Bleach Roman - Can't Fear Your Own World - Tome 01

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Ichigo's powers are still intact, despite Yhwach draining. In particular, Ichigo's Hollow powers are the reason he returned to the World of the Living as Soul Society's government was afraid that Aizen — who had created White, the source of Ichigo's Hollow powers — would be able to somehow exploit them to wreak havoc if he remained in Soul Society. Cool Sword: Ikomikidomoe, an ancient Zanpakuto that Tokinada stole from Ōetsu while the Thousand-Year Blood War was ongoing, was forged using the soul of a primordial Hollow, and has a will of its own. It's capable of opening Garganta and summoning extremely powerful Hollows; and can only be wielded by prospective Soul King candidates like Ichigo, Ginjō, and Hikone.

Meanwhile, Hisagi recalls his training and notes his anxiety at fighting an opponent as strong as Tokinada while blind, especially once he senses that Tokinada has activated Senbonzakura, but calms himself once he realizes that Tōsen always fought blind. This causes Hisagi to remember Tōsen's last moments, as well as the first tears he ever saw his mentor display. Overcome with emotion, Hisagi asks Tokinada if he was watching them during Tōsen's death, which Tokinada confirms before gleefully claiming that he only regrets not being there in person as he openly relishes his earlier attempts at crushing Tōsen. [8]Observing their fight, Candice expresses her disbelief at how the two combatants are actually laughing and enjoying themselves before recalling how Gremmy enjoyed his fight with Zaraki too. Liltotto coldly replies that she has no idea herself and turns to NaNaNa, who is intently observing the combatants and their Reiatsu. As Liltotto hopes that they will not get caught up in the titanic battle, Zaraki and Hikone both declare their strong desire to kill their opponent. Hikone proceeds to exert their Reiatsu even more, though the process begins to destabilize the delicate balance inside of them. [10] Later, in a top-secret, sacred meeting place for the Noble Families, Yoruichi, Byakuya, and Tokinada meet around a conference table. After some tense banter, Yoruichi gets to the point and asks why Tokinada summoned them here, a meeting place that has not been used for two generations. Tokinada says that, due to the recent Quincy war, he feels the Royal Guard and especially the Soul King have become too isolated and complacent, and that such things need to change. When Byakuya criticizes his controversial opinion, Tokinada counters by taunting Byakuya about his actions during Rukia's execution. He goes further by insulting Hisana, but when Yoruichi get angry at him for it, Byakuya interjects. [12] Meanwhile, in a coffee shop in the Human World, the remaining female Sternritter are hanging around while an energetic Bambietta exclaims her frustration at how the others fared without her leadership. While Candice is confused at how lively the zombified Quincy is, Giselle explains that the large amounts of blood shed by Tokinada was surprisingly useful for her to heal Bambietta further. [11] In Hueco Mundo, Aura wakes up to find herself looking at the ruined remains of the replica palace and realizes she does not remember anything since she vanished into the Garganta. As Aura assumed she would have floated in the void until her death, she wonders how she survived the passage. Initially content that Hikone could have lived, Aura resigns herself to bleeding to death in the sands until she realizes she feels no pain. As she tries to stand up, she finds a female Arrancar treating her wounds and is approached by Nelliel, who congratulates Roka Paramia for her excellent medical work. [11] Sinister Surveillance: The Tsunayashiro clan is in charge of chronicling (and doctoring) Soul Society's history, and maintains an interdimensional surveillance network — the secrets of which are deep and dark, and include hiding the existence of Fullbringers.

