V The Jungle Jam (Complete)

[Jade Callisto]

"Thank you....." Muramasa said as he was sliced in half by the attack that was meant to slice off an arm originally. Muramasa moved fast enough to be caught straight in the middle, it intentionally moved to be slain, unlike most foes that would do the opposite. "Thank you to you both, from all of us." said a collective of voices of all races, genders and ages all at the same time in unison. That had to be all of the souls that Muramasa had consumed. As his body dissolved into spirtual particles, only Ichigo could see all the souls who were trapped within the form of Muramasa in their actual bodies, four of which that were also Soul Reapers that appeared in the magic circle that Muramasa made before the fight.

One of them was a teenage girl in appearance with blonde hair with pink highlights, blue eyes, and fair peach skin.This one had to be Kaeri. She along with the other three Soul Reapers whose names had not been spoken, gratefully bowed to Ichigo. One of them was an old man with a sash and badge on his outfit. The other two were adult men, one with black hair similar in appearance to Ichigo's but he was much thinner and the other was a well built bald man with shades. Each of them then took out their Zanpakuto in their normal katana like state then showed Ichigo their true forms. To Ichigo he would see that each of these four swords that the Soul Reapers showed were also the same ones that Muramasa had in his cursed form in each hand. They said nothing, but gave a knowing nod as if to give Ichigo a hint of sorts before vanishing with the rest of the souls.

All of this was not seen by Jade, instead she saw many balls of light going into the sky. She could however tell something was there, albeit only a little bit. The light of the magic circle vanished and their way to the portal was cleared. "Was that all the souls that were trapped within it?" Jade had asked since she could not see the whole forms of the souls that had departed. "I only saw orbs of light fly into the sky, did you see anything Ichigo?" Jade guessed since Ichigo is a Soul Reaper, Substitute Soul Reaper but still he was previously a spiritual being. "With that done let's go into the portal, or do you need a minute to process what happened?" Jade asked with a concerned look on her face.

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

Ichigo's eyes widened the moment that he felt his blade seemingly connect with Maramasa's skull, cleaving it cleanly in two. Wasn't he just aiming for its limbs?! That could only mean...

"...So you were holding back after all, huh?"

The reaper states in utter disbelief. Yeah, it was likely that if this accursed Samurai had gone all out from the beginning? That both he and Jade would have had no chance of coming out victorious. As the souls were released the boy gazes up at the sky with a bittersweet expression, but he does not say a word in return to their thanks.

Then, turning to look at the Soul Reapers within the magic circle he watches on at first in the same way he does with the other souls but upon seeing the incredibly bizarre ability to change the form of their blades he came to the realization that the four that the Monstrosity was wielding? Those were the blades of each of them. And that nod?... Does that mean that all Shinigami were capable of achieving such a state? The energy being let off of them was immense, almost suffocating to Ichigo.

"...I don't really get what you are trying to tell me but I think you're telling me that I can reach something like that too right?"

The teen says with a small smile as he tightly grips the hilt of his own blade.

"Rest in peace."

Ichigo comments while joining his companion in seeing off the rest of the souls, still with that bittersweet smile on his face.

"Yeah. I can see them as clear as day; Men, Women, Children all of them slowly ascending to their long-awaited rest in the afterlife after hundreds of years of torment with smiles on their faces. I think I'm finally starting to understand what it means to be a Soul Reaper."

The Substitute begins to trail off towards the portal while at the same time sheathing his Zanpakutō.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

Ichigo replies, walking past the Draconoid.