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Capitolo - 24: Deadly Darts
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Kurosaki Ichigo POV
"Come on, Ichigo!" Tatsuki shouted, her face lit up with a challenging grin as she stepped toward me with her fists raised. "Is that all you've got?"
"Tch… you're really enjoying this, huh?" I replied with a half-smile, raising my forearm to block her incoming punch. The hit was solid—direct and well-executed—but easy for me to stop. I countered with a cross to her ribs, nothing too strong. I wasn't taking this seriously at all.
I wasn't using even a sliver of Haki, nor any real fighting intent in my movements.
It was just my body and my instincts, relying on a basic Hakuda foundation to keep up with her karate—which, honestly, wasn't anything to scoff at.
But then she dodged. Slipped right out of the path of my punch with a speed I could no longer ignore. She was faster than she had been just a short while ago—fast enough to make an Olympic athlete look slow.
We were in the yard behind our middle school, a quiet, secluded spot we'd claimed as our own. No one ever bothered us here, and while from the outside it might've looked like just friendly sparring, the truth was that we were seriously going at it.
There wasn't really a goal behind it—at least not for them. They were just trying to push themselves beyond their limits. But for me? I was preparing them for Rukia's arrival.
Not that I could be sure the story would follow the same path as the original, but Aizen… Aizen still remained the best target to get what I needed.
Training with Tatsuki had always felt familiar—natural—ever since we were kids. But over the past few weeks, something had changed in her: her punches had become stronger, her reflexes sharper, and her stamina was almost inhuman.
I've known her for years, and I know how much she hates being left behind. Especially by me. I had even started to suspect that her latent Reiryoku—present in every human—might have started awakening due to our constant contact.
One of her punches came straight at my face. I blocked it on instinct, just like countless times before. But this time, something happened.
I saw a faint blue line—like glowing veins under her skin—flash across the back of her hand.
It lasted a second, maybe less, but it was unmistakable.
A pulsing blue spark.
My body stiffened.
Blut.
Completely unaware, Tatsuki pulled her arm back and came at me with even more force. I, on the other hand, was half a second too slow. That tiny hesitation was all it took. Her punch landed squarely on my chest, sending me back a couple of steps.
"Getting distracted, Ichigo?" she laughed, bouncing lightly in place, fists still up. She was thrilled that she had managed to land a hit on me—could be childish at times.
I, however, just stared at her in silence.
That wasn't just willpower. It wasn't just training. She had activated Blut Arterie—even if just for a moment. And she had done it without even knowing what it was.
Tatsuki obviously didn't have Quincy blood. And for now, she didn't have any active spiritual powers—not technically enough to even call her a Fullbringer.
And yet… that power had still manifested in her.
It was my fault, wasn't it?
I watched her continue moving, unaware of everything. Her face was flushed with effort and focus, her eyes shining. She was breathing hard, but she didn't look tired—if anything, she looked like she could keep going even harder.
I slowly raised my guard again, eyes still fixed on her. She raised an eyebrow at me. "You okay, Ichigo?"
"…Yeah," I lied. "Just surprised at how much you've improved."
She laughed proudly. "Well, duh! You didn't think I'd let you stay ahead forever, did you?" I shook my head with a small smile, but deep down, I couldn't help wondering what she'd become after Rukia arrived.
I couldn't ignore it anymore. Not after what I'd seen. If she was changing this fast because of my influence, then I had to do something—before the Hollows took notice and decided to target her for consumption.
That's when the thought hit me like a bolt of lightning: Haki.
Maybe… just maybe, teaching her Haki could help her gain better control for when her powers fully awakened.
I sighed quietly, lowering my guard. "Break?"
Tatsuki nodded eagerly, wiping sweat from her brow. "Only if you promise to stop holding back next spar."
"Yeah, yeah…" I answered absently, walking over to Orihime who handed me a towel and a bottle of water. As I took them, my eyes met Satori's.
She was staring at me with a look that left no room for misinterpretation—she wanted to fight. Now. And she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"…"
...
I had returned home, and after dinner—once everyone had finally retreated to their rooms and the house had sunk into silence—I shut myself inside my room.
I turned off the lights, sat cross-legged on the futon, and took a long breath. The Reiryoku within me surged, though only to a certain limit around me, showing that my control was nothing to scoff at.
Even though I currently had no access to my Shinigami side—no steady flow of power, no stable contact with my true Zanpakutō—that didn't mean I couldn't train with that part of myself.
I closed my eyes and let myself fall into my inner world. The landscape around me shifted as if I were passing through the surface of a water mirror.
In an instant, I found myself amidst black skyscrapers, eternally surrounded by green fields bathed in the gentle light of Avalon that made everything feel at ease.
Even if I didn't have the real Zangetsu in its material form—since I lacked an asauchi to channel my spirit—I could still train with Yuki to learn how to wield it.
Because spiritual training didn't necessarily require a sword in hand. And if I wanted a real advantage, something that would prepare me in advance for the awakening of my true power, then this was the perfect moment to build my foundation.
