Shinigami Savant Quest #64

You are Kusajishi Riku, Captain of the Seireitei Court Guard's Ninth Division. After awaking from nearly two weeks of unconsciousness induced by overexertion while sealing an unstable rift between Hueco Mundo and the living world, you've finally tracked down former Captain Hirako Shinji and his vizard comrades in order to check on your nephew.

The vizards were hiding under an abandoned warehouse just outside Karakura town, and after a repulsing a rather rude welcome with a show of force you, Apacci, and Rukia were led to meet with the Captains and Lieutenants who were driven into exile one hundred years ago. These are faces you haven't seen in a very long time, belonging to what should be kindred spirits. You are after all in the same position, that of shinigami who regardless of their own intents have obtained hollow powers: despite not having been especially close before the incident, you share that same experience in common which has shaped you all into who and what you are now.

So why does it feel like the distance between you has only grown?

“Can't you... you know,” you gesture vaguely to Shinji. “Control your hollow powers properly?”

“The hell are you talkin' about?” the blonde former-shinigami replies with a toothy scowl. “You're not makin' any sense.”

“I mean you're dominating your hollows to don those masks, right?” you ask, remembering how you too used to call on Rosa before coming to your present agreement. “You haven't figured out a way to cooperate with them, even with Urahara's advice?”

“No,” Shinji admits with a look of slowly dawning comprehension. “Nothin' like that. Why, what have you done?”

What HAVE you done? It seems that's a question you've never really asked yourself, presuming that since you, Yoruichi, and all of the arrancar you've worked with have come to roughly similar “end points” regarding the form of their sealed hollow powers that was simply the logical result.
>1/2

What is an “inner hollow”? Rosa is the personification of your former selves' rage and memories, and by all accounts has always been with you in some fashion even if you were not aware of her. Yoruichi's hollow seems to be some manner of primal instinct that she herself has struggled to describe, but with whom she was able to reach a tacit agreement. It has to be “tacit” because according to her Raijūsenkō is incapable of speech, and although it can understand when Yoruichi speaks to it she confided in you that it “barely listens”.

Apacci, Halibel, and the rest are another situation still. They seemed perfectly able to channel their “hollow” abilities into swords, and in doing so began to take much more clearly human form. Even before they did so it's your understanding that the hollow evolutionary process moves increasingly towards that sort of form as one progresses to Vasto Lorde. Forget “inner hollows”, sometimes you have to wonder about those processes that affect “regular” hollows.

But this handful of shinigami apparently have never progressed beyond 'basic' hollowfication. What about them is different, or is it merely a question of opportunity? And what does this mean for your nephew Ichigo, and his future?

>Question the Vizards: why haven't they advanced beyond hollowfication?
>Ask what happened to them during the hollowfication incident?
>Explain the situation with Rosa, see how they react?
>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.

>Question the Vizards: why haven't they advanced beyond hollowfication?
>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.
>Explain the situation with Rosa, see how they react?
That order.

>>Explain the situation with Rosa, see how they react?

>Question the Vizards: why haven't they advanced beyond hollowfication?
>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.
>Explain the situation with Rosa, see how they react?

>>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.

shock & awe 'em

>Ask what happened to them during the hollowfication incident?
>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.

Might help on narrowing down on where it all went wrong. Aside from the fact that Hollowification happened in the first place.

>writing

“I kind of assumed that was just how it worked,” you admit with a shrug. “I mean your inner hollows are a part of you, I just assumed that everyone who ended up in our situation would come to terms with it. Find a way to coexist and cooperate.”

“No?” Shinji replies. “Why would we wanna coexist with somethin' like that!?”

“So you didn't even try it?” you ask

“Of course not!”

“Well,” you insist, crossing your arms in front of you, “it IS possible. I managed it first, then Yoruichi followed more recently. Her inner hollow's a bit... hard to work with, from what she's told me.”

“She told you about her inner hollow?” Rose asks, scratching his hair. “That's bizarre. I'd never even think to tell anyone about mine.”

“Maybe that's part of it?” Love suggests. “The attitude towards 'em?”

