A False but Perfect Ending

"Ross!!!"

Kurosaki Ichigo roared again.

He had no way of knowing what was going through Kurosaki Masaki's mind.

The instant Ross stood fully exposed before him, Ichigo did not even notice the meaningful look his mother gave him as she stepped aside.

He wrung every last bit of potential from his body and gripped the long and short Zangetsu blades tight. The air burst beneath his feet, and he shot toward Ross like a bolt of red-and-black lightning!

The only reason he stood here was to draw his blades against Ross and kill the man who had destroyed everything he had!

"Moon Fang Heaven Piercer!!!"

The twin Zangetsu blades carried a raging storm of Spiritual Pressure.

The wildness of a Hollow, a Quincy's control over Spirit Particles, and the ultimate slash of a Shinigami...

He had fused three powers that should have rejected one another, driven them to heights he had never reached before, and brought them crashing down together toward Ross's head!

At the sight of a strike fierce enough to shake the Three Realms, hope blazed in the dim eyes of Oetsu Nimaiya, Shinji Hirako, and the others barely clinging to life in the ruins below.

He was too strong!

Even Captain-General Yamamoto in his prime could not have compared to Ichigo now. He could never have delivered a slash so powerful, so pure!

"Win, Ichigo!!!"

Shinji Hirako ignored his injuries and shouted until his voice went hoarse.

Yet Ross did not so much as raise an eyelid as the twin blades descended with enough force to split heaven and earth.

He did not even lift a hand to block. He kept both hands in his pockets and let the red-and-black blades crash against his shoulders.

Humm!!!

Before everyone's eyes, frozen wide with tension, both Zangetsu blades struck