Next day.

Clang!

Benehime and Zangetsu clashed, creating a shockwave that Jinta, Tessai, and Ururu felt meters away.

"You're holding up really well." Urahara stated. "But I think you could do better."

Benehime suddenly erupted in red energy, spearing out at Ichigo.

Ichigo was only barely dodge out of the way of the attack as it grazed his neck, almost cutting a major artery.

"Gah!" He roared as he stumbled back and held a hand to his neck to slow down the bleeding.

"Fuck!" Zangetsu growled. "Get in the game, King!"

"Ah..." Benehime moaned. "His blood is sooo good."

"Calm down Benehime." Urahara casually admonished. "We can't kill him."

"You dick!" Ichigo roared. "You could've killed me!"

"That's the point." Urahara said. "One's reaitsu increases greatly when in mortal peril."

Urahara rushed at Ichigo again, who raised Zangetsu in a blocking position.

Clang!

Another shockwave rocked the area.

Ichigo, now wary of Benehime's power, fed as much reaitsu to Zangetsu as possible and tried to fire it off like he did yesterday.

Benehime fired her load at the same time, creating a dark red explosion that launched the combatants.

Urahara managed to land on his feet, though he fell to his knee to catch his breath for a second.

Ichigo definitely landed harder, crashing on his back, and stumbling back on his feet just in time to dodge another slash.

"How disappointing." Urahara sighed.

"Huh?" Ichigo blinked.

"Your sword is ready to fight, but the wielder is full of fright." Urahara lectured. "When you attack, you fear killing. When you counter, you fear being killed. When you protect, you fear letting them die. Such fear has no place in the battlefield."

A surge of reaitsu flowed from Urahara, tinted red with bloodlust.

"And fear's not what you need in a fight. What you need is resolve. When you counter, you don't get cut. When you protect, you don't let them die. When you attack, you kill."

"I-Is that it?" Ichigo thought. "Is resolve what I need?"

Zangetsu offered no answer.

Ichigo looked at the monstrous reaitsu Urahara was emitting.

This was insane. This was beyond anything he had fought before.

"This was what I need to beat to save Rukia." He thought.

Ichigo's eyes glowed as his grip on Zangetsu tightened.

Black reaitsu flowed out of Ichigo at a alarming rate as he glared at Urahara.

"Done freaking out?" Zangetsu said.

"Yeah." Ichigo says. "Let's do this."

"My word." Tessai stated in awe. "It's as if their swords are crying out for battle."

Ichigo and Urahara glared at each other, their blades glowing with resolve and reaitsu.

They charged.

They swung.

BOOM!

A explosion bigger than anything else before rocked the area.

When the dust cleared, a giant X was blown into the landscape.

Ichigo panted, seeing the destruction they made with that swing.

"And there is your resolve." Urahara stated. "As long as you have that, your're set! And we still have around 6 days to make you even stronger! You ready for hell?"

"Do I have a choice?" Ichigo snarked with a shit-eating grin reminiscent of Urahara himself.

Zangetsu grinned. This was going to be fun.


"Koten Zanshun!"

A boomerang shaped blade cut through the air, and where Yoruichi was a second ago.

Crash!

Chad crashed down, his fist smashing into the pavement, and leaving a small crater.

"Huh." Yoruichi blinked. "You almost hit me that time."

"How are you so fast?!" Orihime wailed in exasperation.

"Training." Yoruichi stated simply. "Why do you think we've been doing this for so long?"

Chad gasped for breath, exhausted by chasing Yoruichi across the forest all day.

Despite their exhaustion, Yoruichi was surprised by their growth.

At first, they had trouble simply bringing their power out, now they could use for hours on end with little more than fatigue.

Still, they needed more than stamina to take on the Soul Society.

"Are you ready to continue?" Yoruichi stated.

They both nodded.

"Well then..." A smug tone leaked into his voice as he ran. "Catch me if you can!"

Chad and Orihime sighed, chasing after him with great speed, throwing attacks every chance they got.

But Yoruichi nimbly dodged them all and kept well ahead of them.

