Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4317207-20130313091731/@comment-1393830-20130321051124

...or we could just not make things up out of thin air and go with what we already know. Ichigo was a Fullbringer by birth. His mother was attacked by a Hollow (likely this one) and a piece of that Hollow stayed with her until Ichigo was conceived. That piece then went to Ichigo, giving him the ability to use Fullbring, which he did not know he could use until much much later. Anyway, when Ichigo underwent shattered shaft training, we know his mask formed first, which is not what is supposed to happen. The reason? He already had a little bit of a Hollow inside of him. So now Ichigo has this Hollow inside of him and when there is nothing holding it back, it takes over Ichigo's body. It looks like the Hollow in this chapter because a part of that Hollow was the basis of the Hollow inside Ichigo. Masaki did not absorb a Hollow into herself, that is not possible. But we already know a piece of that Hollow stayed with her.