Chapter 22
The True Threat
Karakura Town Streets
Ichigo
Ichigo was sprinting full tilt through the streets of Karakura he had been slaying Hollows along the way, he felled most of them in a single swipe of his large blade.
"Right!" Ichigo said after he cut down a flying Hollow.
'With that one down, most of the Hollows between the last place I saw Karin and home have probably been defeated.' Ichigo thought. 'This way Karin will be safe!'
"Uryu!" Ichigo growled. "After this, I'll make you cry and fix this mess!"
'I can't believe Uryuu would do something like this.' He thought angrily. 'He was always distant but bringing Hollows for a stupid competition is insane!'
Ichigo's mind was racing as his body ran through the streets acting on pure instinct and slaying Hollows on reflex. He was thinking about the first time he met Ishida Uryu all those years ago back when his Mother was still alive.
Many Years Ago
A young Ichigo is holding his Mother's hand as they walked through a very well-kept neighbourhood. It was a sunny summer's day and Karakura town was in full bloom and teeming with life, birds were flying through the air along with flying insects. Families were out in full force with their pets and the parks were full of people enjoying the nice to the fullest they could.
Ichigo and his Mother however had passed all the parks, passed all the stalls and shops that were open and instead went to the rich outskirts of Karakura Town where the rich lived.
"Mama! Why did we walk here?" Young Ichigo whined as he walked next to his Mother.
"I'm taking you to meet your cousin Ichi-chan." Masaki was patient as she came to a stop in front of a large gate.
"Mama?" Ichigo tilted his head as she pressed the button on the speaker system that was attached to the large iron gates.
"Hello?" Someone said through the speaker, it was a female voice so it was probably one of the many maids that attended the Ishida Estate.
"Kurosaki Masaki, I'm coming to visit Ryu-ch-Ishida Ryuken." Masaki answered clearly as Ichigo watched curiously.
"Kurosaki Masaki!?" The voice repeated sounding shocked. "I shall inform the Master right away." She managed to regain her composure.
There was a moment of silence and then the electronic lock on the gates clicked open and the voice crackled from the speaker again. "Please come to the main house Kurosaki-san."
"Thank you~!" Masaki said cheerfully as she opened the gate and walked in with Ichigo trailing beside her.
Masaki and Ichigo made their way down the path to the main house, the garden was in full bloom and Ichigo could see insects flying around the flowers and trees that had been planted to line the pathway.
"Woaah." Ichigo was amazed he had never seen a house so big before.
"It's a big house isn't it?" Masaki said as they got closer to the door.
"Yeah!" Ichigo had a bounce in his step as they kept walking.
They reached the door and before Masaki could knock on it the wooden door was opened by a maid who looked at Masaki and Ichigo nodded and gestured for them to enter.
They both entered a large entranceway and standing at the foot of the large wooden stairs was a man with white hair and glasses wearing a white suit with a blue tie which had a strange five-pointed cross-stitched into it.
"Masaki." He greeted in a neutral tone with a deep voice.
"Hey, Ryuken." Masaki said back cheerfully unperturbed by Ryuken's apparent coldness.
Ryuken's eyes went from Masaki to Ichigo and his eye's widened ever so slightly upon seeing the boy even though he was half hidden behind his Mother's legs. "So this is your son?" He asked.
"Yes! His name is Ichigo, say hello Ichigo." Masaki remained cheerful and exuberant as she pulled Ichigo who had partially hidden behind her leg out so Ryuken could see him properly.
Ichigo looked very shy but with a little pat from his mother he puffed his tiny chest out. "Hello."
"Good morning, Ichigo-san." Ryuken greeted formally, much too formal for a child. Ichigo merely nodded and bowed in response with a shy look on his face.
"I hate to sound curt but what are you doing here Masaki?" Ryuken returned his attention to the elder Kurosaki.
"Why I thought it'd be a great idea if our sons became friends!" Masaki revealed smiling widely at him with a glint in her eyes that reminded Ryuken of when she was just a teenager. "You have a son Ichigo's age after all."
"I do." Ryuken admitted pushing his glasses up. It was obvious he was holding back a long-suffering sigh.
"Fantastic. I always thought it would be a good idea for our children to be friends." Masaki clapped her hands together letting go of Ichigo for a moment.
"I see." Ryuken sighed and he knew had lost this battle, Ichigo was watching the byplay curiously and the young boy could not detect the unheard conversation happening between the two of them.
"Oh!" A female voice said in surprise getting everyone's attention.
The 3 looked over to see a black-haired woman dressed in clothes that could be described as formal-casual, she was in a white dress that had the same cross-pattern stitched over the top left.
