Old Man Zangetsu!?

Ichigo breathed heavily while leaning on a large tree trunk. It was the last day before winter break started and he still couldn't sense spirit particles. Uryuu mocked him every day and it was really starting to piss Ichigo off. However, he couldn't do anything about it since he was simply a weak human now. After school he would come straight to this spot and trained until the sun went down.

The strange organization called Xcution had reached out to him to join. Apparently, Sado had already joined them in order to enhance his power. It turned out that Sado's abilities were called a Fullbring, which manifested when your mother is attacked by a Hollow while she is pregnant.

Since Ichigo was already aware of what kind of person the leader was from Orihime's letter, he decided to leave and keep training with Uryuu. Although their relationship wasn't the greatest, Uryuu had risked his life on several occasions for his friends. This alone was enough for Ichigo to trust him over some potential criminal. He warned Sado to be careful around them, and he gave his usual simple reply.

Seeing the Ichigo made no progress, Uryuu felt frustrated. Although he told him he wouldn't help after today, this was only to spur him on. He was dumbfounded at how inept Ichigo was at sensing spirit particles. Although he lost his Soul Reaper powers, he should still have some instinct. On his way home, he was confronted by his father.

"You aren't involving yourself with those Soul Reapers again, are you? I warned you to stop, but you ignored me." His father gave him the same cold, uncaring look.

"My actions were to save a human and kill Hollows."

"Hmph, no matter what, you broke our pact. You have been spending a lot of time with that Soul Reaper, are you rebelling?" Uryuu didn't even bother replying to his father and changed the subject.

"What would you do if a young Quincy cannot detect spirit particles?"

"Banish them from the family or kill them to weed out the weak blood.���

"And if you did neither of these things and wanted to awaken their powers?"

"Why are you asking me this? Have you discovered a mixed blood Quincy and wish to raise them?"

"That doesn't matter! Answer the question!"

"I'll tell you only if you bring this Quincy to me once they are awakened." Uryuu begrudgingly nodded since he knew his father wouldn't budge on this.

"Blind them."

"What?"

"Cut their eyes and blind them. Once they lose their sight, they will naturally have to rely on their spiritual sense. Once they awaken, the Quincy blood will heal them. If they don't awaken, then, well, it's the punishment for failure."

"That's absurd…"

"That is the only way. Those without talent deserve to die or be crippled."

With that, his father left and Uryuu remained, clenching his fist. Ryuken Ishida was always like this. He denounced the Quincy, but was also the most talented living Quincy in the human world. Uryuu left to where Ichigo was practicing. He did not plan to tell him about this radical approach.

When he arrived, Ichigo was slumped on the ground with a dazed look. Although he knew his powers would be gone, the hope of becoming strong enough to protect others was ignited in him again. However, it seemed he was just not talented enough to grasp this strength. When Uryuu walked up to him, Ichigo didn't even look up. He was depressed and sulking.

"Ichigo… have you given up? If so, tell me now. You have already wasted over a month of my time without any progress."

"Yeah… sorry Uryuu. Enjoy your break."

Ichigo stood up with slumped shoulders and began shuffling home. Uryuu was surprised that his goading didn't work.

"But, if you still want to try, there is one more thing we can do. However, it's extremely dangerous…"

"What is it? Tell me, I'll do it!" Ichigo didn't realize just how much he desired to become strong again until he was pushed into the pits of despair. He had already tasted the power to protect everyone he cares for and he felt lost without it.

"Are you sure? This may leave you permanently crippled…"

"What are the chances of success?"

"Even someone without talent could awaken Quincy powers with this training."

"Then what are you waiting for, tell me what it is!"

"I'm sorry Ichigo… you asked for this."

Uryuu created a blade of spirit particles on his finger and sliced Ichigo's eyes in a way that would destroy his vision but not threaten his life. He began screaming at the suddenness of the world around him going blurry with large blobs of colors. Nothing was clear it was all a mess of stimulus.

"What did you do…?"

"Your vision is blinding you to the spirit particles around you. When you have no choice but to see using your spiritual sense, you will be on the first step to awakening your Quincy powers. Once you do, the awakened blood will heal your eyes."

Contrary to what Uryuu expected, Ichigo quickly got used to the idea. In fact, the moment his vision was cut off he already could seem to sense something. He had been on the verge of succeeding but missed the last key element. His own psyche was blocking him from completing the training. In his desperation he was able to see a general shape forming in front of him.

"Uryuu… I think I see it."

"Take the spirit particles into your body and transform the Quincy cross into your weapon. This is the easiest step. Once you are used to creating your weapon, it can be created without the aid of the cross. Let the powers within you burst to the surface and shape the weapon by instinct."

Ichigo unknowingly slipped into his inner world after a while. He was so focused on the spirit particles around him he did not realize the scenery around him had changed. The man who had called himself Zangetsu in the past stood over Ichigo and watched him. In order to help Ichigo defeat kenpachi, he forced the dormant Quincy powers awake to increase his Reiatsu by several times.

This caused the powers to reach a near permanent dormancy, since they weren't awakened naturally. If not for one day seeing a light which stimulated him, he would stay dormant forever. However, the other powers in Ichigo's body were still suppressing his inner Quincy. Once the Soul Reaper powers and Hollow powers waned to a similar dormant state, he was able to approach the barrier. The only thing he needed was for Ichigo to sense him and let him out.

His Quincy powers felt the call and pulled Ichigo into this world to confess his lies. This was something he always regretted. That day when Ichigo came to him and thought he was Zangetsu, he did not correct him. This created a subconscious rejection of his existence once Ichigo's Soul Reaper powers were disappearing.

Ichigo had assumed that old man Zangetsu, as he called him, would be gone as well. However, he was actually the Quincy within Ichigo. This misunderstanding prevented him from awakening. He could see Ichigo absorbing more and more spirit particles which made him aware of everything around him. Ichigo finally opened his eyes and looked up at the old man he recognized very well.

"Old man Zangetsu… how is it you?"

"Ichigo… I'm sorry that I lied to you. I was never Zangetsu. That day you saw me, you misunderstood. I was preventing Him from breaking out. However, I was not brave enough to reveal the truth. I am the Quincy within you. I thought that we would never meet and was content with silently helping you. However, now my selfishness has gotten the better of me. Would you allow me to fight with you again?"

"Old man… I don't really understand what you're saying, but if you are my Quincy powers, then you're exactly what I need right now. Don't worry too much about the past, it was my fault anyway. Show me what you've got!"

"Gladly!"

Uryuu watched Ichigo go into a daze. He wasn't sure what was happening since he never taught anyone before, but he could sense the spirit particles congregating around him slowly. Suddenly, they all accelerated at once and concentrated into the Quincy cross.

The spiritual power manifested and a heavy longbow spanning one meter formed in his hand. It was mainly black with white lines forming a circuit like pattern spread out from the point where Ichigo held the bow. On his back was a large case full of ballista arrows held in place with a red rope.

His outfit resembled the old man in his inner world except it was primarily white instead of black. Ichigo was also wearing similar black sunglasses. His long white cape fluttered in the wind under the large case on his back and Ichigo lifted the longbow up to inspect it. Then he confusedly scratched his head.

"Hey Uryuu, I don't know how to use a bow."