As for Ichinose, a hideous wound appeared across his chest and abdomen. He was severely injured and collapsed on the ground.
Judging from the wound on Ichinose's body, Tosen must have swung his sword with the determination to kill Ichinose.
It was only because Ichinose's outburst caught Tosen off guard, injuring him first, that the force behind Tosen's final slash on Ichinose was almost halved.
Otherwise, the current Ichinose wouldn't just be severely injured and collapsed, and he would have been directly cut in half by Tosen.
Drip drip...
Drops of blood fell to the ground. The eyepatch on Tosen's face was now destroyed, revealing Tosen's tightly closed eyes.
There were also several wounds on Tosen's face and body.
More serious was the two-finger-wide hole pierced through his right chest.
Large amounts of blood gushed from this wound, dyeing Tosen's Shihakusho and Captain's Haori red.
Sensing Ichinose's faint Reiatsu, Tosen hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided not to go for the finishing blow.
As Aizen's right-hand man, Tosen naturally learned from Aizen that the Revolutionary Army was an organization created by Kyoya.
Ichinose, as a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Army… if he had killed him earlier in the battle, he could claim he was provoked by Aizen's death, lost his rationality, and didn't hold back, which would be plausible.
But now the battle was over, and he had won-
If he went for the kill now, he might anger Kyoya, causing unnecessary trouble.
Tosen had experienced Kyoya's strength back when he left the Seireitei.
It was comparable to Aizen's.
After so many years, no one knew what progress Kyoya had made.
But even if Kyoya's strength had stagnated for over twenty years, it was far beyond what he could handle.
Whether he died or not didn't matter.
After all, Aizen had promised to carry out a major purge of the Seireitei's nobles.
Then, his revenge for Kakyo would be avenged.
Before that, he needed to ensure Aizen obtained 'that thing'.
He believed that only by making Aizen the [Soul King] could this world have the possibility of practicing 'justice'.
With this in mind, Tosen finally dispelled his Bankai and sheathed his Zanpakuto at his waist.
Sensing the killing intent fade from Tosen, Kyoya stopped paying attention.
If Tosen had intended to kill Ichinose earlier, Kyoya would have certainly intervened.
After all, with Kyoya's current ability, he could completely condense a light clone within his perception range.
Although the light clone only possessed Kyoya's light-based powers, Kyoya's world's Greatest Swordsman's swordsmanship could still be used through the light clone.
With just light and swordsmanship, the strength the light clone could unleash was still in the tier second only to Yamamoto.
This was also Kyoya's confidence in having absolute control over this simulated war between the Revolutionary Army and the Seireitei's Gotei 13.
If he wished, he could have his clone appear anywhere at any time.
For the Gotei 13's Shinigami and the Revolutionary Army's members, they might be quite startled, but in reality, no one would die in this simulated war.
This was also one of the reasons why Yamamoto agreed to the simulated war.
"Kyoya-senpai, how should I train for Bankai?"
After hearing Kyoya's explanation about Zanpakuto, Ichigo was now somewhat impatient.
"Ichigo, there are two difficulties in Bankai Training."
Kyoya raised two fingers towards Ichigo, "The first difficulty is that the Shinigami must have sufficient Reiatsu to materialize their own Zanpakuto."
"This isn't a problem for you. I'll tell you the method later. With your current Reiatsu, it's enough to materialize your Zanpakuto."
Kyoya wasn't deceiving Ichigo about this.
In the original work, while Ichigo was using the Tenshintai to train for Bankai, Renji also found this place and conducted his Bankai Training here.
And when Renji trained for Bankai, he didn't use the Tenshintai but directly used his own Reiatsu to materialize Zabimaru in reality.
Kyoya naturally knew the method to materialize a Zanpakuto.
"The second difficulty is that you must make the materialized Zanpakuto yield. Only then will it cooperate with you to complete Bankai."
The two stages of Zanpakuto training: the first stage is the Shinigami's consciousness entering the inner world and communicating with the Zanpakuto.
