The Stolen Soul
Approach The Enemy In Silence
Disclaimer-I do not own Bleach, or any related things.
Authors Note: Alright, this came out a bit faster than I expected it to. In part that's because I decided that some of the things I wanted to do with this chapter would simply work better in the next chapter instead.
Anyway, I want to thank everyone one for reading this story. My heart flutters every time I look at the view counter and see that its gone up. I also want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. It is so encouraging to know that you guys consider my story to be not only worth the time it takes to read, but also worth the time to provide feedback. So truly, thank you.
All right, enough of me being mushy. On with the show!
Yoruichi Shihoin would never admit it, but she felt a certain anxiety about this mission. She was absolutely confident in her skills as the former commander of the Onmitsukido. Her master of the shunpo technique was so great that it had earned her the title 'Flash Goddess Yoruichi'. Well, she had actually given that title to herself. In fairness however, in all her centuries of life, nobody had ever been able to take that title away from her.
She had every confidence in her ability to remain undetected as well. She had spent more than a century as the sole leader of what amounted to an entire army of assasins. To her stealth and secrecy were second nature. Besides, she could always shapeshift into her cat form in order to escape detection if things got really dicey.
No, it wasn't any doubt in herself that caused her anxiety. Rather, she was concerned about the woman with long strawberry blond hair who currently stood at her side in the massive cavern that rested beneath the Urahara shop, waiting for Kisuke and Tessai to finish opening the Senkaimon that would take them to the Soul Society.
She had no doubt in Masaki's skills as a quincy, of course. The woman had managed to kill the mysterious hollow that even Isshin with his once monstrous reiatsu had been unable to defeat. What truly worried Yoruichi was the other womans emotional state. Masaki's primary goal was to rescue her son, but what if she should catch sight of Sosuke Aizen in the process? Could Masaki be trusted to keep her emotions in check, or would she blow their cover in order to seek bloody vengeance against the monster who had shattered her world overnight?
If Masaki couldn't keep control of her emotions then they could both be killed, and Ichigo would remain in Aizen's hands with no possibility of a second rescue attempt. The worst part about it was no matter how well founded Yoruichi's concerns might be, she could not and would not ask Masaki to stay behind. For one thing the young quincy would never agree. Besides that, as Ichigo's mother, Masaki had more right than anyone else, except maybe Isshin, to go after her son.
"Masaki." Yoruichi said quietly, so only the other woman could hear. When Masaki turned to face her Yoruichi continued.
"If we're going to do this, I need you to follow my lead."
"Of course." Masaki replied. "Just so long as we save Ichigo."
"Right." Yoruichi nodded her agreement. "I have a few rules."
"What?"
"First," Yoruichi began, holding up one finger. "we don't want to attract any attention. If all goes well, we'll be back here with Ichigo before Aizen ever knows we were in Soul Society. But for that to happen, we can't say or do anything to arouse suspicioun. Aizen has spies anywhere. So just let me do all the talking, all right?"
"Right." Masaki agreed.
Yoruichi smiled. It was good that Masaki was willing to cooperate with her. Maybe she really was in control of her emotions right now. Perhpas all of Yoruichi's concerns were unfounded. Still, just staying low wasn't going to be enough.
Yoruichi raised a second finger. "Rule two, if we do get detected, and a confrontation is unavoidable, you run. I can buy time for you to escape."
Masaki frowned. "But if I did that I'd be leaving you to fight on your own. You could be killed."
"We could both be killed trying to pull this off." Yoruichi retorted. "But if I need to I can evade Aizen. I can escape. You might be good in a fight, but you wouldn't be able to escape from Aizen in a direct confrontation, and you can't beat him either. I at least would have a chance of escape, you would just be killed."
Masaki winced at the bluntness of Yoruichi's words, but the one time assasin could see understanding in her eyes.
"Alright Yoruichi. If it comes to it, I'll run and trust you to escape on your own." That said, Masaki fixed Yoruichi with a hard stare, bordering on a glare. "However, under no circumstances will I leave my son behind."
"I wouldn't ask you to." Yoruichi replied reassuringly.
"Good."
"One last rule." Yoruichi declared, raising a third finger. "No matter how well things are going, no matter how good the situation looks, if I say fall back, we fall back. No questions."
Masaki frowned, and her eyes narrowed into a real glare. "You just said you wouldn't ask me to abandon my son."
