Back in (Y/N)'s inner world

(Y/N) stared ??? down. ??? Just signed.

???: We don't have to do this, (Y/N)...

(Y/N): I don't want to do this either, but we don't have much of a choice...

???: You truly want to fight?

(Y/N): Sometimes actions speak louder than words. If that's what I have to do to make you understand things from my perspective, then I'll fight.

???: ... Fine then. A fair one on one is more than enough. No arrancars.

(Y/N): Fine by me.

https://youtu.be/FnqRbHJ-So8

(Y/N) activated hollowfication and rushed in to cut ??? but was parried easily. (Y/N) swung his scythe a few more times but once again, it was blocked and countered easily.

???: You're better off giving up.

(Y/N): If I gave up, I'd fail everyone who's put their faith in me!

(Y/N) started swinging his scythe masterfully as he finally started to cut through ???'s skin.



???: Gaining strength is good and all but you don't seem to understand how drunk people get when they attain overwhelming power.

??? retaliated with swift precise swings of his sword that (Y/N) narrowly dodged. The strength of the swings created shockwaves that cleaved through the palace walls. The arrancars in the area ducked to dodge the attack to prevent being collateral damage.

???: Nobody is immune to change nor temptation!

??? landed a slash into (Y/N)'s shoulder.

(Y/N) grabbed onto ???'s hand and casted Bakudō #4. Hainawa. The spell wrapped around ???'s waist and (Y/N) swung the spiritual rope throwing ??? into one of the pillars of the palace.

(Y/N): Get real! We're only human! Nobody's perfect! I'm no saint myself! Yeah I'm nice, but I also have my moments where I'm sad, angry, or cocky. That's simply human nature!

??? pulled himself out of the pillar and flash stepped behind (Y/N) and tried to kick him but (Y/N) backed away.

???: So you would willingly allow yourself to be consumed by power?

(Y/N): Of course not, don't be ridiculous! I've seen first hand from Aizen what that's like and I never want to go down that path! But what other choice do we have? Besides, I have my friends to help keep me in line if I ever change.

???: You trust in them that much?

(Y/N): I do...

???: Naive...

(Y/N): Or maybe you're too pessimistic.

(Y/N) and ??? traded blows. When one person landed a hit, the other returned one in exchange. One counter was met with another. Eventually (Y/N) and ??? knocked each of their weapons out of each other's hands.

??? dashed towards (Y/N) and grabbed him by the throat before lifting and slamming (Y/N)'s body into the floor, breaking and falling to another floor of the castle.

???: Look at this palace, this is a result of your desperate need of power!

(Y/N): And it'll be fixed once I know I have what it takes to protect the people closest to me!

(Y/N) kicked ??? off of him, causing ??? to let go of him in the process.

??? got up and and his arms started to glow as his hands started to produce spiritual energy in the shape of claws.

(Y/N) picked up a piece of rubble that was on the floor and threw it at ??? but he simply flew at binding speeds towards (Y/N), cutting through the debris in the process. (Y/N) tried to create space between them but ??? grabbed and threw him to the floor and stomped on him.



???: I'll make sure you understand that overwhelming strength only leads to destruction.

(Y/N) used a cero to break through the floor, causing ??? to lose his grip on (Y/N).

As they were falling, (Y/N) grabbed onto ??? and piledrived him into the floor of the palace.



(Y/N): I see what the problem is...

??? got up and looked at (Y/N), confused.

???: And what exactly do you mean by that?

(Y/N): You're scared.

???'s eyes widened and he immediately rushed towards and landed a devastating combo, slashing into (Y/N) multiple times.



???: There's no fear in my words, only the truth...

(Y/N) got off the floor, bloodied and bruised.

(Y/N): That reaction said otherwise. Remember when I said actions spoke louder than words? You're proving me right.

???: In what way!?

??? rushed towards (Y/N) again and (Y/N) did the same. They fought intensely with (Y/N) slowly predicting ???'s attacks.

???: You lashed out the moment I pointed out how scared you were!

(Y/N) then landed a brutal punch to ???'s face. The punch sent ??? flying.

(Y/N): You want to know what you're so scared of!

???: Please, enlighten me...

(Y/N): You're scared of your own strength.

??? didn't say anything.

(Y/N): You don't know the extent of your own strength. And you were scared to know what would happen if you fought all out.

???: The ability to tamper with death in any way is a dangerous ability... You don't know how much of a taboo that is...

(Y/N): That much is obvious.

???: Do you think I would willingly give someone the strength to control such an aspect of life so easily?

(Y/N): Nobody blames you for not wanting to give the power out so easily. The problem was not communicating with me and Thanatos.

(Y/N) offered his hand to ??? to help him get off the floor.

(Y/N): Come on, let's discuss this properly. All of us.

??? thought about it for a while before he accepted (Y/N)'s gesture and got off of the ground. ??? then defused, separating with Thanatos.

Thanatos: I'll kill you next time you do that without permission.

???: My apologies.

(Y/N): Now that we're both here let's head back to the throne room.

???: That won't be necessary, we don't have much time. We can just discuss things here.

