XX-level Hokage

Mashiro stood beneath the enormous bougainvillea tree, holding a transparent crystal ball in her hands.

Inside the crystal ball, the scene of Ichigo fighting inside the "Love Dollhouse" was clearly reflected, especially the emerald green Fullbring energy, which was magnified countless times, and the fluctuation of every particle of light was clearly visible.

“How interesting.” Mashiro murmured softly, her voice devoid of any emotion, only the calm and fervor of a scientist.

Those deep eyes were fixed intently on the crystal ball, as if trying to see through the very essence of Fullbring. "Is this the essence of Fullbring...? It's not simply about drawing out the soul of matter, but rather using humanity's unique pride as a medium to fuse the remnants of the Hollow within one's own soul with the soul of the surrounding matter, thus creating a completely new form of power."

She stretched out her finger and gently tapped the surface of the crystal ball.

The green light inside the crystal ball fluctuated, vaguely revealing the outline of Ichigo's soul—an outline that contained the ghostly blue of a Shinigami, the crimson of a Hollow, and the pure white of a Quincy, finally enveloped by a layer of warm human light.

“What a primitive and crude power.” Mashiro seemed to be belittling, but there was a hint of admiration in her tone. “But it is precisely because of this crudeness that it is full of infinite possibilities.”

She slowly closed her eyes, and images of Ichigo's past battles flashed through her mind—from his initial clumsiness to his later maturity, then to his confusion after losing his power, and finally to his unwavering determination to regain his power.

"With pride as the foundation and the power of the Hollows as the catalyst, reshape the form of your soul." Mashiro opened his eyes, a flash of understanding in them. "Ichigo-kun, your human body is the perfect vessel to hold your four-in-one soul. Shinigami, Hollows, Quincy—these are all merely parts of your power. Only when you truly remember that you are first and foremost a human can you truly integrate them all."

She raised her hand to put away the crystal ball, her gaze fixed on the distance, as if she could see through the walls of the Seireitei and into the present world as Ichigo: "Grow up quickly, Ichigo-kun, before I completely lose my patience."

Inside the "Love Dollhouse," the battle is nearing its end.

Ichigo's movements became increasingly skillful; he no longer needed to consciously concentrate, freely imbuing his limbs with the emerald green Fullbring energy. His legs, covered in green light, granted him superhuman speed, each step leaving a faint trail of light on the carpet; his fists, wreathed in green light...

The head is filled with destructive power, and each swing can cause the air to vibrate.

The giant pig-shaped doll had long lost its initial ferocity. Its body was covered in cracks, its gray fur was torn to reveal the cotton inside, and one of its scarlet buttons and eyes was missing. It looked utterly wretched.

But it didn't stop attacking, like a programmed machine, charging towards Ichigo again and again. "The final blow!"

Ichigo took a deep breath, stopped in his tracks, and concentrated all his Fullbring energy into the Substitute Shinigami License in his hand.

The small wooden plaque began to spin rapidly under the infusion of energy. The patterns on its surface emitted a dazzling green light, and the outline of the characters in front of it became more solid and larger than ever before. The light particles at the edges were as sharp as blades.

"--drink!"

Ichigo suddenly raised his hand and threw the license, which was spinning at high speed like a shuriken! The emerald green light drew a perfect arc in mid-air, with a sharp whooshing sound, like a spinning wheel of death, and accurately slashed at the neck of the pig-shaped doll.

"Puwa—"

A slight cutting sound was heard.

The pig-shaped doll froze instantly. Its huge head slowly separated from its body, then shot into the sky, turning into specks of green light and dissipating in the air.

The headless body crashed to the ground, creating a deep crater in the carpet, before disintegrating into particles of light and merging into the pink space. Just then, Zegirik's emotionless voice came from the outside: "Time limit up."

The next moment, Ichigo only felt a blur before his eyes. That pink space, filled with girlish charm, shattered like a broken mirror, instantly cracking into countless lines before collapsing with a deafening roar.

The light from the remaining light flooded his vision, causing him to squint instinctively.

