True Power

The Visored shattered naturally, Ichigo regained his consciousness. Somewhat dazed, he asked Tsuna curiously after realizing he hadn't caused any damage, "Tsuna? Huh, why didn't I damage the surrounding area?"

"Isn't that all thanks to your power Sawada? I took down that mere Hollow the moment it appeared!" Tsuna crossed his arms, looking all smug.

"Stop talking nonsense, get serious." Ichigo rolled his eyes and said, "Have you found a way to stop me from going berserk when I Hollowfication?"

"Who do you take me for? I'm Sawada." Tsuna still had that eccentric air about him.

Ichigo, barely containing his anger, said to Tsuna, clenching his fist in a half-threatening tone, "Can't you speak properly?"

"It's simple, just open your mind and body to accept the power of the Hollows, right?" Tsuna said matter-of-factly. That's exactly what he did. Apart from encountering a few oddballs while seeking power, he showed no signs of going berserk.

"You make it sound so simple. I was controlled just by entering your inner world. If I let go completely, wouldn't I become a fully Hollowfication form?" Ichigo didn't believe Tsuna's idea at all.

"Alright, things have to be done one step at a time." Hoping Ichigo could connect with his brainwaves is now completely impossible; Tsuna can only teach him little by little.

"Could you please stop looking at me like I'm an idiot?" Ichigo sensed a hint of offense in Tsuna's eyes.

"Ahem, you're overthinking it. Let's begin." Tsuna tried to cover his embarrassment and said, "First, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the Hollow within you, you know, that White Ichigo."

"White Ichigo ..." Tsuna's words made sense. Ichigo told Tsuna his thoughts, "Hollows, aren't they those evil, violent powers that can make people lose their minds and go berserk at any time? You have to be very careful every time you use a Hollow's power."

Tsuna slapped his forehead. Sure enough, Ichigo had been completely fooled and was totally resistant to White. With this mindset, how could White possibly let Ichigo wholeheartedly use his power?

Instead of dwelling on the Hollow issue, Tsuna steered the conversation to other questions. "We've used Fullbring for so many years, and we all know that Fullbring is a power we humans possess. So, White Ichigo is a Hollow, and what kind of power does the Bleach within you possess?"

"The power of the Bleach?" Ichigo's eyes lit up. "You mean Old Man Zangetsu? He always wears sunglasses, covered by a black robe, he looks cool, but he's very kind, he always helps me when I'm helpless."

"Hmm, you mean this?" Tsuna quietly used his Mist-attribute Shikai, and the image of Old Man Zangetsu Tsuna appeared on his trident.

Ichigo's eyes widened. "How do you know what Old Man Zangetsu looks like?"

"I not only know what your Old Man Zangetsu looks like, I also know what White Ichigo looks like." Next to Old Man Zangetsu, White Ichigo materialized, his face bearing the smug expression that Ichigo was very familiar with.

Ichigo's surprised expression quickly subsided. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that the person in front of him was Sawada Tsunayoshi, who had done many surprising things over the years. Now, Ichigo was no longer surprised.

Tsuna conjured another Ichigo dressed in a high school uniform and summarized them one by one. "This is your Fullbring, Old Man Zangetsu is your Bleach power, and White Ichigo is your Hollow's power. That's what you think, right?"

Ichigo nodded confidently, completely reverting to his school days as a model student attentively listening to a lecture.

"If I remember correctly, Isshin Yixin should have told you about your family affairs, right?"

Isshin, Masa, and a Hollow-like monster appeared next to the Trident. "Your father is Bleach, your mother is Quincy, and you are a Hollow because your aunt Masa was attacked by a Hollow when she was young. As a human, you developed your own Fullbring."

"Then I'd like to ask, which of these individuals do you Quincy power from?" Tsuna pushed out High School Ichigo, Old Man Zangetsu, and White Ichigo, who had been mentioned earlier.

"This... how would I know? Maybe it's because I haven't trained Quincy, that's why I haven't appeared?" Ichigo tried to give an example, "Look, Tsuna, you've never used Quincy power either."

Ichigo was unaware that Tsuna had trained in Quincy abilities when he was young, but was forced to give them up due to a lack of talent. Ichigo naturally assumed that Tsuna was the one who didn't Quincy powers.

In fact, as his power has increased over the years, Tsuna has been able to vaguely sense the Quincy power within him. However, this power has been dormant, and Tsuna still has no clue how to awaken it.

"Unlike you, I know exactly which part of my power I have, unlike you, who just takes the wrong power and trains relentlessly." Tsuna immediately refuted Ichigo's example.

"Why should I believe that? I've already mastered Bankai, how could it be a wrong power?" Ichigo didn't believe it at all. He had at least come into contact with some theories about Blade Zen and the Zanpakuto, so naturally he didn't think that the Bleach power he now possessed was a wrong power.

"Ichigo, let me ask you a question. You keep calling this Old Man Zangetsu Old Man Zangetsu, but has Old Man Zangetsu ever definitively said that he is Zangetsu?" Tsuna's Trident pushed Old Man Zangetsu to the front again.

"Old Man Zangetsu wouldn't lie to me." Ichigo immediately denied it. How could Old Man Zangetsu, who had helped him so many times, possibly lie to him?

