For the second time today, Ichigo found himself waking up in his mindset.
He groaned as he sat up and clutched his head. "Damn. What happened?"
He looked around before realizing he was in the same place as when he met Yoru. "I'm here again? Where even is here?"
"You're in your inner world Kurosaki Ichigo."
Ichigo turned his head and saw Yoru standing a few feet away from him.
"Kurosaki Ichigo. Now that you have awakened your powers and have become worthy to hear my name, The World's Strongest Zanpakuto with you, what will you do now?" Yoru asked in curiosity.
Ichigo was shocked at Yoru's self proclaimed title for himself. "The World's Greatest?" He asked in disbelief. However, as Ichigo stared into his Zanpakuto's eyes, he realized this wasn't a title he gave himself out of arrogance nor was it self proclaimed.
It was a title his Zanpakuto had absolute confidence belonged to him. A confidence so strong it was as if he believed- or rather, he knew was a fact.
Ichigo closed his eyes in thought before slightly smirking. "Greatest Zanpakuto or not, this doesn't change anything. I planned on saving Rukia and becoming the strongest from the get go."
"A brilliant answer." Yoru acknowledged while returning Ichigo's smirk.
"I didn't plan on having a weak wielder anyway. Ichigo, if you truly wish to be the strongest, then from here on you will become stronger then even the shopkeeper could expect. During your breaks, I will pull you into your inner world in order to train with me. This means you will be left mentally exhausted during your training with Urahara Kisuke due to training in your mind. You could really die if you can't keep up. I will only allow you to rest during your sleep. Even so, do you still wish to train with me?" Yoru asked despite already knowing the answer if his growing smirk was anything to go by.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Ichigo responded in determination.
Later on in the future, Ichigo would admit that deciding to train with his slave driver of a Zanpakuto along with that damn Hat n'clogs was not the wisest of decisions. Even if he was grateful for the strength he would obtain from it.
Timeskip
After the ten days of 'Study group' as Urahara called it, Ichigo was told to go relax at home as they prepared the gate to the Soul Society. He was also told to have his window open at 1 am in a week.
'I'm getting a bad feeling about this.' Ichigo thought regretfully.
You have every right to. Not even I am able to predict the actions of a man as eccentric as he is He heard Yoru say.
'Hm? Something's coming Ichigo.'
Ichigo slightly tensed as he moved his head back from the open window. Something shot by his face and he heard something splat on his closet.
He turned around to see buckets of blood covering his wall and slowly sliding off to reveal a message which said 'Please come to the front of Urahara shop immediately.'
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT BASTARD DOING!?" Ichigo yelled.
"This looks like some kind of dying message from someone at a murder scene! This stuff better come off."
He blinked when all the blood slid down and revealed another message. 'P. S. Anyone of thinks something like "This looks like a dying message."...has no sense of humor in them.'
"GO TO HELL!" Ichigo yelled as he threw a pillow at the message.
Calming down, Ichigo walked out of his room and stopped by Yuzu's room before creeping in silently as to not wake her up.
He slowly walked up to her until he stood right beside her bed and stared at her. "Yuzu...I might be gone for awhile, but I promise I'll come back. Stay safe ya hear?" He whispered softly as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.
He quietly left the room and glanced at Yuzu one last time before closing the door, not noticing the small smile that came on the little Kurosaki's face.
Ichigo made one more pit stop, but this time it was a Karin's room. Once again, he opened the door and walked quietly so she didn't wake up.
"Heh. Knowing you a kiss on the forehead would be gross huh Karin?" He whispered with an amused smile.
"You better not get into any trouble while I'm gone. Trust me, I'll know when I get back." He whispered before kissing her forehead despite his earlier words. He chuckled when he saw Karin scrunch her nose up in her sleep and turn away from him.
He walked out of her room and closed the door slowly. When the door was closed, Karin opened her eyes and rubber her forehead.
"Idiot. It's different with family." She muttered with a small smile.
Ichigo contemplated stopping by his old man's room but quickly gagged at the thought. 'Not to mention he's so unpredictable he could already be awake.' He thought before shaking his head.
"Your a good older brother Ichigo." Yoru said causing Ichigo to scratch the back of his head in slight embarassment. 'Shuddup. I'm just promising that I'll come back. Even if they aren't awake to hear me.'
"BLEH! That was way too sappy for my liking!" Ichigo heard his mind's second resident say.
'You shuddup too! Your opinion is the last opinion I need to hear!'
