5 His name heard around the world.
"Cast of your fear and cleave the Heavens, ZANGETSU" Ichigo roared.
The reiatsu that accumulated around him burst forth like a tornado in all directions.
Azer did his best not to be blown away by the torrent of power, he was on the ground near the doors to the building when the wind let up. The words still resounded within him, Zangetsu, it meant Slaying Moon. It was then that he finally caught a glimpse of the boy.
He was wearing a strange garb, black with some white pieces, and of Japanese origin. In his right hand, being held over his shoulder, what could only be described as a large Khyber blade. And in his left hand, another blade, a large trench knife, pointed towards the ground.
The foreign power was no longer pressing against his soul like previously. But something was still there, still telling him to run…something fearful and oddly familiar, something that he hadn't felt in a long time and in his disorientated state he couldn't remember clearly.
He tried his best to stand up, almost falling over in the process.
He noticed the boy looking at his blades like one would a friend you hadn't seen in awhile. Familiarity. The boy knew about his blades and this power. He's used it before, but when? It was not time to think about such things. He needed to run, he didn't know wh...and then it hit him. He remembered this feeling, it was before he was reincarnated.
Most humans who reincarnate into devils do so because they died. When a human dies, and only a few moments have passed, they can be saved with an evil piece.
So, he finally knew this feeling. It was the same, he felt it just as his existence as a human came to an end.
Death.
He was staring at the embodiment of death.
The boy sheathed his smaller blade on his right hip and grabbed the larger one with both hands. He brought it above his head for a downward slashing motion. It didn't matter that the boy was several yards away, he could feel it. His life only continued because the blade had yet to drop.
Azer gathered all his will to just ask a single sentence, "What…are..you…" Azer barely spat out, trembling before the executioners blade.
"A Shinigami" The boy said without any hesitation.
Azer had no time to respond or rationalize the answer the boy gave.
The Shinigami brought the blade down while calling forth death in a whispered voice.
"Getsuga Tenshō" Azer heard from the boy before his vision was enveloped by a blue light and his eyes finally went dark.
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Ichigo watched as his signature attack cut through the man and continue onward to the horizon. No doubt this will cause a lot of issues, but it was no longer his problem.
He put his larger blade into its sheath on his back, he had a feeling that the blades' length would correspond to his body size, and he was apparently right.
When he pictured himself with his full length blade with his small body, he could have sworn he heard a snicker form Zangetsu.
It may have been a risk to go straight into his shikai without first training his body, and boy is his body going to hurt later.
He had no experience with his sealed Zanpakutō state, and he couldn't sense how strong his opponent was before he unleashed his powers. It was a gamble that he felt he had to take.
Devils were an interesting race, their souls were fused to their bodies. It's the reason a devil can't be reincarnated with an evil piece, they merely absorb it into themselves. So, when Ichigo activated his Shinigami powers, they manifested on his physical body, there was no longer a need for a gigai anymore. But, that also meant his physical body was going to take the brunt of the damage. Right now his soul was supporting his weak body but as soon as he "turns off" his power he will probably collapse and if he continues to overuse it, he may die, so he needed to hurry.
Ichigo turned around and headed through the open portal, finally feeling free.
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As he came through the portal, what he saw was not what he was expecting.
He hadn't deactivated his Shinigami powers just in case the other side was ready for him, so as he came out of the portal the people all stared.
It was a building in the middle of a human city, best place to hide is in plain sight he mused.
All eyes were on him, some of the guards in the building were starting to approach him. He could feel that everyone around him were non-humans, mostly devils but some other beings he's never felt before.
He'd wager that this building has several barriers that stop humans from entering, so his odd appearance shouldn't break any secrecy rules.
He didn't want to alert anyone on this side of the portal yet, he wanted time to get some distance and find somewhere to crash when his body inevitably is going to pass out.
He noticed the guards approaching him from either side, so he pulled a move that Urahara taught him encase a large amount of people ever saw him in his spirit form.
"Guard-san" Ichigo spoke loudly towards the guard closest to the door, causing the other guards to ease up a bit.
"Do you need help kid?" The guard said while approaching the boy.
"Do you know where the cosplay convention is being held?" Ichigo said, trying to appear as innocent as possible.
The people still paying attention to the situation either gave a small chuckle or a smile and continued on with their business.
The cosplay defense, Urahara called it. No one questions a cosplayer. It was one of the few times Ichigo really couldn't argue with hat n' clogs. He was right.
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The guard was left baffled for a moment as Ichigo walked out the door. Saying something along the lines that he'll figure it out.
Just as he was out of sight of the guards, he Shunpo'd away.
He kept moving, careful to avoid any humans as his made is way out of town while trying his best to suppress his power. He didn't want anyone to track him.
He made his way eastward, coming to a forestry area. He could feel his body about to give out.
"This will have to do for now" He told himself.
