Chapter 11: The Fierce Battle Coming to the End! Ichigo vs. Zangetsu!
The zanpakuto, its unique shape and abilities are defined by its Soul Reaper. A Soul Reaper is able to harness the power of the zanpakuto by learning its name and forming a synergistic unit. The Zanpakuto is born with its Soul Reaper and dies with its Soul Reaper. That is the existence of the zanpakuto.
"What an interesting sight this is." Muramasa said. "You're choosing to protect a hollow."
"What the hell is so strange?!" Ichigo said. "So what if he's a hollow?! All that matters in this moment is that he's a part of me. I'm good with that because the guy in charge here. But I don't intend to let you get away with whatever the hell you want."
"Ichigo Kurosaki, just what exactly are you? What you described is hardly a relationship between a Soul Reaper and a Hollow."
"Listen to me Muramasa. You're wrong about one thing. You haven't realized this but I'm not a Soul Reaper. I'm a Human!" Ichigo charged towards Muramasa and the two crossed swords. Then blue aura surround Ichigo's body, slowly making him overpower the zanpakuto.
"You intend to push out of this world by using your own will?" Muramasa questioned. "I must say. You are unusual." With that said, Muramasa disappeared.
Snake lowered his sword towards Renji but he drew his sword and blocked it, surprising Zoro and Zabimaru. Renji slowly stood back on his feet and pushed Snake back.
"You may have been right about me being weak." Renji said. "I had forgotten but my mindset is different now. I don't have the time arguing about stupid things like that."
"Stupid, you say?" Monkey questioned.
"I only want to become stronger, that's all. There's someone I must surpass in battle. That is why I have this to become even stronger. Facing the two of you is what reminded me of that. Roar, Zabimaru!" Renji's sword started to glow and changed into a six part segmented blade, surprising his zanpakuto.
"I will regain control." Ichigo said. "I will find a way to reunite with Zangetsu, even if I have to destroy him." Ichigo pointed his sword at Muramasa and shouted, "Come on!"
In a forest outside of the seireitei, Shuhei continued to run as the laughter of his zanpakuto rang throughout the area.
"So the only defense for you is running away?!" Kazeshini taunted, throwing of his sickles at Shuhei. Shuhei jumped out of the way but his wrist was slashed by Kazeshini's blade.
"So you run away and hide, then attack me from the shadows?!" Shuhei shouted. "You fight dirty as you look!"
"You think that I care about how you fight? I am a zanpakuto who sole aim is to harvest as any as I can! I have no interest on my master fights!"
"Is that so?" Shuhei said. "Then you've left me with no choice. If killing you means losing my zanpakuto, then so be it. I just realized something, I don't like you."
"That's fine with me." Kazeshini said, appearing behind Shuhei. "I feel the same." Shuhei looked behind his shoulder to find a blade coming towards his head. Kazeshini cut Shuhei in his chest with his sickle. Before he could do anymore damage, Shuhei flash stepped a few feet behind Kazeshini but collapsed to the ground. "You used the Flash Step to avoid a direct hit?" Kazeshini put of his sickles over his shoulder and walked toward the fallen lieutenant. "What a complete idiot. You wouldn't be in pain if you just died. It's all the same to me because it's over." As Kazeshini was about to finish Shuhei off, a black leg appeared and kicked the zanpakuto in the face, knowing the zanpakuto to the ground. "Who the hell are you?!"
"So you're one of those zanpakuto, huh?" Sanji questioned, lighting a cigarette and blowing out a puff of smoke.
"You continue to amuse me, Ichigo Kurosaki." Muramasa said. "When I began this mission, I've never expected to become so invested in a single soul reaper."
"Well for a zanpakuto, you sure talk an awful lot." Ichigo said. "Is there ever a point to your speeches?" Muramasa smirked when Ichigo asked that question. "You know what, I've had enough of this small talk! It's time to settle this!" Ichigo charged towards Muramasa but Zangetsu appeared in front of him and the two crossed sword. "You're still working for him, huh Zangetsu?"
"Hey, get back here!" Luffy shouted, charging towards Zangetsu. "We're not done!"
"Luffy, just stay back!" Ichigo shouted, causing the pirate to stop in his tracks. "Let me handle this!" Zangetsu narrowed his eyes and pushed Ichigo back. Ichigo looked at his zanpakuto and said, "I'm going to fight to get you back. Even if it means I have to fight you. I've made my decision. So what are you going to do, Zangetsu?"
"I have to find out between the two of us, which one is the strongest." Zangetsu said, pointing his sword at Ichigo as spirit energy wraps itself around him. "If it means I'll get my answer, I'm more than willing to cross blades with you."
Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Zangetsu as he started to hear his hollow speak in his inner world. "Without Zangetsu's power fueling your zanpakuto, you won't be able as hard as you normally can." He said. "So I guess that I'll lend you mine for the time being. However in exchange, you won't my power to its fullest extent either."
"Bankai!" Zangetsu said, causing Ichigo to widen his eyes as spirit energy spirals around the zanpakuto.
Renji lashed his shikai at Snake again but the boy was pulled back by the chain connecting him to his partner before the blade could touch him.
"Snake, be careful." Monkey said.
"I know." Snake said, looking at Renji. "Did something about him change?"
"It sure seems that way."
"I have had enough of this!" Renji shouted. "Zanpakuto are supposed to be used by their masters! That's the way it is!"
"What did you just say?!" Snake snapped. "What kind of arrogant garbage is that?!" Snake charged towards Renji but was pulled back by Monkey.
"That's a pretty bold thing to say." Monkey said. "I suppose that means you've finally found the will to take us on."
"Oh I have more than will." Renji said. "I'm going to destroy you with everything I got!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Renji."
"That's right!" Snake shouted. "You better watch your mouth!"
"If you think you can beat us with just the will to fight, you get another thing coming." Monkey said.
"Yeah! No matter what you try, we're still stronger."
A dark smile appeared on Monkey's face as she said, "Care for a taste of it?"
"Of what?" Renji questioned.
"Of your own blade, of course."
"You're one of those pirates." Shuhei said weakly, trying to stand up. "So what now?"
"How about you just stay put?" Sanji said. "I'm going to put this joker in his place."
"Not gonna happen. I'm going to sit here and let you take care of my problem."
"Believe me, I wouldn't plan this way either. Beside what can you do right now in the condition you in?" Shuhei tried to argue put he fell backwards to the tree and lost consciousness.
"Another idiot to kill?" Kazeshini said gleefully. "Well that's just fine by me. I don't really give a damn which one of you wants to die first. After all, my desire is to reap as many lives as possible." Kazeshini licked the blade of one of his sickles.
"You're really aiming high, aren't you?" Sanji said sarcastically, blowing out another puff of smoke.
"I might as well take full advantage of my freedom."
Sanji widen his eyes as Kazeshini fired black wind blades at him. He dodges the wind blades and charged towards the zanpakuto. "Veil Shot!" He tried to kick Kazeshini but the zanpakuto disappeared. "Damn it! Where did he go?!"
From the shadows, Kazeshini threw out his sickles at Sanji. Sanji dodged every one of the sickles and jumped back as the last one nearly cut. "You're too slow!" Kazeshini shouted, appearing behind the cook, trying to cut him down.
"Mouton Shot!" Sanji turned towards the zanpakuto and kicked him in the face, sending him crashing into a boulder. Sanji put Shuhei over his shoulder and left the area.
The spirit energy disappeared and revealed Zangetsu holding a black sword. "Here I come, Ichigo." He said, lifting his sword up. "Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo tried to block the black wave of energy with his sword but was easily pushed back. The black wave disappeared and showed Ichigo on one knee, breathing heavily but otherwise unharmed.
'So much strength…' Ichigo thought. 'That was too close. Have I been able to exert that much power?'
Zangetsu picked his sword up and points it at Ichigo again. "Get up, Ichigo." He said. "I'm not finished."
"Alright if that's what you want!" Ichigo shouted, standing up. "Bankai!" Ichigo tried to active his bankai but nothing happened.
"I'm sorry Ichigo but without my power, you won't be able to use your bankai."
"I can see that."
"Getsuga Tensho!" Zangetsu fired another wave of black spiritual pressure at Ichigo and Luffy, who quickly jumped out of the way.
'How am I going to stand a chance against him without using my bankai?' Ichigo thought, looking at Zangetsu. Zangetsu looked at the Ichigo tried to use his hollowification but his mask didn't appear like it usually does.
"I'll lend my power but you won't be able to use your mask." Hollow Ichigo said from Ichigo's inner world.
Ichigo lowered his hand and shouted, "Getsuga Tensho!" He fired a blue spirit energy wave from his sword and the two attacks collided, cancelling each other out.
Monkey charged towards Renji and lashed her shikai at the lieutenant. Renji stretched his sword toward the zanpakuto's but it disappeared. Monkey jumped back and Snake changed towards Renji. Renji lashed his sword at him, causing Snake to jump towards his partner.
"Not bad." Snake said.
"You've got a lot more fight in you than I thought." Monkey said.
"What are you, dense or something?!" Renji shouted. "I've been training my entire life!"
Monkey looked at Snake and said, "We have no choice."
