Jinchuriki Rising
Author's Note: Wow I am so sorry for the delay on this chapter. I mean a whole year, wow. I would like to apologize to everyone, but this year was my last year of college and I was forced to concentrate all my efforts into my schoolwork. Eventually I got so busy that I had begun to lose inspiration for my stories.
But know that summer is here my muse is back so hopefully we can look forward to more updates and maybe even a few new stories. Anyways I present to you the fourth chapter of Jinchuriki Rising. It is probably my longest chapter to date over 12k words. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Naruto
Previously on JInchuriki Rising
Upon arriving to the Gisei no Tani Ichigo and his friends are ambushed and separated by members of the Bijuu Corps. Tensions are high as both groups face off against their opponent and battle for the sake of the Sereitei and much more.
Chapter 4: Battle Royale
Human World
Urahara smiled in contempt as he took a whiff of his tea. He was truly lucky that Tessai had an impressive knowledge of teas and other beverages. He sipped his cup and sighed in contempt just as the sliding door next to him opened.
"You seem to be in a chipper mood." Kisuke blinked as Yoruichi in her human form came in and took a seat next to her longtime friend.
"Youichi, surprised to see you up this early. Can I offer you some tea? I had Tessai make me another cup."
Yoruichi looked at Urahara with a curious expression, " If you are surprised to see me then why do you have another cup?"
Urahara shrugged, "No clue I guess it just fits the mood I guess." Yoruichi nodded and sat down taking a sip of her tea.
"Are you worried? About Ichigo and the others I mean."
"Not really I have faith in them besides, I have faith that they will get through to the Bijuu Corps." Kisuke responded with a solemn expression. He had been notified earlier about the mission they were given to go and retrieve the former unit of the Gotei 13.
Urahara brought out and opened his fan waving it in front of his face. "Besides I think we all know that he is not one to kill people like Kurosaki and his friends. Maybe injure them a bit, but I am sure that they will get through to one another."
Yoruichi did not seem convinced, "Even so, it definitely won't be easy. I mean every single one of them can take on a captain class Shinigami Kisuske."
Urahara waved her off, "You worry too much Yoruichi, I am sure they are doing just fine."
Yagura vs. Hitsugaya
"BANKAI!" the entire forest shook as a giant wave of ice and snow emerged from out of nowhere completely covering the clearing in a large white blanket. At the same time two giant trails of snow were being kicked up as two individuals raced across clearing clashing with one another kicking up large pillars of snow and ice. The sound of clashing metal reverberated through the once calm forest as two warriors dashed through the once peaceful forest. Trees cracked and fell under the force and pressure generated by the two shiningami.
Hitsugya panted as he cleared the smoke of debris dispersing as he flew out. Giant wings of ice covered his back and his sword hand was covered in a long stretch of ice ending with a dragons head holding onto his sword with its fangs.
However despite activating his bankai, he was still having trouble to keep up with Yagura's battle prowess. Even if he did not look it, his opponent was clearly on the same level as a captain, not to mention if he could match him using his bankai, then he feared how strong he would become if he unleashed his blades true power.
Hitsugaya breathed heavily, his left eye was closed due to the amount of blood leaking down the side of his head, his left arm was covered in cut marks so numerous that he was forced to freeze most of his left arm and he had a decent cauterized gash on his waist courtesy of Yagura.
However Yagura was faring no better, his right arm up to his neck region had lost his sleeve and the left side of his upper body armor exposing his chest and arm littered with mild frost bite and large stab wound that also had been cauterized around his abdomen.
"Kori no Tsume/Ice claw" ice formed around Yagura's blue hilted hook sword taking on the appearance of clawed hand as he threw it directly at Hitsugaya. However he used the wings of Hyorinmaru to maneuver out of the way as the blade cut clean through a giant tree from top to bottom as a white blur raced past. Hitsugaya weaved through the path of destruction launching attack after attack but his opponent was clearly just as quick.
He could not help but admire Yagura's skills. Even though he and Yagura's possessed similar skills in both combat and leadership, it was clear that Yagura's was superior to him.
"Joki Tsume/Steam claw" he raised his blade just in time to avoid having his head impaled by Yagura's hook blade, the blade covered in water was steaming with boiling water. The heat was so intense he could feel it burn his skin despite not making contact with his skin.
Yagura swung his wrist with the intent to impale him with his other hook sword. Frost covered the length of the blade until the tip of the sword became a large hook of dense ice. "Kori no Kiba/ice fang" the blade went flying through the air and went to once again impale his head. Hitsugaya willed his wings to move shielding him from Yagura's strike.
