Ichigo nodded at that, looking away in shame. "There was a soul reaper captain who betrayed everyone and turned bad. He got his hands on this item, called a Hyogoku that he could use to manipulate reality, and lifeforms. He used it to create an entirely new, more powerful class of hollows, and was fusing with it. No one could hurt him.

"There's a space between the living world and soul society, and time moves very differently there. My dad, who is apparently a soul reaper, and I didn't know it until he showed up, took me there to try to learn a technique even his own sword refused to teach him. It's called Mugetsu. We spent a year in the in between, but it was maybe an hour at most for those on the battlefield?

"I learned the Mugetsu. I used it, used every iota of reiatsu in me, and it still wasn't enough. The bastard is still alive, even if he is locked in a prison even he can't escape."