Bleach: Heart of a Hero

by Blackdrag-rose

Arrancar: Ichigo's Inner Battle

"So, how exactly are you going to force Ichigo into his inner world and make him fight his inner Hollow?" Sombra asked, as while he had offered to battle the Hollow that would take over his friend's body, and make sure that no one else got hurt in the process, the Visored were keeping information from him and he needed to know what they were planning on doing before they got started.

"I'm going to use a Kido that will knock him out and send his conscious to his inner world," Shinji replied, though at the same time he was honestly surprised that someone wanted to battle an inner Hollow without being one of the Visored, as it was usually one of their own that stalled the emerging creature and not an outsider, "Normally we'd have him sit down on the 'Super Hiyori Trainer', the rowing machine, until he could go for three whole days on it without collapsing, but, after taking into consideration how quickly he was able to get his Shinigami powers back, gain his Shikai, and then unlock his Bankai, I think it's safe to say that doing things his way might not be the worst route we can take. Ichigo doesn't think that he has the time to spare, doing our method of training, and while it's true that he knows nothing about the Hogyoku or the time it takes for the artifact to awaken, he's not wrong that doing it his way might be best for everyone, so he can be ready for the real training... assuming he beats his inner Hollow."

"And how do you know all of this?" Ichigo asked, as he had no idea how Shinji and the rest of the Visored knew about the Hogyoku and everything he went through to get the level of power that he was currently using, and he didn't like that Shinji had told him that he'd tell him later on, as that meant never in his mind.

Sombra, on the other hand, knew the connection between Shinji and Urahara, as he had been told that the Visored were normal Shinigami that Aizen had experimented on years ago, which explained so much about them and why they hated the rest of the Shinigami for what happened to them. He didn't say anything because it wasn't his place to go about revealing everyone's secrets, rather he focused on the issue at hand that they would be focusing on, and that was finding a good place for him to battle Ichigo's inner Hollow, even though something told him that the Visored had that covered as well. He also knew that the reason the Visored knew about Ichigo's skills and techniques was because Urahara likely told them what had happened to him during his own training, and likely gave them a little more information when he and his friends returned from Soul Society.

"Like I said, I'll tell you the details another day." Shinji replied, though this time around he glanced from Ichigo to Sombra for a moment, as if studying them as he thought about something, before he sighed and his reiatsu started to gather around his right hand, "Well then, since you want to do things your way, shall we get the show started?"

"I'd like that." Ichigo said, as the sooner he dealt with his inner Hollow, and gained control over his body once more, the sooner he and the others could resume their training for when Aizen's Arrancar showed up to attack the town, as he knew that more would be coming in the future, before he glanced at his friend, "You ready, Sombra?"

"Of course." Sombra answered, though at the same time he rested a hand on Shokyo's handle, because right now he knew that if he drew Rey from his scabbard his old self would come back to the surface immediately and that Ichigo would likely die before he had a chance to finish his own fight, so he was sticking to his Shinigami powers at the moment.

"Well then, let's get started." Shinji said, to which he stepped forward and raised his right hand so that the palm was facing Ichigo's face, where he started to release the Kido that he had been gathering and started to send Ichigo's conscious into his inner world, "Nighty night, Ichigo."

A few seconds later Ichigo's eyes went blank as his body started to sway, as the Kido Shinji had been preparing had done the trick, though before he fell Love dropped into the area and caught him, allowing him to carrying Ichigo's body over his left shoulder. As Shinji waved his hand to close Ichigo's eyes Hachi clapped his hands together, once above his head and once in front of his belly, to form a double barrier around the warehouse, one that Sombra knew was designed to hide them entirely and keep people away from the building. Once all that was taken care of one of the other Visored moved behind one of the pillars and flipped a switch, where an opening in the floor, in the direct center of the bottom floor no less, opened up and revealed a staircase that went into the ground, to which Shinji lead the way as the others followed after him, and Sombra noticed that Lisa was carrying Zangetsu like it was no problem. It didn't take them long to reach the bottom of the stairs, where Sombra noticed that the area they would be fighting in was another underground, just like the ones that Urahara and Yoruichi made in both Soul Society and under his shop, before they moved out some distance and roughly placed Ichigo on the ground.

Sombra glanced around for a few seconds and noticed that there were a number of rock formations scattered around the area, which was good since that would provide some difference to the battle that would be coming his way, and he noticed that the Visored were beginning to back away before the transformation started.

"Hachi, place a barrier down here as w..." Shinji started to say, though before he could finish his statement Sombra shook his head, indicating that limiting the area around them was not necessary, which caused him to growl in annoyance as he stared at Sombra, "Okay, what do you have in mind?"

"You should place a barrier around the stairs and the area you'll be sitting in," Sombra commented, as he felt that giving the Hollow a lot more room to fight in might make him happy, especially since he liked to flash around the area and throw Getsuga Tensho's around like they were candy, before he turned his gaze towards Hachi, "and, just to give us a few more minutes of peace before the battle truly starts, why don't you place seals on his body as well."

"Good idea." Hachi said, though at the same time he clasped his hands together and the wind around him vibrated for a moment, causing the others to turn and watch what he was doing, though that was followed by five small yellow orbs that started to emerge from the gasps between his fingers, "Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end. Bakudo Number 75: Gochutekkan."

