Getsuga Tensho

"Yo, Ichigo. Long time no see."

"Ginjo? What are you doing here?" Ichigo was a little surprised. Today was the special training day Tsuna had mentioned. According to Tsuna, Kurosaki Isshin was supposed to be training him, so why was Kugo Ginjo here?

Because of Tsuna's involvement, Ginjo and the other Fullbringers had already gotten to know Ichigo. Ichigo and the others had also become members of the Fullbring club Xcution. Ginjo had once tried to help Ichigo increase the number of arrows he could fire each day, but it had ended in failure.

"Why can't I be here? Sawada told me to come participate in the special training." As he spoke, Ginjo tore off his necklace, and the greatsword Cross of Scaffold plunged into the ground.

"So that bastard old man really ran off?"

Ichigo drew Zangetsu and faced Ginjo. He had been looking for Kurosaki Isshin since early that morning, but he had not found him even now. Left with no choice, he had come to the Urahara Shop half-convinced.

"What? The coach ran away?" To Ichigo's surprise, Ginjo also looked shocked.

"What? You're not my coach today?" Ichigo was equally confused.

"Are you kidding? I came here to learn something today!" Ginjo said as if it were only natural.

"You two, stop arguing. Aren't I here now?"

Ichigo and Ginjo turned around. Kurosaki Isshin walked over in a black Shinigami Uniform, a Zanpakuto hanging at his waist and a white captain's haori draped over one shoulder. Tsuna and the idle Rukia followed behind him.

"You two really do have similar personalities. I'm starting to wonder whether you're actually brothers," Tsuna said with a smile.

"Tch, who's brothers with him?" Ichigo said disdainfully. For some reason, he argued with Ginjo even more often than he did with Tsuna.

"By the way, Rukia, what's with that expression?" Ichigo noticed Rukia's face, which was full of shock and disbelief.

"Oh, Rukia? She's looked like that ever since she saw me." Isshin scratched his head awkwardly.

"What did you do, you lousy old man? Rukia lives at our house now. Why would she look like that when she sees you?" Ichigo asked, clearly unconvinced.

Rukia was still staying at the Kurosaki Residence, except this time she was not living in Ichigo Kurosaki's closet. Orihime Inoue had firmly insisted on staying with her, and the two shared a room. Ichigo's two younger sisters had also condemned his womanizing behavior.

"Why not ask her yourself?" Tsuna elbowed Rukia. "Hey, Rukia, they're asking you!"

"Oh." Rukia finally came back to her senses. She immediately stood straight in front of Kurosaki Isshin and asked respectfully, "Mr. Kurosaki, may I ask why you have a captain's haori?"

"Captain's haori? You mean this?" Ichigo moved closer to Kurosaki Isshin and touched the haori on his shoulder. "There's nothing special about it."

"You brat, be careful! This thing is expensive!" Isshin immediately snapped at Ichigo, then turned to Rukia. "Well, I suppose it's nothing much to the Kuchiki Clan."

"Uncle Isshin was the former captain of the 10th Division. Rukia, you didn't know?" Tsuna explained.

"The 10th Division? Captain Hitsugaya's predecessor?" Rukia had joined the 13th Division right after graduation and had little contact with the 10th Division. She had only heard that its former captain had disappeared.

"Toshiro, huh? It's been many years since I last saw him. With him in the 10th Division, things should be better than when I was there." Isshin laughed heartily, though a trace of nostalgia flashed through his eyes. He had felt somewhat guilty about dumping the division directly on Toshiro Hitsugaya back then.

"A captain? Old man, were you really that strong?" Rukia's respectful demeanor left Ichigo stunned. Did this foolish old man really have such an impressive past?

"Ichigo, anyone who can serve as a captain in the Soul Society has at least mastered a power called Bankai. Forget anything else—a Captain-level Bleach could easily take on a hundred of you," Ginjo, as Ichigo Kurosaki's senior, took the initiative to explain.

"Bankai?" Ichigo had never expected his old man to possess that kind of strength. Was this really the same old guy he could kick around whenever he wanted?

"Ahem, enough nonsense. Let's get started." Kurosaki Isshin coughed to hide the flush of embarrassment on his face. If the people around him kept praising him, he was afraid Ichigo would laugh at him once the lesson began.

"I'm ready." Ichigo drew Zangetsu eagerly, then glanced at Kugo Ginjo beside him. "Why are you still here?"

"Like you, I came to learn from Mr. Kurosaki today." Ginjo said it as if it were only natural.

Since Ginjo's own abilities were all execution techniques, his fighting style largely focused on tormenting enemies. Lacking the ability to defeat an enemy in a single blow, Ginjo had once asked Tsuna to teach him stronger combat techniques. Tsuna had agreed, saying he would find Ginjo a good teacher someday.

