In Ichigo's Inner World, there were still those chaotic flying buildings. Standing in front of Ichigo were not only Uncle Zangetsu and White, but also a third person: Jun Shimizu.
"Hey~ hey~, what's going on? I'm starting to understand what the Inner World is, so how did you get in here, old man?" Ichigo scratched his head, looking at Jun with a frustrated expression.
With a gentle smile, she said, "I am not the person you imagine. I am merely a program designed to guide your cultivation."
"Huh? It's just solving it, right? I'll show you!" Ichigo shouted with his usual enthusiasm.
Chun laughed even more heartily, "Which of these two people do you think is your knife?"
Ichigo looked completely bewildered. "Isn't it Uncle Zangetsu?"
"And what about him?" Chun pointed at White.
"Uh, how should I know?"
"Heh, this Inner World is the Inner World. Can't you figure out why it appeared?"
Ichigo scratched his head, "You mean he's my sword too, right?"
Jun scoffed, Ichigo extremely annoyed. "Hey, old man, my brain isn't that sharp. Didn't you say that yourself? Just say what you want to say, so I don't have to guess."
Jun was stunned, then clapped his hands, shook his head, and chuckled, "Ichigo Kurosaki, you're truly a once-in-a-millennium gem. Since you think so, then I'll tell you everything."
"The Soul Society's practice of turning everything into swords is a complete deception."
"Ha!?"
"You don't need to make that face. You just need to listen and digest everything I say! Can you do that?"
"Oh, I understand!" Ichigo began to listen intently.
"The power of a Soul Reaper, or rather, the power of a person, is never limited to a sword. The sword is merely a form of expression. You've seen Fullbringers; do you think there's a difference between Fullbring and Zanpakuto? Which is more wondrous: Sado's power, Orihime's power, or your power? Answer me."
Ichigo hearing this, Ichigo scratched his chin, "Orihime's, I think Orihime's quantity is the most amazing."
"Indeed, Orihime Inoue's power is extraordinary, even among the many Soul Reaper of the past millennia. In fact, any power that drives Spiritual Power is essentially the same."
"Since they are the same, their forms of expression should be diverse. You don't need to limit your power to the knife, of course you can if you want to, or are you afraid of his power?"
"Huh!?" Ichigo pointed at White and roared, "You think I'm afraid of him?!"
"Haha~", White laughed wildly, "It's not a matter of whether you're afraid of me or not, it's that you're too weak. I don't want to be used by trash like you! That's the point! Trash!!"
"Bullshit! I am the master! You are merely a force!"
"Tch~ Boring piece of trash!"
Jun clapped his hands to end the verbal battle, snapped his fingers at White, and said, "He's not a power, Ichigo. Your understanding seems to be flawed."
"Huh!? Uncle, are you saying he's about strength?"
"If you insist on interpreting it as power, that's fine too; it's an illusion, and illusion is instinct."
White looked at Chun and said approvingly, "Haha! You're a real gem! Completely different from this good-for-nothing and all that trash outside! Wahahaha, interesting!"
Thank you for your kind words.
"Why would you, a mere mortal, help this piece of trash!"
"Although you keep saying Ichigo is a good-for-nothing, and I kind of agree, you'd be angry if I said it like that, right?"
White narrowed his eyes, his tone turning dangerous, "Do you know what will happen if this guy gains control of my power?"
"This is exactly what I've been expecting."
"Hehe~, as expected of the real deal, truly daring to think and act," White turned to Ichigo, "Hey~ trash!"
"You two, that's enough! I'm Ichigo Kurosaki! Not a piece of trash!"
"Okay, Ichigo, what's the difference between a king and a mount?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Look, he can't understand," White complained to Chun.
Chun shrugged. "He said he's not very bright. If you explain it more clearly, he'll understand. Don't ask him anything; just treat him like a paramecium."
Ichigo blushed deeply, while White laughed so hard he bent over, "Great! Paramecium? Haha, what a vivid analogy!!"
Suddenly, White released his Reiatsu, so Reiatsu that Ichigo could hardly bear it. White then spoke, revealing his unspoken message.
"I'm not asking you childish riddles like 'human vs. horse,' or 'two legs vs. four legs.' If there were two beings that were completely identical in appearance, ability, and strength, then I would ask you: what is the difference between the one who becomes king and dominates the war, and the other who becomes a mount to increase their fighting power?!"
There is only one answer!
"Instinct!!"
"Those who possess the same power, what they need to unleash even greater power, what they need to become kings, is an absolute thirst for battle! A relentless pursuit of power! A merciless annihilation of the enemy!! An absolute desire for battle, a thirst to tear them to pieces!!"
"It is the most profound and utterly penetrating killing instinct etched into the very foundation of things within our bodies!!"
Ichigo swallowed hard. "What's the difference between that and a wild beast!?"
"Hmph~ Ugh~", White was almost furious, "As expected, paramecia can't understand instinct."
Ichigo thumped his chest and shouted, "I am human!"
"Humans are animals too, they have instincts," Chun said calmly. "From birth, humans know how to find food; your breast milk—that's instinct!"
"Since the beginning of history, human history has been a history of war, a thirst for food, a thirst for mates, a thirst for reproduction, a thirst for status, a thirst for everything that comes into view, and a thirst for all that can be possessed—this is instinct."
