When We See With, Not Through the Eye, We Believe a Lie

We are led to believe a lie / When we see with, not through the eye--William Blake<Auguries of Innocence>(1803)

Ichigo stood in front of the ruins of the Twelfth Division, with the exhausted members of the Twelfth Division behind him, barely able to stand.

He lowered the white Zangetsu from his shoulder, its tip pointing diagonally towards the ground, while the black Zangetsu lay horizontally in front of him. The two swords gleamed with completely different lusters in the moonlight.

"Come on!" His voice was exceptionally clear in the night sky, scorched by the Heat of war.

The Zanpakuto opposite surged forward like a flood bursting its banks, their blades gleaming coldly in the moonlight, their Reiatsu colliding and emitting a piercing shriek.

Ichigo gripped his two Zanpakuto, and blue and red Reiatsu rapidly condensed on the two blades at the same time. The fluctuations of the two powers were like two hearts beating simultaneously, colliding wildly within his body.

"Getsuga Tenshō--!"

Blue and red crescent moons erupted simultaneously from the tips of the two swords, crashing into the group of Zanpakuto with destructive power.

The two crescent moons intertwined and spun in mid-air before merging into one, transforming into a torrent of Reiatsu that shot into the sky. Wherever the torrent passed, the ground was ripped up, and rubble scattered like shooting stars.

Those Zanpakuto at the forefront were directly engulfed by this force, swept away in all directions like fallen leaves in a whirlwind.

As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, Ichigo stood at the end of the deep trench carved out by Getsuga Tenshō, his two Zanpakuto hanging at his sides, the blades still warm from the burst of Reiatsu. He straightened up and crossed the two swords behind his back again. "That's it."

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from the ruins on the side. Tōshirō Hitsugaya led the members of the Tenth Division out from behind. His Captain's Haori fluttered slightly in the night wind, and a few strands of dust clung to his short, silver-white hair.

"Kurosaki!" Tōshirō nodded to Ichigo as a greeting.

Ichigo turned around, waved at him, and a smile played on his lips, "Yo, Tōshirō, you're a little late."

"Do you think everyone can act alone like you? I'm leading a team." Tōshirō crossed his arms, his gaze sweeping over the Zanpakuto lying Zanpakuto in the ruins. He sighed and waved to his team members behind him, "Grab all these Zanpakuto."

The members of the Tenth Division scattered in response, untying special ropes from their waists and heading towards the Zanpakuto lying on the ground.

Suddenly, five Ice Dragons silently pounced from the darkness behind Ichigo. The Ice Dragons were made entirely of pure ice, and each scale gleamed with a dazzling cold light. The five dragons intertwined and coiled in the night sky, carrying a chill that could freeze the air itself as they charged straight toward Ichigo's back.

Tōshirō's pupils contracted sharply; he knew that chilling aura all too well. Almost instinctively, he shouted, "Danger!"

Ichigo whirled around, gripping the hilts of his swords with both hands. The two Zangetsu, one black and one white, were drawn simultaneously. The black blade and the white blade drew two distinct arcs in the air—the black sword as steady as a mountain, the white sword as ferocious as a beast.

Five Ice Dragons collided with the two intersecting blades of light. Their bodies shattered from their heads, cracks spreading along their spines to their tails. Ice fragments scattered and flew everywhere, refracting countless fine, cold rays of light under the moonlight.

Ichigo stood in the center of the shattered ice shards, his twin swords hanging at his sides, and looked up in the direction from which the Ice Dragon was attacking.

Over there, a man dressed in a light blue robe was standing on a broken roof.

His collar, the ends of his limbs, and the tip of his belt were all made of ice, giving off an overall cold aura. His long, dark blue hair fell over his shoulders, and he had a light blue "X"-shaped scar on his face.

"Who are you?" Ichigo hoisted the black Zangetsu in his left hand onto his shoulder, and pointed the White Zangetsu in his right hand at the man.

The man didn't answer immediately. His gaze slowly swept over Ichigo, finally settling on the two Zanpakuto in Ichigo's hands, each a completely different color. "You're Ichigo Kurosaki, aren't you?"

"That's right, that's me." Ichigo's voice was steady.

The man nodded slightly, a scrutinizing look in his eyes. "You do have some skill."

"So what?" Ichigo frowned slightly.

The man chuckled softly, "Muramasa told us not to lay a hand on you."

"What's the meaning?"

"I'd like to know too." The man raised his hand, pointing the blade at Ichigo.

The next instant, four Ice Dragons burst from the ground around Ichigo simultaneously. These Ice Dragons were much larger than the previous five, and their bodies, wreathed in extremely cold freezing air, spiraled upwards, Ichigo inside.

The four Ice Dragons converged simultaneously, filling the gaps between their bodies with ever-growing ice crystals, eventually transforming into a towering ice pillar that sealed Ichigo entirely within it.

"Kurosaki!" Tōshirō stared at the orange-haired boy frozen in ice, his fingers gripping the hilt of his sword until they turned white. He turned to look at the man, drawing his sword in a defensive stance, but the man didn't even glance at him.

He simply turned and walked deeper into the ruins, as if his only purpose in coming here was to Ichigo.