Going to the surrounding trees, he used what little demonic energy he had to carve runes into them, a low-level barrier spell. Its nigh undetectable unless you're standing in front of it but also can only hide something weak. It should be enough to hide him once he passes out.
He carefully deactivated his Shinigami powers.
His body fell over. His muscles all burned and his chest hurt, specifically his heart…it felt like…..
"Cardiac arrest" He thought to himself as his eyes were about to forcefully close.
"Help" He directed towards his soul before the darkness finally took him.
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It was around noon when Ichigo passed out, and now it was early morning when he finaly awoke.
He carefully analyzed his body, his heart was working fine, his muscles still hurt but were functional.
No lasting damage anywhere.
He finally had time to direct himself into his soul. The sight almost brought tears to his eyes.
"Zangetsu" , "Old man" He said.
"It's been awhile Ichigo" The Quincy Representation responded.
"About time, king" The hollow said with a smirk.
"I have so much to tell you guys…" He said wiping away the tears that started to form in his eyes"
"We know Ichigo" The old man said
He continued while putting a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, "We never left you Ichigo"
"What do we do now" Ichigo said while regaining his composure.
Zangetsu spoke up this time. "Isn't it obvious? Its time to train" As a devious smile appeared on the hollows face.
"We're doing it correctly this time" The old man interjected.
"First control, and body tempering" the old man said sternly.
He continued: "Then swordplay and kido and when you achieve Bankai again, you will learn to fully use your Quincy powers."
"I believe that Zangetsu also wants you to learn more about your hollow side" He said glancing towards the smiling hollow.
Ichigo looked over at Zangetsu, he noticed the evil smile on the hollows face. "Bad news" he thought, looking around for an escape.
"Don't you want to shove a blade up my ass?" The hollow said while materializing his blade.
Ichigo started to back away slowly, before turning around in a full sprint and running away.
"Get back here and fight like a man" The hollow yelled as he chased after Ichigo.
They disappeared into the distance, but their shouting could still be heard by the old man.
"HOW IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE TRAINING" Ichigo yelled across his soul realm.
"Its not" The hollow replied while swinging his blade at Ichigo.
"THE HELL YOU MEAN ITS NOT?" The substitute Shinigami barked while barely dodging the swing and gaining some distance.
"It means get back here and take your beating or its going to hurt more the more you run away" The hollow said with more joy in his voice than either Ichigo or the old man had ever seen.
The corners of the Old man's lips curved upwards, he and zangetsu knew what Ichigo needed right now was to rest, but Ichigo would never willingly rest. So, they had to force him to.
He materialized his blade as he ran into the distance after them.
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The fallout from Ichigo's escape had been pretty substantial for how little damage he did to the city's infrastructure.
At this point in time, the whole underworld was talking about what happened. The Phenex clan has a lot of influence but there's no way they could keep this a secret.
Through investigations done by various clans, everyone had a clear idea of what happened. The clan was going to kill off the boy to avoid his bloodline getting stolen. The boy found out about this and escaped, causing the large burst of unknown power at the city's teleport.
This unknown power was strong enough to cause devils to collapse by just being in its presence.
And there were recordings by citizens of a large, crescent shaped, blue blade flying towards the horizon that originated from the building the boy was in.
And then there were the reports of certain words originating from inside the building that seemed to echo out for everyone to hear.
It was a mess all around for the Phenex clan
.
Everyone was gossiping; the Phenex clan will kill their own to protect their bloodline, they were going to throw away a boy with so much power, they are idiots.
The people of the Phenex clan could only lower their heads in anger and curse the boys name in private. They had been at fault in the matter, but their pride would not allow them to admit it. Riser swore vengeance on the boy in public which caused matters to escalate even further.
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Right now, all the highest-level devils including the Satans were watching a recording. It was confiscated rather quickly from the wreckage of the boys display of power. The only camera that worked throughout the whole fight.
"What..are..you" could be heard and even though the screen was somewhat cracked there was a bit of visual.
And then they heard it, what the boy proclaimed himself to be, there was no hesitation in his voice.
"A Shinigami" He replied.
There were murmurs among the devil present at the viewing, there had not been a gathering like this in in a long time.
"Shinigami aren't real" could be heard from the back.
The video continued until the boy brought down his blade calling out the attack.
"Getsuga Tenshō"
The blinding light shot into the distance.
The video ended, but no body moved. No one spoke. No one knew what just happened.
"Shit" Sirzechs broke the silence.
"Getsuga Tenshō, Moon-Fang Heaven Piercer" His words washed over all those present.
"That's Japanese" he said in an exasperated tone.
It took a moment before it finally donned on everyone why Sirzechs was acting this way.
"Amaterasu is going to be pissed" He said, face-palming at the thought of seeing her after this.
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Lord Phenex was with his family in his private study watching the same video recording.
Sirzechs sent it to him along with a note telling him to clean up his own mess and that he was on his own with regards to the fallout that ensued.
