Moongetsu

The Bounts aren't the main reason for this, and the protagonist’s state isn't exactly sadness. It’s more a combination of factors that led to this, like him no longer having things under control, still being attached to his previous world, and starting to feel cornered. The protagonist himself once mentioned that he’s an emotional person, so the way he acts is basically him masking that fact until he couldn't hide it anymore. What bothers him isn’t the Bounts themselves, but rather himself and the situation surrounding him.

My intention was never to create something engaging or mysterious, let alone complex. This story was just a hobby I picked up (even though I had never written anything before), so at the beginning, I didn’t really put much thought into it. That only changed over time because I started enjoying writing (even though I don’t have much time for it).

My initial idea was to have these black flames that would negates changes in others' Reiatsu, but it would be too obvious that it was inspired by Black Clover. Since my idea was for the Zanpakutō to create flames that were somewhat "unpredictable," I concluded that no one would imagine that the black flames would actually have healing abilities XD

Thank you for the comment. Just to let you know, since I didn't have the habit of writing before, this was the easiest way I found to do it. But over time, I've been trying to get used to writing differently, so I only changed this writing style around chapter 121.

Using Ichigo as an example is a bit complicated because it makes it seem like he gets stronger at every moment, when in reality, he’s more similar to Zaraki in the sense that he’s always been very strong. However, his lack of understanding of who he really is makes him only use parts of his power. So, when it looks like Ichigo gets stronger, it’s actually him just somehow unlocking his original power. He doesn’t actually defeat Byakuya; they become temporarily equal, and then Ichigo is surpassed, until the Hollow (his true power) appears and beats Byakuya to the point where Byakuya is left in the same condition as Ichigo himself.

The problem with getting strong quickly is that the stronger a person becomes, the stronger the enemies that appear will be, as they will be more cautious. In many moments in Bleach, no matter how powerful someone is, a single mistake is enough for someone to figure out how to defeat them. (A good example is Aizen himself. Ichigo becomes ridiculously stronger than Aizen, but he doesn't defeat him. It took Urahara's plan to stop Aizen, because if the fight had continued, Aizen would have won.)

I must confess that I'm impressed and flattered that my story is generating theories like these. I really enjoyed both theories. As for the MC, I kind of already have something in mind regarding his "origins," which will be revealed later. xD

He died off-screen in chapter 125, where Kariya meets with Yoshino and reveals that he knew about his betrayal. From the way he speaks, Yoshino herself realizes that Utagawa had already been dealt with.

I haven't dropped the story. Lately, I just haven't had much time to write, but maybe soon I'll be able to post the next chapter. (My job has been taking up a lot of my time, so the chapters are taking longer to come out.)