Thanatos: Well out with it, what is your name? What does Ankou become when he uses Bankai?

???: You could've at least allowed (Y/N) to ask the question, he'll be the one benefitting from this afterall. *sign* No matter. My name is Shi no Tensei Azuraeru, or Azrael for short. I apologize for my late introduction and for my hostile nature.

(Y/N): It's nice to meet you, Azrael. Now then, what's so dangerous about your true power that you'd fight both me and Thanatos just to protect it?

Azrael: The abilities that you have now aren't to its fullest potential. For example your ability to summon hollows. You aren't limited to summoning hollows, rather, you could summon anybody that you've slain previously, while in Bankai.

(Y/N) was stunned by the revelation.

(Y/N): You mean like if I killed a-

Azrael: A shinigami, yes... Your ability was only limited to Hollows in Shikai thanks to my connection with Thanatos, who's a reflection of your Hollow powers. However Bankai opens that possibility to just about anything.

(Y/N): And considering I learned Bankai during the invasion of Soul Society, you didn't want me going out of my way to kill Shinigamis to become stronger and slowly become numb to the idea of killing others.

Azrael: That's correct.

(Y/N) and Thanatos: You're such an idiot.

Azrael: H-Huh?

Thanatos: After all those times I've tried to convince him to kill those pesky Shinigamis and he shot down my idea, I thought you'd learn by now that (Y/N) is too soft to go around killing people.

(Y/N): He's right, even when Thanatos offered to give me the power to kill everyone, I didn't budge. I can't bring myself to do that.

Azrael stood in silence for a few seconds before he burst out in laughter. Thanatos and (Y/N) looked at each other in confusion.

Thanatos: I think he lost it.

(Y/N): Same.

Azrael: Sorry, Sorry... I just... I feel stupid for not having faith in you. I let my insecurities get in the way of saving the people we promised to take care of.

(Y/N): Well I'm glad we could come to some sort of agreement.

Azrael: Alright then... Now that we cleared things up, there's still one more thing about your full power that I haven't told you.

(Y/N): What is it?

Azrael: Your reishi absorption ability. It's much more powerful than it was prior. You'd be able to absorb reishi much more efficiently than you did previously

(Y/N): Understood.

Thanatos: And don't forget your Resurreccion.

(Y/N): Oh right, I haven't trained for-

Thanatos: There was no training for resurreccion. You already know how to tap into your hollow powers from the hollowfication training. Think of it as using Bankai but instead of using your zanpakuto raise your hollow powers instead.

(Y/N): That seems simple enough... Guess that's why Tosen had access to it so easily.

Thanatos: Once you learn to control the hollow within, resurreccion should come naturally. Speaking of, your resureccion ability...

(Y/N): Hm? What is it?

Thanatos: Cero Reversión. It'll allow you to perform a devastating cero using your opponent's spiritual energy instead of your own. Meaning the higher your opponent's spiritual energy the more damaging it becomes.

(Y/N): And against someone like Aizen, it's one of the best abilities I could ask for.

Azrael and Thanatos turned to (Y/N).

Azrael: Be careful out there, (Y/N). Despite the strength you have now, the Hogyoku is constantly giving Aizen strength.

Thanatos: You have to go all out from the start.

(Y/N): Yeah I know. We can't allow Aizen to continue to increase his strength.

Azrael: Good Luck (Y/N).

(Y/N) gave both Azrael and Thanatos a thumbs up as he exited his inner world.

(Meanwhile) In the World of the Living.

Harribel and Starrk were panting heavily. The new form that (Y/N) had taken was new to Starrk and Harribel.

Harribel: What kind of form is that...?

Starrk: Is it his way of becoming an arrancar instead of a shinigami?

Harribel: It's possible... Regardless, he's far too strong as he is right now.

Lilynette: I hate to say, but we might have to kill him.

Harribel: No. (Y/N) will control it.

Starrk: You seem to have a lot of faith in him.

Harribel: He hasn't given us a reason to distrust him yet.

Just then the being stood still as stood upright.

Starrk: Say, isn't it starting to act more human?

Harribel: Maybe he's starting to come through.

The arrancar stood there for a few minutes, not moving, until the body of the arrancar started to crack and shatter, revealing (Y/N) again, in his original shinigami clothes, without his zanpakuto released.

(Y/N) snapped out of his daze and started to stumble. Luckily Starrk and Harribel both caught him.

Starrk: You look like you need a nap.

Harribel: Take some time to get some rest.

(Y/N): Heh... Nah, just a bit dizzy... Once my wounds are healed I can get moving...

Lilynette: Does that mean you learned how to use resurreccion?

(Y/N): That and more... Trust me, I think we got a pretty good shot at taken down Aizen...

To be continued.

So, big reveals in this chapter. One is that we finally get the name of (Y/N)'s Bankai, Azrael. If you haven't noticed by now, both Thanatos and Azrael are considered Entities that have control over death in their respective Mythos.

Second is that with (Y/N)'s full power Bankai, he can actually summon anyone he kills. This opens up the possibilites of (Y/N)'s ability.

There's also (Y/N) gaining his resurreccion. You won't see it right now though.

Look forward to it.