When his vision cleared again, he was back in the abandoned arcade.

The dim lights, the mottled walls, the dusty arcade machines—everything was just as it had been before he entered the "Love Dollhouse." Only the warmth of his palms and the exhaustion in his body reminded him that the battle he had just fought was not an illusion.

"Huff...huff." Ichigo knelt on the ground, his hands supporting his knees, panting heavily. Sweat slid down his forehead, soaking his collar, and all the muscles in his body ached. The bruise on his chest was still throbbing.

But there was no sign of fatigue on his face; instead, he looked like he had been given a new lease on life.

He looked down at his hands, the Substitute Death Certificate in his palms emitting a faint green light, the warm pulse flowing through his palms into his body, making him feel incredibly at ease.

He could clearly feel that the long-lost pulse of "power" had returned to his body.

Chapter 280: Fullbring (Part 1)

The neon lights of the abandoned arcade flickered with a malfunctioning red glow, intertwining with the pink light shards that flew as Liluka's "Heart Dollhouse" crumbled, like a shattered dream.

Kurosaki Ichigo's figure appeared in the dust. As soon as his feet touched the dusty ground, his knees bent uncontrollably—he knelt on the ground. His black hoodie was already soaked with sweat, clinging to his back and outlining the taut muscle lines. Every breath he took was accompanied by a burning pain, as if his lungs were filled with scalding sand.

But his eyes were surprisingly bright.

His brown eyes were fixed intently on the substitute death warrant in his palm. A faint emerald light flickered along the edge of the wooden sign, like a flame that refused to be extinguished. He could clearly sense a long-lost resonance deep within his soul—the pulse of "power," no longer the ethereal rage or the chilling presence of death itself.

Rather, it's a more personal, heart-warming feeling.

This force was still very weak, but it was like the first ray of light piercing through the darkness, causing his fingers, which were gripping the wooden plaque, to tremble slightly.

"Hoo... So this is... Fullbring." He murmured, his fingertips tracing the patterns on the wooden plaque. The touch was both familiar and strange, as if he were touching another version of himself that had never awakened.

"Well done, Kurosaki."

Kūgo Ginjō's voice came from the shadows. He leaned against the rusty arcade machine, and for the first time, a genuine hint of approval crept into his casual smile. He tossed a bottle of chilled mineral water over, and the bottle made a crisp sound as it hit Ichigo's palm: "To be able to break through the limits in Riruka's space, your pride is more stubborn than I imagined."

Ichigo tilted his head back and gulped down most of the bottle of water. The cool liquid slid down his throat, slightly relieving the burning pain in his body.

He wiped the water from the corner of his mouth and didn't reply—he knew very well that his victory just now had only opened a crack in the door, and the world behind that door was far more dangerous than he had imagined.

"Tch, it's just breaking a few toys, what's there to be proud of?" Liluka hugged her pink "Mr. Pork" doll, her cheeks puffed out like a puffed-up balloon.

The hamster, its purple eyes unconsciously glancing at the license plate in Ichigo's palm, a flicker of surprise hidden in its eyes, said, "If I hadn't deliberately left an opening, you wouldn't have been able to break my Fullbring."

Chad didn't say anything, but walked to Ichigo's side and gently patted his shoulder with his heavy hand.

The force was as steady as a mountain, offering no extra comfort, yet more powerful than any words—this was their tacit understanding, a trust etched into their very bones since their time fighting side-by-side in Karakura Town.

Yincheng's smile vanished, his eyes suddenly sharpening: "Don't be too happy yet. You can only barely draw out the soul of matter and make it work for you, but this power is like a tent with a loose seam; it will collapse with a gust of wind." He paused, his gaze sweeping over Ichigo's pale yet resolute face, his tone turning colder, "A real battle won't give you time to reminisce about pride. You must learn to instantly mobilize this power at any time—even when your ribs are broken or a blade is pressed against your throat."

Ichigo's heart sank. He recalled the helplessness he felt when fighting Aizen, and the despair he felt watching his comrades in danger after losing his Shinigami powers. The wooden plaque in his palm seemed to grow even heavier.