"Hey! Wait a minute--" Just as Tōshirō was about to call out to him, a dull cracking sound came from inside the ice pillar, and cracks began to spread from the center of the ice pillar, spreading in all directions like a spider web.

Blinding black and white light burst forth from the crack.

"Bankai!"

The icicles shattered.

Ichigo emerged from the shattered ice, dressed in a black and white trench coat-style Shihakusho. The left sleeve was as black as ink, while the right sleeve was as white as snow, and the hem of the black and white trench coat fluttered in the night wind.

He held the pure white Tensa Zangetsu in his right hand and the pure black Tensa Zangetsu in his left, the two swords hanging at his sides with their tips pointing towards the ground.

The man stopped and turned around. He looked at Ichigo and the two Tensa Zangetsu, their colors completely opposite. A hint of surprise appeared on his cold face. "Bankai? You mean Bankai?"

"So what if I am?" Ichigo's voice came through the icy mist.

The man's fingers tightened slightly around the hilt of the sword. "Is your sword Zanpakuto?"

"Certainly."

The man fell silent, looking down at the sword in his hand, an aura of loss emanating from him. "Zanpakuto... what's its name?"

Ichigo sensed something was wrong. "What do you mean?"

The man didn't answer; he just stood there.

Ichigo looked at him, a hint of confusion gradually appearing in his brown eyes. "What's wrong?"

The man raised his head, staring intently at Ichigo, his voice carrying a tentative, almost yearning tone that he himself couldn't quite define. "Aren't you my master?"

Ichigo was stunned. "What are you talking about?"

"If you're not my master, then I won't bother you anymore." With his expectations fading, only disappointment remained in the man's eyes as he walked deeper into the ruins. His figure grew increasingly distant and indistinct in the icy mist.

Ichigo stared at the retreating figure, then belatedly realized something, and his voice suddenly rose. "Hey! Don't you know whose Zanpakuto you are?"

The man stopped, without turning around. "I don't know. Who is my master? What is my name...?"

Ichigo stared at the forlorn figure, opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say. A wave of pity welled up from the depths of his soul, and he couldn't help but utter, "You..."

However, the man responded to this pity by raising his left hand, his five fingers slowly spreading in the air. "Thousand-Year Ice Prison."

Six enormous ice pillars rose simultaneously from beneath Ichigo's feet.

The icicles, composed entirely of pure ice, shimmered with a faint blue aura and emanated an intense chill that trapped Ichigo within them. Ichigo the man's retreating figure, Ichigo's emotions were incoherent. "Huh?"

The man didn't turn around, but whispered, "Farewell," before leaving, leaving Ichigo trapped in Ichigo ice prison made of ice pillars as solid as millennia-old ice.

That chill was extremely strange—it wasn't just cold, it was constantly eroding his Reiatsu, as if even his soul was about to be frozen.

Just then, Tōshirō, who had been ignored by the man for a long time, stepped in front of him.

The young captain stood there, his Captain's Haori fluttering in the night wind. "Hyōrinmaru. Your name is Hyōrinmaru. You are my Zanpakuto!"

Renji's battlefield

Renji climbed out of the rubble, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. The Monkey Woman swung the chain around her waist, drawing a wide arc in the night sky. The Snake Man at the other end was flung into the air. He adjusted his posture in mid-air, gripping the Zabimaru in his right hand, the blade drawing a silver trail in the air.

"Take this!" Snake Man charged towards Renji like a shooting star.

Renji raised his sword to parry, and sparks exploded between them the moment the blades collided. The impact was transmitted through the blades, and the ground beneath his feet was cracked like a spiderweb.

Using the recoil, the Snake Man performed a backflip and landed back some distance away. Just when Renji thought the attack had come to an end, a faint smile appeared on the Snake Man's lips, "Too naive, Renji!"

The snake -Zabimaru in the Snake Man's hand vanished into thin air. He grabbed the chain on the collar with both hands and flung his body through the air— the Monkey Woman on the other end of the chain was thrown out and crashed straight towards Renji.

Just as the Monkey Woman flew away, the Zabimaru appeared in her hand.

"Ha!"

The Monkey Woman gripped the Zabimaru, its serpentine structure fully unfolded. Combined with her powerful sweeping motion, the blade sliced through the air with a hoarse the Roar, as if an iron plate were being torn apart.

Renji hurriedly raised his sword to parry, but the force of the attack far exceeded his expectations. The segmented blades of the snake-belly sword collided with his Zanpakuto, and the impact pushed him backward, causing him to crash directly into a broken section of the wall, his back bones making a dull thud.

The Monkey Woman retracted the snake-like structure of the Zabimaru, and the Snake Man walked up behind her, his long tail leaving a winding trail on the ground. "What? He's even more vulnerable than I thought, isn't he, Monkey Woman?"

Monkey Woman watched Renji rise again from the shattered wall, a faint, almost scrutinizing light flashed in her eyes. "Don't let your guard down. I'd be a little disappointed if he gave up so easily."

Looking at Renji's disheveled yet still stubborn appearance, the Snake Man grinned with extreme excitement. "He stood up! He really stood up!"