Yuki didn't even wait for a signal. As soon as I appeared on the field, she was on me like lightning, without hesitation, without words, with a big grin on her face.
The clash of our first strike echoed like thunder. I blocked her blow just in time, but her strength was overwhelming, and even with the parry, I had to take a step back.
We were both wielding the crescent moon version of Zangetsu—not to truly fight, but because I wanted her to show me how to use it properly. I wanted to build solid foundations so that, whatever form my sword would take in the future, I'd be ready.
I didn't simply want to achieve my Shikai when the time came. More than anything, I wanted to be sure I could master it to the fullest of my ability.
In fact, truth be told, even that wasn't enough for me. I was aiming higher. I wanted to learn even those techniques Ichigo never truly used in the series—abandoned, wasted. I wasn't going to make the same mistake.
"Now the real fun begins. Watch closely, Re," Yuki said as she grabbed the cloth of Zangetsu and hurled the blade at me like a whip.
Of course, I wasn't caught off guard since I was using Haki, so I could easily anticipate her attacks. But that didn't stop her from continuing the assault with even greater ferocity than before.
Winning had never been my goal in this battle. No, what I truly sought was understanding. Studying Yuki's every move, every shift in stance, every instinctual choice she made mid-fight.
Watching her allowed me to absorb something deeper than just technique: intuition, rhythm, control. But more than anything else, there was one technique I longed to make my own.
Deadly Darts.
A simple name—almost mundane. But the potential behind that technique was anything but ordinary, since it was a skill used by Zangetsu, but never by Ichigo himself.
It's seen used only on rare occasions throughout the series. On the surface, they look like simple long-range attacks launched using the cloth of the Shikai.
But it's not just that.
From what I remember from my previous life, Deadly Darts isn't a technique categorized as a Kido or advanced Zanjutsu. It's an innate ability—one that belongs only to me.
And more importantly, it's not limited to just the Shikai.
To be clear: take Hollow Ichigo's fight against Ulquiorra. When he summoned Zangetsu into his hands—in that moment, Deadly Darts was clearly used.
To clarify: the chain that connects my Zanpakutō to my hand isn't just an ornament. It's a spiritual link. A bond made of Reiryoku.
It's through that chain that Deadly Darts takes form. And there's no need to swing it like a whip. The physical movement is almost irrelevant.
And in a way, I was right.
Think of Mjolnir, Thor's hammer. The legendary weapon that returns to its master when called. It doesn't matter where it is. It doesn't matter how far.
Tensa Zangetsu behaved similarly, and this made me think of all kinds of future possibilities for using my Zanpakutō. If I could master it completely, I could become a formidable opponent in both close and long-range combat.
...
I came out of my mental landscape, but I remained seated. The bet with Yoruichi had begun, and I was trying to simulate a real battle with her in my mind.
I have to be honest: her blows hurt, and they're really hard to dodge even with my Haki. Seriously painful. If she hits you, you feel it. When that strength is combined with her incredible speed, the result is simply terrifying.
It doesn't matter how powerful you are—if you can't even touch your opponent, you're practically powerless. That's what makes Yoruichi so dangerous, especially against enemies who rely on brute strength.
It also has to be said that her offensive power is far from low, even compared to high-level Shinigami. She destroyed the protective shell of Aizen's Chrysalis form and smashed him to the ground when he let his guard down for a second.
And all of this without even using her Shunkō.
Even without that technique, the impact of her punches is powerful enough to level entire buildings, as seen in the confrontation with Aizen.
In another instance, she managed to neutralize Askin's base with just a few strikes—the same Askin who, to be clear, can survive Sayabuse. And when it comes to speed, well—she literally speedblitzed Askin from a great distance, which arguably makes her faster than Nimaiya in certain situations.
An interesting aspect is her relationship with the Zanpakutō. Yoruichi rarely uses it, and she's even openly declared she feels stronger without it.
Personally, I interpret that statement not as an absolute fact, but more as a result of her reluctance to truly train with the sword or develop its full potential.
She much prefers to fight with her body and Kidō. But if even she claims she's stronger without using it… well, who am I to argue?
On that note, it's worth remembering that Shunkō is an elite technique that fuses the martial arts of Hakuda with the spiritual energy of Kidō, creating an explosive synergy between body and spirit.
We could call it, in a way, a "limited" version of Erebe Magic: rather than acting on a deep, spiritual level and striking the user's very soul, Shunkō manifests externally, enveloping and enhancing only the physical body.
In Yoruichi's case, however, Shunkō reaches a whole new level. Its most advanced form—Shunkō: Raijū Senkei – Shunryū Kokubyō Senki—is something that goes beyond the mere fusion of spiritual energy and martial arts.
Personally, I liked to call it more directly: Thunder Beast Battle Form. A transformation so profound it almost feels like a change in the very soul of the user.
Still, I wasn't too worried about that technique. Deep down, I knew how much Yoruichi disliked relying on it, calling it an "unworthy and insignificant" form—one devoid of any control.
For her, losing control of her actions and being swept away by pure instinct was unacceptable—or at least, it would be until she found a way to perfect that form in her own way.
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