They watched in horror as the boy displayed power that had never been seen before in this world.
They all had different responses to the video, Riser acting like a child, Ruval taking it in stride, and Ravel not knowing how to respond.
But one thing they all had in common, their distaste for the boy only grew, once again, their pride would not allow them to admit fault in this matter.
The Phenex clan had to pay for damages done to the city since technically the boy was under their charge before he escaped.
The governing bodies of the underworld would also not help with the boys capture, it was a delicate situation with the Shinto faction at the moment, and they didn't want to escalate anything further.
They had no idea if the boy sought refuge there. So, the Phenex clan couldn't claim the boy a stray devil and have him hunted down.
The only thing the clan could do was put a reward on any information and a private bounty on his capture and return.
But as the days turned to weeks, nothing turned up. The boy had disappeared. They tried looking into his family history on his mother's side, but that turned up unfruitful. His mother's family were all deceased and they were normal humans for as for back as they could find.
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It had been over a month before the Shinto faction discovered the existence of the boy. Sirzechs himself went to speak with Amaterasu. The discussion got a little…. heated.
There was retroactive outrage over the fact that someone so powerful went undiscovered, and subsequently stolen from their faction
Both the devils and the Shinto faction claimed ownership of the boy, yet neither could completely argue that the other side had no claim.
After this debacle, the Shinto faction officially joined the hunt. They knew he was in japan but they still couldn't find him. If he was able to suppress this power he displayed then the only thing they could use to track him was his demonic energy, but that was so pitifully weak it was almost impossible to tell the difference between him and a normal human.
They could only search the old-fashioned way, they set up team in every major city and were on the lookout for an orange haired boy.
The boy's existence quickly went from rumors to a legend.
The boy who pulled one over on the Phenex family and could escape both the devil and the Shinto faction.
The gossip blew up even more when the video from inside the building got leaked.
The boy claimed himself a Shinigami. A death god. A Soul Reaper.
More and more rumors began to circulate.
Was he related to Hades' Grim reapers?
Was he a new god that was born?
What was that power he used, it felt too different from magic?
It was no longer just the Devils and Shinto factions that were interested, movement within the fallen angels, indicating they were searching for the boy, and even Heaven sent people to investigate. The power the boy used was not demonic in nature so maybe it had some basis in light?
Even some gods and goddesses asked around, some making public statements when the name of his blade was made know, Zangetsu or Slaying Moon as it could be translated. They wondered if it was a provocation towards their domains.
Kurosaki Ichigo, the name reverberated throughout the world.
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Ichigo had no idea about the storm he caused when he escaped. He was in the middle of no-where right now. There are many areas in japan that are just pure wilderness, and he never stayed in any one area for too long.
He only visited small villages or towns to resupply and never the same one twice. He was cautious, but it paid off.
He trained with Zangetsu and the Old man in his soul world with his powers while he trained his body in the wilderness.
As the years progressed, his body became strong. Stronger than his previous body due to his soul being merged with it. And his powers progressed at a rapid pace.
He achieved Bankai easily due to obvious reasons. But what he was most proud about was his ability to put Zangetsu into its sealed state.
He perfected his control, he no longer leaked reiatsu at an alarming rate. He even started learning kido after he got his control down. While he couldn't claim to be a master at kido, he was proficient enough to use it in battle efficiently.
It was after this point that his started training in both his hollow abilities and his Quincy powers.
From his hollow side, Ichigo became more proficient in his Cero, and he also learned Bala. For defense, he learned how to actively use his Hierro and High-speed regeneration. It drained too much stamina to keep them up constantly, so the half measure they decided on was a more focused, active use.
From his Quincy side, he learned how to construct a light-bow, he practiced firing arrows in his soul world until it became second nature. He could perform the Licht Regen like he had seen the Quincys do in the past. He also learned how to active his Blut Vene for defense. He could even overlay it with Hierro in extreme circumstances.
He had come along way, but according to both his swords, he still had far to go.
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It was the old man who helped Ichigo keep track of the days, when you're constantly jumping in and out of your soul world for tens of hours at a time, and living in the wilderness you tend to lose track of these things.
He would tell Ichigo every time his birthday came around, they would stop training and just take the day to rest.
It was around that time of year again, a week from his 16th birthday. It was hard to believe how long it had been since he'd seen his loved ones. He was getting anxious and nervous.
"I think I'm going to take the item out of its little pocket dimension" He said towards Zangetsu and the old man while taking a break from training.
Ever since Ichigo got full control of his body after reincarnating, he could feel a tiny little "space" moving with him, it followed him everywhere he went but no one else seemed to notice it. He knew what it was, it was the pocket dimension that the "item" was stored in.
"I don't plan on using it for another week, I just want to make sure I'm good to go immediately" He said looking towards his sword spirits.
As he finished, he reached a hand towards the little tear in space.
