A/N: English is not my first language، so excuse me for any typing mistakes.
'Cero.' thinking
"Cero." talking
"Cero." And 'cero.' Important talk.
cero. Memories of the past
"Cero." Techniques
«cero.» places
*cero.* sounds
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«In Clover»
Ulquiorra was sitting on a chair in an abandoned house in the woods. His clothes were almost torn and scorched.
"This world is totally different from my world." Ulquiorra thought, remembering what happened during the first month of his coming into this world. “I am in a kingdom called fiore, which is a kingdom under the rule of the Fiore family. Its population is about 17 million people. The currency of this world is a jewel, and if we compare this currency with a global currency, we will find that a one hundred jewels are equal to one dollar. '
'The strange thing is that both magic and mythical creatures do exist.' Then Ulquiorra reminds him when he must face some monsters, such as Volcan, cannibal plants, and other horrific creatures. But what Ulquiorra was most interested in was magic.
'In this world, magic here is very pervasive. So magic in this world is bought and sold, there are those who use this magic as a craft for him, and these people call themselves wizards. These wizards belong to different guilds. '
'And also ... I can no longer return to my world. No matter how much I tried, it was impossible.' Ulquiorra sighed, recalling what happened when he tried to return to hueco Mundo.
Flashback: Three weeks ago
«in the forest»
Ulquiorra stood in the middle of the woods, contemplating a way to return to his original world. He flicked the air with his finger.
"Garganta."
A black hole appeared, resembling an empty mouth, at which point Ulquiorra entered the garganta, sure that he would find himself in Hueco Mundo. But....
«In the Fiore family's mansion»
A little girl was having a tea party with a group of dolls. This girl was nine years old, her hair is dark green.
"Would you like some tea, Mrs. Mimi?" The girl smiled as she looked at one of the dolls.
*Zeeeeyes*
The girl heard a strange sound behind her, so she turned behind her to see a large black hole that had appeared out of nowhere.
"What is that?" As she approached the hole, the girl said, she was curious.
Suddenly, a young man appeared with white skin, black hair, green eyes like emeralds but like cat eyes, wearing strange white clothes. This person was none other than Ulquiura.
"I'm not in Las noches." Ulquiorra said without noticing the presence of the girl in front of him. "Does it make sense that I misidentified the location?"
"Ano ...."
Ulquiorra looked down to find a little girl standing in front of him.
"Who are you, girl?" Ulquiorra said in a monotone voice.
"My name is Hisui E.Fiore. And you?" I asked the girl, looking at Ulquiorra in awe.
"Ulquiorra Schiffer." Ulquiorra replied.
"A-Ano ... are you coming to my party?" I asked the girl, looking at Ulquiorra's face shyly. Ulquiorra noticed the shyness on the girl's face, he'd seen most of the females Arrancars in Las Noches looking at him the same way, even the fricción of Hallibell.
Ulquiorra was not very pretty, but that did not mean that he was not handsome.
"party?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Tea party!" She said, the girl smiled while she was pointing with her hand towards a small table surrounded by small chairs with some dolls on it.
Usually, Ulquiorra would have refused to engage in such trivial things. But right now, Ulquiorra needs the information, and this girl might be his vehicle for getting that information.
"Okay." Ulquiorra said, feeling something strange in him. Frustration.
"Yaaaay!" The girl said happily as she pulled Ulquiorra to the table.
Ulquiorra didn't understand why he accepted the show. He could have threatened her with death or harmed her in order to obtain that information.
'It's as if there are hidden forces preventing me from using my usual methods. So that's what it means to have a heart.' Ulquiorra thought, wondering if it would be okay to have a heart.
after one hour
Ulquiorra was sure that all of his colleagues would die from laughing when they saw him like this. But really, the Tea Party wasn't as bad as Ulquiorra had expected. he like it.
"Let me review it, so we are in the kingdom of Fiore which is ruled by your family?" Ulquiorra asked.
“Hmmmm…” the girl answered.
"Thank you." It was the first time Ulquiorra thanked someone. "I have to leave now." Ulquiorra said as he was returning to Garganta.
They are Ulquiorra to leave, but he felt something holding his robe from below, so he looked down to find the girl clutching his robe.
"What is the matter?"
"You Will return?" the girl asked, looking at Ulquiorra with sad eyes.