Orihime scowled, before an idea popped into her head.

"Chad!" Orihime called out. "I have an idea! Head out to the left!"

"Kay." Chad obliged, rushing to try and catch with Yoruichi.

While he did, Orihime sent out Baigon, Hinagiku, and Lily, but didn't use the shield yet.

The fairies blurred past Yoruichi, using the foliage to hide.

Orihime knew her fairies were faster than Yoruichi even if she wasn't.

The main reason she hadn't caught him was Yoruichi was nimble enough to evade it even with Tsubaki's speed.

However if this plan worked...

Chad was in position, and so were the faeries.

"Now!" Orihime cried out. " Koten Zanshun!"

At the same time, Chad released a full force energy blast from his fist.

Yoruichi smirked as he found himself in a pincer technique. "Good. They're starting to plan ahead-"

"Santen Kesshun!"

A golden shield suddenly popped up right in front of Youruichi, blocking his path.

Boom!

A shockwave blew through out the forest.

"It worked! It worked!" Orihime squealed in mingled shock and triumph. "I can't believe it – my plan actually –"

"Did it?"

Flump!

Orihime squawked as Youruichi landed on her head.

Chad blinked. "How?"

"You two did well." Yoruichi complimented. "But it will be a long time before you can catch me."

Orihime looked crushed. "I thought I had you there."

Chad tried to comfort her. "Hey, it was a good plan."

"You could say that again." Yoruichi agreed. "If I hadn't sensed the fairies in the forest, you might've scratched me a bit."

Orihime smiled at that. "Should we go again?" She asked.

"No." Yoruichi said simply. "Your reaitsu feels low, go home and we'll do this again tomorrow."

Orihime stumbled as a wave of exhaustion hit her. "Wow, we been going at this for a while."

Chad quickly grabbed Orihime when it looked like she would hit the floor.

"You okay?" Chad asked.

"Fine." Orihime said. "Just exhausted."

Yoruichi started walking off. "Be here tomorrow."

"Kay." Orihime stated, heading off with Chad.


A few days later.

The rescue mission was finally at hand, Orihime, Chad, and Uryuu had decided to come to help, and now they were standing with Ichigo in front of a giant gate by the name of senkeimon.

"This gate," Urahara pointed at the square shaped thing behind him, "has a spirit particle conversion machine on the top of it. The two are attached by covering the gate with union tags."

"The Soul Society is a world of spirits. Therefore, you cannot enter it without being spirits yourselves." Yoruichi continued. "However, Kurosaki-kun here is the only one able to leave his body and become a Soul Reaper. The rest of you still retain your physical forms when you draw out your powers."

"That's where this comes in!" Urahara explained playfully. "It converts the physical matter of this world into spiritual matter!"

"So we'll be able to cross without dying then?" Uryuu stated.

"Right. However, there's a problem." Urahara continued, settling into a grim tone. "You'll find yourself in a place called the Dangai, the bridge between the World of the Living and the Soul Society. You're going to have perhaps four minutes to cross the Dangai, and if you don't get to the other side in time, the Senkaimon will close and leave you locked inside forever."

"And how do we stop that from happening?" Ichigo questioned.

"By walking forward." Yoruichi said simply. "However, only those with confidence can come."

"Well that's no problem!" Orihime said. "We wouldn't have gotten this far without confidence."

"Even though you know that if you fail to clear the Dangai, you will never go home again?"

"That just means that we can't fail." Chad stated.

"We won't fail." Ichigo hissed.

"You heard them!" Zangetsu laughed, surprising everyone who had not known zanpakuto were sentient. "Now open the gate."

"Heh." The cat almost seemed to smile. "Very well said. Kisuke, we're ready."

Urahara snapped his fingers once more, and the Senkaimon opened.


"Damn, the Dangai is a truly gloomy place, isn't it?" Ichigo reflected.

Dark, murky water flowed all about, and there was only a narrow strip of dry land from where they were standing to the other side of the Dangai.

"Let's move." Yoruichi rushed forward as everyone followed.

A loud splashing sound could be heard behind them, and it only took a look to see the Kouryuu heading toward them.