“I'm not so sure,” Lisa sighs, gesturing at Mashiro with her thumb as the green-haired vizard stares straight at Apacci's chest. The arrancar for her part is doing her best to ignore the scrutiny. “Mashiro over there got her hollow under control almost immediately, and can keep up hollowfication much longer than the rest of us. If she can't do it...”

Shinji frowns in contemplation. “You think it's somethin' unique to us?”

Lisa shrugs. “I can't say for sure.”

“Like I said,” you interrupt before Shinji has a chance to continue, “it's possible for two of us. Hachi, please reinforce your barrier.”

Hachigen turns to Shinji, who nods in affirmation. “Miss Kusajishi, how many layers should I add?”

“How many are up now?” you ask.

He looks thoughtfully into the distance for a moment. “After repairing the damage you caused, seven.”

“Raise another seven.”
>1/2

>“Raise another seven.”
Here we go

Hachigen's brow furrows. “...is that necessary?”

You draw Tenkotsuki's blade in your right hand, resting your left on Kobara no Tachi's hilt. “If it is, do you want to find out the hard way?”

“Point well taken,” he admits quietly as he sets to work doing as you asked.

“Prohibit, Tenkotsuki,” you declare, feeling a familiar surge of power as your first zanpakuto releases. Then, you turn your attention to the second.

“Raze, Kobara no Tachi!”

The release of spiritual pressure is sufficient to blow over anything nearby that hasn't been nailed to the ground, including the basin Ichigo has been washing dishes in which upturns in a massive splash of dirty water and silverware. He stares down at the mess with the same stupefied expression of a man whose car has just broken free of its parking break, rolled down a hill, and careened into a china shop.

Seven spectral tails of white reiatsu wave idly behind you as if carried aloft by the release of power, and you're aware by the way the vizards look at you that your eyes have darkened as well.

“This is the cooperation of which I speak,” you explain in a deeply resonant voice, holding out your double-edged sword to illustrate. “My zanpakuto are a part of myself... why should I reject them?”

“And you say you did this by cooperatin' with your hollow?” Shinji asks, his eyes narrowing.

“That's right,” you nod. “It's not hollowfication, but resurrecìon. More like an arrancar than anything else.”

>Explain to them that Rosa may be an unusual case?
>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?
>Suggest that if asauchi could be provided, one of them could try.
>Other?

>>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?

>Explain to them that Rosa may be an unusual case?
>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?
>Suggest that if asauchi could be provided, one of them could try.

>>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?

>>Suggest that if asauchi could be provided, one of them could try.

>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?

>Explain to them that Rosa may be an unusual case?

>Explain to them that Rosa may be an unusual case?
>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?
>Suggest that if asauchi could be provided, one of them could try.

>forgot to say, writing

The power that flows through your body right now is... different somehow that it normally is. It's not that it's stronger per se, but you can tell that it's much more violent than the other times you've used this double release. When you stop to think about it, it's probably because that son of a bitch Kensei's here. In a sense he's the ultimate reason for Rosa's rage, from which she was literally created and which sustains her now.

It would be so easy to end his existence right this very instant. Like strangling a poor, dumb animal too frightened to...

“Miss Kusajishi?” Hachi interrupts in as polite a tone as he can muster, snapping you out of your oddly murderous train of thought.

“Hm?” you reply, turning slightly to face him. “What is it?”

“Your spiritual pressure is causing damage to my barriers at an alarming rate,” he explains quietly. “If you continue at this pace...”

“I see,” you tell him with a nod, sealing Kobara no Tachi and sheathing Tenkotsuki. For once, it's almost as if Rosa resists letting you seal her... she really wants Kensei dead, and Tenkotsuki is probably focusing on making sure she can't manifest of her own accord and do the deed herself. So you seal Tenkotsuki as well, allowing her to focus fully on the task.

You get the sensation she's grateful for you consideration.

