Looking at the blue light streaking into the sky, Akira finally understood why Kurosaki Ichigo had arrived so late.
Clearly, Urahara Kisuke and the others had been far more cautious this time—likely because they'd recognized just how much stronger Ichigo had become. Unlike in the original timeline, they'd invested extra time honing his skills, ensuring he'd fully mastered Getsuga Tenshō before allowing him to storm Soul Society.
"If that's the case…" Akira murmured, his fingers tightening around his Zanpakutō. "Then this is the perfect chance to test my new technique."
He flipped the blade in his grip—hilt down—and spoke the release command with quiet authority.
"Reflect, Hikari no Kagami."
(Mirror of Heaven and Earth.)
A pulse of pure white radiance erupted outward, washing over the battlefield in an instant. The light enveloped sky and earth alike—then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
Akira's blade had changed only subtly: its surface now shimmered like liquid silver, smooth and flawless, yet its form remained that of a standard katana.
"Is that… Akira's Shikai?" Yoruichi whispered, golden eyes narrowing. "It doesn't look anything like that lightsaber-like thing from before."
Ichigo, however, scoffed. "Tch. That's your Shikai? Doesn't look like much." He smirked, hefting Zangetsu with confidence. "Mine's way stronger."
He'd long believed that a Zanpakutō's size reflected the depth of its wielder's Reiatsu. And since Akira's blade hadn't grown an inch upon release, Ichigo assumed it was weak—pathetic, even.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
With a single, brutal swing, Ichigo unleashed a crescent of azure energy that ripped through the earth, roaring toward Akira with devastating force.
But then—
Shhhhk!
The attack missed—by inches.
Ichigo froze, eyes wide. "What the—?!"
"Ichigo!" Ishida snapped. "Where were you even aiming?!"
"I was on target!" Ichigo growled, knuckles whitening around Zangetsu's hilt.
From a distance, Yoruichi's brow furrowed. Her Shunpo-honed reflexes gave her unparalleled perception—and she'd seen it clearly. The moment Ichigo's Getsuga approached Akira, its trajectory bent, as if warped by an invisible lens.
Light travels in straight lines… unless it's reflected.
Her gaze flicked to Akira's gleaming blade. "Hikari no Kagami"… a mirror, huh?
If his Zanpakutō manipulated light—or more precisely, the path of energy that mimicked light, like Getsuga—it could redirect attacks without ever moving.
Before she could voice her suspicion, Chad surged forward.
"Brazo Derecho de Gigante!"
Despite Ichigo's earlier protests, Chad knew better. If even Ichigo's full-power strike had been evaded, they couldn't hold back.
He closed the distance in a heartbeat, his right arm blazing with crimson-black markings.
"La Muerte!"
An explosive shockwave of azure Reiryoku erupted from his fist—point-blank, overwhelming, impossible to dodge.
But—
"Where are you aiming?"
Chad's breath caught. His punch had passed clean through empty air. Dust and debris exploded behind Akira, who hadn't so much as flinched.
Then—a whisper of steel. A cold voice at his back.
"Too slow."
"Ugh—!"
Sado Yasutora was slashed by Akira and collapsed on the spot, grievously wounded.
"Sado—!"
Kurosaki Ichigo and the others cried out in shock and fury.
Yoruichi's pupils narrowed as she processed what had just happened.
"That wasn't just a distorted trajectory… left and right were completely reversed?!"
She'd seen something similar before—Hirako Shinji's Zanpakutō, which inverted the enemy's five senses. But this was different. Akira wasn't messing with perception—he was reversing the physical direction of attacks themselves.
"It's like a mirror," she realized. "An attack aimed left lands on the right. No wonder Sado couldn't connect."
She moved to warn the others—but what she didn't know was that Akira's power, Mirror World, went far beyond simple directional reversal.
Akira flicked his blade clean and pointed at Ichigo and the rest. "One down. Who's next?"
"You bastard—!"
Ichigo's voice trembled with rage as Orihime rushed to Sado's side, her golden shield shimmering into place. Ishida didn't hesitate. Already drawing back his spirit bow, he unleashed a storm of arrows.
"Ransōtengai!"
Dozens of arrows streaked through the air—too many to deflect or reverse all at once. Even if their directions flipped, some had to land.
"Good thinking!" Yoruichi called out, impressed by Ishida's adaptability.
But as the arrows seemed to pierce Akira's body, they instead punched through empty air—embedding themselves in the ground behind him with sharp thuds.
"What?!" Ichigo and Ishida froze. The strike had passed through him like a mirage.
"An illusion?!" Yoruichi's voice tightened.
Before anyone could react, Akira vanished with a flicker of shunpo—reappearing behind Ishida, blade already descending.
"Cough—!"
Blood sprayed as Ishida crumpled.
"I'll kill you!!"
Ichigo's roar shook the air. His reiatsu surged violently as he charged, faster than ever before. At the same time, Orihime thrust her hands forward.
"Koten Zanshun!"
Tsubaki shot toward Akira from one side while Ichigo's blade cleaved from the other—a perfect pincer.
Yet Akira only smiled faintly.
"Upside down."
In an instant, both attacks twisted mid-flight. Ichigo's slash veered wildly—and collided head-on with Tsubaki. The tiny spirit guardian shattered with a faint cry.
"Ah! Mr. Tsubaki—!" Orihime gasped, her voice breaking.
Ichigo stood frozen, horror dawning too late. His own swing had destroyed her attack.
And before he could move—
Slash.
Blood bloomed across his chest.
"The farce is over," Akira said softly.