Hey there, I'm happy to re-post this for this Saturday. I must say that it was a while since like the previous chapter, I had some problems. I didn't know when I would finish it or when I would post it, but I'm glad it's today. Now, before you read it, I must warn that we will not see any action or a confrontation against Caster during another chapter, since as I said in the previous one, Ichigo and his friends will have to tell the young British magus and the 2 Servants who they are and what were their adventures. In other words, a summary.
I hope you enjoy.
On reviews:
TrueVirtuoso: If you mean by the fact that Ichigo sported luminous eyes before, then no. To be honest, I'm not thinking about Ichigo having Mystic Eyes. I'm not sure, but for now I'll just have Ichigo learn the basics of his Magic Circuits.
Jose19: Yes, the Servants that would be impossible to defeat would be those who would approach Divine Spirits like Gilgamesh, Karna, etc. I don't think even Aizen, Yamamoto, and Yhwach could catch their heels, at least individually, but I won't talk about that.
Ichigo would have it pretty tough if he at least trained for a variety of decades to compare with them. Maybe his fight with Mordred is a good start.
Dat-boi-waddup: Magic Circuits and Blut Viene. Both are similar elements, but with different functions. While Blut Vene only grants inhuman durability and repels Bankai-type attacks, Magic Circuits only converts od into Magic Energy and performs magecraft and even Mystery, from what I understand. Sorry, I don't know if I have said it before, but I am still somewhat clumsy in the face of the various elements of the Nausoverse, and only knew a few basics.
But going back to before, I won't make any mention of Blut Vene until later.
Angelvan105: I am also happy with the results of this chapter, and that Ichigo and Mordred's relationship is improving even if only slightly. Although they still have more to go through as their friendship evolves.
Chapter 20: The story of a Substitute part 1
15/05/2021
"I must admit it was quite an entertaining battle match." Rider commented while taking a bite of roasted fish to his mouth. He and the rest (except Kisuke), including the old Mackenzies were sitting around the table in the dining room of the house. Each had their own plates in front of them being mostly katsudon stew. Rider looked at Ichigo (who had regained consciousness and well) with admiration in his eyes.
"If you had been born in my time and in my country, I would have given you an important position in my army." Said the King of Conquerors with enthusiasm for the skill and courage that someone so young showed in combat. Although it was not surprising, since the Macedonian king himself was almost the same as him at only 14 years old.
Ichigo, modest as he was, quickly denied that idea. "Sorry, but I wouldn't be interested in doing that."
Rider's expression deflated in disappointment upon hearing the answer. "Oh, what a shame. I'm pretty sure you would have reached the top and rewarded you with glory and riches."
Saber just rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue at the barbarian's stupid suggestion. Though inwardly she wouldn't have minded having this strange boy as her squire.
"So, you had a kendo match with Saber, eh?" Glen spoke curiously looking at the Master-Servant couple. "And how did it go? I hope you have not hurt, right?"
"No, I'm fine. It was nothing really." Ichigo replied trying to cover up the scale of his duel with his Servant.
"I hope Saber-chan didn't have a bad time either, did she?" Martha spoke looking at the blonde. The latter offered no response as she continued to take her spoonful of katsudon.
Seeing that there was no response for the next few moments, Rider decided to add more.
"Either way, I hope you put those skills of yours to good use and be a good fighter."
Ichigo rolled his eyes upon hearing that. "I am not interested in joining any army just for glory and prestige." He replied making it clear that he had no apparent intention of wanting to seek glory or any nationalistic motive. "All I want is to live in peace with my family and my friends." He said before putting some of his food in his mouth. His friends looked at him with understanding since they agreed with him.
"Well, I'm not insisting that you change your life so soon either. But you shouldn't waste those incredible fighting skills either, boy. You are certainly a good fighter, but not that much, and you should keep practicing being a good fighter warrior. It would be a shame to squander those skills of yours." Rider argued. Ichigo listened to his words, and still didn't make too much of it. He had long since left the path of the sword since losing his Shinigami powers and living a normal life without conflict.
Even if he did get into street fights with thugs like Reiichi Ōshima at times, he found it pretty cool than taking on phantasmal monsters like the hollows.
Once silence reigned, Glen took the opportunity to speak.
"Who taught you to use a sword and fight with it?"
"Mmm, it was Urahara-san." Ichigo replied after a little debate about who helped him with his swordplay. Of course, the candy store owner only taught him the essentials, while the rest he learned through experience.
Hearing the name of the person who trained him, a good part was almost taken aback as they knew very well who Ichigo's supposed 'sensei' was.
"You mean that weird, buffoon who always goes with that stupid smile?" Saber asked in thunderstruck and disbelief at the fact that the guy who wears a strange hat and wooden sandals was a master swordsman, in addition to the fact that from her understanding, he owned a simple candy store.
"But didn't he say he was just a salesman or something?" Rider asked doubtfully.
"Uh, yeah, but even though it may not seem like it, he's also very good with a sword. He trained Kurosaki for 2 and a half weeks, right?" Ishida said before looking at Kurosaki, who was nodding immediately after.
"Well, anyway, if what you're saying is true, I guess you must feel lucky to have a good teacher like him, right?"
Ichigo only rolled his eyes at that but didn't say anything. He had to admit that the blond Shinigami was the one who taught him how to communicate with his Zangetsu and how to control his fear and doubts. In fact, his teachings and advice were very valuable to him in his battles in Soul Society, and he suppose he should be grateful for it despite his eccentric, childish, and annoying personality.
As time passed, residents and guests finished their dinner, and each left their dishes in the sink in turn. Once they finished, our protagonists headed to the exit to return to the hotel. At the same time, Waver couldn't help but look suspiciously at his would-be allies after witnessing their respective capabilities and reflecting that they were keeping something from him.
He wanted to speak to and question one of them, but he knew it would not be easy to dissuade them. At least he just couldn't. Fortunately, for the first time in his life, his Servant sided with him.
"By the way." Rider spoke suddenly causing the guests to stop in their tracks and turn to look at Rider. "There is something I would like to find out. Can you tell me who you are exactly?"
So, the entire house fell into a tense silence as everyone looked at the huge Servant who now wore an serious expression. His eyes scrutinized the teenagers.
"Come on, don't think I haven't noticed and missed your tricks before. I understand your reasons for hiding it, but that doesn't mean you keep doing it forever. Right, boy?" He asked looking at Waver. The latter winced off guard, but quickly regained his composure and looked at the older teens.