“Rosa, my inner hollow, has been with me my entire life,” you explain thoughtfully, trying to take your own mind off that murderous intent not wholly your own. “She is rage personified: the rage that without her I might be incapable of feeling. By accepting that her feelings and memories are an inescapable part of me, I was able to forge her into a second zanpakuto. Losing hollowfication to do so was a sign of trust, and I've never regretted it.”
>1/2

“It's like what we arrancar do,” Apacci adds, patting the sword on her own hip. “This thing may not have its own soul, but it's what you could call the “hollowy” part of me. I accept that no matter what I do lookin' like this, those hollow abilities and instincts are mine too, and so I use 'em to fight. Doin' that means I start to go back to the way I was before.”

“How's it actually different?” Mashiro asks, suddenly pushing FAR too deep into your personal space. “Does it do anything cool?”

“It does,” you reply cautiously, not wanting to reveal its precise nature. “Same as Yoruichi's... well, same in principle, I mean.”

“You're not gonna tell me?” she pouts. “Come on, we're friends!”

“I refuse.”

“You're no fun, Riku. Even after all these years.”

You merely shrug off her concerns. “The difference doesn't seem to just be the fact that Rosa was already a distinct part of me before that night, because Yoruichi can do it too. So tell me... what happened to you that night?”

“You were there,” Shinji observes.

“I was mostly unconscious,” you counter. “I missed a lot of the finer points.”

“Well, I'm no good at stories,” Shinji sighs, scratching at the back of his neck. “Hiyori, you tell her.”

“Hell no!” Hiyori shoots back. “I'm not gonna do it just because you're too old to remember the details, moron!”

“You're too loud,” Shinji replies. “Guess I shoulda known better than to ask you to tell the story, shoutin' it at her's just gonna ruin Riku's ears before you're even done. Moron.”

“What was-” Hiyori begins, cocking back her arm.

“Urahara Kisuke used a small gem-like object to stabilize us,” Lisa explains succinctly.

“You coulda made it more interesting, you know!' Shinji moans.

“Well we certainly didn't contribute anything,” Lisa sighs. “Stop acting like you got cut out of a story you were never very important in.”
>2/3

>“Stop acting like you got cut out of a story you were never very important in.”

Ouch.

You struggle to suppress a laugh at how Shinji visibly deflates at Lisa's remark. He mutters something about thinking he wasn't unimportant, but you can't quite make out the precise words.

>So what happened then?
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?
>Did he explain anything about this gem?
>Other?

>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?
>Did he explain anything about this gem?

>So what happened then?
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?
>Did he explain anything about this gem?

>So what happened then?
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?
>Did he explain anything about this gem?

>So what happened then?
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?

Just wanna thank you for running, this is my favorite quest on Veeky Forums even if i only read it.

Good to have you along, user.

>writing

>Did he explain anything about this gem?
>Other?
"Ichigo, did Urahara mention or use the same gem on you?"

If not, at least we have a control group that isn't Riku.

“So you think maybe whatever it is Urahara did to you is what made the difference?” you press quietly. “I mean, there are no other alternatives that any of us can think of.”

Next to Ichigo, Rukia mutters something borderline inaudible. If you couldn't feel her reiatsu there you might have forgotten about her.

“What was that?”

“I said that if it was Captain Urahara that stabilized these officers,” she repeats more loudly, “I have no doubt he knows the precise answer to that, ma'am. I get the distinct impression he does nothing by accident. Perhaps in a 'mistake', but never an accident.”

Fair... he's always maintained his own quiet concerns about you and your 'true' nature, as well as the ongoing situation with Yoruichi's hollow powers. And though he never seems to share his concerns with anybody, it strains credulity to believe that he never acts on them.

“Did Urahara mention anything about this to you Ichigo?” you ask. Your nephew shakes his head.

“It's news to me.”

“He may not even know what it does,” Hiyori admits in a much quieter voice than usual.

Shinji turns to face her. “You know I get that you don't like the guy...”

“That's not it at all,” she interrupts, not even going out of her way to insult Shinji this time. “Captain Urahara's a scientist. If he doesn't know the answer to a question, he creates a scenario where he can learn the answer. It's just what he does.”

