"Ugh..."
Muramasa suddenly groaned in pain. A small Hollow hole began to appear on his chest, and his body started to become ethereal and translucent.
"Haah... haah... Is my body reaching its limit? It seems... illusory dreams... cannot last forever after all." Watching his body gradually become ethereal and translucent, Muramasa murmured to himself.
"Hey, Muramasa, what's happening to your body?" Toshiro couldn't help but ask.
"Nothing much. I just devoured too many Gillian. Coupled with the series of battles, my body reached its limit long ago. I can no longer suppress the Hollow power within me. The final outcome will either be degenerating into a Hollow, or my body collapsing and dying. That's all." Muramasa said calmly, as if unconcerned about his own death.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Stone pillars collapsed. Sparkling particles of light, like snowflakes, fell from the sky.
Of course, these weren't real snowflakes, but space fragments of this Inner World.
"Toshiro, we're running out of time. If Muramasa degenerates into a Hollow, the huge red-black sphere composed of Reishi lingering in the Living World will lose its balance. Then the violent Reishi Turbulence will destroy the nearby Karakura Town." Hyorinmaru's voice sounded in Toshiro's heart.
"Is that so? If Karakura Town is destroyed, that would be quite troublesome. Not to mention anything else, I wouldn't be able to explain it to Genryusai-sensei."
Toshiro said helplessly.
The reason Toshiro came to the Living World this time was precisely because Yamamoto was worried that Muramasa releasing Koga's seal would threaten the safety of Karakura Town, so he specifically asked Toshiro to make the trip.
"Come, Muramasa. This fight must end!"
Toshiro declared loudly.
Muramasa could no longer suppress the rampaging power of the Gillian within him. So, although reluctant, Toshiro knew he had to thoroughly defeat Muramasa and end the fight.
"Hmph, perfect. Let's completely decide the outcome in this final moment."
Muramasa responded.
Toshiro spoke again: "Then... as a parting gift, in these last moments, I'll give you one final piece of advice… 'For Shinigami and Zanpakuto, each is a trusted, irreplaceable special existence for the other. Forcing submission through sheer power alone is not the way to use a Zanpakuto.'"
"Finally... I hope in your next life, you can encounter a true master!"
Hearing Toshiro's words, Muramasa couldn't help but tremble.
"Ice Dragon Flash!"
Toshiro muttered, compressing his vast, powerful Reiatsu into his Zanpakuto. The blade glowed with a dazzling ice-blue light.
Muramasa no longer suppressed the Hollow power within him. Instead, he poured the power of the Gillian and his own power into the blade in his right hand. For a moment, an ominous purple-black light filled the sky.
"Ha!"
"Ha!"
Toshiro and Muramasa charged at each other simultaneously.
Clang!
With the clash of their blades, their figures crossed, standing back to back.
Boom!
With a loud noise, dozens of hundred-meter-high waves surged. The rampaging shockwaves added the final spark to this already collapsing Inner World.
The space of the entire Inner World completely collapsed, a scene of apocalypse.
At this moment, if one looked from the outside, they would see that the huge red-black sphere that had been lingering there and rapidly expanding had developed huge cracks, and rampaging energy turbulence was even rushing out from within.
Plop!
Muramasa's body sank into the water with a plop.
"Toshiro, we need to leave this place quickly. This Inner World has collapsed and will soon completely disappear. Although this level of energy turbulence can't hurt you, staying here will still be quite miserable." Hyorinmaru's voice came from Toshiro's heart.
"Just leave... like this?" Toshiro murmured.
Muramasa's body sank endlessly in the water, as if falling into a bottomless abyss.
"Sound cannot reach..."
Muramasa's life experiences began to flash through his mind like a slideshow.
From the moment of his birth, to the time spent with Koga… these were relatively 'happy' experiences for Muramasa.
However, because of Muramasa's ability, Koga was feared by enemies and resented by comrades. Then, after being framed, Koga began to increasingly hate his own Zanpakuto. The distance between their hearts grew wider and wider, until Muramasa could no longer hear Koga's call.
Then Koga was sealed. Unaware of this, Muramasa believed Koga had stopped calling him. He sat alone and lonely in his Inner World, watching the unchanging scenery, spending long, endless years.
Until Muramasa could no longer bear it and actively investigated Koga's situation, only then did he discover that Koga had been sealed.
So, to rescue Koga, Muramasa devoted all his efforts. Despite the damage to his body, he forcibly devoured the power of Gillian. Despite the gap in strength with the Gotei 13, he took risks, orchestrating a series of events to throw the Soul Society into chaos.
Everything Muramasa did, everything, was to rescue Koga. Even though Muramasa knew in his heart that Koga didn't care about him, even though he knew that even if he rescued Koga, Koga might not appreciate it, Muramasa still did it.
And the result...
Although he worked hard with a faint hope, he was still abandoned.
Not only abandoned, but also attacked with a blade, nearly killed.
"Is this... a life flashing before my eyes?"
"My life... has been quite a failure." Muramasa smiled bitterly.
"For some reason, even though that man abandoned me, in these final moments of life, I still desperately want to hear him call my name."
Just then, a voice seemed to sound from the depths of Muramasa's soul.
"Muramasa!"
Hearing someone call him, Muramasa suddenly opened his eyes.
"Hitsugaya Toshiro's voice? How ironic. Your voice can reach the depths of my soul?" Muramasa said with a complex tone, both disappointed and moved.
Disappointed that he never heard Koga's call until the end. Moved that he had an opponent like Toshiro who understood him.
"Muramasa!"
The call from the soul came again. Although it wasn't Koga, but Toshiro's voice, in his hazy state, Muramasa subconsciously and yearningly reached out his hand.
Slap!
A slender, youthful hand reached out and firmly grasped Muramasa's hand.
"What happened!?" Rukia asked, her expression uncertain.
Just moments ago, after they had finished off the remaining Gillian, the huge red-black sphere that had been lingering there suddenly split open with countless huge cracks. Powerful energy turbulence surged out from those fissures.
Fortunately, they were at some distance from the huge red-black sphere, and being Captain and Lieutenant level experts, they weren't harmed.
"Although the reason is unclear, the Hollow's Reiatsu and that huge red-black sphere have both disappeared." Sode no Shirayuki said.
"Ah! It's Shiro-chan!!" Momo suddenly exclaimed.
"Indeed, although it's hard to see clearly, it is definitely the Captain's Reiatsu." Rangiku looked at the place where the huge red-black sphere had been.
Where the huge red-black sphere had lingered, white mist filled the area, and human figures were vaguely visible.
So Momo, Rangiku, Byakuya, and the others immediately used Shunpo to head in that direction.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Their figures appeared on the scene. They were surprised to see Muramasa wounded on the ground, while Toshiro knelt beside him, holding Muramasa's right hand.
"So this is... mutual understanding, the feeling of souls merging?" Muramasa said haltingly.
Toshiro said calmly, "Mm."
Muramasa looked somewhat regretful. "I led Koga astray."
Toshiro sighed. "To err is human. In your next life... correct your mistakes."
"Yeah, in my next life, I'll correct my mistakes. And then someday... surely..."
Before Muramasa could finish, his right hand slipped powerlessly from Toshiro's grasp. His body transformed back into a Zanpakuto, falling to the ground with a clink, snapping in two. Then it dissolved into Reishi and disappeared into the world.