Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 318 - Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Yhwach

"I'll ask you again. Are you the enemy's leader?"

The rain came down in sheets. Ichigo Kurosaki hung his head, blood streaming from his forehead, mixing with the rain as it ran down his face. Wayne could clearly see the wounds across his body, remnants of the earlier fight with Quilge. For now, Ichigo was holding his emotions in check, eyes lowered, waiting for Yhwach's answer.

"Your Majesty, allow me." Haschwalth stepped forward at the right moment. Two enemies stood before them now, one was Ichigo Kurosaki, whose Bankai could not be stolen and who had been designated a Special War Power; the other was the King of Hueco Mundo, Ace Wayne, whose combat capabilities were virtually unknown and whom even His Majesty had failed to locate. The situation was already deeply unfavorable.

"No rush." Yhwach held Haschwalth back. He seemed intent on talking first.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, I don't know how you broke Quilge's jail. But covered in wounds as you are — do you really intend to fight me?"

"Last time I'm asking. Are you the enemy's leader?" Ichigo wasn't interested in playing along. He had no intention of trading words with this man.

"Enemy, is it... Hmph. You could say yes. You could also say no."

"Don't screw with me!"

Ichigo's fury erupted. His friend's injuries, the casualties across all of Soul Society, it had lit a fuse inside him. Wayne hadn't been in contact with Soul Society for a year, but looking at Ichigo's new combat form, he knew the kid had been through hell. Soul Society had undoubtedly been part of it, deepening his bonds with them all even further.

But against the current Yhwach, Ichigo's strength still fell short.

"My question is — did you do this to Soul Society?!"

"...Yes."

BOOM!

Ichigo's Reiatsu exploded. Tensa Zangetsu drove his body forward in a straight, piercing thrust at the enemy.

"Oh?" Wayne raised an eyebrow. That attack looked a lot like his own Shadow Step. When had the kid picked that up? He folded his arms and watched with curiosity, eager to see how much Ichigo had grown over the past year. At his side, Haschwalth kept his eyes locked on Wayne, wary of any sudden move.

Wayne's strength was now enough to make Haschwalth genuinely cautious.

"Mr. Wayne." Ichigo cut once, then leaped back, speaking quietly toward Wayne behind him. "This fight — could you stay out of it?"

"Of course. Happy to watch." Wayne shrugged, leaving the battle to Ichigo.

He genuinely had no intention of interfering. He just wanted to watch Ichigo show off, and then get beaten senseless.

In truth, with his current strength, keeping Yhwach here wasn't impossible. If he deployed his forces, trapping the entire Sternritter was well within reach. But the cost would be even greater destruction to Soul Society, and his own subordinates would suffer heavy losses. The Sternritter's abilities were all bizarre and unpredictable, Wayne couldn't guarantee his Vasto Lorde-class Hollows would walk away unscathed.

And of course, the deeper reason: the Soul Reapers and the refugees would sustain catastrophic damage in such a battle. That was the real reason Wayne couldn't commit to full-scale engagement.

Besides, Soul Society hadn't delivered the benefits they'd promised him yet. Throwing his entire army into action now would be far too reckless.

BOOM!

Ichigo charged again. His speed was so extreme that only the afterimages and sparks of clashing blades were visible, though for Wayne and Haschwalth, still observing from the field, tracking their movements wasn't difficult.

Soon, Yhwach took to the sky. His Reiatsu slammed into Ichigo's with tremendous force. Black-red and deep azure, the two collided across the sky like detonating artillery.

Beneath the dark clouds, clusters of rain burst apart and vaporized midair, only for the downpour to resume its rhythm moments later. And with every collision, Wayne could clearly see the black-red Reiatsu steadily losing ground.

After dozens of exchanges, the azure Reiatsu erupted with a deafening roar, blasting the black-red clean away in a single blow. Ichigo's body was sent crashing diagonally into the ground, kicking up a violent gale, the earth beneath him shattering into flying debris.

Whoosh!

His cloak snapped in the wind. Yhwach landed as if nothing had happened, facing the storm without a care. Ichigo, on the other hand, had been hammered into the rubble of a building. Dust billowed up, then the rain quickly washed it clean.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

From within the ruins, Ichigo's Reiatsu surged again. A black crescent dozens of meters tall roared forth, obliterating everything in its path. Wrapped in a howling gale, it hurtled toward Yhwach. The impact came as a relentless chain of thunderous explosions.

Yhwach swung his blade and took the Getsuga head-on. He burst through the smoke at blinding speed, seized Ichigo's sword arm with one hand, wrenched his center of gravity off-balance, and slammed him viciously into the ground. In that same instant, his greatsword exploited Ichigo's loss of footing and drove straight down at his neck.

That idiot. Wayne narrowed his eyes, clearly disappointed.

Ichigo's approach had abandoned all reason. A basic Reiatsu assessment would have told him the enemy's level far exceeded his own. Fighting with such a wide-open, all-or-nothing style under those conditions, losing was inevitable.

Wayne mentally noted that Ichigo's swordsmanship hadn't improved much in a year. Still, he made no move. He simply watched as Yhwach drove the blade toward Ichigo's neck.

CLANG!

Metal rang out. Yhwach's greatsword landed directly on Ichigo's neck. The force of the impact nearly severed his cervical spine in one blow, sending Ichigo into a brief coma.

"He shouldn't be dead yet." Yhwach was controlling his strength. "Haschwalth, inform the Knight Order. Prepare to withdraw."

"Withdraw?" Haschwalth was stunned. "Your Majesty, the Knight Order is currently ravaging the battlefield. Our Holy Soldiers are still awaiting the order to strike Soul Society. We're withdrawing now?" Clearly, Haschwalth lacked the gift of foresight. He couldn't understand why his king was suddenly ordering a retreat.