The inner world can be seen as the Zanpakuto's 'world', where everything is dominated by the Zanpakuto.
Therefore, after Shinigami complete their Zanpakuto's Shikai training, they need to call their Zanpakuto's name to release it.
The second stage of Zanpakuto training is to materialize the Zanpakuto in the real world where the Shinigami makes the Zanpakuto yield, dominated by the Shinigami.
Hence, Shinigami who have completed Bankai Training are in a dominant position in their communication with their Zanpakuto and can perform Shikai without calling their Zanpakuto's name.
"Ichigo, next, I'll teach you how to materialize your Zanpakuto."
It must be said, as expected of the protagonist?
For ordinary people, not to mention whether their Reiatsu is sufficient to materialize their Zanpakuto, just learning the method to materialize it takes years.
Otherwise, why would the Seireitei have a record that the fastest time to train for Bankai is ten years?
Although this record has some inflation aspect, it was the limit for ordinary Shinigami's efforts.
Like Ayazhiro, his Zanpakuto awakened after his family was killed by Hollows. It was in Bankai State upon awakening, allowing Ayazhiro to kill all the Hollows at that time and the nobles who executed his family.
Then there's Kisuke, who completed his Zanpakuto's Bankai training in three days.
Ichigo possessed some characteristics of both Ayazhiro and Kisuke.
Due to the Quincy Zangetsu's suppression, Ichigo's Zanpakuto was directly in a perpetually released state.
And Kisuke's ability to develop the [Tenshintai] shows what level his research on Zanpakuto's materialization had reached.
Kyoya had just finished speaking when Ichigo, after performing Zanzen just once, successfully used his Zanpakuto as a vessel to materialize the Quincy Zangetsu into reality.
"Ichigo..."
The Zanpakuto and the Shinigami are two sides of the same coin, aware of the Shinigami's memories and thoughts.
So, although he had just appeared in the real world, the Quincy Zangetsu already knew what Ichigo wanted to do.
"Are you sure you want to train for Bankai?"
It must be said, Yhwach's presence was still quite impressive.
Even though this Yhwach was only formed from the Quincy power within Ichigo, he still had some of Yhwach's demeanor.
Because he developed within Ichigo, the Quincy Zangetsu, through [The Almighty], foresaw the scene of Ichigo being killed by 'himself'.
Therefore, he didn't want Ichigo to display too much power, preventing Ichigo from being seen by 'himself', wanting to protect Ichigo this way.
However, as Ichigo's power, while he wanted to protect Ichigo, he couldn't prevent Ichigo from seeking greater strength.
So, he could only artificially create greater obstacles for Ichigo to hinder him from growing stronger.
Of course, because the obstacles were stronger, the strength Ichigo gained after overcoming them would naturally be greater too.
"Ah, Zangetsu old man, I want to train for Bankai, to become stronger!"
Ichigo stood up and said solemnly to the Quincy Zangetsu before him.
Ichigo himself was very sensitive, and he had a strong ability to see through people's attitudes towards him.
Additionally, through sword clashes during battle, he could read his opponent's 'heart', or 'will'!
From Zangetsu, Kurosaki Ichigo could feel his protective heart towards him.
But at the same time, Ichigo could also feel Zangetsu's suppression of him.
It was as if Zangetsu hadn't given him all his power and was deliberately suppressing his strength.
However, although Ichigo didn't understand why Zangetsu did this, he didn't blame him.
Because he knew that everything Zangetsu did was to protect him.
What he needed to do was prove to Zangetsu that he had the ability to control power, not blame Zangetsu for not giving him power.
"If this is your will, then-"
The Quincy Zangetsu looked deeply at Ichigo, then waved his right hand-
Whoosh-
Instantly, the ground around Ichigo and the Quincy Zangetsu was filled with hundreds of swords of various shapes and sizes embedded in it.
"Ichigo, among these swords, only one is my true body."