As the blade latched onto his wings Hitsugaya failed to notice Yagura's smirk as he tugged on his weapon's chain and flew through the air towards Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya was helpless as Yagura landed in front of him his palm outstretched " Hado number 65: Raikoho"
Hitsugaya screamed as a bolt of lightning broke through his wings of ice and pierced his right shoulder. Gritting his teeth he kept moving forward delivering a skull shattering head butt to his opponent. The force sent Yagura stumbling back and stunned him long enough for Hitsugaya to throw his blades off of him. He charged forward to stab him, but Yagura tilted his head to the side and narrowly missed a fatal blow as the blade slashed across his cheek.
"You're feisty." He brought up his sword just as Hitsugaya flipped his blade and pulled back, earning a burst of sparks as blades clashed. Yagura's jumped up and Hitsugaya unleashed from his blade two large dragons of pure ice. Yagura's gripped the chains around his wrists and started to spin. The blades hummed in the air like chainsaws shattering the dragons into shards of ice.
"Even more impressive is that your level of power is through the roof. I can see why you made captain." He blinked when he saw one of the flowers surrounding Hitsugaya faded. "However you are still just a child, so your body is not able to handle the power of your bankai for too long. I take those flowers serve as timers of sort. When they all melt away your Bankai will deactivate."
Hitsugaya did not answer and instead sped towards him raising his blade above his head and brought it down "Hyoryu Senbi".
From the swing a large crescent arc of blue ice in the shape of tail descended upon his opponent. Yagura's swung his chain which appeared to grab the air in front of him. "Hansha-Kyo/Reflecting Mirror" a large circle of ice materialized out of thin air and the reflective surface shimmered before an exact replica of Hitsugaya's attack emerged. The crescents of ice collided and expanded forming giant rings of ice. Yagura's red hook sword gripped the air like its counterpart and spun gathering moisture from the air, creating a miniature whirlpool. By now the two attacks from Hitsugaya and his copy had finished forming the giant ice rings completely obstructing Hitsugaya view of his opponent.
Suddenly large amounts of steam burst through the ice burning him. By the time he regained his vision, he was shocked to see Yagura emerge from the steam cloud in front of him. "Moeru suiro no kiba/Fang of the burning water dragon" Yagura swung his blade causing the water to change shape, taking the form of a giant water dragon, its entire form encased in scalding water releasing steam along the length of its body. Hitsugaya screamed as the water serpent clamped its jaws over his arm as well as his right wing, badly burning and completely melting his wing off. Before his wing could completely regenerate Yagura shunpoed above him and brought his foot down crashing into Hitsugaya's back. He hit the floor below coughing up blood as he felt his insides burn from the violent impact.
"You were good, but in the end you're own status did you in." He blinked in surprise as Hitsugaya froze after hearing this over and started to stand back up, the grip on his sword tightening. "Don't look down on me damn it!" he shouted furiously.
Yagura's chuckled, «I see, as a former Kage I cannot help but admire your resolve. However, I will not go back to the Sereitei. In honor of your position I will end this quickly."
He whipped both wrists in front of him, they buried themselves into the ground while keeping tight grips on one another causing the ground to freeze and sizzle. "Kirigakure secret technique: Kakusareta Kiri"
By giving a harsh pull on both wrists, the blades grated against one another and upon separating created a giant cloud of mist that engulfed the area they were in. Hitsugaya kept his guard up trying to anticipate where his opponent would. He froze when he felt someone's breath on the nape of his neck and swung his sword hitting nothing but air. He gasped in pain as something slashed across his forearm burning his skin. He stumbled as he felt a slash across his thigh. Hitsugaya was assaulted relentlessly by incredibly fast and precise slashes. Finally as Hitsugaya wobbled barely able to uphold the ability to stand he saw Yagura's above him, waves of mist rolling off of his hook swords, "Kiri ni kakusa reta akuma no tsume/Claws of the Demon Hidden in the Mist" he whispered and brought them down in an x pattern, slashing across Hitsugaya's chest. After a few seconds, the attack finally registered and the force of the strike scattered the mist revealing the newly formed x patter on the ground with Hitsugaya in the center. As Yagura's landed a giant spray of blood flew out from Hitsugaya's wounds.
Hitsugaya desperately tried to maintain his standing position, but his body had reached its limit and he stumbled onto his knees, before falling forward onto the ground, his wings of ice shattering as his Bankai deactivated.
Yagura's looked down at his opponent and carefully knelt next to him checking his pulse. He sighed in relief as he picked up the young captain. His gaze then drifted to his Zanpakuto, still clutched tightly in his hand. Yagura's smiled, "Unbelievable, even heavily injured and unconscious your grip on your sword and your resolve still have not wavered. It truly was an honor to have fought you...Hitsungaya Toushiro."
