(General P.O.V)

He was back.

Ash ran a palm down his face in exasperation. He was back and there was nothing he could about it, other than try to make sure he made it past the 3 weeks he had stayed here. Damn...it all felt so... disheartening.

This was the first world where the loop had lasted more than a day and he had thought that his progress had to mean something. Now to start all over again...he couldn't do it. He would go crazy!

They were so close too...

His body felt stiff and a little more difficult to move. The temporal energy enhancing his physique was now even less noticeable than before. Ash tried to use his quirk to form that layer of smooth grey hardening but failed, only managing to change his pinky finger. All the progress he had made was lost.

Something had to change. Ash was NOT doing it all over again.

He closed his eyes as Urahara continued to speak. Ash was only paying half attention.

"... contract. Only a measly 6 months and..."

"No." Ash found himself saying. He couldn't go through all that just to lose it all again once he died. He couldn't go through the same 3 week conversations. Or tending the store, or listening to Jinta be an annoying little runt...he couldn't.

While receiving the training from Urahara on how to move and fight beings with control over spirit energy was all well and good, Ash did not want to spend the next 6 months in Bleach, he would either die or exhaust all his loops trying to go up against Aizen. Ash knew the main cast had survived but he did not have plot armor like them.

He needed to be way stronger than Urahara could make him in that time frame (if he even made it past the first mission). He needed to take his Quirk to the next level. He needed to shore up any weaknesses he might have and 4 loops were not enough for that. Which meant he had to change something.

The nature of reality reflected the missions he received from the Ouroboros interface. Could the opposite be true? He pulled up the mission he had received from the interface.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

(Active Mission CANCELLED!!)

(Urgent Mission Issued!)

(Fulfill the terms of the contract offered to you by Urahara Kisuke.)

Rewards:

Quirk Evolution.

Vacation In A Chosen World.

Temporal Units: 140.

Time Loops remaining:- 5/5.

Commence Loop Mission?

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

So the mission was basically about fulfilling Urahara's given mission. What if he changed the terms? The Ouroboros interface never told him he had to spend 6 months in Bleach. It only told him to fulfill Urahara's contract. If they drew up another contract then if Ash fulfilled it, no matter what the terms were, favorable to him or not, then the system would unlock the next loop mission.

He would of course take a long ass vacation first, before diving back in to the fray.

The point was, Ash had a chance here. A chance to ensure he did not have to go through with the 6 month deal. There were two ways he could change the contract for his benefit.

Two options for him to take.

For starters, he could offer Urahara information about what to expect in the future in exchange for something Ash needed. Or secondly, he could simply reduce the time it would take to fulfill Urahara's terms. Instead of working for him for 6 months, he could reduce that to 3 or 2 months. Though the second option was mostly a fall back plan if his initial one did not work.

The first option was the best to take. He knew Urahara would value any information he got about how to defeat Aizen.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Knowledge on Aizen's plans and the forces he had gathered in Hueco Mundo were invaluable to Urahara. He knew that the old soul reaper would give up anything just for that information. The contract would end right there and then and Ash would receive the rewards from the system as well as Urahara's own reward for fulfilling the contract.

Ash knew that the Super Reiatsu pills Urahara promised him sounded good but in his eyes, there was something much better that the Soul Reaper could offer him. The Hogyoku. Not the whole thing of course, but if it was to be believed then the Hogyoku could basically give you what you wanted as long as you felt an immense desire for it.

Ash desired more than anything not to keep on dying. That desire was so overwhelming, it had completely changed him from a normal teenage boy, to someone who could fight against actual monsters and actually win. Taikon could attest to that.

Someone who was not afraid to kill. The Chitauri could attest to that.

So he was banking on a direct contact with the Hogyoku helping him to shatter the boundaries between a fullbring; which is what he suspected he was becoming (his plasma knife had increased from 8 inches to 10) and a hollow and soul reaper.

3 forms that made Ichigo a force to be reckoned with. He did not know if he could become a Quincy though, so that was directly out. If he gained control of that sort of power, adding it to his evolved Quirk from the Ouroboros reward, then few would actually stand in his way.

"No?"

Urahara blinked, surprised at the direct refusal of the contract he held in his hands.

"First of all, I think it's crazy you have a contract in place for this particular situation."