A part of the wall crashed down, creating a huge splash of the Kouryuu, some of which splashed onto Uryuu and his cape. "What? I'm stuck!"

"You idiot, it's because of your damn clothes!" Ichigo hoisted Zangetsu and flashed into action, trying to cut the cape off.

"Wait, if you touch the Kouryuu with your Zanpakuto, it will get stuck too!" Yoruichi yelled.

"Just rip them off!" Zangetsu roared.

"I'm trying!" Uryuu snapped, tugging at the cape.

Chad turns to help Uryuu and Ichigo.

They managed to tear them thing just as a black mass erupted from the waters, with glowing lights.

"The Kototsu!" Yoruichi cursed. "RUN!"

Everyone ran for their lives, using their reaitsu to boost their legs.

However, the Kototsu got closer and closer.

"Shit." Yoruichi hissed as the Kototsu almost towered over them.

"We won't make it!" Uryuu shouted.

And then Orihime turned and faced it.

Ichigo and Yoruichi didn't even get a chance to call her before what happened next.

"Hinagiku, Lily, Baigon! Santen Kesshun, I reject!" Orihime cried out, calling on her Shun Shun Rikka to place a barrier in-between the motley group and the Kototsu.

Crash!

For a second, everything went white for everyone.

Then everyone hit the ground with a painful thud.

"Uuugh..." Chad groaned. "What happened."

"Heeey..." Orihime slurred, looking rather frazzled. "We're alive. Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah." Ichigo got back on his feet faster than the others.

"What were you thinking?" Youruichi hissed. "Did you not listen to a single word I said? If it had been one of your flowers that made contact with the cleaner instead of just the barrier, it would have dragged you in! You would be dead!"

"Sorry." Orihime said sadly. "I just thought we weren't going to get to the gate in time."

"If Orihime hadn't put of that shield, we all might have been killed." Ichigo protested.

"You fail to grasp the severity of the situation." Yoruichi growled.

Before the argument could continue, Uyruu interrupted.

"The dust's clearing." He said.

What they saw was a town that wouldn't look out of place in feudal Japan.

All of the buildings were only one story and they were all built out of wood and bamboo.

There was a stone foundation beneath one big house, but even that looked hand made.

The stone weren't cut to fit each other, just piled together in a way that happened to fit.

There were trees pushing their tops between the buildings, growing right up in the allies between houses.

Small stone wells were dotted here and there and the roads were hard packed dirt.

Most odd of all, however, was the lack of any life.

"So," Ichigo binked. "Yes," Yoruichi-sensei said. "This is the slum district, more commonly known as the Rukongai, where souls first arrive after a Konso, and where most souls wait to continue in their reincarnation cycle."

"However, ever since the Rukon rebellions several hundred years ago, the economy and culture of the Rukongai has taken a major downturn, and most of the souls with the potential to make a difference leave for the Seireitei, which is where the Shinigami are. Said Shinigami barely take care of this place, believing it beneath them."

"That's terrible!" Orihime exclaimed.

"Wait, prosperous like 'that'?" Ichigo asked, pointing at the giant white buildings in the distance.

Yoruichi-sensei nodded. "Yes, that is-"

He didn't get any further than that. Ichigo took off sprinting, his gigantic sword thumping on his back with each step.

The other teens, not wanting to be left behind, immediately ran after him.

"Wait! Stop!" Yoruichi criied out. "You idiots! You can't just barge in! You'll be killed!"

"Killed?" Chad thought. "By wha-"

His thoughts were interrupted by a colossal thud as numerous stone walls began to materialize and fall out of the sky, landing in-between the teens and his destination.

The resulting shockwaves and clouds of dust all but knocked everyone down, and completely obscured them from the view of Yoruichi.

"What now?" Uryuu asked in exsaperation.

"Hah!" a deep and resonant voice droned. "It's been a very, very long time since anyone's had the guts to try and get through the White Road Gate without the proper pass. Now I finally have something to do! I've gotta thank you all."

"Oooh!" Zangetsu grinned. "Our first fight! Get ready!"

