Seeing Shino Madarame running towards him, Ikkaku Madarame breathed a sigh of relief. While she had lost her spiritual pressure, at least his little sister was alive. However, this didn't mean he wasn't angry.
He punched Shino, sending her sprawling to the ground. Then, grabbing her by the collar, he pulled her close and yelled, “What the hell were you thinking, Shino? Why did you give your Shinigami powers to a human? Do you even realize how serious of a crime this is in the Seireitei?!”
“Stop crying and speak clearly!”
“Come on, Ikkaku, how can she possibly speak clearly when you’re scaring her like that?”
Yumichika Ayasegawa, seeing the situation, slapped his forehead. He had known this would happen. It was why he had followed Ikkaku. He stepped forward and pulled Shino away from his enraged friend.
“Jerk! Are you trying to kill me?” Shino gasped for breath after finally escaping Ikkaku’s grasp. She pointed at him accusingly.
“Huh? How was I supposed to know you’d become as weak as an ant?”
The siblings glared at each other, their ridiculous eyebrows practically vibrating with fury.
Yumichika sighed and pulled them apart again.
“Ikkaku, don’t forget why we’re here.”
Reminded by Yumichika, Ikkaku snorted. “Hmph, I’ll deal with you later.”
He turned his attention to Ichigo Kurosaki.
“Hey, Shino, you gave your powers to this guy?”
“Hey, what do you want, jerk?!” Shino’s heart skipped a beat, sensing the hostility in Ikkaku’s voice. She grabbed his arm.
“Hmph, what do I want? I’m cleaning up your mess!”
Ikkaku shrugged off Shino’s hand and, clenching his fists, started pummeling the sides of her head.
“Shino, don’t you know that transferring Shinigami powers to a human is a serious crime? To prevent the Central 46 from punishing you, I have no choice but to kill this guy and reclaim your powers before they find out.”
“What? No! You can’t!” Shino’s face paled as she threw her arms around Ikkaku’s waist.
“Big brother, if it weren’t for him, I would have been killed by a Hollow. Do you want your little sister to be an ungrateful wretch?”
As a member of the Eleventh Division, while he might be a battle maniac, he valued loyalty and honor. If this boy had truly saved his sister, he couldn’t bring himself to kill him…
“Explain everything to me. What happened?”
Seeing her brother calm down, Shino sighed in relief. She called over Ichigo, who had just gotten to his feet, and explained the situation.
After hearing Shino’s explanation, Ikkaku looked at Ichigo with a newfound respect. Shino had indeed encountered a powerful Hollow. Even after releasing her Shikai, she had been defeated. If she hadn't given her spiritual pressure to Ichigo, not only would he and his family have been killed, but she would have become Hollow food.
Ikkaku was now conflicted.
If he killed Ichigo, it would be a betrayal of his sister’s savior, his savior. But if he didn’t, Shino wouldn't be able to reclaim her Shinigami powers. If the Seireitei discovered what she had done, she would be imprisoned and punished.
Ikkaku’s brow twitched. He stood up abruptly, grabbed Ichigo, and tossed him aside.
“Kid, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance. Transform into your Shinigami form!”
“What do you want, jerk?!”
“Shino, stay out of this. This is a man’s business!”
After pushing Shino back, Ikkaku turned to Ichigo. “Come on, kid. The outcome of this fight will determine both your and Shino’s future!”
Ichigo hadn’t heard their earlier conversation. He didn’t know that Shino had broken the law by giving him her Shinigami powers.
However, as a “wild” Shinigami, he was curious to see how he compared to a true Shinigami.
He placed Kon, his Soul Candy pill, in his mouth and retrieved the yellow, worn-out plush toy.
It was the Soul Candy pill Shino had received from Kisuke Urahara, allowing him to transform into a Shinigami.
Of course, that ancient Mod Soul, sealed for who knew how long, had caused quite a commotion upon entering his body.
But eventually, after Ichigo had placed it within a plush toy he had found, the three of them had reached an amicable arrangement.
He swallowed Kon, and in an instant, his soul was pushed out of his body.
Ikkaku’s expression hardened as he saw Ichigo’s black shihakushō, his massive Zanpakutō, and the spiritual pressure radiating from him.
This kid wasn’t simple!
While Ichigo’s spiritual energy was from Shino, his spiritual pressure was even stronger than hers?
What kind of monster was this?
“Heh, good. If you were too weak, I’d have a hard time taking you seriously. Now, hopefully, you can at least give me a decent warm-up.”
Ikkaku drew his Zanpakutō and charged.
Ichigo drew his own Zanpakutō and met Ikkaku’s attack head-on.
While Ichigo’s Zanpakutō was larger than Ikkaku’s, he was the one pushed back by the impact.
“What incredible strength!”
Ichigo was surprised, but he wasn't discouraged. After all, he had only been a Shinigami for a few days, while this guy had probably been one for years.
It was natural that he was weaker.
But that didn't mean he would give up.
He changed tactics, circling around Ikkaku and attacking from the side.
Sadly, both his spiritual pressure and his swordsmanship were still too immature compared to Ikkaku’s.
He was forced onto the defensive, retreating step by step.
However, what surprised Ikkaku was the boy’s resilience. It was as if he only needed to increase his strength slightly to secure victory.
But no matter how he adjusted his power, he couldn’t land a decisive blow.
What surprised him even more was that Ichigo’s swordsmanship was improving rapidly.
Two figures, hidden in the shadows, observed the battle. Ikkaku and Yumichika, with their strength, didn’t even sense their presence. It meant that both observers were far stronger than Ikkaku.
Those who would pay such close attention to Ichigo Kurosaki in the World of the Living could only be Kisuke Urahara and Isshin Kurosaki.
“See? Captain Shiba, Ichigo is a natural-born Shinigami. While he hasn't received any formal swordsmanship training, he has incredible instincts. What takes others decades, even centuries, to master, for him, it’s like an awakening. He simply needs to fight stronger opponents to unlock his potential.”
Urahara, witnessing Ichigo’s rapid growth under Ikkaku’s pressure, couldn’t help but boast to Isshin.
However, he didn’t notice the melancholic look in Isshin’s eyes as he watched his son fight.
It all began with that Hollow, the one who had opened a Garganta to the Seireitei.
Isshin had fought that Hollow. Its incredible combat instincts had even pushed him, the then-captain of the Tenth Division, onto the defensive.
He had felt that the Hollow’s fighting style was too similar to a Shinigami’s.
Now, he was sensing the same thing from his son.
Was his son truly his son?
That thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
While he might appear absentminded and carefree, anyone who mistook him for a fool was truly the foolish one.
Over the years, he had replayed his memories countless times, noticing things he had overlooked before.
Ichigo’s birth was no accident. Someone was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
Based on the evidence, both Aizen and Urahara were likely candidates.
If Aizen was responsible for Ichigo’s birth, then Ichigo was nothing more than a test subject.
But if it was Urahara, then Ichigo might be a weapon he had created to defeat Aizen. Otherwise, all this was simply too coincidental.
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