As the two voices fell, their bodies erupted with light, one black, one white, flooding young Ichigo's vision until he couldn't keep his eyes open.

The next moment, the light faded, condensing into two orbs, one black and one white. Understanding came without words. Ichigo stepped forward slowly, reached out, and plunged both hands inside.

The black orb on the left took shape first. A short black blade materialized in Ichigo's hand. Its design was strange, the pommel connected directly to the blade. Though called a short blade, it measured around sixty centimeters, which for a boy his size was practically a greatsword.

The white orb on the right followed. This, too, was a black blade, but a genuine one, roughly one meter twenty in length. Its shape was equally odd: the rear half of the blade was hollowed out through the middle.

One long, one short. Neither resembled a traditional sword. Neither had a guard. The long blade especially, Ichigo held it as though it weighed nothing, yet it stood taller than he did, and the sheer wrongness of the image was impossible to ignore.

"Two... Zangetsu?"

The moment the blades formed, understanding flooded through him. His body brimmed with power, not the hollow, rootless kind. This was immense spiritual power, so overwhelming it could no longer be called by that name. This was spiritual pressure. Spiritual pressure strong enough to press down on ordinary souls.

"So... what am I now?"

He looked at his arms. The raincoat he'd been wearing was gone. In its place was a black kimono, a red engraved sash draped over one shoulder, wooden sandals on his feet. Not bizarre, exactly, but far from ordinary.

"...A Soul Reaper?"

A voice rose from somewhere deep within him, calm and steady, telling him this was the form of a Soul Reaper. It sounded like the man in black from just moments ago.

CRACK—

Before he could think further, a fissure split the black space. Unlike before, when it had seemed near its limit, this one spread fast, almost instantly covering everything. The next instant, Ichigo's vision went dark, and the black space shattered completely.

...

His sight returned, and the world snapped back to the moment he'd first woken. The river still churned. The sky hung gray and heavy. Raindrops struck the tip of his nose, jolting his awareness back into place.

"I'm back." He looked at the twin blades in his hands and let out a soft breath. "Feels like a dream."

He glanced at his mother beside him. As if by instinct, he reached out with his senses, reading her condition. The spiritual pressure of his Blut Vene still lingered over the wound. Relief loosened his chest, and he turned his gaze toward the enormous monster not far away.

Hollow.

The knowledge surfaced from his blood itself — the name of the creature before him.

His grip tightened on the hilts. Reality was simple: that thing had hurt his mother. There was no way he was letting it walk away.

"Strange." The Hollow studied him, baffled. "Why do I feel... off? And how the hell did you turn into a Soul Reaper, you little brat? Weren't you just a tasty snack a second ago!"

"You...!"

SWISH,

The words cut off. A thick whip lashed out with blinding speed, tearing through the air toward him. The shriek of its passage left no doubt, this was no feint.

No time to think. Ichigo swung the long blade in his right hand on pure instinct, drawing on years of karate training, hoping to block the strike.

Shrrrk,

"...Eh?!"

The Hollow stared in horror as the whip, the hardest, strongest weapon on its body, met that absurdly oversized black blade and simply snapped clean off.

"What the hell are you, you little brat!" Its voice came out ragged, but its body was honest, retreating a full step backward. "What the hell is going on with you?!"

"Eh?" Ichigo only now registered what had happened. He stared at the black blade in his hand and muttered, "So you're this strong? Or wait — maybe this guy's just weak? I mean, I only just became a Soul Reaper, right?"

"Bastard!"

Enraged at being ignored, the Hollow roared, then spun around and bolted, long strides carrying it toward the distance.

'What kind of monster is that?!'

Truthfully, this Hollow wasn't especially powerful. But it wasn't weak, either. Taking it down required at least a seated officer among the Soul Reapers. And even a seated officer couldn't have sheared off its whip with a single casual slash. A truly fresh Soul Reaper would have been easy prey.

Unfortunately for this Hollow, it had run into young Ichigo, an existence born from countless coincidences, and even miracles.

"Eh?"

Ichigo blinked at the fleeing figure. Then his eyes sharpened. He was no saint. His mother had been hurt that badly, there was no way he'd just watch the culprit escape.

As if sensing its master's will, the spiritual pressure in his body flowed unconsciously toward the long blade in his right hand. Once inside, it gathered as though drawn by gravity, pooling at the tip, where a pale blue light began to bloom.

'What is that thing?!'

The Hollow glanced back mid-run, felt the shift in the spiritual pressure behind it, and immediately poured everything into its legs, sprinting for its life.

'That kind of spiritual pressure... I've never heard of anything like it, damn it!'

The light at the blade's tip swelled as more spiritual pressure poured in. Then, as if reaching a threshold, it stopped growing. Ichigo felt he couldn't force any more power into the blade.

'Run run run run!'

The fleeing Hollow had only one thought left. It spotted the churning river, and without hesitation, stopped, crouched, and launched itself toward the far bank.

[Now!]

A peculiar voice rang out in his heart. Ichigo understood instantly. His resolute gaze locked onto the Hollow suspended in midair, and in the next heartbeat, he swung the long blade.

[This is the power of Zangetsu!]

Pale blue light erupted. A massive crescent slash burst from the blade's tip and flew straight at the airborne Hollow.

[Its name is, ]

CRACK,

The crescent slash passed through the Hollow's body at an angle. Its form froze in the air. A crack split across its mask, then raced from the top of its head down through its legs, cleaving the body in two and snuffing out its life.

[Crescent, ]

He looked up. The Hollow's body dissolved into specks of white light, scattering into the air. But the enormous crescent slash did not fade. It kept flying skyward, punching through the gloomy clouds overhead,

revealing the pure white moon.

[Heaven-Piercer!]

➤ Next: Ichigo's Choice