The 'original sin' turns out to be quite grave indeed; just after the Soul King came into existence, the five noble houses allowed one of their own (the Tsunayashiro house, who feared his power) to seal him into a crystal and dismember his limbs, rendering him completely powerless despite his importance in maintaining the balance between Soul Society, the human world, and Hueco Mundo.In the present, Aizen talks to the memory of Tōsen and notes the interesting progress Hisagi has made in following Tōsen's path, even if Hisagi is doomed to fail and die at Aizen's hands. [10] Final Chapter [ ] As he hears this, Tokinada congratulates Shunsui and notes that this is why the former heads of his family never wanted to wield Enrakyōten, since the life which the Zanpakutō drains can never be returned, similar to the curse of Shinken Hakkyōken. Shunsui does not understand why Tokinada would be willing to shorten his own life just for his pleasure, but Tokinada claims that there is no point in living if he cannot gamble his life in exchange for pleasure. [8] Before Tokinada can recover, Kensei Muguruma activates his Bankai, Tekken Tachikaze and punches him with his full might, gravely injuring Tokinada. However, as Yoruichi approaches Tokinada, he slashes her legs with his Zanpakutō, and though the injuries are minor, Yoruichi suddenly finds her legs becoming heavier. Standing up with his injuries fully healed, Tokinada proclaims that he will not die easily and turns his Zanpakutō, leading Shunsui to barely manage to pull Nanao away as a vicious, spherical beast emerges from the ground. [7]

In the throne room, Hisagi is angry that Kazeshini still demands bloodshed and killing, causing him to verbally refuse to kill Hikone. As Hisagi tries to find a way out, he is confronted by Aura, who tells him there is no way for Hisagi to escape by himself. While Hisagi realizes he cannot win against Aura or Hikone, he still draws his Zanpakutō and demands to know where Urahara is. Though Aura assures him that Urahara is completely unharmed, Hisagi instead demands to be let out. [7] Meanwhile, in the Seireitei, Tokinada has retreated to the Tsunayashiro mansion, laughing at his foresight to install miniature Tenkai Kecchu in the replica palace in case he needed an escape route. While grievously injured, Tokinada believes that if he goes in hiding for a while he will have the time to heal. However, just as he enters the throne room of the mansion, he senses the chilling presence of another person inside. Tokinada initially wonders if either Suì-Fēng or Byakuya has penetrated the defenses, and is amused at these turn of events. [10] Byakuya makes it clear he takes all the blame for the execution on himself and will not tolerate Hisana being blamed for his mistakes. Before things escalate, Tokinada drops the subject and reveals his reasons for being here; he wants to reinstate the Shiba family as the fifth Noble Family, so the five Houses can be reunited again. When Byakuya and Yoruichi explain that Isshin Shiba chose exile, and Ichigo, Kūkaku, and Ganju are not interested in the status, Tokinada suggests having Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki be made acting heads instead. [12] As Ichibē explains, before Soul Society existed there was only a single, primordial world where everything was in chaos; there was neither life nor deathh, and this stagnant chaos never progressed nor regressed, a state of being that this world remained in for a hundred million years. Eventually, Hollows emerged in this world and started feasting on the human inhabitants, disrupting the circulation of Souls and giving birth to the first Menos. Due to this disruption, the world began to destabilize again until, as if in response, a new being emerged from it, the Soul King, who destroyed the Menos, reducing it to sand. While Ichibē admits that other special beings, such as himself, emerged as well, none of them were as exceptional as the Soul King, being who truly approached omnipotence and omniscience. [8] Ikkaku tries to direct Hisagi towards Mayuri for further questions, but Hisagi reveals that the captain has refused all his requests for interviews. Yumichika then remembers that Hanatarō was present as well, and suggests Hisagi asks him about it. [10]Returning to his usual light-hearted self, Urahara banters with Yoruichi for a bit before Urahara declares that he plans to leave Karakura Town for a few days to help Ichigo with his problem in western Japan, which he claims will give him an excuse to open up a second Urahara shop there. [11] Epilogue [ ] Ichibē, however, disagrees and voices his belief that the Soul King did still have a will of his own, even guiding Ichigo towards his fate at the palace, as he asserts that he can feel the Soul King's will inside his Ōken. Tenjirō Kirinji notes the interesting events that led to Ichigo, a descendant of Shiba, almost becoming the new Soul King, leading Ichibē to reveal that Shiba originally wanted to rebel against Tsunayashiro's plan, even offering himself up as a sacrifice, and comments on the irony of the Shiba bloodline only existing because Tsunayashiro disagreed with him. [8]