"He didn't lie to you. Is it possible that the Zangetsu you know now is just your own perception? And he has never denied your guess, never denied it, never given you the right answer, but just let you go down the wrong path," Tsuna said.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Ichigo's forehead. He was surprised to find that Old Man Zangetsu had never said his name to his Zangetsu. The only time he was told his name was when Ichigo was temporarily deaf and didn't hear Old Man Zangetsu's name.

"Remember, whether these forces are righteous or evil, they are all forces within you. Your heart will never deceive you. Think carefully, who has ever told you the name Zangetsu?"

The scene of training flashed through Ichigo's mind. He was shocked because the only one who had formally stated that he was Zangetsu was the one he thought was a Hollow, White Ichigo!

"You've discovered it?" Tsuna stood side-by-side with White Ichigo and Old Man Zangetsu. "Is it possible that he is your Bleach power?"

"No..." Ichigo couldn't refute the words as soon as they left his mouth. He thought of the White Ichigo, who seemed to be even better at using Zangetsu than him, and how he handled it with such ease, as if it were a toy held in the palm of his hand.

"But he clearly possesses Hollow energy." After struggling for a while, Ichigo came up with this reason.

"Because he is the residual power of the Hollow that attacked Aunt Masa in the past, White." Tsuna pushed the Tsuna forward. "Because he was afraid that you would be affected by Hollowfication, Isshin has been using Bleach power to suppress the residual Hollow's power in your body. Similarly, your original Bleach power is also doing this part of the work."

"As time went on, your Bleach powers and Hollow's power gradually merged, eventually evolving into the White Ichigo you see now."

"There's only one reason why White Ichigo is more proficient in using Zangetsu than you are: he is Zangetsu!"

During Hollowfication practice, the scene of White Ichigo claiming to be Zangetsu flashed through Tsuna's mind again. If what Tsuna said was true, then what exactly was Old Man Zangetsu?

"It's your Quincy power," Tsuna said, seeing right through Ichigo's thoughts.

"But I have absolutely no Quincy powers!"

"Really not? Spirit Bow and Arrows is the Quincy's main attack method. Think about your Fullbring," Tsuna said.

"My Fullbring is Spirit Bow and Arrows?" Ichigo thought of his Fullbring, which could only fire three times.

"Nothing is impossible. We'll have to ask you, Old Man Zangetsu, for everything."

How should we ask...?

Before Ichigo could finish speaking, Tsuna tapped his forehead with his Trident. As the hypnotic power of the Illusion took effect, Ichigo deep sleep and returned to his inner world.

"How do you ask? Of course you should ask yourself. Why would I need to go through all this trouble if I could just ask?" Tsuna retorted.

Ichigo's inner world is still that warm little home, only now, as his strength grows, there are more streets near his home.

Ichigo looked up and saw that familiar figure still standing on the roof of his house. He quickly ran up and called out to the figure.

"Old Man Zangetsu, no, what should I call you, Old Man Zangetsu or what?"

"Anything is fine. A name is just a code," Old Man Zangetsu said, turning around.

"You... you're really not Zangetsu?"

Ichigo went straight to the point, only to be met with Old Man Zangetsu's endless silence. Ichigo immediately understood Tsuna's meaning: Old Man Zangetsu had never acknowledged that he was Zangetsu; it was all due to Ichigo's own sense of identity.

The tranquility was quickly broken by someone shouting, "Ichigo, I told you long ago, I am Zangetsu!"

Ichigo turned around, and as expected, it was White Ichigo with his unrestrained and carefree demeanor, just as before. Old Man Zangetsu did not deny White Ichigo's statement.

"Then Old Man Zangetsu, are you my Quincy power?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes."

"Why? Why did you lie to me? Why did you impersonate the Bleach Reaper?"

Faced with Ichigo's questioning, Old Man Zangetsu chose endless silence. He could not explain and did not want to explain. There was only one thing that would never change: he would never hurt Ichigo Kurosaki.

Old Man Zangetsu chose to remain silent, but a certain chatterbox wasn't one to hold back, and White Ichigo immediately revealed Old Man Zangetsu's secrets.

"Because he wants to protect you, but he's also afraid that your power is too great and you'll be harmed by powerful enemies, and he's also afraid that my Hollow's power will go berserk and harm you."

"So he used his Quincy power to seal me away, and he was the only person you saw when you came into this world."

"When you were eager to have power, he used the scraps of his own power to make you a bow that could only be fired three times, enough to protect yourself."

"When you actively pursued the power of the Bleach, he used the power I leaked to give you a taste of Zangetsu. As for the so-called Bankai, it is a product of combining what he stole from me with a portion of his own power."

"He thought he could live like this forever, but who knew there was a brat outside who could see through everything? I begged him to let Ichigo truly know his own power. Now, this thief's true colors have been completely exposed."

Ichigo didn't readily believe White Ichigo's account, but instead turned to Old Man Zangetsu for confirmation, asking, "Is that so, Old Man Zangetsu?"

Old Man Zangetsu didn't utter a single word in rebuttal, but simply sighed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and said, "That's right."