Ulquiorra did not understand why that girl wanted him to be with her. When he was in Las Noches, no one wanted Ulquiorra. With the exception of five people: Coyote Stark, Tier Hallibel, Yammi Largo, Aizen Sosuke, and the fifth person ... 'That person ..., she is the first person who wanted me to be with her, and she is the only person I wanted to be near her ...'
Ulquiorra felt some pain inside his chest. It was a strange feeling on Ulquiorra, but it was not a good feeling.
Ulquiorra pushed those memories away and looked back at the girl, "Why are you asking?"
"Nobody likes my tea parties. But you are the first person who stayed at my party and didn't complain or complain." The girl said sadly.
As much as Ulquiorra was comfortable with not seeing the rest of the Espada now, he does not hate tea parties. In fact, this tea party was calm, orderly, and relaxing, unlike the meetings that Aizen does.
"Don't worry, I'll be back." Ulquiorra said as he was returning to Garganta from which he entered. Ulquiorra did not know why he said that, Ulquiorra was not obligated to answer.
«in the forest»
Ulquiorra exits Garganta wondering why he had failed to return to his world, this was the first time he had misplaced places.
“No doubt I was wrong. This has never happened to me before, but that doesn't mean I will not make a mistake. I will try again.' Think Ulquiorra before he concentrates well and then uses his technique again.
"Garganta." Garganta opened again.
Ulquiorra got inside Garganta sure he did it correctly.
«Somewhere, ???» (Note: it's a surprise 😈😂😉)
*Zeeeyes*
Ulquiorra walked out of Garganta to find he was not into hueco Mundo, it is in a strange place, hot and full of dense steam.
'This is not hueco mundo. What is this strange place?' Ulquiorra thought while looking at the place.
There is nothing better than a hot bath after a hard day's work.
After Ulquiorra heard someone's voice, he turned on the Pesquisa. He felt the presence of four people to his left.
When Ulquiorra turned, he suddenly felt his heart beating so fast that it made a sound like a drilling rig. He saw four sexy naked girls bathing in a large hot tub.
When we say Ulquiorra has seen everything, we mean literally that Ulquiorra has seen everything.
Ulquiorra knew where he was. Women's bathrooms.
'Damn, what is this strange feeling? I feel like my heart is going to explode. ' Ulquiorra thought, unable to take his gaze away from that scene before him.
It was only a few seconds before the girls noticed Ulquiorra.
There was silence for a full minute before ...
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa !!!!" All the girls screamed before they could use their magical abilities to eliminate Ulquiorra. Then Ulquiorra felt something he had never imagined he would feel. the fear.
Ulquiorra did not know the meaning of fear, as not all the captains of the Shinigami or Aizen could make him fear, even General Commander Yamamoto could not make him feel fear.
Although their attacks would not be able to penetrate his Hierro, he nonetheless felt scared.
«in the forest»
I opened the garganta, but before Ulquiorra came out, a lot of water came out of the garganta with pieces of wood and colored cards.
Ulquiorra's clothes were worn out and filled with holes of varying sizes.
'Well, it looks like the soul king was right ... I'll never be able to return to my world.' Ulquiorra thought, and removed from his brain the idea to repeat the experience.
Flashback end:
'The worst of all is that my body has a constant need for rest and food, just like a human body. Even though I have become like a human being, the abilities of the Arrancar are still there.' Ulquiorra thought while looking at his hand.
Ulquiorra could easily steal food and money, but he did not. As if there is a hidden force preventing him from doing so. It is morality.
'The heart ... is a very complicated thing. Generally, I will have to do some work. In return, I will get money to buy food and pay rent. '
At that moment, Ulquiorra took out of his pocket a sheet of paper containing the names of well-known guilds.
'Well, the dark Guilds will not be among the guilds that I will join. Giving me nine potential guilds.' Ulquiorra tried to review his options in order not to rush and end up in a guild that did not suit him.
'Mermaid Hill? It's a women's guild, I doubt a master would want me to join the guild. Phantom Lord? Its members are barbarians, I think the master of that guild will not mind my joining me, but I fear that I will end up killing everyone in that guild. Blue Pegasus? Never, not even after a million years. Fairy Tail? ... 'Before Ulquiorra finished thinking, he heard loud explosions and the screaming of an unknown creature.
Ulquiorra closed his eyes and activated Pesquisa. He sensed an immense magic energy coming from multiple people and ... a huge being. Maybe he's a monster.
