Shiraha understood better than anyone how terrifying Xubai's strength truly was.
In the original tale, when Kurosaki Ichigo had first mastered his Bankai, even then, he had struggled bitterly against Byakuya Kuchiki. If not for the Hollow within awakening at the last moment to aid him, Ichigo would never have defeated Byakuya.
"Ah? Shiraha, you're back? Hurry up and give me a hand, Kurosaki's attacks are getting heavier by the second I can't keep this up forever."
Urahara Kisuke dodged another black slash and called out with that half-smiling tone of his as soon as he saw Shiraha return.
"Are you just going to keep dodging?"
Kurosaki Ichigo's voice cracked with fury, his eyes bloodshot as he roared and swung Tensa Zangetsu in a vicious arc, his blade screaming through the air toward Urahara.
Shiraha exhaled lightly, his gaze resting on Urahara. He wasn't entirely sure how deep Urahara's strength ran, but one thing was certain Kurosaki Ichigo defeating him was out of the question.
"Mr. Shiraha, Mr. Urahara really looks like he's struggling…" Orihime Inoue's worried voice trembled softly from behind.
"Don't worry, Orihime," Shiraha said with a faint smile, gently brushing her hair back. "Mr. Urahara isn't nearly as bad off as you think."
Orihime froze when Shiraha's hand touched her hair, then lowered her gaze shyly, her cheeks turning red.
"Humph."
Yoruichi snorted sharply, leaping from Shiraha's shoulder to a nearby rock, her golden eyes narrowing.
With a single flash step, Shiraha appeared beside Urahara.
"Well, Shiraha, you're finally here," Urahara said, pressing down his hat with a grin. "I'll leave this one to you. I've got something else to take care of."
He sheathed Benihime with a click, then vanished in an instant, disappearing into the distance with another flash step.
Kurosaki Ichigo stopped mid-swing, his breath ragged. "So, you're the one Ichigo fears most?" His grin warped into something feral. "What a disgrace!"
"I'm the one he fears the most?" Shiraha tilted his head slightly, a faint amusement flickering in his eyes.
It wasn't entirely wrong. Ichigo had always lost quickly against him the difference between their strength had always been like a chasm that could never be crossed.
"Fine then," Hollow Ichigo sneered. "Let me help Ichigo kill you myself."
He raised Tensa Zangetsu and slashed, releasing a crescent of condensed black energy that ripped through the air toward Shiraha.
"Are you mistaken?" Shiraha's voice was calm, almost gentle. "I'm not only Ichigo's fear… I'm yours as well."
He stood perfectly still. The black crescent halted a meter before him, its speed collapsing as if time itself had frozen.
Then Hollow Ichigo lunged forward, blade raised high, charging with a roar.
Shiraha extended his hand. "Domain expansion Infinite Space!"
A ripple surged outward from him, enveloping everything within a radius of two hundred thousand meters.
In the next breath, Shiraha's spiritual field injected an endless stream of false information into Hollow Ichigo's brain millions of meaningless sensory loops of perception and transmission stacked in an instant.
Hollow Ichigo's body stiffened. His pupils went blank, his expression emptied. He dropped Tensa Zangetsu to the ground with a dull clang.
Shiraha stepped forward, drawing his blade to shatter the Hollow mask but stopped, surprised.
Ichigo's right hand trembled, then gripped the edge of his own mask, tearing at it violently. A piercing shriek split the air as fragments of white flew, disintegrating into spirit particles that dissolved into the sky.
The oppressive Hollow Reiatsu faded. Ichigo's eyes regained focus, black pupils dilating back into their normal color.
"How fascinating," Shiraha murmured. "So the Infinite Space only paralyzes one consciousness…"
His domain had only disrupted the Hollow's mind, not Ichigo's true consciousness. It was a flaw a newly discovered limitation of his Infinite Space. Still, few beings carried multiple souls like Ichigo.
Its weakness was more theoretical than practical.
"Mr. Shiraha… what just happened to me?" Ichigo blinked, confusion clouding his eyes.
During the battle, repeated attacks from Urahara had shattered his focus. His consciousness had fractured, letting the Hollow side take over.
When the Hollow's mind was paralyzed by Infinite Space, Ichigo regained control, which led to this outcome.
"Let Mr. Urahara explain it to you," Shiraha said softly.
Urahara Kisuke appeared once more, followed by Ishida Uryu and Renji.
"Kurosaki, what was that just now?" Ishida demanded. His Quincy senses had detected it clearly the spiritual pressure that had erupted wasn't Shinigami. It had been pure Hollow.
"I… don't know." Ichigo looked down at his hands, his brows knitting as confusion flickered in his gaze.
Renji approached quickly, steadying him. "You sure you're okay, Ichigo?"
"I'm fine," Ichigo answered quietly, still shaken. "Mr. Urahara… what happened to me?"
Urahara's smile returned, measured and easy. "Mr. Kurosaki, what you experienced was a result of your unstable Bankai. You lost control of your power, which awakened the Hollow essence inside you."
"Hollow essence? Inside me?" Ichigo's eyes widened. "Can it be removed?"
Urahara's expression grew faintly regretful as he shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The Hollow within you appeared when you first regained your Shinigami powers. It has merged with your soul it cannot be separated."
He paused, then added with a reassuring tone, "But you must have felt it too, Ichigo. That Hollow can grant you incredible power, as long as you learn to control it."
It was a half-truth.
Urahara had known about the Hollow within Ichigo all along. It was he who had helped Kurosaki Masaki suppress her Hollowfication by binding her soul to Kurosaki Isshin's through sacrifice.
And when Ichigo was born, that same Hollow essence the remnant of White had been passed on to him.