Ash told him.

"Secondly, 6 months is too much."

The teen shook his head.

"At most I can only do a day."

Urahara leaned back.

"A day? What sort of contract would that be? I need some assistance around the store and a few other things. A day is not even close to being enough, Ash Kun."

Urahara shook his head, deploying his fan and waving it at his face.

Ash leaned in.

"Look, the core of a contract is to always make sure that the summoner gets something useful out of the summon, right? In return you will give me something of equal value. It doesn't matter if the contract lasts an hour or years, as long as the terms are met."

Ash explained.

Urahara was silent for a short while, cocking his head to the side.

"Interesting...what can you offer me that is more valuable than what is basically free labour for 6 whole months?"

Urahara asked with a glint in his eyes.

'Free labour?' Ash thought. 'I knew it! Those super Reiatsu pills he was offering up as the reward for completing the contract must be nothing too special. I almost got scammed.'

"Something even better... information."

Ash answered.

Urahara's face went carefully blank as he stopped fanning himself.

"What kind of information?"

Ash leaned back.

"First, I need assurance that you will draw up another contract, this one fair and the reward being something I will ask for and you won't refuse as long as it does not impact you or this world in any harmful way."

Urahara immediately reevaluated the teen sitting before him. His initial first impression was nothing too special. He had potential but not much else. The fact that he could use his brain was not too shabby though. Urahara laughed.

"Well well, Ash Kun. I am impressed. You do not seem like the bad sort so I will agree to all your demands as long as the information you give me is useful."

Ash showed no other expression except for the confident small smile he had worn since the negotiations begun.

"Oh, it's very useful." He nodded, hand wrapping around the handle of the small tea cup before him. He took a taste of the bitter tea and shuddered in barely hidden revulsion. Even his taste buds had been reset. After staying 3 weeks with Urahara, he had managed to enjoy the bitter taste.

Urahara watched him without saying a single word. Ash placed the cup back in the small tea table and turned to Urahara.

"I have an ability that can see one out of an almost, infinite possible futures concerning a given world." Urahara stiffened. Ash capitalized on that.

"Trust me when I tell you that a lot of shit is headed your way."

Urahara narrowed his eyes.

"One out of countless possible futures? That might as well be nothing."

The shop owner said.

Ash snorted, shaking his head.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I know. Especially when you consider that the chances of the future I can see happening, is almost 99% accurate. To give you a tidbit, how's your old pal Hiraku Shinji? Has he and his team managed to master that interesting power up?"

Urahara gave no outward reaction...

However an aura that made Ash's hair stand on it's ends and terror grip his chest so hard he struggled to breathe, overcame him. Urahara was releasing not his Reiatsu but his killing intent. The intent swept through the whole room, intensified by the reishi in the air. Ash's hand was tight on the handle of the tea cup as he tried his best not to show that he was intimidated by the Soul Reaper.

Then as if it wasn't there to begin with, the killing intent disappeared. Ash understood the gesture for what it was. A warning, just in case he was lying.

"Haven't seen him for some time." Urahara waved his hand in the air.

"You know how it is with friends."

Ash exhaled, that pressure had been something. His bones and muscles could still feel the after effects. As if a load of heavy weight had been placed on his body.

"So?" Ash asked.

"Do we have a deal?"

Urahara thought it over for a few seconds before smiling.

"Of course...right after you tell me what you want in exchange for that information."

Ash knew the time had come. He needed to word his next words carefully. He calmed his racing heart.

"I need power." He said, staring at Urahara with all the desperation he could muster and the pain he had gone through during his many deaths.

"I know that it might sound selfish." He said slowly.

"And I also know that you have no reason to trust me or my intentions, Urahara. But I need strength."

Urahara saw the look on his face and chose to stay silent as his mind connected the dots.

"You're afraid."

He finally concluded.

Ash did not even bother to disagree. Instead he nodded.

"Very. I cannot tell you why but I need your help to break the boundaries between Fullbring, Hollow and Soul Reaper abilities."

Ash could already see a spark of wariness in Urahara's eyes.

"I need you to go against every single one of your instincts Urahara. I need you to make me like Ichigo Kurosaki and in return, I will tell you everything you need to know, to defeat Aizen."