'It seems like there is a battle between some wizards against ... a strange monster.' Think Ulquiorra. 'Whatever happens there, it's none of my business.'
Too many hollows and arrancars have died because they have interfered with what they are not concerned with. It's not as if Ulquiorra is afraid of death, But he will not get himself involved in a battle that has nothing to do with him.
But once Ulquiorra was done thinking ...
* Boooooooooom *
The house exploded with a large portion of the forest, which is now a block of fire.
«Clover, the guilds masters conference»
"I will kill you all!!!!!!" A giant monster shrieked and was apparently very angry because he was unable to play the melody of death. This monster was a huge woody demon and creature, with three eyes that glowed purple. The name of this demon is "lullaby".
The monster was attacking randomly, causing a lot of damage.
"Hahaha, it looks like we pissed him off a lot. Don't you think so, Happy?" Natsu said with a small smile on his face.
"Aye." Happy replied, who is a flying blue cat.
"Stop in vain now! We must eliminate it before it destroys more property!" Erza said firmly as she looked at her friends. "let's go!!"
But before Natsu's team confronts that demon. The demon was struck by a green light beam that severed his right arm while disappearing his right shoulder.
Demon cried in excruciating pain as he placed his left hand on the place of his amputated arm. The demon was not angry anymore, he was now terrified. This attack not only destroyed his body, but his soul as well.
"W-What happened to me?!?! Who did this to me?!?!" Demon said.
Everyone looked at the source of that light to see Ulquiorra pointing his finger at Lullaby.
'Was he the one who did it? With just one attack? Even Laxus and Mestogan will find it difficult to do this.' Gray thought while looking at the pale-skinned person.
"I didn't feel any magic energy. What kind of abilities did he use?" Erza said in a low voice, and she could not take her eyes away from Ulquiorra.
'This guy ... really strange. He has a soul, but at the same time, he does not have a soul. He has a body, but at the same time, he does not have a body. It's as if his body and soul have fused together and become one part. ' Think lullaby looking at Ulquiorra.
For Ulquiorra, he was not harmed by that fire, but that does not mean that he will ignore what he did to Alpay. Although his face remained emotionless, some espada could see that Ulquiorra was ... upset.
"How dare you attack me and destroy my house, trash?" Ulquiorra said in a cold and frightening tone of voice.
Everyone felt a shiver in their spine when they heard Ulquiorra's voice. Even Guild masters.
"I feel a lot of raw energy raging within you, but it is not magic energy, but rather energy of a different kind ... dark energy. Who are you?" Lullaby said calmly, looking at Ulquiorra with interest.
But as soon as lullaby finished speaking, he and everyone present felt overwhelming pressure coming from Ulquiorra.
"You will die before you save my name, trash." Ulquiura said and pointed his finger at lullaby.
Throughout his life, lullaby knew the meaning of fear. He lived for centuries, fought in many battles and survived. But this is different. Lalapai was not frightened by Ulquiorra's strength, but because his instincts cried out at him, asking him to flee at all costs. Lullaby did not know why he was afraid, but decided to ignore his instincts.
"I-I-I have been around for centuries! I wouldn't die of a pale kid like you !!!" lullaby shouted angrily before he fired a shell of red energy from his mouth towards Ulquiorra.
"Whatch out!!!" Makarov shouted when he saw that Ulquiorra was not moving out of place.
* Booooom *
The entire area shook because of the blast, after all, lullaby was a powerful demon.
"Chah, pathetic." He said to lullaby before turning to the Fairy Tail magicians and guild chiefs, intent on consuming their souls.
"cero."
A green pillar of light appeared from the demon's chest, causing the demon to cry out in greater pain than before. He now had a big hole in his chest like a hollow.
"How is that?!?!" Demon and everyone looked at the location of the explosion. Ulquiorra was standing with his arm facing forward. By looking at the smoke coming out of his arm, it can be said that Ulquiorra stopped that shell using his bare hand. After all, the Hierro wasn't something that could be easily hacked.
'Hmm, his strength is similar to that of Hollow but different. Demons and hollows seem a bit alike.' Ulquiorra thought while looking at his hand, then looking at lullaby.
"I-Impossible !!! You are not human! You cannot be human !!!!" Demon shouted with fear and confusion.
"I'm tired of hearing your voice. It should be gone." Ulquiorra said.
"W-wait! W-we-we-do-we can come to an agreement!" Lullaby stammered as he looked at Ulquiorra with great fear. If only lullaby had genitals, he would have urinated on himself involuntarily.