Ichigo steeled himself as the dust cleared, only faltering slightly when he saw a pair of kneecaps.

He gulped as he looked up at the speaker, a massive giant wearing a fez and wielding an equally-massive handaxe.

"My name is Jidnabo, gatekeeper of the Seireitei! Now, show me who's first!" He boomed.

Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu, black reaitsu already radiating off it.

Uryuu made a Quincy bow, and notched an arrow on it.

Chad's armor crawled up his arm, and opened at his shoulder.

Orihime placed her hands on her earrings, ready to fire them off at a moment's notice.

"You people have terrible manners." Jidanbo taunted. "You must be from the country. Listen, cities have rules. Wash your hands before you eat, say thank you when given courtesy, and all duels must be one-on-one."

"Hey, everybody! Don't do anything, okay?" Ichigo asked. "I want to try this on my own!"

They immediately began to protest.

"Why, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked. "We'd fight better together!"

"Yeah, idiot. Quit acting tough!" Uryuu snapped.

"Gee." Zangetsu snarked. "Great faith these guys have in you."

Before anymore arguing could be made, the giant swung down his axe on Ichigo.

Unfazed, the substitute shinigami raised his blade and stopped the axe cold.

Everyone blinked at the casual ease Ichigo had blocking the massive weapon.

"Guys, calm down." Ichigo said simply. "I think I got this guy."

The others obliged.

Jidanbo laughed. "I can't remember the last time someone was able to stop the swing of my axe. Only two people have attempted to barge in and have stopped my first thrust."

"However," Jidanbo gloated. "Nobody has stopped the SECOND!"

Jidanbo swung his axe, once again doing jack diddly to Ichigo or Zangetsu.

Jidanbo scowled. "Jidan 10-strike festival!"

He swung his axe like a madman, hacking away at Ichigo without mercy.

And yet, none of of his swings so much as dented Zangetsu.

"You done?" Ichigo asked.

"No! I still have another axe!" He pulled out a second handaxe from within his shihakusho and prepared to strike.

However, Ichigo was tired of this and readied his blade to strike.

"Sorry pal," Ichigo stated. "but I'm Gonna Kick Your Axe."

That was all the warning anyone got before Zangetsu cut through the blades like butter, creating a blast that sent Jidanbo flying into the gate.

"My axes!" Jidanbo cried out. "How could you?!"

The giant seemed on the verge of tears.

"Well, what did you expect?" Ichigo drawled, his sword hand was still holding firmly onto the handle of his zanpakutou "You tried to kill me with them. Did you think I'd just lie down and take it?"

"Technically, you were just taking it for a bit." Chad argued. "It just didn't do anything to you."

"...Touché." Ichigo admitted.

Whatever eggshell thin mask of maturity Jidanbo had managed to hold up for that long finally crumbled and the giant started bawling.

"Awk!" Ichigo yelped as a tear bigger than his body almost crashed down on him.

"Oh come on!" Zangetsu whined. "Our first fight after you get my name and we get this?"

"Wait no!" Orihime yelped, her inability to see people in tears coming out in full force. "Don't cry! I can fix your axes!"

Jidanbo looked at Orihime in shock. "You can?"

"If you let us through, I'd be glad to!" Orihime chriped.

"Th-Thank you!" He cried, gathering the pieces of his blades.

"Orihime," Uryuu asked. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't think any of us could jump over that gate." Orihime stated. "Plus, I think he knows Kurosaki-kun can't be stopped."

One Sōten Kisshun later, the axes were as good as new.

Jidanbo was estatic. "You're so nice! Here I am, crying like a baby, and even though your friend trounced me, you still care about me! You're so kind and caring!"

Orihime smiled at the compliment.

"And I'm a man of my word!" Jidanbo stated. "I'll let you all pass!"

He proceeded to turn and lift the gateway for the gang.

Yoruichi frowned. "There's someone else on the other side."

Everyone tensed, looking for the person as Jidando raised the gate.

"There he is." Chad pointed.

On the other side of the gate stood a lean man with pale skin, light silvery-purple hair, and a disturbing grin on his face.

