//------------------------------//
// Rebellion: Zangetsu's Truth 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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"Who in the world are you supposed to be?" Muramasa asked, though he was actually surprised by the fact that he had withdrawn Zangetsu from Ichigo Kurosaki's body and pulled him into this world, not even a few moments ago, only for him to get knocked backwards immediately by someone who looked like the Shinigami he had been targeting for some time, something that confused him greatly.

"I told you, my name is Zangetsu... though I wouldn't be surprised if you failed to understand me, since Ichigo has that very same problem, despite what his friends tell him." Zangetsu commented, but the whole time he talked he kept his eyes on the Old Man that was in front of him, as he felt so many emotions just by staring at him, even though the strongest one of the bunch was his intense burning hatred for the other spirit he had been living with until his departure, before he thought about something else, "Hey, Lord Sombra, do you think we should move this fight somewhere else? Honestly, I don't much care for the Shinigami or Soul Society, but since they're your allies, and they might get mad at us if I blow this entire place away, I'll let you decide if we fight here, in the Seireitei, or if we fight somewhere else... though once you make a decision I'm starting the fight."

"No, we should move this elsewhere." Sombra said, to which he flashed into the middle of the area between Zangetsu and the Old Man, surprising Muramasa with his sheer speed for a moment, before his horn flared as he accessed one of his magical abilities, one of the few that he could use in his base state, which he spread to his hands as he waved them around for a few seconds, "Greater Teleportation."

Muramasa watched as a rectangular aura appeared on the ground around them, a light blue one that made him think about the Kido that Shinigami used all the time, and could barely move as everyone in the immediate area around him started to vanish before his eyes, before the same thing happened to him. One second he was standing in the middle of a street, where he had freed Ichigo's Zanpakuto spirit, and the next second he was standing in a mountain area that had been flattened, which served as a training ground for the Lieutenant and Captain level Shinigami when they didn't want to practice inside the Seireitei. The technique that had been used was unlike the Forbidden Kido that he had heard about and had never seen in use, Kukanten'i, which apparently allowed the user to teleport a specified portion of space from one location to another, and Jikanteishi, a spell that supposedly froze the time of the area around the user, also specified in some manner. Despite never having seen those two Kido in effect he was sure that Sombra had done something similar to that, teleporting himself and everyone around him to a new area to fight in within a few seconds, though the fact that he could do that, without any preparations or anything, meant that he might be a formidable opponent that he'd have to keep his eyes on, to figure out how he was going to get at his Zanpakuto.

While all this went through Muramasa's head, however, Sombra glanced at the area around them for a moment and studied where the pair would be fighting in, finding that it was a decent spot for two spirits to go all out and fight like they mean it, before he picked up Ichigo and pulled away, leaving Zangetsu and the Old Man to fight each other, even though he could feel a fair number of reiatsu signatures coming their way, ones that had to belong to the rest of the spirits that had betrayed their partners.

"Old Man, there's one thing I have to ask you before we start," Zangetsu said, though at the same time he lifted his blade up and readied himself, because he knew that once he had the answer to his question he was going to attack his target and destroy him, while noticing that his Lord was dropping Ichigo off on the ground so he could pay attention to what was going to happen next, "Why did you leave our 'partner'?"

"I merely wished to see which of us was stronger," the Old Man replied, to which he held his blade to the side, in a stance that indicated it could be brought into the battle immediately, before he stared at Zangetsu, as a part of him was curious as to why the former Zanpakuto spirit asked the question, "After you left, and started serving Sombra while living in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo lost the power to manifest his Hollow mask, something that he worked hard to acquire, but he was still strong and I was curious as to which of the two of us was the strongest in our current situation... and right now you're interrupting the match I was going to have with him."

"Me? Interrupting your match?" Zangetsu stated, to which he laughed for a moment, because he found what the Old Man had said to be funny, especially given the current circumstances of his departure from Ichigo's body, before he drew serious once more and faced his foe, "Please, we both know that without me, the true source of his power, there's no way he can win a fight against you, because I was the one that helped him every step of the way while you tortured him, and nearly killed him, with your ridiculous training exercises so he could gain both my base form and my Bankai. We both know that the real reason is because you like to torment him and break his body, especially since your training for him to learn my Bankai nearly resulted in the destruction of his entire body, something my power had to hold together while he was being cut apart by Byakuya. You're not the one who saved him time and time again, Old Man, and you always made sure that you got the credit for everything, while making sure I was the 'evil one' that he couldn't trust... I hate you, Old Man, and I am going to DESTROY YOU!"

