"Tch! What the hell have you been rambling about this whole time, you bastard? Aaaaah!!"
Kurosaki Ichigo grabbed his two-meter-long golden greatsword, roaring in fury as he leapt into the air and swung it down viciously at Fūjin Taichi!
"Ichigo, no!"
Saitō Tsukiyomi cried out, only to watch in stunned disbelief as Ichigo's golden greatsword was caught firmly in Fujin Taichi's left hand.
"Hmm… impressive momentum," Taichi commented calmly,
"but your strength is too weak, your speed too slow, and… although your Zanpakutō is wide and massive, it's far too dull!"
"Damn it!"
No matter how hard Ichigo struggled, he couldn't pull the golden blade free from Taichi's grasp. A surge of anger welled up inside him.
"Don't look down on meeeee—!"
"As expected, I still overestimated you, Ichigo."
Taichi sighed lightly, and the fingers of his left hand tightened further around the blade—
Crack!
A sharp sound rang out as dozens of fissures suddenly spread across the golden greatsword. In the very next second, before everyone's eyes, the blade shattered completely into fragments that clattered to the ground with crisp, ringing sounds.
"It… shattered!"
Tsukiyomi stared at the scattered fragments in utter shock.
"Even a Zanpakutō as powerful as Ichigo's was crushed bare-handed by big brother?!"
"Impossible… he crushed my Zanpakutō with one hand—!"
Ichigo stared at Taichi in horror, all traces of his earlier confidence gone.
"Is that really so surprising, Ichigo?" Taichi said indifferently.
"If I told you that due to the Spirit Restriction Seal, the power I'm showing right now is only one-fifth of my true strength... would you be scared out of your wits?"
"O-one fifth…? That's impossible…"
Though Ichigo thought so desperately, cold sweat had already soaked his forehead.
Slash—
With a casual swing, Taichi cut downward, and a vivid red line of blood burst from Ichigo's chest.
"Big brother, stop!"
Tsukiyomi rushed forward—
But before she could reach him, Taichi immobilized her with Bakudō #30: Shitotsu Sansen!
"Wh-what? When did he cut me... I couldn't see it at all..."
Ichigo stared in disbelief, then collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, eyes wide as he watched his blood pool on the pavement.
"Ichigo, never judge a person by their appearance or your own subjective assumptions,"
Taichi said coldly.
"You were defeated because you vastly overestimated your own power."
"D-damn it…"
Already gravely injured, Ichigo had no strength left to retort.
"Quite pathetic, Ichigo. Look at you, gasping for breath—how are you any different from an old dog waiting to die?"
Taichi seemed like a completely different person now, mercilessly humiliating the Ichigo lying on the ground.
"Because Tsukiyomi illegally transferred her powers to a piece of trash like you, I'm taking her back to the Soul Society to be executed."
"What?!"
Ignoring the agony, Ichigo forced himself up. He gritted his teeth and glared at Taichi. "I won't... I won't let you take Tsukiyomi away! Aaaaah!"
"Stop this useless struggling, Ichigo. I'll send you to the afterlife right now... it's the only way to recover Tsukiyomi's powers. Here I come! I'm really going to cut you now!"
Taichi made a show of raising his Zanpakutō, but just as he prepared to strike, his senses flared. He tilted his head slightly to the side, narrowly dodging a brilliant arrow of blue spiritual energy.
"A man wielding a blade against someone who has already lost the ability to fight—
Such a tragic decline of morals truly breaks my heart."
With a gentle, refined voice, a black-haired boy with parted bangs and rimless glasses stepped out of the shadows, shopping bag in hand.
"What do you mean 'lost the ability to fight,' Ishida?!
I'm still going to defeat this guy right here!"
Ichigo struggled back to his feet, picked up the half-broken sword, and shakily pointed it at Taichi.
"Oh~ so it's you, Uryū."
Ignoring Ichigo entirely, Taichi smiled at Ishida Uryū, who was dressed in pure white.
"What, you don't even recognize your grandfather's sworn brother?"
"Hmph."