Yagura's and his captive soon vanished into the shadows, leaving no trace but a frozen landscape behind them.
Rukia and Orihime vs Utakata
"BOOOM"
Several explosions shook the forest, forcing birds in the vicinity to fly off in fear. In the forest below Rukia and Orihime were standing back to back. Orihime had her shield up and Rukia had her hands out shooting out red balls of fire.
From within the shadows Utakata jumped out blowing into his pipe unleashing swarms of bubbles at them. When they got close either one of them would protect one another by using a barrier or blasting through them. Both girls looked exhausted and their clothes were singed. Utakata on the other hand was barely breaking a sweat.
Rukia tried shooting him with a kido spell every time he jumped out of the shadows, but before the attack could hit he would always create a giant bubble. The bubble would then swallow the attack and either explode or extinguish the spell.
'He is fast and trained in long distance combat. I could attack, but that would mean that I would leave Orihime exposed.'
Orihime sent her Koten Zanshun popping a swarm of bubbles, "Rukia you have to get in close."
Rukia was shocked by her friend's words. "Orihime if I do that than you would be wide open."
Orihime shook her head, "If he really wanted to hurt us then he would have already. He is holding back so I don't think he wants to hurt us. If you leave me alone then I'm certain that he won't harm me".
Rukia debated about whether or not she should leave Orihime to engage the enemy. If she was wrong and if Orihime got hurt then she would never forgive herself. However, looking into her eyes she could see the seriousness in them and that her resole would not break or be changed.
"Stay safe Orihime." She whispered gripping the handle of her Zanpakuto, "You too Rukia."
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki" she yelled entering a light spin. As she did so her Zanpakuto was enveloped in a bright white light and the light grew in length as the tip of the blade emerged a bright white ribbon. Soon the light washed away and Rukai was now wielding a pure white sword that looked as if it was forged from snow, the delicate ribbon flowing around her in a circle.
Utakata jumped from the shadows and frowned, blowing into his pipe and bubbles flooded Rukia. She pulled back her sword and pierced the ground in front of her, "Tsuki no mai Hakuren" she yelled as she thrust her sword forward and giant avalanche of ice and snow rushed towards and met Utakata's attack head on. Before they could even get close, Utakata's bubbles froze over and shattered before they could explode and in order to avoid being buried alive Utakata made a quick escape by jumping into the shadows.
Utakata slowly emerged from the shadows behind a tree and peeked out to spy on his enemies, but he ducked as Rukia's sword sliced through the tree, knocking it down. Utakata jumped back but Rukia struck with her blade making Utakata lift the sharp edge of his pipe dagger to block Rukia's blade.
Utakata grunted trying to ignore the feeling of frost slowly covering his hand. "I have to admit, you guys are a little more of a challenge then I thought."
"I can't take all the credit; most of my thanks goes to Sode no Shirayuki." She said struggling to overpower the surprisingly small weapon.
"Oh, and why is that?" he asked with mock curiosity.
"It's because your Zanpakuto ability is weak against ice type Zanpakuto. Your bubbles are like miniature time bombs, but they are still liquid based. So although they are pretty useful against fire based techniques, they are noticeably weak against ice type Zanpakuto because they freeze and destroy them."
"I am impressed you clearly have skill for someone who is an unranked member. Then again you are a member of the Kuchilki clan. However blowing bubbles is not the only thing I can do."
Utakata took in a deep gulp of air from his pipe then exhaled expelling purple smoke. Rukia cried in pain as the smoke made contact with her face. She clutched her eyes in pain and stumbled back.
"Rukia!" Orihime rushed towards her friend's and after seeing the state Rukia's eye were in Orihime quickly went to work.
"Soten Kisshun, I reject!"
A shield of golden light engulfed Rukia and little by little her eyes slowly healed. Rukia steadily got back up; ready to continue the fight. However this distraction provided Utakata with more than enough time to come up with a plan.
Utakata took a few puffs of pipe before he expelled a giant cloud of violet mist. The speed and force of the smoke clouds expulsion sent both girls flying into tree trunks. Both RUkia and Orihim faught to retain consciousness but slowly both felt their bodies go numb and their consciousness slipped away as the poisonous fumes entered their systems.
Utakata gave a few coughs wiping away a stray trickle of blood and cleared his throat, "I hate doing that. Really is hard on the vocal cords".
He looked at his opponents and bent down to examine them. He placed two fingers on the side of either neck and sighed in relief that they were still alive. He brought his zanpaktou to his lips creating a giant bubble that he used to envelop the both of them and flyaway into the sky.
