Chapter 894: Chapter 895: Quincy Skills
Ikkaku was very excited after learning that Ichigo had actually been taught by Ethan. In the Soul Society, Ethan’s most famous identity was not the former Captain of the 10th Division, but the current teacher of Byakuya, the Captain of the 6th Division.
Many Shinigami knew that Byakuya was very strong. As the person who once taught Byakuya, Ethan was still remembered by many even after a hundred years. Ikkaku, the 3rd Seat of the 11th Division, had heard even more stories about Ethan from the seniors of his division.
For example, back when Ethan served as the Vice Captain of the 4th Division, he had beaten the 11th Division into submission and stopped them from causing trouble in the 4th Division. After Kenpachi Zaraki became the Captain of the 11th Division, he often wandered around the Seireitei looking for fights and frequently complained that he had joined the Gotei 13 too late. Otherwise he would definitely have sought out Ethan for a proper fight.
Because of these stories, Ikkaku had long wanted to challenge Ethan himself.
It was not about defeating Ethan to uphold the reputation of the 11th Division, nor about gaining fame. Ikkaku’s reason was simple. He only wanted to fight a strong opponent.
Unfortunately, Ethan had disappeared for more than a hundred years. No one knew where he was or whether he was even still alive. Although most people believed the possibility of his death was low, since powerful Shinigami usually lived extremely long lives.
Unexpectedly, among the Ryoka who invaded the Seireitei this time, there was actually Ethan’s disciple.
Out of respect, Ikkaku directly released his Zanpakuto, Hozukimaru. However, not using Bankai immediately became the biggest mistake he made. With only Shikai, Ikkaku could not defeat even the Ichigo from the original story, let alone this slightly stronger Ichigo.
As a result, he was defeated very decisively and did not even manage to leave any serious injuries on Ichigo.
"What a boring fight."
Ethan watched the entire battle. The biggest reason for Ikkaku’s defeat was his own stupidity. In order to hide the fact that he could use Bankai, Ikkaku almost never used his full strength in battle. Yet he constantly talked about wanting a full fight with strong opponents. His behavior was contradictory beyond description.
Considering that this man could prioritize hiding his Bankai over matters such as the Soul Society, Karakura Town, and his duty as a Shinigami, Ethan finally came to a simple conclusion.
This guy is an idiot.
He stopped paying attention to Ikkaku and continued hiding in the shadows while observing Ichigo’s next actions.
Just like in the original story, Ichigo reunited with Ganju and ended up holding Hanataro Yamada hostage, a member of the 4th Division.
Hanataro was the younger brother of the former 4th Division Vice Captain Seinosuke Yamada and currently served as the 7th Seat of the 4th Division. However, his timid personality and lack of presence made it hard to believe that he was actually a seated officer.
Strangely enough, Hanataro quickly became friendly with Ichigo. He helped Ichigo evade the Gotei 13’s search and guided him through underground waterways toward the Senzaikyu.
Watching all this silently, Ethan began to wonder whether this guy was actually a spy placed in the 4th Division by Kisuke.
"Is this the protagonist’s luck?"
Unable to figure it out, Ethan continued watching the next battle between Ichigo and Renji.
After his training, Ichigo performed much better than in the original story. With his naturally enormous spiritual power, he possessed overwhelming strength against Shinigami below the Vice Captain level. After gaining some control over his power, he could even face Captain level opponents directly.
This was the nature of battles between Shinigami. Spiritual pressure determined everything.
Because Renji’s spiritual pressure was inferior to Ichigo’s, he was also defeated. Ichigo gained another victory.
This time, however, Ichigo suffered more injuries. In this condition he could not continue moving forward, so he had to retreat into the underground waterways to rest and recover.
When Ichigo returned to the surface again, he finally encountered an opponent who could truly be called a challenge.
The Captain of the 11th Division, Zaraki.
This man did not even know the name of his Zanpakuto and could not use Shikai. Yet he became the Captain of the 11th Division by killing the former captain directly in front of more than two hundred squad members.
He was a battle maniac, and his fighting style was extremely simple and brutal. He just attacked directly with his blade.
For the sake of enjoying battle more, he styled his hair into sharp spikes like a porcupine and attached bells to the tips. This allowed opponents to hear his movements. He also wore an eye patch created by the 12th Division that absorbed spiritual power, suppressing his own strength while limiting his vision.
Even with these restrictions, Ichigo still could not gain the upper hand. Zaraki completely suppressed him and continued slashing with overwhelming power.
In the end, however, Ichigo and Zaraki both collapsed from their injuries. Ichigo barely managed to pass this obstacle.
