8 – Scattering Spirit

Spirit particles sparked as two Heilig Klinge clashed.

Ichigo and Gesshokuro engaged in a furious melee, both using Wogenschritt liberally and repeatedly disappearing only to reappear in the other's blind spots.

Ichigo shifted the Heilig Klinge into a broader, thicker form as he slashed down with both hands.

Gesshokuro blocked it with one hand, using the other to hold the flat of the blade as support.

"Rrraahh!" Ichigo growled and exerted his strength to put more pressure on Gesshokuro, but was forced back when the older man flicked his arm.

Then Ichigo instantly formed a Bogen, reshaping the Klinge into a more slender form to fire it as an arrow.

Gesshokuro slashed towards the incoming projectile and stopped it in its tracks even as it pushed him back a little.

With another flick, he parried it away and disappeared.

Ichigo sensed the coming strike behind him, and without turning formed another sword to block over his head just in time.

Still holding down his sword against Ichigo's, Gesshokuro formed a second Klinge to slash from the side.

Ichigo formed a second Klinge of his own, blocking again.

Another furious melee ensued as both of them fought with two swords, until Gesshokuro merged his swords and formed a long spear.

With a quick step back and then a twist, Gesshokuro used the extra reach to seize the advantage, then slammed Ichigo in the abdomen, sending him flying.

The spear was reshaped into a bow, and he unleashed a large wave of arrows.

Ichigo rapidly blocked the incoming arrows with his swords but couldn't get all of them.

"Guh!"

He was soon pierced in multiple places and admitted defeat.

"This isn't good enough, Old Man Gesshokuro. I'm not getting stronger fast enough," Ichigo said, breathing heavily with his Heilig Klinge stabbed onto the sideways skyscraper of his Inner World, even as he broke apart the Pfeil that was sticking out of him and healed himself.

The old man stood only a short distance away, having reformed a Heilig Klinge from the Bogen and rushed in to melee range again.

"You are growing very quickly, Ichigo," said Gesshokuro.

"But I'm running out of time. I'm not even close to being a match for Rukia's Shikai right now. I know she's strong, but our enemies are even stronger," Ichigo said.

After a few weeks of intensive training with Gesshokuro, Rukia, and somewhat less intensive training with Ishida, Ichigo could finally say that he couldn't doubt the power of Quincy techniques anymore.

It wasn't any less powerful than his old Shikai, that was for sure.

The Heilig Klinge could be made relatively quickly and reformed at will, unlike a zanpaktou that could be damaged.

Although it wasn't quite as strong in terms of sheer cutting power or resilience, the fact that he could simply make more, suddenly dual wield, just throw it, or fire it as an arrow with minor modification, was a big tactical advantage.

His ranged capability was also much more versatile compared to Getsuga Tenshou, even before considering Kido.

Compared to his dream self, who had barely a week of training under Urahara before invading Soul Society, he was far ahead.

But even so, it wasn't enough.

In his dreams, how many times did he almost die, surviving by a hair's breadth?

Even if he could defeat Renji without much trouble when they came to get Rukia, would it make any difference against Byakuya?

Then there were people like Kenpachi…whom he had been wary of battling again long after he achieved Bankai.

Could he even cut Kenpachi this time around, without Zangetsu?

And, this time he couldn't bring his friends into it either.

He didn't really understand how he could have been okay with his friends joining his invasion of Soul Society in the first place, but now that he had a better relationship with Ishida, the hollow bait incident wouldn't happen.

And meant that Chad's and Orihime's powers wouldn't finish developing.

There was no way he could bring them into the spiritual world when they were just normal humans with a small bit of spiritual awareness but otherwise powerless. Especially with Orihime later becoming a target for Aizen. Having access to her healing was nice, but he'd learned healing techniques of his own now, he didn't have to put her at risk.

So he had maybe weeks or days left to get strong enough to take on Byakuya, or otherwise be forced to try and rescue Rukia from Soul Society, which would be even harder.