"Katagiri!" Masaki said with a happy smile. "It's nice to see you again."
"It is good to see you again Masaki-sama." The black-haired woman greeted Masaki with a polite bow.
"You don't need to call me that anymore." Masaki said slightly embarrassed while Ichigo looked lost.
"And you cannot call her Katagiri anymore Masaki." Ryuken interjected. "Her name is Ishida Kanae now."
"Oh! I'm so happy for you." Masaki squealed happily. "I knew you got married Ryu-chan but I didn't know who to."
"I have to ask why are you here Masaki-san?" Kanae asked remaining formal.
"To introduce our sons to each other!" Masaki told her. "Obviously!"
Kanae then noticed small Ichigo who was back to clinging to his Mother's leg looking at Kanae curiously.
"Oh! Your son." Kanae said looking at Ichigo.
"His name is Ichigo, I brought him here so he could be friends with your son." Masaki explained bluntly.
"I see..." Kanae trailed off and looked at Ryuken. There was a silent conversation between the husband and wife and after a few moments, Kanae nodded and turned to Masaki.
"Okay, lets go and see Uryuu." Kanae nodded at Masaki.
"Good, see you later Ryu-chan." Masaki had reverted to her old way of talking now, confusing Ichigo as he had always seen her act warm but polite.
Kanae walked away and gestured for Masaki to follow who did so after nodding to Ryuken. She and Ichigo left the large hall and entered a corridor of the house which was extremely well-kept. "Uryu is in the study right now." Kanae said as they walked.
"Is he as diligent as Ryu-ch-Ryuken is?" Masaki asked curiously after correcting her way of speaking about Ryuken.
"He is his Father's son." Kanae answered with a smile.
"I'm glad." Masaki said while Ichigo was distracted by the paintings in the hallway. "You're so happy now, I'm glad you acted on your feelings."
"Masaki-san!" Kanae turned to her flustered but she was met with Masaki smiling softly.
"I am truly glad. Ryuken deserved someone who loved him. "I think everything that happened back then was a blessing in disguise."
Kanae did not reply but the gaze she gave to Masaki was filled with emotion and that unspoken message that went over young Ichigo's head.
"Here we are. Uryu is in here." Kanae opened a door and inside was an extremely well-kept room and inside sat at a wooden desk was a young black-haired boy with glasses wearing a clean white shirt and sensible black shorts. He was reading a thick leather-bound tome and did not even notice the people walking the room as he was completely absorbed by the book.
"Uryu!" Kanae called out to the boy getting his attention. "We have visitors."
"Mother!" Uryu called out and stood up quickly before taking in the other people.
"This is Kurosaki Masaki and Kurosaki Ichigo." Kanae introduced the two unfamiliar people to her son.
"It's very nice to meet the both of you." Uryu bowed, his manners were impeccable.
"It's nice to meet you too Uryu-kun." Masaki smiled at the young boy. "Say hello Ichigo." Masaki urged her own son.
"Hi, I'm Ichigo." Ichigo was not so polite.
The young Uryu did not react beyond a slight raising of his eyebrow and even then he held out a hand.
Ichigo looked at the outstretched hand confused for a moment before he took it and shook it quickly.
"Your Father and I are cousins." Masaki explained as Ichigo and Uryu awkwardly stared at each other, typical of children meeting each other for the first time. "I wanted you two to become friends." She smiled at them.
Ichigo turned back to Uryu who was looking at Masaki and when the black-haired boy's attention returned to Ichigo, he smiled at Uryu. "I guess we're cousins as well."
That was their first awkward meeting, Ichigo would go to the Ishida Household relatively often and he and Uryu would play (and argue) together for hours at a time while Masaki would talk with Kanae and Ryuken. At the time Ichigo had no idea of the existence of Quincy's and when he brought up seeing ghosts with Uryu, the boy simply dismissed it out of hand even though Ichigo knew he could see them as well.
All that ended on June 7th, after Ichigo's sun died he only went once or twice more to the Ishida house with his Father in tow but even that quickly came to an end and to this day Ichigo did not know why.
Ichigo shook his head trying to shake the memory out of his head, there was no time for reminiscing at a time like this when Hollows were swarming his hometown.
"Damn it Uryu!" Ichigo jumped up and cut through 3 Hollows that were blocking his way, it seemed that the Hollows were gathering in specific places over Karakura not that Ichigo knew that for definite but they did seem to be 'clumping' up in specific places for lack of a better term.
