Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach or any of its character.

Notes: It just annoys me how all the secrets about Ichigo's heritage are been kept away from him. The focus of my fanfic will be on Ichigo and his hidden powers until all the way to the Quincy War. In between there'll be a lot of development in Character, powers, and also scenes.

Bold word indicates Ichigo's hollow

Underlined text indicates it is Old man Zangetsu

Italicized indicates 'thinking'

Chapter 1

Isshin knew they have to head to the real karakura town to stop the mad man, Sosuke Aizen, from destroying the town. Ichigo agreed with his father and soon they were running through the Dangai. Ichigo felt hopeless and he doesn't know what he's going to do when he confronts Aizen, because he knows by now that Aizen is way out of his league. Hack, even the Head captain was defeated so this only proves that Aizen had genuinely plan everything and he left nothing out. Isshin noticed the look on his son's face and knew what exactly is he thinking, but something else caught his attention. Isshin noticed something was off.

"Stop, Ichigo." Isshin called out to ichigo who was running in front.

"What? We got no time to stop, we need to hurry?" Ichigo stopped and replied.

"Something's wrong, there's no sign of the Cleaner." Isshin answered "From the traces of spiritual pressure, I'd say Aizen did something. He probably destroyed it when he came here."

"So is it bad if the Cleaner is not here?" Ichigo asked slightly worried.

"It is bad in a way, but, right now it's good for us."Isshin answered surprising Ichigo. "As the name specify, the precipice world is on thy edge. This is a place isolated temporally and spatially from both the world of the living and the soul society. The Cleaner exists to limit those who have entered from the staying too long. But right now it is not here, so I'll be able to teach you in this place."

"Teach me what exactly?" Ichigo asked in confusion

Isshin hesitated for a second, knowing what would happen if Ichigo did learn it. But there's no other way, he at least need to try. With a serious face he replied. "The Final Getsuga Tensho."

With confusion and little surprise written all over his face, he finally asked, "The Final Getsuga Tensho? Why do it here of all places?"

Isshin Sighed. He knew he needed to explain, but there's not much time. So he tried to keep it as short as he can. "As I said, the Cleaner limit those who have entered here, from staying to long. Why? Because time flows faster in here than outside. The difference is unbelievable, by the time one year passes in our world; two thousand years would have gone by in here. Since the Cleaner is not here, it's perfect opportunity to gain time. Since time here in the precipice world flows faster than outside, if you train for 2000 hours here, only one hour would have gone by outside. Sealing off the Cleaner is impossible but there is a way to temporarily stop the restrictive current." Isshin said and grabbed four sticks with ropes from his robe. He then threw two of the sticks towards the restrictive current on each side with ropes tying around his wrists. "This process is called realm fixation. Usually it is done by having multiple low ranking soul reapers put together their spirit energy to temporarily stop the restrictive current, but I can do that by myself. I'll hold out the restrictive current until my spirit energy is used up. By my estimation that should give you 2000 hours in here, just a little short of three months. Use that time to get an answer." he finished.

"Answer? You mean the Final Getsuga Tensho?" Ichigo once again asked in confusion

"Yes that's right. Get your sword Zangetsu to tell you what and how The Final Getsuga Tensho works for you." Isshin replied and continued, knowing that he'll ask more explanation. He didn't want to reveal it to his son this way but they were running out of time. "It is a technique that allows you to gain massive amount of power, enough to surpass even the Head Captain's. However, once this technique is used, you will lose all of your Shinigami powers. I would have done it myself, but I was never able to convince my Zanpakuto, Engetsu. I'm sure you can guess the reason why. "

"Yeah. I understand why. Zangetsu would give me the fight of my life if I want to know this one but if this is the only way, then I'll do it." He said and got into a seating position on the ground with his sword placed across his lap.

-Ichigo's inner world—

The first thing he noticed when he entered his inner world was the entire place is submerged with water. He looked around and noticed that some parts of his inner world had become that of a small town instead of huge skyscrapers and they were at the centre of his inner world. He landed on the side on one of the building and wondered what happened. Then he remembered Zangetsu's words during his fight with Kenpanchi, about how it rains if his heart is troubled and that he hates it.

"So I guess it rained here and this is what happened. When I lost hope of defeating Aizen." he muttered sadly. To his surprised however, someone replied from behind him.

"That's right the rain that continued to fall has subsided and nearly everything has submerged itself to this ocean. And this happened because you stopped moving forward." the man said. "Interesting. When you first came into this ocean, I thought your first action would be to run up to the surface. It pleases me to know that you are aware that you can breathe in here. For that, I won't attack you, Yet!" he continued even after getting Ichigo's attention.