When Hachi reached the part when he was saying the technique's name he raised his clasped hands into the air and the orbs formed a circle around the top of his hands, before he brought them against the ground and caused the orbs to sink into the ground, which caused them to disappear. That was followed by the sky lighting up for a moment as five tall and thick pillars, which appeared to be made out of iron and happened to be connected to each other by chains at the top of each pillar, descended from the sky and pinned Ichigo's body to the ground. Once that had happened Hachi and the other Visored, including Yoruichi, retreated to the stairs as Sombra stood nearby, waiting for the Hollow to emerge and draw himself from the ground, where the battle between them would commence as Ichigo dueled his Hollow inside his inner world, which he suspected would influence this world as well. He knew that it was only a matter of time until the battle in Ichigo's inner world started, and he knew that the Visored knew at as well, though at the same time he kept a hand on Shokyo's handle as he waited for his enemy to show up and start the fight.

A few minutes later, however, the air vibrated around him as he felt the rising reiatsu that was coming from Ichigo, one that contained the familiar nature of a Hollow, and knew that his foe was waking up, all he had to do was be patient and the battle would begin.

---

Ichigo moaned for a moment as he opened his eyes and found himself laying on the side of the same building that he always woke up on when he entered his inner world, the same one that he had first met Zangetsu on back when he was in danger of becoming a Hollow. As he remembered that he quickly picked himself up and glanced around the area that he happened to be in at the moment, as he wanted to see if he could find the spirit of his Zanpakuto and get his help, even if it was just advice, on how to beat his inner Hollow. Unfortunately he not only couldn't find old man Zangetsu anywhere, but the power that his Zanpakuto spirit emitted was gone as well, meaning that his inner Hollow must have done something to him while he was busy fighting someone in the World of the Living, which annoyed him to no end. With that taken care of he completed his circle and faced the top of the building, where he found what looked like a white version of himself sitting on the edge, waiting for him, and he knew that his inner Hollow had been patiently waiting for his arrival, as he likely heard what was going to happen and prepared for the battle that was going to start.

He didn't like his inner Hollow, not with how dangerous it was and the fact that it was threatening to destroy everything that he cared about, which meant that he had to fight it now and defeat it before something terrible happened, like him losing his body or something... though not a few seconds later the Hollow glanced up at him with the same smile on his face, one that still freaked him out to no end.

"Hey, it's been a while... King." the Hollow said, though that was before he stood up and drew himself to his full height, the same height that Ichigo had, before staring at the face that Ichigo was making while continuing to wear his signature grin, the same grin he hated, "What's wrong? You're look pretty gloomy right now."

"Where is he?" Ichigo asked, because he figured that he might as well get some answers out of the Hollow before he beat the daylights out of him, as that was the whole reason he had agreed to Sombra's plan and had come into his inner world in the first place, "Where is old man Zangetsu? What did you do to..."

"I don't understand you sometimes." the Hollow replied, to which he raised his hand and pointed at the Zangetsu that Ichigo was now in the process of drawing from his back, in case an attack came, before using that same hand to grab what was on his back, "When you talk about Zangetsu, are you talking about the one that's on your back? Or could you possibly mean the one that I'm holding?!"

Ichigo watched as the Hollow pulled a white Zangetsu from the black cloth that had been on his back, as the flat edge of the blade was white instead of the black that his had, the cutting edge was black instead of white, and the cloth that wrapped around the handle was black instead of white.

"A white... Zangetsu?!" Ichigo stated, shocked by the discovery of yet another Zangetsu, as he had no idea that such a blade even existed until this point in time, and that told him that the old man must have kept this one hidden for a reason, even if he didn't understand that reasoning.

"You asked me where Zangetsu was, didn't you?" the Hollow asked, snapping Ichigo back to the situation at hand, where he noticed that there was some sweat rolling down the side of Ichigo's face as well, which confirmed his belief that Ichigo was shocked and maybe even terrified of what this might mean, "I'll answer you... I. AM. ZANGETSU!"

Ichigo had enough time to draw out his own Zangetsu and parried the incoming attack, as the moment the Hollow said that he was going to answer his question he had flashed into the air and rapidly crossed the distance between them, before their blades connected and the air around them shuddered. Fortunately he was able to withstand the attack that had been coming his way, even though he pushed back enough so that he and the Hollow would be able to fight in the air, instead on the side of the building, and they kept their blades locked together as they stared at each other.

"You bastard." Ichigo growled, doing his best to fight against the power that was being used against him, as he could tell that the Hollow was holding back at the moment, just like Sombra did in all of his battles, and he knew that when the Hollow got serious he would have to do the same thing, "What did you do to old man Zangetsu?"

"You're persistent, I'll give you that." the Hollow replied, though at the same time he shifted his swing and sent Ichigo flying down into the side of the building that he had woken up on a few moments ago, before he frowned for a few seconds as he dropped out of the air and landed on the edge of the small crater, which he stared at "Don't make me repeat myself. I. Am. ZANGETSU! Besides, you're technically not wrong about him being part of your power, because both of us are your power. Even though we all share a body, outlooks change depending on who's in control. My own power has increased and now the old man is a part of me, unlike when you first started learning about your Zanpakuto and he took the opportunity to force me into submission, all for your benefit. The more you tried to draw on my power, the easier it's been for me to draw closer to controlling your soul."

"Is that so?" Ichigo inquired, though as he spoke he pulled himself from the crater and stared at the Hollow, as he was curious how he had gained the power necessary to make old man Zangetsu submit to him and allow him to get so close to his own soul, before he understood what he needed to do, "Then that means that if I defeat you here, old man Zangetsu will become the center of my power once more."

"You? Defeat me?" Zangetsu stated, as if he found something about that statement to be funny, as the smile from earlier had returned as he stared at Ichigo, before he considered exactly what his opponent was saying, "It's impossible for you to defeat me."

"You think so?" Ichigo replied, though at the same time he slammed his left foot into the rubble that was near him and raised his blade into the air, before shifting his right hand and pointed the tip of his Zanpakuto towards the Hollow, where the cloth around the handle wrapped around his right arm a few times, "Tell me it's impossible, after seeing this!"