"It's true, I have also realized that you are not normal, and those strange tricks are not normal at all. You are not mages. So, tell me who you really are, and why you wanted to ally with us. Tell me, or I will never trust you."
The atmosphere became more tense among the teenagers who did not know how to react to this, although for the Quincy it was to be expected since they had left evidence on different occasions, and it was only a matter of time before they were caught.
"Saber, did you know about this?" Rider asked Saber to know if the latter knew about this.
She snorted before answering. "I would have liked to know too." She looked suspiciously at her Master and his friends. "They have also been hiding something from me that they don't want me to know, and already I'm fed up."
The Karakura gang could no longer endure this hostile environment they were giving them and before any of them could say anything to either calm or make matters worse, a new voice intervened.
"My, my, it looks like they found us out in the end." They all turned back to see Kisuke go inside with a nervous smile looking at Rider and his Master. "I guess we can't hide it anymore, can we?" The smile became less nervous. "Don't worry, we'll tell you everything."
True to his word, the shopkeeper first guided everyone to Waver's room, away from the ears of the elders and there Kisuke revealed the truth that they actually come from a different parallel universe, which was very hard to believe on the part of young Velvet, but Rider seemed interested and insisted the shopkeeper to continue.
"Well, but for you to understand better, I will do this." Kisuke said before taking a notebook (it is not known where) and a pen to scribble something hidden from the eyes of others. When he finished, he showed everyone a drawing of 3 spheres, the one in the middle had the word '現世' (World of the living), the one on the left had a face with a smile, and the one on the right an unhappy one. The explanation section seemed to be typical only for young children.
"This here is our world where we came from." He began by pointing to the sphere in the center of the drawing. While Waver just stared dumbfounded and confused at the scribbles and at the way the man explained in a childish and cheesy way, Saber and Rider just looked attentively interested in the subject. "Our world and yours are exactly alike since they both share the same name and besides being populated mainly by humans. However, the only difference is the absence of Gaia and Atalaya." Waver, Saber, and Rider absorbed this last part and kept listening.
"But still that doesn't mean there wasn't anything supernatural there, since Earth is surrounded between these two spiritual worlds; the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo." He said pointing to the other 2 spheres that represented the aforementioned worlds. "Due to the existence of both dimensions, their presence influences the atmosphere of the human world through particles of reishi, which could be said to be like the mana, but in a spiritual version instead of a natural one."
All 3 seemed interested and kept listening expectantly.
"Like the people of your world, I mean the general public who are not aware of the world of magic, the people of our world are also not aware of the spiritual world around them, except for a minimal number of people. You see, the Soul Society is a spiritual kingdom where the souls of the deceased reside, which is why it receives other names such as the Heaven, the Hereafter, the Otherworld, etc. Depending on the sector there is in the Earth, it has its own guardians who guard it, protects and guides the wandering souls in the world of the living to rest, and the East Branch, where Japan is located, are resided by us the Shinigamis. The Shinigamis are the spiritual guardians in charge of watching over and guiding the souls of the East Branch towards Soul Society, and its military organization is structured in a group known as the Gotei 13, which, as its name indicates, is made up of 13 divisions, each led by a captain, whose strength is such that he can compete against a Heroic Spirit."
This gained more attention from the 2 Servants upon hearing about the existence of a class of spirits capable of challenging them.
"Our main job, apart from guiding souls to Soul Society, is fighting the hollows, evil spirits that were previously normal human souls that were corrupted by their own negative emotions and became entities without hearts that function with the sole instinct to devour human souls."
"Hollows? Wait, weren't those creatures we ran into on the way before we got to your house?" Saber asked, remembering that before traveling to the world where the war was raging, she, her Master, and his friends were ambushed by a large group of creatures that she had mistakenly mistaken for Phantasmal Beasts.
"Yes. The hollows are the main enemy of the Shinigamis since they are dedicated to hunting human souls to devour them and therefore, we have always fought against them for countless generations." Kisuke continued explaining. "The world where hollows reside is known as Hueco Mundo." He pointed at the sphere with an unhappy face. "It is a dark world that some theorize including myself, was created out of people's negative emotions and has the power to bring negative thoughts and feelings to life, magnifying and corrupting them even more. If Soul Society is the benign side that brings light and security to spirits, Hueco Mundo is the other side of the coin that only brings darkness and despair to souls with its negative influence, such as Yin and Yang."
"That is, what is something like the concept of good and evil in Zoroastrianism?" Rider asked trying to relate the concepts of the 2 spiritual kingdoms with the philosophy of the Persian monotheistic religion.
"Yes, something like that." Kisuke answered hiding his insecurity of being able to relate it to something like that. Then he continued. "As I was saying, we Shinigamis have always been fighting the hollows, and the method we always use to fight them is using our main weapon; the Zanpakutō, a spiritual katana that allows it to cut and manipulate any soul and its power is such that it is capable of purifying hollows and returning them as ordinary human souls and then sending them to Soul Society. "
Kisuke put his notebook aside and then displayed his own Zanpakutō by transforming his staff into a katana.
"This is my most faithful companion, Benihime." The shopkeeper showed his weapon to the British boy and the 2 Servants who just watched it curiously. To their eyes, it was nothing more than an ordinary oriental sword. Kisuke noticed that immediately.
"I know what you're thinking. Although, it looks like an ordinary katana, but it is made of spirit material almost similar to your Heroic Treasures." Kisuke explained while looking at his Zanpakutō. "And not only that. It also has a presence of its own."
To add his point, the former captain activated Benihime's reiatsu causing the sword itself to flicker in a thin flaming layer of reddish light as if it were aura that was pouring out of it. Those with sufficient power of spiritual perception like Saber and Rider, noticed this phenomenon and concluded that this presence did not come from the man but from the sword.
"As you can see, more than a simple tool, the Zanpakutō is considered as a semi-independent extension of the user's soul. That is, they have a life of their own." Kisuke continued explaining to his curious onlookers.
"Do they have life?" Waver asked puzzled by the new information.
"Of course." The blond hatter replied as he turned off the reiatsu of his Zanpakutō. "All the Zanpakutōs are alive and have their own names like mine, which is Benihime. You see, the souls of the Zanpakutōs are born from the soul of a Shinigami that is then deposited in a sword as a container and thus becomes a semi-independent entity of the user.
The form and abilities of a Zanpakutō are based on the soul of its Shinigamis. Its relationship with its user is similar to that of a magus and his familiar, or more specifically with that of a Master and his Servant. Once a Shinigami learns the name of his sword, they can communicate with each other and become stronger together."