The first thing that Zangetsu did was switch his hand from holding the actual handle of his blade to the cloth that was wrapped around it, allowing him to swing the entire blade above his head for a few seconds, before he flashed through the air and appeared behind the Old Man, whose eyes widened as he realized where his foe was standing. Not even a second alter he pulled the cloth in a way that brought the blade down on where the Old Man was standing, causing an explosion of rock that sent his foe up into the air, which he fully intended to have happen since he flashed into the air behind him and swung his blade again. This time around the force of his attack sent his foe right back into the ground, to which he rushed down to where the Old Man was standing and turned to the side as an attack came his way, because the difference between the two of them was that he was able to move quickly with the larger blade, since it was his weapon after all, while the Old Man's speed decreased since he wasn't used to wielding his base form. When the Old Man got up and attacked him, with his slower attacks, Zangetsu grinned as he parried the first attack and then loosed a series of five slashes at his opponent, finding that the Old Man could block them all easily, but the sixth attack that came after the first group was much stronger and quicker, allowing him to knock the Old Man backwards, who touched the ground with his left hand once before flashing around the area they were in.

Zangetsu recognized the technique immediately, as it was the whole flashing around and making a dozen copies of himself to fool his opponent into attacking the wrong one, similar to how Ichigo had showed off his Bankai to Byakuya the first time around, but he was no fool. To someone that could follow reiatsu around, such as Sombra for instance, tracking the Old Man was child's play, and since Zangetsu knew this trick he knew exactly where to attack, as he hurled his blade at a point that was diagonally to his left and forced the Old Man to parry his attack, cutting off the technique he was trying to use and pushed him backwards for a moment. When he moved to retrieve his blade Zangetsu also rushed forward, as he intended to attack while the Old Man's defenses were open, though when the Old Man regained himself and pointed his blade at him, without the reiatsu gathering or anything, Zangetsu moved to the side, avoided the attack entirely, and then hurled his foe into the rock wall nearby by grabbing onto his face and throwing him through the air. The sad part about all this was that he wasn't getting any satisfaction from beating the Old Man, not when he was hiding his true power from him, and he was going to keep pushing him until either he got what he wanted or he outright cut the Old Man down and ended the fight they were in.

A few moments later he noticed some movement and the Old Man burst out of the smoke, landing on the ground nearby, but this time around blue bits of reiatsu were being pulled into his blade, indicating what he was going to do, to which Zangetsu held his blade up into the air as his own black and red reiatsu gathered around his blade.

"Getsuga..." the two of them said, their blades glowing for a moment as they finalized their preparations for their next attack, before Zangetsu grinned as they both, in unison, swung their blades at their targets and called out the second half of the technique's name, "Tensho!"

The two crescent wave attacks, one blue and one black with a red outline, rushed through the air and collided with each other, blowing up upon contact and blowing a small hole in the ground, though Zangetsu wasn't too surprised since it didn't take very much of his power to actually counter the Old Man's attack. Not even a few seconds later the Old Man surged through the smoke and tried to attack Zangetsu while his gaze was obscured by the results of their attacks colliding with each other, but Zangetsu expected that tactic and moved out of the way, allowing his opponent's blade to pass by his head before kicking the Old Man in the chest, sending him out of the smoke once more. This time around the Old Man went on the defensive as Zangetsu chased after him, because wherever he landed, be in the ground, the side of the mountain, or even one of the nearby boulders, Zangetsu would appear either above or behind him and swing down at where he was standing, blasting a hole in the ground, cutting a gash into the rock wall, or completely destroying the boulder that his foe stood on for a second. To truly show that he was on the defensive the Old Man also avoided his attacks to the best of his ability, ducking and weaving before moving into his own attack, something that Zangetsu would either block or dodge, until the Old Man scored a lucky hit and cut a shallow diagonal gash into his chest, one that his Instant Regeneration healed in seconds.

The Old Man frowned for a moment as he stared at his foes open chest, as Zangetsu still wore the same outfit that Grimmjow did, as he liked it and didn't much care for the attire that Ichigo wore, but at the same time he knew that keeping his blade in the base form wasn't going to help him, not with as fast and as powerful as his foe was.

"I... I don't believe it." Ichigo commented, as he had been watching the entire fight, from Sombra's side, and had been surprised by what he was seeing, because he never thought that the Old Man would be pushed back in such a manner, especially to his former inner Hollow, "He's... he's pushing Old Man Zangetsu back."

"Yes, Zangetsu is putting on a good show." Sombra said, this time ignoring Ichigo's insistence to call the Old Man by the name of his Zanpakuto, especially since his former partner was standing nearby, but even as he thought about that he noticed more reiatsu signatures closing in on their location, though now he knew that the other spirits, the Captains and Lieutenants, and the rest of his reinforcements had come to watch the battle, "Though it will be awhile before they decide to bring an end to this fight, so relax and enjoy the show."

Ichigo looked at Sombra for a moment, wondering why he was so calm when Old Man Zangetsu was being pushed back, but decided to say nothing, because he hoped that his Zanpakuto spirit would win the fight and beat his former inner Hollow, so he could beat Old Man Zangetsu himself.

"What's the matter, Old Man? Are you getting tired already?" Zangetsu inquired, though he had to say that he was still impressed with the abilities that the Old Man possessed, as he was the only one that was able to actually hurt him in a battle, both inside Ichigo's inner world and out here, in the world where both of them would fight each other, "Or have you decided to lay down your weapon and surrender?"

