"Yo, Ichigo. Long time no see."
"Ginjō? What are you doing here?"
Ichigo looked surprised.
Today was supposed to be the special training day Tsuna had mentioned. According to Tsuna, the one training him should have been Kurosaki Isshin.
So why was Kūgo Ginjō here instead?
Because of Tsuna's earlier involvement, Ginjō and the other Fullbringers had already met Ichigo and his friends. Ichigo's group had even become members of the Fullbring club Xcution.
Ginjō had once tried to help Ichigo increase the number of times he could fire his daily spirit arrows—but the attempt ultimately failed.
"Why can't I be here?" Ginjō replied casually.
"Tsuna told me to come for special training."
As he spoke, Ginjō pulled off his necklace.
The massive sword Cross of Scaffold materialized and stabbed into the ground.
"So the old man really ran away?" Ichigo muttered.
He drew Zangetsu and faced Ginjō.
Ever since morning, Ichigo had been searching for Isshin but couldn't find him anywhere. With no other choice, he had reluctantly come to Urahara Shop.
"What? The instructor ran away?"
To Ichigo's surprise, Ginjō looked equally confused.
"Wait… you're not today's instructor?" Ichigo asked.
"Are you kidding? I'm here to learn something!" Ginjō replied matter-of-factly.
"Both of you, stop arguing. I'm here, aren't I?"
Ichigo and Ginjō turned their heads.
Kurosaki Isshin walked toward them wearing a black Shihakushō.
A Zanpakutō hung at his waist, and over his shoulders draped a white captain's haori.
Behind him followed Tsuna, along with a bored-looking Rukia.
"You two really have similar personalities," Tsuna said with a grin.
"I'm starting to wonder if you're actually brothers."
"Yeah right," Ichigo snorted.
"Who would want to be related to him?"
For some reason, Ichigo argued with Ginjō even more often than he did with Tsuna.
"Oh, by the way, Rukia—what's with that expression?" Ichigo suddenly noticed her stunned face.
"Oh, her?" Isshin scratched his head awkwardly.
"She's been like that since she saw me."
"What did you do, old man?" Ichigo said skeptically.
"Rukia lives at our house now. Why would she react like that just from seeing you?"
This time, Rukia was still staying with the Kurosaki family.
However, instead of hiding inside Ichigo's closet like before, she had been firmly claimed by Orihime—the two girls now shared a room together.
Ichigo's younger sisters had even criticized him for "bringing home too many girls."
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Tsuna nudged Rukia.
"Hey, Rukia—they're asking you."
"Oh—right!"
Rukia snapped out of her daze.
She immediately stood up straight in front of Isshin and bowed respectfully.
"Excuse me, Mr. Kurosaki… why do you have a captain's haori?"
"A captain's haori? You mean this?"
Ichigo walked over and casually touched the coat on Isshin's shoulder.
"It doesn't look that special."
"You brat! Be careful—that thing is expensive!"
Isshin shouted angrily.
Then he turned back to Rukia.
"Well… I suppose it's nothing special for someone from the Kuchiki Clan."
"Uncle Isshin was the former Captain of the 10th Division," Tsuna explained.
"You didn't know, Rukia?"
"The 10th Division… Captain Hitsugaya's predecessor?"
Rukia had joined the 13th Division right after graduating from the Shin'ō Academy, so she rarely interacted with the 10th Division.
She had only heard rumors that the previous captain had disappeared.
"Tōshirō, huh… it's been years since I saw him."
Isshin laughed.
"With him leading the division, things are probably better than when I was around."
For a moment, a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes.
After all, he had abruptly dumped the entire division on Hitsugaya Tōshirō when he disappeared.
"A captain? Dad, you were actually strong?" Ichigo stared in disbelief.
This goofy father of his used to get kicked across the room all the time.
"As someone who came before you, let me explain," Ginjō said.
"In Soul Society, anyone who becomes a captain has at least mastered a power called Bankai."
"Even without using Bankai, a captain-level Shinigami could easily defeat a hundred people like you."
"Bankai?!"
Ichigo was stunned.
Was this really the same old man he kicked around the house?
"Ahem… enough talk. Let's get started."
Isshin cleared his throat, trying to hide the faint embarrassment on his face.
If the others kept praising him like that, Ichigo might start laughing at him once the training began.
"I'm ready!"
Ichigo drew Zangetsu, looking excited.
Then he glanced sideways at Ginjō.
"Why are you still here?"
"Because I'm here to learn from Mr. Kurosaki too," Ginjō replied naturally.