Ishida adjusted his glasses and snorted.
"Even if it's you… I won't let you take Saitō-san away."
"Shut up! Protecting Tsukiyomi is my responsibilityyyyy—!"
Ichigo roared and charged forward with his broken blade—
Taichi merely smiled faintly and extended his left index finger.
"Bakudō #61: Rikujō Kōrō!
Flash!
Six golden beams of light pierced through Ichigo's body, binding him completely and freezing him in place.
"Ichigo, while I catch up with my 'god-grandson,' please lie there quietly for a bit."
Then Taichi turned back to Ishida Uryū and asked calmly:
"So then… how's Brother Sōgen been doing lately?"
"He's… fine."
Although Ishida Uryū was unwilling to grow close to Shinigami, he still treated Fūjin Taichi with a certain degree of courtesy, because his grandfather Ishida Sōgen had once been helped by two Shinigami.
Over the past twenty years, only two Shinigami had ever disregarded Soul Society regulations to aid the Quincy Ishida Sōgen—
One of them was named Gekkō Senpū, reportedly a Shinigami stationed in Karakura Town, who lost his life on Mount Hakufusan while rescuing Quincies trapped by a horde of Hollows;
The other was Fūjin Taichi—a mysteriously elusive Shinigami Vice-Captain who had effortlessly slain five Menos Grandes and saved Ishida Sōgen when he was on the brink of death.
"Good."
Fūjin Taichi nodded.
"Although Brother Sōgen and I share some history… if you insist on stopping me from taking Tsukiyomi away, I will kill you."
"Is that so?" Ishida Uryū replied calmly.
"Then let's give it a try. I've wanted to test myself against a real Shinigami for quite some time now."
He formed a spiritual bow and arrow, the sharp tip of the glowing projectile aimed directly at Fūjin Taichi.
"Hey, Ichigo!"
Seeing Ishida ready to attack, Taichi showed no concern at all and instead called out to Kurosaki Ichigo.
"W-what?!"
"Open your eyes and watch carefully…
Because of your incompetence and weakness, your best friend is about to die right in front of you."
Before the words had even finished echoing, Fūjin Taichi had already appeared before Ishida Uryū. With his left hand, he crushed the spiritual arrow, and with his right hand, he drove his blade straight through Ishida's chest—
"Guh—!"
A mouthful of blood spilled from Ishida Uryū's lips as he slowly collapsed to the ground.
"ISHIDA!!!"
Seeing Ishida Uryū stabbed to death before his eyes, Kurosaki Ichigo's fury erupted, unleashing a torrent of power from within him.
"Damn youuuuu!! I'll never forgive youuuuu—!"
Sizzle—
Blue spiritual energy surged across the silver armor covering Ichigo's body, flowing toward his back. Two angel-like silver wings slowly emerged, radiating holy light beneath the clear moonlit sky.
"Oh ho? Did 'Angemon' just reach his Mega evolution?!"
Taichi remarked lightly.
Though he appeared calm on the surface, inwardly he was increasingly unable to make sense of Ichigo's bizarre evolution.
The silver standardized armor alone had already been unnatural enough…
Now these newly manifested silver wings—whose power were they from? White Ichigo? Zangetsu? Or damn it, Fullbring?!
"Aaaaaaaahhh—!"
Empowered by the silver wings, the Rikujō Kōrō binding Ichigo began to emit strained creaking sounds, on the verge of being shattered—
But Fūjin Taichi acted decisively.
He drew his Zanpakutō and struck, shattering Ichigo's Chain of Fate and Soul Sleep in a single blow. Instantly, the silver wings vanished into nothingness, and even the black Shihakushō on Ichigo's body began to fade away.
"Ichigo, you're far too weak.
If you ever get another chance to become a Shinigami—come to Soul Society and seek your revenge."
Fūjin Taichi slowly walked over to Saitō Tsukiyomi, extended one arm, lifted her, and placed her over his shoulder. Then, looking at the barely surviving Ichigo, he said calmly:
"Well then… I'll be taking Tsukiyomi back to be executed."