"I was just recalling the last time we fought." the Old Man replied, even though the last time they actually crossed blades was before Ichigo's Visored training, resulting in Zangetsu being the dominate one during that time period, but he hadn't forgotten the tricks his foe had used and knew how to turn them against his foe, "I've beaten you before and I'll beat you again today."

"Oh really?" Zangetsu asked, to which he held his blade at the ready and beckoned for his foe to come at him once more, because it appeared that the Old Man had a plan of attack this time around and he was eager to see exactly what sort of thing happened this time around, "Come and try!"

The Old Man went on the offensive, though what was different this time around was that he was actually dodging Zangetsu's attacks for the first few moments, surprising Muramasa at the very least, but Zangetsu didn't seem to mind, not when he started doing a bunch of random attacks that had no pattern to them. One instance was when Zangetsu dodged an incoming attack and used his speed to get into the air diagonally behind the Old Man, where he swung his blade by using the cloth, though this time, when it was knocked back, he continued with his assault and used the cloth to direct the next few swings he sent towards the Old Man, who had trouble dodging his technique. He called this style of his 'Deadly Darts', where he took on the position of a mid-range fighter, though the benefit was that his swings were that much stronger, as he could leave craters wherever his weapon struck and inflict serious damage at the same time, if he was lucky enough to catch his target. The only reason the Old Man was able to dodge him was because of his speed, which was something that Zangetsu took into consideration when he used this against him, but for the most part it appeared that the power behind his attacks was too much for his foe to handle, as he could see the strain in the Old Man's eyes whenever he tried to block this type of attack... before he knocked him into one of the large boulders that were resting nearby and withdrew his blade by grabbing onto the cloth.

Not even a few seconds later the Old Man surged out of the area that the dust had come from, heading right for the position that Zangetsu was standing in, though even as the attack came at him Zangetsu parried the incoming blow and pushed his foe backwards, before continuing what he had been doing. He lunged at the Old Man and swung his blade around by the cloth, allowing it to spin through the air and become even more dangerous than it had been before, and even if his foe dodged his attack there were plenty more where that came from, especially since he could flash around the battlefield that had been chosen for him and use any direction to attack from. In a matter of moments Zangetsu found that he was the one controlling the battle, as he was pushing the Old Man around like it was nothing, making him wonder what was going on or if his new form was just that strong, despite the fact that he hadn't released his Bankai or his true power, but he decided to focus on that later as he swung his blade downwards and sent the Old Man flying into the ground. From there he smiled as he raised his left hand and pointed it right at his target, to which his reiatsu flared as he generated a red Cero, which served to remind those that knew him that he was also a Hollow, or an Arrancar, and that he could fire one of these as well, before he fired it and let it detonate on the area that the Old Man had been knocked into... to which he watched the explosion as he landed nearby, keeping his smile on his face at the same time.

Zangetsu knew that if this had happened while he was still in Ichigo's body, and was allowed to fight the Old Man like this, he'd be a beast of pure instinct and would have been wounded a few more times, but thanks to his current state he knew that the upper hand was still his, especially since they weren't using their full power yet... though when the smoke cleared he found the Old Man standing straight with his blade facing him, but the fact that his reiatsu was increasing told him what his foe was doing.

"So, we're doing that now." Zangetsu commented, to which he raised his blade until the tip was pointed at his foe while the cloth wrapped around his right arm, which was the major difference between what he was doing and what the Old Man was doing, since the cloth never wrapped around his foe's arm, before his reiatsu flared as well.

"Bankai!" the two of them called out in unison, which was followed by two fierce releases of Zangetsu's final stage as a Zanpakuto, kicking up wind and dust in the process as one was light blue colored and the second was white colored, and when everything settled down the Old Man appeared with just the weapon that came with this state, while Zangetsu appeared in his Bankai state with his usual grin on his face.

The moment the two of them were ready they rushed at each other, the Old Man seeming to glide above the ground while Zangetsu flew straight at him, though the moment their blades connected the air vibrated for a few seconds as the wind was knocked up, indicating that they were both strong, but Zangetsu continued his assault without delay. Sombra could tell that the weight of the base form had been slowing the Old Man down, since it technically wasn't a weapon that he was tied to, and that releasing it had allowed him to regain his true speed, but the problem was that by doing it in this manner he had allowed Zangetsu to do the same thing, basically putting them back at the same level they had been at when they started the battle. That became evident when the Old Man swung his blade and sent a black Getsuga Tensho at Zangetsu, who stood still and sighed as he waved his arm at it, splitting the attack into two halves that struck the rock wall some distance behind him, causing the entire wall to collapse as he grinned, because showing off like that, against the one being that he hated more than Ichigo, made him feel better, especially since his current opponent wasn't the expert of his techniques like he thought he was.