Shrieks reverberated through the trees as Ikkaku and Rangiku swung their Zanpakuto and a shower of sand pellets splashed across the ground. However the pellets came to life and came back together a sphere with a uniquely shaped eye. The eye glanced up at the two shiningami and a large slit opened up in the middle revealing a mouth with hundreds of serrated teeth. Rangiku cursed as the sphere joined its hundreds of brethren flying around the red haired shiningami called Gaara.
"Damn it!" Ikkaku dashed his spear raised high and brought it down but a sphere flew forward and took the hit, bursting in a shower of sand. The sand quickly reformed around the sphere trapping it.
Ikkaku blinked, "Oh Crap" the spheres all converted to his location turning into drills. Just as they were about to impale him, a cloud of mist swirled in front of Ikkaku, taking the brunt of the damage from the drills
Ikkaku's weapon then disconnected into three sections, allowing him to remove it from the sands hold. He joined up with Rangiku and smirked at his opponent.
"Hey Matsumoto, you've known this guy longer than I have right? Tell me is this how he normally fights or is he simply toying with us?"
" ... The latter".
Gaara stared at the two his demeanor as apathetic as always. "You both have remarkable skill. Especially you Matsumoto it is clear that you have improved upon them." He spoke with an apathetic tone.
The buxom woman chuckled, "I see you still haven't gotten any better in sarcasm." Gaara blinked in surprise, "I was being honest." Rangiku sweat dropped.
Ikkaku scoffed, "I thought the members of the Bijuu Corps were supposed to be tough. All you've been doing is giving us a workout."
Gaara looked at the bald man with what appeared to be curiosity. He uncrossed his arms and laid them to his sides. "If you wish to fight seriously then I suppose I can demonstrate some of my true power."
Ikkaku was grinning while Rangiku gulped nervously cursing her partner. "We'll what are you waiting for? Bring it you son of a bitch!"
Rangiku's eyes went wide with horror as she turned her head to Ikkaku so fast that any normal person would have sent their head flying. "YOU IDIOT SHUT THE HELL UP!" she shouted with plea.
For the first time since the battle began Gaara's lips tugged upward into an amused smile. Gaara moved his hands and the sand spheres followed his commands, flying through the air before surrounding both Shinigami.
"It's too late." Rangiku smiled nervously.
"Symbiotic Kido: Hado #30: Shakaho Gattling" all the spheres opened their maws simultaneously a red glow forming in each of their jaws. Rangiku grabbed Ikkaku by the scruff of his neck and quickly ran across the battlefield right when all hell broke loose.
The spheres suddenly started to spit out the balls of red energy, releasing hundreds of kido spells in a matter of seconds. The volley of spells sailed through the air and exploded in bursts of red light upon contact with any surface. Rangiku and Ikkaku ran for their lives.
"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" She shrieked.
"ME? WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?" He yelled.
"YOU ARE THE IDIOT DUMB ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE THE GUY WHO WAS GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO RULE AN ENTIRE SHINOBI ARMY WHEN HE WAS JUST 14! AS HE IS NOW HE IS POSSIBLY ONE OF THE MOST TALENTED SHINIGAMI TO HAVE EVER BEEN BORN, EVEN BYAKUYA WOULD HAVE TROUBLE BEATING HIM YOU FUCKING CUEBALL"
"HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?" he shouted over the explosions.
Rangiku glanced out of the corner out of her eye and saw two balls of red flame coming straight for them. She reacted quickly and swung her blade generating a large blade of ash. The impact resulted in a large smoke cloud that covered the entire area.
Gaara frowned and swiped his arms, his spheres grew blades and spun like saws creating a large squall of wind and dispersing the smokescreen. He frowned when he noticed that both Rangiku and Ikkaku had escaped from his line of sight. He glanced at the spheres around him and with a twitch of his fingers they dispersed in multiple directions. Meanwhile, Rangiku and Ikkaku were hiding in the parts of the forest that had avoided the destruction during Gaara's onslaught.
"How the hell did he do that? Generating that many kido blasts should have exhausted anybody's reserves drastically. Yet he doesn't even look winded from using so many kido spells."
"Actually it is only one spell." Ikkaku and Rangiku froze when they felt a presence above them. They looked up to see Gaara and another eye like sphere looking down on them. He raised his index and middle finger forming a hand sign, "Symbiotic Kido: Hado # 33: Sokatsui Wave" the sphere opened its maw to impossible lengths and a wide blast of blue flames descended, burning everything below it to ash. Without even turning his head Gaara glanced at another sand sphere and its shape transformed from spherical to an almost serpent like shape. The tendril soared past Gaara's head and wrapped its tail around a spear, diverting its trajectory away from its master. Gaara looked behind him to see Ikkaku struggling against the sand which had caught his spear.
