Black Flames of Vengeance
Chapter One: I'm Home
Just how far would you go to prove that you're not weak? Would you survive for centuries in Hell? One young man did, and now he's coming home.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or anything affiliated to it. Any OC, however, is mine.
((Two weeks after Aizen, Gin and Tosen's defection))
The remaining Captains had gathered in Squad One's meeting hall, having recovered as best as they could in the last couple of weeks. The Ryota Ichigo and his companions had all been treated and were now resting. The Gotei thirteen had taken a severe hit, both to their strength and their pride. The Captains were talking amongst themselves when Yamamoto banged his cane on the ground.
"SILENCE!" Yamamoto bellowed. "Now, I trust that you are all rested and your wounds tended to?"
"Yes, Head Captain." One Retsu Unohana replied, stepping forward. "I personally tended to the captains, their lieutenants, as well as the Ryota." Yamamoto stroked his beard slowly. "Ah yes...the Ryota. Tell me, what is the condition of Ichigo Kurosaki?"
"Stable." Retsu said. "Aizen was very...accurate in his attack. He severed anything keeping Kurosaki's torso together, except his spinal cord. The boy is lucky to be alive."
Yamamoto nodded, turning to Kurotsuchi, captain of Squad Twelve. "Tell me, have you been able to discover where Aizen defected to?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi stepped forward, a look on his face that said he'd rather be anywhere than at the meeting. "In fact I have. Sousuke Aizen's reiatsu was detected in the deserts of Hueco Mondo. That should have been obvious, seeing as he fled with a horde of Gillians."
Once again, the Head Captain nodded. "The loss of three captains is a dire blow to the strength of the Gotei thirteen. But we must stay strong. Aizen will rue this day!" The old captain flared his reiatsu, as though to prove a point. The remaining Captains trembled slightly, knowing all too well the level of power the aged man had.
"Head Captain, if I may say something?" Toshiro Hitsuguya, Captain of Squad Ten, stepped forward.
"Go ahead." Yamamoto nodded.
"Aizen's reiatsu has been detected in Central 46's library of ancient documents and materials. I believe a full investigation as to what he was looking into is in order." Hitsuguya said.
"Granted." Yamamoto nodded once again. "Report any findings to me immediately."
"Yes sir." Hitsuguya stepped back into line with the other captains.
"Very well, this meeting has come to a close." Yamamoto made to leave. "Captains of the Gotei Thirteen. I advise you hone your skills, and your lieutenants as well. Aizen will be back...and I feel that we will need all the power we can acquire-"
His words were cut off by a enormous shockwave of reiatsu rocking the meeting hall. The shockwaves kept coming, in slow, powerful pulses. The eyes of everyone in the hall widened at the amount of power they were sensing, as well as where it seemed to be coming from.
"W-what...the hell?!" Hitsuguya was the first to recover from the stupor that the captains were in. "Its...coming from...the Senkaimon!"
All of the captains proceeded to shunpo out of the meeting hall, in the direction of the celestial gate, known as the Senkaimon.
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A flurry of blurs appeared in the courtyard of the Senkaimon as the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei thirteen came into view.
"H-holy hell...this reiatsu is crazy!" One Marechiyo Omaeda exclaimed, his knees shaking.
"Silence, Omaeda! You're pathetic!" His captain, Soi-fon of Squad Two, punched him in the side, knocking the wind out of the poor lieutenant.
The pulses continued to grow stronger, and more frequent as the Senkaimon glowed with a faint blue. Yamamoto narrowed his eyes at the gate, deep in thought. 'Such an occurrence has never happened before. What in the world is happening?' The wizened captain thought to himself as his cane dissolved, revealing his zanpaktou. The legendary Ryujin-Jakka.
At this, the pulses ceased, before the Senkaimon was blown open with a monstrous blast of reiatsu, knocking all the lieutenants off their feet and pushing the captains back several feet. The shockwave was so powerful that Yamamoto himself had to brace himself to keep from being pushed back as well.
"T-this reiatsu!" Ukitake, the passive and sickly captain of Squad thirteen exclaimed. The pressure had started to get to him, making him double over and start coughing repeatedly. Seeing his best friend hacking, Kyoraku shunpoed to him, helping a still coughing Ukitake to his feet.
"T-thank you *cough cough* Shunsui."
"Don't mention it." Kyoraku smiled down at his old friend before they both turned their attention back to the gate, which at that point ceased its enormous burst of reiatsu.
Everyone present had their eyes glued to the open Senkaimon, as the silhouette of a lone figure appeared in the distance, slowly coming closer to the gate. All the captains, minus Ukitake, were immediately on guard, drawing their zanpaktou to fight off this possible threat. After the all-to-fresh betrayal of Aizen still in their minds, the captains of the Gotei Thirteen were not about to take any chances.
"Halt, intruder!" Head Captain Yamamoto shouted, his voice loud and powerful. This did nothing to stop the figure from continuing to walk forward, coming closer still to the gate. "Halt or we WILL eliminate you!" He shouted again, and again to no avail.