"Let's do it!" Snake said as his sword disappeared from his hand.
"Bankai!" Smoke surrounded Zabimaru, causing Renji to widen his eyes. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Monkey wielding a giant whip shaped like a snake's skeleton. "Renji, you look surprised. We are zanpakuto, after all. Surely, you must know we are capable of this. Hikotsu Taiho!" The head of the snake whip open its mouth and fired a red blasts at Renji. Then the snake head came out of the smoke rammed into Renji, sending him crashing into a wall of the Senzaikyu.
"Hey old man!" Ichigo shouted. "You said that you wanted to find out which one of us was stronger. Is it really that important to you?"
"Why do you ask?" Zangetsu questioned.
"If it is, then severing our bond is not your main goal."
"My main goal was always to make you powerful. You have surpassed my expectations. There is nothing left of me to teach. Whether or not you have the strength to defeat me in combat is up to you. The cold truth is even if you were fall to my blade, I would content with the outcome."
"Is that so?" Ichigo said, tightening the grip of his sword.
"It is." Zangetsu said.
"Okay then, in order to regain your power, I have to give this everything I have inside me and prove my strength with or without you."
"It is as you say. Do not hold back. Hit me with all you got, Ichigo."
Ichigo looked at his blade as he heard his hollow say, "I'm much more difficult to handle than you might think."
"Alright, let's go!" Ichigo shouted, looked back at Zangetsu.
Zoro ran up the stairs of the Senzaikyu as fast as he could, trying to catch up to Renji. Once he finally he met with a maze of towers and walls. "Damn it!" he cursed. "Where could he have done?" Then he heard an explosion going on and at that direction.
Renji quickly moved out of the way as another blast was fired at him. He jumped from wall to wall, being chased the huge snake whip. Renji lashed his shikai at the whip but he got caught by the snake skull of the whip again, forcing to drop his sword. Renji fell on top of one of the buildings of the Senzaikyu.
"Our bankai is nothing like the one you know." Monkey said. "Ours has no blind spots. The game is over. No matter what you do, your shikai cannot match my bankai. Now do you understand? You will never defeat us."
"Shut your mouth!" Renji shouted, standing back up. 'Damn it, she's right. My shikai cannot hold up against their bankai. They're reading every one of my move before I make them. I guess it make sense. After all more than anymore, they know my usual pattern of attack. What the hell am I going to do?!'
The snake whip glowed and changed back into Snake. "Don't try to think your way out of this." Monkey said. "Of all of your weakness Renji, your intelligence might be the most one of them all."
Renji glared at his zanpakuto but a light bulb turned on in his head. 'My weakness?' he thought, looking at his hand. 'It's worth a shot.'
"What now Monkey?" Snake asked.
"He probably realized that it's pointless to keep fighting like this." Monkey said as she and Snake started to walk away.
"Bakudo #4: Hainawa!" Renji shouted as a rope of light came from his hands and wrapped Monkey's wrist and Snake's tail, getting their attention. "It's not over yet!"
Snake sighed and said, "He never learns."
"This is pathetic, Renji!" Monkey shouted.
'I'm awful at kido.' Renji thought. 'That's why they would never expect me to use it.' A red ball formed in Renji's hands. "Hado #31: Shakkaho!"
"Someone's getting creative. So this is what you were planning." Then a red aura surrounded Monkey and Snake's bodies. "It's too bad that your level of kido is so weak." Renji fired the red ball of the zanpakuto but it had no effect on them.
"Not quite!" Renji said, rushing towards them. "Here comes some more!" Renji fired more of his kido at his zanpakuto, causing them to jump back. Renji stood on their spot, firing Shakkaho again and again.
"What are you doing?!" Snake shouted, dodging another ball of kido. "Your kido is dangerous to everyone, including you!" Renji continued to charge towards the zanpakuto while firing his kido.
"So you're trying out a new technique?" Monkey said, dodging Renji's kido. "There's no way you could beat us with that sad kido of yours." Monkey launched Snake toward the sword that Renji from their last attack.
"Got it!" Snake shouted, grabbing Renji's sword. He looked at the sword and saw its shikai falling apart. "What?!"
Monkey laughed and said, "It looks at that is really worthless now!" The same sword that Snake was holding appeared in Monkey's hand, but in perfect condition. Then her and Snake rushed towards Renji from the front and behind. "Goodbye!"
"Not just yet!" Renji shouted, turning toward Snake and charging a giant red ball in his hands. "Shakkaho!"
"Oh please!" Snake shouted, deflecting the kido with Renji's sword. As soon as the sword connected with the kido, the shikai broke and the pieces surrounded Snake.
