After Umi Ito’s Reiatsu completely dissipated, Ivan felt no more resistance.
His Reiatsu flooded into the Asauchi like a reversed waterfall.
Suddenly, the world spun.
Looking up, the scenery had drastically changed.
This was clearly no longer the Forest of Menos, nor was it even Hueco Mundo!
Staring at the low mud huts and the messy streets, Ivan’s mind reeled.
“Is this…
District 77 of the West Rukongai?” Ivan realized he was standing in the exact same slum from Umi Ito’s memories.
“Did I cross over into Soul Society?
No, wait.
This is an inner world.
This is Umi Ito’s inner world!” Just as Ivan was trying to wrap his head around things, a handsome, tall young man with purple hair appeared at the end of the cluttered street.
He wore a Shihakusho and held an Asauchi.
“Umi Ito?” Ivan called out tentatively, watching the imposing man walk briskly toward him.
The purple-haired man didn’t answer.
Instead, he broke into a sprint.
The Asauchi at his waist was drawn in a flash, and from dozens of meters away, he unleashed a horizontal slash in Ivan’s direction.
In the next instant, the man was standing less than a meter away, his blade already swinging down.
“So fast!
Is this Shunpo?!” Panicking, Ivan coated his right arm in golden lightning to block.
Squelch!
Crimson blood sprayed like a fountain.
Ivan’s massive right arm was cleanly severed by the strike.
Fortunately, Ivan’s reflexes were sharp.
He immediately used Sonido to pull back, using his tail to scoop up his severed arm and press it against the stump.
Just as the squirming flesh was about to fuse the arm back together, the purple-haired man struck again.
The katana in his hands instantly transformed into a pitch-black spear.
From a distance, he casually swung the spear, launching a blast of razor-sharp wind that blew Ivan’s reattaching arm into a bloody mist.
“Damn it!
He’s too fast!” Crying out in pain, Ivan rapidly retreated, stringing together several Sonidos just to escape the range of the spear’s gales.
The flesh at the stump of his shoulder writhed violently until a brand-new right arm completely regenerated.
Because his severed arm had been destroyed, regenerating a new one completely from scratch required vastly more Reiatsu than just fusing a severed limb.
Yet, Ivan didn’t feel his internal Reiatsu drop by a single drop.
This confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was inside an inner world.
However, Ivan clearly remembered the canon rule of the King and the Horse.
If you get killed in your inner world, you die for real.
Seeing the man charging forward once more, fully intent on chopping him into pieces, Ivan desperately blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I can help you find Kumokawa Kasumioji!” Hearing those words, the purple-haired man instantly skidded to a halt.
He dropped his weapon, clutched his head with both hands, and crouched on the ground, his face twisted in agony.
“My wife…
Kumokawa!” “I am…
Umi Ito…
No, I am Kamikaze Maru!” Seeing the purple-haired man glitching out and acting erratically, Ivan didn’t dare ask any questions.
Since he had no idea how to leave this inner world, he just stood completely still and observed.
After a long while, the purple-haired man finally calmed down.
He looked up at Ivan and spoke slowly.
“I am…
Kamikaze Maru…
I exist solely by my Master’s lingering obsession…
to find Kumokawa…” With those words, the purple-haired man waved his hand.
The world spun violently once more, and when Ivan regained his senses, he was back in the dim Forest of Menos.
“I’m back?” It felt like he had spent a decent amount of time in the inner world, but in reality, less than a second had passed.
Still, just thinking about what had happened left Ivan with lingering fear.
The arrogant joy he had built up from effortlessly slaughtering Hollows over the past few months was completely shattered.
“So this is the true strength of a Lieutenant-class Shinigami…” “No.
I can’t slack off.
I need to get even stronger!” Ivan quickly adjusted his mindset and reviewed the situation.
Accidentally peering into Umi Ito’s past wasn’t a total loss.
At the very least, he now possessed all of Umi’s memories regarding his training and combat techniques.
Acting on a whim, he raised his left hand and pointed a finger at a giant tree in front of him.
“Hado #4: Byakurai!” Ivan called out the spell number and channeled his Reiatsu exactly according to the method in Umi’s memories.
Although Umi was famous for being the 3rd Seat of the melee-focused 11th Squad, his Kido wasn’t terrible.
His most proficient spell was Byakurai.
One second passed.
Two seconds passed.
Thirty seconds passed!
Absolutely nothing happened.
“Alright, fine.
I guess Hollow Reiatsu really can’t fuel Shinigami spells.” Ivan didn’t feel disappointed.
It was just a casual test.
What truly thrilled him was the weapon gripped tightly in his right hand.
The once-tiny Asauchi had scaled up, stretching over ten meters long to perfectly match his massive stature!
“I might just be the only Hollow in the history of this world to wield a Zanpakuto before becoming an Arrancar!” Obviously, surviving the encounter in the inner world had granted him the right to wield this Zanpakuto.
Furthermore, his mind was now packed with Umi Ito’s decades of Zanjutsu training and combat memories.
All he lacked now was actual practice.
This was Lieutenant-class swordsmanship!
As long as he mastered these techniques, his combat power would experience a monumental leap in record time!
Ivan casually raised his right hand and swung the blade.
A sharp, terrifying flash of light cut through the air.
A massive crystalline tree beside him, standing a hundred meters tall with a trunk over five meters thick, was cleanly sliced in half.
Rumble!
The colossal tree crashed to the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and crushing the surrounding shrubbery.
“Incredible.
As expected of a masterpiece forged by Oetsu Nimaiya, the God of the Sword.
This is an absolute treasure!” The more Ivan looked at the Zanpakuto in his hand, the more he loved it.
Fed by his Reiatsu, the heavily chipped blade had completely restored itself, gleaming as if brand new.
And best of all, it had automatically adapted to his physical size, growing into a ten-meter-long greatsword!
Like a kid with a brand-new toy, Ivan spun the massive blade around, testing its weight and balance.
Roar!
Roar!
Roar!
Seven Gillians unleashed deafening, furious howls.
They surrounded the puny Giant Hollow that had dared to provoke them, looking as if they were ready to swarm him and tear him to shreds in the next second.
“Sigh.
More ordinary, mindless Gillians.
Can’t the forest give me a decent opponent for once?
If there aren’t any Adjuchas around, at least give me a mutant Gillian!” Ivan sounded completely bored.
He raised his Zanpakuto Plus and swung a few times.
Seven flashes of blade light swept across the clearing.
All seven Gillians were cleanly bisected.
He immediately activated Soul Devour.
A dark gold vortex erupted from his tail, instantly sucking all seven Menos Grande completely dry.
Feeling the massive surge of Reiatsu in his body, a satisfied smile spread across Ivan’s face.
Half a year had passed since Ivan obtained the Zanpakuto.
Over these six months, he had almost completely mastered the Zanjutsu techniques from Umi Ito’s memories.
Furthermore, after six straight months of devouring every Gillian he came across, his total Reiatsu pool was now four or five times larger than when he first entered the Forest of Menos.
Ordinary Gillians were no longer capable of surviving even a single clash with him!