The Alchemist in Bleach

"Haha~ Just say it if you want to. That guy won't stop the trial because of something like this. Maybe he's already forgotten the agreement to keep it a secret."

"It won't end? Why?" Inoue looked at Urahara with a puzzled expression, wondering if there was something about her that he could scheme against.

"Because he's started teaching you swordsmanship. That guy is particularly obsessed with passing on three techniques. Once he starts, he can't stop. The first is the Dao of Return, the second is swordsmanship, and the third is alchemy. And the Infinite Trial you're in now is mainly about passing on swordsmanship. So he can't stop it before the inheritance is over. At most, he'll let you rest for a while, like now."

"Does he value inheritance that much?" Inoue asked after a moment's thought.

The impression Ichiro left on her these past few days was that he was a carefree and irresponsible person. Although he explained things very carefully, he would always behead someone after he finished. It would be more accurate to say that he was just playing around than being responsible.

She didn't seem like the kind of person who would value tradition.

"It's only these three. His teacher taught him the Dao of Return and swordsmanship, and alchemy is his core skill. Only these three are the ones he values ​​so much. He can't even do the Kido. That guy taught Rukia Kido sporadically, and then complained that Rukia couldn't learn his unique techniques. He's really despicable."

"Wait, the teacher knows swordsmanship, is skilled in alchemy, and is also proficient in demonic arts. The guy you're talking about, is he that bald guy Tenshin Ichiro?" After listening for a while with a frown, Hiyori suddenly realized and asked in surprise.

"Well, what happened?"

"Is she a disciple of Tenshin Ichiro?"

"That's true, but that guy probably won't admit it, just like his teacher."

"No wonder. To become so strong in such a short time—if he were his disciple, then it would make sense..."

Inoue looked curiously at the thoughtful Hiyori and the smiling Urahara. Just how strong was this seemingly effortless teacher...?

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Chapter 349 Hollow White: What's the difference between a king and a mount? Ichigo: It's instinct!

"Roar!!!"

After a while, the group followed Pu Yuan to a spacious underground space, where they saw the Hollow firmly pinned to the ground by dozens of iron spikes.

Upon seeing the Hollow, Inoue covered his mouth in horror. The Hollow had pale skin and, amidst its thick orange hair, seemed to have two horns pointing upwards. It was currently lying in a pool of blood, roaring to the sky in extreme pain.

Although his appearance and spiritual pressure had changed a lot, Inoue quickly recognized him by his orange hair—Ichigo Kurosaki!

"Don't worry, he's fine. Yes, he's fine now. He's just undergoing Hollowfication training." Urahara said with a smile, his hands tucked into his sleeves and clasped in front of his stomach, watching Ichigo struggle.

"Hmph~ Hmph~" Inoue whimpered, suppressing a sob, and asked Urahara, "Hollowfication... training?"

"Yes, when the power of Hollows and Shinigami are combined, the strength will be enhanced like a dimension. Kurosaki-kun has already mastered Bankai, so his strength will not change much in a short time. If he wants to make further progress in a short time, this is the only way. Although it is a bit dangerous, he should be fine. Kurosaki-kun's willpower is stronger than I thought. All we can do now is to believe in him."

That being said, Urahara still felt that something was off about Ichigo's Hollowfication. It had been a whole day already; given Ichigo's current power, it shouldn't have taken this long, especially since his Hollowfication technique was quite sophisticated...

Ichigo's Spiritual World

"puff!"

"boom!!!"

In the mental world, Ichigo, who had been fighting with White Ichigo for a day and a night, was kicked away by White Ichigo and crashed through several buildings!

It's firmly embedded in the street!

"Hey~"

White Ichigo used a Shunpo to move to a street lamp, holding the slender Tensa Zangetsu in one hand while leisurely watching Ichigo with a grin spreading across his face.

"Is that all you've got? You little brat?" Haku Ichigo taunted as he swung his Tensa Zangetsu.