Ginjō's own abilities leaned toward execution-style combat, often focusing on torturing enemies.
He lacked powerful single-strike finishing techniques.
So he had previously asked Tsuna to teach him stronger attacks.
Tsuna had promised to find him a suitable teacher someday.
After all—
In the original timeline, Ginjō had been extremely fond of the technique he stole from Ichigo:
Getsuga Tenshō.
Given Tsuna's relationship with the Kurosaki family, letting Ginjō sit in on this training was no problem.
As the lesson began, Tsuna and Rukia stepped farther away, leaving the training field to the three of them.
Isshin crossed his arms and spoke.
"Today I'll teach you a combat technique."
"It's the secret inheritance of the Shiba Clan—"
He paused awkwardly.
"—I mean, the Kurosaki family."
"Make sure you learn it properly."
"Shiba… Shiba Isshin… former Captain of the 10th Division…"
Rukia murmured quietly.
"No wonder I didn't notice anything unusual about Mr. Kurosaki before."
"Dad, hurry up already," Ichigo said impatiently.
"And why does this outsider get to learn our family technique?"
"Oh? Got a problem with that?" Ginjō hooked an arm around Ichigo's neck and glared at him.
At Ichigo's current level, he couldn't even break free.
"You two—watch carefully."
Isshin ignored their antics.
"This technique gathers Reiatsu into the blade, then releases it in a single swing."
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
With a shout, Isshin drew his sword and swung.
A crescent-shaped wave of Reiatsu shot across the ground, leaving a faint trail.
Ichigo immediately ran three meters forward and crouched down to examine the mark.
After staring for a while, he finally found it.
The mark was so shallow it was almost invisible.
Ichigo slowly turned around with a deadpan expression.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Uh…"
Isshin's mind raced.
"I didn't sleep well earlier. That was just a wrong example."
"Let me try again."
The previous Getsuga had been barely the size of a palm.
Its power was essentially zero.
Ichigo was certain the wind from swinging his Zanpakutō normally would have been stronger.
"Pfft."
Tsuna couldn't hold back a laugh.
Since Ichigo had regained his Shinigami power, Isshin no longer needed to suppress the Hollow power inside him.
As a result, Isshin's own Shinigami power was slowly returning.
But such a short time wasn't enough to fully recover.
That tiny palm-sized Getsuga had actually been all the power he currently had.
To recover his dignity, Isshin secretly crushed a pendant hidden in his sleeve.
A familiar surge of strength flowed through his body.
With renewed confidence, Isshin released his Zanpakutō.
"Burn, Engetsu!"
A massive amount of Reiatsu erupted from the blade.
Flames wrapped around Engetsu.
Isshin swung the sword horizontally toward Ichigo.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
A blazing crescent of fire roared across Ichigo's head.
In the distance, a pile of rocks was instantly reduced to ash.
Isshin sheathed his sword with a satisfied expression.
Ichigo slowly touched the top of his head.
After confirming his hair was still intact, he jumped up and shouted angrily.
"You idiot! You almost killed me!"
"But you're fine, aren't you?"
Isshin smirked.
"So? Pretty cool, right?"
"Damn it!"
Ichigo immediately charged at him in frustration.
But the gap between them was obvious.
Isshin merely glanced at him—
And Ichigo froze in place.
"So strong…"
Rukia muttered in awe.
That single Getsuga Tenshō had completely convinced her.
A vice-captain simply couldn't perform such a powerful attack in Shikai.
"That's Uncle Isshin's original strength," Tsuna said.
"Oh, right—this is for you."
He handed Rukia a pendant.
"Pour your Reiatsu into it. If you ever need power, crush it."
"It will temporarily reproduce your original strength."
"What is this?" Rukia asked.
"A small illusion tool I made."
"It's the same thing Uncle Isshin just used."
"The Reiatsu stored inside can restore you to your full strength—including your Zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki."
"Wait… how do you know about my Zanpakutō?"
"That part isn't important," Tsuna replied calmly.
"All it does is 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 turned to leave.
He still had things to do.
Bringing Isshin here to start the training was enough.
"Regardless… thank you," Rukia said sincerely.
She infused the small amount of Reiatsu she had recovered into the pendant.
A faint connection formed between her and the charm.
Rukia then looked toward Ichigo, who was practicing Getsuga Tenshō.
Even now, she didn't regret the choice she made.
She had already accepted the possibility that Soul Society would eventually come to take her back.
Hopefully—
She would never need to use that pendant.
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