Both Rider, Saber and Waver heard the grocer's words well and couldn't help but be really curious and confused by this. This sounded familiar to Waver.
"You mean it's like a Mystic Code or something?"
"Uh yeah, something like that." Was all that Kisuke answered not being sure it was a 'Mystic Code' although a note was made that he would find out later.
"Well, to finish, the Shinigamis use their Zanpakutōs to perform attack techniques of any kind similar to the Noble Phantasms, in addition to having two releases. Depending on the Shinigami's ability to communicate and control the spirit of his Zanpakutō, this it can manifest itself in two additional forms from its common state, sealed state. These two forms, known as Shikai and Bankai, are a type of "evolutions" of the Zanpakutō, presenting new powers far beyond and far superior to those offered by its use as a simple sword.
The Shikai is the first form "with more power and improvements" of a Zanpakutō that consists of uniting both the Shinigami's reiatsu and his Zanpakutō in perfect synchronization as one and thus obtaining an even greater power. To activate it, the Shinigami needs to learn the name of his Zanpakutō. This is not as easy as baptizing the weapon at the whim of its user, since the spirit that inhabits the Zanpakutō already has a name, and it is the Shinigami who must get to know it.
The next level, the Bankai, is the second and final evolution of a Zanpakutō. To achieve it, the Shinigami must be able to materialize the spirit of his Zanpakutō in the real world and subdue it, thus giving the wearer all possible mastery over the power of the Zanpakutō. While the Shikai is based on communication between Shinigami and Zanpakutō, the Bankai requires control of one over the other. With this, they are able to multiply the powers of the Shinigami between five and ten times compared to those of a Shikai."
Kisuke took a breath before saying one last thing. "Up to this point, the whole explanation of the Shinigami and the Zanpakutōs. What do you think?"
The young British boy and the 2 Servants were in mute silence as they gathered the last bit of information and couldn't help but be impressed by the information and knowledge of said weapon. It was too much for Waver to compile, though it still seemed to him to be based on the Mystic Codes.
"Wait a minute. Are you saying that you're also a Shinigami or something?" He asked dumbfounded pointing to the shopkeeper unable to believe that he was a spirit being, surely an Elemental, since he was seeing him as a person in the flesh, even normal people seemed to be witnessing his appearance.
The shopkeeper chuckled at the young British's expression and picked up his fan to wave it before speaking. "Well indeed. I was once a Shinigami Captain over 100 years ago."
The 3 of them took this by surprise, unable to believe that this man with a comical air and a ridiculous hat was someone who, according to him, could face a Heroic Spirit.
"Are you kidding!? You, a captain!?" Saber yelled incredulously looking skeptically at the blond 'buffoon'. This did not cause his good humor to cloud over.
"Of course, I am. If you're asking about the fact that you and most non-mages people can see me normally, let me explain that my spirit body is inside an invention called Gigai."
"Gi-Giai?" Waver asked not understanding the use of the name. Saber and Rider were equally curious as well.
"You see, every time a Shinigami has to do a covert mission in the world of the living, which would take a few weeks or more to blend in with the living, we always resort to using artificial bodies with our appearance but in a material way and thus make ourselves go through a living person and interact with them." Kisuke explained. "A Shinigami can use a Gigai if he loses his powers, since only with his powers can they return to Soul Society. However, as long as they remain in the world of the living, they are targets of the hollows, so they choose to reside within of a Gigai and begin to behave like humans to blend in and avoid being hunted. They can use a Gigai if necessary, for their mission to interact with humans, or to reside among them to search for threats and blend in as they do so."
All 3 seemed astonished by this fact, and Waver wondered if somehow the Mage's Association could also possess one of those so that they could communicate with any ghostly species. If so, he didn't know if it would take the necromancers to do it.
"Well, now I will tell you about the third spirit faction being the Quincys, which unlike the Shinigamis and hollows, they are not spirit entities, but living people. Not much is known about them, except that they appeared at some point more than 1000 years ago as a clan who have developed a heightened spiritual sense that allows them to see and interact with spirits, but consequently became the prey of the hollows so their numbers had become depleted. However, over time, the Quincys managed to defend themselves by fabricated spiritual weapons with the reishi, being the bow and arrow as you have seen in Ishida-san." He left a moment of silence for the 3 of them to reflect and remind the boy with glasses to use that luminous bow with his arrows earlier.
"That's how the Quincys decided to spend most of their time hunting hollows either to defend themselves or to protect defenseless spirits. However," His expression turned a bit grim. "there was a clear difference between them and the Shinigamis. And that was, whether to kill hollows or not."
Having said that, Kisuke revelated his Zanpakutō again. "Besides fighting and defending, the Zanpakutō has a second use, and that is to purify the hollows." This earned more curious looks. "Every time we fight against a hollow and kill it with a great stab thrust, what the blade does is not destroy its existence, but eliminate its evil and corruption, that is, purify them and they return to being normal souls and then they are automatically transported to the Soul Society.
On the other hand, the reishi weapons that the Quincys use, unlike the Zanpakutōs that only purify evil spirits, the Quincys' weapons only completely eliminate the spirits destroying them out of existence so they will never be able to reincarnate."
Waver and the others listened carefully.
"Because of this, a dispute arose between the two factions over how to eliminate the hollows which ultimately resulted in the extermination of the Quincys.
"Eh? And why did they do that?" Saber asked confused without understanding why the Shinigamis exterminated the Quincys just to eliminate hollows. "All they did was defend themselves against those critters. What's happened?"
Kisuke and Uryū's expressions grew grimmer before the former answered. "Well, as I said before, the Shinigamis are known as the 'balancers' because we are in charge of sending the souls of the deceased to the Soul Society and thus maintaining order and the continuation of the cycle of soul transmigration to the Beyond. The sum of all the souls in Soul Society and the world of the living does not change much. And souls can travel between the two worlds. It is the job of the Shinigami to regulate that.
While it is true that the presence of hollows that devour the souls of the dead endanger the cycle, and therefore, throughout the generations, Shinigami have always been fighting against these creatures to protect defenseless spirits, but never we exterminate them. Remember that hollows were once normal human souls who were corrupted by their own negative emotions, and thus we purify them all without destroying them to maintain the continuity of the cycle."
Everyone heard that part well and barely understood the concept.
"However, as the method of the Quincys contradicts that of the Shinigamis, this caused a stagnation in the balance between both worlds that in the end would cause an imbalance that would end with the destruction of both."
The 3 of them silently assimilated the last bit of information, now barely understanding the situation.
"The Shinigamis tried to negotiate with that clan of mystical archers to find a peaceful solution to protect them from the hollows without jeopardizing the balance, but the leaders were too arrogant to listen to their pleas.
More than just arrogance, it was something very human. Hollows don't just devour the souls of humans. They also attacked and devoured many of their fellow Quincys whether they were friends or family. So why should they peacefully send those beasts to Soul Society? It was natural for the Quincys to object. They believed they were doing this for justice. But unfortunately, the Shinigamis did not see this sentimentality with good eyes and after several discussions, the Soul Society decreed the extermination of all the Quincys that there were."
Kisuke paused another silence for the listeners to fully process the information before he could speak.
"The vast majority of that clan were annihilated, but very few survivors were left, and Ishida-san is one of them, isn't he?" He said gesturing towards Uryū, who was caught off guard and immediately adjusted his glasses before answering.
"Yes, it is true. My family was one of the few remnants of my clan that still exists in Japan. My sensei was the one who taught me the way of my clan as a kid, and I always stood firm."
That being said, the room fell silent with the 3 onlookers hoping for what he was going to say next. They didn't have to wait when Kisuke decided to focus on a new story. "Well, now that I have finished telling you much of the history of our world, now it is our turn to tell you our stories and what we did." He said as he fanned his face a bit before closing the fan and then pointed at Ichigo. "You start, Kurosaki-san."
"¿Me?"
"Yes, tell them first how your life began in the spirit world when you became a Shinigami and how you lost your powers." The shopkeeper encouraged the former Substitute to tell his story.
Said teenager did not know what option to do because he was not as good as a storyteller besides that he was going to make a long story to tell. However, despite his hesitation, he knew he couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer as his Servant, the British boy, and the big Servant looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. With a resigned sigh, he began to speak.
Ichigo began by telling them about his life as an ordinary teenager who despite having the uncanny ability to see and interact with the souls of the dead, tried to lead a normal life as a human. But that ended on a certain night when he met a Shinigami by the name of Rukia Kuchiki who was hunting hollows around.
He told them about his encounter (except that she had been reduced him with a Kidō) in his room until a hollow broke into his house that tried to devour one of his sisters. He told them how he had tried to save her by futilely fighting against that monster, only to have been overtaken by the Shinigami who freed her of it, but the nightmare did not end when the hollow returned to them. Ichigo tried to fight him in a desperate attempt to save his family, but his recklessness had cost him dearly when Rukia got in the way, getting seriously injured between the hollow's jaws, and they were both at its mercy.
He told them how he had been totally distraught with frustration and despair, but then a conscious Rukia had offered to give him her Shinigami powers so that he could fight the hollow and defeat its. Despite his doubts, Ichigo agreed without hesitation, and she handed over her powers to him. Once turned into a Shinigami, Ichigo fought the hollow and defeated it with ease.
The next day everything seemed normal since no one in his family remembered anything that happened last night as if they had been brainwashed (and that is what happened) and they were convinced that it was a traffic accident. However, he found out that Rukia was in his high school class, she tells Ichigo that he has to replace her as a Shinigami for having taken away all her powers. At first Ichigo rejected her since he did not want to get involved in any more fights against those monsters, but in the end, he had no choice but to do so since that hollow that ended would not be the last and will come more for him and his family if he did not do something. Besides, he can't look the other way when he sees a hollow indiscriminately attack people.
He later saved one of his classmates, Orihime, from a tormented hollow who happened to be her late older brother, Sora.
Ichigo continued how from that moment he led a double life as a high school student and a Substitute Shinigami, how he met Kon (he did not give many details) his fight against the Grand Fisher who was the one who murdered Ichigo's mother, and therefore he was the most hated hollow to the young Substitute. He went on to talk about how he met Uryū Ishida, a Quincy averse to Shinigamis and how he had challenged him to a competition of who hunts more hollows. Using a bait, the Quincy brought a horde of hollows that had immediately filled the city and quickly both of them set off to take them all out separately.
Orihime intervened in the story by telling them that, during the invasion of the hollows, she had to face one who was threatening her friends and was able to defeat him with a strange newly discovered power. To add her point, she called out to the Shun Shun Rikka to show them to Rider and Waver, and the latter was dumbfounded to see 6 tiny fairies. On the contrary, Rider was impressed while Saber was not since he had witnessed it before they went to the port.
Orihime explained to them about each ability the fairies had and how they defeated the hollow.
Kisuke also related to them a part of the invasion over a human friend of Ichigo, Uryū and Orihime, being Yasutora Sado, who had also awakened supernatural abilities to defeat a hollow. He had gathered the 2 of them together and explained to them about the spirit world and also about Ichigo and Uryū.
Ichigo had continued with his part as he and Ishida had to put their differences aside and fight together against the hollows and they succeeded until a Menos Grande appeared that at first, they could not harm him, but Ichigo released a huge amount of reiatsu that he managed to damage him and force him to return with the rest to Hueco Mundo.
Days later the Soul Society sent 2 agents to retrieve Rukia who had not returned for a month and had no news of her parallel. These agents were Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of the Sixth Division and head of an aristocratic family and Rukia's older brother, and the other was her second in command, Renji Abarai.
Uryū and Ichigo tried to stop both Shinigamis from taking Rukia away, only to fail miserably being defeated by both, and the worst part was when Byakuya had cut off Ichigo's Saketsu and Hakusui, thus losing Rukia's Shinigami powers and I would never be one again. After performing this action, the 2 returned with Rukia to Soul Society, leaving only a dying Ichigo.
After Ichigo came under the care of Kisuke who had cured him and when he woke up, Kisuke revealed that the Soul Society plan to execute Rukia for the crime of losing her powers and after a moment of frustration for not doing something about it, Kisuke it gave him hope of doing something to save her and that is to regain his Shinigami powers to go to Soul Society. Kisuke set out to train him for 2 weeks to make him return his Shinigami powers, and Ichigo reluctantly agreed.
A day later he returned to the Urahara Shōten to perform his first training section as Kisuke removed Ichigo's soul from his body so that he could experience the hostile environment of little breathing.
"Well, his first section was trying to hit Tsumugiya Ururu-chan, one of my assistants at the store, and despite being only a girl of about 11 years old she has the potential to beat a hollow and a Shinigami." Kisuke continued explaining how Ichigo's training was.