It wasn't entirely sarcastic. He was giving Ichigo time to recover. Defeating or killing Ichigo wasn't his goal. His goal was for Ichigo to become stronger so that he could kill that damn red-haired guy!

They actually dared to seal him away!

He was taken advantage of by that Quincy and schemed against him. If it weren't for the Hollowfication training, he might still be under suppression. Redhead, he must die!

"Ichigo-yo~ I ask you, what's the difference between a king and a mount?"

"One is riding, and the other is being ridden?" Ichigo slowly struggled to his feet, leaning on Tensa Zangetsu, his eyes unusually solemn. White Ichigo's power was even stronger than he had imagined!

"I'm not asking you childish riddles like man versus horse, two legs versus four legs! If there were two identical beings, regardless of their appearance, abilities, or strength, I'm asking you, what's the difference between the one who becomes king and dominates the war, and the other who becomes a mount to increase their fighting power?"

"Instinct!" Upon hearing this, Ichigo immediately recalled what Rukia had told him, and the word "instinct" slipped out of his mouth.

“That’s right, there’s only one, and that is… well, instinct. You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?” White Ichigo, who hadn’t expected Ichigo to answer first, paused for a moment, forcibly suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, and then continued.

"Those who possess the same power, in order to unleash even greater power, need nothing but the relentless pursuit of battle! The pursuit of power, the merciless destruction of enemies, the tearing of them to pieces—they have an absolute thirst for battle!"

That is, the deepest part of our bodies, imprinted on the most primal essence of things, an utterly thorough killing reaction!

What you're lacking is this—this raw instinct! You fight based on reason, desiring to defeat your enemy according to rational thought, but the sword tip is still sheathed; who can you possibly cut down then?

So that's why you're weaker than me, you little brat! I can't stand it. I don't care what Zhan Yue thinks, but I can't tolerate a king who's weaker than me having to carry him around and get slashed together.

So I thought, "If you're weak, then I'll destroy you and become king!"

"Shukusai~" Ichigo stood up, leaning on Tensa Zangetsu, his eyes fixed on White Ichigo. "Instinct? Bullshit instinct! Humanity spent thousands upon thousands of years evolving rationality, and you want me to abandon it? You are you, and I am I. I will defeat you in my own way! In the way you despise the most! Instinct versus rationality, who is king, and who is the mount? Let's try!!!"

"boom!"

With Ichigo's roar, milky white spiritual pressure suddenly erupted!

A white beam of light shot into the sky!

Feeling the pressure emanating from Ichigo, White Ichigo revealed a wild smile, using an extremely exaggerated expression to conceal the faint sense of relief.

'Ichigo, congratulations, you passed the level...'

"kill!!!"

Despite having already accepted Ichigo in his heart, White Ichigo still roared and charged towards Ichigo with fierce momentum!

Every move he made was ruthless!

Ichigo has won. With this mindset, Ichigo is definitely capable of controlling the power of Hollowfication. He is certain of that. However, the battle is not over yet, because as the battle progresses, Ichigo's power will gradually increase.

Prolonged Hollowfication has negative effects on the body, and the impact is not good. However, discussing toxicity without considering dosage is irresponsible, and the same applies to Hollowfication. Currently, in this state of full-body Hollowfication, every extra second maintained will strengthen Ichigo's body, and the duration of Hollowfication will also be longer in the future.

There's no other way. Ichigo hasn't experienced enough battles lately. What seems powerful is actually just an empty shell, not very stable. Let's take this opportunity, since Ichigo is unlikely to die in the spiritual space, and let him hone himself in the face of life and death.

But fighting continuously wouldn't work; too much of a good thing can be bad. So when he felt the time was right, White Ichigo created an opening and was cleaved in two from the chest by Ichigo's sword!

"I have to admit, you're stronger now... You're the king now, but you'd better stay vigilant, because when I become stronger than you, I'll fight for the throne again!"

