes and recognised that he was in his inner world but his attention was soon focus on the figure that was chuckling at the top of the building that he was standing on. His Hollow with his malicious grin was back.

Ichigo scowled at him, "What the hell are you doing here? I thought I looked you away for good?"

Hichigo just smirked at him, "Now, now kingy, no need to get angry, I'll answer your questions but after I do we have to make a deal."

"A deal?" Ichigo asked incredulously.

"Yes, I can offer deals." Hichigo said in annoyance, "Now shut up and listen, as I am going to only explain this once. After you defeated me, I was locked underground unable to influence you at all."

"Underground?"

"Yes underground. Do you remember when the world was collapsing when you were turning into a hollow in the Shattered Shaft and you fell into the water?"

Ichigo nodded and Hichigo continued, "I have been trapped in there, of course I have tried getting out and the only way is up but it is like you are trapped in a box and you try to take the lid off. However it wouldn't budge an inch, so it was impossible for me to break out, until now. Have you figured it out?"

Ichigo frowned and answered, "Zangetsu!"

Hichigo grinned, "Yup! Zangetsu is the wall that separates us from each other. Remember what I told you, we are both fighting for the right of control over Zangetsu and our soul. Zangetsu is forced to support whoever won, no matter whom and because of him; I was unable to get out as you won the right to use him."

"So with him gone, you can't be trapped underground." Ichigo frowned, this was not good, and he needed to get Zangetsu back.

"Correct Ichigo, but there is some good news."

"What's that?"

"It means that if I 'killed' you right now and took control, it wouldn't matter because you can't be trapped either. It would be an endless cycle of battles and as much as I enjoy fighting, I really can't be fucked fighting over and over again with no results. So this is where the deal I was talking about comes in."

"I'm listening."

Hichigo grinned at him and said, "You and me fight for control one last time and the winner stays in control until we get Zangetsu back, but the loser also has to aid him in getting Zangetsu back."

"Deal!"

Soul Society

Hichigo swung his sword at Zangetsu whom blocked and then pushed Hichigo away before Shunpoing away with the Hollow on his tail whilst Muramasa was confused at this recent development.

Zangetsu finally stopped at an ideal place to fight, it was a large pathway and down the edges of the path were a row of large pillars. It was the same place, Renji and Byakuya fought. Hichigo appeared and attacked Zangetsu but was unable to land a hit as Zangetsu dodge all of his attacks with ease; it was a much bigger difference fighting Hichigo in Ichigo's inner world was that version was smart.

After dodging a few more strikes, Zangetsu slashed Hichigo across the chest leaving a huge gash however it suddenly was covered in a white substance. A second later the white had vanished revealing a patch of skin unblemished.

"High-speed Regeneration." Zangetsu muttered and followed up with a Shunpo, and reappeared a good ten metres behind him with sword in the air, slashing Hichigo's left shoulder on the way through.

With Hichigo now on the ground, Muramasa used this time to get Zangetsu to answer a question he wanted to ask.

"Is that Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"That is another soul that resides within him, or should I say that it is the dark part of Ichigo's soul. Without me there, it can't be held back, so currently Ichigo is in his Inner World battling for control."

With that information, Muramasa was able to conclude that he wouldn't be able to release the hollow from Ichigo's soul as it was just the darker part of Ichigo's soul and not a separate soul like a Zanpakutō.

Both Zangetsu and Muramasa took notice of the sudden large increase of hollow Reiatsu coming from Hichigo and saw that he was in his lizard form which meant that unless Ichigo won soon he would become a Hollow.

In his lizard form, Hichigo's attacks were much stronger and faster and Zangetsu had some trouble deflecting all of his attacks, until he received a cut on his left arm followed by a head butt in the stomach sent him flying. As he was flying back, Hichigo held out a hand and fired a Cero at Zangetsu; however Zangetsu attempted a wordless Getsuga to block it and was somewhat successful. The Cero didn't hit him but the explosion sent him head first into a pillar which collapsed from the force.

