"!!!"

Both Ichigo and White Ichigo were caught off guard by Ren's sudden appearance between them, and neither of them managed to halt their attack in time.

Two Tensa Zangetsu — one black and the other white — came slashing down toward Ren with terrifying force, yet his expression did not change in the slightest. He merely moved his hands slightly, clearly intending to catch both blades with his bare hands.

"Ren!!"

The moment Ichigo realized he was about to cut his own twin brother, his pupils shrank drastically. He tried with all his strength to stop Tensa Zangetsu mid-swing, but unfortunately, it was impossible.

BOOM!!

A thunderous explosion echoed throughout the place. Dust and destructive reiryoku burst outward in every direction, while both Ichigo and White Ichigo stared into the center of the blast, bracing themselves for the worst.

While Ichigo was filled with panic and guilt, White Ichigo stared ahead with a tense and wary expression — unlike Ichigo, he knew more… and he knew just how terrifying Ren truly was.

"Both of you… stop fighting."

Ren's calm voice rang out as the dust finally cleared, revealing him standing there nonchalantly, both Tensa Zangetsu firmly restrained in his grasp, unable to budge even a millimeter.

"You bastard! … You!!"

White Ichigo

roared, his face twisting with fury and fear as recognition dawned upon him.

"You're the one who tainted me with Hollow power!!"

"Ren…?"

Ichigo looked at his brother in confusion — not only because of White Ichigo's words, but because Ren was standing inside his inner world at all.

"Explaining this verbally would be annoying… so I'll show you everything directly."

Ren said, as his crystal-blue eyes turned blood-red, three crimson tomoe spinning within them.

The moment those eyes appeared, the expressions of both Ichigo and White Ichigo turned blank, and their bodies went completely limp.

—

Unknown Location.

The room was pristine and elegant, filled with the sharp scent of antiseptic. Dozens of monitors and neatly arranged computers lined the walls, along with rows of test tubes containing Shinigami and Hollows of varying forms.

Standing before the monitors was a man dressed in a black Shihakushō and a white haori with the kanji "Five" on its back. He wore simple black glasses and had a gentle smile — the kind an affectionate older brother from the house next door might wear.

"Aizen?!"

The moment he saw him, Ichigo froze and instinctively reached for Zangetsu on his back — only to grasp at nothing.

"It's pointless. We're inside my memories."

Ren said, giving Ichigo a small nod.

"Right now, we're just spectators — unable to interfere with the 'film' playing before us."

"Your… memories?"

Ichigo muttered in shock, his gaze shifting back and forth between Aizen and Ren in utter confusion.

"Yes. This moment was the true beginning of many things… the start of the distortion… the beginning of what you two are now."

Ren spoke quietly, completely devoid of emotion, his eyes fixed on Aizen as though rewatching a scene he had seen countless times before.

White Ichigo scowled deeply. He looked like he wanted to scream — but he couldn't. Here, even his voice and body were nothing more than silent observers.

On the screen before Aizen, detailed anatomical diagrams appeared, illustrating the structure of White's soul. Several glowing points showed overlapping energies: Shinigami, Hollow, and… Quincy.

"White was the first Hollow Aizen ever created from Shinigami souls," Ren explained slowly, his gaze drifting toward one of the test tubes.

White was an almost completely black Hollow. It had a white mask, and its light, white hair reached down to the middle of its back. Two long, forward-curving horns jutted out from the sides of its head, and its Hollow hole — located in its upper chest — was red and filled in. Instead of forearms, it possessed two blades.

"White was Aizen's most perfect creation — and also his most unstable — because it contained too many inherently conflicting energies," Ren continued calmly, turning his eyes back to Aizen.

"Most believe Aizen created Hollows just to test limits," Ren whispered, expression unchanged.

"But the truth runs deeper… he was trying to create something that transcended categorization — a being that conventional soul laws couldn't stop."

The screen shifted again, showing a rapid sequence of footage: White thrashing inside the test chamber, cycling wildly between forms — pure Hollow, Shinigami-like, and at times laced with faint blue Quincy-like energy… something no ordinary Hollow should ever possess.

Eyes widened — even White Ichigo, frozen in place, couldn't suppress his tension.

"Driven by curiosity and experimentation, Aizen released that unstable creature into Naruki City, to observe what would happen if it clashed with stationed Shinigami. Unfortunately — or perhaps fortunately — White possessed an intelligence terrifyingly close to humans and Shinigami alike… and that intelligence only grew with every soul it devoured."

Aizen, fascinated by this being that drifted closer to his ideal of perfection

, allowed it to roam freely through Naruki City for a long time. Its actions eventually drew the attention of the Soul Society due to multiple disappearances of on-duty Shinigami. One of the Captains grew suspicious and infiltrated the Human World to investigate.

For a normal Captain, such infiltration would be nearly impossible — but at the time, the Captain of the 10th Division was Shiba Isshin — a noble, former Head of one of the Great Houses, and thus in possession of a privately regulated Senkaimon, beyond Soul Society's surveillance.

Upon arriving in the Human World, Isshin encountered White — who initially ignored him, focusing on killing and devouring the weaker Shinigami first, growing stronger and smarter with each kill.

White was intelligent enough to distinguish the weak from the strong — and to avoid the strong until he was finished consuming the weak.

After killing the weaker Shinigami, White finally clashed with Isshin in a fierce battle, so destructive that they eventually reached Karakura Town, unintentionally drawing the attention of the local Quincy.

According to Quincy rules, they never interfere in a battle between Shinigami and Hollows until the Shinigami dies first.

It may sound cruel — but understandable, considering their race was almost wiped out by Shinigami.

However…

There was one Quincy who ignored tradition entirely and rushed into the battle — fearless, reckless, and brave.

"That Quincy was a beautiful, noble woman… though she was a bit foolish."

As Ren described her, a faint longing and melancholy flickered in his crystal-blue eyes.

"Her name… was Kurosaki Masaki."

"Mother?!"

Even though Ichigo sensed something deeply wrong in the way Ren said it — as if he had been there himself — all his attention snapped instantly to his mother's name.

...

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