Since that day when he had stumbled upon the true name of the Asauchi and released it, Taka had never again attempted to fully unleash this power.
Firstly, because for these two years he had basically been training in Hayama, with no suitable occasion to use it. At most, he studied some special sword techniques utilizing the Asauchi, like the thrusting technique, Fang Thrust.
Secondly, he deliberately chose not to use this power.
The Asauchi, also known as a Zanpakuto.
It was a sword forged by craftsmen in the Soul Society using souls, capable of communing with its user's heart and drawing out the user's own true power.
By learning the true name of the Zanpakuto, the user could release a power unique to themselves. It was a one-of-a-kind weapon.
In Taka's memory, there was a faint understanding of the Asauchi, but he was very clear that a street urchin from Rukongai like himself could not possibly possess his own Asauchi.
So without a doubt, this Asauchi of his must have been forced upon him by that man named Aizen, a test subject exiled just like himself.
Thinking of this, Taka felt some resistance towards the Zanpakuto. Unless in critical moments when he would use it in its Asauchi form, he basically never touched the thing.
But not now… The demon opposite him was strong, too strong for his Wind Breathing to overcome.
While Rokuro was still rambling on, he slowly sank his consciousness into his Inner World, searching dazedly and uneasily for his true self deep within his soul....
His consciousness sank, as if falling into a bottomless deep pool. Opening his eyes again, Taka couldn't help but feel his heart sink.
This place was not empty. Beneath his feet were cracked, hardened, desolate streets. The air was filled with a leaden grey haze that oppressed the breath.
Rukongai, District 78: Inuzuri.
The endless cold and hunger seemed to pierce through the barriers of reality, forming dirty and dilapidated streets in Taka's Inner World, allowing him to wander through them.
"Grrr...." A threatening low growl sounded, catching Taka's attention.
A few steps away, a scrawny little boy in ragged clothes stood there.
Beneath his wild, straw-like hair, a pair of eyes burned with the ferocity of a starving wolf cub, staring fixedly at him.
Beside the boy crouched an equally thin tanuki-wolf.
Its fur was dull and lusterless, its ribs clearly countable beneath its skin. Only its animal pupils shone with the pure, cruel light of wildness.
They're clearly one was human, one beast, yet they were so alike.
[Why?]
Although the tanuki-wolf never opened its mouth, Taka could hear the hoarse growls in its throat, hoarse and gloomy:
[Why do you fight for those unrelated people?]
[Why do you provoke a monster you cannot defeat?]
[Why don't you run away?]
The voice struck Taka's soul again and again. The tanuki-wolf's figure drew closer and closer.
[Taka, have you forgotten? Forgotten the survival lessons we learned through blood, sweat, and pain?]
[Don't forget, we are family!]
As for the small boy, he did not speak. Only his ferocious eyes locked firmly onto Taka, churning with the same anger and confusion.
Taka quietly watched the tanuki-wolf approach him step by step, and finally spoke:
"....They saved me, taught me... acknowledged me. At the very least, I have to avenge them..."
[Foolish!]
The tanuki-wolf suddenly stood, its hind legs tensing. In a blurred flash, it pounced right in front of Taka!
[Your heart has grown weak, Taka!]
[Live! Remember! We promised… no matter how miserable, how difficult, we would live!]
[What are you doing now? Risking your life for others? Have you forgotten crawling like a maggot through the garbage heaps?!]
Sharp beast claws, carrying a malice that tore at the soul, viciously swiped at Taka's face!
Taka's movements were much slower here. The tanuki-wolf tore a wound on his cheek, and he rolled back miserably. His soul instantly felt a sharp, tearing pain!
But the tanuki-wolf was not satisfied. It kept pouncing on him.
Every claw swipe and bite carried the desire to devour his very existence.
Taka knew this was the Zanpakuto's angry punishment for his act of weakness and betrayal of his own survival creed.
The grey-black claw wind tore illusory wounds across his spiritual body, yet the pain was incomparably real.
[Fight back! Defeat me! Steal like before!]
The tanuki-wolf was clearly getting anxious. It opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and roared angrily.
But Taka still did not fight back.
"I haven't forgotten. I haven't changed."
"Those pains and hungers, the gloomy cold of death brushing against my soul, I will never forget... That makes me grateful for everything I have now!"
"This is not weakness. It's just that I have found a reason to swing my sword, besides merely struggling to survive!"
"Help me! Help me defeat this monster!"
The two were originally one. Fighting each other was meaningless. He had to make the Zanpakuto accept his will.
Only then could they truly commune heart-to-heart and be wielded by him.
Just as the tanuki-wolf's fangs were about to pierce Taka's throat, the small boy in the distance finally spoke:
"Enough! Tonan!"
He casually reached out, and that small body seemed able to traverse space, directly grabbing the tanuki-wolf by the scruff of its neck.
The savage beast, so fierce moments ago, instantly calmed down at this grip, letting out whimpering pleas as he dragged it to his side.
The small boy looked up, his gaze meeting Taka's from afar, his voice transmitting directly into Taka's mind:
"Your resolve, I have received it...."
"Taka, since you have decided to fight for others, as family, we will fight with you..."
"And... we cannot let this one before us get away!"
The small boy's voice rose, carrying a kind of manic cruelty:
"That thing killed people, stole things from others... Then we kill it! Take back everything it stole from others, with interest!"
"Let it taste what it's like to be plundered completely, to be utterly annihilated! Whether demon or Shinigami, we cannot let them off!"
The tanuki-wolf beside him, sensing this violent killing intent, suddenly raised its head and let out a greedy howl:
[Awooo—!!]
The small boy's voice grew louder and louder, beginning to echo like a great bell in Taka's mind, continuously assaulting his spiritual world.
The entire Inuzuri District of the Inner World began to tremble, as if it might collapse at any moment!
[Live! Taka! Live no matter what!]
[Look straight ahead! Don't be weak!]
[Plunder! Tear!]
[Call out my name—!!]
Reality, Osaki Hachiman Shrine.
Rokuro grandly finished his proposal, but received no reply from Taka.
Instead, after the other sheathed his Nichirin Sword, his aura felt increasingly dangerous....
He had already decided to simply flee.
Taka's fingers curled into claws, tightly gripping the damaged Asauchi. The grey-black aura around him grew stronger and stronger, until it condensed into substance. Even Rokuro opposite him watched the surging Reiatsu on his body in disbelief!
"—Chew and Swallow!"
"Tonan!!"
Hum—!
Grey-black Reiatsu, like volcanic magma suppressed for ten thousand years, erupted with a roar!
Violent air waves, with Taka at the center, blasted outward in all directions!
The blood-soaked stone bricks beneath his feet instantly shattered, were thrown up, and turned to dust!
The shrine's damaged pillars were shaken until they cracked, wood chips raining down like a storm!
That battered Asauchi, before Rokuro's astonished eyes, began to transform, rapidly shedding its rust, swelling and changing!
In the blink of an eye, it suddenly became a grey-black serrated greatsword, over five shaku long, its form ferocious and brutal!
The blade was slightly curved, carrying a savage curve ready to tear and shatter everything at any moment. The serrations on its edge gleamed in the moonlight, like the terrible maw of an ancient beast!
"What is that thing! What are you?!"
The composure on Rokuro's face completely vanished. The aura emanating from this sword was far too dangerous. If he were struck by it... he would die!
His answer was Taka's movement.
He only saw a grey-black afterimage flash on the spot, and then felt his sleeve grow cold...
Pffft—!!
A severed arm flew high!