An Early Clash

Tsuna had used the Zanpakuto Manifestation Device before. It was a tool invented by Urahara Kisuke to forcibly learn Bankai. The fact that Ichigo could cut down the device proved that he had already learned Bankai.

Without another word, Tsuna took a step back to widen the distance between himself and Isshin. Pointing back at Isshin, he said, "Take the reimbursement issue to his parent. Ichigo and I aren't that close."

"You damn brat, now you know to cut ties?" Isshin cursed at Tsuna.

"Please stop arguing. Ichigo has already begun moving," Urahara Kisuke said.

Ichigo unleashed another Getsuga Tensho, scattering the Senbonzakura petals attacking him. He immediately Flash Stepped into an open area, raised Zangetsu straight up, and pressed his other hand against the arm holding the blade. The white ribbon at Zangetsu's hilt began winding around his hand, and Ichigo's spiritual pressure started fluctuating violently.

Byakuya immediately noticed something was off with Ichigo. His wealth of combat experience made him instantly use Hado #4: White Lightning. A bolt of white lightning shot from Byakuya's fingertips. Whatever Ichigo was trying to do, interrupting him first was the right move.

But Byakuya was ultimately one step too late. As he fired White Lightning, Ichigo had already finished preparing his spiritual pressure and shouted a powerful, forceful word.

"Bankai!"

Powerful spiritual pressure formed a pillar of light that enveloped Ichigo. After a long while, the pressure dispersed, revealing Ichigo Kurosaki before everyone. He wore a Shinigami Uniform with black on the outside and red within, while his enormous Zanpakuto had become a slender black katana. It had a swastika-shaped guard, with a short length of chain extending from the end of the hilt.

"Tensa Zangetsu!" Ichigo's cool voice, paired with the robe billowing from his spiritual pressure, was as cool as ever.

"You call that tiny thing a Bankai?"

Byakuya spoke disdainfully, but before his words had even faded, he felt a chill at his neck. His vision blurred, and Ichigo Kurosaki had somehow appeared right in front of him. The tip of Tensa Zangetsu rested against Byakuya's throat.

"Woohoo, the famous scene." Tsuna said excitedly. He had not expected this Ichigo to recreate that iconic moment before even entering the Soul Society.

"I have no intention of becoming enemies with you. Let me send Rukia to the Soul Society. I'll testify for her," Ichigo said calmly. From beginning to end, he had never intended to fight Byakuya and Renji to the death. Renji's injury had only been an accident.

Byakuya did not see things the way Ichigo did. His subordinate being injured was an undeniable fact. With a flick of the fingers hidden in his sleeve, Senbonzakura shot into the sky and swallowed both him and Ichigo.

Senbonzakura's petals were essentially sharp blades. If Byakuya mishandled them, even he could be injured by Senbonzakura. Yet now, he disregarded everything and used Senbonzakura to scour himself, all to free himself from Ichigo's hostage hold.

Just as Byakuya had expected, Ichigo flashed away from him before Senbonzakura arrived. Byakuya regained his freedom, but after the rain of cherry blossoms passed, his clothes were in tatters and his body bore countless fine cuts.

"That rotten temper hasn't changed at all," Yoruichi said. She alone considered her relationship with Byakuya to be quite good, mainly because she had bullied him in every possible way when he was young. As such, she understood his personality very well: stubborn to the bone, ruthless toward enemies, and even more ruthless toward himself.

Senbonzakura reassembled in Byakuya's hand into the form of a blade. Byakuya directly released his Zanpakuto upside down. It fell freely, sending ripples across the ground at his feet.

"Bankai."

As Byakuya's solemn voice rang out, thousands of enormous blades appeared to his left and right, standing guard beside him like protectors. Then, all the blades shattered into wave-like cherry blossom petals for Byakuya to command.

"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Simply put, Byakuya's Bankai was an enlarged version of his Shikai. The number of Senbonzakura blades he could control increased enormously, granting Byakuya a wider variety of combat techniques.

Byakuya Kuchiki directly controlled Senbonzakura with his hands. Senbonzakura accelerated once more, its agility far surpassing Renji's Zabimaru as it sealed off every possible direction Ichigo could escape—above, below, left, right, front, and back.

As Byakuya curled his palm in the air, Senbonzakura surrounded Ichigo completely. Ichigo was trapped within a spherical mass of Senbonzakura and would suffer attacks from every direction without a single blind spot.

This was Gokei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.

Just as the flower sphere of Senbonzakura closed, Byakuya's clenched hand was forcibly pried open. Then he watched the cherry blossom sphere he had created immediately explode, black sword shadows flashing between the petals.

For the first time, surprise appeared on Byakuya's face. Gokei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi had been broken. Moreover, his opponent had broken it in such a plain, unadorned manner—through nothing but swift slashes, so fast that even Senbonzakura could not keep up. In an instant, the entire sphere of cherry blossoms had been cut apart.

A trace of determination appeared on Ichigo's face. He had realized that Byakuya was serious. If he were even slightly weaker, Gokei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi would instantly shred him. In that case, he had to show some real power as well.

A black gleam flashed from the tip of Tensa Zangetsu. Even that small glimmer radiated terrifying spiritual pressure. A black crescent was carved out by the slender Zanpakuto and shot toward Byakuya.