Although it was possible that things wouldn't go the same way as in the vision—how did they find out about Rukia having transferred her power to him anyway, if Saido didn't report it?—nevertheless, he had to face the very real possibility that a battle against a captain level fighter was just around the corner.

After a long silence, Gesshokuro finally spoke up again, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"Ichigo, I can feel that you are frustrated. But to have come this far in only a month is remarkable. Just what kind of enemies are you expecting to face in the near future?" Gesshokuro asked.

"I might be a decent match for the likes of Renji or the other vice-captains, but against Captains, I'd have no chance. They're going to come for Rukia soon, and one of them is a captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's brother. In my dream, I couldn't even see him move. I didn't have Shikai yet, but still. Vice-Captains and Captains are limited to 20% of their power when they come to the human world, and he was still that much stronger," said Ichigo.

"Compared to when you were using Sode no Shirayuki's unreleased blade, you are much stronger now. Your Quincy powers will also be even stronger in Soul Society, with the spirit particle-rich environment. You are facing as much a handicap as they are in the Human World," said Gesshokuro.

"But they can just request permission to release their limiter. And even when I fought Byakuya two weeks later in Soul Society, I wouldn't have stood a chance without Bankai. Actually, even with Bankai, I almost lost until my Hollow took over. But honestly? I can't afford to let them take Rukia back into Soul Society. I had no choice last time but to invade Soul Society, but I know that trying to go up against the entire Gotei 13 is suicidal."

"Ichigo, it takes decades for Shinigami to achieve Bankai. Even if it was an incomplete form you achieved with me as Zangetsu, to achieve it mere weeks after attaining Shikai is simply impossible."

"But I had to do it, and I did. It was through a special method invented by Urahara, though."

Another long silence followed as Gesshokuro seemed to be deep in thought.

"Old man Gesshokuro, what can Quincies do to match Bankai anyway?"

Gesshokuro gave him a measured look. "There is a Quincy technique that will boost your strength in a manner that is similar to Bankai. However, it is also impossible for you right now."

Ichigo swore. "Is there really no way for me to get to that level of strength in time as a Quincy? Can't we just do what we did in my dreams, with Zangetsu?"

"That cannot be done if you wish to retain your Quincy powers. As I explained before, Quincy and Hollow natures are incompatible."

"Why not? I learned how to suppress my inner Hollow eventually. I'm sure I can do it again."

"Ichigo, you still don't understand. The Hollow is your zanpaktou. Suppressing it is the same as suppressing your zanpaktou, and you would be no better off."

"Then what if I switched powers temporarily, and use Zangetsu to get through the next few battles until Aizen reveals himself? I won't lose my Quincy powers completely, right? I could suppress the Hollow again, then keep training Quincy powers after that."

Ichigo thought that maybe Gesshokuro was letting his desire for Ichigo to use Quincy powers overcome his sense of urgency. It wasn't that Ichigo didn't want to train his Quincy powers, or didn't understood that his potential as a Quincy might be greater, it was just that he needed strength now.

"That is not an option either, Ichigo. As I told you and Sode no Shirayuki, there is already another spirit pressure, a seal, suppressing the Hollow, and it is very strong. We cannot release the Hollow even if you wanted to."

"Wait, wait, what do you mean? I'm sorry, I must have missed that part before. There's a seal suppressing the Hollow? It's not you that's doing it?"

Ichigo looked very confused now.

"That is correct. I do not know how you managed to release it in your dreams, but it is currently impossible until your Quincy powers advance to a much higher level. I suspect the seal broke when you died and your soul began to Hollowfy, as you described to Rukia. That is far too risky to attempt, and I will not support this course of action."

Ichigo groaned. He shouldn't have doubted the old man in the first place. Of course there had been a good reason that Gesshokuro urged him to use Quincy powers. Ichigo had to agree that letting himself die and face full Hollowfication was too risky to try, especially when they didn't even know if that was really what broke the seal. He didn't even know where the Hollow came from or who put the damn seal on him!