"If you want to complete Bankai Training, you must find me among these swords, then use me to defeat me!"
"Only then will you gain my recognition."
"In this battle, I will not hold back."
"Ichigo, are you prepared to face death?"
After speaking, the Quincy Zangetsu casually drew the Zanpakuto closest to him and charged at Ichigo!
Whoosh-
Seeing the Quincy Zangetsu attacking him, Ichigo's expression changed. Without time to think, he randomly drew a sword beside him and blocked the Quincy Zangetsu's attack.
Clang-
However, to Ichigo's shock, although he did block the Quincy Zangetsu's attack, he was pushed back by the Quincy Zangetsu's immense force.
Moreover, the sword in his hand was directly cut in half by the Quincy Zangetsu.
'This isn't Zangetsu!'
This thought flashed through Ichigo's mind. He then threw away the broken Zanpakuto, drew another sword, and continued to block the Quincy Zangetsu's attacks.
But the result remained unchanged.
The swords Ichigo picked up would all be severed after clashing with the sword in the Quincy Zangetsu's hand.
Kyoya, watching the battle between the Quincy Zangetsu and Ichigo, instantly understood the essence of Ichigo's Bankai.
Because Ichigo naturally possessed Quincy power, Shinigami power, Hollow power, and the yet-to-be-activated Fullbring power, his Reiatsu's nature was extremely high, making him the person closest to the [Soul King].
A Shinigami's battle is a battle of Reiatsu!
In this case, Ichigo didn't need fancy abilities… he only needed to learn how to release his Reiatsu in the most efficient way.
Precisely because of this, the Quincy Zangetsu taught Ichigo only one ability, the one modified from Heilig Pfeil, Getsuga Tensho!
And indeed, as the Quincy Zangetsu intended, from beginning to end, including Yhwach who absorbed the Soul King, no one could withstand Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho.
The premise for all this was Ichigo's 'trust' in his own power!
Actually, the hundreds of swords around Ichigo and the Quincy Zangetsu were Zangetsu, yet not Zangetsu.
Saying these swords were Zangetsu meant that no matter which sword Ichigo drew, as long as he believed the sword in his hand was Zangetsu, then that sword was truly Zangetsu.
Conversely, if Ichigo had even a trace of doubt about the sword in his hand, then none of the countless swords on the ground were Zangetsu.
Initially, Ichigo didn't believe that any randomly picked sword was Zangetsu's true body.
So, the swords in Ichigo's hand would be easily severed after just a slight clash with the Quincy Zangetsu.
But as more swords were broken, Ichigo's heart held more possibility that the Zanpakuto he drew was the real Zangetsu.
Therefore, in later battles, the Zanpakuto in Kurosaki Ichigo's hand naturally possessed some of Zangetsu's characteristics, able to withstand a few clashes with the Quincy Zangetsu without breaking.
Here, Kyoya couldn't help but applaud the Quincy Zangetsu's wisdom.
To make Ichigo believe in his own power, he didn't increase the number of swords on the ground.
And earlier, he had instilled in Ichigo that among these hundreds of swords, the real Zangetsu was among them.
Ichigo wouldn't doubt that Zangetsu would deceive him. So, the worst possibility was that when Ichigo was left with only one sword, he would firmly believe that the last sword was Zangetsu's true body.
By then, Ichigo would have met the Quincy Zangetsu's requirement, gained his recognition, and completed his Zanpakuto's Bankai Training!
It must be said, the Quincy Zangetsu truly loved Ichigo.
Other Shinigami's training for Bankai needed to defeat their Zanpakuto in every way possible to make their Zanpakuto yield to them.
But for Ichigo's Bankai Training, the Quincy Zangetsu only needed Ichigo to believe in his own power.
Without a doubt, if not for Yhwach's threat, the Quincy Zangetsu would abandon himself without hesitation and merge with the Hollow Zangetsu, allowing Ichigo to directly become an existence second only to the Soul King.