Ulquiorra's gaze was as cold and empty as ever. The moonlight above cast his form in sharp contrast against the darkened sky, his bat-like wings unfurled as his green, slitted eyes bore into Ichigo.
Y/N was ready to pounce, yet something felt odd. This Sora... was weak. Sure, he had the same face, yet Ulquiorra was not feeling that same dread he used to before—that feeling that no matter what he did, he would be nothing but a mere bug to Sora.
He did not get that feeling.
"You are not him," Ulquiorra said, lifting his Luz de la Luna high. "You lack his presence. His will. His hatred."
Yes, Ulquiorra's view of Sora was that of a being filled with hate. How else could someone look so angry upon seeing Hollows for the first time? If only Ulquiorra knew the true reason.
That the reason Sora was so mad was because of the sheer cockblocking their master had them do.
Ichigo—still playing the role of Sora—smirked.
"Oh? Then why do I keep getting stronger?"
Ulquiorra didn't answer. He simply disappeared.
BZZZT—BOOM!
Ichigo barely had time to register the movement—he was utterly blitzed. Orihime was running on fumes, her Reiryoku supply diminishing.
Ichigo's head was going to get brutally removed from his body.
But—
Blue veins spread across his neck, surging like a spiderweb of glowing energy.
Blut Vene.
As Ulquiorra hit Ichigo, instead of his head flying, the familiar Blut Vene could be seen on Ichigo's neck.
Ichigo himself was stunned—shocked, even. The fuck was this, and how did he have it?
Was this perhaps one of Sora's many backup plans? He didn't know why, but Sora seemed like the kind of guy to have backup plans for his backup plans.
For fuck's sake, he even turned his clones into butterflies. Yes, clones that were as strong as captains were now butterflies. If one of them were in danger, the clone would fuse with them, granting them greatly increased skills. Though when Sora's clone fused with Orihime and Chad, their Fullbrings seemed to awaken to their second level or some shit like that.
It wasn't the time to think about stuff like that. The Blut Vene mark on his neck slowly faded away.
Ichigo kicked Ulquiorra away and, in a very arrogant voice that was 100% not like him, he opened his mouth and said:
"Hmph, I got sloppy. Had to waste my Quincy skills on you."
Wow... Sora was a dick. Though he seemed like he had a hate boner for Ulquiorra.
Ichigo wondered why.
And as if to answer his question, Ichigo saw it—the scene Sora was in before Ulquiorra had interrupted him.
Oh... so that's why he looked so angry that day.
The question now was... did Byakuya know?
Orihime didn't know why, but a shit-eating grin was on Ichigo's face. After being blackmailed, humbled, and beaten so many times by Sora, he finally had something against the boy to make him feel weak.
Something he could beat him with.
Hehehehhe... hahahahahah. What a glorious day to be alive. (Yes, this is when Sora felt the chill in chapter 129.)
Feeling invigorated, he could not lose now.
Ichigo took out his Zanpakuto, and Blut Arterie started putting in the work.
He would not lose now.
BOOM
BZZZT—BOOM!
BOOM
BZZZT—BOOM!
CLANG
BZZZT—BOOM!
CLANG
KERCHOW
Ichigo grabbed Ulquiorra by the head before slamming him into one of the buildings of Las Noches.
"White."
"On it."
Ichigo opened his mouth and fired off a massive Cero. The Cero obliterated everything in sight. Nothing was left.
As Ulquiorra swung at Ichigo once more, Blut and Hierro activated at the same time, causing the attack to barely leave a dent.
Slamming Ulquiorra into the floor, Ichigo drew his Zanpakuto, which had transformed into two distinct, entirely black blades.
The first blade resembled his previous sword, shaped like a khyber knife. It was approximately the same size as before, with a grip at the base and a handle that extended back, roughly matching the width and length of Ichigo's forearm. Along the back edge of this blade, there was a thin, hollowed-out section running from the base to the midpoint of the blade.
