A devilish, tempting voice resounded in Kurosaki Ichigo's head.
"Not satisfied?"
"Ah… of course I'm not."
Ichigo recalled how confident he had been at the start—how he had shattered records to attain Bankai in just three days. He thought that would be enough, that he could finally stand against a Gotei 13 captain.
But Akira had ruthlessly proven otherwise.
Even with Bankai, Ichigo was powerless. Akira had overwhelmed him using only Shikai.
"Then… do you desire power?" the voice asked.
"Power…" Ichigo gasped in the darkness. "I want the power to defeat him!"
"Good. In that case, the question of whether or not to fight is meaningless…"
A chilling laugh echoed as the voice's owner gradually took form.
Pale skin. Identical features. A twisted smirk.
It was Ichigo himself—no, his Hollow self.
"If you want to defeat Akira… surrender your body to me! I'll do it for you!"
The Hollow sneered. "Honestly, your Bankai is a disgrace. Tensa Zangetsu isn't meant to be used like that."
"What?" Ichigo's eyes widened.
Before he could react, Akira struck him down, leaving him on the brink of death. And in that moment of weakness—
The Hollow took over.
Outside, Ichigo's body trembled. His emotions surged. His sanity snapped.
A Hollow mask formed on his face.
"What… is that?"
Yoruichi, bloodied and slumped in the distance, lifted her head in shock.
Ichigo's laughter rang out, distorted and wild. His masked face turned toward Akira. Tensa Zangetsu pulsed with raw, unstable power, the red-black energy of a Getsuga Tenshō burning at its edge.
"Hahahaha… So you're Akira? I've heard a lot about you."
His Hollow eyes gleamed.
"But now, you're gonna learn what Tensa Zangetsu's real power is! Just wait… till you die!"
Akira raised an eyebrow. "Forced into Hollowfication so soon? Interesting."
It was an outcome he had anticipated. He could have easily killed Ichigo if he wanted—but that wouldn't be any fun.
Instead, he welcomed the challenge.
"Let's see what you can do."
With a sudden blur of movement, Ichigo—no, his Hollow—charged, a crescent-shaped energy wave tearing through the air toward Akira.
Akira met the attack head-on. His blade shimmered, its true name fully released, matching the Hollow's ferocity with his own immense power.
Their swords clashed—
CLANG!
A sharp, ringing note resounded through the battlefield.
Ichigo's Hollow stumbled back a few steps, his wild laughter momentarily cut short.
"What?! He's stronger than me?!"
The Hollow had been confident. And why wouldn't he be?
In the original timeline, when he took over Ichigo's body, he had slashed through Byakuya Kuchiki with terrifying ease.
But this was different.
This was Akira.
And he would push Ichigo beyond his limits—whether he survived or not.
This proves that the strength he displayed at the time was at least two or three times that of Kurosaki Ichigo when he had just mastered Bankai.
However, despite believing his attack was a decisive strike, he was instead effortlessly crushed by Akira before him.
What a joke!
"You're about to witness things beyond your comprehension—and there's more to come," Akira's indifferent voice echoed from the Hollow side. The sheer speed of his Raijin Shunpo—a high-speed movement akin to teleportation—was so overwhelming that even the Hollow warriors struggled to react in time.
"Damn it, he's too fast!"
Even the Hollow, known for his fearless nature, broke into a cold sweat as he instinctively raised his defenses.
Clang!
Akira cleaved through his guard with a single sword strike and immediately pursued his opponent, unleashing a relentless flurry of slashes. His blade danced with Tensa Zangetsu, and the clashing of swords created an intricate web of light and shadows.
Both fighters employed unique techniques to amplify their attacks, turning each strike into a devastating impact, akin to roaring artillery.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
In an instant, they exchanged countless blows at a speed imperceptible to ordinary eyes.
"Arghhh!"
The Hollow warrior screamed as his mask was sliced clean off. He staggered backward, but Akira's holy sword pursued him like a shadow, leaving a deep gash along his arm.
"You bastard!"
The Hollow retaliated with a desperate slash, but Hikari Mirror, Akira's blade, intercepted it with precision, piercing straight through his defenses!
Squelch!
Blood splattered as the sword impaled the Hollow's thigh.
"AAAAAAARGH!!"
His agonized scream rang out, though it was unclear whether it stemmed from pain or sheer rage. But rage alone couldn't bridge the insurmountable gap in swordsmanship.
"Shut up. You're annoying."
Akira crossed his swords and delivered a powerful blow, sending the Hollow warrior tumbling backward, his body crashing through dust and debris.
"No… I can't win… His swordsmanship is on another level—it completely surpasses mine!"
The Hollow struggled to his feet, his eyes now filled with fear as he stared at Akira.
At first, he believed that his refined control over his power—far superior to Kurosaki Ichigo's—would be enough to dominate. But against Akira's unparalleled swordsmanship, that confidence crumbled into nothing.
It was nothing more than arrogance—and Akira had utterly crushed it.
"It's over."
With a flash of Shunpo, Akira closed in, his blade poised for a final strike.
"Stop!"
A sharp voice cut through the air.
No… it wasn't just a voice—Shihōin Yoruichi had already appeared beside Akira before her words had even finished echoing.
The moment her Kidō-enhanced kick connected, a surge of energy struck Akira's elemental form, launching him backward.
He skidded through the air, his feet carving a deep trench over ten meters long before he finally came to a stop.
"Even though I'm poisoned… she still managed to outspeed my reaction time?"
Akira's eyes narrowed slightly as he processed this realization. Then, he looked up—
Before him stood Shihōin Yoruichi, in her fastest, ultimate form…
—Sunrō Black Cat Warrior Princess!
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