Ichigo felt his spiritual pressure flickering. The hollowization was a heavy weight, a ticking clock in his chest. Across the courtyard, he saw Rukia and Renji struggling against clones that possessed every memory and maneuver they had ever learned. The Reigai didn't just fight like them; they were them, without the burden of exhaustion.
"I’m not a mirror," Ichigo hissed, his eyes narrowing as he pushed his blade against his clone’s. "I'm the one who breaks them." Bleach Episode 337
As the sparks flew, Ichigo caught a glimpse of the real struggle. It wasn't just about strength; it was about the intangible spark of the original soul—the part of a person that could never be perfectly coded into a mod soul. He saw Nozomi, the girl at the center of this storm, watching with eyes full of terror and a growing, desperate courage. Ichigo felt his spiritual pressure flickering
She was the key. She was the other half of the soul Inaba needed. The Reigai didn't just fight like them; they
The Seireitei was a fractured ghost of itself, a labyrinth of white stone stained by the spiritual pressure of shadows. Ichigo Kurosaki skidded across a rooftop, his breath hitching as he gripped Zangetsu. Before him stood a mockery of his own resolve—a Reigai, a perfect biological clone designed to replace the original.
Ichigo let out a guttural roar, the black energy of Getsuga Tensho swirling around his blade. He didn't have the luxury of strategy or a long-term plan. He threw himself forward, a streak of black and crimson. The blades collided with a sound like a mountain splitting open.