"I won't." Yoruichi replied. "But the time may come when we need to make a temporary retreat, understand?"
Masaki took a deep breath, and blew it out with a sigh. "Yeah, I get it. I'm sorry."
Shaking her head, Yoruichi placed her hand upon Masaki's shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for. This is a hard time for you. But between the two of us, we'll put an end to it."
Yoruichi could have sworn that Masaki almost smiled at that. "Right."
Well, that settled that. Yoruichi didn't really have anything else she could say to her companion at the moment. Now all that was left for her to do was wait for Kisuke. Actually, what was taking that man so long to complete such a simple task.
A glance over to where he was working revealed nothing out of the ordinary to Yoruichi's eyes. Kisuke had set up the stone conversion gate that would generate the Senkaimon, and allow both Yoruichi and Masaki to pass through the dangai precpice world and into the Soul Society. But for whatever reason, rather than turning the damn thing on, Kisuke and Tessai seemed to be taking a chat break.
Working to suppress a growing sense of irritation, Yoruichi began walking towards Kisuke. "I'll be just a minute, Masaki."
Not waiting for a response, she quickly made her way over to the conversion gate. Kisuke glanced up from his conversation with Tessai, and a sheepish smile crossed his face.
"Sorry about the delay. Tessai and myself were just working out the last couple details."
Yoruichi crossed her arms. "Details?"
"Indeed." Kisuke replied. "In fact, you're just the person we need to make our last adjustment."
Yoruichi quirked an eyebrow, silently waiting for him to elaborate.
Tessai chose to speak instead. "As you know, the Senkaimon can't be left open for long periods of time without serious risk of discovery. Therefore, we wanted to implement a system where the Senkaimon would automaticly activate for a short period of time at a specific point each day."
Yoruichi nodded thoughtfully as she listened. It was a good idea. She had planned to ask Kukaku Shiba if she could provide them with a way back once they had succesfully retrieved Ichigo. She would most likely need to contact her old friend anyway to get all the up to date information. For a recluse, Kukaku always had surprisingly solid, and recent intel.
But having a set time and place where they could freely leave the Soul Society seemed like a better idea overall, and it would that she would have one less thing to burden Kukaku with.
"What we need from you is the specific time you think will fit best into your rescue plan." Kisuke was saying.
Yoruichi resisted the urge to snort. "I can't really form a good rescue plan until I have better information, but I'd bet on sometime in the night."
"I thought as much." Kisuke declared. "I know you so well after all. Now, how about midnight then?"
"That seems a bit cliché doesn't it?" Yoruichi asked. Kisuke just smiled at her. "Fine, yes, that will work fine Kisuke. How long should we expect each opening to be?"
Kisuke's smile vanished, replaced immediately by a more somber look. "No more than four minutes."
Yoruichi nodded. That was certainly doable. True, most people would need considerably longer than four minutes to pass through the dangai precipice world, but then most people weren't the flash goddess Yoruichi.
"Since we're agreed, we can get the senkaimon open now." Kisuke abruptly turned away and moved back to the conversion gate.
Yoruichi gestured for Masaki to join her even as swirling light filled the conversion gate. Yoruichi took a deep breath as she turned to face the opening Senkaimon. It had been a long time since she had travelled to the Soul Society. She had made an effort to keep tabs on things of course, but never through direct investigation. Before now she had always considered the possibility of detection by either Aizen, or the Central 46 to be to great a risk.
But this situation was a bit different. Now there wasn't just a life on the line, but the life of a close friends child. Though she had often been accused of cold blooded murder, something which she had certainly done during her days as an assasin, and of being heartless, something which had never been true, she simply didn't have it in her to sit idle under these circumstances.
She wondered what all her old enemies would think about that.
"Alright, the Senkaimon is open." Kisuke announced wearily. "You should get moving, it won't be open long."
Yoruichi glanced sideways at Masaki. "Ready?"
Masaki didn't look back. "Of course."
As one, the two women launched themselves into the senkaimon.
The trip through the Senkaimon passed quickly. Masaki's hirenkyaku was fast enough to keep up with Yoruichi's shunpo well enough, and the older woman knew exactly where to lead them.