"Wow, you really are clueless. You just can't seem to understand what I'm trying to tell you." Zangetsu said, though at the same time his smile turned into a frown as he sighed, but that was followed by him lowering his own right arm into the same position that Ichigo was using and let the black cloth wrap around his right arm, "I'm Zangetsu... and I'm telling you that it's impossible for you to defeat me!"

The two of them stared at each other for a few moments, Ichigo starting to sweat for a few seconds as the grin returned to his opponent's face, before both of their reiatsu flared, showing their foe that they were ready to unleash their greatest technique and continue the fight.

"Bankai!" both Ichigo and Zangetsu declared, to which they were both covered in reiatsu and smoke as they activated their final release, though at the same time both of them were unaware of the fact that them doing this would have any effect on the world outside of Ichigo's inner world.

---

Sombra patiently waited as Zangetsu assumed control of Ichigo's body and poured out the reiatsu that he was feeling at the moment, which shocked the Visored since they weren't used to feeling this sort of power coming from someone with an inner Hollow. He could hear them discussing what they should have gone differently this time around, like attempting to hide Ichigo's Zanpakuto, which would have made Zangetsu frantic, before Lisa asked Yoruichi if Sombra could even handle the power that Ichigo was pouring out. Yoruichi, on the other hand, answered that Sombra had more than enough power to equal what was being generated at the moment and, if he deemed it necessary, he could always increase his reiatsu to the point where he was fighting as a Vasto Lorde once more, since he was still holding back at the moment. As all that happened Sombra watched as the five iron pillars that were pinning Ichigo's body to the ground swayed and eventually bashed into each other, causing them to crumble as Zangetsu raised his head and showed Sombra that half of the Hollow mask, the left half, had returned once more.

As the pillars started to fall into a ruined pile and disappear, since the Bakudo had been broken, Zangetsu started to stand up and undid the cloth that was surrounding his blade, though at the same time Sombra pulled his hand back and pulled Shokyo from her scabbard, showing that he was ready for their battle.

"Come, Zangetsu, and show me how strong you really are." Sombra said, though even as he spoke he noticed a flicker of joy in his opponent's eyes, showing him that the creature he was fighting appreciated being acknowledged by someone, especially since Ichigo seemed a little clueless about things sometimes.

Zangetsu smiled as he crouched low to the ground for a moment before surging towards Sombra, fully intending to hurt him and beat him into the ground, though at the same time Sombra readied himself and swung Shokyo to parry the incoming attack, before pushing his foe backwards a little. He stood there for a moment as Zangetsu stared at him, though that was followed by him jumping forward and started swinging his blade at him in rapid succession, where Sombra simply moved his body as he avoided the swings, allowing the attacks to bypass him without cutting him in the process. He also parried several of the attacks, stalling Zangetsu in the process and even pushing him back at times, but for right now, while he wasn't giving it his all, he would also keep his power low and wait until his foe was ready to take the battle seriously, as it looked like he was trying to have fun at the moment. While this happened he could tell that the Visored were staring at them and were studying how Zangetsu, or rather the Hollow as they knew it, was fighting in case he wanted one of them to take his place in this battle, something that wasn't going to happen.

A few moments later Zangetsu ran up to him and swung his blade down at him, where Sombra parried the incoming attack and knocked the Zanpakuto backwards, though that was apparently what he was planning on because his opponent pulled on the cloth on the handle and pulled the blade, which was now spinning, back towards him with the intent on slashing Sombra from behind. What really happened was that Sombra moved out of the way and let Zangetsu grab hold of his weapon again, who happened to flash up to where he was standing and swung at him a few more times, where Sombra parried the attacks and pushed his foe backward. Zangetsu seemed to come up with something interesting to do, as he switched his hold on his weapon to the cloth that was below the handle and swung his blade around like he was a maniac, before throwing the blade at him and even used the cloth to control what his weapon did, as when Sombra avoided the first attack Zangetsu shifted his hold and the blade shifted it's course before coming at him from behind. In the following moment Sombra swung his Zanpakuto backward and knocked the attack away from him, though as that happened Zangetsu just so happened to be coming from his exposed back... or at least that was his plan, as Sombra flashed out of the way as Zangetsu swung his blade down and smashed a crater into the ground that Sombra had been standing on a few seconds ago.

Sombra flashed over to a small boulder that was resting nearby and stared at his opponent, as his plan was to stall his foe before getting serious, though he detected that Zangetsu was definitely trying to kill him, but he seemed to be pushing the battle with Ichigo so his true power could come to the surface and be used against him.

"You're strong, I'll give you that." Sombra said, glancing at the crater for a moment, as it showed the power that his foe could wield in his current state, before his own reiatsu gathered for what he was about to do, as he was going to even the odds a little, even if it wasn't necessary for him to do so, "Shimmer, Shokyo."

Zangetsu grinned as he watched the katana Sombra was holding transform into the crystalline broadsword that he knew his opponent used, though when he dashed forward to attack, however, Sombra easily figured out what he was planning on doing and rushed forward to meet him, allowing their blades to collide in the process. This time Sombra went on the offensive, swinging his own Zanpakuto at angles that were designed to catch his opponent off guard and knock him around, and while it seemed that Zangetsu didn't know the angles, since Ichigo never seemed to pay attention to Urahara's training, that didn't stop him from putting equal power into his attacks as the air shuddered with every collision of their blades. Despite the barrier that Hachi had put up around the stairs he could tell that the Visored were impressed by what was going on, as they no doubt assumed that someone of his level couldn't have survived against such a powerful Hollow for long, and soon he knew that the real transformation was going to begin, he just had to pressure Zangetsu into doing that so he could see the true power that his foe commanded. Zangetsu, having avoided the next swing Sombra used on him, rushed forward and tried to cut him down again, only to miss when Sombra showed off his movement skills and flashed away from him, though that only caused his foe to chuckle, or what he assumed was a chuckle, before turning towards him once more.

