Secrets of the White Zangetsu

Continued from here...

Zangetsu's secrets
Raian sat in the depths of the ship he was traveling on, on his way to Yāolù, in a meditative stance. Recent events had irked him. It was time that he venture into his inner world and learn about his Zangetsu as much as he could. He calmed himself and before long he awakened on top one of the sideways buildings. A young man, dressed in pure white met him on the side of the building, long flowing snow-white hair flowing behind him. "Where's old-man Zangetsu?" Raian asked the young man. "That hurts, Raian. Don't you recognize me? Though...Zangetsu isn't really here." he replied. Raian raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? What could you possibly mean by all of this?" The white haired man let out a half sigh-half laugh, "What do..you call your Bankai?" he asked. Raian's eyes widened, "Tensa Zangetsu?!" he blurted out. "Exactly!" Tensa Zangetsu shouted.

"It's no wonder you're confused." the spirit continued, "Even though Ichigo has described my Bankai form to you, I've undergone some changes." As he said this, he materialized the white blade of his Bankai form. "Tensa Zangetsu..." Raian said. "Tell me...everything. I wanna know why I have Ichigo's Zanpakutō and powers. Why didn't I get mine back?" he asked. Tensa Zangetsu frowned. "Don't ever refer to me as Ichigo's power again. I may have the same name as his blade, but I'm very much your power. Still, I suppose I should answer your questions. You see, Ichigo has been storing reiatsu in an attempt to regain his power for several years. When you and Ichigo used the soul link, Ichigo had more reiatsu, since you had only lost your powers a month prior. That meant that his soul had more of an impression initially and gave you his Zangetsu. When this happened, Ichigo's powers were split. You were given the Hollow portion of his reiatsu, while he kept the Shinigami portion. In other words, at that time I really was part of his power." Tensa Zangetsu explained. "Then why did you tell me not to---" Raian began, but was cut off. "I'm no longer part of his power. You see, use of the soul link also reawakened your Shinigami powers. Over time, they've been developing causing my transformation into this. I look exactly like Ichigo's former Hollow spirit now because I was once the Hollow portion of Ichigo's power. Because of this, Ichigo's power occasionally leaks into your power and taints them. Do you remember the original color of your Getsuga Tenshō?" the spirit asked.'

"Yeah, it was purple." Raian replied. "That was a sign of taint. His zanpakutō is black, so it produces a black Getsuga in Bankai. Yours is white, yet it produced purple waves until you put on your Hollow mask." he further explained. Raian looked down, "I'm confused, but I think I get what you're saying. Because you were once Hollow powers, I'm only able to use your full power when my mask is on." he said. "Wrong." Tensa Zangetsu replied. "At least partially wrong. Right now, you can only use my full power with your mask, but there is away around that." Raian looked interested, "How?" Tensa Zangetsu gestured towards the rest of the inner world, "This world is the combination of you and Ichigo's. Half of this city is yours, and half is his. You need to construct a mental wall between you and Ichigo to keep his reiatsu from seeping into yours." Raian nodded, "Alright."