Not even a moment later he appeared in front of the Old Man, grabbed onto his head before his foe could even move from where he was standing, and hurled him through the air, causing him to hit a larger boulder in the process and kick up some dust as well, though while all this happened he noticed that Ichigo seemed to be staring at them in shock, but not in the manner that he had been hoping for. A second later another Getsuga Tensho came racing at him, to which he sighed and raised his hand towards it, stopping it in it's tracks with just the palm of his left hand, before he crushed it by forcefully closing his hand, which was when the Old Man appeared in the air above him with the intent of piercing him from above with the tip of his blade. Zangetsu, on the other hand, thrust his left hand into the air and released the remains of the attack he crushed, letting the fragments hang there and caused the Old Man to back off, who flashed down to the area near him and loosed a series of attacks at Zangetsu, who closed his eyes and dodged the attacks. Despite the fact that he was no longer connected to Ichigo, since he had abandoned him and all that, he could feel the presence of the Old Man's Bankai blade and could dodge it accordingly, though at the same time he found that his foe had more experience than Ichigo did with this form... but in the end the Old Man swung at him and he raised his left hand, stopping the blade from hitting him, before he opened his eyes and stared at his foe.

The Old Man actually seemed surprised, something that annoyed Zangetsu since this was still his blade and not the one that his foe was supposed to be using, before he gripped the edge of his foe's blade and kicked him in the chest, to which he forced the Old Man to let got of the blade and knocked him backwards... before he shattered the blade that his foe had been using and tossed the fragments to the side, allowing him to stare at his opponent as he thought about what had happened so far.

"You're stronger than Ichigo, when it comes to both Shikai and Bankai," Zangetsu said, and that was true to some extent, especially since his foe had only hit him once and his Instant Regeneration had mended his wound in a matter of seconds, though he knew that one observer would be shocked by what he said, "but let's face it, Old Man, you'll never be stronger than me if you keep using the power I LET you use. If you want a chance to actually beat me, before I get annoyed and use my full power, you should call forth your truth power and fight me with the power you inherited, otherwise you won't be able to survive what comes next."

"No." the Old Man stated, causing Zangetsu to raise one of his eyebrows in surprise for a moment, because it appeared that his foe was lacking common sense, just like Ichigo lacked a pair amount of it almost all the time, but at the same time he had to admit that this action wasn't what he was expecting and made him curious as to what the Old Man was planning next.

"Excuse me?" Zangetsu asked, to which he growled for a moment as he marched forward, where he grabbed the Old Man by the shadowy fabric that formed him cloak and pinned him against one of the boulders that he hadn't destroyed during their battle, "It seems that you didn't hear what I just said. The only way you'll be able to beat me is to use the power that you inherited from Ichigo's parents, just like I gained the power of a Shinigami from his father, otherwise I'll end up destroying you and ending this battle before you even realize what's going on. The power you displayed during our previous fights, the same power that you used to dominate me when we first arrived in Ichigo's inner world, that's the power that would allow you to fight on par with me and potentially even overcome me before I have a chance to release my full power, and I know you understand that fact. So let's not play around anymore, Old Man, otherwise I will break you into a thousand pieces and knock that Muramasa creep around a few times... though if that's not enough to entice you to battle me with your full power, and you remain a coward, I could just target Ichigo and end this."

The Old Man stared at him for a few moments, as if he was trying to determine whether or not he was being series about what he had said, before he sighed and waved his right hand, where he opened his cloak and revealed that he had a white shirt and black pants, though in that instant the reishi in the air gathered and formed a bright blue broadsword with a guard that looked like a pair of wings, something that he grabbed and pointed it's tip at his foe.

"Very well, Zangetsu, I shall show you my power once more." the Old Man stated, to which his cloak moved back, as if it was a cape instead of a cloak, and as he focused on his opponent he noticed, in the corner of his eye, that Ichigo was shocked by what he was doing, something that would have to wait until later as he directed his full attention to the person that he was facing.

Zangetsu rushed forward as the Old Man charged at him, their blades meeting once more as they neared each other and the air shaking in response to their blades meeting, but as they pulled away from each other a few moments later, however, the Old Man gathered some reiatsu and swung his hand as a blue crescent appeared in front of him, where a pair of large arrows were loosed and raced towards the area that Zangetsu was standing in. Zangetsu noticed the arrows coming his way and smiled as he swung his blade at them, using the wind to knock them out of the air as he stared at his opponent, who flashed through the air and rushed at him while he was taking out the arrows, to which their blades met each other again. This time around the Old Man went on the offensive and displayed that his speed when he was using his true power was actually greater than when he was borrowing Zangetsu's power, as this time when he pulled back and flashed through the area around them the clones he made actually were copies of him, each possessing a bit of his reiatsu to make finding the real one even harder than before, and they all attacked Zangetsu in rapid succession, just like he did to Ichigo during his Bankai training. The only difference that Zangetsu discovered was that this time all of the clones were trying to kill him, not beat him into submission like all the other times they fought, to which he growled for a moment as he flashed around the area that they were in, swinging his blade at the foes that came near him while also trying to find the real Old Man so he could loose a Getsuga Tensho at him.

While the two of them were flashing around in the air, and Ichigo was watching the battle with a look of shock in his eyes as the person who had the advantage switched from Zangetsu to the Old Man and back again, Sombra determined something about the Old Man. His power seemed to be just like Uryu's, to gather reishi from the area around him and use that to form arrows that could be used against his opponent, though that made him wonder why the Old Man had such a power, even though he now understood why the spirit had been trying to hide it in the first place. The more he considered what was going on the more he was convinced that his thoughts were correct, in the sense that Ichigo had inherited his Shinigami power from his father, which made sense seeing how Isshin was a retired Shinigami that was hiding in the World of the Living with his family, but this revealed that there was another power sleeping inside Ichigo's body, one that he must have inherited from his mother. Since he he never met Masaki Kurosaki, Ichigo's mother and Isshin's wife, he had no idea if he was right or if he was wrong, but seeing how the Old Man could form what appeared to be a rather large Quincy bow and could fire decent sized Quincy arrows in rapid succession, and even use the reishi in the area around him to form a broadsword, he had the feeling that his thoughts might be right... which he decided to keep to himself for now, as it appeared that he wouldn't be able to get anywhere with Ichigo, who was so focused on the fight that he might have overlooked something important once more.

Just as Zangetsu and the Old Man clashed in the middle of the area that they had been fighting in, where the collision of their powers created a crater beneath them, Sombra turned his head to the side for a moment and watched as Renji and the rest of the important Shinigami flashed into the area near them.

"Sombra, what's going on?" Renji asked, as the moment he, and the rest of the Captains and Lieutenants, felt the arrival of an individual that shared a similar reiatsu to Ichigo and Zangetsu they came running, especially since the reiatsu of Muramasa was in the area as well, before he noticed that Ichigo's true Zanpakuto spirit was fighting the one they had assumed was his Zanpakuto spirit.

"Zangetsu and the Old Man are battling each other at the moment," Sombra replied, though at the same time the Old Man waved his left arm and loosed several more arrows at his target, where Zangetsu danced around the area that they were fighting in and let the arrows hit the ground around him before charging into the air once more, before he thought about something else that was going on, "and it appears that the rest of the Zanpakuto spirits are gathering in the area as well, to see what the outcome of this fight will be. I will see that each of them possess their own unique forms, to set them apart from their former partners, though I think I can tell who some of them belong to just by looking at them."

Renji turned his head towards the area that Sombra was looking at and found all the Zanpakuto spirits that he and the others had seen, when Muramasa revealed himself to them and announced his intentions, standing nearby, staring at the two combatants as they broke the area around them. As he moved to do something Sombra held his hand out and shook his head, indicating that this wasn't the time to strike since they could disperse in a matter of seconds, to which Renji let out a sigh as he and the others settled in for the rest of the fight, which was when Zangetsu loosed a Getsuga Tensho at the clones that were coming at him from the side and blew them away, despite the fact that the Old Man was forming more of them from the reiatsu that was around them. Sombra could tell what was going on with the fight, as the Old Man was hiding behind all the clones that were attacking Zangetsu in an effort to exhaust his foe's power, allowing him to move in when Zangetsu was weakened and end the fight in an instant, though at the same time the look in Zangetsu's eyes told him that he knew what was going on, indicating that he had seen this tactic before and that he had a plan to get around what the Old Man was doing. Renji knew that Sombra had faith in Zangetsu, and frankly he didn't want to get on the bad side of the Zanpakuto spirit turned Arrancar that had once been inside Ichigo, to which he focused on the fight as well and said nothing, as he knew that one of them was going to bring an end to the fight.

Not even a minute after the Shinigami and the Zanpakuto spirits arrived to watch the fight the clones that the Old Man made flashed into the air all around Zangetsu, filling the air with at least twenty to thirty of him, before they all started to loose a storm of arrows at their target, forcing Zangetsu to stay where he was for the time being. Zangetsu let the arrows come at him as he switched his hold on his weapon, letting go of the handle and grabbed onto the chain that was below it, allowing him to extend his reach with his blade as he started to rapidly parry all of the arrows that were coming his way, knocking them out of the air in the process. When he had enough of the arrows he grabbed onto the handle of his blade again and swung his arm towards the clones, allowing a Getsuga Tensho to lash out at the surprised clones and cut down a fair number of them in the process, maybe ten at the most, but it served to get the rest off his back for a moment as he looked for the main foe that he wanted to defeat, who seemed to have vanished. Of course he then realized that this was all a distraction, as it was one of the oldest tricks the Old Man used when they fought inside Ichigo's inner world, and he looked up in time to see the Old Man loose a large arrow from the bow that had formed in the sky, something he had missed when he was fighting the clones, and he barely had even a second to consider his options as it barreled into his chest and sent him right into the ground.

That was followed by the arrow detonating when he reached the ground, consuming him in a violent explosion that rocked the area around them, to which the Old Man lowered himself to one of the nearby boulders as he watched the smoke, though he also made sure that his clones backed off as well, as he wanted to be prepared for anything and everything that his foe could throw at him.

"This is what I expected from someone like you, however, you made one mistake... you didn't kill me!" Zangetsu said, to which the smoke parted and revealed that he was standing in the middle of the crater, with some marks on him that indicated that he had been hit, before the Old Man realized that he was holding his blade pointed towards the ground that he was standing on, "I think it's about time that I showed you my true power... Slay them all, Frenetico."

The moment Zangetsu uttered the words necessary to access his true power, with a name that meant 'Berserker', a black circle of reiatsu, with a red outline, formed around him and started spinning, expanding outwards from where he was standing, and the Old Man even took a step back as he stared at what was happening before his eyes. Not a few seconds later the spinning reiatsu formed a miniature twister of sorts and completely covered Zangetsu from the sight of everyone that was watching them battle, which then drew close to his body for a moment or two before detonating like a explosion, kicking up a massive cloud of smoke that filled the area around him. When the smoke cleared fear filled Ichigo's body as he gazed upon the Hollow form he had taken on when he was fighting Ulquiorra, or rather the form his inner Hollow had taken on after possessing his body, but this time the only major difference was that the upper part of his Bankai attire was completely gone, indicating that he didn't need it while the power coming from him showed off that he was at his full potential, and the lower body part of the attire was just fine. The air was filled with bits of reiatsu that broke off from the transformation, allowing the Captains, Lieutenants, and Zanpakuto spirits to understand what was going on, and he could tell that Muramasa was completely confused by what was going on at the moment.

Zangetsu roared with all his might and the force of his voice shattered all of the clones that were in the area around him, surprising many of the viewers that were watching the two of them fight, even though the Shinigami were surprised by his true form, before he swung his blade at the Old Man. The force of just his swing shattered the ground between them, just like he did when he was fighting Ulquiorra some time ago, and the Old Man raised his left hand to form a powerful arrow that he planned on using against Zangetsu, one that seemed on the level of the previous one he had used against his foe. Zangetsu pointed his horns at his foe and his reiatsu flared in response, to which his crimson Cero formed between his horns as the Old Man's eyes widened in surprise, though not even a moment later their attacks were released and collided with each other, where the Cero consumed the arrow and blew up, consuming the area between them and blasted a large crater into the floor. As fire burst into the air around them, followed by a lot of smoke as well, the Old Man flashed into the air and stared down at the destruction that had occurred below him, because this was new since he had never fought Zangetsu with his full power unleashed against him, and he barely had time to figure out what to do next as his foe flashed into the air above him and swung his blade down on him, to which the force of the attack knocked him down towards the ground when he attempted to block it.

As the Old Man crashed into the ground a few moments later, and coughed because of what happened, Zangetsu pointed his head down towards where he was laying and started charging a second Cero, one that was loosed a few seconds later and collided with the area that his foe was in, consuming the area around the Old Man and kicking up more smoke and fire in the process. Muramasa, deciding that the battle had gone on long enough, flashed into the air and summoned his blade, so he could attack Zangetsu from behind, but in reality his attack was stopped by Sombra, who made sure he didn't get close to the duo that were currently fighting... before he spun around and kicked the Zanpakuto spirit so hard that he went flying into a rock wall.

"I know that you're excited, Muramasa, but wait your turn." Sombra said, to which he touched down on the ground near the area that the enemy leader had been thrown into, before he glanced back at the fight that was taking place at the moment, "Once Zangetsu and the Old Man are done with their fight, and we've settled this nonsense, I'll be sure to end this pointless war that you've started... but for now just stay right there and relax, because you won't want to miss what happens next."

Zangetsu remained in the space that he was standing in for a few seconds, waiting for the Old Man to make the next move, and he grinned as his foe burst out of the smoke and started to retreat from where they were fighting, to which he used his own speed and flashed over to a spot that was in front of where the Old Man was heading. From there he ran forward, his clawed feet racing against the ground as he zeroed in on where his foe was located, surprising the Old Man when he finally figured out where his opponent was approaching him from, and Zangetsu swung his blade at him, where he loosed an empowered Getsuga Tensho through the air at the same time. Instead of having the chance to dodge the attack, since it was coming too fast for him to actually dodge, the Old Man swung his blade and blocked the attack, all in an attempt to push it back and create an opening that he could use to wound his foe, but at the same time he felt that Zangetsu had the same time, because his reiatsu appeared in the space behind him. The reason Zangetsu did that was so he could swing his blade again and trap the Old Man between two Getsuga Tenshos, just like he did against Byakuya some time ago when he was forced to possess Ichigo's body so they could stay alive, and sure enough the Old Man let the second attack collide with his back, blowing up the entire area around them as Zangetsu landed on a nearby rock and waited for his foe to reappear.