That was, however, before the air shuddered as Zangetsu snapped his head towards the sky, where Sombra and the others watched as a Hollow hole was punched into Ichigo's chest and his body was surrounded by smoke, though not even a few seconds later Sombra found Zangetsu standing there in his Bankai attire... and his feet seemed to have been transformed into a strange foot with two prongs facing towards him, one prong facing backwards from where the heel would be, and the mask now covered seventy-five percent of Ichigo's head.

"So, we're playing that game, are we?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he knew that he could fight the power of Tensa Zangetsu while in his Shikai state, as he had done it once or twice when he was helping Ichigo get over the pain when he activated his Bankai, before he moved his blade into the necessary position, "Bankai."

The Visored watched as Sombra was consumed by a cloud of dust and smoke, just like what the Hollow had done, but when the smoke cleared they were shocked to find Sombra standing there with his blade, but what really held their attention was the armor that had replaced his odd Shinigami attire, making him look like a knight.

"What's going on here?" Hiyori commented, as this wasn't something that they had been told about, because no one had told them that the Arrancar that had come to their hideout had achieved Bankai, and they were still recovering from the fact that his blade had a Shikai and Release Call.

"Isamashii Hogosha Shoteikoku," Yoruichi spoke up, though at the same time she smiled, as she actually loved seeing this Bankai in action, because it was so different from all the others she had seen and it put Sombra's power far above what anyone else, save the Captain-Commander and Aizen, were capable of achieving, "or Valiant Guardian of the Crystal Empire, is the final release of Sombra's Zanpakuto, Shokyo. It's not only an offensive type of Bankai, but it also has defensive and support type skills as well, making it an all purpose Bankai that awakens the true power that sleeps within Sombra's body... the power of a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar. The only blade he's carrying is his Arrancar Zanpakuto, Rey de la Oscuridad, or the King of Darkness, and he's not using that at the moment because he wants to help Ichigo beat his inner Hollow, not kill him before such a thing can happen."

"Things are about to get real interesting." Shinji said, as he couldn't believe the sheer power that was now coming from Sombra, as it seemed to dwarf the power of the last known Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that had been made on it's own, and that was without using his true power.

While they were talking Sombra and Zangetsu stared at each other for a few seconds, each of them trying to figure out what the other was going to do first, before they both raised their blades and loosed an energy wave at their enemy, allowing the two to collide in the area between them and shake the entire training area... though at the same time they flashed through the air and continued their battle with each other, their blades hitting making contact as Sombra wondered what was taking Ichigo so long to win his own battle.

---

Ichigo stared at the opposing cloud of smoke as he let his lazily float off into the distance, as he was shocked by what his inner Hollow had done, by mimicking the movements of him activating his Bankai, and he actually wondered if this meant that his foe had gained that skill as well. If his inner Hollow did know how to activate the Bankai that he had gained from his training, and nearly was killed by Zangetsu at the same time, then his chances at winning this fight will have decreased by a good amount, which also meant that he'd have to come up with another way to win the fight. A few seconds later, as he was thinking about all this, his opponent swung his right arm and knocked all the smoke away from him, allowing Ichigo to see that he was sporting a pure white version of his Bankai attire, which was black colored, and even the blade still matched, revealing to Ichigo just how terrible this situation was for him. He had been hoping that this was all a big mistake and that old man Zangetsu was playing around with him, to test him and see if he was worthy of wielding this sort of power, but until he restored him to his proper place he knew that he'd never get the answers that he was looking for.

Not even a moment later the two of them flashed forward and their blades collided with each other as they met in the middle of the space between them, the air around them shuddering for a moment as they pushed against each other in an attempt to overpower the other.

"You bastard!" Ichigo said, staring at his inner Hollow as they remained in the air, as he honestly couldn't believe what was happening to him at the moment, because he refused to believe that his opponent had gained the power that had nearly killed him thanks to how old man Zangetsu treated him, "When the hell did you learn Bankai?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Zangetsu asked, though while he enjoyed poking at Ichigo, and freaking him out every time he spoke, he still couldn't believe what an idiot his supposed partner was all the time, because it made him sick when he thought about what happened in this world, "I learned it at the same time you did!"

In the following moment Zangetsu swung his arm and loosed the power that he had stored for just a second, which ended up consuming the area around them for a moment, though as the smoke started to clear he found Ichigo staring off into space for a moment, causing him to sigh as he stood there. He was annoyed that this weakling, this amateur, had the nerve to come here with the purpose of battling him to the death, for control over both his body and the power that he commanded, and yet here Ichigo was, spacing out like he had all the time in the world to do so. At the same time it gave him a few seconds to check in with the fight with Sombra, which was happening outside this world, and he could tell that they were about equal in power, or at least that was his current assessment since Sombra was still holding back and the fact that most of his own power was tied up in trying to beat Ichigo, otherwise he'd be pouring all of it towards smashing the Vasto Lorde into the ground. For a moment he wondered what it was like, having a partner that actually listened to your voice and didn't pay attention to someone that clearly didn't care about you, and growled as he reflected on how unlucky he was to be stuck with Ichigo... though that was when he sensed some movement behind him and put his grin back on his face, as he felt that he'd have more time for this later on.

A few seconds later his blade collided with Ichigo's, who looked like he was just waking up from a nap, and Zangetsu smiled at him, because he still liked to mess with his opponent and right now he was making it seem like the two of them had been fighting and he was only now seeing what he was doing... even though the reality was far different from what Ichigo thought it was.