"Members of our unit each have their own special skill set that makes them unique, however me and two other individuals of our group have abnormally high levels of reiatsu and aparticularly strong bond with our zanpakutou. Thanks to this we have developed the ability to use our kido on an entirely different level that even the captains of Sereitei were not even aware of. This includes the ability to channel our kido spells through our Zanpakuto, increasing the power of our spells exponentially and the amount of energy we use to perform them is halved."
Ikkaku stared in awe at Gaara before he grinned, releasing a hollow chuckle," Damn, you guys are no joke are ya". Gaara didn't answer him, instead he waved his hand downwards and the serpent binding Ikkaku flipped in the air ad released Ikkaku, using the force of its flip sending Ikkaku to the earth below. A large boom sounded and Ikkaku groaned as he was now in a crater.
Gaara blinked in mild surprise and sighed as he released a wave of sand from his prayer beads fusing together into a massive jaw expanding to swallow an ash cloud. He looked down at Rangiku with her blade less sword drawn. Gaara waved his hands sending the imprisoned ash cloud right at Rangiku, releasing the cloud of ash right back at her. She deactivated her Zanpakuto allowing the ash cloud to disappear but she berated herself upon realizing she had been caught off guard when sand sphere appeared in front of her, its form bulging.
"Symbiotic Kido: Hado # 58 Tenran" With a loud roar a giant funnel of wind shot out of its mouth slamming into Rangiku. She gasped as the vortex overwhelmed her and sent her into the trunk of a tree knocking her unconsciousness.
He glanced back at Ikkaku who's was breathing heavily as he made his way out of the crater. Gaara narrowed his eyes and held out his hand, a sphere went into his open palm. Once it settled Gaara squeezed the eye like sphere at first it acted like a toy and formed an hourglass like shape, but it broke into smaller particles of sand that began to reform. The sands flowed out of his palm and started to form into a blade of pure sand. The sands melded together making his blade look halfway between a normal katana and one made of sand, the guard was in the same shape as the eyes of the spheres surrounding the, the hilt of the blade was made up of blue cloth and from the pommel a chain with a small charm in the shape of an hourglass fluttered in the wind.
Gaara dashed towards him and Ikkaku raised his spear to block it and to his surprise he saw that the blade actually imbedded itself into the spears shaft. Despite the situation Ikkaku smirked like a maniac, «Finally! You decided to come close and personal. Just... My... STYLE!" He shouted flexing his shoulders slightly pushing Gaara back and jumping back he swung his spear. Gaara raised blade and blocked it with the blunt edge of his blade. His watched as the spear suddenly broke into three sections. The second section went around his neck and the third and final section comprised of the spear head was going right for his throat. Suddenly the tip of Gaara's blade suddenly increased its length and bent around his head to intercept the strike halting the spearhead just inches from slashing his jugular. Ikkaku did not look surprised; he knew that his opponent would not allow such a simple atatck to beat him. Gaara pulled on the blade and the spears sections were sent flying. He charged forth and swung his blade of sand. Ikkaku gasped as blood danced across his vision as Gaara slashed him from his shoulder to his hip.
He watched with wide eyes as Gaara placed his palm on his chest. He tried to do something to get Gaara away, but he may as well have been moving in slow motion. "Hado # 33: Sokatsui" the word were barely a whisper, blue flames flickered across his palm before a blast of blue flames swallowed him. Ikkaku howled in pain as the fire licked every part of his body. When the flames died down Ikkaku was standing a couple of feet away from Gaara, his feet digging deep into the earth preventing him from flying away, a fact that Gaara did not miss.
Ikkaku gripped his broken spear tightly and he was smiling, Gaara held his blade in front of him both hands gripping the blade ready to deal even more damage should it be necessary.
«Good... fight..." Ikkaku mumbled weakly the grip on his spear still tightening. Gaara stood there waiting for him to fall, but after a minute Ikkaku was still standing. Gaara blinked in surprise and lowered his blade. He went up to Ikkaku with curiosity and his face lost its neutral look replaced by one of great surprise. He thought his opponent was merely biding his time preparing a final strike, but he never expected this.
Ikkaku's whole body was trembling from head to toe and Gaara knew right then and there what was happening. Ikkaku Madarame was unconscious and in his own stubbornness refused to back down from his fight.
Gaara was wide eye and for a moment Ikkaku's image was replaced by another. A young boy no older than twelve with a bowler haircut and large eyebrows wearing a flashy green jumpsuit with bandages wrapped around his arms and leg warmers around his legs stood before him his entire body covered in bruises and cuts, one of his legs looked as if it had been crushed for its was bleeding profusely. He was standing in an unusual stance, his right arm was behind his back, but his hand, was facing outward almost in a 'come hither' motion. A man similar to the boy but wearing a green flak jacket watched the boy with a sad smile. "Lee, even though your body is in pieces you refused to back down, even though you're unconscious."