Ichigo heard the roar of a Hollow get cut short along with the blast of an energy arrow which made a very unique noise when it pierced through the mask and killed the Hollow.
"Uryu!" Ichigo roared as he spotted the bespectacled boy who was standing in an empty lot with tall buildings all around him, there was also a large amount of Hollows surrounding him.
Ichigo slashed and bashed his way through the Hollows and made it to Ishida who hadn't stopped shooting his blue energy arrows into the surrounding Hollows. Though each of them took down a multitude of Hollows there were still far more coming from the sky, appearing over the tops of buildings and slithering in from the alleys.
They were completely surrounded by a small army of Hollows, all of whom looked very hungry as their mouths cracked open revealing the slathering mouth within. Hollows are creatures of pure instinct while this most often manifests through ravenous hunger but the older a Hollow got the more self-control they obtained.
The first Hollows that arrived in Karakura after the bait had been crushed had been the usual newborn Hollows, ravenously hungry and ruled by their baser instincts but now after so much time and so many Hollows being destroyed the older more cautious Hollows had begun to make their appearance. And it was these Hollows older, more experienced who had now surrounded Ichigo and Ishida, the vacant lot they were fighting in was filled with Hollows forming a ring around them, and the more powerful Hollows were perched up high on the surrounding buildings waiting for their chance to strike at the Shinigami and Quincy.
"This is looking bad." Ichigo grunted as he finished another Hollow off with a brutal vertical slash that split the mask in two.
"There shouldn't be this many." Ishida repeated his hand was beginning to bleed from creating his arrows. "That Hollow Bait should have only lured a hundred at most, there is something else going on here." He correctly intuited though, the who, why and how eluded him.
"Heh." Ichigo chuckled as he held his giant sword with both hands. "We just need to wipe them out here and now."
"And how do you suppose we accomplish that?" Ishida asked with a sigh as he shot another arrow which punctured right through a nearby Hollow.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"RRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Their World shook like it was ending and a heavy Reiatsu fell down on them. The Hollows shot to attention like a dog after picking up a scent, after a moment the Hollows sprung into action but not at Ichigo and Ishida who had tensed in anticipation of being dog-piled by a mass of Hollows but to their shock, the groups surrounding them sprung away heading elsewhere.
"What the Hell!?" Ichigo shouted at seeing the Hollows scurry away at high speed.
Ishida remained silent but he observed the Hollow's movements and he noticed they were heading towards a single point high in the sky, His blue eye's widened in shock as he finally noticed the giant crack hanging ominously over Karakura Town.
'What is that? A spacial distortion?' He thought rapidly looking around to see even more Hollows streaming into the crack.
"Ichigo!" Ishida grabbed him by the shoulder and pointed with his other hand as his bow dispersed back into Spiritual Particles. "Look!"
Ichigo followed his arm and saw the giant Hollows and the crack which was getting bigger as more Hollows entered it. "What the hell are they doing!" He shouted again.
"I don't know." Ishida replied as he adjusted his glasses.
'That's really not good.' Ichigo thought looking at Ishida and realising just how worried the other boy was at the event happening before their eyes. Ishida was never one for expressive emotion but over their years together Ichigo had learned to judge his cousin's emotions.
"We need to go and stop it now!" Ichigo as ever took the headstrong action and hefted his sword over his shoulder.
"What!?" Ishida questioned him. "What can you even do to that?"
"Dunno but with that many Hollows it's bad news and someone needs to do something." Ichigo shot back.
"You're still such a headstrong idiot!" Ishida felt his temper rise as veins bulged on his temple.
"Come one Uryu." Ichigo stepped forward past his cousin and pointed at the crack in the sky. "Let's do it together."
Ichigo did not wait for an answer instead, he took off in a full sprint towards the distortion.
"Ichigo!" Ishida followed after him.
'That idiot!' Ishida thought with some fondness. 'Always running ahead.'
It reminded Ishida of a more innocent time back when their mothers were still alive, back then they used to play together and he even had vague memories of Ichigo's little sisters as well as the twins whose names he had forgotten.
'I should remember their names, despite everything they are family.' Ishida's eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion before he steeled his gaze and looked back to the growing spatial distortion and the Hollows which ravenously ran to it.
The Park
As it happened the giant spatial crack hung directly over Karakura Town's largest park which had plenty of ample space for fighting not that it was designed that way but it was probably the best place within Karakura for a large-scale battle.
Ichigo and Ishida both had to fight through a small army of Hollows to even reach the park. Of course, they argued and shouted the entire way but there were at least some meaningful words exchanged. Ichigo would have to have a proper conversation with his erstwhile cousin after this mess was fixed.
