Chapter 169. Awakening Part 1

Ryu's question startled Ichigo, he thought for a while and replied

" My Zanpakuto is named Zangetsu, and it basically enhances my basic stats to a ridiculous level."

Ryu shook his head when he heard Ichigo " How much of an idiot can you be? There should be another power within you."

Ichigo was startled but he answered " Yes. I have hollow powers."

Ryu nodded " That's not all you have. Anyway for you to become strong, first of all you need to have perfect control over your Riatsu which you don't. Only after completing that can move on further. I will remind you this once, what I am about to put you through will possibly kill you.

Are you sure you still want to continue? "

Ichigo resolutely nodded " Yes."

Ryu " Good. Stay calm."

A ripple surrounded both of them and they disappeared. Ryu took Ichigo into his pocket dimension.

" You will train here. As there are still stuff going on outside you can't train for long right? "

Ichigo " Yes."

Ryu " Then you better pass it otherwise only your corpse will be sent outside."

Ichigo's body shivered when Ryu spoke such words ' He isn't joking around!! '

Ryu pointed his fingers, Ichigo's soul was pushed outside his body. Ryu took Ichigo's body, he then stretched out his hand. A white string appeared in his palm, he passed the string to Ichigo.

The moment Ichigo grabbed the string he felt his Riatsu rage like it would burst out of him. He concentrated as much as he can and calmed the raging power inside him. It took him everything he had just to keep his powers from running rampant.

Ryu made a grabbing motion, Ichigo's Zanpakuto was now in his hands. Ryu sealed his Zanpakuto and placed it above a platform.

Ichigo found that he couldn't let go of the string, it seemed as if it was glued to his hand.

Ryu " That string is special. It will take the shape of a Sword as long as you can shape your Riatsu to a Sword but it's sharpness will depend on how you refine your Riatsu to make a sword.

You have one week, you training is simple. Never let go of that string, try to get to your sword while defeating your opponents. Also see that platform over there, whenever you are tired you can rest there but let me warn you, you can only rest every three hours and you only have ten minutes of rest after that they will attack you regardless of where you stand."

Ichigo was sweating all over, he was finding it hard just to keep his Riatsu in check and now he has to fight without his Zanpakuto while using a string!

Ichigo " Who is my opponent? "

Ryu " These."

Puff

Puff

Puff

Tens of thousands of Ryu appeared before Ichigo. Seeing so many of Ryu's copy shocked Ichigo which nearly caused him to lose control.

Ryu " These copies merely possess one percent of my true strength. They will attack you relentlessly, you have one week to get your Sword. If you can't complete it then only death awaits you. Oh and don't bother to abandon that string and go straight for your Zanpakuto.

You can only draw out your sword if you can defeat all of my clones otherwise... you get the jist of things right? "

Ichigo gulped hard " But... but there are atleast ten thousand of you! "

Ryu corrected " Twelve thousand to be exact. Anyway good luck."

He vanished after saying his words. Instantly after he left all of Ryu's clones attacked Ichigo.

' Damn! '

Ichigo used flash step but since he was using every bit of his focus to keep his Riatsu in check, he lost control the moment he did Flash step.

Bang!

Bang!

Two dull thumping sounds echoed through the grey world. Ichigo was hit hard on his gut and chest. His Riatsu went out of control again.

' Damn! The moment my focus falters my Riatsu will go out of control!! What should I do!!? '

He was hit again and again. His body seemed as if it would be torn apart any second but he managed to just slightly crawl away from the barrage of attacks.

' This won't do! I need to take them down or I will die for real! '

His body was being pummeled by four of Ryu's clones. Taking this opportunity he channeled his Riatsu and tried to mold the string into a sword but he forgot that his control over Riatsu is trash.

The string straightened out for a second before reverting to a string again.

' F**k, I have to channel the right amount of Riatsu or it won't work! '

In just few minutes Ichigo was bloodied all over. But still he hanged on, three hours of torture went by. Ichigo dragged his body and went towards the platform Ryu pointed out before they begun.

He slumped down, he was exhausted. His Riatsu was still there but he found it hard to control it when they attack. He don't know how he was able to hold on for three hours, if it was a minute longer he would have died.

It seems like Ryu calculated his limit and set the timing. This training was so that he could control his Riatsu better but such a thing can't be done in few days, that's asking for the impossible.

Anyway how was he supposed to complete such a task. He couldn't attack since he has to focus or his Riatsu will go out of control due this damn string, what more frustrating is that whenever Ryu's clones attack his Riatsu will go out of control....

' Wait... so that's how it is!! '

Ichigo rested for ten minutes and got up.

' Let's try that.'

He wobbled towards Ryu's clones, he didn't try to mold a Sword. When an attack was just about to fall on him he quickly retracted his Riatsu but not fast enough.

Bang!

He was blasted back where another one of Ryu clones attacked him again.

Bang!

It wasn't until the third attack he regained his control.

' Again! '

Just as an attack was about to fall on him, he retracted his Riatsu. This time he was lucky enough to make it happen. The attack fell on him but nothing happened, all Ichigo felt was a slight pain on his shoulder.

' It works!! Hahaha!! It works!! '

Ryu knew it would be impossible for Ichigo to learn control over his Riatsu in a short time so he went with the most torturous one. Each of his clones attack will trigger Ichigo's Riatsu and make it go out of control. This will result in excruciating pain due to the rampage of Riatsu inside his body.

The first step in his training was for Ichigo to advance and retract his Riatsu whenever he want. Since his clones would attack him from all directions unless Ichigo can retract his Riatsu from the attacked area rather than from his entire body he would still have his Riatsu go out of control.

Normal training can only take you so far, to obtain certain results sometimes extreme measures are needed. Ichigo is the type of person that learns through battle so Ryu this training will bring out the best in him.

Eventhough Ichigo found out the trick to this training he was still far from retracting his Riatsu from various parts of his body simultaneously.

Ryu who saw this was satisfied ' Let's see how far you can go... Ichigo Kurosaki! '