"Don't be so angry, Ichigo. Let's have some fun." Zangetsu said, though at the same time he moved them around and pushed Ichigo back to where he had been standing moments ago, causing him to fall to one knee for the moment, before he touched down where his opponent had been a few moments ago and frowned, "Come on Ichigo, now's not the time for you to be losing your focus."

"I'm not!" Ichigo declared, though as he said that the Hollow rushed at him and he parried the incoming attack, which allowed his opponent to slip behind him and kick him in the back, knocking him forward a few steps before he turned to face his foe again.

"That's bullshit!" Zangetsu stated, as he couldn't believe just how stupid Ichigo was acting, because he should have known that something was up and even seemed to think that something else had happened, and yet here Ichigo was, actively denying whatever had happened to him, which was annoying him at the moment, "You were just staring off into space a moment ago!"

"I was not, damn you!" Ichigo replied, though at the same time he shifted how his right arm was situated and allowed his reiatsu to gather for a few seconds, just enough to get some decent power for his attack without revealing what he was going to do to his opponent, before he made his move, "Getsuga Tensho!"

Zangetsu glared at Ichigo for a moment as the black and red colored Getsuga came at him, the same one that he had showed off during Ichigo's first battle with Byakuya, and simply waved his left arm at him, separating the energy into two halves that struck the building behind him, causing it to falter and break in the process... before he flashed through the air and appeared above Ichigo, where he swung his blade down and let his opponent counter his attack, as he had something better in mind for what came next.

"Getsuga Tensho." Zangetsu said, to which the area around his own blade glowed for a moment, showing that he was preparing his attack, though Ichigo seemed terrified of what was happening as he loosed the attack, allowing it to consume the area beneath him while opening Ichigo's defenses so he could cut him.

A few moments later, as the smoke started to clear, Zangetsu held his sword so that the blood he had taken from Ichigo's wound could drip onto the side of the building that he was standing above, while at the same time staring at the small gash that had been cut into Ichigo's stomach area, who huffed for a few seconds as he took in what just happened and tried to figure out what to do next.

"See? It's like I said, Ichigo, you really suck." Zangetsu stated, referring to what he had said the first time he had taken over Ichigo's body, back during his fight with Byakuya, and yet he was sure that his foe was simply ignoring his words, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to make him see the truth before the end of this, "Have you forgotten what happened? I was the first one to use Getsuga Tensho while in Bankai, and yet all you did was watch my battle. You studied what I did during that battle and tried to imitate me, yet you failed miserably. You're a pathetic fake, Ichigo."

In that moment Zangetsu flashed right in front of Ichigo, who was surprised to see him appear so suddenly like that, before he grabbed onto the edge of the blade that his opponent was using and exerted his will over it, causing Ichigo's entire blade to turn white, just like his own blade.

"Give it up." Zangetsu said, to which he twisted his left hand a little and Ichigo's blade started to break apart before Ichigo's very eyes, while at the same time only a portion of it remained in his left hand, which would suffer the same fate as the rest of the blade soon enough, "You can't use Bankai."

Just as he said that, however, Zangetsu realized that Ichigo was staring off into space again, to which he resisted the urge to simply kill his opponent and glanced down at the blade fragment he was still holding onto, as he knew what Ichigo's problem was and yet his partner didn't seem to want to listen to anyone that might have an idea. For a moment he thought back to what Sombra had said, both during the fight with Byakuya and when he assumed control over Ichigo's body to teach that one Visored a lesson, as the Arrancar knew who he was and also knew that the old man was the liar, and yet Ichigo was too stupid to figure it out for himself. It infuriated him that a stranger was able to see the truth, with only a single glance at him and the old man, and that his partner couldn't, making him wonder if it was even possible to change to someone else's control entirely, just to have some recognition, even if he couldn't beat the person in a fight or take over his body. Just as he started to explore that train of thought, and was about to stop paying attention to Ichigo, he heard the sound of his opponent moving and noticed that his eyes were staring at his hands, where the last of his blade faded away, save for the fragment that he was still holding onto.

"Za... Zangetsu..." Ichigo said, though that was followed by Zangetsu mentally sighing, as the way Ichigo spoke told him that he still didn't understand what he was trying to tell him, which meant that he was going to have to bring an end to this battle soon, otherwise his frustration was going to break and he'd blow something up.

"That wasn't Zangetsu you fool." Zangetsu replied, to which he held up his left hand and crushed the rest of the blade that he had touched, allowing Ichigo to see the pieces of it break apart before there was nothing left of it, before he focused his glare on his opponent, "Listen to what I am telling you. I. AM. ZANGETSU!"

In the following seconds Zangetsu flashed forward, grabbed onto Ichigo's face with his left hand, and hurled him through the air until he collided with the large building that was behind him, forming a good sized crater as the rest of the structure collapsed behind him.

"You know, it never ceases to amaze me as to how brainless you are." Zangetsu commented, as that was the truth of the matter, because while it infuriated him that Ichigo couldn't see the truth it also amazed him to see the seemingly endless limits of Ichigo's stupidity and foolishness, "Hey, Ichigo, I've got a question for you. What's the difference between a king and his horse? And I don't mean some stupid kiddy shit like 'One's a person and one's an animal' or 'One's got two legs and the other has four'. If their form, power, and ability were exactly the same, then why is it that one of them becomes the king and controls the battle, while the other one has to carry the king into the battle?!"

"I... I don't know." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he had no idea what his inner Hollow was talking about this time around, as now he was just assuming that he was prolonging the battle, just to mess with him a little more, before he dealt the finishing blow and ended this.

