Ren landed in front of Ichigo, watching him pant heavily while his wounds finished closing. He smiled and asked, "How does it feel?"
"I suppressed it!" Ichigo claimed.
Ren shook his head. "Did you really suppress it? Take a good look at your current state."
Ichigo froze, immediately turning his focus inward. His torn flesh had completely knitted back together, his spiritual pressure (Reiatsu) had grown stronger, and even his mental clarity had improved significantly. He fell into a rare silence. No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, the Hollow power within him harbored no malice; in fact, it had saved him twice now.
Patting Ichigo's shoulder, Ren said, "Accepting your own blade—that is how a Soul Reaper truly becomes strong. By the way, your real weapon is with that Old Man Zangetsu. You'd better get the sword from him."
"Yeah... Wait." Ichigo looked up sharply. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "I've been wanting to ask, how do you know so much?"
"Don't ask. If you do, the answer is: I've read the script!"
Ichigo's brow twitched. Before, he would have thought Ren was talking nonsense, but now, he felt the guy was telling the truth! "Read the script, huh?"
As Ren walked away, Ichigo followed. Now that he was certain the Hollow power wasn't harmful, the priority was learning to control it from Zangetsu. When Ichigo reached the surface, Ren was already gone, leaving only Orihime running toward him in a panic.
Before he could say a word, Orihime arrived and began frantically checking his body with her hands. The "pure high school boy" turned bright red!
"Are you okay? Where are you hurt? I'll heal you right away!" she cried. Ren had told her Ichigo was dying, hence her desperation.
Ichigo quickly explained, "I'm not hurt! Ren lied to you!"
Orihime breathed a sigh of relief. Then, realizing what she'd just been doing, her face flushed crimson. She turned her back to Ichigo, overwhelmed with shyness.
A while later, the two returned to their quarters in Las Noches. Ichigo immediately began his meditation, sinking his consciousness into his inner world.
Amidst the skyscrapers, Ichigo looked up at the bright sun and rainbows in the sky, feeling confused. "There weren't any suns or rainbows before, were there?"
"This is your inner world. Your mood dictates the weather here," White Ichigo appeared, explaining with a grin.
Ichigo was startled to see both White Ichigo and Old Man Zangetsu appearing together. He greeted them excitedly, "Long time no see, Old Man Zangetsu!"
The Old Man nodded. "It has been a while, Ichigo. I've been watching you. Your growth has far exceeded my expectations."
"What does that mean? Am I getting strong too fast?"
White Ichigo stayed uncharacteristically quiet, letting them talk. The Old Man explained everything—how he had been suppressing Ichigo's power and how it was actually White Ichigo who had been protecting him all along. Ichigo remained surprisingly calm.
"So, can you give me all my power now?"
"No."
Ichigo was helpless. He thought that since everything was out in the open, the Old Man would stop the suppression, but he was rejected. The Old Man smiled: "Don't worry. For now, I will release half of your power. Furthermore, I will teach you Quincy abilities. Once you have mastered them and meet a man who looks exactly like me, I will completely lift the suppression."
"What are you even talking about..." Ichigo muttered. He had no choice but to train with both. White Ichigo taught him to use Hollow and Soul Reaper powers, while the Old Man taught him Quincy techniques.
After a few days, Ichigo realized something: "Why is my Zanpakutō teaching me Quincy powers? Why is that even in my body? And didn't Ishida say Quincies use bows? Why is the Old Man teaching me to use a sword?"
The Old Man didn't answer, merely smiling: "You will understand when you are older."
Ren didn't check on Ichigo for a few days, waiting for him to make a move. Even Aizenwas surprised to find he could no longer track Ichigo's Reiatsu through surveillance.
Less than a week later, Ichigo found Grimmjow for a rematch. Both Ren and Aizen arrived to watch.
"Don't look at me like that," Aizen smiled, "given your hatred, you should have slashed me the moment we met. What stopped you? Is it because I didn't actually kill Rukia?"
Aizen was a master at pushing buttons, but Ichigo didn't bite. He took a deep breath and focused on Grimmjow. A week ago, the blue-haired Arrancar hadn't even given him a second glance. That was the second greatest humiliation of his life—the first being Byakuya.
Grimmjow looked bored. "Hey, trash. If we're fighting, hurry up. I don't have time for games."
Ichigo's grip tightened, but his expression remained calm. "As you wish. Let's finish this quickly."
BOOM!
A pillar of black Reiatsu tore through the ceiling. The shockwave sent Grimmjow flying hundreds of meters into a wall.
"Bastard!" Grimmjow snarled, his blue Reiatsu erupting as he shattered the stone behind him. Anger turned to thrill. "I thought you were trash, but you've actually grown! Get ready to die, Ichigo Kurosaki!"
Ichigo didn't reply. He raised his black blade, and amidst the heavy atmosphere, a faint flicker of blue-white electricity sparked around him. It was the precursor to Blut Vene.
Ren smirked. "Tsk tsk. Look at that—triple-threat integration. Even with the Hogyoku, Aizen's going to feel the pressure soon."
One follow-up question: Should Ren jump in to "test" Ichigo's new triple-power form himself, or should he let the fight with Grimmjow play out to see if Ichigo can maintain his sanity while using Quincy and Hollow powers simultaneously?