The scene disappeared and Gaara returned to reality, looking back at Ikkaku's body. Gaara closed his eyes and chuckled at the memory. "It would seek that even some of these Shinigami possessed the same will of fire that you had... Rock Lee."
He removed three beads from his necklace and they flew three ways. One went directly to Rangiku and Ikkaku expanding into beds of sands that enveloped them in a gentle embrace.
Gaara smiled sadly before he commanded the sand clouds to rise and they flew off into the distance the sounds of battle echoing around them.
Killer B vs. Komamura
A giant blade descended from overhead slashing against Killer B's horn like tonfa. Sparks of lightning danced the length of the weapon shielding Killer B from Komamura's Tekken.
He reared his other fist and spun his tonfa jabbing it forward with the intent to impale Komamura in the stomach, but his quick reflexes saved him as he jumped back.
Killer B smirked as he spun his tonfa around before ending in a pose that featured him standing on one foot while the other was in the air bent at a 90 degree angle and his both his arms were pointing downward, his left higher than his right.
"Fool ya fools. You're faster than the eyes can see, but you can't avoid Killer B." he chanted. Komamura frowned at the man in front of him. His habit of constantly rapping everything he said was extremely annoying. However despite his bad habits Komamura knew better than to judge one based solely on appearance. He had to learn that lesson the hard way.
He held his blade tightly and dashed to Killer Bee. He slashed his blade in a horizontal sweep, but Bee avoided it by performing a backflip. Using the momentum, Killer B kicked off the ground, spinning his Tonfas rapidly and getting into Komamura's guard. Killer B then moved his fists with surprising speed slamming the blunt edges of his tonfas. Komamura reacted and used his sword to block most of Bee's strikes. Killer Bee proved to be much faster and had more dexterity than he had originally thought. Killer Bee soon forced him on the defensive and was viciously pushing him back. Finally he felt his back hit something and his eyes went wide as Bee stabbed forth with his tonfa, glowing an intense electric blue.
"Denka o arekuruu/Raging charge"
Tilting his head to the left he watched as from the tip of the weapon a large bolt of lightning came flying out vaporizing the trees and everything in front of it for about a mile long. Bee followed by stabbing him with his other tonfa, but Komamura redirected the blow thanks to his Tekken. Another bolt of lightning was released and the proximity singed the fur on the left side of his face.
Bee continued his assault and slammed his the blunt edge of his other tonfa on the side of Komamura's head. The giant wolf man was sent flying through the air, but Killer B shunpoed next to him. He flipped through the air, reappearing over Komamura's body. Komamurs suddenly gasped in pain when he felt both blunt edges of Killer Bee's tonfas imbed themselves in his gut. For a moment everything seemed to move in slow motion, but as time returned to normal, Komamura crashed into the ground, leaving an imprint of his body in the earth. Komamura gasped and coughed out blood from the shock of the blow. He raised his blade and tried to cut Bee who raised his tonfa to block the blow, the strength behind it sent him barrel rolling through the air landing on his feet..
"Symbiotic Kido: Hado # 33..." Komamura was ready to dodge the kido spell, when he was suddenly caught off guard when B flash stepped right in front of him his tonfa enveloped in bright blue flames stretched out in front of him. "Sokatsui Cannon"
Komamura was swallowed by a large blast of blue fire mixed with yellow lightning arcing around the flame. He was enveloped by the blast wave and once it had settled down Killer Bee noticed that he could no longer sense his opponents spiritual energy.
"Damn I must have killed him!" Killer Bee waved off his suspicions with a nonchalant wave. "Aw well guess if he couldn't bite, he shouldn't have started a fight; fool ya fools!"
Killer B turned around when he a strong burst of spirit enrgy caught his attention. Killer B's instincts suddenly kicked in and he quickly vanished into the shadows as a giant fist came down on his former location. While in shadow form Killer B raced away from the giant hand careful to not stray too far from the shadows. He finally stopped about a few hundred yards from his former location. Rising out of the shadows B got a better look at what was going on.
The smoke began to clear and Killer B whistled in amazement at what he saw. Towering above him at more than a hundred feet tall was a giant armored warrior holding a giant version of Komamaura's blade. The warriors head turned to his direction and began to take giant steps towards him reaching in a matter of moments. At the feet of the giant being Komamura emerged from the shadows. Aside from some blood dripping down the side of his face and severely singed fur on his palms he was still kicking.
"Bankai: Kokujo Tengen Myo'o" Komamura swung his zanpakutou at B and the giant figure mimicked his movements raising the sword and bringing it down with frightening speed. Killer B dove into the shadows again to avoid the incoming strike, but Komamura seemed to anticipate this. The giant following his movements began to sweep in a large circular arc cutting down any and all trees within reach.