"Agreement? At first, I would ignore this fight, but you attacked me twice. So .... take responsibility for your actions." Ulquiorra said in a calm and fearful tone, before cutting his index finger with his zanpaktou Murciélago and then pointing his finger again towards lullaby. "Gran Ray cero."
An enormous amount of green rieso gathered in front of Ulquiorra finger, contributing to the formation of a large, luminous green ball.
Everyone felt as if their souls were coming out of their bodies, but lullaby was worse off than all of them. Demon could not move centimeters from his place, all he could do was see the green energy advancing towards him at a crazy speed.
"Aaaaaaaaaah !!!!!!" Demon cried out as green energy blanked out his body. The demon's screaming continued for a few seconds before stopping. When the green light faded, the demon was completely gone, and a very wide and deep crater came into its place.
'He is a monster.' Everyone was thinking the same thing while staring at Ulquiorra in horror. He defeated lullaby without making any effort.
'He-a monster.' Think Gray.
"H-he-hey. Is this real?" said Natsu, He couldn't take his eyes away from Ulquiorra.
"A-a-aye". Happy and Lucy said, shivering with fear.
As for Ulquiorra, he looked at the burning forest. "It looks like I have to find a new home." It took Ulquiorra ten days of continuous walking to find that abandoned house. It wasn't great, but it was better than nothing.
"You!!"
Ulquiorra looked back to see Makarov, Bob and Goldmine all looking at him seriously.
"who are you?" Makarov said in a calm and serious tone.
"Ulquiorra Schiffer." Ulquiorra replied, did not find a reason not to answer.
"You will come with us. We need to talk in private." Makarov said seriously.
Ulquiorra nodded and walked towards the Guild Masters without resistance. If they try to do a trick, he will not hesitate for a moment to engage with them.
//////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////
«Blue Pegasus guild»
Ulquiorra was sitting in front of the guild masters. Makarov had previously asked his union members to return to the union.
Note that the halls of the Blue Pegasus Guild resembled the halls of Las Noches Castle, but rather resembled the mansions of Aristocratic families.
"You know why we brought you here?" Makarov was the first to speak.
"Is it because you want to know who I am? Or what I am?" Ulquiorra said in a monotone voice.
"both." Goldmine answered Ulquiorra's question.
"I can tell just by looking at you that you are not human, even though you are like humans. Not only that, your charm is unlike anything i have felt before." Goldmine said.
"I did not use magic. Even if I wanted to, I don't know how. Regarding your previous observations, yes ... I am not human." Ulquiura replied.
"So what are you? And where are you from?" Bob asked curiously.
"I am Arrancar, from Hueco Mundo." Ulquiorra replied.
"Arrancar? Hueco Mundo? I've never heard of things like this." Makarov said, looking at Ulquiorra with suspicion. After all, Ulquiorra's words do not make sense to the guild masters.
"I am not of this world." Ulquiorra said, and his words caused the guild masters to be surprised.
"This will make the explanation much easier." Ulquiorra took off his left eye, causing the guild masters to gasp in shock as they looked at Ulquiorra with wide eyes. Ulquiorra knew they did not believe him so he had to use one of his techniques, Solita Vista.
"are you crazy?!" Makarov shouted, he couldn't believe that someone was crazy enough to pluck out his eye.
Ulquiorra did not respond to Makarov's question, but rather crushed that eye, which contributed to the formation of a bright cloud that surrounded everyone in the room. Then the masters saw pictures of ordinary people, but there were four people who piqued their interest. Chad Yatsura, Uryūu Ishida, Orihime Inoue, Kurosaki Ichigo.
"The world that I came from is divided into three dimensions, the human world, the soul society, the hueco Mundo. There is no magic there, instead, there is reiryoku, or spiritual energy. Everything that lives in these dimensions has reiryoku. The human world, most humans have them." Very little amount of spiritual energy and thus they are unaware of the other two dimensions. But there are some humans who have a large amount of spiritual energy, and these people can use magic-like powers." Ulquiorra said.
"And what about the soul society and the hueco mundo?" Before the scene changed, Bob said, showing pictures of the Shinigami Captains and their lieutenants.