"Why did you become a Shinigami?" Was one of the questions Ishida asked him as they made a mad dash to the source of their problems.
"Mom was killed by a Hollow." He answered quickly before elaborating. "After she died me, Dad, Karin and Yuzu went through a lot of hard times. I don't want to see that sight anymore, I don't want to see anyone else like me Uryu."
"I'm not Superman, not a Hero I can't save everyone but I'm not modest enough to say that it's enough for me to have enough power to protect the people I love." Ichigo said with a distant look as they ran. "I want to protect anyone I see suffering, it's what the eldest brother does."
'It's hard for me to look at people's sad faces.' Ishida was taken back to when he was a child, back when his Grandfather was still alive and the words that had stuck with him ever since.
'I see, we truly are family with those shared ideals.' Ishida looked at Ichigo and saw someone else.
"Damn it!" Ichigo cursed as he split another Hollow in two. "There's no end to these things!" They had made very good progress but there was still a large mob of Hollows around, even with Ichigo slashing anything that came into range while Ishida dealt with the Hollows who preferred to attack outside the range of Ichigo's giant blade.
"I told you we needed a proper plan!" Ishida shouted at Ichigo as he unleashed a barrage of his blue arrows which hit multiple Hollows in their masks and made their bodies disintegrate faster than if they were slain by a Shinigami.
Ichigo and Ishida arrived in time for whatever was going on to finish as giant white fingers erupted from the cracks and tore an even larger hole in the sky. But that was not the end of it as a huge bone-white mask appeared and looked down on the park and the Hollows present.
"What the fuck!" Ichigo shouted at seeing this huge monster tear through the fabric of reality exposing a black void behind it.
"That?" Ishida was struck speechless at the gigantic Hollow which pulled the very air out of its way like it was a curtain and revealed an equally gigantic body which was completely covered by a black cloak which fluttered in a non-existent wind.
"Is that even a Hollow?" Ishida questioned sensing it's immense power it was far beyond any Hollow he had ever come across before.
"What can we do now!?" Ishida shouted as his frustration boiled over. "We can't fight that thing while dealing with all of those Hollows!"
"Shut it! That's all we can do in this case." Ichigo shouted back. "Let's just fight until we get to it."
"What!?" Ishida almost reached out to strangle Ichigo with his free hand. "You're the one who said we needed to think of a strategy! And yours just boils down to fight, fight, fight!"
The Hollows around them were not going to wait for them to finish their argument and as they shifted forward to attack both Ichigo and Ishida tensed up and prepared for another wave.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Luckily for both of them however someone with what sounded like artillery shot and killed all the Hollows surrounding them. Both turned to see a small black-haired girl holding a huge weapon which was covered in Ofuda but had smoke pouring off one end of the large rectangular weapon.
"H-hello." She greeted them nervously hefting the massive weapon with ease.
"Kuro~saki-Sa~n!" A familiar voice called cheerily. "We've come to the resc~~ue!"
Both Ichigo and Ishida noticed Urahara Kisuke as well as his assistant Tessai and a young red-haired child wielding a giant bat.
The young boy took off right away right at a nearby Hollow."JIIIIINNNNNTTTTTTAAAAAA HOOOOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEE RUUUUUUUUN!" He swung his giant black bat and crushed the Hollow in a single blow.
The young girl hefted her weapon back on her shoulder and began blasting away at the horde of Hollows while humming a cheerful tune which created a strange dissonance between her actions and expression.
Tessai the bespectacled man simply disappeared from Urahara's side, with a mighty "HUMPH!" He gave such a powerful palm strike to a Hollow that it was decapitated from the sheer blunt force behind the blow.
"Amazing! They're wiping out the Hollows so easily." Ishida was impressed as the three of them methodically went about culling the Hollows.
"Geta-Boshi why're you here?" Ichigo asked confused but also with suspicion in his tone. "Why do you always show up like this where ever I go."
"Don't worry about the small fry Kurosaki-san." Urahara completely ignored the question. "So that you can concentrate on fighting that one." Urahara snapped his fan shut and pointed it at the huge Hollow which was still in the process of attempting to exit the hole in the world.
"This isn't the time for idle chit chat." Urahara warned.
The Hollow pulled almost its entire upper body free and it let out a horrifying roar. "ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Nearby Rukia had stopped in place at seeing the Hollow and its roar which was painful to hear.
'I should be the one dealing with that.' Rukia thought in fear. 'If it wasn't for my own weakness Ichigo would have never been performing my duties.'