To Ichigo's concern, he was also wearing the same outfit as Byakuya.

"Oh no!" Jidanbo gasped. "It's Gin Ichimaru, the Captain of Squad Three!"

It seems there's been a miscommunication, Jidanbo. Opening the gate for ryoka..." Gin said lightly. "is something we don't allow." Gin's reaitsu spiked.

"Oh shit." Ichigo thought, raising his sword and feeding it reaitsu for whatever insane attack this guy would pull.

"Santen Kesshun!" Orihime cried, her faeries flying toward Ichigo to shield him.

However, they weren't fast enough.

"Shoot to kill, Shinso!"

Gin drew his sword, and everyone watched as, with inhumanly fast movements, the man thrust his blade, causing it to extend at a insane speed.

Before the pixies even made it to Ichigo, the sword slammed into Zangetsu with great force, drawing a pained roar from the Zanpakuto.

A shockwave knocked Orihime, Chad, and Uryuu back as the blade - Shinso - sent Ichigo and Jidanbo flying back at near comical speeds.

"Chiao." Gin smirked as the wall came tumbling back down.

"Ow." Ichigo thought as he registered what happened.

"Shit!" Zangetsu roared. "That bastard cracked me!"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he got up and looked at his blade, and sure enough, it was cracked.

Not just cracked, but had huge spiderweb like fractures across the entire blade.

"Zangetsu!" Ichigo cried. "Are you all right?!"

"I've been better." The sword moaned. "Do me a favor and get me some reaitsu, will ya?"

Ichigo obliged, pouring his reaitsu into the cracks and watching them disappear.

"That could've gone better." Chad groaned.

"You could say that again." Yoruichi stated. "To think a Captain would be right outside the gate."

"Yoruichi?" Orihime asked. "I don't suppose you have a plan B?"

"I do." Yoruichi said simply. "We're going to Kuukaku Shiba."


The next few hours had been merely asking around for the whereabouts of this Kuukaka.

The people of the Rukon district were somewhat standoffish to the ryoka, on account of being illegal transports in a sense.

Despite this only one was outright hostile.

A particularly loud mouthed guy that starting fighting Ichigo when he noticed his robes, apparently expressing the same hatred of shinigami that Ishida had.

"What the hell is a soul reaper doing here?" Ganju snapped, pointing at Ichigo.

The man quickly got in Ichigo's face and glared at him without a shred of fear, despite the reaitsu Ichigo emitted to scare him off.

"Speak up! What's a…"

He had begun lightly slapping Ichigo's face.

"Stinking Soul Reaper doing here?"

The two glared at each other.

"I asked you a question you-"

Wham!

Ichigo's punch caught Ganju flat in kisser and actually lifted the man off his feet, hurtling him through the doorway he had crashed through a minute earlier.

Ganju rolled up to his feet and slapped one hand over his aggrieved injury. "Ow! You picking a fight, dandelion head?"

"You picked the fight, you jackass! You start in on me for no reason and expect me to do nothing about it! What kind of moron are you?" Ichigo yelled.

"Ichigo!" Yoruichi snapped. "This is no time useless fights!"

"He started it!" Ichigo yelled, right before Ganju lowered his shoulder and rammed Ichigo in the solar plexus.

"Ichigo!" Orihime and Uryuu yelled at the same time.

They started to run out of the house to help, but four boars and some people riding on them cut them off from Ichigo.

"Don't mess with the boss man," said their ringleader.

"If you try to help your friend, you'll have to deal with us," said another one behind him.

Fortunately, the fight had ended rather quickly as Ichigo was able pound Ganju around rather easily when suddenly a large alarm clock strapped to one of his henchmen goes off, stopping him cold in his tracks.

Realizing the time is 9 o'clock, Ganju called his own boar and quickly withdraw with his henchmen.

"Hey!" Ichigo snapped. "Get back here coward!"

"I'm not running!" Ganju roared back. "I'll be back tomorrow to finish this!"

Ichigo scoffed. "Screw that. I have more important things to do here!"