"The soul society, or what can be considered the afterlife. It is also the home of the Shinigami who transfer human souls to the soul society. The Shinigami has high spiritual energy." During his description, the images were changed to show images of a desert with white sand and a black sky, with creatures of varying sizes and white masks. "The last dimension, hueco mundo. The home of hollows. The hollows are human souls who have lost their heart and try to devour souls to fill the empty within them. The hollow is identified by their white mask and a hole in their chest. They consume anything that has spiritual energy, be it a human soul, Shinigami or Even other hollows to suppress their eternal hunger and gain more power. Hollows live completely dependent on instinct, most of them are mindless creatures, but it is the mighty hollow who regain their ability to think. " The image has changed to show the different types of sockets. "When the Holl becomes more powerful, he will become the Menos Grande. There are three types of them. Gillians, which are rational and massive creatures. Then the adjuchas, which are much smaller, wiser and definitely ... more powerful. Finally there is the Vasto Lorde, they look like humans, Almost in appearance, they are the strongest and smartest of all hollows. "
"But you didn't say anything about the Arrancar." Makarov said.
"The Arrancars, most if not all of them were the Menos Grande, who rose above the others by breaking their masks. By doing this, they acquire a human appearance and Shinigami-like powers. But they remain preserving the part of their mask and their hollow opening." Pictures changed to those of his colleagues.
"Why do you look different from those creatures you showed us earlier? You don't have a hole in your chest and no bone fragment in your head or face. Also, you don't look like a crazy monster who wants to eat spirits." Goldmine asked, who noticed the distinct difference between Ulquiorra and the rest of the Hollows.
"I've always been different from others. I only killed when necessary, I didn't eat spirits because I didn't need to do that. As for my physical appearance, I don't know."
"I have one last question for you, Ulquiorra Schiffer. Why are you in Earthland?" Makarov asked, giving Ulquiorra a stern look.
Pictures have emerged revealing Ulquiorra's encounter with the soul king and his bodyguards. “A month after I died in the events of the Winter War, the soul king summoned me into his palace and offered me a new opportunity.” Ulquiorra looked at the guild masters, his removed eye renewed.
"May we know why you accepted his offer?" Makarov seemed a little sympathetic to Ulquiorra.
"I spent the first seven hundred years of my life wandering in the middle of an endless desert, while I spent the last hundred years of my life carrying out orders for nothing, but now I want to know what it means to be alive, I want something genuine. He has presented. I had the soul king casually, and I accepted it. He gave me a new reason to live and I wanted it. " Ulquiorra said.
Makarov, Bob and Goldmine were silent. They could only imagine the suffering Ulquiorra had endured throughout his life. What kind of life did this creature live?
"Is that all?" Ulquiorra asked.
"Not quite. Do you know what happened when I destroyed lullaby?" Goldmine asked, narrowing his eyes to Ulquiorra.
"I ... destroyed the Wizard Conference, too." Ulquiorra said, remembering what happened when he used the "Gran Ray cero", he kind of exaggerated when he used that technique.
"You have to correct your mistake." Bob said.
"I'm afraid I can't. I don't have money." Ulquiora said.
"But you can provide some services." Makarov said, and a small smile appeared on his lips.
"I do not understand." Ulquiorra said.
"You will become an unofficial member among all legal guilds." Makarov said.
"What is that?" Ulquiorra asked. He couldn't understand how he could be a member with more than one guilds.
"You will perform different tasks for the benefit of different guilds. For each mission you will succeed, you will get 50% of the bonus while the rest goes to the guild that will carry out its mission. That way you will be able to pay off your debt and also be able to live a decent life instead of living in that abandoned house." Makarov said.
Ulquiorra thought about Makarov's words. If he accepts this offer, he will be able to find a guild that suits him and he can get to know this world more. On top of all this, Ulquiorra did not want to live in another deserted house.
"I agree." Ulquiorra said, looking straight into Makarov's eyes.
"That's cool! Put your arm here." Makarov said, pointing to the table.
Ulquiorra did what he was asked to do, then Makarov placed a strange magic sign on Ulquiorra's left arm extending from his hand all the way to his shoulder. The shape of that sign is the emblems of all legal guilds; Blue Pegasus, Fairy Tail, Cuatro Cerberus, Phantom Lord, Mermaid Hill, Cat Chaltaire, Lamia Scale ..
"Since today you are an indirect member. Remember well, do not let anyone know the truth of your world, this will only cause you problems." Makarov said with a smile.
He left Ulquiorra without saying a word, but before he opened the door he heard Makarov's voice telling him.