"Yeah, I was there that day." Kon suddenly spoke who also decided to tell part of the story. "You see, it all started when Ichigo decided not to try to attack a poor defenseless girl, but then she lunged towards him at full speed, and almost killed him with a single punch."
Kon couldn't help but laugh at that memory in which Ichigo almost died at the hands of a harmless-looking little girl, not to mention what the poor boy was forced to say to activate a strange thing that could save his life.
"And later-
He was unable to continue when a hand suddenly grabbed his head and lifted him to look closely at Ichigo's angry face. Kon's joking side faded when he catch the boy's expression, and now he feared for his life.
"It's not what you think. I just-
"Get lost!" Ichigo snapped before throwing Kon somewhere in the room like a dirty rag. A moment later, an awkward silence came, and Ichigo turned to the others. After that, Kisuke decided to clarify the matter.
"Ahem, well, the point of that training was how many times he could dodge his opponent's blows." Seeing that no one understood what he was referring to, the shopkeeper continued. "The area we use to train Kurosaki-san is flooded with strong pressure that makes normal non-reiryoku souls tense and weaken making it difficult for them to breathe." Then he fixed his gaze on Kurosaki. "Since Kurosaki-san's Saketsu and Hakusui were destroyed by Byakuya's attack, now he is nothing more than a normal human soul without reiryoku, we couldn't even start until the reiryoku he lost is restored. It was for that very reason that we had to push Kurosaki-san to the limit."
As before, Kisuke paused to see everyone's attention before continuing. "For starters, the girl I told you about has an anti-Shinigami level fighting ability. No matter how much a human soul fights, he could never defeat her. You see, when an ordinary soul is in danger of extinction, his instinct to survival is activated and his reiryoku spontaneously increases including his senses. What happened to Kurosaki-san during training was all according to plan when he found himself in danger and was able to dodge Ururu-chan's blows. That is how he managed to pass the first phase and managed to restore his reiryoku." He finished with a childish and proud smile framed on his face. Ichigo couldn't help frowning as he remembered that experience of being nearly killed by a harmless-looking little girl.
Kisuke now continued counting phase 2 in which Tessai first cuted Ichigo's chain of fate to initiate a process called 'corrosion' in which the soul would turn into a hollow, and then he was thrown into a well and must come out before 72 hours or instead he will become a hollow.
"Wait, what?" Saber snapped, dumbfounded to hear that her Master had thrown him into a well to turn him into a hollow. "What does this mean? How is Ichigo going to turn into a hollow?"
Waver's expression was also puzzled, and Rider still maintained his composure, though he looked more expectantly at the shopkeeper. The latter coughed for a moment before clearing up.
"You see, it was necessary to do so for him to become a Shinigami." Kisuke explained carefully, but he didn't seem to be convincing in the least. "While it is true that I did not exaggerate at all that Kurosaki-san would become a hollow, but I did not say that it was inevitable, since the only thing he had to do while hollowfied, is to enter his internal world and try to contact to the spirit of his Zanpakutō."
"Inner world?" Rider asked not understanding the concept.
"Let's say it is a mental world or pocket dimension created from the Shinigami's subconsciousness that serves as a direct communication point between the Shinigami and his Zanpakutō." Kisuke replied.
Rider heard that and nodded mentally interested. 'That sounds like a Reality Marble...'
"Every time a Shinigami goes to meet for the first time or wants to talk to his Zanpakutō, he always resorts to going there. The plan is to take Kurosaki-san there, but for that we had to use an unconventional and risky method, already that normally an apprentice Shinigami would need a long time to get to know his Zanpakutō, and since we were in such a hurry, we had no choice but to force him to hollowficated him."
Although Ichigo didn't want to admit it, the shopkeeper was right as to the method of being able to become a Shinigami through a partial process of hollowification. He could still remember how he was trapped at the bottom of that dark well and his arms restrained by a Kidō spell by Tessai, and the worst part was witnessing how the first links at the end of his chain of fate began to slowly devour each other, which was a grotesque and terrifying sight to witness.
He also remembered how the shopkeeper had warned him in such a nonchalant way that he only had 3 days to get out of the hole before he became a hollow, because otherwise, they had no choice but to kill him.
That had touched a nerve in Ichigo, and he knew very well what that meant, so he had tried, albeit to no avail, to literally try to get out of the well.
Kisuke recounted how the 72 hours that he spent with Ichigo still trapped in the well were like and after almost that period of time, Ichigo already began with his hollowification process. Saber, Waver, and Rider held their breath as they continued to listen carefully.
"I must admit that I was scared before, but I was immediately reassured when I saw something unusual about Kurosaki-san." Kisuke said catching the attention of the others. "Normally when a soul is transformed into a hollow, the spirit body first explodes and then reforms. Instead, Kurosaki-san's body was completely intact, except for the mask formation that covers his head, but nothing else. That it was proof that he was resisting holowfication, and there was still the possibility that he would become a Shinigami again. All we had to do was keep watching for the results."
Ichigo remembered the moments of pure terror in his life when he had begun the partial process of hollowification in which that sticky white thing emerged from his throat, nostrils or his eyelids to cover much of his face as if it were a scene from a of those horror movies. He took advantage of this, to tell them what happened next when he entered his completely normal internal world being a strange world formed by countless skyscrapers and a blue sky as if he were in a city, and there he met his Zanpakutō spirit.
The conversation was awkward at first, but as his inner world began to crumble due to hollowfication, his spirit helped him gain his own Shinigami powers. In the end Ichigo managed to get out of the well stopping the hollowification, with the shinigami uniform but also with a hollow mask. Breaking the mask, Ichigo began his last training phase which consists of fighting against Urahara.
At first, Kisuke had started cornering Ichigo as Ichigo's Zanpakutō is broken. In a moment of desperation, Ichigo managed to learn his Zanpakutō's name, Zangetsu. After knowing the name, Ichigo managed to restore his Zanpakutō to a full sword and launch a devastating power against Kisuke, which succeeds in hitting the latter's hat and ending the training. After the rest of the weeks passed, Ichigo was ready to travel to Soul Society along with Inoue, Sado, Kon, and Ishida, the later had trained alone. Ichigo, Kon, Ishida, Inoue and Sado are finally sent to Soul Society via a dimensional portal known as Senkaimon under the guidance of Yoruichi a talking 'cat'.
"A talking cat?" Saber asked puzzled upon hearing that. The others also got confused looks from that fact.