"And so, tribes emerged, regions emerged, nations emerged. This is instinct, an instinct unique to us humans," Jun pointed to his head. "Thinking is also an instinct. Ichigo Kurosaki, have you thrown away this instinct?"
"Pfft~ Haha, you're right! That idiot definitely threw his brain away! Haha!"
"You guys," Ichigo wanted to retort, but didn't know what to say.
Chun pointed at White, then at Uncle Zangetsu, "What is this? What are those two? Where is this place? Sigh~ Asking you is pointless, so I'll just tell you directly."
"This is your mental world, yours! This is your knife, yours! This is your instinct, yours! Everything here! It's all yours! Yours! Yours!! You idiot!! And you're still picking and choosing?! This is your stuff!!"
Ichigo was stunned by the scolding. He looked around, then at Uncle Zangetsu, then at White, swallowed hard, and pointed to himself hesitantly, "Mine?"
He spread his hands, "If you don't want it, you can give it to me."
White, arms crossed, head buried in his chest, bent over in an odd posture, suppressing a laugh. He glanced at Uncle Zangetsu out of the corner of his eye. "Zangetsu! What on earth made you decide to accept this idiot? I can't take it anymore! Haha!"
"I have this question now too."
Ichigo couldn't take it anymore; these two were constantly insulting him, and now even Zangetsu was mocking him. His face flushed red, he shouted, "Since you're my power, then belong to me!!"
Chun held up two fingers. "This is what you asked for, now! You need to know two things! First, you could die if you're not careful! Second, even if you exert every last bit of your strength now, you can only accept a portion of it; you're too weak!"
Ichigo can tolerate any bad things said about him, but he absolutely cannot accept his own weakness. He pounded his chest and roared, "Come on! Let me show you my power! I'm not afraid of death!"
"That's quite an awareness. Well then, I'll leave here. After all, this isn't my world," Chun said, her words beginning to blur.
"See you again someday, the real deal."
Looking forward to returning.
The instant Chun vanished, a surge of red Spiritual Power descended, causing the hem of Uncle Zangetsu's clothes to billow wildly. "I'll go first; my power came later, after all."
"Sure! Hehe~"
The training outside suddenly stopped, and everyone used their Spirit Pearl Core to form a perfect Barrier to Ichigo. In an instant, the Barrier was completely filled with crimson Reiatsu, becoming a genuine blood sphere.
"What's going on!?" Yoruichi and Kūkaku arrived instantly and saw this thing.
"I don't know either! Sis~ We can't hold on much longer!" Ganju shouted desperately.
Yoruichi asked in surprise, "What exactly did your master send over?"
"How would I know? You know who my master is, Yoruichi."
"I don't know. I've never been able to see through him before, and now even Urahara can't see through him. You go up and hold the load for a while, I'll go find some clothes to wear."
OK
Kūkaku received the Spirit Pearl Core from Ganju, and the intense Spiritual Power instantly dispersed the Spiritual Power of the others. The group looked at Kūkaku in surprise, Kūkaku smiled, "I'm not as strong as you think. I have a cheat code."
Kūkaku's earring lit up, and she quickly cried out, "Master! Can you see it? What should we do? I'm afraid I can't control my Spiritual Flow for much longer!"
Jun looked at the crimson sphere of Spiritual Power in front of the camera and laughed, "We finally succeeded. How about Yoruichi?"
"I'm here," Yoruichi, arriving dressed in Kūkaku's clothes, which gave her a unique air. After all, Kūkaku didn't have any clothes that made her body look good, so the probability of that was over forty percent.
"Hurry up and replace Kūkaku. That kid's coming back for a second wave soon, and with these earrings, that should be enough."
Yoruichi's face darkened. After handing over the earrings to Kūkaku, she put them back on. "What do you think this means?"
"I don't know either, it's just a guess, oh~ here it comes."
Yoruichi wanted to ask more, but suddenly the crimson sphere turned pitch black. In that instant, Yoruichi almost threw the Spirit Pearl Core in her hand; the impact was simply too violent. Fortunately, it was Yoruichi, and she withstood it. However, the energy drained from the earring was increasing rapidly.
Just as the earrings were about to lose their Spiritual Power, a small hand placed the other earring on Yoruichi's other ear, Shinren smiled, "I've always been here~"
"Good boy/girl, what reward do you want?"
"Hehe, my Shinren longs for a hug from the Lord~"
"Hmm~, and it even comes with a lift-up bonus."
The Black Spiritual Power was still erupting, still erupting. Just as the Spiritual Power of the second earring was about to be exhausted, Spiritual Power was instantly drawn back into Ichigo's body.
"Hey kid! Are you alright?" Yoruichi called out, not daring to dispel the protective barrier.
Ichigo turned his head. It was a bone Hollowfication Mask with two huge bull horns protruding from its forehead. The Hollowfication Mask was red and black overall, except for a white stripe around the eyes.
"Empty!!"
Ichigo suddenly grabbed the Hollowfication Mask and ripped it off. The Hollowfication Mask disintegrated into Reishi and vanished into thin air. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief, "Yo~ I'm back."
"You," Uryū could still speak, leaving everyone else completely bewildered.
Ichigo shrugged. "It's a long story, let's talk about it another time. Goodnight."
After saying that, the guy lay down on the ground and instantly fell asleep.