Chapter 15: A Shocking Fact! The True Identity of the Combat Pass!
In the dimension where Luffy and Ginjo are battling, some of the buildings in the digital Karakura Town were destroyed or cut in half from Ginjo's attack. Ginjo released another blast of spirit energy from his sword, destroying another building.
"What's wrong?!" Ginjo taunted. "Taking your sweet time to analyze the situation?! Don't you want to finish this?! I know I do!"
'I was right.' Uryu thought, looking at the Xcution's leader from an alleyway. 'His attacks are laced Ichigo's spirit energy. Stealing Ichigo's fullbring must have made that possible. This is going to be a problem.'
Ichigo appeared behind the Quincy and asked, "So any bright ideas?"
"Ideas?" Uryu questioned. "Like what?"
"Great! You're the one who freakin' analyze everything. I mean I thought that you were figuring out a quick way to drop this guy."
"What are you, stupid? There's no easy solution here."
"Come on, are you serious?"
"I've been watching him closely, observing his spirit energy. Now listen, his spiritual pressure contains your…" Before Ichigo noticed Luffy standing a few feet behind Ginjo.
"I'll catch you later." Ichigo said as he flash stepped towards Ginjo.
"Ichigo, wait!" Uryu shouted, running out of the alleyway. "If his attacks are combined with your spirit energy, then that means…"
Ginjo looked behind his shoulder at Ichigo and Luffy with a smirk. "So you two finally came out, have you?" he said. "Well were you able to hatch up some sort of plan while you're off hiding?"
"I've checked and he didn't have anything so I've figured that we might as well come out." Ichigo said, preparing to fire a Getsuga.
"Getsuga Tensho…that makes sense. You've almost finished me with that the last time around. If you're going to beat me, it's only chance you got."
"Don't do it, Ichigo!" Uryu shouted. "He's egging you on!" Uryu's warning fell on deaf ears as Ichigo fired his signature attack at Ginjo. Ginjo smirked as he cut through Ichigo's attack in half with ease, surprising both Ichigo and Luffy.
"Getsuga Tensho!" Ginjo fired his version of Ichigo's attack at the two, engulfing them in a blast of spirit energy and creating a huge explosion. Uryu appeared behind Ginjo and fired volley after volley of arrows at the fullbringer, who dodges every one of them.
"If he's incorporated your spirit energy into his own, then he can probably use your techniques as well. Are you listening?" Uryu said as Ichigo and Luffy appeared behind him.
"I heard you!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Now quit nagging!"
"Nagging?! Are you kidding me?! Maybe if you heard people out once in awhile, then you won't feel like you're being nagged!"
"Like listening to me will change anything! What are you going to do? Talk his powers away?!"
"Very funny. At least you know to careful now." Ichigo looked down at his arm, burned from Ginjo's attack. He looked over at Luffy and saw both of his arms wasn't as burnt but they were damaged as well. "Watch it, Ichigo. His last blow made it very clear. It wasn't just your spirit energy in Fullbring that he took. He's probably acquired every one of your abilities as well."
"So he has Ichigo's powers, huh?" Luffy asked, getting Ichigo and Uryu's attention. "In that case, leave this guy to me."
Zoro turned away from his defeated opponent as he put Shusui back into its sheath. "How could you…" Tsukishima asked weakly, getting Zoro's attention. Zoro looked down at Tsukishima, who was lying in a pool of his own blood. "Did you forget everything I've done for you? Doesn't it pain your heart to do this?"
"No, I haven't forgotten." Zoro said. "I've appreciated all you've done. However, you're Ichigo's enemy. Bitter it may be, but any foe of his is a foe of our crew. So they have to be taken down, regardless of who they are."
"Damn…"
The digital space surrounding Franky lifted as the shipwright got down from the rock he was sitting on. "Franky!" he looked up and saw Usopp, Brook, and Chopper. "You've finally made it out!"
"Geez Brook, you work fast." Franky said, looking the skeleton musician. The group heard the sound of footsteps and saw Robin walking towards them
"Robin!" Chopper shouted, running towards the raven-haired woman. He looked at Robin's right arm and saw that it was burnt. "What happened?!"
"Sorry, I escaped that dimension a while ago during the blast." Robin explained. "It took me awhile before I can move again."