Bee felt his form flicker before his shadow cloak fell and left him wide open to the enemies attack. Komamura dashed forward and slammed his paw down on Bee's head taking advantage of his confusion. The blow dazed Bee as he felt his whole body embed itself within the earth. He felt a force tug him upwards and Komamura sent him airborne where he swiped his paw through the air and Bee's eyes widened in shock as the giant once again mimicked him.
Killer B brought up his tonfa and charged them with electrical energy. The palm slammed into him and he was sent skyrocketing into the earth creating a large scale seismic event that practically shook the forest.
Komamura looked on at Bee's location and saw a giant bottomless crater he had created from the force of his strike.
Komamaura kept his guard up. He had no idea what his enemy would plan next and he had learned now not to underestimate him. His hunch proved true as a giant wave of reishi crashed into him. A giant pillar of red energy with electrical conduits racing all over burst from the crater rising into the sky.
Slowly rising from the crater was Killer B, one of his arms hung limp and bleeding at his side while his shikai flashed with an eerie dark red aura. "Gotta admit I didn't see that one coming! Prepare yourself fool, cause I am just getting warmed up! The time for fun and games is up!" his tonfa transformed into a form of dark red energy that began to melt and spread across his body. "You brought out your bankai, proving this aint no game' Looks like you got me forcing my hand makin me do the same! Fool ya fools!"
At that point the red energy had finished enveloping him and Killer Bee released an inhuman roar as bolts of lightning erupted from his form.
"Unleash the strength of the valley of thunder! Here comes the Eighth!" He raised his fist into the air, pointing his pinkie and index finger up while clenching the rest. "WHEEEEE! BANKAI"
Komamura observed with morbid fascination as B's body began to bulge and expand far beyond the physical capabilities of a human. B's body continued to expand and started to spin around like a top. The force of the spin was so intense that it generated its own twister.
Komamura moved his hand so that his bankai mimicked his movement and placed its hand directly in front of himself protecting him from any debris that happened to be picked up by the twister. Finally the winds died down and Komamura reassumed his fighting stance immediately on guard when he sensed the intense energy of the form that was hiding behind the giant wall of dust.
"BANKAI:…"
In the blink of an eye three incredibly long objects whizzed through the dust and slammed into the abdomen, arm and face of Kokujo Tengen Myo'o. The strength behind the blows was enough to send the giant bankai flying and twisting through the air and landing unceremoniously on its stomach. Komamura being linked to his bankai also felt the impact of the surprise attack. Coughing and wheezing he got back to his feet and looked back into the dust cloud, which had by now cleared away revealing the monstrosity behind it.
What had once been Killer B was now a giant monstrous bull. The bull was a pinkish brown color with strange line formations decorating its body. It had a hump on its back, two large and very pointed horns growing out from its head while two more grew backwards from under the initial horns. The bull's white pupiless eyes glared at him and snorted expelling steam from its nose. The bull raised its two large muscular forearms and gave aloud roar as eight large appendages thrashed around it. They were the same as octopus limbs, complete with large suction cups that stuck to and tore up the earth around them.
"Hachibi no Ushi-Oni, Gyuuki!"
The giant bull snorted and dug its fist in the earth charging wildly at Komamaura. Startled by his speed he failed to block the straight jab to Kokujo Tengen's face, but he recovered enough to block the other fist. The impact of the blow was stopped but the force behind it was enough to violently rattle both Komamura and Kokujo tengen's arms. He brought up his sword hand sending the giant blade down on the bijuu but Gyuuki lashed out with his other hand and grabbed the blade and began wrestling for dominance. For a while it seemed that both were equal then Gyuuki brought its head down on Kokujo's helmet delivering a devastating head butt. The symbiotic relationship he shared with his bankai forced Komamura to feel the full force of the blow which greatly disoriented him.
He was so out of it that he failed to notice Gyuuki open up his jaws and hundreds of tiny blue and red orbs began to form in midair and merge together into a single dark orb of condensed energy. Once he finished gathering energy the orb grew smaller before Gyuuki swallowed it. By the time Komamura fully regained his senses he was surprised to see Gyuuki let go of his bankai quickly backing up and gaining distance. Once he noticed the steam coming from his mouth, he swung his blade in an attempt to stop him but it was already too late.