"The Holy Soldiers no longer exist. We miscalculated this time." Yhwach cast a cold glance toward Wayne. "Tell everyone in the Knight Order to withdraw immediately. We—"

"HYAAAA!"

The words weren't finished. Ichigo, pinned to the ground, suddenly regained consciousness. He swung Zangetsu with full force and drove Yhwach back.

"That's,?!" Yhwach's eyes widened. Ichigo rising after that heavy strike was something he hadn't anticipated. But he understood quickly. On Ichigo's body, he saw glowing blue lines tracing like veins, the defensive technique unique to the Quincy: Blut Vene.

"I see. It seems I miscalculated more than one thing." Yhwach's expression darkened as he watched the Blut Vene pulse across Ichigo's neck, and he murmured quietly.

"All I did was block your attack. What's there to miscalculate?" Ichigo hadn't grasped Yhwach's meaning, he thought the man was mocking him.

He rose to his feet and leveled Tensa Zangetsu at Yhwach once more. His body was covered in wounds, blood from his forehead sheeting grotesquely down half his face. Yet Ichigo showed no fear whatsoever, as if the pain didn't belong to him at all.

"No. That's not what I meant." Yhwach advanced again and brought his blade down. Ichigo raised his sword to block, but Yhwach shifted the angle mid-strike and slashed into his arm instead.

He'd expected to sever the forearm clean off. But the blade only cut through Ichigo's arm guard and sleeve, exposing the taut muscle beneath and the deep azure lines running across it.

"As I thought. Sending a pure-blood Quincy like Quilge Opie to stall you was a mistake. I never imagined that fighting him would awaken the memories in your Reiatsu so quickly."

"What are you talking about? What memories?" Ichigo's brows furrowed. He didn't understand.

"To break Quilge's jail, you must have maintained contact with him and kept your Reiatsu pushed to its absolute limit, yes?" Yhwach continued. "After an explosive Reiatsu release, as the residual Reishi returned to your body, it carried a portion of Quilge's spirit energy back with it. The Reiatsu of a pure-blood Quincy gradually reached the depths of your soul, and awakened the memories within your Reiatsu from the root. That is how you escaped Quilge's jail."

"What are you trying to say?!" Ichigo's gaze turned hard. Yhwach's words clearly carried some deeper meaning.

"Quilge's jail seals and destroys the enemy. But it cannot capture a Quincy. Heh heh heh... Then again, perhaps you still know nothing about yourself. You don't even know your own mother's identity."

"You... what?!" Ichigo's heart lurched. Why was this man suddenly bringing up his mother?

"Originally, I intended to bring you back and educate you at my leisure. But it seems there's no opportunity for that this time."

Yhwach looked toward Wayne again. Wayne had already raised his right index finger toward Yhwach and Haschwalth. At his fingertip, a pale-gold beam of Reiatsu was gathering, shimmering with ghostly blue and phantom silver. The reason Wayne hadn't attacked during the fight was precisely this: he'd been quietly condensing this devastating Cero the entire time. A Cero of Annihilation, lethal enough to kill in a single hit. If it landed, even Haschwalth would be slain in one blow.

"King of Hueco Mundo, Ace Wayne. I will not forget what you've done to the Wandenreich. Next time, I will cut you down with my own hands. For now, let us end things here. I hope next time, you'll show me the full extent of your power." As he spoke, a wisp of black shadow materialized at his side.

"Sure. But next time I won't let you off so easily, King of the Quincy." The Cero at Wayne's fingertip slowly died out. Firing it could have heavily wounded Haschwalth and even dealt damage to Yhwach, but there was no point. The two were already resolved to leave. This Cero wouldn't kill either of them. It would only give the enemy time to study and counter his Cero of Annihilation in the future. In a matter of days, when Yhwach returned, its effectiveness would be greatly diminished.

"Stop right there!" Ichigo shouted. "You've wrecked Soul Society like this, you think I'm just going to let you walk away?!" Rage had consumed him completely. The enemy withdrawing should have been a chance to catch his breath, but the destruction of Soul Society, and Yhwach's final words, had stripped away his last shred of calm.

"We're leaving, Haschwalth." Yhwach glanced back at Ichigo once, his feet never pausing as he walked into the shadows.

"I said stop!"

Ichigo raised his blade and charged again.

Wayne didn't stop him. He wanted to see how the famous scene played out.

And sure enough, just as Ichigo was about to reach Yhwach, Haschwalth moved.

A simple draw. A strike. A swing. One seemingly plain, unhurried motion, and Ichigo's Zangetsu snapped clean in two. The blade flew high into the air, and under Ichigo's stunned gaze, it stabbed down into the rubble not far from him.

The moment it was over, Haschwalth adjusted his stance and looked toward Wayne, wary of any move.

But what puzzled him was that Wayne did nothing at all. Unable to read this Hollow whom even His Majesty called a King, Haschwalth cautiously sheathed his sword. Facing Wayne, he retreated step by step into the shadows, leaving only Ichigo, frozen where he stood.

"Hmph. Wait for my retaliation." Already within the shadows, Yhwach stared directly at Wayne. He understood perfectly why Wayne hadn't attacked. If the two of them had fought here, at least half the Seireitei would have been destroyed. That was why he'd shown no panic, merely waiting for the shadow barrier to carry him away. "And farewell, Ichigo Kurosaki. Heal your wounds and wait. I will bring you back to the Wandenreich."

"Born in darkness... my son."

➤ Next: The Night After the Battle