“Hang on,” Love jumps in from atop the nearby rock where he's been sitting, listening. “You're trying to tell me Kisuke was the one experimenting on us? That's... pretty far out there, Hiyori.”
>1/2

“That's not it either,” the snagglytoothed vizard sighs, growing increasingly irritated that nobody seems to get what she's saying. “What I'm trying to say is that Captain Urahara may not have known for sure what that rock would've done to us... and that might have been part of the reason he used it. He STILL may not know quite what it is, and helping stabilize us mighta been a happy accident or somethin'.”

>Hiyori may be right. Kisuke's intently interested in all of us, and I'm not sure I trust him.
>I think Kisuke means well. He just has his own way of doing things that I might not approve of.
>... "stabilized" how, exactly?
>Other?

>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>>I think Kisuke means well. He just has his own way of doing things that I might not approve of.
>>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>I think Kisuke means well. He just has his own way of doing things that I might not approve of.
>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>I think Kisuke means well. He just has his own way of doing things that I might not approve of.
>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>writing
>also cooking, so it may be delayed a wee bit

“What do you mean 'stabilized', exactly?” you ask, puzzled at hearing the word come up a second time. “That makes no sense, you don't 'stabilize' something that's already been broken down.”

“What do you mean what do I mean?” Hiyori demands, back to her usual self. “Look, it's not like I know what happened, he just said we'd been stabilized. That's all I know, moron!”

Stabilized... so that implies the stone Urahara used that night on Aizen's other victims didn't affect the infectious agent involved, nor did it change their state back towards being “more shinigami”: it stopped them from changing, presumably in either direction? That almost sounds too specific to you, as if there has to be something more to it than that. An object that influences infections, sure. You could believe Urahara had something like that. An object that influences hollow and shinigami characteristics in a hybrid being? Possible, but it seems like a stretch even for him. But an item that halts an ongoing transformation between two states of existence? And then there's Hiyori's notion that it was a sort of “experiment” itself.

Is it possible that he only thought he knew what the Hōgyoku did, and if so... what does it really do?

“So it stabilized you,” you repeat. “Meaning, it stopped you from changing.”

Shinji seems to realize precisely what you're hinting at. “So you mean he's the reason we're stuck like this?”

“Stable doesn't mean “healed”, Shinji,” you remind him. “It's entirely possible that the lack of progress you've made in either direction is a result of the method Kisuke used to save your lives. Yoruichi and I subdued our initial hollowfications on our own, meaning we're not stuck the way you are.”
>1/2

It seems that the "vizards" are struggling to process the implications to your statement. Whether they choose to view Kisuke as their savior or as the one who doomed them to live out their lives firmly stuck between two forms of being, at home in neither, is up to each of them individually.

>Call Yoruichi, catch her up on these developments?
>Call Yoruichi, hint that Kisuke may be up to something.
>Say something else to one of the vizard?
>Talk to Ichigo about his training?
>Other?

>Call Yoruichi, catch her up on these developments?

>Call Yoruichi, catch her up on these developments?
>Tell her to punch Kisuke for us also
>Talk to Ichigo about his training?

>Say something else to one of the vizard?
>Other?
"If you want to revert back to a shinigami, I think one of Ichigo's friends got something that might do the trick. If you still want to harness your hollow side, it's up to you."

Lotta "ifs" on that one though.

>Talk to Ichigo about his training?
New training under Riku supervision now.

>>Call Yoruichi, hint that Kisuke may be up to something.

i love throwing ol' hat & clogs under the bus

>Call Yoruichi, catch her up on these developments?
>Talk to Ichigo about his training?

>writing

>Kensei, you better remember what you did back in 1789. As much as I tolerate being next to you, she and I are still angry about it.

“Oh, and Kensei?” you ask before stepping away to make a call and let the vizard come to terms with the situation.

“Yeah?” he grumbles, still rubbing his nose where you hit it. Dried blood over his upper lip is a reminder that not too long ago it was broken. “What is it?”

“Please remember this: there is a part of me that is literally born out of rage,” you tell him. “That being's rage can be traced directly back to what you did to our parents. Though I may tolerate your presence, a part of me will never be capable of truly forgiving you.”

Before he gets a chance to respond, you've already moved on and pulled out your denreishinki.