"What happened?!" Monkey said with widen eyes as she was surrounded by the broken pieces as well.
"Higa Zekko!" The piece flew and pierced both Snake and Monkey. They fell to the ground and transformed into Renji's shikai.
Ichigo crashed to the ground below as Zangetsu followed him, trying to stab him with his sword but Ichigo disappeared. Ichigo came out of the smoke and swung his sword at Zangetsu but he flash stepped behind Ichigo. Ichigo swung behind him and Zangetsu blocked it. 'He blocked me again!' he thought. Zangetsu swing his blade at Ichigo, pushing him into the debris.
"I told you before Ichigo." Zangetsu said. "You have to strike at me with everything you got. Because otherwise you have no prayer against me."
"Don't you think I know that?" Ichigo said, standing up. He closed his eyes as the spiritual pressure around him. He reopened his eyes and saw Zangetsu appear in front of him, ready to attack. Ichigo put his sword up, blocking Zangetsu's attack. "You know what; I'm getting the hang of it now." The two crossed blades again, pushing each other back.
"I've grown quite tired of this little skirmish." Zangetsu said. "Let's settle this, Ichigo."
"I'm ready when you are." Ichigo said as spirit energy erupted from Ichigo's body.
"Getsuga…" Zangetsu lifted his sword over his head and black spirit energy spirit energy spiraled around his blade. "…Tensho!" Zangetsu fired a wave of spirit energy towards Ichigo.
"Getsuga…" Ichigo shouted, lifting his sword over his head. "…Tensho!" Ichigo fired his own wave and collided with Zangetsu's. Ichigo let out a fierce cry and his Getsuga duels with Zangetsu's for supremacy.
"Well it's not like I can let my host, now can I?" Hollow Ichigo said, pouring his power into Ichigo's attack, making it overwhelm Zangetsu.
'Impossible!' Zangetsu thought as his attack continues to get overwhelmed. 'He isn't even using his bankai. Yet this power…'
Luffy looked on with widen eyes, watching Ichigo's attack getting closer to his zanpakuto. "Whoa, that's so cool." He said.
Ichigo and his hollow let out another battle cry as their attack overwhelms and engulfs Zangetsu, creating a huge flash of light. The light faded and showed Ichigo standing in crater with his bankai on the other side of it. Ichigo looked over at Muramasa and said, "You're next, Muramasa."
Muramasa smirked and said, "Ichigo Kurosaki, didn't you have any misgivings about destroying your own zanpakuto?"
"Not one."
"What?!" The smirk on Muramasa's face disappeared.
"I know Zangetsu better than anyone. I knew he wouldn't run away from me. I knew he would take my attack head on. That's why there was no way I could run away from a battle and turn my back on him. Our bond is our strength."
Muramasa closed his eye and said, "I see." His eyes quickly reopened as he started to cough up blood and his body began to fade.
"What's happening?" Luffy asked.
"Our bond is the source of your strength? That's fascinating." Muramasa said before coughing up more blood. "It's seems that I've toyed with you for too long. It is best that I move on."
"What are you doing?!" Ichigo shouted.
"Until we meet again, Ichigo Kurosaki, Monkey D. Luffy." Muramasa disappeared in a green light. The black sword started to glow and Zangetsu appeared.
"Are you alright, Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked his zanpakuto.
"Yes." Zangetsu said. "I would be alright now. His mind control is broken."
"Mind control?" Luffy repeated confused.
Renji walked to his zanpakuto and said, "It's true that I may sure have some weakness. But as long as I continue to strive for greatness, I think I'll become stronger. No, I know I will." With that said, Renji walked past the zanpakuto and began to leave.
"Well is he full of himself?" Snake's voice sounded from the sword, causing to Renji to stop walking.
"That last hit kinda stung, didn't it Snake?" Monkey's voice sounded off.
"You're actually pretty good, Renji."
Renji looked back at his zanpakuto with a small smile on his face. "You guys…" he said.
"We've keep to our senses." Monkey said.
"It's time that we ended this ridiculous rebellion!" Snake shouted.
"Wait what do you mean?"
"Muramasa. It appears that he was able to control a zanpakuto by somehow awaking our darkest instincts and bringing them to the surface of our minds." Zangetsu explained.
"Hold on, are you saying that the other zanpakuto are under control?" Ichigo questioned.
"I can't be sure but it's very likely. Ichigo, this time it was you who saved me."
"I can't take all of the credit." Ichigo said.
"So what will you do now?" Zangetsu asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Luffy said. "We're going to find Muramasa and stop him."
"I see."
To be continued…
Next Chapter: The Truth Behind the Rebellion! Battle in the Seireitei!