"Crack—"
"Boom!"
Ichigo Kurosaki's sword directly cleaved through the blue Prison. The powerful pressure from his blade grazed Ulquiorra's body, taking half of Ulquiorra's arm with it.
This outcome caught Ichigo Kurosaki by surprise.
When he had attacked the Prison, Ichigo Kurosaki had sensed that Old Man Zangetsu seemed to be strengthening his attack power through contact with it.
But no matter how much stronger it became, Ichigo Kurosaki had never thought that he could shatter the Prison that had trapped Ulquiorra with a single slash.
That final strike had made the Prison feel like a bubble that burst at the slightest poke. Ichigo Kurosaki had been unable to stop in time, and the residual force of his slash had struck Ulquiorra inside the Prison.
"Sorry, Ulquiorra."
Ichigo Kurosaki froze for a moment, then hurried forward to apologize to Ulquiorra.
"Are you all right?"
"I didn't expect the Prison to suddenly break..."
After saying that, Ichigo Kurosaki abruptly stopped.
He suddenly remembered that when he had attacked the Prison earlier, Ulquiorra had said that Kiruge Opie had claimed only Quincy or those with Quincy blood could break this technique.
And from what Ichigo Kurosaki had learned about his origins from Isshin Kurosaki, his mother, Masaki Kurosaki, had been one of the only two pure-blooded Quincy in the world before she was attacked by White Hollow.
From that perspective, Quincy blood also flowed within him.
Could the power Old Man Zangetsu had passed on to him while he attacked the Prison have activated the Quincy blood within him?
Then, after the Quincy blood in his body had awakened, the Prison had become so easy to break under his attack.
"I'm fine."
"Thank you, Ichigo Kurosaki."
Ulquiorra shook his head. Escaping the Prison with only one arm severed was nothing to him.