Fortunately, they were able to find Kuukaku's whereabouts not too long after that debacle.

The team approached Kuukaku's home. It was a surprisingly imposing construction; two great stone arms held up a banner with Kuukaku's name upon it, and a massive column (a chimney?) emerged from the short and squat house.

"HOLD UP!" Two men leapt down, one each, from the pair of stone arms. They were both very tall and muscular, with pencil-thin facial hair. The only obvious difference between the two was that one of them had a deep cleft chin.

"Where do you think you're going, with those weird outfits!" the pair barked out in sequence. "We won't let suspicious types like you in, absolutely not! Now get out, before we're forced to kill you!"

"Relax, Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko." Yoruichi said in a placating tone of voice. "They're with me."

Their jaws dropped in sync. "YORUICHI-DONO!" They cried. "Please forgive us! We didn't know you were with these filthy ruffians!"

"Hey!" Ichigo snapped. "We're right here! We can hear everything you say!"

"It's my fault." Yoruichi said casually, ignoring Ichigo's shout. "I should've sent word ahead."

The guards smiled. "Such kind words from such a great person." Shiroganehiko stated.

The guards led everyone down the steps to the basement.

"Please wait here." Koganehiko stated. "We will call master Kuukaku."

He proceeded to knock on the door.

"Who is it?" A voice called out.

"Master Kuukaku!" Shiroganehiko stated. "We have guests!"

"Alright, send them in." Kuukaku responded.

Koganehiko nodded weakly. "Of course, ma'am! Right away!" He cried, before sliding open the door between their corridor and Kuukaku's room.

Kuukaku herself was lounging on a pile of pillows.

Everyone instantly became aware of one obvious fact:

"Kuukaku is a woman!?" Everyone screeched in mutual shock.

Not only a woman, but a rather roguishly beautiful one at that, even if she was missing her right arm a little below the shoulder.

Yoruichi just smirked in a self-satisfied way, as if he were in on a unique secret.

"Yoruichi, who the hell are these kids?" Kuukaku snapped.

Yoruichi stepped forward. "If you'll allow me to get to that... I need a favor, Kuukaku."

"A favor?" Kuukaku blinked. "Is it dangerous?"

"Very." Yoruichi stated with a shrug. or as much of a shrug as a cat could make.

"Good." Kuukaku gave a shit-eating grin. "I live for danger."

There isn't much to say what happened after that.

Kuukaku quickly agreed to help our cause, especially once she found out Urahara was involved.

However, she did not think we could get there on our own and called someone to help us.

Surprisingly, it was Ganju, the same boar riding guy that fought Ichigo yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, he and Ichigo immediately started fighting again.

Fortunately, Kuukaku quickly put a stop to that, by knocking them both to the ground.

"Ow!" Ganju whined. "What was that for sis?"

"My house, my rules, brat," Kukaku growled. "The Shiba family may be on hard times, but our hospitality ain't dead yet. Now show these kids the spirit cores. They're gonna need them to drop in there in one piece."

"Drop in?" Ichigo asked.

"In one piece?" Ishida asked, concern on his face. "How are we getting in the Seireitei exactly?"


A little while later.

"What is that?" Orihime asked in awe, pointing at the huge cylinder like device in the middle of the room.

Laughing, Kukaku jumped onto the platform and patted the massive cylinder fondly. "This, kiddo, is what's going to get you into the Soul Society. This is what's going to send you over the wall."

"Did she just say 'over'?" Uryuu echoed in disbelief.

"You heard me! I'm Kuukaku Shiba — and I'm the first and foremost master of fireworks in all of Soul Society!"

Uryuu gulped. "You're saying that this is some kind of launcher? A cannon?"

"That's right!" Kuukaku cackled. "This is my personal fireworks station! The Kuukaku Cannon!"

"You're firing us out of that!?" Orihime said incredulously.

"Yep," Kukaku said proudly. She then looked up at the ceiling and shouted, "Koganehiko! Shiroganehiko! Hoist us up!"

The room proceeded to shake as the servants crank the floor up.

The ceiling split open down the middle as they approached it and pulled back to slide into the walls.