Muramasa suddenly appeared behind Hichigo and slashed at his exposed back but it was healed instantly and he quickly spun around slashing at Muramasa. Muramasa was able to block it but the force sent him flying for about 5 metres but landed without any trouble. Hichigo approached him slowly as Muramasa prepared to defend him when Hichigo suddenly stopped.

Inner World

Ichigo's left shoulder was bleeding slightly, along with his right cheek as he panted slightly whilst glaring at Hichigo whom didn't have any damage. It was just like when they fought each other when they first went Bankai, there was a large difference in their powers and Ichigo didn't understand how.

He had been training his ass off whilst his Hollow had been trapped underwater, so why couldn't he beat him. Hichigo suddenly appeared behind him and swung at his neck but Ichigo ducked under the swing and attempted to stab Hichigo in the stomach but Hichigo dodged it by leaping into the air and fired a cero at Ichigo. Ichigo was able to dodge thanks to his Shunpo but Hichigo read his movements and appeared behind him and slashed his back making Ichigo fall to his knee in pain but was immediately kicked into the stomach and sent into a building.

Ichigo got up groggily but collapsed onto one knee and scowled when he saw Hichigo was just above him with the tip of his blade a few centimetres from his face.

"Looks like I win Ichigo" Hichigo said gleefully making Ichigo glare at him heavier.

Why couldn't he beat him? What was the difference in their powers, it was like he had a backup power. It was then he noticed something, Hichigo was in a human form like himself, wielding a katana, but hollows weren't supposed to fight with a sword unless they were Arrancar and nor were hollow in human forms with the exception again being Arrancar. Then it hit him, and he couldn't believe that he hadn't seen it before, Hichigo was the dark side of his soul, but it was still his soul and he had won the right to use his hollow powers. That would explain why he was winning, Ichigo was just using his own power, while Hichigo was using his own and Ichigo's.

Hichigo spoke up as he raised his sword, "This will only hurt for a moment Ichigo!" With that, he swung his sword downwards aiming for Ichigo's head but Ichigo had other ideas.

He summoned the Hollow Reiatsu inside of him and with his left hand, he grabbed Hichigo's sword and held it tightly even though it was cutting into his hand. Hichigo looked shocked that Ichigo caught his swing but his eyes widened when he saw the hollow mask on Ichigo's face and before he could react, Ichigo stabbed his sword right through his chest.

Hichigo coughed up blood as Ichigo let go of Hichigo's blade, his mask crumbling away and he ripped his sword out of Hichigo's chest that had fallen to his knees.

"Tsk, so you figured out you can use your mask."

"Yeah, you conveniently left that little fact out you bastard. Now it's time you live up to your agreement."

Hichigo scowled at him, "I'll keep my word King."

Ichigo nodded, "I've got no choice but to trust you."

Soul Society

Hichigo roared in pain as blue Reiatsu burst out of him as his body started crumbling apart much to Muramasa's shock. After a huge explosion of Reiatsu all of the hollow hierro fell apart revealing a slightly banged up and panting Ichigo.

"So you have returned Kurosaki Ichigo" Muramasa stated as Ichigo glared at him, the damage he had received in his battle with Hichigo.

"Put the mask on King!" Hichigo told Ichigo and Muramasa looked on curiously as Ichigo's left hand raised to the front of his face and his eyes widen when he saw a Hollow mask materialize on his face.

"Now gather your Hollow Reiatsu and cover your injuries with it."

Ichigo focused all of his hollow Reiatsu on his injuries and was shocked to see them suddenly healed. However a voice from behind him made him spin around and prepare a defence.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The crescent moon of blue Reiatsu hit Ichigo head on and Ichigo was trying to overpower it with his sword but was eventually forced to Shunpo away dodging the attack. However as he prepared to attack Zangetsu, his mask crumbled apart much to Hichigo's aggravation.