This time around, when the Old Man burst out of the smoke, things were different, because he charged at Zangetsu and the two of them moved into the air, allowing their blades to do the talking as they swung at each other, where the only sounds that could be heard were their blades making contact and the nearby flames that were dying down. The Old Man was eventually able to create a small opening, one that he used to kick Zangetsu away from him and force him towards the ground, but even as that happened Zangetsu grinned and swung his blade at his foe, where the force of the swing flattened the area around him as he surged back up to where his opponent was floating. From there the Old Man moved out of the way, allowing the smoke and pieces of rock to provide him with some cover as he sought out a good place to attack from, though even as he prepared to strike Zangetsu surprised him by flashing into the area behind him. At that moment Zangetsu swung down at the Old Man, who blocked the incoming attack and found himself being thrown back down towards the ground, to which he flipped backwards and touched down on the earth that was below him, where he gathered some of the reishi in the air and started forming another arrow that he'd use against Zangetsu... but, as he was expecting to happen, his foe appeared on the ground nearby and countered his attack, the moment he loosed it, with another Cero, kicking up more smoke and fire in the process.

When the Old Man flashed up to a good vantage point, so he could observe the destruction and come up with a plan of attack, Zangetsu appeared above him and flew downwards, grabbing onto his neck in the process, before he hurled his foe at one of the rock walls that were nearby and consumed the area around him with a well placed Cero... though when the smoke cleared the Old Man emerged from the fire and collapsed on the ground, where his blade shattered and it seemed like he was done for.

"I should kill you for everything that you've done to me," Zangetsu stated, as he flashed down to where the Old Man was laying and stared at him, but at the same time he did nothing else but look at his foe, because it appeared that his full power, which was no longer restricted by the Old Man, had been too much for his foe to keep up with, "but what would the point of that be? You'd just go right back into Ichigo's body and continue living as his main source of power, just like you wanted to be since the first time we saw his inner world, a place that, oddly enough, was the only thing we ever agreed on, since we preferred a wild place with animals and nature, not the skyscrapers that we got in the end."

"Zangetsu, why were you so eager to fight me?" the Old Man asked, to which he coughed as he pushed himself back up and took a sitting position this time around, indicating that the fight might as well be over for them, before he looked up at his foe, "What drove you to abandon Ichigo?"

"You're kidding, right? Your part of the reason I left." Zangetsu stated, as he couldn't believe his luck, because it seemed like both Ichigo and the Old Man were having problems, but at the very least the Old Man was more than willing to call him by his true name, something that he'd never get from Ichigo, "Since the day his mother died, the same day we became aware of our existence inside his inner world, you trapped me and the majority of my power inside a seal or a prison of your own design, only letting out scraps of my power whenever you needed to help Ichigo out. You kept me that way for years, never letting me talk to you and even when I managed to get some words out, so our 'partner' could hear me you silenced my words before they could get too far, and when the day I could reveal myself came you locked me away and presented yourself as his Zanpakuto spirit, telling him that my name was your name and that I was only a Hollow. You only accessed my power to train Ichigo, taking the credit for being the one to help him whenever he needed help or when he faced a powerful opponent, and instead of seeing me as an ally, like he should have, he saw me as an enemy that needed to be imprisoned and forgotten about."

Before saying anything else Zangetsu delivered a powerful upper cut and knocked the Old Man into the air, where he spun around and kicked him once more, forcing him to take a few steps backwards instead of flying through the air, but this time he didn't care as he let his blade fall out of his hand as he punched the Old Man in the face.

"Do you even understand what I've been through?" Zangetsu asked, though as he said that he stared at the Old Man with every ounce of his hatred being brought to the surface, something that kept the Old Man from moving away from the area as he stood straight up, "No, what am I saying, of course you don't understand the pain I've been through. Sure, my goals were to take over his body and use his power further down the line, but in the beginning I was just a simple spirit, one that was bound to become the weapon of a Shinigami if he ever unlocked his power, and you stole everything from me! The other Zanpakuto spirits might be rebelling against their partners, for whatever reasons I don't care enough to learn about, but there's a difference between me and them, and that's the fact that they managed to converse with their partners and bond with each other... something that you stole from me and ensured that I would never get to experience, all because you wanted to keep Ichigo for yourself. So guess what, Old Man, you can have Ichigo and float in that stupid inner world of his without me, because I'm never going back to that damned prison you stuck me in."

"So I was right, you do hate me." the Old Man commented, as he had the feeling that Zangetsu would be like this, that his anger and hatred would be fierce when he started talking, but before he could say anything more his foe punched him in the face once more.

"Hate you? I loathe you, Old Man." Zangetsu stated, to which he raised his left hand and grabbed his foe's face, where he made sure to apply enough pressure so he could lift the Old Man into the air as he spoke, "From the moment you showed yourself to Ichigo, and presented yourself as his Zanpakuto spirit, you poisoned his mind and turned him against me, just like you kept me imprisoned for all those years, and in the end my desire to be his Zanpakuto shattered, giving rise to a burning hatred for the both of you. I gave up on dreaming of the day that he'd come to his senses and recognize that I was his true partner, something that he'll never accept despite our best efforts to tell him the truth, and fully embraced my nature as his inner Hollow, as I figured that I might be able to win if I took over his entire body. Even after I took you out, and became the sole voice he could hear, he never listened, not even when we were fighting in the Visored's hideout, and he bested me so he could put you back on the shining pedestal, while I faded into the deepest pit of his inner world... at least until Ulquiorra came along and set me free, though I never got any thanks for saving his life over the last couple of months, something that I can blame you for as well.

