"Y-Yuna, you aren't like Ichigo, right? You remember Tsukishima, right? You remember how he always helped us out and how he helped you become stronger?"

Hearing Orihime's words, a smirk appeared on Yuna's face as her gaze landed on Tsukishima.

"Helped me become stronger? That little boy? Hehe, how amusing~"

"Yuna, are you Tsukishima's enemy as well?"

Next, Sado asked Yuna a question, resulting in another amusement-filled chuckle. Yuna briefly met eyes with Orihime and Sado, and seeing the emotions in their eyes, she could only shake her head.

'They are confused, doubtful, and filled with uncertainties. Not sure how exactly that boy's brainwashing works, but it clearly isn't perfect. However, it's rather fascinating how he didn't just make these two think that they were friends; he actually appeared in their past memories, as if they really went through all these adventures together.

That's quite a terrifying form of brainwashing since even when you find out that something feels off about your memories, trying to break through it is still incredibly hard. After all, you only had memories that clearly explained why you were his friend, making it very hard to find out the problem yourself.

If Orihime and Sado had never met Ichigo, who "suddenly" acted aggressively toward Tsukishima, I doubt they would have ever had any doubts in regard to Tsukishima.'

Yuna quickly analyzed the situation, and after quickly contemplating Tsukishima's brainwashing capabilities and rating how dangerous it was and how it could possibly work, Yuna only shrugged her shoulders at Sado's question.

"Yeah, sorry, Sado, but from what I can see, I'm firmly on Ichigo's side on this one."

The moment Yuna stopped speaking, Orihime and Sado lowered their stances, ready for combat, resulting in Sado's left arm being covered by a Hollow-mask-like white substance, while the hair ornament on Orihime's head started glowing.
"Then you are our enemy."

Yuna's eyebrows rose as she looked at Orihime and Sado, who were both ready for combat, before shaking her head in disapproval.

"I admit that you two have gotten a little stronger, but really? Like, really? Do you really want to stand in my way?"

Hearing Yuna's question, Sado couldn't help but frown. The problem with Yuna was that he only knew that she was strong but not how strong. After all, he had never seen her fight before.

However, Sado was not someone who pondered things too long, and since Yuna pretty much claimed to be the enemy of his good friend Tsukishima, Sado took action as Spiritual Power gathered on his left arm.

He quickly shot toward Yuna and got in front of her within a split moment, his left arm already reeled back to deliver a powerful attack.

"[La Muerte]"

Seeing Sado's fist flying at her, Yuna could only shake her head with a wry smile on her face. Sado's attack connected, causing a massive explosion that covered the whole room with dust. Although he wasn't certain how strong Yuna was, he was confident that that attack dealt some damage. After all, he could clearly feel that Yuna didn't even use any Spiritual Power to defend herself. Obviously. she was underestimating him!

"Ara, ara~ Not bad. You clearly have gotten stronger. That attack actually made my hand tingle a little~"

As the dust settled, Yuna's playful voice rang through the room, and as soon as Sado saw Yuna's current state, he paled.
'Impossible! Just how big is the gap between us?'

Yuna was still leisurely standing where she had stood before Sado's attack, the only difference being that she now had one of her hands firmly grasping Sado's fist.

"Now, now, no reason to look that shocked, okay? Honestly, with this level of strength, you could probably defeat one of the lower-ranked Espadas."

Obviously, Sado wasn't happy about Yuna's "praise" at all, as it seemed like, in front of Yuna, that level of strength was meaningless.

Anyway, before Sado could get out of his dumbfounded state, Yuna reared her fist back and punched toward Sado's stomach. The attack was about to land when a rectangular shield appeared between Yuna and Sado.

Yuna briefly glanced at Orihime, who was the one who made the shield, before completely ignoring what was going on. Her fist collided with the shield, but the moment the two forces met, Orihime's shield was shattered instantly.

Yuna's fist smashed into Sado's stomach, sending him hurling away, crashing him into a nearby fall while forcing him to spit out some blood.

"SADO!!!"

Naturally, Orihime was concerned about her friend being blasted away so easily, so she quickly followed after him to heal him, completely ignoring Tsukishima, who supposedly should be more important to her.

'I see; although the memories were changed, the instincts that are directly ingrained into the body didn't change at all, making Orihime instinctively prioritize her actual friend, Sado, instead of her fake one, Tsukishima.

Seeing that, Yuna only shook her head as her gaze landed on Tsukishima, who was currently in the process of cutting Ginjo. Frankly, she could probably block that attack but decided against it.

She couldn't care less about Ginjo, and she was rather interested in how exactly Tsukishima's ability worked. In conclusion, she just let the attack happen.

"Hehe, you are quite strong, but I feel especially lucky today, so how about we have a little fight?"

While Yuna was spectating what was happening with Tsukishima and Ginjo, a young man with an almost completely shaved head approached Yuna, causing her eyebrows to rise.

'Another fodder?'

Unaware of Yuna's thoughts, the young man engaged, throwing a punch at Yuna. However, seeing the speed of the punch, Yuna could only shake her head.

'Not just fodder, but a fodder's fodder.'

She raised her hand to leisurely block the fist attack with the palm of her hand, but when the attack collided with her hand, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.

'Oh? That was significantly stronger than I had expected.'

Unlike Yuna, who was slightly impressed by the power of the attack, the young man looked at her in bewilderment as he murmured to himself.

"No way, that was clearly a jackpot. Why isn't her hand broken?"