“Yoruichi, it's me,” you greet your wife curtly. “I've found the exiled officers and Ichigo. They're fine.”

“I saw that,” she chuckles lightly. “What's next for that nephew of yours, a skirt?”

“I'm working on it,” you reply. “Listen, Kisuke hasn't been straight with us.”

“I should hope so,” she jokes. What'd he do this time?”

“When he assisted the vizards he didn't heal them, or change their condition in any way,” you explain. “They seem to be stuck at the point we were initially, unable to either reverse their condition OR expand on their own hollow abilities. When he said he 'stabilized' them, he really meant exactly that.”

There's a pregnant pause from the other end of the line. “Dammit, Kisuke. Of all the things to lie about...”

In her voice there's a rare trace of disappointment. She's not shocked that Kisuke would keep something important to himself, or even that he might be doing something following his own rules. It's the tone of someone who's been here before, emotionally.

“I'll give him a crack over the head and get to the bottom of this,” she tells you. “You look out for Ichigo, okay?”

“That's the plan,” you reply. “Call me when you need me.”
>1/2

You can't say “I love you too”. Not in the presence of other people. But at this point in your lives, she knows what you mean when you say “yeah, you too”.

After hanging up you leave Apacci to chat with Mashiro, and join Rukia and Ichigo.

"So we were talking," Ichigo sighs, rubbing his head. "I've started to get the hang of this whole hollowfication thing, but from the sound of it Hirako was wrong when he told me we were the same."

"My mom mentioned something about the day my parents met. My inner hollow..."

>It's more like my own, I think.
>I don't know. I can't even speculate.
>His name was Kaien
>Other?

>>His name was Kaien

more glorious knowledge bombs

>His name was Kaien

>His name was Kaien

>His name was Kaien

>His name was Kaien Shiba
>A shimigami turned Hollow
>Why he turned hollow? Blame Aizen. Again.

>people going for the blacked out mystery box
this is gonna do something shitty isn't it.

>It's more like my own, I think.

>>His name was Kaien

Probably yeah. I kind of like Ichigo the way he is more or less.

That option wouldn't have been there had it not been for lucky dice and wise player agency (choosing shiba instead of the other family choice for adoption) back in the early sessions.

we essentially know the answer because we played smart enough to know. all the other options indicate we wouldn't have known the truth had we not played smart.

>His name was Kaien
>He was a good man

>writing

Best cat

“His name was Shiba Kaien,” you inform Ichigo, prompting Rukia to stare at you in disbelief. “Or at least that's what your father and I have always suspected. The former head of our clan who went missing decades before your birth.”

“How is that even possible!?” Ichigo demands loudly, grabbing you by the collar. “You're telling me my hollow was a person? Like... my uncle or something? Thant's insane!”

“That's Aizen for you,” you observe, grasping Ichigo's wrists and pulling them off of you. “You have a problem with it, I suggest you take it up with him.”

“You still didn't explain how it happened,” Ichigo repeats, calming down slightly. “I want to know, Riku. I want to know the truth.”

“I suspect your mother has told you what she knows,” you reply. “She was infected by a hollow that was basically engineered by Aizen to do exactly that. Being a quincy, her body began to reject the hollow presence and nearly underwent soul suicide.”

“That is what happens when two 'opposites' meet,” Rukia explains, pulling out a sketchbook to illustrate. “Hollow and quincy reiatsu are incompatible: one will always destroy the other for some unknown reason, or so I was instructed.”

“We don't really know the reason,” you add. “It's just one of those things you accept and move on. Men a lot smarter than I am have gone insane pondering details like that too closely.”

“In other words,” Rukia continues to draw, “when your mother began to hollowfy her soul would normally have been erased.”

“I get that,” Ichigo insists dismissively. “What I don't get is why my mom and inner hollow are rabbits.”

Rukia glares daggers at him. “Every time until you like it.”
>1/2

Fucking Rukia. I have lost my sides yet again due to her.

>Rukia glares daggers at him. “Every time until you like it.”
lewd

>Rukia glares daggers at him. “Every time until you like it.”
She's truly learned from the best, Brings a tear to my eyes.