"So that huge explosion came from you?" Usopp asked surprised.
"What about your opponent?" Franky said. "Did you get 'em?"
"I take care of her." Robin answered. "She's gone, I think."
"Since we're keeping track, how did you do?" Usopp asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Franky asked. "I took him down of course. Although, he disappeared after I scolded him a bit."
"Robin, my love~!" A familiar voice shouted, getting the group's attention. They looked at the direction of the voice and saw Sanji walking towards them with Yukio tied up in rope. "Thanks goodness! I'm glad to see that you're ok!"
"It's good to see you too, Mr. Cook." Robin said with a small smile.
"What about the rest of us?!" Usopp shouted. "Aren't you happy to see us too?!"
"What about you?" Sanji asked the long-nose sniper.
"What the hell?" Yukio exclaimed. "This wasn't the deal! You promised that you'll let me go once I turned off my powers!"
"That's right. Once we know that everyone is free, I will. There's still no sign of that stupid Moss-Head, Nami or Rukia yet." Then Rukia and Zoro appeared with the unconscious Nami over Rukia's shoulder.
"Nami!" Sanji shouted, running towards the navigator.
"Hey Chopper, look after Nami!" Zoro shouted as Rukia lied her down and Chopper ran towards them.
"Is she alright?" Robin asked.
"She's alive." Rukia said. "Her wounds aren't serious and her spirit energy is normal. But when Zoro and I found her, there was no sign of the enemy." Yukio narrowed his eyes when he heard that Riruka disappeared.
Sanji looked back at the fullbringer and said, "You look as if you know something about this."
"Of course not." Yukio said. "I can barley tell you what Riruka's abilities are. We were trying to conceal our powers from each other. I don't know if she's dead or got away. But trust me, I'll be grateful for her demise. Come on, isn't this enough?! Untie me already!"
"Not yet…" Sanji said.
"Why not?!" Sanji pointed at the rectangular black box hovering in the sky above them. "Oh, I can't undo that one." Zoro drew Wado Ichinoji pointed it at Yukio's face, making Yukio widen his eyes in fear. "It's the truth, I swear. Did you know that fullbringers and substitute soul reapers can trade their powers? When we first joined Kugo, we've a portion of our powers with each other as a sign of loyalty. We've also placed a small restriction on those powers. The restriction that I share with Kugo is that if he's a close enough of me wielding my abilities, I can't undo them unless he orders me to."
Ginjo fired another Getsuga Tensho at Luffy, who quickly jumped out of the way. "Armament Hardening…" Luffy shouted as his arms turned black. "Gum-Gum…Pistol!" He stretched his arm towards the fullbringer, who disappeared to dodge the attack. Luffy looked behind his shoulder and moved out of the way as Ginjo lowered his sword at him. "…Bullet!" Ginjo moved his head out of the way but the haki-imbued punch grazed him as blood came out of the cut on his cheek. Luffy threw a punch at Ginjo again and Ginjo blocked it with his sword.
"That was pretty good." The fullbringer said. "But you put yourself quite a risk."
"Not really what I was going for."
"I figured as much! You charged it in with everything you got. So why are you fighting Kurosaki's battle?"
"What do you mean?"
"Tsukishima…he's dead." Ginjo said coldly, pushing him back. "Well he's not dead yet but it's only matter of time before his spiritual pressure is gone. I give him another10 minutes tops. Once more if a fullbringer dies, then all of traces of his abilities disappear. Do you know what that means? If Tsukishima dies, then all of the memories from the pasts he created will be wiped away." Ichigo widen his eyes when he heard this. "Kurosaki's friends will all be just as they were before. I'll ask you again. Knowing that, why are you fighting Kurosaki's battle? What is it that you're fighting for?" Luffy didn't answer but narrowed his eyes at Ginjo. "No answer? Then let me enlighten the both of you further. I think that it's for you to know who the real enemy is."
In the Urahara Shop, Kisuke, Isshin, and Tessai watched over Chad and Orihime as they resting after getting knocked out.
"They finally stabilized." Isshin said.
"Yes." Kisuke said as he looked at his assistant and close friend. "Tessai, I leave the rest to you."
"Of course, I'll look after them." Tessai said.
"Where are you going?" Isshin asked.
Kisuke looked at Isshin and said, "I'm going to catch with everyone."