"…then what can we do?" Ichigo asked in a defeated tone.

Gesshokuro dissolved his Heilig Klinge, signifying an end to their training session.

"Ichigo, although I did not want to start on this so early, there is a way to speed up your development as a Quincy. However, you will need to enter your spirit form and train in the real world," he said.

Ichigo turned excited again. "I knew I could count on you, Old Man!"

O O O

After quietly getting into his spirit form and leaving the house in the dead of night, Ichigo set out to find a place to train.

He went back to the mountain area near Karasu river, but with the high speed movement technique Wogenschritt, this time he went even further away from town.

Gesshokuro had warned him that this training could cause Hollows to be attracted to his area, so he had make sure he went far enough that none of them would go into Karakura.

Eventually, he came to a stop, in the deep forest.

'So, what do I do, old man?' He asked mentally.

'You will release your Shinigami spirit pressure while simultaneously training in Quincy techniques. As a Quincy, your spirit pressure naturally gathers spirit particles, but as a Shinigami or Hollow, it scatters spirit particles instead. Other Quincies do this same training with a specialized tool known as the Sanrei Glove. The scattering of spirit particles, or the Sanrei exercise, increases the difficulty of manipulating spirit particles, thereby allowing you to achieve a higher skill in it. When you return to a regular environment, your powers will then be far stronger, an effect similar to taking off training weights.'

Ichigo followed the instructions and started to draw up his Shinigami spirit pressure. A blue aura surrounded him, and he felt the spirit particles start to scatter around him.

Next he tried to gather spirit particles to form a Heilig Bogen, and found it incredibly hard. It was worse than when he first started practicing it.

'Woah. Why didn't we do this earlier? Why did you have me suppress my Shinigami spirit pressure instead, to make it easier to manipulate spirit particles?'

'Basics come first Ichigo. You needed to learn to separate and manage your Shinigami and Quincy spirit pressures, and you needed to learn how to manipulate spirit particles under normal circumstances.'

While struggling to form the Bogen, Ichigo asked another question.

'So now that I've started this training, does that mean I don't need to suppress my Shinigami spirit pressure anymore? Couldn't I do this during the day as well? I mean there will be more Hollows, but it shouldn't be any worse than before when I couldn't control my spirit pressure at all, right?'

'No,' Gesshokuro transmitted with a strong emphasis. 'You must not do the Sanrei exercise too much. You need rest in between, otherwise your Quincy power will permanently adjust to compensate. This is not a good thing, because when you eventually stop the exercise or need to suppress your Shinigami spirit pressure again at any point, your Quincy powers will enter a short period of uncontrollable hypersensitivity before sealing themselves off to prevent damage to your soul. This is known as Letzt Stile, and it is a last-resort technique that some Quincies deliberately invoke by keeping the Sanrei Glove on for prolonged periods, then taking it off. You would obtain a tremendous power like that of Bankai, but you will lose your Quincy powers immediately afterward, and will not be able to regain them without a risky procedure and assistance from other Quincies.'

'Like Bankai? Is that the technique you mentioned earlier?'

'The Letzt Stile is a shortcut method with a severe drawback. You can eventually achieve the same state with enough training, using a different technique without that drawback.'

'Got it.'

Not long after he started training in earnest, a Hollow appeared and attacked.

It was a weak Hollow, but this time Gesshokuro instructed Ichigo to maintain the Sanrei exercise while fighting them with Quincy techniques, making it a tremendous struggle, as he couldn't even use Wogenschritt, and his Bogen failed after a single shot.

'Old man, this is crazy! I can't fight like this!' Ichigo thought with alarm.

He ran and barely dodged a claw from the monkey-like hollow.

He made another attempt to form a Heilig Bogen while the Hollow roared in anger.

Before he could complete it, his concentration failed and the Bogen collapsed. A lunge from the Hollow hit him this time, pinning him to the ground.

"Arggh! Damn it! Go to hell!" Ichigo screamed and released even more Shinigami spirit pressure instinctively, as if he were a Shinigami again. It blew away the Hollow for a moment, but then Ichigo realized he had just made it even harder to gather spirit particles.