"There's only one answer, one that you happen to lack." Zangetsu remarked, though as he spoke he switched his hold on his blade and grabbed onto the chain that was attached to the end of the handle, allowing him to spin the blade around while he talked, as it allowed him to think straight while looking menacing at the same time, "The answer is Instinct! In order for identical beings to become stronger and gain the power they need to become king, they must search for more battles and more power. They thirst for battle, and live to mercilessly crush, shred, and slice their enemies. Deep, deep within our body lies the honed instinct to kill, to slaughter! But you don't have those pure, basic instincts. You fight with your brain and try to defeat your enemies with logic! And it doesn't work at all... you're trying to cut your enemies with a sheathed sword! That's why you're weaker than me, Ichigo... and that's why you'll never get close to Sombra's level."

"What does any of this have to do with Sombra?" Ichigo asked, as that didn't make any sense, though while parts of his inner Hollow's speech did make sense, as he didn't have the desire to kill anyone or the instincts to do as the Hollow said, the last part was confusing.

"Think about it for a moment," Zangetsu said, though he knew that he was talking to a brick wall that was starting to crack, meaning that he might be able to get Ichigo to see the truth before he devoured his soul and claimed his body for his own purposes, "Sombra's been following his instincts since he woke up in Hueco Mundo, according to what he told you and the others, and that's true for every opponent he's faced so far. Think about it, every enemy he's faced has been dominated in such a way that all of them can't help but admit defeat when they face off against his power, something that drives Hollows to listen to his words and follow the commands that they are given. There's also the fact that he figured out who I was the moment I started fighting Byakuya and he even called out my name, and yet you ignore him whenever he says my name, thinking that he's talking to the old man, and it keeps... pissing... me... OFF!"

As he said that Zangetsu switched his hold on his blade and threw it through the air, where it went flying straight into Ichigo's stomach and pierced his body, which took his opponent a moment to glance down and see what he had done, before he started walking over to where Ichigo was standing.

"Ichigo, you're a foolish king that doesn't have the power to command me," Zangetsu added, though at the same time part of his mind focused on what was happening outside this world again, as it was certainly more interesting than what was happening in here, "Sombra, on the other hand, is coming into his powers as the Dios Hueco, a Hollow so powerful that you would never even begin to compare to his might. You're weaker than me, that much is obvious, and his power is even greater than mine, so I'm going to consume you, take your crown for myself, and then join the only creature that I would ever call my master."

Zangetsu knew that the time to end the battle had arrived, as all he had to do was withdraw his sword and slice Ichigo in half, though that was when something happened, as he grabbed the edge of his blade, the black aura changing his blade into what Ichigo's looked like moments ago, and he noticed a light blue ring appear around the center of Ichigo's eyes, the same he recalled from what happened in Soul Society... and he knew that this battle was going to end in an entirely different manner than what he thought when they started fighting.

---

Sombra, using his superior speed and power to his advantage, flashed around the area that Zangetsu was fighting in and made sure to avoid the attacks that were coming his way, noticing that his opponent was gaining more control over time as the black and red aura of a Getsuga Tensho had appeared around his foe's blade. The few times he had actually dealt damage to Ichigo's body was when he found out that the first thing, besides his Bankai, that his foe was using was his high speed regeneration, as some wounds were sealed the instant they were made and some were covered in the same white material that a Hollow's body was made out of. He considered using a Kido spell against his opponent, even though the Bakudo were out of the question since he was sure that Zangetsu could break through them with ease if he were to use one of them, before he started mentally going over the techniques he knew and which ones might be better used in the situation that he was currently in. Zangetsu, on the other hand, did enjoy throwing his Getsuga Tensho's at him, which caused him to use his own energy wave technique to counter the attacks, blowing them up before they could reach him and creating a few craters in the process.

At one point, however, Sombra noticed that Zangetsu seemed to pause for a moment, as if something was happening inside Ichigo's inner world, but since the mask wasn't falling apart he knew that the battle wasn't over yet, to which he flashed up to where his opponent was standing and readied himself.

"O Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" Sombra recited, to which he heard some gasps from the Visored as they realized what he was doing, as he had refrained from doing anything like this until he was certain that it was necessary, and he had determined that now as the time to do so, "Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!"

In the moments of him starting the incantation a sphere of red energy appeared above his left hand, just like it had done when he was fighting Byakuya outside the Shrine of Penitence, and he immediately leveled it with Zangetsu's body once it was ready, to which a torrent of red energy slammed into his opponent and knocked him backwards. What didn't surprise him was that Zangetsu got up a few seconds later, where Ichigo's entire left hand was now covered in the white substance, had red markings on it, and his fingers had sharpened into claws, showing that the more damage he did the quicker the Hollow transformation would go. As such Sombra ducked and weaved through the attacks that his foe was sending his way, making sure to avoid taking damage, and even with him doing that he noticed that as time went by the changes started to materialize as they drew ever closer to the time limit that Shinji warned him about, as he said that sixty minutes was the point of no return... meaning that if those minutes went by, and Ichigo still hadn't won his inner battle, then he might need to get serious and kill Ichigo before his friend's body was taken over, something that he outright ignored because he had faith in Ichigo's abilities.

As the fight progressed Sombra used the crystal abilities of his Bankai to create a good sized forest made of crystal, all of which to slow Zangetsu down and force him to carve his way through what he had called into the area around them, once more surprising the Visored in the process, but it was worth it to keep his opponent busy. While this happened, and he also avoided his foe a few more times, Sombra noticed that the white substance seeped into Ichigo's attire and started to cover the upper part of his legs, now adorned with red markings that matched what was on his left arm, and that was only the beginning of the newest changes. Eventually the substance seeped into the area around Ichigo's chest, where the Hollow hole was located, and his chest bulked out a little, making him look more muscular, while at the same time destroying the top part of Ichigo's attire and also moved around his right arm, making it match the left one, and causing Ichigo's hair to grow to the point where it reached the middle of his back. Grey colored fur of some kind grew around Ichigo's wrists, an odd addition in Sombra's mind, the majority of Ichigo's face was now covered by the mask, save for a small part of it that revealed that the Hollowfication process wasn't complete despite what the Visored were saying, and there was a tail, like that of a lizard, growing from the spine area, making Zangetsu look more like the Hollows that he and Ichigo had fought in the past.