"I'm surprised you know what sappy even means when all you do is fight and wait for your moment to take over Ichigo's body."
Ichigo scowled deeper than usual at that reminder.
It came out of nowhere. One day he was training with Yoru and all of the sudden the reflexes that he developed from all that training screamed at him to dodge. So he jumped out of the way, and when he did, some giant khyber knife fell from the sky and crashed down onto the ground.
Ichigo was shocked when he saw it happen, and immediately yelled for the person who threw the sword at him to show themselves. What he didn't expect was a copy of himself to appear, except this copy was snow white from head to toe with a black sclera and yellow eyes. Yoru introduced the copy named Zangetsu. A hollow. The news shocked Ichigo and frightened him a bit, but Yoru assured him that he wasn't turning into a hollow. He just had one in him which wanted to make him one. That didn't sound very assuring but it seemed as long as Ichigo kept showing the hollow who's boss, then he'll be fine.
From then on the maniac started pressing Ichigo for a fight, and became some kind of sparring partner for Ichigo. Although the albino Ichigo had every intention of killing him each time they fought. Whenever the Zangetsu won, -which was pretty much every fight- he would laugh maniacally and go for the killing blow, only to be stopped by Yoru. The Zanpakuto would block the strike and shake his head at the copy, telling him that Ichigo wasn't ready yet.
Zangetsu would scowl each time and yell at Ichigo for being such a weak king.
I don't care what the situation is. Whatever kind of situation you find yourself in, you ain't getting any help from me. I refuse to serve under a king who's weaker than me.
Those words irritated Ichigo everytime he remembered them. While he didn't particularly care about what Zangetsu meant about all this King buisness, he refused to be seen as inferior to him, promising the hollow a true fight someday to see who's king. As if he would let anything stand in the way of his goals.
He exited his home, and looked down at the ground with his hair shadowing his eyes. "See you later Yuzu, Karin...Old man."
"GOOD MORNING ICHIGO!"
Startled, he jumped to the side as something crashed on the ground where he stood earlier.
"Well this a familiar scene ain't it kingy?" Zangetsu mocked while laughing.
"W-What reflexes. As expected of my son."
"What the HELL are you doing!?"
"B-Before you leave, I wanted to give this to you." Isshin stood up and gave Ichigo a purple amulet.
"Huh? What's this? It's pretty dirty."
"Don't call it dirty! I'll have you know that was given to me by your mother long ago!" Isshin cried indignantly.
Ichigo's eyes widened at this piece of info and he suddenly felt he couldn't be able to take this with him. "O-Oi what are you doing!? I can't keep something like this-"
"Of course you can't! Who the hell would let someone like you keep it! Who!?" Isshin exclaimed childishly while getting into Ichigo's face.
"I'm only lending it to you. So you better give it back to me when you return. Otherwise i'm going to shave!"
Ichigo sweatdropped.
"Then...I guess I'm going now." Ichigo said as he walked away and bid his dad goodbye.
"Right." His dad grinned back with his arms crossed.
As Ichigo made his way to Urahara's shop, memories of Rukia suddenly filled his mind.
'A whole lot has sure happened...'
He remembered when Rukia stopped him from trying to rebel against Byakuya. The unshed tears depite the harsh words she said were in plain sight.
Of every injury Ichigo obtained that night, watching Rukia's unshed tears of helplessness and resignation as she was taken to Soul Society was by far the worst one.
'...I'm not gonna let it be like it none of it ever happened.'
Before he knew it, Ichigo reached Urahara's shop and found the shopkeeper, amd surprisingly Chad waiting by the entrance.
"Well if it isn't Kurosaki-san! You're just on time! Good good." Urahara cheered as Ichigo just stared at Chad in surprise.
"Chad? What are you doing here?"
Chad stood up, his bangs covering the gentle giant like usual, but Ichigo knew Chad long enough to know that look. That was the look Chad has when he's determined to do something.
"Kuchiki Rukia once saved me. I'm going too." He said.
Ichigo blinked in surprise at that. "Wait what?"
"So you didn't hear?"
Ichigo turned behind him to see Uryu standing behind him in a completely white outfit.
"Ishida!?"
"I'm not letting those Shinigami get away with beating me. I'm going too." Uryu said in conviction.
"Looks like we're all here!" A cheerful voice noted.
Ichigo turned his head to the side and was completely baffled to see Orihime standing there with a cheerful smile.