"Behold!" Kuukaku roared from her pedestal. "This is Shiba Kukaku's exclusive fireworks launch pad!"

"The Flower-Crane Cannon!" Ganju announced proudly, only to get punted clear off the pedestal.

"Oi! That was my line!" Kuukaku snapped.

"Sorry!"

"You can't be serious!" Uryuu shouted. "I don't care if you're a fireworks wizard! You'll only kill us by shooting us out of tha-"

Kuukaku cut him off shortly by braining him with a heavy crystal orb, bouncing it off of his face and into Chad's hands.

"What's this?" Chad asked.

"That," Kukaku said, "is a spirit core. Press your hands against it and fill it with your spirit energy."

Chad obliged, his reaitsu flooding into the ball, which lit up and covered him in a ball.

"That is the cannonball," Kukaku said. "It's what's going to smash through the barrier around the Seireitei and let you guys in."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. "Aren't we going over the walls?"

"Yeah, but those aren't the only obstacles, kid," Kukaku explained. "Those walls are made of Seki-Seki rock. It's a material that blocks spiritual energy and, since you're all made up of the stuff right now, colliding with them would definitely kill you. However, since Seki-Seki rock also emits waves that block reishi, going over or under it would kill you too. There's no going around the barrier; just through it. These will allow you to do so. Practice giving your reaitsu to them and we'll go when you're ready. Any questions?"

"Um." Orihime sheepishly raised her hand. "Is it safe?"

"If you don't fuck up." Kuukaku stated. "Now, head to the dojo and start practicing! Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko; escort the downstairs."

"Awk!" Ichigo squawked as one of the servants picked him and Uyruu up. "Lemme go!"

"And you'd all better train hard," Kukaku called after us in a parting shot. "Because if even one of you loses focus, then it'll go BOOM!"

"What? You never said that earlier!" Ichigo roared.


Focusing reaitsu was a rather simple thing for most of the gang except Ichigo.

Due to the type of training they had, which was finding and focusing their energy, Chad, Ishida, and Orihime could make a bubble rather quickly.

However, because his training was merely getting his power back and then getting strength, stamina, and experience to assist it, Ichigo had great problems at first.

"Kurosaki-san? What are you even doing?! I can't stand to look at it!" Koganehiko snapped.

"Indeed! That formation is pathetic! You have no talent!" Shiroganehiko agreed.

"Stop insulting me and give me a clue dammit!" Ichigo raged, hurling the orb at them.

Eventually, a few tips from Ganju and a near death experience later, he got the orb working.

Soon, it was time to get in the crane cannon and everyone was ready.

Ganju had decided to come along, to see why Ichigo was different from the other soul reapers he knew.

Everyone proceeded to climb in the tower, and stood in a circle with one hand from each of them holding up the crystal ball in the center and Yoruichi, who stood on top of it.

"Listen to me," Yoruichi-sensei began. "This is the last chance for talk we will have for some time, I think. So remember these things: stay together once we are inside. If you meet anyone of the captain class, those who wear a white haori, flee immediately and without question. Do not take unnecessary risks. Do not place your trust in anyone within those walls. All Soul Reapers you see from this moment on will be your enemy. Remember that we are here to rescue Rukia. They are her jailors and they will not simply let you walk out with her. Once we have secured her, we will leave immediately. I already have an escape route planned, so leave that part to me. Understood?"

"Yes," They all said. Their voices echoed in the huge, hollow tube.

From outside the cannon came the muffled sound of an incantation.

"It's starting! Combine your energies!" Yoruichi ordered.

Everyone quickly flowed and mixed their spirit energy in the orb.

An oddly fascinating sensation came to everyone as they felt each other's spirit energy.

Orihime: Bright and gentle, but with otherworldly strength.

Uryuu: Focused, calm and somehow different from the rest.

Yasutora: Tough and unyielding, like a tamed beast.

Ganju: Wild, conflicting emotions rolling together.

Ichigo: Unrefined power that eclipsed them all, yet oddly hungry.

