3-5 Need to Find Out

That's seventy-one hours and forty-eight minutes. Who would have thought you'd ever last that long? I'm actually impressed.

You've passed with flying colors, Renji!

............

As for you, you've failed with a big, fat capital "F," Ichigo!

Wait! Gimme a chance. Hold on!

Nope! That's it. You failed. You flunked. You're done. The end. Toodle-loo!

But I can still keep going! Who said I'm done?! It's not like there's a time limit, is there?!

There's no time limit, but there is an emotional limit. I'm not saying that you couldn't go on...

...but you weren't chosen by an Asauchi. It just ain't gonna happen, bro. Game over. So you give my regards to everybody in Loserville, 'kay?

Wait!

Aw, quit whining, willya? So you've been rejected. Big deal! Suck it up. Take it like a man.

Over the last three days, Renji's shown that he's a Soul Reaper, while you, Ichigo, are not. It is what it is.

But don't worry, I've booked you a window seat on a return flight. So pack up, it's time for you to go home.

!!

Wh...

Mera! Pull him out of there, will you?

On it.

Wait! You're not serious. You're joking, right?

Oh, and one more thing. Don't come back to the Soul Society ever again.

The Soul Society is the land of Soul Reapers. An ordinary human without a Zanpakuto has no right even being here.

Hey, the hell with that! You really think I'm gonna walk away after coming this far? Just because you say so?! If I left now, what would happen to Zangetsu?

Far as that goes, it don't matter whether you leave or not, Zangetsu ain't gonna get fixed anyway. Not ever. Not by me, at least.

............

I know you're thinking, "Yo, but Oh-Etsu Nimaiya, you're the one and only original Zanpakuto creator! You're the Blade God, man!" I don't create swords for phony Soul Reapers.

You bastard!

Peace out, my brother. You take care now.

You're just no damn good to us as you are, Ichigo.

There's the fact that no Asauchi chose you, and the fact that you've fought this long without even having an Asauchi, and then there's the fact that you don't even get what that means.

Yo, man, you need to go back, Ichigo. Way, way back. Back to your roots. You need to find out where you come from, boy.

............!

Even if finding out means that you can never return again.

You could see it too, right? Your little friend Ichigo was never gonna be able to pass the test no matter how hard he tried.

............

I knew that 'cuz I know the whereabouts of every Asauchi I ever forged.

............!

Every Soul Reaper is given an Asauchi, and through continuous training we transform them into our own personal Zanpakuto...

That's the foundation and essence of the relationship between Soul Reapers and their Zanpakuto.

That will never change. It's true not just for every squad member and captain, but for us in Squad Zero, too.

It's true even for a stray, self-taught outlaw like Kenpachi Zaraki... He gained an Asauchi by lifting it off the corpse of a Soul Reaper.

There are no exceptions.

Since the dawn of the Soul Society, not a single Soul Reaper has ever awakened their own Zanpakuto without possessing an Asauchi. An Asauchi forged by me.

............

It was obvious from the get-go that this kind of training wasn't ever gonna work for him... It was so obvious. You even knew it too, right, brother?

The only one who doesn't get it is him. That's why I sent him home. 'Cuz he ain't never gonna get it...

...till he finds out who he is and where his soul came from.