Despite the relatively short journey, Masaki had taken the chance to observe the dangai world around her. Although she had been involved in spiritual matters all her life, she had never had reason to travel to the Soul Society before. Normally such a journey was reserved exclsuively for shinigami, and the spirits of the dead.
She had been rather distburbed by the place. It wasn't just the poor lighting, or the towering walls of sludge that seemed to reduce all of the world into a claustrophobic corridor. Nor was it the near total absence of noise outside of her and Yoruichi's footsteps.
Instead, it was the feel of the place. This felt like a place where nothing lived, had ever lived, or could ever live. Though the air carried no particular oder, it still seemed to Masaki as though every time she inhaled in this place she was welcoming death itself into her being.
When they finally reach the end and passed through the dangai world and into the Soul Society Masaki felt an intense feeling of relief, as though she had just walked through hell itself unscathed.
When she mentioned as much to Yoruichi the other woman chuckled. "No, hell is much worse." Maskai felt a shiver down her spine, and chose not to pursue that line of conversation any further.
Masaki took a moment to observe their new surroundings. They were stood in a grassy clearing, surrounded by towering pine trees, along with a variety of plants.
"This is a good spot." Yoruichi observed. "Its not likely that anybody will come wandering around in a place like this, so we won't have to worry about somebody discovering the Senakimon while we're out and about."
"So, whats our first move?" Masaki asked.
"Well, knowing Kisuke we are somewhere in the western Rukongai districts. First thing we need to do is find a town or landmark that will tell us exactly where. Then all we have to do is track down the Shiba clan." Yoruichi explained.
Masaki remembered Isshin talking of the Shiba clan. He had once been a proud member of the clan. From all Isshin had told her about his family, Masaki was certain that they would be happy to assist in rescuing Ichigo. However, something about the way Yoruichi had phrased that made Masaki nervous.
" Isn't the Shiba family one of the four great noble families?"
"They are." The other woman confirmed.
"Then why do we need to track them down? Shouldn't they be easy to find?"
A dark look crossed Yoruichi's face. "Once, maybe. But after the murder of Kaien Shiba at the hands of an unknown hollow, the entire family fell out of grace. Whats worse, the current clan leader, Kukaku Shiba, became paranoid. She felt that the Shiba's were being targeted. Now they tend to stay in hiding, frequently changing location so they can't be found by their enemies. Can't say I blame them either."
Masaki had a sinking feeling." Why not?"
Yoruichi hesitated before answering. Just for an instant, but it was enough for Masaki to notice. "Because my information suggests that the hollow that killed Kaien was one of Sosuke's Aizen's experiments."
Masaki tried to ignore the sensation of ice that those words brought to her veins. Everything she learned of this man, this Sosuke Aizen, made her fear for Ichigo's life grow stronger and stronger.
After that Yoruichi led her from the clearing and along several trails and pathways that Masaki might not have been able to find on her own. By the time they emerged from the trees and into a more open area the sun was starting to dip low in the sky, as though it was as tired as Masaki was.
It didn't take long after that before they stumbled across a small village. Masaki was surprised at the run down look of the place, and by the tired looks on the faces of the few people who were out and about at this hour. Some of them looked like they hadn't smiled in years. That wasn't surprising when one considered how raggedy their clothes were, or the fact that nobody seemed to even have footwear of any kind, or the fact that many of the buildings seemed as though they might collapse at any moment.
It didn't seem right to Masaki that these people should live in what was clearly a state of poverty and decay here in the afterlife. Wasn't the afterlife supposed to be where you went to enjoy eternal rest after the hardships of life?
When she voiced the thought the other woman simply told her that some districts were better than others, and said no more. Ultimately Masaki chose not to dwell on it to much. It wasn't a problem she could fix after all. Even if it were, she would not have had the time to address it. As noble as the thought of single-handedly fixing everything wrong with the world was, her son had to come first.
As long as Ichigo remained in danger, nothing else mattered.
Masaki waited on the outskirts of the village while Yoruichi went in to find out exactly where they were. It didn't take long for Yoruichi to make her return with a scowl locked onto her features.
"Of course Kisuke would put us at the outskirts of the Rukongai districts. Even if we use high speed movement techniques we're looking at a three day journey to reach the seireitei, at least!"
"Isn't that good?" Masaki asked. "If we're that far out then theres no way we would be noticed, and we can gather more information from the locals on the way there."