"To assist them? I'm coming with you."
"Most of the fighting is probably over. I'm going to provide healing. You, unfortunately, won't be of any help Isshin. You're more useful staying here."
"I don't like this. Shouldn't we try to wrap things up quickly by helping Ichigo in his fight? If we don't, then…"
"Then the truth will come out." Kisuke finished Isshin's statement. "Ginjo will tell him everything. It's fine. He's bound to find out, sooner or later."
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo questioned. "The real enemy?"
"Yes." Ginjo said.
"Don't mess with me. I had about that I can stand with your stupid mind games."
"We've all had enough." Uryu said, appearing behind Ginjo. "You found yourself at a disadvantage so you present a shocking to whip a bit of psychological pressure. 'You'd better off joining forces with me.' It's pretty obvious really. Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong."
"Oh, I'm at a disadvantage, am I?" Ginjo asked with a smirk. "That's based on what exactly? Sorry but it would be very to dispose of all three of you I chose to. Attack from behind if you like, I can parry. I won't even have to stop our chat." Ginjo turned his attention back to Ichigo. "Kurosaki, tell me, do you know why you were entrusted with the combat pass?" Uryu widen his eyes, knowing where Ginjo's going with that question.
"What are you getting at?" Ichigo questioned.
"I can just imagine what they must have told you when they placed in your hand. If a soul reaper is deemed beneficial to the soul society, it is customary to entrust them with the combat pass. Listen closely Kurosaki, you've been fed a lie." Ichigo widen his eyes when Ginjo said that.
'It's simple task for an organization to determine if someone would be of benefit or a hindrance.' Uryu thought. 'They may have told Ichigo those who are deemed as benefit were given combat passes. But they neglected to tell him, what happened to those who are not.'
"The truth of it is whether one is of benefit or detriment to the soul society is irrelevant." Ginjo continued. "Combat passes are always handed out equally, regardless of the person in question. The pass' official name is the Substitute Soul Reaper Combat Pass. It certifies that one has permission to conduct soul reaper duties in the World of the Living."
"I know." Ichigo said.
"But have you ever at this moment truly felt its authority?" Ichigo widen eyes, remembering when he first the status with the combat pass.
(Flashback)
"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper." Ichigo stated, showing his combat pass. "Look, this is my pass."
"A combat pass?!" The soul reaper shouted. "Give me a break, kid! Who do you think you're trying to fool with that thing?!"
"What's with this?!" Ichigo shouted, looking the combat pass. "This damn thing is completely useless!"
(End of Flashback)
"Are you saying that there's another reason that they hand out combat passes?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah." Ginjo said. "Their real purpose is surveillance and control. Thanks to the combat pass, the soul society is able to keep constant tabs on your whereabouts. It also allows them to control your spirit energy at least whenever you had the pass on you. Did you ever find it odd? You're spirit energy rages out of control when agitated even in soul reaper form. So why didn't it any effect on you in your human state. Why when you use your combat pass to draw out your Fullbring did you gushed forth from it? Why during your fullbring training were you able your friends' voices through the pass? Surely, you've asked yourself these things. The combat pass is a device that communicates to the soul society. It absorbs your spirit energy and then it analyzes and controls it. It was given to you so they can keep under their eye and under their thumb. It's not that you've that as it was strange though. You simply pushed those questions to the back of your mind. There were the people who you bonded with in battle. They would never such a thing to you. It defied reason. You don't want to believe that they would betray that. Even your little pirate friends were in their game, am I right?" Ginjo looked at Luffy, who gave him a death glare in return. "Now let me tell you the name of the man who spawned this idea. His name is Jushiro Ukitake, the captain of Squad 13."
(Flashback)
"The combat pass?" Ichigo questioned, looking at the item in Jushiro's hand. "What is it?"
"The soul society has an ancient law governing the emergence of substitute soul reapers like you." Jushiro explained. "Over the centuries, there have been other instances where substitute soul reapers have been deemed useful. They too were given this combat pass as proof of their status. Now this one belongs to you."
"I see. Thanks Jushiro."
(End of Flashback)
"Jushiro, huh?" Ichigo said quietly.