Getsuga Tensho!

It was still Getsuga Tensho, but after activating Bankai, the spiritual pressure Ichigo swung out was black. The power of that black crescent was incomparable to the blue crescent he had produced in Shikai. Byakuya sensed danger within that black spiritual pressure.

Byakuya swiftly gathered Senbonzakura before himself, stacking layer upon layer of defense. Even so, he had underestimated the attack power of Ichigo's Bankai Getsuga Tensho. A sliver of black broke through countless cherry blossoms and appeared before him.

Byakuya tilted his head aside. The black gleam grazed his cheek, cutting off a lock of his long hair. Fortunately, only that small trace of spiritual pressure had broken through Senbonzakura. Had it been the original-sized crescent Ichigo had swung, Byakuya would have been seriously injured.

Byakuya lightly wiped away the blood on his face. As his spiritual pressure circulated, his technique changed once more. All the cherry blossom petals returned to his side like birds flocking to a phoenix. Then, hundreds of petals condensed into a pink katana. Hundreds of millions of petals repeated the same action, and in an instant, countless pink katanas spread outward from Byakuya.

Thousands of pink katanas enclosed Byakuya and Ichigo like a cage. This was a technique in which Byakuya abandoned defense. Every cherry blossom became a sharp katana. Byakuya intended to utterly defeat Ichigo head-on with Zanjutsu—Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.

One Senbonzakura katana fell before Byakuya. He grasped its hilt and was just about to attack Ichigo when a girl in ordinary clothes stepped in front of him. It was Rukia Kuchiki.

"Stop, Brother. Don't fight anymore. I'll go back with you." After saying that, Rukia immediately turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo, Brother is getting serious now. This isn't something you can stand against. Don't worry. It's only a few years in prison. I'll regain my freedom soon enough."

To lessen Ichigo's psychological burden, Rukia deliberately downplayed the Soul Society's punishment, hoping to steady him and keep him from causing any more trouble.

What surprised Rukia was how indifferent Ichigo's reaction was. She had thought he would still argue and refuse to accept what she said. Apparently, even after spending all this time with him, she still did not understand him well enough.

"I understand, Rukia. Be careful."

That was Ichigo's answer. Combined with Tensa Zangetsu already hanging toward the ground, it seemed to Rukia that Ichigo had lost his will to fight.

After receiving his reply, Rukia slightly concealed the disappointment on her face, turned, and walked over to Byakuya. "Let's go back, Brother. Renji still needs treatment."

The veins on Byakuya's forehead twitched. He had just wanted to salvage some dignity, only to be stopped by his sister. Was the girl of the Kuchiki Clan really this outgoing?

With Rukia's persuasion and Renji's actual need for treatment, Byakuya helplessly withdrew Senbonzakura. Still, he deeply memorized Ichigo's face. If they met again, he would surely make that fool who did not know his place witness the glory of the Kuchiki Clan.

"Let's go."

Byakuya opened the Senkaimon. Rukia had already hoisted the scar-covered Renji onto her back. Before stepping through the Senkaimon, she gave the World of the Living one last long look. She did not know when she would next return.

The Senkaimon slowly closed, and Karakura Town's night sky returned to calm. In an unnoticed corner, Ichigo forcefully broke free from Isshin and Tsuna's restraints.

"You bastard of a father! Damn it, Tsuna! What were you doing? Didn't you see how reluctant Rukia was to leave? She was definitely lying to me! If she goes back to the Soul Society, it'll really be over!" Ichigo immediately pointed at Isshin and Tsuna and cursed furiously.

The Ichigo who had just bid Rukia farewell slowly turned into Mist and vanished.

When Byakuya unleashed Senkei, it was not only Rukia who took action. Tsuna's Illusion had also covered the battlefield. They had restrained the real Ichigo, while the one who said goodbye to Rukia had been nothing more than an Illusion.

"Don't rush, Ichigo. Look at that." Tsuna pointed at an inconspicuous corner, where several bugs were disappearing. "Let me introduce you. Those things are called Surveillance Spirit Bugs."

"Surveillance? You mean Rukia was set up?" Ichigo quickly calmed down. Whenever he was willing to use his brain, Ichigo was actually quite sharp. "There's someone pulling the strings behind this?"

"That's right. If we let you keep fighting Byakuya, that mastermind might lose patience and come to the World of the Living personally. Then Karakura Town would be in serious trouble," Tsuna said.

"That person is strong?"

"Very strong. I'm not even certain I could beat him," Tsuna said. "So the battlefield to save Rukia cannot be Karakura Town. Understand?"

"I understand." Ichigo looked down at the city glittering with starlike lights beneath his feet. This was also a city he loved. "The battlefield can only be the Soul Society. When do we leave? How much time do I have?"

Tsuna looked toward Urahara. After making a simple calculation, Urahara answered, "The Soul Society is not very efficient when it comes to handling matters. There is still quite a long time before Rukia truly receives her punishment. We'll leave in ten days. I'll have the Senkaimon ready."

"Got it. Dad, please take care of my body and bring it back. Tell mom and Orihime that I'll be coming home late for a while." With that, Ichigo Flash Stepped rapidly in one direction. To save Rukia, he had to face the fear in his heart.