"All true." Yoruichi conceded. "But it also means we're going to have a long way to run to get back to the Senkaimon in the event that we're caught."
"I don't think that matters, since its only going to be open at midnight anyway."
Yoruichi bliked at Masaki, then smiled at her. "You're right, maybe Kisuke actually does know what he's doing then. Its still going to be a long trip."
"Then we'd best get started."
The journey quickly turned into one of the most grueling challenges Masaki had ever faced. Her skill with hirenkyaku was reasonably advanced for a quincy of her level, but she'd never had to use it for long stretches of time before. She simply wasn't use to expending so much energy so fast. Even if she were, Yoruichi set a punishing enough pace that Masaki wondered if perhaps the other woman was trying to kill her through sheer exhaustion.
The situation was urgent of course, so Masaki didn't mind, and she was more than willing to put in the effort. She did wish that Yoruichi would at least pretend to be having difficulty as well, but no such luck.
As they came closer to the Seireitei Yoruichi began making more frequent stops to question one local or another in an effort to determine where they could find the Shiba clan.
During the second day of non stop travel they found a travelling merchant who claimed that Kukaku had set up shop near a waterful only a few hours away. This new information in mind, they changed direction.
It struck Masaki that the Shiba house was one of the truly few buildings she had ever seen that managed to be both sizable and modest at the same time. The wooden arches and pillars managed to convery elogance without seeming pretentious. The house was located only a few hundred yards from a waterfall, just as the merchant had claimed.
For her part Yoruichi seemed happier than Masaki had ever seen her when the house came into view. Masaki wasn't sure what the relationship between Yoruichi and Kukaku was, but she could tell that the other woman was looking forward to the meeting.
As they approached the door a man dressed in a white shirt and green pants stepped forward to greet them.
"Greetings Lady Yoruichi. Lady Kukaku will be glad to see you after so long." The man said, offering a slight bow.
Yoruichi smiled at the man "Hello yourself, Koganehiko. Wheres Shiroganehiko? You two are almost always together."
"Ah, he's currently running errands along with Ganju for the master. There are some ingredients that she's been running low on lately."
"I see." Yoruichi nodded. "Well, may we go in?"
"Of course, Lady Yoruichi. I will lead you and your companion to her right away." Koganehiko declared with another bow.
"Thank you." Yoruichi replied.
Masaki followed the two of them into the house. Under better circumstances she might have wanted to stop and take some time to admire the interior of the place. While it might have been a fairly normal home by the standards of the Soul Society, it was quite old fashioned in its design by the standards of the world of the living. It was quite charming in Masaki's eyes.
But there was no time for such things. They had already taken longer than she had wanted, and even after this meeting they still had a days journey to reach the Seireitei. The sooner they got this over with the better.
Koganehiko led them to a sliding door, but before he could announce them a womans voice spoke.
"Oi, Koganehiko! It seems like we have an important guest! Send her in right away."
Koganehiko bowed to the door. "Of course Lady Kukaku!" With a quick movement he drew the door open and gestured for Yoruichi and Masaki to enter.
They entered into a large sparsely decorated room. At the far end of the room, a woman sat atop a pile of pillows. This, Masaki supposed, must be Kukaku Shiba. Kukaku was dressed in a white skirt and red robe that left little to the imagination. For some reason she had wrapped a number of bandages around her black hair. But the most striking thing was that her right arm was missing.
While Masaki took in the apperance of their host, Yoruichi and Kukaku engaged in conversation.
"Yoruichi, its been a long time since I've seen your face."
"Its been to long." Yoruichi agreed. "Sadly, I'm afraid I don't have time to talk much on this visit."
"Oh?" Kukaku looked past Yoruichi and at Masaki, who felt rather uncomfortable under her gaze. "I assume its something to do with your companion?"
"That is Masaki Kurosaki, the woman Isshin married." Yoruichi announced solemnly.
Kukaku's eyes widened momentarily before she looked back at Masaki. The poor woman felt as if Kukaku's gaze was piercing through her and into the very core of her being.
"Uh, nice to meet you." Masaki said, hoping she didn't sound to nervous.
"Well, at least uncle has good taste." Kukaku said after a long moment of silence.
Masaki wasn't sure how to respond. Luckily she didn't have to, as Yoruichi was already speaking.
"I've come to ask for your help in a very serious matter, Kukaku."