"We've both been duked by the most peace-loving man in all of the Court Guard Squads!" Ginjo continued. "He has completely betrayed our trust. What do you think of that?! All this time, his aim was to watch us, control us, to use you and me as pawns for the soul society. But if we resisted, we would be eliminated." Uryu and Luffy narrowed their eyes at Ginjo.
'This is bad.' Uryu thought. 'There's no way that he cope with these truths in his present state.'
"They all know, do you understand? Everyone in the soul society knows the truth, expect you! And now they've abandoned you and left you to die here!"
"No! Ignore him, Ichigo!" Uryu
"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted, shocking Luffy and Uryu as Ginjo's smirk grew wider. Ichigo pointed his zanpaktuo at Ginjo and blue aura surrounds his body. "Bankai!"
Nami slowly opened her eyes and saw two pair of eyes looking at her. They belong to Chopper and Rukia.
"Nami!" Chopper shouted happily.
"Chopper…Rukia…" Nami said, sitting up and looking at her two friends.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine Chopper, don't worry." Nami looked at the other members of the Straw Hats and saw their backs. She looked up at the rectangular box still floating in the sky. "Is Luffy and Ichigo still inside? With everyone else here, destroying that dimension should be easy."
"They're waiting to see what Ichigo decides." Rukia said. Then cracks began to form on the box as digital space fell down from it.
"What?!" Yukio shouted shocked. "What's going on?! Impossible! There's no way that they can break that!" The box exploded from the spiritual pressure coming out of it. The smoke started to clear and revealed Luffy, Ginjo, Uryu, and Ichigo in his new bankai form.
"Shut up?" Ginjo repeated. "About what exactly? Do you pain you so terribly that you use bankai to silence me forever? And what good will that do you? Would it hide your eyes from the harsh from the harsh reality?'
"Shut the hell up." Ichigo said calmly, causing Ginjo to smirk at him. "That one was for you Ginjo. When I said it the first time, it wasn't. It was to Uryu." Ichigo turned his attention to the Quincy. "You expect me to ignore him?! Are you kidding?! For once in your life, mind your own business!"
"Ichigo…" Luffy said.
"The truth is that it sounded strange to me too, everything that Jushiro told me that day."
"What?" Ginjo questioned.
"I just didn't want to believe it." Ichigo explained. "I just didn't want to suspect Jushiro. You were right. I shoved those thought to the back of my mind. Then I realized something. I asked myself, why was I suspicious of him? Jushiro was a lot smarter than I am. He knew what he was doing. If he had generally attempted to deceive me, he could have kept me in the dark and that would have been that. But when he gave me the combat pass, he said all that I needed to know. It wasn't long before I realize that the pass doesn't seem to mean anything at all. I figured that Jushiro know that I would put two and two together. He wanted me to realize so that I can make my own choice."
"What would that be? Your little empathy amounted to nothing. You don't have a choice at all."
"You're wrong. I chose the path of protecting others. I wanted power, the power to protect everyone that I could, wherever and whenever I could. And losing reminded me how all of this started. I've been seeking the power to protect people and Rukia gave it to me. And I eventually lost it, everyone helped to get it back. I made my choice and that means kicking your ass to protect everyone else."
Ginjo sighed and said, "So much for negotiations. You leave me no choice. I really wanted to avoid killing you if I could. Bankai!" Smoke surrounded Ginjo as a purple burst of erupted from him. The smoke cleared as revealed Ginjo with white hair, crimson fur on his neck, a red mark on his face, and red eyes. His fullbring armor covered his body from the neck down to his feet. His sword now has a horn-like guard and a bone-like hilt. Purple streams of spirit energy came out of his back.
"Oh yeah, I almost forget. You used to be a substitute soul reaper yourself."
"That's right. But you're forgetting something else. As I told you, us Fullbringers, we were attacked hollows when we were born. Don't you remember? I have the power of hollow within me."
"Ichigo…leave him to me." Luffy said to Ichigo. Ichigo nodded and Luffy turned back to Ginjo. "It's time for you make your move. Let's get this over with, Ginjo."
"That's some big talk, kid." Ginjo said with an evil smirk on his face. "I'm starting to like you."
"Second Gear!" Luffy pumped the blood in his arm and his skin turned pink as steam came out of his body. Luffy and Ginjo let out a fierce battle cry as they charged each other. An explosion erupted as they collide.
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Full Power Luffy! Ginjo's Desperate Attack!