The second blade was smaller, about the length of Ichigo's arm, and while it had a similar design to the first, it resembled a trench knife more than a sword. In contrast to its counterpart, this blade featured an enclosed handle, complete with a portion that functioned as a handguard.
Ichigo proceeded to fuse the two blades together. Sora's technique began to wear off, as Ichigo had started to plunder all the Reishi around.
As the mask finally broke, Ulquiorra saw it—Ichigo, with what seemed to be one Hollow horn, rushing toward him.
Ichigo swung his blade like his life depended on it, with Blut Arterie boosting him like no other and his half-ass Quincy plundering skills.
Ichigo screamed out.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
The power behind the sword was immense. Ichigo sliced Ulquiorra in half—clean in two.
Perfect. 50/50 split.
He began heavy breathing.
He was drained. His horn slowly began cracking away, this form being incomplete and temporary—a small moment where all of his DNA was activated: Quincy, Hollow, Shinigami, Human, Fullbring.
"Ichigo!!" Orihime ran toward him.
He turned his head toward her and gave her a smile.
He then felt something he hadn't felt before. Currently, in his state, he could feel the full extent of Sora's power.
...
Rival, my ass... Ichigo felt like he was an ant looking up at a goddamn skyscraper. The fuck—what was Sora? The son of literally God or some shit?
He then felt Orihime's healing patching him up.
His horn fell to the floor as both White and old man Zangetsu retreated back to his inner world.
And thus, Ichigo began losing the ability to fully see how strong Sora's power was.
"...Whoa."
Orihime smiled shyly. "This is what a girlfriend should do, right?"
Ichigo froze.
His brain stalled like a broken engine.
Wait. What?
His face turned red instantly.
"Who the hell told you to say that?!"
Orihime twiddled her thumbs, looking away.
"...Sora."
Ichigo's eye twitched. His exhaustion was instantly replaced by pure, unfiltered rage.
"That bastard."
—
Then It Hit.
Before Ichigo could even process his vengeance plot, the entire world shifted.
A sudden, oppressive force crushed down on him, forcing him to his knees.
Suffocating. Overwhelming.
It was as if Death itself was breathing down his neck.
And then—
A voice.
Sora's voice.
"You fucker."
Ichigo snapped his head up.
Through the shattered walls of Las Noches—
Something was thrown out of the fortress.
Something big.
And standing there, at the center of the devastation—
Was Sora.
—
Meanwhile—Uryu & Rukia
Across Las Noches, Uryu stiffened mid-step.
His heart pounded.
He knew that feeling.
Knew that weight.
Knew that anger.
"...What the hell did Aizen say to him?"
Rukia, who had felt plenty of spiritual pressure in her lifetime, still felt her blood run cold.
She had never—never—felt Sora this pissed before.
Whatever happened—
Aizen fucked up.
A/N For anyone saying, wait truth Bankai Ichigo right now? Yes, it make sense...like a lot of sense.
Ichigo by now has come to term with his hollow power, he willingly let white take over his body for fuck sake.
Old man Zangetsu is no longer restricting his power, as for his Quincy Dna...that was awaken by Sora Quincy Reiryoku, as for his full bring, remind me again, how did Orihime and Chad have their fullbring buff again.
Now....Ichigo was currently cover head to toes, with Sora Reiryoku.... Reiryoku, which translates to "spiritual power" or "spiritual energy," is a fundamental concept in both the Bleach and Date-A-Live universes. In Bleach, it is the energy that spiritual beings and some humans possess, which can be used for various abilities and powers.
Okay, so Reiryoku is basically Soul energy, so, for anyone with a brain, you know what this mean.
This was a life or death scenario, Ulquiorra at this point in time was going to beat his ass, his vastolorde form even with his full shihakusho would have gotten cooked, so in the like 10 seconds all the signs align, he accessed, it was only temporary but he access nonetheless.