"Yeah? Something dangerous?" Kukaku asked.
"Extremely." Yoruichi confirmed.
A broad grin spread over Kukaku's face. "Excellent! Then of course I'll help out. Things have been pretty boring around here lately anyway."
Masaki's eye twitched, and she felt a bit of anger rising up. "You should take this seriously." She said coldly.
Kukaku frowned at her. "Hey Yoruichi, whats up with her?"
"Masaki and Isshin had a child together not long ago." Yoruichi said.
"Thats right." Masaki interrupted. She didn't care that it was rude. Ignoring the scowl that Kukaku was sending her way, she pressed on. "Not long ago I had a baby, my beautiful son Ichigo. But, on that same night he was kidnapped, and we need your help to find him. So you better be taking this completely seriously!"
She was almost shouting on the last sentence. She blinked in surprise at her own outburst. She hadn't realised just how tightly wound she was, though she supposed it wasn't a surprise. She had a right to be angry after all.
Kukaku observed her, her expression now blank. "I see." She stood and turned to face Yoruichi. "You should have mentioned right away that a member of the Shiba clan had been kidnapped."
"Sorry."
Kukaku scowled. "Don't tell me you're sorry. Tell me exactly what happened, and what you need from me."
So Yoruichi began explaining the stiuation to Kukaku. While she did, Masaki took the chance to observe the Shiba woman more closely. Her attitude was completely different from a moment ago. The instant the kidnapping had been brought up all traces of smiles or humor had fled her.
What was more, the longer she listened to Yoruichi's explanation, the more and more anger Masaki could see building up behind her light blue eyes, as if Kukaku herself had been the one to lose her child, and not Masaki.
"I see." Kukaku muttered once Yoruichi had finished her tale. "I had heard that Aizen had adopted a child, but I never imagined that he had actually kidnapped a member of my family."
Masaki's eyes narrowed. "Adopted? He "adopted" my son?"
"Seems that way." Kukaku replied. "At the very least that means we can assume that Ichigo is unharmed for now. But to think he would really still come after us, does he really think this can go unanswered?"
Yoruichi shrugged. "Who knows?.
"Hell if I do." The Shiba woman grumbled. "But I bet I do know why you're here. You need information, right?" Seeing Yoruichi nod, Kukaku continued. "Alright, I can tell you exactly where Aizen's house is, and when he's likely to not be there."
"It will have to be at night sometime." Yoruichi said. "The risk of being spotted is to great during the day."
Kukaku nodded her agreement. "Right. Luckily for us Aizen tends to spend several nights out of the week at the fifth division headquarters, probably to maintain his bullshit image of being the best guy ever."
"Surely he doesn't leave his home unguarded?"
"No." Kukaku shook her head. "He has an assistant hired, a guy who looks after his so called son whenever he's not around."
"Alright. All we need now is that exact location of his house, and his schedule, and we can make our move." Yoruichi announced. Masaki felt something akin to relief at those words. To her it felt like an eternity since Ichigo had been taken away from her.
"Of course. But first," Kukaku fixed her stare onto Masaki once again. "You look like you haven't slept in days, and I'll bet Yoruichi ran you prettey hard getting here. You two will spend the night here."
Masaki's protest was instantaneous. "We can't do that! Ichigo has already been gone to long!"
Kukaku stood to her feet and slowly began walking towards Masaki. The slow and deliberate nature of her movements reminded Masaki of a predator stalking its prey.
"I may not have met him, but Ichigo is a member of the Shiba family, so I want him rescued as badly as you do. Therefore I insist that you get some rest here first. I won't have this operation failing because you fell asleep halfway through, got it?"
There was a dangerous edge in the Shiba womans voice now, one that sent shivers running up and down Masaki's spine. Nevertheless, she stood her ground.
"Ichigo is my son! Do you understant that!? I will not abandon him, no matter what the reason!"
Kukaku stepped to within a few inches of Masaki and glared directly into her eyes. There burned within the Shiba womans eyes such a fury that Masaki feared that she might be crushed beneath the weight of that gaze. Slowly it dawned on her that what she was actually feeling was this womans reiatsu.
"Now you listen here, little girl. I've been doing this kind of thing since before your grandparents were born. I've seen countless missions failed and battles lost because one idiot or another thought they could get the job down after going for days without sleep. You aren't going anywhere until I say so, because I'm not giving you any information until I am certain you are well enough to get the job done."
