Ichigo was still feeling rather pleased with himself.
Earlier, Kisuke had made regaining Shinigami powers sound incredibly difficult, but from how things looked now, it was nothing more than a piece of cake!
"Hat-and-Clogs, your test isn't hard at all. You kept saying I might turn into a Hollow, but you were just trying to scare me, weren't you?"
Ichigo spoke with a look of disdain.
"Kurosaki-san, it seems you're very confident. In that case, let's begin the second test."
Kisuke turned to look at Tessai, the corner of his mouth lifting into a sly smile.
"Do it."
Before Ichigo could react, Tessai somehow pulled out an axe from somewhere.
With one swift motion, he brought it down and chopped the chain in front of Ichigo's chest apart.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Ichigo's eyes widened as he watched Tessai's movements and instinctively took a step back.
However, he immediately realized something was wrong with his body. His foot slipped, and he nearly fell to the ground.
At that moment, Tessai suddenly stepped forward, stretched out one leg, tripped Ichigo, and sent him falling onto his backside.
Then, taking advantage of the motion, Tessai sat directly on top of him.
"Nothing. I merely severed your Chain of Fate," Tessai answered expressionlessly.
"Oh."
Ichigo nodded blankly, though he still did not understand what effect having his Chain of Fate severed would have on him.
"Kurosaki-san, I forgot to tell you. Once the Chain of Fate is cut, your spirit body can no longer return to your physical body. You can only slowly wait for death."
Kisuke was still smiling, but his tone was unusually serious.
A hint of slyness appeared in his eyes, as though he were watching a good show about to begin.
After hearing those words, Ichigo's expression instantly darkened, and the smile vanished from his face.
His eyes widened as he stared at Kisuke in disbelief.
"Huh? Hat-and-Clogs, you're joking with me, right?"
Ichigo tried to keep himself calm, but the anxiety and unease in his heart could no longer be hidden.
Kisuke shrugged and shook his head.
"No, this isn't a joke. The broken chain will slowly begin to erode. Once the erosion reaches your chest, a Hollow hole will appear, and at that point, you will become a Hollow.
"So right now, you only have two paths. Either become a Hollow, or become a Shinigami. Of course, if you turn into a Hollow, I'll have no choice but to clean you up myself."
His voice was calm and cold, carrying an invisible pressure.
Ichigo's body trembled slightly, but then he laughed.
"Of course I'm going to regain my Shinigami powers. Hat-and-Clogs, just watch."
"Then let's begin."
"Begin what?"
Kisuke snapped his fingers.
The ground beneath Ichigo suddenly became hollow, and a huge pit appeared beneath him.
Just like that, both Ichigo and Tessai fell straight down.
"Bakudō #99: Kin."
Ichigo, who was still shouting as he fell, suddenly discovered that his hands had been bound behind his back, leaving him unable to move.
"What did you do?"
"Kurosaki-san, until you complete the test, your hands will be temporarily unusable."
Ichigo twisted his body repeatedly, trying to struggle free, but Bakudō #99 was no joke. No matter how hard he struggled, it had no effect at all.
At that moment, Kisuke's voice drifted down from above.
"Kurosaki-san, if you can climb out of the pit in that state, you pass the second test. Do your best!"
"Hey! Hat-and-Clogs, you make it sound so easy. Why don't you come down and try it yourself?"
Ichigo still had not realized the danger and was busy complaining.
Then he fixed his gaze on the broken end of his chain and saw two strange objects gnawing away at it.
Only then did panic seize him.
Ichigo wriggled his way back up and began trying to climb the rock wall, but after several attempts, he still could not get up.
After failing countless times, Ichigo sat at the bottom of the pit and started giving up entirely.
Perhaps because the bottom of the pit was sealed away from daylight, Ichigo lost all sense of time.
When Jinta descended into the pit to bring him food and told him that he only had two hours left before he turned into a Hollow, panic finally began to set in.
Ichigo started climbing again, over and over, but it was all futile.
He simply could not climb out.
As the Chain of Fate was fully eroded, a Hollow hole appeared in Ichigo's chest.
White liquid also began seeping from his mouth, wrapping around his head.
Faced with this sudden change, Ichigo began screaming loudly, as though desperately resisting the process of Hollowfication.
Seeing that the situation could no longer be reversed, Tessai, who was standing nearby, began changing his hand signs.
He was preparing to transform Bankin into an execution seal and completely eliminate Ichigo before he fully became a Hollow.
Unfortunately, Ichigo was basically a walking cheat.
During his struggle against Hollowfication, he successfully entered the inner world of his Zanpakutō and met the figure who resembled Yhwach from a thousand years ago—Zangetsu.
Under Zangetsu's guidance, Ichigo regained his Shinigami powers.
Outside, Tessai's Bankin had already reached its final step, but a heaven-shaking burst of spiritual power erupted from Ichigo's body.
Golden reiatsu shot into the sky, and a figure surged upward with the torrent of spiritual power, crashing back onto the surface and stirring up a huge cloud of dust.
Jinta and Ururu stared at the vague figure in the dust, uncertain whether Ichigo had turned into a Hollow or become a Shinigami again.
...
As the smoke gradually dispersed, Ichigo's figure slowly appeared.
At that moment, he was dressed in a shihakushō, with a massive Zanpakutō strapped across his back.
What was shocking, however, was the Hollow mask covering his face.
"Huh? What exactly is going on? Did he become a Shinigami capable of Hollowfication like Shinji Hirako and the others?"
Jinta looked curiously at Ichigo standing before them.
Ichigo abruptly drew the Zanpakutō from his back, but strangely enough, the weapon only had a hilt and no blade.
He reversed his wrist and smashed the mask on his face with the hilt, revealing his own face.
"Hat-and-Clogs, sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't turn into a Hollow! You know, when I was trapped in that deep pit, I swore that if I managed to climb out, I would kill you."
After regaining his Shinigami powers, Ichigo's confidence had exploded.
"Oh my, Kurosaki-san, you really do have quite the momentum. In that case, let's continue straight into the third test."
Kisuke Urahara spoke again.
Ichigo looked at Urahara with suspicion and uncertainty, muttering inwardly about what kind of nonsense this guy was planning now.
"The third test is very simple. Use your blade to cut off my hat." Kisuke said it lightly.
Ichigo looked at him doubtfully, his heart filled with suspicion.
"That simple?"
He murmured, wondering whether there was some hidden trap inside this test.
Even so, Ichigo did not hesitate for long and decided to try.
He quickly raised the broken blade in his hand and, taking advantage of what seemed like Urahara's carelessness, suddenly attacked.
With an upward slash, he attempted to cut the hat from Kisuke Urahara's head.
Blue reiatsu burst from the blade and struck Urahara's hat, actually cutting a notch into it.
Kisuke Urahara smiled faintly, seeming rather satisfied with Ichigo's performance.
"Not bad, Kurosaki-san. Your reaction and strength are both quite good. But this is only the beginning."
---------
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator