User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 538 Standing On the Edge/@comment-7488132-20130522151950/@comment-6943043-20130522185311

i think that the very odd hollow could actually be ichigo himself. the reason is that despite him already being a shinigami, the hollow could be very well where his soul truly lies. also, the hollow powers within masaki, when ichigo learned getsuga tenshou/final could have laid dormant until now, which would explain the hollowfied asauchi. just a theory anyways.