"But-" Masaki tried to protest again.
Kukaku was having none of it. "You came to me, remember? This is my house, and these are my rules. If you don't like it, then you can turn around and go home, and I'll take care of this myself. Now, am I clear?"
Masaki wanted to say no, she wanted to protest. But she couldn't. This woman was probably the only person in Soul Society who would help them, and she wasn't wrong about how tired Masaki was.
So instead of protesting, she agreed. "Yes ma'am."
"Good." Kukaku noddded and walked away. "Koganehiko will show you to your room."
Later that night, once they were both sure Masaki was getting the rest she so desperately needed, Yoruichi and Kukaku left the house and wandered down towards the waterfall in a comfortable silence.
It had been decades since the last time Yoruichi had had the chance to see Kukaku, yet she found that she had little to say to her. It was good enough just to be in the company of an old friend. Kukaku evidently felt the same, for she offered no attempts at small talk.
It was a beautiful night out. Only the thinnest wisps of clouds drifted in the sky, and the moon hung full in the sky above them. Though the temperature was cool and there was a slight breeze it was not enough to be uncomfortable.
Yes, it was nice to just walk and listen to the sound of crickets in the distance, along with the much closer sound of water crashing down upon worn rocks. But eventually the silence between them had to be broken.
"You know what you're doing is dangerous." Kukaku said. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah." Yoruichi nodded. "Probably the most dangerous thing I've ever done."
The Shiba woman scoffed. "I doubt that. Surely the former leader of the Shihoin clan has preformed more dangerous tasks than rescuing an infant?"
Yoruichi allowed a smile onto her features. "True enough, although Sosuke Aizen was never involved in those incidents."
Kukaku sighed. "I wish I could tag along and help you out more directly." The Shiba woman frowned as glanced at the stump where her right arm had once been. "Sadly I'm not quite the fierce warrior I used to be."
"Don't worry about it." Yoruichi replied. "What you're doing for us is already enough.
Kukaku nodded, then gestured back towards the house. "What about her? Is she up to this?"
Yoruichi considered for only a moment. "Yes, I think so. She understands the need for stealth, and she can fight if need be."
After a moment of silence Kukaku frowned. "I'm sensing a 'but' in there."
Yoruichi blew out a long sigh. "The truth is I'm worried that her emotions might get the better of her, and compromise the mission."
Kukaku nodded in understanding, and for a while silence resumed. A stream wound its way downhill from the waterfall, and by mutual unspoken agreement both women took seats at the edge of the water. For a time they simply enjoyed the sound of the running water.
Eventually Kukaku found more to say. "You should leave her behind."
Yoruichi blinked in surprise. She certainly hadn't expected Kukaku to say that. "I'm sorry?"
Kukaku shrugged. "From what you say she could become a liability. I know how badly she wants to save her child, anybody could see it, but maybe thats not for the best."
Yoruichi shook her head. "Sorry. I can't leave Masaki out of this, not when she's come this far."
"She could get killed." Kukaku met Yoruichi's eyes. "Or she could screw up and get you killed."
"Maybe." Yoruichi allowed. "But then, I could get killed even if I do go on my own. Besides, if I did what you're suggesting and failed, I don't think Masaki would be able to scucceed on her own. Especially since then Aizen would know to expect her."
Kukaku went silent for moment. Perhaps, Yoruichi thought, she was trying to find a flaw in her argument. She must not have found one, because after a moment Kukaku let out a weary sigh.
"I suppose you're right, Yoruichi."
The former Shihoin empress smiled. "Of course I am."
Kukaku's response was completely serious. "You weren't wrong when you said this is probably the most dangeorus thing you've ever done, so be careful. I don't want either of your deaths on my consience. So you better make sure you bring both her and yourself back here alive."
"Yeah." Yoruichi gazed into the water, into the eyes of her own reflection. Could she say with absolute certainty that she could do as Kukaku wished? Perhaps, and perhaps not. In the end what really mattered in this moment was not whether or not she could say it as a certainty. No, what truly mattered was that she could say it with confidence. In the end, for Yoruichi Shihoin, that much was easy. If there was one thing Yoruichi knew how to do, it was to approach the enemy in silence so deep that they would never know whom they had faced.
"Count on it."