A few seconds later Zangetsu roared and raised his left hand so that the tips of his clawed fingers were connected, though as that happened three strands of energy pulled themselves together as a Cero started to form above the tips of his fingers, but as the Visored called out to him Sombra sighed and leveled his hand with his foe, intending to use one of the skills that he knew to defend himself. That was when the Cero disappeared as parts of Zangetsu's left arm started to break apart before their eyes, causing Zangetsu to roar in pain as more bloody lines erupted from his body, meaning that Ichigo must have done what he set out to do, before his body started to glow. Sombra flashed backwards for a few seconds as one more painful roar came from his opponent, though that was before he exploded and was covered in a large cloud of smoke for a few moments, but that didn't concern him as he waited for the smoke to clear so he could see what had happened to Ichigo. As he did that the barrier surrounding the stairs disappeared and the Visored approached him, no doubt so they could see the results of Ichigo's inner battle with his inner Hollow, though Sombra ignored them as he focused on the smoke that was in front of them.

When the smoke cleared Sombra found the form of Zangetsu standing in the same place he had been before the explosion happened, though that was before it bent over and fell to the ground, where it shattered into a thousand pieces and revealed that Ichigo, now wearing the completed version of his Hollow mask, standing there, though he was slightly wounded from the battle that he had endured in his inner world... and, as he started to sway, Sombra moved in front of him and caught him before Ichigo could hit the ground, allowing the mask to fall in the process.

"How do you feel, Ichigo?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he had the feeling that the only one that wasn't happy about the situation was Zangetsu, since he had lost to Ichigo and was now locked away once more, but he felt the need to ask his friend the question anyway.

"Not bad, considering what I went through." Ichigo replied, though while he spoke a smile appeared on his face as Sombra moved him into a sitting position, that way he could relax a little and recover from what he had endured, but once that was done Sombra waved his left hand and soon his wounds had closed, a reminder of the healing aspect of the powerful Bankai that his friend possessed.

"That's good." Sombra said, to which he broke out of his Bankai state and reverted back to his base form, allowing Shokyo to resume being a katana before sheathing her, where he glanced over to the Visored, "Listen, I'm sure that the lot of you want to start training Ichigo as soon as possible, to control the new power that he's gained, but I would suggest that you hold off for the rest of today and not bother planning on doing anything tomorrow."

"And why is that?" Shinji asked, because he was interested in what the Arrancar was planning, as he had actually been impressed by the skill that he had showed when he was fighting Ichigo's inner Hollow, and that was before activating his Bankai, so he was curious as to what he had planned.

"Because I'm going to fight the spirit of my Arrancar Zanpakuto tomorrow, and I feel that it's best if some people come to my inner world with me to see what happens." Sombra replied, as he had been thinking about this since he learned that Rey was going to be difficult, not giving him the information that he needed, and he knew that it was possible to bring others into his inner world, if what he had read was correct, "I'm going to give Yoruichi the details and see if the others can afford a day off, especially given what's going on at the moment."

He had no idea how many people would come here, and he could tell that Shinji wasn't too keen on letting many know their hiding spot, but at the very least they could lie to the Shinigami and not get called out since Yoruichi and Urahara didn't want Soul Society to know who they were in league with... but, at the same time, he had the feeling that something else was happening at the moment, and that he'd find out about it soon enough.

---

Orihime was a little sad that none of her friends showed up for school that day, though that was to be expected since they had been attacked the previous night and were likely preparing for the next stage of Aizen's invasion, since many of them were convinced that it was Aizen that was behind the attack. Fortunately both she and Sora were safe, since Captain Hitsuguya and Lieutenant Matsumoto were there to assist them, and her brother openly admitted that he wouldn't be of much help since the power of the Arrancar that had attacked them were far superior to him. These thoughts were, once more, interrupted by one of her neighbors as she got to her house, as Mrs. Shinmura revealed that the pair that were staying with her had hauled something into her house while she was away, though she wasn't surprised that the Shinigami would do something like that, as it was best to set it up while she was gone and use it before she got back and attempted to make them tear it down. When she reached her house, and both she and Sora headed inside, they found the door to the room in question to be slightly open, though on the other side rested what looked like a large television... though it had some sort of purple substance surrounding the screen and wires attached to it, along with stuff that she had no idea what they were supposed to do.

They found Hitsuguya in the middle of telling the lady on the other side who he was, though as they came to a stop and took in what might be happening the image changed and the Captain-Commander appeared on the other side of the screen, indicating that this was serious and that maybe they shouldn't be present for this.

"You're quick as usual, Captain Hitsuguya," Yamamoto said, his tone showing that he was pleased by the speed at which Hitsuguya was able to do whatever he had asked the Captain to do, something that Orihime was sure she and Sora would find out in a few moments, if they weren't asked to leave anyway, "I had you prepare this emergency channel because we have determined Aizen's true goal!"

"Um, this sounds important, so I think we'll just step outside..." Orihime started to say, as while part of her wanted to know what was going on she knew that it wasn't her place to be apart of these types of meetings, but one look at the screen told her to stay where she was.