"Uh, yeah, you see, Yoruichi-san is more than just a chattering animal, but that will be explained later." Kisuke replied with a mischievous smile on his face. Then he turned to the teenagers to tell them about his adventure in Soul Society.
Uryū was the one who set out to do so, saying that while they were traveling through the Dangai, a locomotive-shaped cleaning system known as Kōtotsu began to chase them and they had to run as fast as possible if they did not want to be swept until they found the exit and entered finally to the Soul Society.
Upon arriving at Soul Society, they found themselves in the Rukongai, where most of the souls live. However, Ichigo sees the way to the Sereitei, the headquarters where the Shinigamis reside. Before entering, Jidanbō, the gatekeeper fights Ichigo. Thanks to Urahara's training, he manages to defeat him with ease. However, at that moment, when passing the door, Gin Ichimaru, captain of the Third Division, appears. As soon as he appeared, Ichimaru used his Shikai and threw Ichigo out of the door. After being expelled by Ichimaru, they had no choice but to find another way to enter the Seireitei.
Fortunately, Yoruichi knew a friend who could help them enter the Seireitei, and they went to her house in the field. This friend was called Kūkaku Shiba, and her plan to break into the Seireitei was to send them flying through a large cannon of fireworks.
"F-flying?" Waver asked puzzled upon hearing the part of that alternate plan to enter that Seireitei. Saber and Rider also had puzzled looks at that crazy plan.
"How the hell are they going to do that?" Saber asked dumbfounded by the crazy plan to enter being shot by a huge cannon. "That's absurd!"
Uryū's face tightened slightly from the puzzled looks from the listeners, but he couldn't blame them. Both the Quincy and the Shinigami had also been taken aback when they had first heard it from Kūkaku.
"Do you remember that time at the hotel before heading out to the dock?" He started by looking at Saber finding a point to be able to adequately explain the method. "Before leaving we used an object that Urahara-san brought to measure our reiryoku called Reihsūkaku."
Saber's mind navigated through that memory and immediately recalled that moment when her Master and his friends were experimenting with a strange bluish sphere that according to the words of the man with the ridiculous hat 'could mold the reiryoku of others' or something, although at first, she didn't understand it until she saw it. When it was Ichigo's turn, she suddenly felt a strange magical energy flowing from her body through the bond with her Master. That had been the first enigma that her Master was not what she had thought from the beginning.
Seeing that her head seemed to have nodded in recognition, Uryū continued. "To survive that, we needed to make our bullets strong enough to withstand the cannon fire. Furthermore, there was also a second important factor." Adjusting his glasses for a moment, he continued. "Apparently, the entire Sereitei was covered by a huge invisible membrane around it that covered it like an invisible dome. That membrane was called Shakonmaku capable of repelling any reiryoku attack and any reishi that passed through the barrier instantly vaporized. However, the cannonballs formed by our reiryoku are strong enough to withstand the impact and pass through with some difficulty. For this we had to practice shaping our reiryoku and creating our bullets." Once everyone was still paying attention, he continued.
"I, Inoue-san and Sado-kun managed to handle the Reihsūkaku in no time, while Kurosaki, as he was a complete newbie, it cost him his for a few more hours until he finally got it."
Ichigo reflected on the problems he had at first molding his reiryoku into the Reihsūkaku, and the constant yelling and insults from the busty woman's servant twins didn't help much. It was only thanks to her little brother, Ganju Shiba, who even though they got on badly due to how they met, had the decency to give him some advice on how to mold his reiryoku, and after a while, it worked. Well, at least until a momentary distraction, the bullet exploded and knocked him unconscious.
Uryū continued to report that after the 5, including Ganju, had learned to create their respective cannonballs, they prepared to perform the dangerous part and that was to enter the interior of the cannon, and there inside they combined their reiryoku to form a large bullet barrel big enough to wrap them all. Shortly after, Kūkaku made a strange chant to activate the cannon and fired the bullet causing them to rise into the sky as they had planned, and Ganju was in charge of directing the sphere in the air towards the Sereitei. In a short time, they reached their goal and as they had planned, the ball collided with the membrane, but it managed to pass through it with difficulty and thus they managed to penetrate inside, but not before the ball disintegrated still in the air.
What was left of strength forced them to separate into pairs; Ichigo with Ganju and Kon, Uryū with Orihime, and Chad and Yoruichi were left alone respectively. They each landed at a different spot and were forced to manage to keep moving forward.
Ichigo told them how he, Ganju and Kon had fared alone when they landed somewhere, and as soon as they started, they ran into 2 Shinigami: Ikkaku Maradame and Yumichika Ayasegawa. Ichigo had to face the first one and he told them that he was a really tenacious opponent like Mordred but with a spear, but he managed to defeat him. Then he tells them that, after the battle, he healed the Shinigami's wounds to interrogate him where Rukia was imprisoned, and he informed him of her location and at the same time warned him of his captain Zaraki Kenpachi, who, according to him, will look for him as the most strong of the group.
Ichigo and Kon continued on their way, but first he had to find Ganju who had fled to attract Ikkaku's partner, so he had not seen him again, but after an indeterminate time, he found him in addition to having won a new companion, Hanatarō Yamada who helped them reach the Tower of Penance. However, during their journey they met Renji willing to stop Ichigo and take revenge on him since he was the main responsible for Rukia's execution.
Ichigo fought hard against the lieutenant of the Sixth Division and told them how the battle between the two was clearly tilting in Reni's favor. Renji had managed to seriously injure Ichigo, rendering him almost unconscious. When it seemed that Ichigo would be defeated, the latter used the attack he had practiced in training, managing to break through Renji's Zanpakutō and finally defeat him. After that intense battle, Ichigo was also wounded unconscious, but his wounds were healed thanks to Hanatarō, and then they continued towards the Tower of Penance, but along the way they met who they shouldn't not have encountered being Kenpachi Zaraki, the person who warned Ikkaku, and captain of the Eleventh Division.
The latter let Ganju, Kon, and Hanatarō continue in exchange for a fight to the death with Ichigo, with the latter reluctantly having no choice. Ichigo himself told them that this opponent was completely different from the previous 2 since he was stronger than the 2 together, and as much as he attacked him head-on with his Zanpakutō, he could not make a single scratch on him, and finally he was stabbed in the torso leaving him half dead.
This surprised the audience.
"You say they pierced your torso with a sword?" Saber asked incredulously unable to believe what she heard. Anyone would already be dead with such an action, including in her case when she was pierced by father's spear on that hill.
