Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 107 - The Rebellious Ice Dragon

"A Hollow mask?"

Eyes wide, Uryu stared at Muramasa in disbelief. The spiritual pressure Muramasa gave off had already felt deeply unsettling, and now, with a Hollow mask in place, it was all the more eerie.

"Is this Sosuke Aizen's doing?!"

Gritting teeth, Uryu released the bowstring. The arrow of light shot out with a terrifying force capable of piercing through anything.

SWISH,

It passed clean through, punching a basketball-sized hole through Muramasa's chest.

"Even at a moment like this, you still didn't aim for my head." Muramasa chuckled softly, utterly indifferent to the wound. "As expected of children, you're all still too naive, you know."

HISSS,

"This—what is this?!"

Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, an unknown white substance surged from Muramasa's wounds, pouring out like foam and filling every gash and puncture until all of them were sealed.

In an instant the white substance solidified. Every wound returned to its original state. If not for the tattered clothes, Muramasa might never have been injured at all.

"High-Speed Regeneration?!" Yasutora Sado, the one among them who understood Hollow abilities best, murmured in disbelief. "How is this possible?! Just a Hollow mask, how can it grant High-Speed Regeneration?!"

"That level of High-Speed Regeneration—it even surpasses a Hollow!"

"A Hollow mask, huh." Muramasa scoffed. "You're talking about Shinji Hirako and the others, aren't you. When Sosuke Aizen performed Hollowfication on me, Aizen mentioned them. They're nothing but failed products."

"I am the one who has truly mastered the power of the Hollow!"

"...Not a Soul Reaper who has mastered Hollow power?" Uryu caught the distinction immediately. "Just what are you?!"

"Heh. Quick mind." Muramasa gave a cold laugh. "My name is Muramasa. My master is Koga Kuchiki. I am a Zanpakuto."

"A Zanpakuto?!" Uryu's eyes went wide. "No wonder the feeling you gave me was so strange. So you really aren't a Soul Reaper... to think something like this was even possible. A Zanpakuto that has lost its master, and it can still take physical form and move freely?"

From an early age, Uryu had studied the relationship between Soul Reapers and their Zanpakuto. By all logic, a Zanpakuto, as an extension of a Soul Reaper's power, a projection of the soul, should only be visible in physical form to its own master.

"The ability to seduce other Zanpakuto into turning against their masters, and grant them physical form." Uryu murmured slowly. "Being able to take physical form yourself... I suppose that's not so hard to accept, given that."

Zanpakuto abilities were endlessly strange and varied. Uryu had already known as much. But this bizarre was beyond anything anticipated.

"Even so, that power only works on Soul Reapers." Uryu adjusted glasses and drew the bow again. "So what if you have Hollowfication. So what if you have High-Speed Regeneration."

The arrow was aimed at the head. However powerful High-Speed Regeneration was, Uryu didn't believe it could restore a body once the head was gone.

"Correct, I cannot beat you." Muramasa said calmly, not the slightest trace of fear in the face of a lethal arrow pointed straight at the head. "But I don't need to beat you."

"Regret forcing me to use Hollowfication. I will make you sink into agony, and then die."

WHOOSH,

Uryu had heard enough. The arrow shot out, whistling through Muramasa's head, and shattered an afterimage.

"I don't believe you can keep that illusion going forever."

Uryu drew the bow again. Blue light blazed to life on Yasutora Sado's right hand, El Directo charging up. Senna's staff sent a violent gale whirling out from the spike at its tip. All three prepared to blanket the surrounding space with an indiscriminate barrage.

"Heh." A cold laugh. Muramasa spoke without any hurry. "I told you already, your opponent is not me."

"Bankai—Muko Jochu Muramasa!"

Pale violet spiritual pressure billowed out from Muramasa's body. The invisible wave swept through all of them without pausing for even a moment, pressing on toward somewhere far in the distance.

"What... is this?"

The four looked each other over and found nothing amiss. Neither their spiritual pressure nor their bodies showed any sign of anything wrong.

"Wait!" Uryu realized it. "Muramasa is activating the ability to seduce Zanpakuto!"

The arrow shot out again. Muramasa tilted the head and dodged it with ease. With the Hollow mask on, Muramasa's spiritual pressure had climbed to the level of second-grade Reii.

"Tch!"

Uryu drew the bow again. That last shot had been too hasty. Composing the mind, Uryu swore the next strike would finish this.

"You already know my ability, to seduce Zanpakuto and grant them the power to take physical form."

Speaking calmly, Muramasa's figure faded from everyone's sight. The spiritual pressure was steadily weakening; sustaining a wide-range illusion drained an enormous amount.

"This is, in truth, the Bankai's ability."

"?" Uryu paused. "Then what was the point of using Bankai just now?"

"I'm talking about the original Bankai." Muramasa pointed to the mask. "As a Zanpakuto, my Hollowfication is not the same as the Hollowfication of Soul Reapers."

"After using the power of the Hollow, I will fall back into slumber. The next time I wake, it will likely be several centuries from now."

"Made by Sosuke Aizen?!"

The pieces clicked into place. Uryu understood the true ability of the Hogyoku, not simply the Hollowfication of Soul Reapers or the Soul Reaper-ification of Hollows, but the power to bend all things in the world toward one's own desires.

"This is what my heart truly wishes for. After all, I considered it carefully, against existences like you, my ability has almost no real effect." Muramasa spread both arms wide, face turned toward the open sky. "And so, after Hollowfication, my Bankai becomes this:"

"Wherever my spiritual pressure reaches, every physical-form Zanpakuto that has betrayed its master will absolutely obey my commands."

"!"

"And furthermore, the abilities of those Zanpakuto will be enhanced, granting them the power of Bankai."

"?!"

CRACK!

Bone-chilling cold seized everyone's hearts. The ground went icy beneath their feet. They looked down. A thin layer of ice had already encased both feet.

"ROAR!"

An enormous ice dragon came tearing through the sky, vast enough to blot out the sun. Boundless cold poured off its body in waves. Wings spread wide from its back, and a pair of crimson eyes blazed with pure savagery.

"That is, Toshiro Hitsugaya's Zanpakuto?!"

"Oh, so you were the first to arrive." Muramasa gave a satisfied nod. "Just as I knew, that white-haired little brat has never drawn out your true power, has he."

"At this level, you are second only to the Captain-Commander."

"ROAR!"

The great ice dragon let out a howl. The sky had been swallowed by dense dark clouds at some point. The spiritual pressure rolling off its body was pushing close to the absolute limit of its kind.

"Damn it!"

Spiritual pressure flared, shattering the ice around their feet, but faced with that terrifying ice dragon, Uryu found there was little to be done. That horrifying spiritual pressure, while still not quite matching Ichigo Kurosaki in his normal state, was not far off.

"Does Toshiro Hitsugaya... really have power this great?!"

"To be precise, this is Hyorinmaru's true power." Muramasa laughed openly, without the slightest restraint. "I saw it at a glance. That white-haired little brat has never drawn out the true power of his Zanpakuto. Bolstered by my power, Hyorinmaru can finally reveal what it truly is."

"I recall there is another one, its master also hasn't used it for quite some time now..."

BOOM BOOM!

➤ Next: Where the Hell Did They Drop Me?! Is This Even Still Japan?!