Yoruichi: Old, yet lively. Powerful, yet subtle. Great, yet...incomplete. Form of cat, feel of...Shinigami?

"What the..." Everyone thought as they all felt Yoruuichi's odd reaitsu.

Kuukaku's indecipherable chant came to a crescendo, and with a colossal explosion, the Ryoka were blasted out of the cannon and through the sky.

"Now, to control the trajectory we need to adjust the output of our energy. I'm going to start the incantation now, so I won't have time to correct you. Just feel the amount of energy I'm putting into the ball and adjust your own accordingly. We clear?"

Everyone nodded.

Ganju immediately pulled a scroll out of his pockets and consulted it for the follow-up chant. "Fate of three birds, fate of four dragons! No road in five directions, no return in six miles!"

"Kurosaki-kun, you need to lower your power more. It's too much right now," Orihime said.

"Okay." Ichigo stated, lowering his output.

"You're still adding too much!" Uryu snapped. "You're messing up the rhythm!"

"I'm trying!" He snapped. "Zangetsu. Try sucking out my spirit energy."

"Kay." Zangetsu stated. "A little tricky to do this while you're focusing on something else."

Everyone felt Ichigo's reaitsu drop further and further, yet it still outweighed the the others.

"Ichigo," Yasutora said ominously.

"I KNOW!" Ichigo snapped. "Zangetsu! HELP!"

"I already am!" Zangetsu snapped. "There's just a lot to work with-"

"You DUMBASS!" Ganju shouted. "I READ THE SAME LINE TWICE BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"HOW IS THIS MY FAULT!" Ichigo countered.

"YOU WERE YELLING SO MUCH THAT I MESSED UP!"

"Idiots!" Uryuu snapped. "There's no time for this!"

"Guys?" Orihime stated shakily.

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw that they were coming towards the seireitei very quickly.

Too quickly to finish the chant.

"Well shit." Zangestu said simply, which summed up everyone's thoughts quite nicely.

"Everyone!" Ichigo shouted. "Pour your spirit energy in the orb! As much as you can!"

With little other options left, everyone obliged, throwing as much reaitsu in the orb as they could.

Miraculously, the orb didn't shatter from the power influx.

"Glrk!"

"What the-" Orihime's head whipped around to see Uryuu gasp as his hands started to burn. "Are you-"

"King!" Zangetsu roared, cutting her off. "SWING ME!"

Ichigo, still pouring reaitsu into the orb, focused the reaitsu Zangetsu already siphoned off from him, and swung the sword right when they hit the barrier.


For one second, all of Seireitei stopped moving.

Kenpachi had Yachiru sitting on her shoulder, both with shit-eating grins as they felt the reaitsu the meteor coming down on them was putting off.

Normally, Kenpachi couldn't sense anything for shit, but even he could feel what was coming down on them.


Aizen putting his palm on his lieutenant's, Hinamori, shoulder, feigning the horror she felt, staring at the falling star.

Inwardly, he smiled as he now felt one of his biggest experiments, come crashing down on the seireitei.


Renji would have smirked at the first time he saw his captain in shock, if he wasn't in shock himself.

He felt powerful dark energy coming towards the barrier, but it also felt uncomfortably familiar.

Just like that, they both knew that Rukia's execution might be the second worst thing to happen to them this month.


Rukia gasped, looking out her prison.

She immediately recognized the reaitsu, and looked out with horror and disbelief of multiple kinds in her eyes.

And yet, a small traitorous spark of hope lit up in her.

The hougyoku throbbed in her breast.


Shinigami all over the seireitei didn't move, even as it became painfully obvious what was coming for them all.

Shock and horror had triumphed over hope and survival instincts.

Normally, anything coming towards the seireitei would be destroyed by the barrier, but now they weren't so sure.

Finally, one spoke a question along the minds of almost every shinigami in the seireitei.

"Is that a hollo-"

BOOM!

A horrific explosion shattered the barrier, lighting up the sky and sending a shockwave to rock all of the seireitei.

Glass windows were shattered, shinigami were blown off their feet, and everything went white.

In an instant, the Seki-Seki barrier was no more.