After uttering the last word, Bai Yihu completely dissipated in the spiritual space.

"Pfft~"

Ichigo collapsed to his knees, the Tensa Zangetsu sword falling from his hand. He'd won...

"Ichigo, congratulations."

"Uncle Zhan Yue?"

"Okay, go back. Remember, Ichigo, strive to become stronger, don't lose your way, keep moving towards your goal, and be careful of that man!"

"Yes, I won't let him succeed!" Ichigo thought Zangetsu was referring to White Ichigo, and nodded solemnly.

However, just as Uncle Zangetsu was about to explain, Ichigo suddenly left the spiritual world, and the white Ichigo, who should have disappeared, also condensed behind Uncle Zangetsu, coldly looking at him.

"Queen Master, I warned you before, don't say things you shouldn't say. Do you want to die?"

"Would you like to give it a try?"

"Then, die!"

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I'm moving today, so I need to take the day off.

I was moving tonight, so I was a bit busy and just finished. Sorry for taking the day off.

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Chapter 350 This is your final trial!

"Click~"

The moment Ichigo regained consciousness, his pale skin cracked layer by layer, then floated upwards and disappeared without a trace like bubbles. His waist-length hair also broke off strand by strand, turning back into short hair.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue immediately ran up to Ichigo as soon as he returned to normal. Before Urahara could remove the iron spikes piercing Ichigo's limbs, a yellow light blade flew out and cut off the iron spikes one by one!

Completely remove the iron spikes stuck in Ichigo's body!

And there was absolutely no damage to the wound!

This scene stunned Urahara and the others. Putting aside the difficulty of removing the iron spikes so perfectly without damaging the wound, the fact that the iron spikes were completely pulverized after removal was truly astounding.

These are the iron spikes from the second stage of the Ninety-Nine Binding Spell!

Even Urahara, the user, could only eliminate the iron spikes by canceling the Kido technique; he couldn't completely destroy them through violence. Destruction is possible, but leaving not a single trace like this...

I really can't do it, that's the Ninety-Nine Binding Path!

It's not some kind of junk!

Hiyori subconsciously touched her neck. At that moment, the sharp, piercing sensation returned. She was extremely grateful that she hadn't taken that gamble, otherwise she might be missing something from her neck right now.

She didn't believe her defensive capabilities were stronger than those of the creation of the Ninety-Nine Binding Path!

While everyone was still in shock, Inoue on the other side didn't stop what he was doing. After using the Lone Heaven Shield to break through the black spikes, he immediately followed up with the Double Heaven Shield, restoring Ichigo to his original state.

Not long after, Ichigo slowly woke up. Although the Twin Heavens Shield took effect much faster than Urahara had originally predicted, he was no longer so surprised. Practice makes perfect, and most importantly, being surprised too often would make him seem like a low-level person, just like those country bumpkins who had never seen the world.

"Inoue? What are you doing here? Did I fail? Is this heaven? Are you dead too?" Having just recovered, although his body and spiritual pressure had returned to normal, his consciousness was still somewhat hazy after a long battle in the spiritual world.

Looking at Inoue's beautiful face through the golden light, he was momentarily stunned, thinking he was seeing an angel...

"No, I won't let Kurosaki-kun die. You're still alive and well. I... well, that's about it. Anyway, get some rest," Inoue said softly.

Ichigo smiled and closed his eyes slightly, preparing to recover some energy. However, as soon as he closed his eyes, the fatigue deep in his mind was instantly cleared away!

His mental state instantly returned to what it was before he began his ethereal cultivation. No, wait!

Even earlier!

He felt better than ever before!

"Inoue, did you make this?"

Ichigo could only think of Inoue, because although Urahara had some pretty good recovery methods during the previous training sessions, they were far inferior to what he had now.

Inoue smiled sweetly (licking her lips): "Hmm, I tried out the results of my training over this period of time, and it seems to be working quite well."