The Monkey Woman raised her hand and punched the Snake Man on the forehead, the force so great that he staggered several steps to the side. "Idiot, don't be so happy about something like this!"

The Snake Man covered his forehead, tears welling up in his eyes. "You didn't have to hit me, did you? You have such a big ass!" He raised his foot and kicked the Monkey Woman hard in the butt.

The Monkey Woman was kicked and jumped forward, clutching her backside as she turned around, veins bulging on her face. "You lecherous brat!"

The two of them started playfully fighting in front of Renji, the chains rattling between them, and the snake's tail lashing against the stone slabs.

Renji, seeing the two of them so relaxed, couldn't hold back any longer. "You two, stop right now!"

The two, who were playfully fighting, turned to look at him at the same time. Renji gripped his Zanpakuto, the tip pointed at them, his voice tinged with barely suppressed annoyance. "Stop fighting amongst yourselves here. Aren't you your opponent?"

The Monkey Woman stopped pulling on the Snake Man's ear and looked at him mockingly, "It seems you really don't know anything."

"What?"

"We don't have time for a weakling like you." The Monkey Woman released her grip, and the Snake Man loosened his teeth from Monkey Woman wrist. The two stood side by side, the chain connecting them swaying slightly in the night breeze. The Snake Man tilted his head and added, "Exactly, exactly."

Renji, gripping the hilt of his sword, bulged with veins. "You guys just kept saying I was weak and stuff, what does that have to do with you?"

"Of course it's related to us." The Monkey Woman looked at him, into his somewhat angry eyes, and said in a calmer, sharper, and more genuine tone, "We didn't want to remain weak like this with you, so we chose to leave you."

Renji's fingers tightened slightly around the hilt of the sword. "You really don't hold back with your words."

Just then, an extremely faint Reishi fluctuation came from mid-air, followed by a female voice, transmitted synchronously to his ears through some kind of technique. "... Once your Soul Pulse recovers to a certain level, you will be able to Shikai your Zanpakuto even without us."

Renji's pupils contracted slightly. "This is the Tenteikūra! Who used it and where? But I did hear some good news!"

His fingers tightened on the hilt of the sword, and he muttered the release phrase he had uttered countless times, "The Roar! Zabimaru!"

A very faint ripple appeared on the blade, and Reiatsu flowed slowly along the edge, as if something was awakening. However, the ripple lasted only a moment before returning to silence.

"Tch, still a little short."

The Monkey Woman watched his actions and a mocking smile appeared on her face, "You can't even do Shikai, how are you going to fight?"

Meanwhile, on Ichigo and Tōshirō's side...

Ichigo stood in the center of the Thousand-Year Ice Prison, surrounded by six ice pillars, each as thick as an ancient tree with a blue, cold light flowing across its surface.

Ichigo could feel his Reiatsu freezing bit by bit under the ice prison's seal, and even his fingers gripping Tensa Zangetsu were beginning to stiffen. "Damn it, I have to find a way to break this thing quickly!"

Meanwhile, Tōshirō's side

"Your name is Hyōrinmaru." Tōshirō stood directly in front of Hyōrinmaru. "And I am your master, Tōshirō Hitsugaya."

Hyōrinmaru stopped in his tracks. He lowered his head, and only then did his cold eyes look at the boy in front of him, as if he had just noticed his presence. The night wind passed between the two of them, blowing Hyōrinmaru's dark blue hair and Tōshirō's silver-white hair.

"Don't joke around." To Tōshirō, Hyōrinmaru's voice was like shattered ice, each word carrying a chilling coldness. "How could a child like you possibly be my master?"

Tōshirō's fingers tightened slightly on the hilt of his sword, a deep sting flashing in his eyes. He and Hyōrinmaru had fought side by side for countless days and nights, from their first Shikai to mastering Bankai, from a first-generation squad member to the captain of the Tenth Division. Hyōrinmaru had never left his side throughout their journey.

Now, this Zanpakuto stood before him, looking at him with the eyes of a stranger, which he found hard to accept. "Are you serious?"

"Boy, do you really think I'd believe your utter nonsense?" Hyōrinmaru's voice remained unwavering.

"What did that Muramasa guy do to you?" Tōshirō's voice was filled with suppressed anger.

"Muramasa." Hyōrinmaru Zanpakuto horizontally in front of him, the cold light from the blade reflected in his icy eyes. "It's just that I lost all my memories when I was released."

"All memories?"

"Indeed, I am currently residing in Muramasa's place, but my mission is to find my true master."

"Searching for the true master?"

Hyōrinmaru raised his sword, the tip pointing at Tōshirō. "That's right. Zanpakuto as powerful as mine, even if it's not one of the strongest Soul Reaper, it certainly wouldn't be a kid like you."

Tōshirō stared at the sword pointed at him, its blade gleaming coldly, but he insisted, "Indeed, my strength is insufficient. But the fact that I am your master will never change."

Hyōrinmaru frowned slightly. "If what you say is true, and you are my master—" He took a step forward, his Reiatsu slowly gathering on the blade, the surrounding air rapidly cooling down around him, and a thin layer of Frost covering the ground. "Then let me see the evidence!"