"Dammit King! What the hell was that? You can only keep the mask on for that long!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo said to him and Hichigo groaned in frustration,

"You really are pathetic King! I have half a mind to take over right now!"

"We made a deal remember! Don't go back on your word."

Hichigo scoffed in annoyance, stupid deal, he never thought that he would actually lose and now he had to teach him how to use his power.

"Ichigo, you fear my power too much, that is why it keeps crumbling so quickly. Hasn't Zangetsu lectured you before about what fear does to your power?"

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, he says it weakens his power."

"And strengthens mine" Hichigo reminded him, "You have to use your hollow power the same you as you would with Zangetsu's power. You fear that using my power means that it gives me a chance to take over but you are mistaken, it's when you feel those heavy negative emotions that give me a chance to take over. "

"He was right" Ichigo thought to himself, he feared using his hollow powers in case he lost control and hurt someone he cared about or an innocent person. When he puts on the mask, the feeling of his body suddenly filled with hollow Reiatsu scared him, he felt at any second his hollow would take over. That was why his mask collapsed quickly, so his hollow didn't have the chance to take over. He no longer had a choice, if he wanted to get Zangetsu back; he had to master his hollow power.

"Ya ready King?"

"Yeah" Ichigo told him,

"Now when ya put the mask on this time King, don't fight the hollow Reiatsu with your own, let them merge with each other." Hichigo explained to him and Ichigo nodded before ripping on his mask and felt the surge of hollow Reiatsu flow through his body. This time, Ichigo crushed his natural instinct to repel it and listened to what Hichigo told him and let the hollow Reiatsu merge with his own instead of fighting back and began to fully understand just how much of power increase his hollow side gave him.

Zangetsu looked on curiously and asked the now masked Ichigo, "Are you finally ready to begin Ichigo?"

Ichigo clenched his fist and released some red and black Reiatsu and answered Zangetsu, "Yeah, bring it!"

Zangetsu shunpoed behind Ichigo and swung at Ichigo's back but Ichigo was astonished by how slow Zangetsu was now as he saw every step with ease. Ichigo calmly blocked Zangetsu swing with his sword without even turning around, and then pushed Zangetsu off, spun around and kicked Zangetsu in the stomach.

As Zangetsu went flying back towards a pillar, Hichigo spoke up, "That's it King! Don't think of attacks to use, just use your instincts."

Zangetsu was able to stop his flight just before he crashed into a pillar and slashed his sword downwards and said, "Getsuga Tensho!"

In response to the incoming wave of Reiatsu, Ichigo just raised his left hand and gathered as much of his hollow Reiatsu and it formed a small ball of red and black Reiatsu.

"Cero!" Ichigo commanded and released the ball of Reiatsu and shot a large blast of black and red Reiatsu at the Getsuga Tensho.

Both the attacks collided, exploded and finally dispersed revealing no winner but Ichigo shunpoed in front of Zangetsu and slashed downwards intending to slice Zangetsu's chest. Zangetsu was able to block it but Ichigo's strength forced him onto a knee but instead of continuing to overpower him, Ichigo again kicked him that sent him into a pillar.

Ichigo just stared as Zangetsu lifted himself out of the rubble and walked towards Ichigo slowly and stopped a few metres away and said,

"So you are finally beginning to accept your hollow side Ichigo."

"Yeah, it's just like you said; I shouldn't fear my own power"

"So you do listen" Zangetsu said, "I guess it is time to kick this up a notch Ichigo!"

"Huh?"

Zangetsu pointed his blade at Ichigo and Ichigo's eyes widened at the stance as Zangetsu yelled out, "Bankai!"

Zangetsu surround in an explosion of blue Reiatsu and smoke and once it cleared, standing there with his sword pointing at Ichigo was Tensa Zangetsu.