"Inoue?"
"Please look after me!" Orihime said while bowing.
Ichigo could only look at the three in shock, sputtering words. "Huh? Hey! Whats going on!?" He asked in confusion.
"You're pretty slow aren't you?" A voice asked rhetorically.
Ichigo looked around frantically, wondering if any more of his friends were gonna appear.
'I swear to whatever God rules over the Shinigami if Keigo is apart of this I'm doing whatever I can to ditch him here!'
"Seconded/Seconded."
"Yoruichi-san!" Orihime exclaimed.
Ichigo looked to Orihime and then to where here eyes were looking to see a black cat with yellow slitted eyes staring up at him.
"Kid, don't tell me you didn't notice the rise in the hidden power of your three friends. While you were training to regain your Shinigami powers, they were doing their own training to rescue Rukia. You should be grateful to them."
However, all this flew over Ichigo's head as he stared at the talking cat with a gaping mouth. "T-T-THE CAT TALKED!" He cried in shock as Zangetsu laughed his ass off at Ichigo's reaction while Mihawk only cocked an eyebrow in amusement. Not that Ichigo could see it.
"It's not a cat, It's Yoruichi!"
"I guess it can be pretty surprising for the first time seeing her."
Orihime and Chad said respectively.
Urahara clapped his hands to get everyone's attention with a cheery smile on his face when things started to get a bit crazy. "Alright alright that's enough! please come in!" Urahara said while gesturing to his open door.
As everyone walked in the shop, Ichigo stood there for awhile before calling out to Orihime before she went in. "Orihime..."
Hearing her crush calling her, Orihime blinked before stopping in her tracks and turning to Ichigo. "Yes?"
Ichigo didn't say anything for a moment; only looking at the ground in thought. He raised his head and looked right into Orihime's eyes as if searching or something. "How much do you know? This is gonna be pretty dangerous. I need to know how resolved you are to come with us."
Orihime was taken aback by his words. She looked to the ground. She smiled softly as if she was remembering something. "I told Tatsuki that I would he coming with you...and...I promised that I would return." Shs said, the last part being said with a tone of quiet conviction Ichigo had never heard from the girl before, making him widen his eyes in surprise as Orihime jogged into the shop.
"500¥ says she has plot armor."
'Shut the hell up!'
"I am not foolish enough to take a suckers bet."
'Yoru!?'
Timeskip
We change scenes to a...is that...a brick wall? With a crack? Oh... OH SH!T CUT! CUT! CUT THE SCENE DAMN IT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSE TO BE SHOWING THE FOURTH WA-
Timeskip (No drugs were involved with the making of this chapter.)
Err...Let's try that again. We change scenes to the big, lit, and rocky basement beneath the shop.
"Wow! There's so much space beneath the shop! It's like a secret base!" Orihime exclaimed as Chad and Uryu looked around the basement, silently agreeing with her.
"You think so?" Ichigo asked with a raised euebrow.
Tessai suddenly appeared in front of Orihime and grabbed her hand, tears streaming down his face as he tried and failed to wipe them away with a handkerchief with one of his hands.
"What a wonderful reaction! I, Tessai am deeply moved!" He exclaimed while sobbing comically as Orihime rubbed her head bashfully as Ichigo sweatdropped at the scene.
"Alright may I have your attention please!" Urahara exclaimed while clapping to get their attention once more.
"Here we go!" He snapped his fingers and out of thin air, a huge rectangular object covered in what seemed to be paper appeared.
"This is the gate which leads to Soul Society, otherwise known as the 'Senkaimon'. Before we get into anything however..." Urahara suddenly disappeared in a flash with the sound of a low swish.
He appeared behind Ichigo with his cane raised, revealing an image of a skull lit ablaze by a blue flame at the end.
He hit Ichigo on the back of his head with the cane, and before everyone else's eyes, another Ichigo suddenly came out of Ichigo's body. This one was dressed in a black shihakusho with the sleeves ripped, the back of the shihakusho extending down almost like a cape (Like Bankai Ichigo's Shihakusho) and under the Shihakusho was a long sleeved crimson shirt with an intricate flower pattern (Crimson version Mihawk's long sleeved shirt)
The strange thing was, Yoru was nowhere to be seen on his back.
Ichigo's friends looked on in surprise, before gathering around Ichigo's living body.