"WHA! W-wha-what is-is tha-t thing!?" Kon in Ichigo's body shouted in fear. "I've never seen a Hollow like that!"
"It's a Menos." Rukia said grimly as her violet eyes looked at the monster emerging from the pit.
"Menos?" Kon had never heard that term before even when he was stuck in pill form in the Soul Society.
"It's a gigantic Hollow born from hundreds of lesser Hollows fusing together, that thing is something I've only ever seen in textbooks: A Menos Grande!" Rukia explained clearly even as she shivered.
"But a Hollow like that should have never come to the Human World, Menos are supposed to be dealt with by Captains and Vice-Captains not an unseated officer like me or a substitute like Ichigo!" Rukia was truly worried now, she knew intellectually that the moment a Menos-class Hollow appeared in the Human World it would be picked up by the Soul Society and a Captain would be dispatched to take care of it, but in this situation how long would it take? Would she, Ichigo and his Quincy cousin be killed before a Captain ever arrived and which Captain would arrive in Karakura?
'I don't think I've ever felt such dread.' Rukia looked at the glowing eyes of the Menos as it finally emerged and a huge white boot cratered the ground it stood on.
Over near Ichigo and Ishida who was now thankfully no longer surrounded by an army of Hollows, the mood was lighter though both of them had not taken their eyes off the Menos Grande as it stomped out of the crack.
"What a ridiculous bulk." Ishida muttered at seeing it in full.
"Hehehe." Ichigo chuckled. "Something that huge just makes me laugh, I'm doubtful it's even a Hollow."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
The full manifestation of the Menos sent all the other lesser Hollows into a frenzy as they roared and pounded their feet which unfortunately for them caught the attention of the Menos and its giant mouth opened and a whip-like tongue shot out and impaled an entire group before quickly retracting and brought them right into its mouth and all of the Hollows were crunched by the pure white teeth into a bloody pulp before disappearing down the Menos' throat.
"It's eating its fellow Hollows." Ishida said shocked.
It made for an intimidating sight, a giant black-cloaked Hollow with bloody teeth from devouring its own kind.
"Hahahaha." Ichigo let out a short laugh as he looked at the Menos.
"Ichigo? What's so funny?" Ishida asked him, had Ichigo gone mad at being confronted with this monstrosity?
"With this guy, We'll just have to cut and cut him with all our might till he goes down." Ichigo roared raising his sword high up. "There's no other way!"
"Let's go Uryu!" Ichigo ran straight at the Menos' giant white foot.
"Wa-Wait!" Ishida shouted after him. "Wait Ichigo, we need a plan!"
Ichigo did not stop instead he sprinted right at the Menos and once he got within range he leapt with all his might and swung his sword down in a crushing slash.
"Wait!" Rukia shouted at him as she saw the orange-haired Shinigami charge. "You Fool, you can't beat him!" The worry in her voice was clear to all who could hear it.
Urahara appeared in front of Rukia who was about to run at Ichigo and stopped her dead in her tracks. "Urahara!? What are you doing? Are you trying to get Ichigo killed?" She demanded an answer glaring fiercely at him.
"Of course not." He answered lightly.
"Then move aside!" Rukia went to push past him. "That's not an opponent that Ichigo can win against!"
"That's no good." Urahara sighed. "I can't let you do that Kuchiki-san."
Urahara held out two fingers in front of Rukia and there was a pulse of Reiatsu as something activated from his hands. "Please watch carefully."
"This is a crucial battle." He said as Rukia collapsed to her knees unable to move. "This should be enough to stop you from interfering."
'A Bakudo Spell!' Rukia thought as she slumped down. 'I can't move! Surely this is not a high-level Bakudo, he did it through the EishÅhaki method, without using its name either!' Rukia had greatly underestimated the shady man known to her as Urahara Kisuke.
While this was going on Ichigo finally made it to the Menos' foot and he swung his blade mightily, the blade cut right into the Menos but only a small amount as when one giant glowing eye looked down at what caused it pain, the Hollow simply lifted its leg slightly and kicked which sent Ichigo flying backwards and crashing through a nearby concrete wall.
What Ichigo had done was the equivalent of an ant biting a human in the ankle, there was a small pinch of pain but it was so minor that it was barely an injury, the Menos Grande was a huge Hollow gestalt and it did not feel pain the way other Hollows did so it simply kicked Ichigo away like he was an ant and due to its sheer size and strength Ichigo had been hit with the equivalent of a high-speed train.