Therefore, the next stage of cultivation begins now. "Yincheng stepped aside, revealing the black woman who had been leaning against the wall behind him. She was wearing a black leather jacket, her trousers tucked into high leather boots, and exuded a dangerous aura, like a cheetah ready to pounce.

“Jackie Tristan,” Silver City explained, “her Fullbring ability, DirtyBoots, is her most direct, combat-oriented ability.”

Jieqi slowly stepped out of the shadows, her sharp eyes scanning Ichigo from head to toe as if assessing the sharpness of a weapon. She raised her right foot, her black leather boots grinding across the ground, leaving a shallow scratch: "My ability is simple—the more blood on my boots, the dirtier they are, the stronger I become," her voice was hoarse and magnetic, each word like sandpaper rubbing against metal, "including your blood."

Ichigo looked in the direction she pointed and saw a huge glass container that had appeared in the corner of the arcade. It looked like a display case in an aquarium, and the inside was pure white with no clutter. It even seemed to have swallowed up the light.

The space exuded a cold, oppressive feeling, reminding him of the execution grounds in the Soul Realm.

“The training ground was modified by Liluka’s abilities,” Silver City explained, his tone as calm as if he were talking about something insignificant. “You and Jieqi go in, and there’s only one rule—survive until she knocks you down.”

Ichigo gripped the water bottle tightly, the bottle making a slight squeaking sound as he squeezed it. He looked at the undisguised fighting spirit in Jieqi's eyes, at the suffocatingly white space, and knew this wasn't training, but a life-or-death battle.

He tossed the empty bottle into the trash can, and as Ichigo straightened up, the pain in his back seemed to lessen somewhat—his innate fighting instincts were beginning to awaken.

Awake.

“I understand.” He nodded, his voice soft but firm.

Meanwhile, in the private courtyard of the First Division of Seireitei, moonlight, like a thin veil, spread across the bluestone path, and the warm light of the stone lanterns illuminated the courtyard.

Dry landscape gardens exude a sense of Zen.

Mashiro lay on the cushioned corridor, her silver hair cascading over the pillow, her gaze lazily fixed on the crystal ball floating in mid-air. Inside the crystal ball, the emerald green light surrounding Ichigo was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, yet it stubbornly shone.

"What a primitive and inefficient power." Mashiro murmured, her fingertips tracing the surface of the crystal ball, creating a faint ripple. "Using pride as a foundation and the dregs of emptiness as a catalyst, forcibly reshaping the soul's form... this method of awakening is as crude as cracking a walnut with a stone."

Harribel, dressed in a black maid outfit, knelt beside Mashiro, her slender fingers peeling a crystal-clear grape. Her movements were elegant and respectful, but her icy blue eyes unconsciously drifted towards the orange-haired boy in the crystal ball—the hero who had once defeated Aizen and saved the Tokishin world, now seemed like a toddler learning to walk, struggling on the edge of danger.

A complex emotion flashed across her eyes, so fast that she didn't even notice it herself. She had seen Ichigo at his peak—the Getsuga Tenshou cleaved through the air, his black trench coat fluttering in the wind, the power enough to make the air tremble.

But now, he must struggle anew in the human world with an unfamiliar power.

"That's fine too." Shiro opened her mouth, and Heribel naturally offered her a peeled grape. The sweet juice spread in her mouth, adding a playful touch to her smile. "Only in the most savage collisions can the most interesting evolutions be born. After all, only by properly fusing the three elements can there be a chance to approach..."

Chapter 281: Fullbring (Part 2)

Herribel lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath them.

She didn't speak, but silently picked up another grape, her fingertips moving a few seconds slower than before—she suddenly wondered if this boy, who always managed to create miracles, could break through the deadlock again this time.

Liluka's fingertips traced the surface of the glass container, and pink light patterns spread out along her touch, like a spell to open a portal.