"Warn me next time you do it damn it!" Ichigo yelled at the shopkeeper who merely laughed as Ichigo's friends poked around Ichigo's living body as if it was an overgrown toy figure, causing Ichigo to turn to them and tell them off for treating him like he wasn't here anymore.
Urahara then explained to the teens how the Senkaimon was a Reishi conversion machine. How Soul Society was a world of spirits, and if one doesn't have a spirit form, they cannot enter. Ichigo would be the only one to be able to go since he is a Substitute Shinigami. However, with the Senkaimon, they will be able to travel to Soul Society in the forms they're currently in.
"Alright. Let's get going." Ichigo said as he walked forward only to be hit painfully in the side by Urahara's cane.
"However...We'll only be able to keep the gate up for 4 minutes."
All of the teens went wide eyed at that piece if information.
"If you have not reached Soul Society within those 4 minutes, then you will be trapped between the world of the living and Soul Society forever."
Orihime looked worried. "What should we do?"
"Move forward."
Everyone turned their attention to Yoruichi as the cat went up towards the gate.
"I told you before that the heart and soul are connected. What's important is what you feel in your heart, and the will to move it forward. I'll be your guide..."
Yoruichi turned back to them, and seemed to stare into their very being as if sizing them up. "...Just move forward. Only those who can do that can follow me."
All was silent after that. That is, until Ichigo took a step up. "What the hell are you babbling about?"
He looked at Yoruichi straight in the eye with determination. "That's why we gathered here."
"If you don't make it in time, then you'll never return ya know?"
"Then all we have to do is make it right?" Ichigo shot back.
Yoruichi stared at him, and was pretty impressed by the kid's resolve. 'No hesitation...' the cat noted, surpressing a smirk. "Yes. All you need to do is make it."
"Is everyone ready?" Urahara asked as he and Tessai went to either side of the gate and crouched while putting their hands to the ground. The portal started glowing a bit.
"The instant the portal opens, jump in." He told them as they got ready to jump in, determination in every pair of eyes. 'Ah~ to be young again.' He thought fondly, although not showing it on his face.
"Here we go!"
The portal's light suddenly filled the whole basement, causing the teens to shield their eyes, losing where they were and where the portal was.
Even so, they did not waver and moved forward.
The light disappeared and the teens were gone, showing they had jumped into the portal which finally showed itself on the gate.
Urahara stood up and walked in front of the gate, staring at it with a blank look on his face. He slowly lifted his hand up and reached forward, however, when he touched the portal, sparks burst out and rejected him.
He stared at his hand for a bit before clenching it and looking back to the portal.
"It's all up to you Kurosaki-san."
With Ichigo and the others
Ichigo and his friends were running for their lives in this chaotic, purple world.
The walls were collapsing on them, when suddenly something grabs Uryu cape.
"Ishida!" Ichigo screams as he goes back, but Yoruichi stops him.
"Don't even think about using your Zanpakuto! The restrictive current entangles Reishi. If you use your Zanpakuto you'll get caught too!"
That stopped Ichigo as he gritted his teeth in frustration before Chad shot by him.
The giant grabbed on to Uryu, tore the cape apart, and ran while carrying the Quincy like a sac of potatoes. "Let's go." He called out to them.
"P-Put me down Sado-kun! I can run on my own..." He trailed off as he notice something in the distance behind them.
"Guys...something's coming." He warned with wide eyes.
Out if the wall came a giant, purple rock with a light at the center, catching up to them at high speeds.
"It's the cleaner! It appears once every seven days and of course today had to be one of those days." The cat said, silently cursing Urahara.
"Just keep on running! The exits right there!"
And it was. Up ahead was a portal with a white light. However, at the rate they were running at, they wouldn't make it.
"It's no use! We won't outrun it!" Uryu screamed in panic.
Orihime turned her head back and gained a determined look on her face, before she stopped running and put her hands to her two hair clips which started to glow.
"Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily!" She called out as three glowing streams of light shot out of her clips and positioned them selves into a triangle in front of Orihime
"Santen Kesshun: I reject!"
A glowing yellow triangle was formed and hit the cleaner head on, causing an explosion and launching everyone into the white portal.
They all, shot to the ground immediately as if they were comets. They just sat there in their strange landing postions as Orihime got up and looked around. "Is everyone alright?"
Their response was to groan at her
Timeskip
"So this is Soul Society?" Ichigo wondered aloud while looking around. All around them were houses that looked like they came from the Edo period. This whole town seemed to be that way
"That's right. This is the Rukon district. It's where souls first live when they enter Soul Society. It's right around the perimeter of the Seireitei where the Shinigami live. This is poorest place in Soul Society, but also the freest place, and has the largest population of Souls."
