The scene shifted to the Urahara Shop, where Ichigo's plan to recover his spiritual power had already begun.
Inside the underground training ground, Ichigo could not help marveling at the fact that the Urahara Shop actually had a space beneath it almost as large as a football field.
He immediately began wondering out loud whether the whole place would collapse if an earthquake hit.
"Kurosaki-san, are you ready?" Urahara asked, looking at Ichigo's astonished expression.
"Hat-and-Clogs, how exactly are you planning to help me recover my Shinigami powers?" Ichigo asked impatiently.
Urahara did not waste words.
He thrust the cane in his hand into Ichigo's head, and Ichigo's spirit body was forced out by the blow.
After turning back into a spirit, Ichigo felt completely different from the ease he had felt in his Shinigami state before.
He dropped to one knee at once, as though some invisible force were pressing down on him.
Every movement took tremendous effort, and even breathing became abnormally difficult.
He lowered his head and saw a chain appearing on his chest, just like Orihime had looked after being attacked by a Hollow.
Panting heavily, he asked, "Hat-and-Clogs, what exactly is going on?"
Kisuke Urahara smiled and explained, "Kurosaki-san, your Hakusui and Saketsu have already been destroyed. Those two are the key to producing reiatsu, you see. Right now, you're just an ordinary soul, so this kind of reaction is perfectly normal."
Ichigo nodded in realization, showing that he understood.
At that moment, Kisuke Urahara announced, "Then let us begin the first stage of training. Ururu, are you ready?"
Ururu did not answer. She simply stepped forward in silence.
She wore a headband on her head and boxing gloves on her hands, making her look like a professional boxer.
Urahara also tossed out a set of equipment, gesturing for Ichigo to put it on.
"Kurosaki-san, the first stage of training is for you to fight Ururu. Are you ready?"
Ichigo stared at Urahara, convinced he was joking.
"Hat-and-Clogs, are you messing with me? You want me to fight a little girl? What kind of joke is that?"
Before he even finished speaking, Ururu had already charged at him.
The sharp wind from her fist blew against his face, making it sting.
Boom!
Ururu's punch sent dust and debris exploding across the entire training ground.
Jinta, who was watching from the side, stared at the scene.
"Hey, Shopkeeper, that guy didn't get killed by Ururu, did he?"
The dust scattered, revealing a large crater in the ground.
Ichigo, who should have been lying inside the crater, was nowhere to be seen.
At the last possible moment, he had managed to shift his body and avoid that terrifying punch, though the force of the blow still sent him flying.
"What the hell? If that punch landed, I'd die, wouldn't I?"
Seeing the crater Ururu had created with a single punch, Ichigo finally cast aside his underestimation.
He turned and rushed toward Ururu.
Just as Urahara and the others were marveling at his courage, they watched Ichigo jog right past Ururu and head straight for the equipment Urahara had thrown earlier.
"Damn it! I'd better hurry up and put this thing on, or I really will get killed. Hat-and-Clogs, how do I use this thing?"
As Ichigo ran, he asked Kisuke Urahara how to use the equipment.
The black-bellied Kisuke immediately had a wicked idea and told Ichigo an extremely embarrassing activation phrase.
"Behold my power of justice! Justice Armor Headband!"
Ichigo nearly threw the equipment onto the ground.
Was this guy messing with him?
What kind of way to put on equipment was that?
Before he could finish complaining, Ururu was already getting closer and closer.
Ichigo had no time to care about embarrassment.
He began fleeing desperately, while every strike Ururu threw behind him stirred up huge clouds of dust.
He glanced back at Ururu's terrifying destructive power, and at that point, shame no longer mattered.
He hurriedly pressed the equipment against his forehead and shouted, "Behold my power of justice! Justice Armor Headband!"
The expected scene did not happen.
The headband and boxing gloves did not put themselves on.
Ichigo was so angry that he started cursing!
"Hat-and-Clogs! You fucker, you actually lied to me!"
Whether it was delayed or for some other reason, the headband stuck to his forehead suddenly wrapped itself around his head, and the boxing gloves smoothly appeared on his hands.
'Since she isn't as fast as I am, I should be able to dodge her attacks.'
As he fled, Ichigo suddenly realized something.
Ururu seemed unable to keep up with his speed.
He immediately slammed on the brakes and prepared to fight her properly.
Ichigo turned around to face Ururu head-on.
However, before he could even take a stance, Ururu's fist was already in front of him.
Ichigo's heart jolted, and he hurriedly dodged sideways, but Ururu's attacks rained down one after another, leaving him with no time to breathe.
'Damn it!'
Ichigo cursed inwardly as he retreated, trying to find a gap in Ururu's movements.
At that moment, he sharply noticed that Ururu's movements seemed to slow for an instant.
Without hesitation, he seized that fleeting opportunity and rushed forward, throwing a punch.
However, Ururu easily dodged his attack and countered with astonishing speed.
Ichigo dodged in a panic, confusion rising in his heart.
'Why did her speed suddenly get so fast?'
As the battle continued, he realized that Ururu's strength was far beyond what he had imagined.
Ichigo fought while retreating, gradually stabilizing the situation.
Although he was at a disadvantage, he did not give up. Instead, he went all out, desperately searching for an opening in Ururu's defense.
Finally, his persistence paid off.
His counterattack finally achieved a small result.
His fist swept past Ururu's cheek, and the force of the punch left a wound on her face, with blood seeping out.
Ururu froze for a moment after being injured.
Then she jumped up and kicked fiercely toward Ichigo.
Caught off guard, Ichigo was sent flying by the kick, soaring a long distance away.
Seeing this from the side, Tessai Tsukabishi used Shunpo to appear behind Ichigo and block him.
The two of them were driven deep into a dirt slope by Ururu's strike.
Ichigo struggled out of the pile of earth, coughed a few times, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
He looked toward Ururu in the distance, his eyes filled with refusal to give in.
"I won't lose…" He said in a low voice.
At that moment, Ururu slowly walked over.
The wound on her face had already healed, leaving no trace of injury at all.
However, Ururu did not continue attacking.
She simply stood quietly in front of him, a trace of curiosity showing in her eyes.
Kisuke also walked over from afar, wearing a faint smile.
"Kurosaki-san, congratulations. You have passed the first stage."
"Huh? But I didn't beat her," Ichigo asked in confusion.
"Who said you had to beat Ururu? Ururu herself has the strength to fight an ordinary Shinigami. If you could defeat her, that would be the truly strange thing."
Kisuke smiled as he explained.
"So that's how it is?"
Ichigo nodded thoughtfully.
"Didn't you notice that your speed has already reached the point where you can dodge Ururu's attacks? That means your spiritual power has begun to recover at a basic level. After all, an ordinary soul could never dodge Ururu's fists. Your breathing is also much smoother now, isn't it?"
Kisuke continued.
Ichigo jumped in place a few times, carefully sensing the changes in his body.
Sure enough, the weakness he had felt when he first became a spirit was gone. In its place was a lightness and vitality.
He said in surprise, "You're right! Hat-and-Clogs, I feel much better now. My spirit body is full of strength too."
Kisuke smiled and nodded, a trace of relief flashing through his eyes.
He knew that Ichigo had gradually adapted to the state of being a spirit body, and the next stage of training would proceed much more smoothly.
Of course, with even the slightest mistake, Ichigo could still become a Hollow.