The intruder reached the gate, stepping through the Senkaimon, his appearance finally coming to light. His face and body were obscured by a long, black, hooded cloak. Kyoraku surmised that in the Human World, they called this a "poncho". He stepped forward, surprising his fellow captains, as he was normally the last to take the initiative.
"You know friend, its pretty rude, just busting in without an invitation or anything." Shunsui gave the intruder a small smile, hoping to possibly defuse the situation before it started. "Care to explain? I hope you know that you'd be fighting the entire Gotei Thirteen, were you to attack us."
The figures shoulders started shaking slightly, as though he were chuckling. Then, the figure spoke.
"You never change, huh Shunsui-sempai? Still as laid-back as ever." At this, the eyes of Kyoraku, Ukitake, Unohana and Yamamoto widened to comical proportions. Unohana hesitantly walked forward, drawing the attention of the figure.
"I-it couldn't possibly be...not after all these years." Unohana stammered, slowly walking forward. She reached out with her senses, feeling the figures reiatsu. Once again, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. The reiatsu she was feeling may have been exponentially more powerful than the last time she had felt it, but she remembered its feeling all the same. "R-ryusuke. Ryusuke Yamamoto...it couldn't possibly be you..could it?"
The figured chuckled softly, reaching for his hood. He pulled it back with a flourish, and the wide eyed Unohana now sported a fierce blush she was trying to fight down.
Ryusuke had hard, amber colored eyes. A boyish charm to his face, and long black hair that fell to his shoulders and parted to the right, giving him the look of a teenage punk. He smiled lightly, reaching over to cup Unohana's left cheek, making her blush worse. "Its me, Retsu-chan. I'm finally home."
Hearing the confirmation, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Yamamoto shunpoed to the blushing Unohana's side. They all took pity on Ryusuke when they saw the look on her face. 'Poor boy, he'll be her prey now' was the thought they shared.
"Ryusuke Yamamoto." The Head Captain started, getting the attention of everyone present. "So...you actually were able to make it back. I must admit, I am...impressed by this." He then scowled at the black-haired young man. "However, you realize that had you not been identified, you would have been executed for breaking into the Seireitei unannounced and by force. It is only because the four of us," He gestured to Unohana, Kyoraku, Ukitake and himself. "are familiar with you that you have not been captured." His stern gaze piercing into Ryusuke's eyes. The young man nodded, giving a small smile.
"My apologies, Oji-sama. But it was the only way back. The gate you THREW me in was locked by kido, so the Senkaimon was my only option." At this, the three captains by Yamamoto's side gave him a look of incredulous disbelief.
"Yamamoto-sensei, please tell us you didn't truly LOCK your only flesh and blood away for eternity!" A still coughing Jushiro exclaimed. "You had told us he left with permission from YOU, to train his powers-"
He was cut off by Yamamoto, who flared his reiatsu to silence him. "And he DID have my permission. His destination was not something I believed he would ever come back from. However, his...weakness was deplorable. So I exiled him to the depths of Hell. Where he would either grow powerful, or perish. Either way, he would no longer be a disgrace to my name, or my son.." The Head Captain said this all without an ounce of shame. Ryusuke shook his head, a slight smile on his face.
"I can't say I agree with your...loving tenderness Oji-sama-." The sarcasm was heavy in his voice. "But in any event, I'm back." Kyoraku smiled at this, clapping his hand on Ryusuke's shoulder.
"That's right! This should be a time of celebration!" He laughed. "Drinks on the old man! I'm sure we could all use one after the fiasco with Aizen a couple weeks ago."
This peaked Ryusuke's interest as he turned to the captains, getting a head count. "Ummmm, Shunsui-sempai, how come there are only ten captains? And what do you mean, the fiasco with Aizen?"
The faces of the captains darkened considerably. Ukitake stepped over to the confused Ryusuke, meaning to explain. "We were...recently betrayed by the former captains of Squads three, five and nine. Sousuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen all sided with the hollows, sending the Seireitei into chaos before ultimately fleeing to Hueco Mondo, as I'm sure you remember is the world of hollows." Ryusuke nodded, bowing to the captains.
"My most sincere apologies for these recent travesties." He looked them all in the eye briefly, one by one, his eyes lingering on the still slightly blushing Unohana and the hard yet warm eyes of Soi-fon. "However, should the Head Captain allow it, I will do my utmost to assist in bringing these criminals down."
The wizened captain stroked his beard slowly, contemplating the situation. "Your ability to be useful in the coming battles has yet to be determined. How do I know you're powerful enough to stand against high-caliber opponents such as Aizen and his cohorts?" He threw out that metaphorical bone, hoping to see what is grandson was capable of. Thankfully, Ryusuke accepted the challenge.
"Then let me fight a few of your captains." The black haired young man smirked, knowing his grandfather's game all too well.
Yamamoto nodded, internally pleased that he would be able to see firsthand whether or not his grandson would have the skill to back up the raw power all of the captains had felt when he had blown open the Senkaimon. "Very well. You shall be combatting three of my hand picked captains. Prepare yourself, boy."
Ryusuke's smirk got wider, the excitement getting to him. "With pleasure."
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Annnnnnnnd that's chapter 1 folks~ Leave a review and follow please, I intend to continue this:3 Ciao!