Ichigo looked around once more before something caught his eye.
There was an area that seemed to be made of materials other than the wood houses in the Rukon district. Even the floor looked like marble tiles. All in all it was a very clean looking area. However, it also looked like something from old Japanese times.
"Huh? That area there looks different from the rest of this district."
"Oh, that's-"
"I got it! That's the Sei-whatever where the Shinigami live! Alright!" Ichigo interuppted Yoruichi's explanation in favor of running towards the Seireitei.
"You idiot! Don't get too close! You'll die!"
Ichigo shot a look of confusion at Yoruichi, but didn't stop running. "Eh?"
Suddenly, a green gate and green walls appeared and slammed right down in front of Ichigo, causing him to jump in surprise.
As the dust cleared, Ichigo looked up and saw a giant figure standing right in front of him.
"It's been a long time since someone tried to enter the Seirei gate without a travel permit." A booming voice spoke, as Ichigo's eyes widened when he saw who spoke.
"Oh God, the Shinigami have gotten desperate if they're making overgrown monkey's into gatekeepers!" Zangetsu remarked while laughing.
The giant wore a fez hat in his head and the standard Shinigami Shihakusho, except it didn't cover the left side of his upper body. On his left arm was an arm guard an he held an axe in his right hand.
"Come at me from wherever you want kid!" He yelled in confidence with a smirk on his face.
Ichigo stared at the giant blankly for awhile, before he heard Orihime and Chad running towards him.
Suddenly, the giant monkey, -who's name was Jidanbo he heard Yoruichi say- slammed his axe and slid it across on the ground behind Ichigo to make a wall of earth shoot up and seperate him from the others.
"I don't like your manners. You know we have rules around here." He scolded the teo before raising one finger.
"One, always wash your hands when you come from outside. Two, never eat food that has fallen on the ground. Three, when someone fights, it's a one on one."
Chad and Orihime looked shocked at the third rule, and a tad bit confused at the first two while Ichigo just sweatdropped.
"Ya hear that King? Even a monkey has better manners than you." The hollow taunted making Ichigo's eye twitch.
'Shut up! I don't wanna hear that coming from you when you wouldn't follow any one of them!'
"Damn straight I wouldn't." Zangetsu said in pride.
'That's not something to be proud about!'
"Kurosaki-kun! Are you alright?" Ichigo heard Orihime ask in concern.
"Yeah I'm fine." He said.
"Alright. Don't worry! We're-"
"Oh, about that. Can you and Chad stay put?" Ichigo asked.
"What're you saying Kurosaki-kun!? That's-"
"I refuse." Uryu interuppted as he walked up to the wall. "Our time is limited. We need to attack all together instead of you going in alone."
Ichigo blinked in surprise when he heard the voice. "Ishida? You're here?"
"I've been here for awhile!" Uryu yelled in irritation.
Chad however had kept silent like he usually does, and stared at the wall intently. "Can you win?" He asked quietly, but Ichigo heard it loud and clear.
"You can sure as hell believe I can." He said in confidence. Chad only nodded and stepped back, trusting his longtime friend.
"How can you be so confident in a situation like this!?" Uryu said while banging on the wall, making Ichigo sigh in annoyance.
"Let me tell you something. My Shinigami powers were suppose to be restored in 10 days. I got them back in 5. Do you wanna know what I did for the rest of the 5 days?"
Everyone silent as he spoke, curious on what he did.
"I fought for 5 days, and 5 nights. With Hat n'clogs." 'And you too Yoru. Thanks for the extra training.' Ichigo added in his thoughts
"It was my pleasure"
"Yeah, it was no problem whipping your ass into shape."'All you did was try to kill me!'
"If it works, then it works!" Was Zangetsu's reply, and Ichigo could practically feel the bastard's sadistic grin
"I see. So you leanred the secrets of fighting?" Uryu asked, breaking Ichigo out of his mental convsrsation
"Nope. He didn't teach me a single thing. But...Even if I didn't want them, I got stamina and determination." Ichigo said with a smirk on his face.
From outside the wall, Ichigo's friends watched as Jidanbo's face became one of disbelief.
"HUH!? The hell kinda Zanpakuto is that!?"