Ichigo crashed and bounced before coming to a stop covered by debris and smoke from the blow, the Menos after confirming Ichigo was no longer near it began to devour the other Hollows present again even as Urahara's small team attempted to keep the number of Hollows down.
"Ichigo!" Ishida was right by Ichigo." I told you!" He shouted as he shot an arrow which barely missed the giant white mask and hit the giant Hollow in what would have been its jaw.
'Shit! I can't do any damage in this state.' He thought at seeing the arrow fade away and the Hollow not even take any notice.
"Are you okay Ichigo?" He asked his fallen cousin.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Ichigo sat back up with a huge gash on his forehead which was pouring with blood.
"What the hell were you thinking!?" Ishida shouted at him. "Just what were you trying to do!?"
"Well, I thought if I could cut his feet away and work up from there then the head would fall down last." Ichigo replied pointing at the Hollow.
"What!?" Ishida was understandably taken aback. "Are you that stupid this isn't a children's game!"
"Now we need to think up a proper battle plan." Ishida continued while Ichigo was in his own world.
As Ishida ranted he put his free hand on Ichigo's bloated blade and his bow exploded in power and size easily becoming twice as tall as him.
'What the?' Ishida was taken aback by the sheer power he felt erupt from his bow.
"Think up a proper battle plan huh." Ichigo was talking to himself ignoring the blood dripping down his face.
'Is this Ichigo's power!?' Ishida thought alarmed as he felt the raw Reiryoku emanate from the blade into his hand, up his arm and down into his bow hand.
'Shinigami and Quincy have different ways of fighting with Reiryoku, Shinigami use the power within the body while Quincy's use the power of their surroundings drawing energy in from the environment.' Ishida began quickly putting the pieces together as he thought about the differences between Shinigami and Quincy.
'Just by touching Ichigo's Zanpakuto my own Kojaku transformed into a stronger form.' Ishida thought as the pieces began to fall into place. 'This is because he can't control his own power so it must infuse into his Zanpakuto when he's fighting. If he releases this amount of power subconsciously...'
"Ichigo!" Ishida called out to him.
"Yeah, whaaaaa!" Ichigo turned to see Ishida and his giant bow. "What the hell is that!"
"What happened to your bow!? It's Huge!" Ichigo backed away in surprise but his sword was long enough that Ishida still had a hand on it.
"Shut up! Ichigo and listen to me!" Ishida said. "This sounds like a strange idea but I think I know a way we can beat it."
Ichigo listened patiently to Ishida's plan and after a moment to absorb what the Quincy said, he told Ishida, "You're an idiot that's a stupid idea."
"It's the only plan we have to take down that thing!" Ishida argued back pointing at the giant black Hollow which had now turned its attention on the two of them.
"No way!" Ichigo refused outright.
As the two argued, unbeknownst to them they were being watched by more than just Rukia and Urahara. In a nearby building accompanied by a black cat were Orihime, Tatsuki and Chad, their wounds had been healed and now both could clearly see the black-clad form of Ichigo.
"So you can see Ichigo standing next to Ishida?" Chad asked.
"Yes. I can see Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun together." Orihime answered.
"Yeah, I can too." Tatsuki did not sound happy about it as she glared down at her friend.
Chad nodded, ever since his encounter with the Hollow his sight had improved dramatically and while Ichigo was a little fuzzy he could see his friend's orange hair.
"Look." Orihime whispered though Chad could hear her fine. "Does that mean we have to choose our path after this?"
"Tch, that Ichigo!" Tatsuki clicked her tongue. "Just what the hell has he gotten himself into."
'So I never forgot anything after all. Kurosaki-kun and my brother really did fight back then.' Orihime reflected on that night and she trembled.
"Sado-kun, Tatsuki-chan." She said getting their attention. "What are we supposed to do?" She asked.
Chad however had no reply and turned his eyes back to the duo.
Tatsuki was equally silent as her worried eyes darted between Orihime and Ichigo, she too had no answer.
"Listen Ichigo!" Ishida was truly frustrated now. "If I constantly touch your sword then I can use your Reiatsu to shoot extremely powerful arrows."
"All you need to do is unleash your Reiatsu, control it and max it out." Ishida explained after reigning his temper in.
"What?" Ichigo looked completely confused. "But I never control my power."
"Don't be ridiculous, how could you have been fighting Hollows this entire time if you can't control your power." He could not, would not believe that during his entire tenure as a Shinigami Ichigo was not able to control his power which was as far as Ishida knew the absolute basics of basics in order to fight Hollows.
"I don't know!" Ichigo said looking annoyed. "Ever since I got these powers I've just fought Hollows with my sword!" He gestured to his ridiculously sized blade for emphasis.