Yuna heard his murmuring, and after briefly thinking about what the young man might mean, she could only look at him with pity.

"I see, so you have some kind of critical strike ability, huh? Well, that might be nice, but unfortunately, the gap between my strength and yours is so massive that even if you land the ultimate lucky strike, you still couldn't defeat me."

"Wha..."

The young man was about to ask what exactly she was talking about, but before he could do so, a fist landed on his stomach, resulting in another hole in the wall, directly next to the one Sado had made.

Meanwhile, seeing Ginjo getting cut down, Ichigo's eyes widened in terror as he believed that another one of his allies would join Tsukishima's side.

Despite being aware of Tsukishima's ability, Ichigo approached Ginjo, causing Yuna's eyes to widen.

"You idiot, stay back!"

However, Yuna's words came too late, as Ginjo pierced his sword through Ichigo the moment Ichigo was too close to dodge the attack, resulting in despair appearing on Ichigo's face.

"You as well, Ginjo?"

Obviously, Ichigo was desperate that Ginjo had switched sides as well, but after realizing what Ichigo was assuming, Ginjo smirked at him.

"Hehe, nope. I have always been your enemy. This is the second time Tsukishima has cut me. The first time, he did so to make it easier for me to approach you. That being said, my current state is the real me."

The moment he finished speaking, Spiritual Power gathered on his sword that was still pierced through Ichigo, and surprisingly, the Fullbring suit Ichigo had managed to manifest was sucked into the sword.

The moment it was fully absorbed, Ginjo's Spiritual Power skyrocketed, causing him to laugh out loud.

"HAHAHA, thank you for the power-up, Ichigo. It was worth spending that time training you."

Only now, it became rather clear why Ginjo was so eager to help Ichigo regain his powers: He wanted to steal them for himself.

"Oi, Ginjo. Don't hog everything for yourself!"

"Yeah, you still remember our promise, right?"

While Ginjo was bathing in his newfound power, the rest of the Fullbrings started clamoring, causing Ginjo to smile lightly.
"Of course, how could I forget bout my dear comrades."

Following those words, Ginjo vanished from his position and appeared in front of his fellow Fullbring. Surprisingly, the moment he appeared, he slashed each of them once, causing their eyes to widen.

"Sorry, but for this one, I'll need everything I can get."

Initially, their little Fullbring group was supposed to steal Ichigo's power and spread it evenly among them, but now, Ginjo had changed the plan. Yuna was simply too dangerous, and he couldn't afford to give up on any of his power. So, instead of sharing Ichigo's power with his comrades, he took theirs as well.

"Ginjo, you bastard, what is the meaning of this!?"

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"You piece of shit!"

"Now, now, as soon as I defeat Yuna, you can have your powers back. Currently, I simply can't afford to spread my strength thin."

Although all the Fullbring reluctantly accepted that logic, neither of them was happy about it. What should be said as well is that Ginjo didn't bother stealing Tsukishima's powers.

Stealing a Fullbring's power wouldn't necessarily manifest in the one stealing it manifesting that exact power, meaning that if Ginjo were to steal Tsukishima's "Book of the End" he might actually not get it and would only receive a power boost. That simply was a risk too great to take, as Tsukishima's current ability could end a fight with a single cut.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was depairing, as he had yet again lost his power. However, that wasn't even the worst of it, as he had not only lost his powers again but also had all his friends and family treating him like an enemy for fighting Tsukishima.

Frankly, the whole thing was rather tragic, and Yuna definitely wasn't happy seeing Ichigo despairing like that, but she could already feel a few familiar presences approaching, so she wasn't too bothered by Ichigo's plight.

While Ichigo was on the verge of crying, a glowing sword pierced through his body, and after looking back and seeing his father standing behind him, he despaired even further.

"You as well, dad?"

"Idiot, I'm not the one holding the sword."

His father's words initially confused him, but after paying closer attention, it did indeed seem like his father wasn't the one holding the sword. In fact, from his perspective, it looked like the sword was hovering in the air.

"Don't worry, you should be able to see her soon."

Yet again, his father spoke words he couldn't understand, but seconds later, a familiar misty figure appeared holding the blade stabbed into his body.

"Rukia?"

Although the figure was still blurry, it got clearer rather quickly, allowing Ichigo to see that it was Rukia holding the sword. Seeing Rukia piercing a sword into his chest gave Ichigo a rather familiar feeling, as this was exactly like how he got his Shinigami powers.

Before he could ponder the situation any further, massive amounts of Spiritual Power flooded his body, as a feeling he hadn't felt in over a year flooded his body: The feeling of power.

A loud boom echoed through the room as the Spiritual Power pressing down on the room was steadily increasing, and as soon as the dust settled, Ichigo was revealed, showing off his freshly acquired Shinigami form.

Feeling the power flooding his body, a smirk appeared on his face as confidence returned to his eyes while he leisurely rested his huge sword on his shoulder. He felt great to be back.

"Hey, Ichigo, is the size of that sw..."

"I swear if you make another joke about the size of my sword, we will be enemies for life."

"Geez, so sensitive~ It's almost like you are compensa..."

"I mean it!"

"Fine, fine. Anyway, do you want the power-snatcher or the mind-raper? Personally, I would prefer the mind-raper."

"... You forget their names, didn't you?"

"WHAT!? THAT'S AN OUTRAGEOUS ACCUSATION!!!"

"Tell me their names..."

"... Anyway, I'll be taking on mind-raper."