Yoruichi raised an eyebrow in curiosity, wondering what kind of Zanpakuto Ichigo wielded. He didn't seem to carry it with him so that only left the cat to wonder what it was.
Jidanbo's face then shifted into fury. "Are you looking down on me you bastard!" He yelled as he swung his axe down on Ichigo, an explosion occuring when he hit something and destroying the wall behind Ichigo.
As the dust cleared, everyone's jaw dropped.
Even Yoruichi was gaping at Ichigo's Zanpakuto. 'It doesn't make any sense! This can't be his Shikai! I can feel it! But how can a Zanpaukto be so...'
Ichigo smirked as he looked at Jidanbo's gaping mouth.
"What's wrong?"
A.N. And thats a wrap! HAHAHAHA! SUFFER MY CLIFFHANGER AND LEAVE THIS CHAPTER BEHIND KNOWING THAT IT DOES NOT CONTAIN ICHIGO'S ZANPAKUTO!Jk I'm not that cruel. CONTINUE! (I would like to make a correction. Drugs were probably very much used in the making of this chapter)
'...So damn tiny! He has so much Reiryoku, you'd think he would he stuck in Shikai with the little control he has over it.' Yoruichi finished.
Indeed, Ichigo's Zanpakuto could only be described to be tiny as hell.
It was a tiny Zanpakuto with a blade no bigger than his ring finger.
That tiny blade was the only thing that kept Jidanbo's axe away from Ichigo.
"Someone once told me that, 'It's not right to hunt a rabbit with a cannon.'" Ichigo said with a smirk.
Jidanbo blinked once, before growing angry. "I'M A MONKEY NOT A RABBIT!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE MAD ABOUT!? AND WAIT YOU'RE NOT EVEN HUMAN!?" Uryu yelled.
"Maybe you somehow managed to block my first blow, but nobody has even been able to block my second one!"
He brought his axe up, swung it down and the same thing happened.
"E-Eh!? You're still standing with that tiny thing? Then take this! Jidanda ten strikes festival!" He cried out as he started to strike Ichigo repeatedly, somehow losing count along the way.
"Uh...six! Eight! Now it's time for the finisher!"
Jidanbo raised his axe once more, but instead of going for a vertical swing, he went for a horizontal swing.
Another explosion occured as Jidanbo made contact with something.
Everyone's eyes widened as the dust cleared and revealed a perfectly unharmed Ichigo who stopped Jidanbo's strike with the tip of his sword.
"Are you done? Then now it's my turn." Ichigo said as he pointed his dagger at Jidanbo while said giant became nervous
"Not yet! I'm not done yet!" From his shihakusho, Jidanbo pulled out a second axe. He started flexing his arms to the point where his face went red, veins could be seen and his arm guard shattered.
"This is my final technique! Jidanda banzai strike festival!" He roared while bringing both his axes down to bring his wrath down on Ichigo.
Said teen remained unfazed however as at the last second, he moved in between the axes before they hit him. "Sorry. I'm gonna have to destroy these axes." He mumbled.
The more dust appeared as the axes crashed onto the ground.
"TAKE THIS! AND THIS! AND THIS! AND THIS!"
When the dust cleared, Jidanbo was shown swining his axes up and down, which normally would've hit the ground and cause massive damage to the ground. If the axe heads weren't cut off and already laying on the ground that is.
Jidanbo blinked and slowly looked from the axe heads, to his handles. He started sweating "M-My axes..." Jidanbo whimpered.
"Both of his axe heads were cut off cleanly in one swing." Yoruichi said impressed.
"What!? Those giant axes!? By that tiny Zanpakuto!?" Uryu sputtered in shock.
"Is this guy about to cry?"
"I beleve he is."
Ichigo blinked, and before Ichigo could ask what his mind's residents meant, Jidanbo started crying hysterically on his knees and repeatedly slamming his fists down on the ground.
"My axes are broken!" The giant wailed like a child who found their favorite toy broken
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't have to break both of your axes right? My bad." Ichigo consoled awkwardly with a sweatdrop, not knowing what to make of this situation.
Jidanbo looked up at Ichigo while sniffing. "You're not a bad guy. Even though I lost, you're still treating me nicely. What a big heart." He sobbed while grabbing Ichigo's shoulders
"Well when someone cries that much, anyone would want to console them." Ichigo said with his sweatdrop growing.
"And here I am crying over axes!" Jidanbo said, disappointed in himself while standing up.