"You have no clue!?" Ishida was defeated at this point and he rubbed his eyes and felt a migraine beginning to come on in his mind.
"I really don't know." Ichigo began to gesture with his free hand. "Controlling Reiatsu is basically just unleashing it when you need it and stopping it when you don't right?" He asked rhetorically.
"It would be easy if I could control my power like turning a tap off and on." Ichigo looked at Ishida. "People have been saying that my power is great but isn't that because I'm maxin' it out all the time?"
Ichigo's words set off a couple of synapses in Ishida's brain as he began to put together his forms. 'Maxing out constantly? I suppose it makes sense since his Reiatsu is always pouring out of his body, but that means that he is constantly maxing out his power but always looks so rested. He really is monstrous then.'
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Ishida was distracted from further thought as he felt the Menos' Reiatsu begin to skyrocket even higher than it was before and his head snapped to the white mask where a red sphere was beginning to form. 'It's Reiatsu is raising even higher.'
Rukia knew what was coming, even if she had only ever seen a Menos Grande in textbooks she knew about their most famous ability. 'It's a Cero!' She was panicking but she still could not move as Urahara's Bakudo held her firmly in place.
'Run! Run Ichigo!' She screamed mentally. 'That is not an attack you can take, if it hits you there won't be anything left!'
'Bare thy blade Ichigo.' The voice spoke within Ichigo and it echoed all around him. 'In front of you is an enemy you must defeat, behind you are people you must protect.' Ichigo felt something shift within him as if a puzzle piece finally clicked in place.
'Do not retreat! March forward and cut down the enemy which bars your path forward.' The voice was shouting now and it was all Ichigo could hear.
'Fight.' The command was given.
"My plan is the only way Ichigo, Put your sword against my body!" Ishida shouted as he prepared a new blue arrow.
Ichigo ignored his cousin completely and instead charged forward at full sprint with his sword raised high in the air clenched within both hands.
"Ichigo! What are you doing!" Ishida shouted after him.
'It won't let you hit it a second time Ichigo!' Ishida was already prepared to use Hirenkyaku if he needed to in order to save his idiot cousin. 'Running ahead without a plan is suicide, this isn't even going to be a fight.'
The blood-red sphere had finished forming and after a moment the sphere shrunk to a tenth of its original size before a scarlet blast erupted from where the sphere was and it was aimed right at the charging Ichigo.
Ichigo stopped and swung his blade at the Cero and clashed with it. This was now a battle of endurance, could Ichigo's body hold out while enduring the sheer power of the Menos' power.
"He repelled it!?" Ishida shouted as he saw this unfold before his eyes. "No, he can't move!"
'But what is this resonance? Is this Ichigo's true power?' Ishida could feel Ichigo's own Reiatsu begin to raise in response to the Cero which he was holding off.
'No wait, it's impossible to be maxing out your own power all the time because logically you would eventually run out but he can't control his power at all so that means that Ichigo's power during his entire time as a Shinigami was at it's the lowest possible state! Which means if an outside force was to force open his tap then his power will...' Ishida realised the truth of the matter as Ichigo's own Reiatsu surpassed the Hollow's own.
Ichigo's eyes began to glow a bright blue as Reiryoku swirled around his sword and Ichigo pushed the Cero off and unleashed a gigantic blue slash which cut right through the Cero and travelled even further as it hit the Menos' foot and went right up its leg and torso and even hit the very top of its mask.
There was a mere second of silence after Ichigo's titanic slash finished its travel and smoke leaked from the giant wound which nearly cut the Menos Grande in two.
RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
It roared in agony after the blow but it was still alive, instead of continuing to attack it grabbed the very air and retreated through the void which it came from and after a moment it was gone leaving nothing but dust in its wake.
'Ichigo! You nearly split it in half! How!' Rukia could not believe her eyes, she had never seen a Menos before but now Ichigo a Substitute Shinigami had forced one to retreat where usually a Captain or Vice-Captain was needed to defeat such an enemy.
"Heh, heh, heh." Ichigo panted but there was a smile on his face. "Hahahahaha!" But he laughed in triumph.
"VICTORY!" Ichigo held up the V-Salute with a wide grin at seeing it run away injured.
"How terrifying, he forced that monster to run." Ishida wanted to sit down and have a nice tea but his legs wouldn't move.
Nearby Tessai had finished off the remaining Hollows and he looked over at Ichigo, "What a good job, I suppose this means Kisuke found the right person."
"Oi Tessai!" Jinta ran up next to the tall man. "Is that guy really that strong? It looked like he didn't even try."
