Ichigo Kurosaki vs. Ulquiorra (IV)

The Hollowfication Ichigo Kurosaki did not answer. He charged forward again, his Tensa Zangetsu drawing black streaks in the air, each strike precise and deadly.

Liu Ziyun stood at a distance, quietly watching the battle. His gaze never left Ichigo Kurosaki; in his eyes, there was scrutiny, observation, and a deep, almost fatherly worry.

He noticed that the Hollowfication Ichigo Kurosaki's attack style was strikingly similar to Ulquiorra's attack style before—no, not "similar," but "copied."

He was using the same methods Ulquiorra had used against him, bit by bit, to repay Ulquiorra. Every movement, every attack, was imbued with an almost vengeful obsession.

Despite the overwhelming Reiatsu, Orihime Inoue struggled to reach Liu Ziyun's side. Her face was streaked with tears, and her voice was hoarse and trembling. "Teacher Liu, is Kurosaki-kun... alright?"

Liu Ziyun looked at her, his gaze scrutinizing her. "What did you say when you were treating him just now? Why did it suddenly turn out like this?"

Orihime Inoue paused for a moment, then lowered her head, her voice even softer. "I... when I was healing Kurosaki-kun just now, I couldn't 'reject' the Reiatsu emanating from him, so I got anxious, and... I cried out, 'Please don't die'... and then he suddenly turned into this..."

Liu Ziyun remained silent for a moment. His gaze returned to Ichigo Kurosaki, and something flickered slightly in his eyes.

"The will to live," he said softly, "He heard your call, so he came back to life. But the way he came back to life..." He paused, "... was the part of himself that had been suppressed within him."

On the battlefield, the Hollowfication Ichigo Kurosaki seized an opening in Ulquiorra's defenses. Tensa Zangetsu drew a black arc in the air, slashing fiercely into Ulquiorra's chest. Blood gushed out, and Ulquiorra's body flew backward, crashing heavily to the ground.

The Hollowfication Ichigo Kurosaki gave him no chance to catch his breath. He rushed forward, stomping on Ulquiorra's face and pinning him to the ground. Then he lowered his head, and the mask on his forehead began to glow— Cero! A Cero was gathering on his forehead, growing brighter and stronger.

Ulquiorra lay on the ground, looking at the boy above him who was condensing Cero. A complex light flashed in his green eyes. There was anger, there was resentment, but more than anything, there was an emotion that he himself could not understand, an emotion that was almost a sense of relief.

Liu Ziyun appeared beside Ichigo Kurosaki.

His speed was as fast as teleportation; one moment he was dozens of meters away, and the next he was standing next to Ichigo Kurosaki. He reached out, placed his palm on Ichigo Kurosaki's forehead, and then—patted it gently.

The condensing Cero vanished from Liu Ziyun's palm, disappearing silently into the air like smoke blown away by the wind.

"That's enough," Liu Ziyun said calmly and steadily. "It's better to keep this guy around."

The Hollowfication Ichigo Kurosaki turned his head and looked at Liu Ziyun. In those eyes behind the mask, there was no reason, no emotion, only pure, primal killing intent. He raised Tensa Zangetsu, the tip of the blade aimed at Liu Ziyun —and then slashed down.

Liu Ziyun did not dodge. He simply raised his hand and firmly grasped Ichigo Kurosaki's arm. That arm was imbued with immense power, but in Liu Ziyun's hand, it was like a small bird caught in an iron clamp, unable to move forward an inch.

Then, Liu Ziyun reached out his other hand and grasped one of the horns on Ichigo Kurosaki's head—

Click.

The horn snapped off instantly, and black Reiatsu gushed from the break, swirling in the air like blood.

Ichigo Kurosaki's body suddenly froze. Cracks began to appear on his mask, one, two, countless—the cracks spread like a spider web, from his forehead to his chin, from his cheeks to the back of his head. Then, the entire mask shattered with a crash, turning into countless fragments that dissipated into the air.

The moment the mask shattered, his golden hair began to fade, turning orange again. The horns on his head began to shrink and disappear. His Reiatsu dropped rapidly like a receding tide, and that violent, dangerous power returned to his body little by little, being sealed back into the cage called "reason."

His eyes regained their clarity—they were no longer the eyes of a beast, but the eyes of Ichigo Kurosaki.

Then, his body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground, falling into a coma.

Ulquiorra sat up from the ground, looked at Ichigo Kurosaki lying on the ground, then looked up at Liu Ziyun. His face was expressionless, but something was churning in his green eyes.

"Why did you save me?" His voice was calm, but tinged with confusion.

Liu Ziyun looked at him, his gaze calm and profound. "Hueco Mundo cannot afford to lose too many Menos Grande. It will cause chaos. In the future, there will be attacks on Hueco Mundo, and you are all key players in Hueco Mundo. After all, Hueco Mundo is an important link in maintaining the balance of the world."

He paused, then continued, "The world isn't just the Soul Society and the World of the Living. The collapse of Hueco Mundo will also cause an imbalance in the Three Worlds. At that time, this world will also be destroyed. So..."

He glanced at Ichigo Kurosaki lying on the ground, then at Ulquiorra: "You all have your own reason for existing. Not as Aizen's tools, but as part of this world."

Ulquiorra remained silent for a long time. His gaze lingered on Liu Ziyun's face, as if judging the truth of his words and considering how much this man actually knew.

"I see." He finally spoke, his voice calm and relieved. "I understand."

As the two spoke, the changes in Ichigo Kurosaki continued.

The remnants of the Hollowfication —long golden hair, shattered mask fragments, scattered Reiatsu —detached from Ichigo Kurosaki and floated into the air. They spun in the air like a miniature storm, growing faster and stronger with each rotation.

Then, they began to coalesce.

The golden specks of light, the black Reiatsu, and the power of the Hollows converged in the air into a sphere of light the size of a fist. The sphere of light radiated a warm glow, like a miniature sun, shining brightly in the dim light of Hueco Mundo.

The ball of light slowly descended and landed on Ichigo Kurosaki's chest—the fist-sized hole pierced by the Cero.

The light grew brighter and stronger, enveloping the entire battlefield in a warm glow. The light pierced through Ichigo Kurosaki's body, penetrating his skin, his muscles, and his bones, filling the void and repairing the damage.