"I lost to you completely!" He exclaimed, raising his hands in the air and grinning.
"As both a man, and a warrior, you are the first person I've ever lost to! I, Jidanbo grant you person to travel through the Seirei gate!"
Ichigo blinked before he smirking back at Jidanbo "Y-Yeah!"
Ichigo and his friends gathered together in front of the gate. Ichigo reached into his shihakusho and pulled out a small, thick stick which he put over his tiny dagger, making it look like a cross. He tied the cross around his neck and tucked it into his outfit as his friends watched him in disbelief.
"Kurosaki! What was that? Why is your Zanpakuto so small!" Uryu asked as he stared at Ichigo in astonishment.
"Yeah it's so small! You did amazing with it Kurosaki-kun!
The Shinigami only shrugged back. "Hell if I know. I was surprised at first too. In Shikai, Yoru's much bigger, but after some training I kind of got used to the small dagger."
"Shikai?" Uryu wondered with a raised eyebrow while Orihime tilted her head.
"Hat'n clogs said it was some kind of released form for a Zanpakuto or something like that."
Uryu hummed in understanding while Orihime put a vertical fist in her palm. "So it's like taking the wrapper off candy!" Orihime exclaimed, proud with her own analogy while the others sweatdropped.
"And you guys say I have a screw loose"
'Don't make it sound like you don't.'
Chad walked up to Ichigo and raised a fist to him. "Good job."
Ichigo was taken aback for a second before he smiled and bumped his fist with Chad's. "Thanks."
"Are you sure we can pass through?" Uryu asked Jidanbo.
"Yeah. I lost to your leader so I have no right to stop you."
"Kurosaki!? Leader!? No way!" Uryu yelled while pointing a finger at Ichigo.
"Why are you so angry." Ichigo wondered with his trademark scowl back on his face accompanied by a sweatdrop.
"Your name is Kurosaki?" Jidanbo asked in curiosity.
"Yeah. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."
Jidanbo raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Ichigo? That's a cute name."
A tic mark appeared on Ichigo's head which grew as he heard his hollow laugh at him.
"Shut up! My name is 'Ichi' for 'One' and 'Go' for 'Protector'! It's not cute!"
Jidanbo smiled befoe placing his hand on the gate. "Be careful Ichigo. I don't know why you're passing through here, but everyone on the other side is strong."
Ichigo was surprised by the concern, before smirking to reassure the giant. "Yeah. I know."
"Alright. As long as you know." Jidanbo said as he turned to face the gate and dug his hands underneath it. "I'm gonna bring it up in one go so step back."
They followed his instructions and watched in amazement as they Jidanbo slowly lifted the gate up, before he quickened his pace and fully opened up the gate.
"Wow! I never thought it could be lifted." Orihime said in awe.
Ichigo however, noticed something wrong with the giant and walked up to him.
"Oi Jidanbo. Are you alright? Why are you just standing there."
Jidanbo ignored him however as he stared at a figure wearing a Shinigami shihakusho a white haori. He had purple hair and a grin on his face. He looked up, and when he did, Jidanbo became terrified.
"Captain of the 3rd division. Ichimaru Gin."
A.N. NOW thats a wrap. How'd you guys think of this chapter? I'd like to address two things about it. First, if any of you think Ichigo is too strong, let's be real (Even this is a fanfic which makes this statement stupid). He's been training for 5 days and nights with Urahara AND Mihawk. Along with Zangetsu who popped in along the way but that was more of a battle to kill kinda thing. For Zangetsu at least.
If he managed to destroy Jidanbo with Zangetsu after only training with Urahara, then think about the possibilities after training with Mihawk, -who raised Zoro's swordmanship higher than Zoro could've ever achieved in his years at the dojo in only two years- Hollow Zangetsu and Urahara, it wouldn't be much of a stretch that he could beat Jidanbo with the tiny dagger similar to Mihawk's. And its not like he did anything too ridiculous -apart from stopping the axe- like blow Jidanbo away compared to cannon.
That's the second thing I'd like to address. Ichigo in canon was not the type to win with skill. He won with power. Notice how in canon he literally destroyed Jidanbo's axes instead of cutting them off. I tried to show the difference between canon Ichigo and this fic's Ichigo in terms of skill when Ichigo cut the axe heads off cleanly. Even if it was through a small event like his fight with JidanboQuestion. I already know I'm giving Ichigo Haki. The question is when, and how. He probably won't have it this arc though.Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Bleach