Ichigo turned around, expecting to see Zangetsu but he was surprised that he looked different than usual. "Zengetsu? Is that you?"

Zangetsu scoffed at his question and replied, "You're wrong. What is the full name of your Bankai?" he asked, while Ichigo answered, "Tensa Zangetsu."

"Right. I know very well the reason you came here now Ichigo, and I'm fully aware of the conversation you had with your father, about the Final Getsuga Tensho. He already told you what it is did he not? What makes you think I would teach it to you?" Zangetsu asked.

"Well I…" Ichigo began to mutter before he felt his body pierced. He looked down and saw Zangetsu had thrust his hand right through his chest. He was surprised at how Zangetsu managed to move in front of him without him even noticing.

"So you want the Final Getsuga Tensho do you? Alright, only if you prove yourself worthy of its secrets." Zangetsu said before pulling his hand out of Ichigo's chest, ripping out a white substance and causing Ichigo to yell in pain.

After Zangetsu ripped out the white substance out of Ichigo, the strawberry was then forced to move back and kneel from pain. When he finally recovered, he looked at Zangetsu and saw someone else very familiar. It was none other than his inner hollow but, with a new look. "What's up Kingy? It's been a long time. What's with the look of yours? Don't act like you don't know me." The hollow greeted him while lifting the mask.

"You!? But how? I watched you disappear after I defeated you." Ichigo muttered in disbelief.

White put his mask back on before giving Ichigo an answer. "So did you forget I warned you? The only way you could really control me, was to stay alive, at least until the next time I showed up."

Ichigo was surprised at the hollow's response as he completely forgot about it. He glared at both Zangetsu and the Hollow for a minute before replying. "Damn, and all this time I thought I destroyed you for good."

"Oh really? Well to bad for you." The hollow mocked .

"What's up with the new hollow mask on your face? Looks ridiculous on you." Ichigo asked.

To his surprise however, it wasn't his hollow answered him. "That's right. This is the first time you seeing this form isn't it? This is exactly how you looked after Ulquiorra Cifer put a hole in your chest." Zangetsu answered.

This shocked Ichigo to his core. Now he finally understood everything. Ulquiorra had killed him. Then he heard Orihime's voice, crying and calling for him, asking him to wake up. At that moment his hollow took over him. In a way, Ichigo was glad his hollow took over, even though he'd had to struggle to keep him from taking over, he was able to help when he couldn't. It was then that Ichigo realized that if it wasn't for his inner hollow, Grimmjow would have crushed his head in karakura town when he first meets him. He then reflected on his battle in the soul society and remembered something very important. The only reason he ever made it out of that place alive was not simply because of his efforts but because his hollow saved his life, especially in his fight with byakuya where his body was creaking from the strain of using his Bankai without proper understanding of how it works or getting used to its spiritual pressure.

Realizing that his hollow has some sort of motivation and not just trying to take over just for the hell of it, Ichigo wanted answers. So he directly looked into his hollow's eyes behind the mask and asked, "Just who the hell are you and what do you want with me? I don't think you are just some guy trying to take over me for absolutely no good reason. Unlike what I was told about hollows, you certainly don't act like one, especially since you saved my life more times than I would ever care to remember." Ichigo asked bluntly which surprised the two spiritual beings and causing silence to take over a few moments.

Zangetsu glanced at the hollow and nod, "Well, it seems you manage to figure out about me and the old man, or at least suspect that something is wrong with us. Seems like you're not as stupid as I thought after all. In that case there is only one thing to do." the hollow said. Inwardly he was actually very surprised and felt slightly happy that the gears in Ichigo's head were now turning.

"And what exactly is that?" Ichigo said with narrowed eyes, the grip on his sword tighten.

This time Zangetsu replied. "To tell you the truth Ichigo. We wanted to tell you when you are ready and when this mess is over because that would be an optimal time."

"So are you saying that I am ready now?" Ichigo questioned suspiciously

"Indeed. Now there's only one more task remains and that is to eliminate Sosuke Aizen. Finish it and we will reveal what you really are." Zangetsu responded

Ichigo is now full of determination than ever to get this over with. Mostly because his town and sisters are in unimaginable danger, but part of it came from his own curiosity. 'Just what are these two getting at?' he wondered. "So what do I do to get the Final Getsuga Tensho?"

"Finally, I've been waiting for this moment. Wanna join in the fun?" the hollow asked Zangetsu

"Yes of course, the time has finally arrived anyway." Zangetsu calmly replied

"Hey! Don't ignore me, and tell me what you've got to tell me!" Ichigo yelled losing his patience.

"Sorry about that Ichigo. Before we begin I need to make you aware that, I am not Zangetsu" the cloaked man said

"I am" the hollow finished the sentence

To be continued…