"Wait, Orihime Inoue, this concerns Humans like yourself as well." Yamamoto stated, to which both Orihime and Sora glanced at each other for a few seconds before they turned towards the screen once more, where they nodded their heads and prepared themselves for whatever they were going to be told, "It has been some time since Aizen and his allies betrayed Soul Society and were taken to Hueco Mundo, and we have not been idle, as we have been searching Aizen's old rooms for anything that might tell us what he was planning, along with Central 46's Underground Assembly Hall, the Seijotokyorin, or Tranquil Forest of Residential Towers, which is where he hid himself, and the Daireishokairo, or the Great Spirit Book Gallery. Upon investigating the Daireishokairo, Captain Ukitake found some traces of something interesting that Aizen might have left behind... something that he had been researching before he put his plan into action."

"What else could Aizen have studied, besides the Hogyoku?" Hitsuguya asked, because the Hogyoku was bad enough, especially since they were now familiar with what was at stake if the artifact should be awakened, something that Urahara was sure to happen at some point in time, which only made him wonder what Aizen had been looking at.

"The Oken, or the Royal Key." Yamamoto stated, though while he noticed that shock appeared on Hitsuguya's face for a moment, and was wiped from Matsumoto's a few seconds later, both Orihime and her brother were confused, to which he decided to overcome that barrier, "Matsumoto, tell Orihime and her brother about the Oken."

"Yes sir." Matsumoto said, to which she glanced back at the duo that was standing behind them, as this wasn't going to be easy information for them to digest once they heard the full details of what had been found, "Like the name suggests, it's the key to the Royal Family... and yes, Soul Society has one of them as well. We have a king, the Soul King to be exact, but he leaves Soul Society to us. Honestly, it doesn't feel like he exists and no one's actually seen him in person to confirm the stories about him, or if they have seen him they don't say anything about what they experienced."

"He is a symbolic, as well as an absolute, presence in Soul Society." Yamamoto continued, though at the same time he couldn't fault Matsumoto from feeling that way, as many Shinigami that knew of the stories seemed to feel the same way that she did, "His Royal Palace is in an entirely different space within Soul Society, and it is guarded by the Royal Secret Service, or the Zero Division as many tend to call them... and the Oken is the only way to enter the space that the Royal Palace is located in."

"Wait, are you telling us that Aizen wants the Soul King... dead?" Sora asked, because it sounded like this being was of great importance to the Soul Society and that by killing him everything was going to fall apart, or at least that was what he was thinking about at the moment.

"That's the likely explanation for what his true goal is, but it's not the problem." Yamamoto replied, though he was intentionally downplaying the death of the Soul King, something that could easily shatter all of reality as they knew it if something like that were to come to pass, "The book Aizen was studying doesn't reveal the location of the Oken, because only the Captain-Commander is permitted to know the exact location of such a priceless treasure and we're required to verbally tell our successor where it is, behind secure doors so that it won't be discovered. Instead, Aizen was looking at a document that details the creation of the Oken: one hundred thousand souls and an Jureichi, or an Important Spirit Ground, that is greater than a radius of one square spirit mile. The location of the Jureichi changes overtime and it's the easiest place, in the World of the Living, for spiritual beings to gather... and right now, at this point in time, the Jureichi that Aizen is after is none other than Karakura Town."

"Wh... What?" Orihime asked, trying to wrap her head around what she and her brother were being told, as all this information was a lot to process, but all she could gather was that her town was in danger and that Aizen needed to be stopped before something happened.

"Allow me to explain this in simple terms," Yamamoto said, as he knew that the requirements for the Oken's creation were so far beyond reality that it took some time for even the most intelligent Shinigami to fully grasp what Aizen was planning on doing, though he had the feeling that a certain Arrancar would be fine after a few seconds, "If Aizen is able to complete the Oken, in the way that is described in the document, then Karakura Town, as well as all the nearby land and people, will be ripped away from the World of the Living and disappear entirely. Do not worry, we are already doing everything in our power to ensure that such a terrible thing does not befall you, your friends, and your town, for it is because of this reason that the Gotei 13 exist in the first place. Orihime Inoue, Sora Inoue, we might not be able to stand against Aizen and his Espada alone... can you inform both Ichigo Kurosaki and Sombra of what we have discovered?"

"Consider it done, Captain-Commander." Yoruichi spoke up, as she had come to Orihime's house to tell her and Sora, as well as the pair of Shinigami that were living with her, what Sombra wanted of them tomorrow, but what she discovered in the process made her glad that Sombra was moving quickly in his own training.

Hitsuguya barely paid attention to what Yoruichi wanted, save for the fact that he and the others were invited to witness Sombra battle the spirit of his Arrancar Zanpakuto, but all that made him wonder was if that was a good idea, since the Arrancar's power had been beyond anything he had ever felt before... and he hoped that Sombra won that battle, because if he lost, and turned against him as the old him resurfaced, they'd fail in their mission before they even had a chance to start it.

Comments

[badninja]

As someone who has never seen Bleach, is Ichigo this dense? The is almost like he is channeling TFS Goku in levels of stupidity at times.

[TheArcticWolf]

Hitsuguya barely paid attention to what Yoruichi wanted, save for the fact that he and the others were invited to witness Sombra battle the spirit of his Arrancar Zanpakuto, but all that made him wonder was if that was a good idea, since the Arrancar's power had been beyond anything he had ever felt before... and he hoped that Sombra won that battle, because if he lost, and turned against him as the old him resurfaced, they'd fail in their mission before they even had a chance to start it.

Yeah that's about right.

[PrismStrike]

9194506
yeah he really is that dense

[Emperorxeno]

Moar!

[GIGA-XISBASS]

9194506
I think he gets better later on given after the Arrancars we have the Fullbringers and Thousand Year Blood War Arcs. I recommend watching and reading the series.

[Black--Soul]

I somehow get Legacy of Kain vibes here...

Great chapter.