"You have to change your clothes. You are not going to walk in the middle of the street with these clothes." Makarov said while trying to stop himself from laughing. Ulquiorra's clothes were damaged and torn due to his fight against lullaby. But those clothes managed to preserve his dignity.
"I will." Ulquiorra said before leaving.
One minute after Ulquiorra left, Goldmine turned to Makarov.
"Do you think we should let him go like this? I mean, if half of what he says is true, then it means that he poses a great danger to the human race. He might go into a frenzy and devour the souls of everyone in Fiore." Goldmine asked.
"If you didn't know, he could ignore our orders and simply walk away, or worse, he could attack us with a win rate of over 60%. Don't say you didn't feel his power?" Makarov said while looking at Goldmine.
Goldmine kept silent, he knew Ulquiorra was so powerful that he might make a magician like Makarov thinks twice before confronting him.
"However, it would be dangerous to allow someone like that to stay in fiore." Goldmine said.
"I am sure we can defeat him. In case something happens, we will have the support of the magic council and the king and all the guilds. After all, it does not matter how strong Ulquiorra is, he will still be one person." Makarov said confidently, but he also thought Goldmine had a point. People with dark auras like Ulquiorra did not always have good intentions. Mentally, Makarov agreed that although they are in a position of strength everyone should remain alert at least until the time comes when the pale stranger proves they can be trusted.
"Did you see his eyes? They may seem empty of emotions, but if you focus you can see sadness and grief." Bob said sadly.
"You're right, Bob-san. I can tell a tragic story when I see one." Goldmine said, remembering the frown on Ulquiorra's face.
"He has a sad past. Don't pressure Ulquiorra, he will tell us when he wants to." Makarov said.
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Author's note:
Author: hey Mina-san. I'm Enrico Maxwell. The best and coolest writer in the world !!! 😊😎🙌👏
Ulquiorra: Stop lying. You're just a stupid hobbyist, trash. Fairy Tail and Bleach belong to Kubo and Hiro Mashima.
The author: Why are you so cruel. 💔 😢😢😢.
The author sits in a dark corner surrounded by an aura of melancholy and sadness.
Ulquiorra: In any case, the author was about to ask you to write all your opinions and questions about this story.
Author: Your questions will be answered in the next chapter! 😊
Ulquiorra in a low voice: Please write your questions. Otherwise, he will continue explaining to me the details and points of this story for 72 hours straight and without being allowed to sleep, eat, or even go to the bathroom. 😒 (🙇😓)
Author: Hey! It's not that bad. After all, you are the main character, you need to know everything about your story
Ulquiorra: But you explained this story to me a million times! Why don't you talk about this story with someone else? 😒
Author: First, this is your story. Nobody but you should know its details. Second, I don't think it would be a good idea to do that ... 😥
Ulquiorra: How's that?
Author: Say the names of people I can talk to.
Ulquiura: Gotai 13?
Author: After you tell them your story, they'll kill me and then they'll kill you Or worse ... we're Mayuri's guinea pigs.
Ulquiura: Espadas?
The author: Did you forget that they want to kill you because you are the reason for their loss in the Winter War? 😰
Ulquiorra: .... 😶
Author: As I expected. Well, when ...
Before the author spoke, Ulquiorra ran away unnoticed.
Author: He fled again. 😟
???: I want to know the details of this story.
Author: Urahara Kisuke !?
Urahara: Well, let's say I'm feeling a little - a lot - curious about the hero of the Winter War.
Author: Aoki doki Loki, to begin with ...
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Author's note: A message to fans of Bleach Anime, especially Ichigo fans:
Ichigo did a lot of heroic deeds and gave us a lot of fun and suspense, but you forgot that there are some heroes who decided to work in secret. One of these heroes:
1) Tensa Zangetsu: Without his constant guidance and assistance, Ichigo would have died since his fight against Zaraki, as Zangetsu eventually betrayed Yhwach in order for Ichigo to free his full strength.
2) Ulquiorra Schiffer: Although his presence in the anime events was almost non-existent, he was very influential in the events of the Winter War. Because if he had not cut Ichigo’s horn, Ichigo would have killed his friends and everyone standing in his way, including Yammi and the Captains (Zaraki Kenpachi, Kurosutchi Mayuri, Kuchiki Byakuya, Unahana Ritsu). So I see Ulquiorra as the real champion who decided the outcome of the Winter War. Unfortunately, Ulquiorra is an unrecognized hero.