Nor would it be strange to see him die like this since it would not be the first time since she witnessed it when he was hit by Berserker's improvised weapon and then resurrected thanks to Orihime's strange magic.
Ichigo barely tensed at that memory, but he didn't let it get to him and continued speaking where he left off.
"I remember I was lying on the ground spilling blood horribly…" His body shuddered as he remembered the sensation of blood loss. "I tried to hold onto life with whatever I could do, and when I saw everything lost, I suddenly noticed that time froze around me, and I also saw the silhouette of Zangetsu approaching me."
Viewers listened more closely to find out what kind of miracle happened to save him.
Ichigo went on to relate how Zangetsu set out to help him and took him to his inner world where Ossan put him to the test to prove he is worthy of the sword. For this he had to face his inner hollow.
"Inner hollow?" Saber asked being the first time she had heard that term. Waver and Rider also looked at him with expectant looks.
Ichigo took a moment to think about how to explain this detail. Although he did not want to talk much about the subject considering what that ghostly copy of himself had done since they met, not to mention his origin. He could still remember how shocked he was to meet his pale doppelgänger for the first time. His image devoid of color, being completely white like an inanimate image, including his Shihakusho except for his black sash around his waist. He could remember how he looked at him with those intense eyes that glittered with mischief, and not to mention his trademark devilish and smug smile he had ever seen.
That image had always haunted him like a lingering nightmare even after his adventure in Soul Society.
"I'm not going to give too many details right now, but I will say that apart from Ossan, I also have another spirit living in my internal world being a hollow that acts like a parasite that wants to take over my soul." Despite this unconventional response, this generated more questions, but they decided to save them for later.
Ichigo continued to start his duel with his inner hollow, but the advantage that the latter had was that he was using his Zanpakutō, while Ichigo only used an Asauchi, a nameless Zanpakutō that is only used for apprentices who are willing to become Shinigami. With all this, it was clear that this horrible copy of himself had the distinct advantage of himself, but not because one had a better weapon. Certainly, they both had the same level of combat, and the only difference was that their hollow knew very well how to handle Zangetsu perfectly because their powers were connected.
He remembered how his copy boasted that while he could understand Zangetsu better, Ichigo only saw him as a simple tool that only gave powers and forgot that it was the opposite. Taking this, Ichigo had reflected on that fact, and tried to communicate with Zangetsu promising that from today on he would endeavor to get to know him better and fight by his side. Moved by his words, Ossan decided that Ichigo was its rightful bearer, and the tables turned causing Zangetsu to reappear in the hands of Ichigo and the Asauchi in his inner hollow before the latter could deliver the knockout blow.
With everything accomplished, Ichigo had resurfaced with his body restored and a new emerging power; the Shikai. Ichigo told them how his power had combined with that of Zangetsu, managing to damage the imposing captain and causing him serious injuries, but far from giving up, he decided to unleash his last letter.
"That bastard had removed the patch from his left eye and a monstrous surge of reaitsu emerged from him like a volcano." He still remembered the ridiculous blast of reiatsu emerging from him as if he had reincarnated into a terrifying demon. "I remember he said that that patch was a limiter that restricted most of his power, and now that it was removed, he could release everything without holding back."
Viewers watched more eagerly to find out what else happened next.
"Despite the monstrous power it released, I stood my ground as Ossan was by my side lending me his power and I lending him mine, while Kenpachi only fought completely alone and did not trust his Zanpakutō." He remembered the warmth emanating from Zangetsu's hand on his shoulder, giving him the strength to keep going, and his words of encouragement.
With despair cast off, the young Substitute set out without hesitation towards the demon incarnate not allowing himself to lose against someone who was fighting only to defeat him in one fell swoop. So, they both clashed their swords again, managing to make a great thrust at each other. After that, Ichigo had been seriously injured and fell half dead again, as did the captain.
"The next thing I remember was that I had woken up still alive but injured inside a cave, and I saw Yoruichi-san by my side, being the one who found me and led me here to heal me." Recalling his awakening in Yoruichi's hiding place, the talking cat had almost bandaged his entire torso at the waist, and he was constantly amazed at what 'he' was capable of even being a cat.
It was then that the unexpected happened when 'he' mentioned that he would return to his true form.
Saber and the others looked more curious when Ichigo mentioned that that 'talking cat' had a second 'form' and waited for him to satisfy them with his answer. However, as time passed, the orange haired boy had not opened his mouth to speak. What generated confusion and concern in others.
"Kurosaki-kun…?" Inoue asked concerned. "What's wrong?"
Ichigo kept saying nothing as if his mind was absent for some reason, and Urahara knew why. It only took when one met Yoruichi for the first time and the reaction of her victims to put them like that. He couldn't help but laugh as he imagined the poor orange haired's reaction to seeing the real body of the talking cat.
"Oh, I already know!" Kon exclaimed suddenly, alerting the others. "The thing is, that cat is actually quite a sexy woman."
"It's true, actually Yoruichi-san is not a cat like he wanted us to believe." Orihime added as well. "She is a woman."
The room was startled upon hearing that. A woman capable of turning into an animal?
Ichigo kept quiet as he diverted his mind from that fateful memory. He did not want to remember it at a time like this, so he decided to deviate from that topic.
"Well, after I woke up, I suddenly felt the reiatsu of Byakuya, the guy who almost killed me in the world of the living and the one who took Rukia here." Ichigo continued tell them. "But not only him. I also felt Kon, Ganju and Hanatarō's reiatsu in the same place so I immediately became concerned."
He had taken one of the junks that Yoruichi had used to bring him here to go to the place where they were being the Tower of Penance. When he got there, he saw that Ganju was lying on the ground half dead from Byakuya's attack. Just as he was about to face off against the cold Sixth Division captain, Yoruichi intervened knocking Ichigo unconscious and took him away back to the hideout. When he woke up, Yoruichi explained that he was not yet qualified to face a captain, much less defeat him, and therefore he had to undergo special training to become even stronger.
"Wait a minute." Saber interrupted suddenly. "What do you mean you weren't qualified to beat one of those captains yet? Weren't you supposed to have defeated the strongest of them all?"
"Not entirely true." Urahara answered instead of Ichigo. "While as you have heard, Zaraki Kenpachi is considered the strongest of the Shinigamis, but only in amount of reiatsu. Let's just say that he is equal to Berserker when it comes to fighting like a madman, in addition to his vast reiatsu pool, so his greatest quality is raw power. However, unlike the rest, he is not communicated with his Zanpakutō, so he cannot perform the two main releases. Remember that Kurosaki-san mentioned that Kenpachi's Zanpakutō did not it had a name and he only see it as a tool to kill, something totally contradictory to the way all Shinigami have to see their Zanpakutō."