"Go in, go in, don't keep me from reading the comics." She muttered as she looked around, but as the light patterns completely enveloped Ichigo and Jieqi, she secretly tightened her grip on "Mr. Pork" in her arms—no one knew that she had left a tiny "exit" in that pure white space, so that if the situation really became dangerous, she could immediately pull Ichigo out.

Ichigo felt a blur before his eyes, and the next second, a cold, hard sensation came from the soles of his feet.

It was absolute pure white—no sky, no ground, the surrounding glass walls reflecting white light so intense he couldn't even see his shadow. The air was spotless, yet it exuded a suffocating sense of oppression, as if he were trapped in a giant white cage.

"Ready, kid?" Jieqi cracked her knuckles, the bones popping, her black leather boots striking the white floor with a crisp rhythm, like a countdown to death.

Her eyes burned with pure fighting spirit, her body leaning slightly forward, already assuming an offensive stance. Ichigo took a deep breath, focusing all his attention on Ichigo's Substitute Shinigami License.

The insights he gained from his battle with Liluka were still echoing in his mind—that pride belonging to the "Substitute Grim Reaper" was not a memory, but an imprint etched into his soul. He no longer needed to close his eyes to trace it back; with just a thought, emerald green light surged from the wooden plaque, spreading from his fingertips to his arm.

"—"

Light patterns gathered in his palm, gradually outlining the characters, carrying a faint warmth, like a layer of soft armor.

But Jieqi wouldn't give him the chance to fully gather his power. "Too slow!"

Her figure vanished abruptly, leaving only a black afterimage.

Ichigo's pupils contracted sharply as he heard a sharp whistling sound beside his ear. Instinctively, he held his arm, which was covered in light patterns, across his chest—"Bang!"

A dull thud echoed in the pure white space as Jieqi's leather boots slammed into the shield formed by light patterns.

A brute force surged through his arm, and Ichigo felt as if he had been struck in the chest with a hammer. He flew backward like a kite with a broken string, his back slamming heavily against the glass wall.

"Boom!"

The immense impact caused fine cracks to appear in the glass wall, and white shards fell with a soft rustling sound.

Ichigo coughed, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He looked down at his arm—the light patterns he had just gathered had mostly dissipated, leaving only scattered points of light flashing at his fingertips.

On Jieqi's black leather boots, there was a drop of bright red blood.

"Very good." Jieqi licked her lips, a hint of excitement flashing in her eyes. She could clearly feel the power within her body slowly rising, like a sleeping beast gradually awakening. "Again!"

She charged forward again, even faster than before. Kicks, elbows, knees—each move was explosive and savage, devoid of any fancy moves, yet precisely aimed at Ichigo's vitals.

Ichigo could only dodge on the ground, occasionally gathering light patterns to block, but each time his attacks were shattered by Jekyll's power—this nascent Fullbring was too "soft," like cotton, and couldn't withstand the opponent's fierce attacks at all.

"boom!"

Ichigo was struck in the shoulder with an elbow strike, the excruciating pain causing his vision to blur and his body to stumble uncontrollably for a few steps. Seizing the opportunity, Jieqi kicked him in the side, sending him flying towards another glass wall.

This time, he failed to condense the light patterns in time, and his back slammed directly into the wall. The cracks in the glass spread even faster, almost shattering the entire wall.

Blood seeped from the wounds on his mouth and shoulder, dripping onto the white ground like blooming red plum blossoms.

Meanwhile, Jieqi's leather boots were becoming increasingly "dirty" from the bloodstains. She was moving faster and stronger, and each kick made a tearing sound as it ripped through the air, leaving Ichigo no time to catch his breath.

"Damn it!" Ichigo gritted his teeth, his gums stained red with blood. He could feel the gap between himself and Jekyll widening rapidly—if this continued, he would be beaten to death sooner or later.

He looked at the Substitute Shinigami License in his palm; the faint green light still flickered, yet seemed so weak. Why? Why couldn't this power be used as freely as a Zanpakuto? He recalled the first time he grasped Zangetsu, the feeling of the black trench coat covering his body when it was released—it wasn't a simple release of power, but the fusion of the Zanpakuto with himself.

融合

A thought flashed through my mind like lightning.