"So you have started to get used to your hollow powers Ichigo, it's about bloody time!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo retorted making Tensa smirk at him before vanishing from sight as Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. He dodged to the left just as Tensa attempted to stab him through the head, Ichigo swung his blade upward but hit nothing but air as Tensa disappeared again. Ichigo growled in annoyance and shunpoed away just as Tensa swung at his back, seeing that he missed, blue Reiatsu began to surround his blade and he swung it unleashing a wordless Getsuga. The direction of the attack went directly in the direction that Ichigo had shunpoed to and before he could react he was hit full on from the attack. Half of his mask was no broken off and from his right shoulder and arm, the Shihakushō was torn off.

"Dammit!" Ichigo swore, "He is so fast, I can barely react to his attacks!"

Tensa began to gather Reiatsu around his blade once again and this time as he unleashed it, he yelled out "Getsuga Tensho!"

The attack was twice as big as the previous one and also twice as fast, so Ichigo quickly retaliated with a full powered Cero but the Getsuga began slicing through the cero with no trouble. However it did exactly what Ichigo wanted it to do and that was slowing it down and both the attacks had blocked him from view and utilizing Shunpo he appeared directly behind Tensa Zangetsu. Tensa spun around in surprised to see Ichigo with only a quarter bit of his mask left that was covering his left eye and his palm facing towards him with a Cero charging.

"Gotcha!" Ichigo said and hit Tensa with a point blank Cero. Ichigo couldn't see the result of his attack as he felt the rest of his mask crumble away, he had used up all of his Reiatsu and was now panting heavily, and the sword in his hand felt like it weighed a ton.

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock however as he saw that there was a blue oval shield of Reiatsu in the spot where Tensa had been, before it faded revealing an unharmed Tensa Zangetsu. What was that shield? Ichigo himself had even used it before but he didn't understand how.

"Nice try Ichigo" Tensa commented and Ichigo couldn't react in time to deflect Tensa's next attack, and blood burst out of his chest from the slash that started from his right shoulder down to his left hip. Ichigo collapsed face first into the ground and before he lost consciousness he heard Tensa say one final thing,

"You still are not ready."

Tensa Zangetsu continued to look down as Muramasa walked towards him and asked,

"Are you going to kill him?"

Tensa shook his head, "No, he is finally beginning to understand that he has to accept his hollow side. That is my instinct, to make Ichigo as strong as possible and this is the way to do it."

Muramasa nodded, Kurosaki Ichigo is just what he needed in order to release the Captain Commander.

Like it Review it. Don't like it then don't read it.

Yes this is the beginning of the Rogue Zanpakutō arc, hopefully you enjoyed the way I am linking it to the canon story. This arc will be different from the anime however as it has to cover certain purposes and has the potential for some character development. Most Shinigami will fight their own Zanpakutō and each will have their own reasons for wanting to leave and the Shinigami will have to prove themselves in order to get them back. We have seen why Sode no Shirayuki wanted to leave and how Rukia won her back, I'm sure most of you know why Zangetsu left; it gives Ichigo the chance to learn how to use his Hollow side.

I also want ideas for Kenpachi's Zanpakutō as he will confront it in this arc.

Bakudō # 4. Hainawa (Crawling Rope)

Bakudō # 39. Enkōsen (Round Lock Fan)

Bakudō #61. Rikujōkōrō (Six Rods Prison of Light)

Hadō #11. Tsuzuri Raiden (Bound Lightning)

Hadō #33. Sōkatsui (Blue Fire, Crash Down)

Hadō #73. Sōren Sōkatsui (Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down)

Tsugi no mai, Hakuren (Next Dance, White Ripple)

Next Chapter: The Zanpakutō Rebellion.

Order of story updates after this chapter:

Descending into Darkness

A Second Chance

Rise of a Legend

Spectacular Spider-Man

Tensa Zangetsu's True Power

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Ichigo's Bankai is mad as, I love his Tensa Zangetsu sword and I enjoyed the fight between him and Ginjo.

I have to say though; my favourite was the Byakuya vs. Tsukishima, that fight was sweet.

Visored's are back in Soul Society huh? I wonder if it is all of them or just Kensei, Rose and Shinji.