Saber and the others continued to watch with obvious curiosity as Kisuke continued. "Every Shinigami who wants to be an officer, or a captain must learn at least the two main releases, and Kenpachi was the only one who reached the top of Gotei 13 without achieving either one. That was why Kurosaki-san was able to miraculously defeat him with his Shikai, although that wouldn't work with other more experienced captains who have the 2 full releases like Kuchiki Byakuya. That was why Kurosaki-san had to undergo special training to unlock his Bankai in less than three days."
Ichigo continued recounting his training using an invention created by Urahara being the Tenshintai. According to Yoruichi's words, the Tenshintai is capable of bringing Zangetsu into the real world and having him fight Ichigo. The effect of the Tenshintai is 3 days, so Ichigo will have to defeat Zangetsu in 3 days if he wants to obtain the Bankai. During training, Renji finds them, not to face him again, but to help him save Rukia so he decides to train here as well and warns them that Rukia's execution was brought forward to the next day. Despite Yoruichi's main concern that he would not finish the training on time, Ichigo had not allowed himself to be carried away by despair and worry and continued forward without hesitation.
It was thus that, after a long and exhausting training, Ichigo achieved the Bankai, being Tensa Zangetsu, and wasted no time in heading towards the Sōkyoku hill where the execution took place. He arrived in time to interrupt her and save Rukia. He then left her in the hands of Renji who took her away immediately, and Ichigo stayed there to stop someone from chasing them until Byakuya came to face him again.
The 2 faced each other being almost on the same level for a long time until Byakuya used his Shikai, Senbonzakura to finish him off immediately, but Ichigo immediately repelled him with a technique from his Shikai being the Getsuga Tenshō slightly wounding the captain and forcing him to use his Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, which completely overwhelmed Ichigo, and Ichigo released his Bankai. In that state, Ichigo managed to surpass Byakuya in speed and agility since it was his greatest quality and managed to hurt him more. Afterwards, Byakuya had taken his Bankai to another level using the Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. Ichigo had been left at a disadvantage and seriously injured and when he was about to be killed, his inner hollow came out and managed to hit Byakuya in the chest.
After a few moments of fighting, Ichigo managed to suppress his hollow and return to combat. The 2 used their last powers to face each other in a final clash, in which Ichigo came out the victor with great difficulty, and Byakuya decided to withdraw accepting his defeat.
After being found and helped by his friends who arrived shortly after, they received a telepathic message revealing the truth to them; This whole mess of Rukia's execution was orchestrated by a traitorous Shinigami being the Captain of the Fifth Division Sōsuke Aizen, who had assassinated the members of the Central 46 and tampered with the files that Rukia should be executed for having lost his powers, when in fact it was all fake. In reality, Rukia had not been sentenced as all of this was part of Aizen's machinations with other deserters' captains just to take Rukia away.
Ichigo and Renji tried to stop him, but failed when they were easily defeated by him, in addition to having stopped Ichigo's sword with a single finger.
"Wait, what do you mean he could stop your sword with one finger!?" Saber asked in bewilderment. "Are you kidding!?"
"Not exactly." Ichigo responded bitterly at that memory. "I was still exhausted and a little hurt from my fight with Byakuya, plus I had underestimated him badly and that's why I neglected me."
The 3 kept looking expectantly, not sure if it was true what happened. Ichigo continued recounting what happened next. After defeating them humiliatingly, Aizen told them what his goals were, being that he wanted to surpass the powers of common Shinigami, and for this a Shinigami had to become a hollow or vice versa (the transformation of a hollow to a Shinigami), the method was: by means by breaking the wall that separates these two opposites (Shinigami-hollow), this would be able to reach a higher power level.
Aizen said that to achieve this he tried several experiments to transform from hollow to Shinigami, either by making hollows hide their own reiatsu, hollows that can make a Zanpakutō disappear just by touching them, and hollows with the ability to merge with a Shinigami. In the end he could not find the way to do it, but Kisuke Urahara did, he had created a Hōgyoku, a dangerous creation and he tried to destroy it, but he did not find the way to do it, the only thing he could do was create a barrier around the Hōgyoku and hide it in the depths of another soul and decided to hide it in Rukia's body. After the explanation, Aizen managed to extract the Hōgyoku, hidden in Rukia's body by Kisuke. Then all the high-ranking Shinigami arrived including Captain General Shigekuni Yamamoto Genryūsai to try to stop the traitorous captain, but he managed to escape with his accomplices to Hueco Mundo, promising one day to dominate Soul Society.
A week later, the Gotei 13 decided to forgive the actions of Ichigo and the others because they were not the enemy, but Aizen. It was also fortunately decided that they would also spare Rukia and therefore she will not be executed. After this good news, Ichigo, Ishida, Orihime, Kon, Yoruichi and Sado left the Soul Society, to return to the human world, but in the end, Rukia decided not to accompany them and stayed in the Soul Society.
Silence was what came as the 3 viewers compiled the last phase of the story, and although our protagonists could not read what they were thinking, some seemed excited by the feat they carried out, and only one did not seem to be too convinced of it.
"That's all?" Rider asked after a minute of silence, asking if they had finished or was there something else left.
After another moments of silence, Kisuke picked up his fan again and waves it in front of his face with a beaming smile.
"No, there is still more to tell."
And there it starts again...
That's all for now. The truth is that I did not want to extend this chapter, and wanted to reserve the rest for the next. As you may have seen, Ichigo and his gang have finally had to reveal their story not only to Saber, but also to Waver and Rider so as not to provoke more intrigue and maintain the alliance. Only God will know what Waver or Rider will do after hearing what otherworldly guests have to say.
Also as you may have noticed, the plot of this chapter will be intended for the most part as a summary of the adventures and fights that Ichigo and his gang lived through, something similar in episode 296 of the anime. The truth is that I did not want to write something so long that it would take up most of the chapter, but I did not know how to write a short or simple version. I'm pretty bad at this.
I know it could be a waste of time, but I decided to take advantage of this to make some changes from the original canon. The differences will be seen in the next. By the way, the way I compared Shinigamis with elements of the Nasuverse to a spirit species like an Elemental I couldn't tell if it was the right thing to do. I hope they tell me. Also the way I described Hueco Mundo relied heavily on Digimon's Dark Sea. Thank you for reading.
Ja ne!