He got up and ran again while trying to suppress his Shinigami spirit pressure again, but suddenly found that quite difficult too as if it was a tap that once turned on, refused to shut off.

He had kept his Shinigami spirit pressure suppressed for so long, even while using Kido—no, especially while using Kido to make sure the spells didn't explode prematurely—that it was going wild after he allowed himself to release it again.

"Fuck!"

The Hollow quickly caught up to him, and he was forced to use a Shinigami Flash Step to escape.

Another few Flash Steps got Ichigo behind the Hollow, then he started incanting with his palms outstretched, visible concentration his face that was very unlike the ease with which he had been casting Kido over the past few days while hunting Hollows with Rukia.

"O Lord, mask of skin and blood, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man, light and firmament, the veil of earth is torn, pierce the endless sky with your shining fist! Hado #32: Okasen!"

An arc of golden light surged forth, and with his Shinigami spirit pressure unrestrained, it was impossible to aim but was so large that it completely covered the Hollow and everything around it.

Once it was over, Ichigo got down on his knees panting. There was no trace of the Hollow left, and a big gorge was left on the ground, along with numerous toppled trees.

It was almost like firing a Getsuga Tenshou, which is why he liked that particular Hado so much.

'This is why I did not want to start you on this exercise until later, Ichigo. You need much more practice at controlling your spirit pressure,' Gesshokuro spoke in his mind.

"Ugh…damn," Ichigo cursed before sitting in a meditative position to get his spirit pressure back under control and continue the Sanrei exercise. "There's no choice. If I want to get strong enough in time, then I just have to tough through this."

O O O

When Ichigo finally got back home after hours of training, he found Rukia sitting at his desk, wide awake and looking upset.

Before he had a chance to make up an excuse for why he was missing, Rukia glared and started lecturing him.

"You're pushing yourself too hard Ichigo. We're already training every single day. You don't need to exhaust yourself at night too. Soul Society isn't going to come after me until they have evidence that I committed treason, and they also have to find me first. So why are you acting like this?"

"I was just getting some air—" He tried to lie, but was cut off.

"Don't try to deny it, Gesshokuro told Sode no Shirayuki what you were up to. Did you forget that she can go into your Inner World?"

"Oh…damn," Ichigo cursed quietly.

"I understand how you feel, but this is excessive. You're already really strong Ichigo. Stronger than I could've ever imagined considering how little time you've had to train with your powers. You have to take care of yourself too. Please," said Rukia.

"I'm sorry, Rukia. I just have a bad feeling…I don't think we have that much time. The more I think about it, the more I feel that it wasn't just because of the hollow bait contest I had with Ishida that caused Soul Society to find out about you in my dreams. It's true that the Menos definitely would have attracted attention, but knowing Aizen, he probably had a hand in things. I just can't imagine that he would sit and do nothing if Soul Society doesn't find you," said Ichigo.

In the sequence of events from his visions, Renji and Byakuya had come to take Rukia the very day after he and Ishida defeated the Menos. Although it seemed like a clear cause and effect relationship, in which Soul Society's surveillance must have caught Rukia near the scene and witnessed Ichigo's Shinigami powers, he couldn't shake the feeling that Aizen orchestrated it deliberately.

The fact was that Aizen did have control of Menos—that was how he escaped from Soul Society after his big reveal. It wasn't much of a stretch to think that he set things up for the Menos to appear, rather than it just being attracted by the Hollow bait. Ishida didn't know about the Menos either, like he didn't realize Hollow bait could attract such a thing.

"You're being paranoid, Ichigo. I have my powers again so you aren't fighting alone. You also don't look like a Shinigami anymore. That means there's no proof of my crime. Even if they try to bring me back, it shouldn't be a vice-captain or Captain. We can handle anybody else," said Rukia.

Ichigo looked down. "Alright, I won't train this late anymore. I really hope you're right Rukia…"

O O O

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