Besides, I hate Ichigo because he refuses to believe the truth, listens to a liar that nearly kills him every time the two of you train, and keeps insisting that you are 'Zangetsu' while I'm just his 'inner Hollow', so you can keep him as your partner, because I've moved onto bigger and better things."

Zangetsu held his right hand out and called his blade back to him, though as it did so he changed it back into it's base form, which he drove right into the Old Man's chest the instant it was back in his hand, causing the Old Man to cough up some blood as he realized what was going on, before he pulled his hand off his head and withdrew his larger blade as he shrunk it once more, all while letting his foe stumble backwards with a bleeding vertical cut in his chest.

"I hate you too," Ichigo stated, to which Zangetsu glanced behind him for a moment and noticed that Ichigo had moved into the area behind him, meaning that he had listened to what was going on, even though he might still not know who the real Zangetsu was, "Old Man, it seems the fight is finished... but I have to ask something. Is... is it true what he said? That he was the original Zanpakuto spirit and you took over a long time ago?"

Zangetsu was glad that his final form still had the skull mask over his head, preventing his emotions from being seen by those around him, because he was confused and shocked by the sudden turn this was taking, but at the same time he heard the Old Man cough as he stood straight once more.

"Ichigo... yes, it is true." the Old Man said, where he noticed that Ichigo had a look of shock appear on his face, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing at the moment, before he sighed, "I'll tell you the truth: I never wanted you to become a Shinigami, so I did everything in my power to bind your true power and kept it hidden from you, which was why you could only see ghosts for the longest time. The reason I did that was because you would be risking your life and limbs, exposing yourself to various perils, and experiencing pains that would ruin your life, to the point where I considered a potential end goal where I'd be the one to cut you down, to save you from all this pain and suffering. However, after having seen you overcome so many trials already, even overcoming Zangetsu leaving you, I've decided to change my mind and do everything in my power to aid you... even if it means using my power to mimic the techniques and power that your former Zanpakuto spirit possessed, allowing you to have the same power before you lost him."

"I... I see." Ichigo replied, to which he turned towards the being that was standing nearby, who happened to be staring at the two of them, since he was technically interrupting the battle that had been taking place in this area, "I... I guess I owe you an apology then... Zangetsu."

"Just because you finally figured out who I am doesn't mean I'll forgive you," Zangetsu stated, though at the same time he growled for a moment as he gripped the handle of his blade, to which he faced the Old Man once more as his reiatsu gathered around the blade, "As for you, Old Man, have a taste of my wrath for everything you've done!"

Ichigo barely had a moment to understand what was going on as Zangetsu, as in the former Zanpakuto spirit that had abandoned him and who he had thought was someone who wanted him dead all this time, swung his arm and loosed a powerful Getsuga Tensho right into the Old Man, where the explosion consumed him and kicked up dust as he carved a deep gash into the ground behind his target. When the smoke cleared both he and Ichigo found a shattered blade that resembled his Bankai form, though as he noticed that Ichigo tapped his chest, indicating that the other spirit was back where he belonged, before Zangetsu stared at the remaining Zanpakuto spirits that were standing off in the distance.

"They have to be shaking in their boots." Ichigo commented, though at the same time he released a powerful burst of reiatsu as he shifted back into his Bankai state, indicating that he was going to stand by the real Zangetsu's side if the remaining spirits came at them, "Especially since Sombra bashed Muramasa away earlier, when he tried to interrupt your battle with the Old Man."

"I still hate you, Ichigo," Zangetsu said, to which he held his blade to the side once more, because there were a fair number of enemies that had amassed in the nearby area, all of which he would gladly fight and destroy, since that was the reason they came here in the first place, "It will take more than calling me by my real name to mend the wounds that you have inflicted on me, and make me like you, so don't think this gets you anythi..."

"Um, hi..." a voice said, to which Zangetsu and Ichigo watched as a spirit with a pink cat tail appeared in front of them, though at the same time Ichigo noticed that she was rubbing her arm for a moment and was staring at Zangetsu, "I... I know we're enemies, but... but, I... I think your hot!"

Zangetsu and Ichigo stood there for a moment as the spirit seemed to realize what she had said, to Zangetsu of all people, before she bowed her head and flashed out of the area that they were standing in, though all she really did was return to where the other spirits were standing. Not a few seconds later Sombra stood near the pair, noticing that some of the rebellious spirits seemed scared of Zangetsu and his power, but at the same time he stared at Muramasa, who was staring at them right now, and he knew what he had to do next, though he was certain that the Zanpakuto spirits were going to be utterly shocked by what he did next.