Ethan followed the battle closely, trying to understand exactly what had happened during Ichigo’s fight with Zaraki.
No matter how it was analyzed, Ichigo and Zaraki were not on the same level at that time. How could Ichigo seriously injure Zaraki?
If this were just an anime, it could be explained as the protagonist suddenly getting stronger. But in reality there had to be a logical reason.
After personally observing the fight, Ethan finally understood.
That shameless Zangetsu, realizing the situation was turning bad, finally released the power he had been suppressing.
In other words, Ichigo’s attack power suddenly increased without warning, catching Zaraki off guard and allowing him to deal serious damage.
Zaraki himself probably did not care about this. However, Zangetsu’s behavior left Ethan completely speechless.
"This kind of power with its own thoughts is really troublesome."
While Ethan complained about Ichigo’s disobedient power, Yachiru Kusajishi, the Vice Captain of the 11th Division, simply took the injured Zaraki away. After watching her captain enjoy the fight, she had no interest in capturing Ichigo.
This allowed Ichigo to escape and eventually be discovered by Yoruichi.
"..."
"..."
Yoruichi, in her black cat form, glanced at the seemingly empty space beside her and tilted her head slightly.
"What?"
"Aren’t you going to help?" Yoruichi raised a paw. "I can’t carry him like this."
"Then change back to your original form." Although Ethan hid himself using refraction, that level of Kidō could not fool Yoruichi. "Do you think you can keep that form forever?"
Just as Ethan said, now that events had reached this point, Yoruichi could not hide her true identity forever. She would have to step forward eventually.
Yoruichi agreed with this and immediately returned to her original form, carrying the injured Ichigo to the secret base they had prepared earlier.
Ethan still did not reveal himself. The following events were the conversation between Yoruichi and Ichigo. The only thing he did was during the moment when Yoruichi, who had transformed back from her cat form, mentioned her true body and suddenly changed in front of Ichigo.
Ethan created a small flash of light.
"Ah. My eyes!"
"..."
Ichigo rolled on the ground while covering his eyes and shouting. After putting on her clothes, Yoruichi looked speechlessly toward a corner nearby. Ignoring the refraction concealment, she could see Ethan giving her a gesture that clearly meant, you are welcome.
"..."
This was only a small episode. Afterwards, Ichigo stubbornly used the tool provided by Yoruichi, flew toward the Senzaikyu, and confronted Byakuya again.
If Yoruichi had not appeared in time, Ichigo might have been seriously injured again. After rescuing him, Yoruichi gave Ichigo a new training objective.
Learn Bankai.
After facing Kenpachi and confronting Byakuya again, Ichigo finally understood that his current strength was not enough to rescue Rukia. If he wanted to succeed, he had to master Bankai.
Ichigo’s spiritual power was sufficient, so he could barely use the Tenshintai invented by Kisuke to train for Bankai.
"I’m very curious what his Bankai will look like."
Standing on high ground and watching Ichigo train against the manifested form of Zangetsu, Yoruichi seemed to be talking to herself. In reality she was speaking to Ethan beside her.
"It’s actually easy to imagine." Ethan glanced at the materialized Zangetsu. "Quincies only have a few abilities. Which ones do you think could be disguised as Shinigami powers?"
"..."
Yoruichi realized that Ethan made a good point. It had already been confirmed that Ichigo’s Zanpakuto was actually his Quincy power. Zangetsu did not want to reveal the truth. Therefore it had to produce abilities that fit the concept of a Zanpakuto and could greatly increase Ichigo’s combat power.
After thinking about it, only one ability seemed suitable.
Blut Vene.
Ethan also had memories from his previous life as reference. Ichigo’s Bankai was essentially a Shinigami version of Blut Vene. His Bankai did not only change the Zanpakuto’s form but also altered the clothes he wore.
Considering that Shinigami are pure spiritual bodies, this situation was equivalent to wrapping the entire body in spiritual power. This effect was very similar to the Quincy technique of infusing spirit particles into the blood and spreading it throughout the body.
After activating Bankai, Ichigo’s speed became extremely fast and his attack power increased greatly. The effect was very similar to Blut Vene.
As for the weaknesses.
They were obvious.
Compared with the flashy Bankai abilities of other Shinigami, Ichigo’s Bankai lacked variety. Aside from Mugetsu, which he did not even know about yet, it did not show much room for further development.
Other Shinigami could continue improving their Bankai and gain stronger abilities. Ichigo, however, seemed only able to increase his spiritual pressure to raise his speed and attack power.
"Looking at it this way, it’s no wonder Ichigo later trained in Hollowfication. He simply could not see any direction for further growth."
(To be continued.)
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