>Riku makes that comment

>Rukia was not seen again for months, but they say the blush on her face was hot enough to melt steel beams

"So there you have it," you sigh. "The truth as I know... or rather, as I suspect it to be. Isshin gave up his powers as a shinigami to help balance the hollow reiatsu stuck inside your mother's soul, and when she gave birth to you both a fraction of your father's power, your mother's, AND the hollow were passed on to you. Your parents didn't want you to know, because it's when you've just started down the path towards developing spiritual powers that you're the most vulnerable."

"Better that you never gained those powers at all... but here we are."

"Yeah," your nephew repeats. "Here we are."

>Show me what your hollowfication can do.
>I know someone who can train you further, someone other than your parents. Would you like to meet her? (Bambietta)
>You're going home, young man. You and your family have a lot to discuss.
>I know someone who can tell you more about your hollow powers. (Apacci)
>I think I may know someone who can help us confirm the nature of your inner hollow...
>Other?

>>You're going home, young man. You and your family have a lot to discuss.

>Show me what your hollowfication can do.

>Show me what your hollowfication can do.

>You're going home, young man. You and your family have a lot to discuss.
tack on that should he wish to learn more about stuff we know people...

>Show me what your hollowfication can do.

>So... Which side of your powers would you like to develop? Which side interests you the most?
>I've got someone who can hook you up on learning your quincy side, someone who can help you develop and control your inner hollow better, or you can go it alone and improve on your own. So what's your choice?

>"I want it all."
>Ichigo I asked you a qu-
>"I want it all!"
>Listen to me you little shi-
>"AND I WANT IT NOW!

Kids these days with their music.

>writing
>3d10, DC 6

Rolled 3, 6, 5 = 14 (3d10)

boom
qwe ded

Rolled 6, 10, 6 = 22 (3d10)

WOO!

Yeah baby!

dayum girl. you still got it.

Rolled 3, 2, 6 = 11 (3d10)

Rolled 2, 5, 5 = 12 (3d6)

Rolled 7, 3, 8 = 18 (3d10)

Awww yisss

it's 3d10, not 3d6 user.

ohh sorry

...

...

I might have to find time to draw Riku doing pacha's meme gesture sometime.

Now then, to see where we stand.

“Ichigo,” you demand, quietly but firmly. “Hollowfy and punch me in the face.”

He looks at you, aghast. “What?”

“Do it,” you insist in the same even tone.

“Okay then,” he mutters, raising his hand to his forehead and concentrating spiritual energy there.

You cross the distance between you in an instant and hit him in the gut.

“Never said I was going to make it easy” you observe as he wheezes. “Again.”

Your nephew tries again to call out his mask, but again you punch him before he can complete the action. This time you hit him squarely in the face.

“Faster,” you order. “You won't have time to waste dicking around like that in battle.”

A third attempt is also thwarted with a kick to the side of the head, which follows a punch that Ichigo managed to anticipate and dodge.

“Quit messing around Ichigo, call out your hollow.”

A fourth attempt is met with a kidō chain that wraps around his ankle, slamming him to the ground.

“Ichigo, I'm getting annoyed now. Seriously, quit wasting my time and hollowfy.”

On the fifth attempt Ichigo roars as he releases his Bankai, and then manages to hollowfy much quicker. A punch strikes you squarely in the chest, breaking all of your illusory double's ribs as you sidestep faster than Ichigo can see. However he seems to realize what you've done, as he immediately turns to glare at you from behind an almost plain porcelain mask. Its only adornment is an estigma pattern on the left side, with three curving marks in deep blue like.
>1/2

... like the blades of a trident.

>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.
>There's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to...
>I need to take you to Urahara. As much as I hate it I need to confirm something.
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.

>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.
>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.

>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.
>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.

>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.
>If you're still interested in getting stronger... there's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to at a later time.

>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.

How does Apacci feel about teaching people? She's developed a knack for teaching since we put faith in her teaching others the modified Pesquisa technique. Does teaching help her shrink her hollow hole?

>>There's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to...

>There's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to...