Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 92 - A Clear and Unobstructed Ichigo

But that only applies to normal living beings. Ichigo Kurosaki stands at the absolute limit of biological existence, and can surpass it. Normal doesn't begin to describe him. He is the monster among monsters, acknowledged across all three realms, forged from countless miracles.

BOOM!

A terrifying burst of spiritual pressure erupted. Black markings appeared on Ichigo's forehead, tracing down along his left eye and staining it black. The brown iris shifted quietly. The markings kept traveling downward, coiling around the very center of his chest, the place where the black thorn had lodged itself.

SZZZT!

Like winter snow under a warm sun, the black thorn melted away in an instant. As the seconds passed, that thorn, a symbol of aging, capable of rotting all things in existence, gradually dispersed into the air and dissolved into scattered spirit particles.

"What's going on... why can't I sense his spiritual pressure anymore..." Szayelaporro Granz's expression went sour. "Is this the power of a Transcendent... is this... the path toward a perfect being?!"

At that moment, no one present could sense Ichigo's spiritual pressure. No one, except those like the top four Espada, Arrancar who had evolved from the highest class of Menos Grande, the Vasto Lorde.

"Phew..."

Ichigo exhaled slowly. The black markings faded, and his spiritual pressure gradually pulled back inward. Szayelaporro Granz could sense it again, which meant Ichigo had withdrawn from the Transcendent state.

"I originally didn't want to fight you all using power that transcends dimensions." Ichigo glanced at Baraggan Louisenbairn. "I didn't expect your ability to be this formidable."

"It forced me to tap into the Hollow power at a deeper level."

"...What do you mean by that..." Hueco Mundo's sole scientist frowned. "Are you saying... that up until just now, you were using incomplete power the entire time?"

"More or less." Ichigo rubbed at his face, soot-blackened from the explosion. "In my normal state, my spiritual pressure can never exceed its limit no matter what. It can only approach that threshold. Get as close as possible, but never cross."

"Only by deeply activating the Quincy or the Hollow power can I unleash something that transcends dimensions—what you'd call the power of a Transcendent."

"...Then why didn't you use that power to kill us?"

"Ha... it's rare to find Hollows that can hold out for more than two moves. Shouldn't I take the chance to learn something?" A faint smile tugged at the corner of Ichigo's mouth. "You're not willing to help me open a path through Hueco Mundo, so fighting you is the only way I've got to master the various Hollow abilities."

"And honestly, I've already got a handle on most of them."

As the words landed, a white unknown substance appeared over the wounds on Ichigo's body. It rapidly filled each one in, and within moments the injuries were gone, as though Ichigo had never been hurt at all.

"High-Speed Regeneration...!"

Szayelaporro Granz's face twitched. The look being directed at Ichigo was the same one reserved for monsters. What Ichigo had just demonstrated was High-Speed Regeneration, a Hollow ability enabling rapid recovery from injury.

It's one that most Arrancar abandon during their evolution. They trade it away in pursuit of greater power: Hierro for reinforced defense, Sonído for footwork, individual abilities unique to themselves, and so on. Only a very small number of Arrancar choose to keep it. Among the Espada, only the fourth, Ulquiorra Cifer, had preserved High-Speed Regeneration completely intact.

"There's also the spatial side of things."

THUD,

PAT,

A spatial shift. Ichigo executed the Arrancar's Sonído and materialized behind Szayelaporro Granz, giving a light pat on Szayelaporro Granz's shoulder.

"Sonído..." Without turning around, Szayelaporro Granz spoke each word carefully: "The Garganta—have you mastered that as well?"

"Of course."

Ichigo swept a hand to the side. The space beside him tore open from top to bottom, and where it split, a massive black hole yawned open, the power Hollows alone possessed, the ability to cross between spaces.

"But the targeting still isn't precise enough." Ichigo swept a hand again, and the torn space sealed itself. "I don't even know where this Garganta leads."

"So I'll ask you all to keep putting in the effort. Fighting you is what awakens it—the deeper instincts of the Hollow power inside me."

"You bastard!" A scythe cut through the air. The fifth Espada, Nnoitra Gilga, launched a surprise attack. "What do you take us for?!"

CLANG,

Both scythes came down on Ichigo's back. Same result as before, the Arrancar's spiritual pressure flowed through the point of contact, continuously awakening the Hollow instincts from within.

"I'll say it again: your attacks don't even require me to defend."

"UOOOOOOOOOOH!"

An enormous fist came crashing in. Ichigo caught it in his peripheral vision, raised his left hand, and braced the short blade against his side.

BOOM!

White sand exploded outward. The sheer force sent Nnoitra Gilga and Szayelaporro Granz flying, both of them hurtling into the distance like kites with their strings cut. Ichigo, the one who'd actually been hit, didn't move an inch.

"That's all you've got, isn't it."

Golden light rose along the blade and rapidly gathered at the tip. Ichigo's eyes went ice-cold. Yammy Llargo's eyes went wide, and the shadow of death crept in, but the body was simply too enormous, and Yammy Llargo couldn't move fast enough.

"Getsuga Tensho."

A golden crescent flashed into existence. It carved through the peak of Yammy Llargo's fist and kept going, cleaving the entire arm open from end to end. The massive limb split vertically in two, one half drooping, still connected to the body, the other crashing to the ground and kicking up a great wave of white sand.

"UWAAAAAAAAAH!"

Blood erupted in a torrent, raining down like a crimson shower. The pain made Yammy Llargo howl without stop, the massive body lurching backward again and again, shrinking all the while.

"Not bad."

Watching the result, Ichigo gave a small nod. He'd deliberately held back, just to produce exactly this effect, to check whether his control had slipped at all. Because a Getsuga Tensho delivered in full earnest would have left Yammy Llargo no chance to howl.

"Looks like I've grown accustomed to this power too." Ichigo glanced at his twin blades, a light smile at the corner of his mouth. "A little more sparring, get a proper grip on the Garganta, and then I can go cut Aizen apart."

Ever since waking up in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo had felt a tremendous change come over himself.

It was fine when he was young. But ever since puberty, there had always been a sluggish, resistant feeling somewhere inside him.

A sensation he couldn't put into words. It never showed up in ordinary moments, but occasionally, very occasionally, it would surface without warning, and his body would stiffen up.

Sometimes in the middle of a fight he'd feel like he couldn't draw out his full strength. Like being in a dream where he was fighting someone: power that simply wouldn't come out, everything just slightly off, slightly unsmooth.

But ever since coming to Hueco Mundo, more precisely, ever since waking up, Ichigo felt clear all the way through. That inexplicable resistance was gone without a trace. Like whatever had always been missing inside him had finally been filled in. His whole condition felt sharper than it ever had.

Most immediately: his spiritual pressure had genuinely hit its true limit, an undeniable ceiling even in his normal state. And at the same time, he could now awaken a deeper level of power on his own terms. Without fully entering Trinity State, he could briefly call up the power of a Transcendent.

➤ Next: I Shall Call You the Strongest of the Espada