After all, Ginjo had loved the Getsuga Tensho he obtained from Ichigo in the original story. Given Tsuna's relationship with the Kurosaki family, arranging for an extra student during Ichigo's training was no difficult matter.

As the lesson was about to begin, Tsuna and Rukia moved farther away, leaving the space to the trio.

Kurosaki Isshin crossed his arms and introduced the day's lesson. "Today, I'll teach you a combat technique. It's an inherited secret art of our Shiba Clan... uh... Kurosaki family. Learn it well, got it!"

"Shiba... Shiba Isshin, the former captain of the 10th Division. No wonder I never noticed anything unusual about Mr. Kurosaki before," Rukia murmured after hearing Isshin's introduction.

"Old man, hurry up." Ichigo could not wait any longer, and he did not forget to take a jab at Ginjo. "And why can an outsider learn our family's technique?"

"What? Ichigo, do you have a problem with that?" Ginjo hooked an arm around Ichigo's neck and glared at him fiercely. The current Ichigo was nowhere near Ginjo's match, so he naturally could not break free.

"You two, watch carefully!" Isshin ignored his troublesome students. "This technique condenses spiritual pressure onto the blade, then sends it flying with a swing."

"Getsuga Tensho!"

With a loud shout, Isshin drew his blade and slashed a crescent-shaped wave of spiritual pressure toward the ground some distance away. The crescent swept forward rapidly, leaving a mark in the earth.

Ichigo quickly rushed to a spot three meters away from Isshin, then lay on the ground and stared at the mark for a long while. Fortunately, his eyesight was good enough to see the impossibly shallow trace. He looked at Isshin with an expression that plainly said, Are you kidding me?

"Um..." Isshin's mind raced as he searched for an excuse. "I didn't sleep well. That was an incorrect demonstration. Let's try again."

The crescent Isshin had just unleashed was only the size of a palm, and its power was beyond description—practically nonexistent. Ichigo felt that even the wind stirred up by swinging his Zanpakuto was stronger than that.

"Pfft." Tsuna laughed. Since Ichigo's Bleach powers had only just appeared, Isshin no longer needed to suppress the Hollow's power within Ichigo, and his own Bleach powers had begun to recover gradually. However, such a short time was nowhere near enough for Isshin to use his normal strength. That palm-sized crescent was already everything he had.

To salvage his dignity, Isshin had to do something. Without anyone noticing, he crushed a pendant-like object hidden in his sleeve. A long-lost sense of power surged through his body, and Isshin proudly recited his Zanpakuto's Shikai release.

"Burn, Engetsu."

A massive amount of spiritual pressure erupted from Kurosaki Isshin's Zanpakuto, and roaring flames coiled around Engetsu. Isshin immediately swung his blade horizontally toward Ichigo.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

A fierce blaze swept over Ichigo's head like a crescent moon, reducing a distant pile of rocks to ashes. Fully satisfied, Isshin coolly sheathed Engetsu.

Ichigo blankly touched the top of his head. Only after discovering that his hair was still intact did he breathe a sigh of relief, then he leaped up and cursed at Isshin.

"You bastard old man, you almost killed me!"

"Nothing happened, did it? So? Your old man's cool, right?" Isshin ignored Ichigo's complaint entirely and instead lightly stroked Engetsu, posing dramatically.

"Damn it!"

Ichigo immediately lunged at Isshin to vent his dissatisfaction, but he was clearly no match for Isshin now. Isshin merely gave him a look, and Ichigo was pinned in place, unable to move.

"So strong." Rukia sighed. Isshin had won her over with that Getsuga Tensho alone. She no longer had the slightest doubt that he had been the former captain of the 10th Division. A Vice-Captain could not unleash such a powerful attack in Shikai.

"That's Uncle Isshin's original power. Oh, right, this is for you." Tsuna took out a pendant and handed it to Rukia. "Inject your spiritual pressure into it. When you need power, crush it, and it can briefly imitate your original strength."

"This is?" Rukia asked.

"A little Illusion tool I made. Uncle Isshin is using one right now. The Illusion spiritual pressure stored inside is enough to restore you to your peak condition, including allowing you to use your Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki," Tsuna explained.

"A little tool? How do you know about my Zanpakuto...?"

"That isn't important. It's only meant to give you a chance to take control of your own fate. If you don't want it, you can crush it right now." After saying that, Tsuna prepared to leave. He still had his own matters to handle. Bringing Isshin over to begin the lesson was enough; he had no intention of staying here for long.

"No matter what, thank you." Rukia spoke to Tsuna, then injected the tiny amount of spiritual pressure she had just recovered into the pendant. A faint connection formed between her and it.

Rukia looked toward Ichigo, who was learning Getsuga Tensho. Even now, she did not regret her earlier choice in the slightest. She had also accepted the fate of being taken back to the Soul Society. Hopefully, she would never need to use this pendant.