"That's hard to say right now but once he receives training and learns how to control that power then..." Tessai trailed off.
"Yo Uryu, how was that?" Ichigo asked with a grin.
"Ichigo..." Ishida did not answer.
"What are you not going to thank me for that?" Ichigo was uncharacteristically smug about it.
"What?" Ishida snapped back and looked at Ichigo.
"You should thank me.." Ichigo was going to continue but he suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Ichigo!" Ishida shouted at seeing him fall.
"Hurts." Ichigo moaned, he was lying face-first on the ground. "Can't move, it hurts."
There was a spark of Reiryoku around Ichigo's sword arm and without any control on his part, his arm suddenly raised up to the sky and power began to erupt from his sword which began to badly warp and twist in ways a sword should not have been able too.
"Ah!" Ichigo shouted in pain. "What the hell's happening!"
'His Zanpakuto is changing shape? Or is it losing form?' Ishida was equally alarmed at seeing Ichigo's sword warp and bend. 'His power was forced open, does that mean he's lost control of his own power.'
Ishida's bow exploded in size easily becoming four times the size of it's user.
"His power, it's even greater than it was before." Ishida figured out the situation quickly as he let off a gigantic arrow which he shot at the sky. For those who could see it, it looked like a bolt of lightning raising from the ground rather than falling from the sky.
'If Ichigo cannot control it then I will take command of all the Reishi and shoot it out until he stabilises.' Ishida kept firing arrow after arrow and he realised that it would be more efficient to be in contact with the blade so he ran over to Ichigo and stepped on his sword.
"Ishida!?" Ichigo was surprised to see him stamp down and fire arrows even as Ishida's hands began to bleed.
"Shut up!" Ishida commanded.
"Ishida, if you keep doing this, then you might lose your arm!" Ichigo warned him but even so Ishida continued to fire his arrows one after the other.
"I said shut up Ichigo, I hate Shinigami but you're not a real one so I can help you now." Ishida began to rant at him. "You said it yourself that if either of us dies then we can't fight anymore. I'm not going to thank you for anything but you need to know why I hate Shinigami, so I'll help you here and afterwards, I can beat you fairly."
"And most importantly you need to know about my Sensei." Ishida finished with a look in Ichigo's confused eyes.
'I'm sorry Sensei, I created this mess because I wanted to avenge you but in the end, all I did was get saved by a Shinigami, the same Shinigami that got you killed.' Ishida thought of his Grandfather his gentle smile and soft words.
'In the end you wanted to fight together with Shinigami for the sake of the world, I finally understand what you wanted Sensei. That day when you died I didn't want to face it, the fact that I hid while you fought.' Ishida kept firing arrows even as his mind was in the past.
'I'm sorry Sensei, I'm sorry that I couldn't save you that day. Can you forgive your Grandson for saving a Shinigami and not you'. The last arrows fired and Ishida collapsed to his knees as blood leaked from the wounds on his hand.
"Damn. I can't beat up a guy who looks like that." Ichigo muttered after taking one look at his cousin's face.
Rukia was nearby and stood back up as Urahara's Bakudo finally faded away. "A Menos appeared and got defeated, this news should have reached the Soul Society by now." There was an unreadable look on her face as she looked at both Ichigo and Ishida.
Urahara also stood nearby with an enigmatic smile on his face after watching everything unfold before him. "I suppose I should fix that Kumon. It wouldn't be good for anyone to have a spatial distortion in the middle of a city."
"Tessai, I'll leave the clean-up to you." He spoke before turning his attention to the half-closed crack in the sky.
The events were truly set in motion now, A Shinigami going missing was unusual but had occurred a few times over the 2000 years that Shinigami existed. But a Gillian class Menos Grande appearing in a major human population centre and retreating almost minutes later was unheard of so those within the Seireitei would be paying attention despite Urahara's efforts to obfuscate everything that had gone on this day.
These easy-going days could not last forever and for Rukia and for Ichigo, these almost carefree days were coming to a sudden end.
A storm was coming.
AN:
Here's chapter 22 hope you all enjoyed this and look forward to Chapter 23
Probably gonna have a little breather chapter next time that'll be short than this one. I do have up to the end of the Substitute Shinigami arc planned out completely but haven't started the Soul Society one so there will probably be an even longer gap between those chapters.
Also, I hope everyone's enjoying the Thousand Year Blood War Anime, I know I am. Zanka no Taichi is easily my favourite Bankai in the entirety of Bleach even beating out Senbonzakura Kageyoshi which was easily my favourite for years.