"BIJUUDAMA!" the tailed beast roared and the sphere he had swallowed shot from his mouth at almost impossible speeds. Komamura firmly gripped his blade with both hands and tried blocking the dense sphere. They collided and Komamura grunted in effort to block or at least deviate the sphere, however after being shot with such close range, Komamura was a sitting duck. He watched in slow motion as the sphere broke through his blade and continued flying forward. It felt like an eternity before the sphere reached the abdomen area of his bankai. The moment it came into contact, his bankai was sent soaring back and Komamura remained where he was coughing up blood as he felt as if a wrecking ball had slammed into his gut. The sphere then shone a bright white light until finally the energy contained was released in the form of a giant dome of pure light. The dome grew in size until it covered everything in a five hundred yard radius.
As they explosion died down, Kokujo Tengen Myo'o was revealed, having lost both arms and most of its front body armor to the blast began to disintegrate into ash.
The eight tails looked to the ground and furrowed its brows as its gaze swept over the area. Its giant beady eyes finally landed on Komamura who had been knocked unconscious, his body unable to handle the pain of being struck with a tailed beast bomb. In a giant burst of smoke the eight tails disappeared and Killer B emerged his previous wounds now gone.
He took a deep breath and then exhaled by overly inflating his cheeks, "Whew, what a workout, been a long time since I've had to use Hachibi. Dog man proved himself as a worthy opponent see!" the former ninja of Kumogakure rapped with no audience. He stopped as a familiar voice rang through his head.
"Will you please knock it off! The first time you use my full power in who knows how long and you wake me up from a good nap and then torture me with those incessant raps of yours."
Killer B tsked at the voice of his partner Gyuuki, "Fool, don't be disrespecting the rhymes of my rap, the power of enka can't be held back. Fool ya fool!"
From within his mind Gyuuki sighed, "Whatever anyway we really should take back that guy to HQ and give him medical treatment. I am still surprised he survived the power of a direct bijuudama."
Killer B smirked as he slung Komamura over his shoulder. "That's the power of the Gotei 13's captains for ya"
A shunpo later, both B and Komamura were gone.
Renji vs. Roshi
"Kazan Hoiru/Volcanic Wheel" a spinning disk of lava tore through the forest forcing Renji to jump back in and to use his arms to shield himself from the flaming debris.
Renji cursed loudly at his opponent, his arms flailing wildly in the air with an anime rage expression on his face, "Dammit, don't you ever get tired old man?" He shouted narrowly avoiding the lava wheel.
The wheel suddenly pivoted to face him, but it did not chase him again. Instead it spun in reverse before the lava receded and revealed Roshi. He smirked as he placed his staff lazily around his shoulders. "This is the longest anyone has ever survived against me. But seriously kid there has got to be something else you can do."
Renji frowned," I was hoping to use this as a last resort but looks like I have no choice." He laid his blade out flat horizontally in front of him his energy spiking.
"BANKAI"
Renji was enveloped by a large beam of red light and from within the depths of the light, a giant form began to emerge. Roshi whistled in amazement as he witnessed a giant serpent made from some sort of bone like material with a mane of red fur emerge from the light. The serpent hissed and coiled around its body, yellow eyes glaring and hissing venomously. Renji stood atop the beasts head, his own appearance had changed as well. He now sported magenta colored fur with bamboo skulls on his shoulder and his hands were covered in a type of black gloves and a bone like handle was grasped in his left hand, connected to the body of the serpent.
"Hihio Zabimaru!"
"Damn, first time I've seen a bankai this impressive for someone so young." He moved the staff around in his hands, twirling it around with expert skill.
Renji waved his arm and the bankai responded by flying straight at Roshi. Roshi jumped into the air and slammed one end of his staff on the serpents head. Upon impact a burst of green flame blew out from the end and halting Hihio Zabimaru's movements and sending Roshi flying through the air, gaining quite a bit of distance.
With impressive acrobatics, he spun in the air placing his staff under him. The staff imbedded itself in the ground and he landed with expert precision of the tip.
Renji growled, "Quit moving around you damn monkey!" He spun his arm in an arc making Hihio Zabimaru sail through the air towards his target.
Roshi smirked, "Funny thing about monkeys" he slid halfway down his staff, holding on to it with a tight grip. "You never know what they are planning to do until it's too late."
He jumped up away from his spot pulling his staff free, "Hana no Kudamono no Yama/ Flower-Fruit Mountain". Renji gasped as a geyser of molten lava burst forth from the earth, forcing him to halt Zabimaru's movements and shielding his face from the extreme heat.
His eyes widened as Roshi came flying through the lava, his staff drawing the lava towards it and reforming into a spearhead made from solid magma. "Yoyu Tochi/ Molten Torch" he brought the spear down on Zabimaru severing its body in three different places.
Roshi smiled in victory, before it was quickly replaced with confusion. Instead of looking horrified or shocked, Renji looked calm. Roshi watched with mild surprise as parts of Zabimaru's body that he just severed stopped in midair and flew upwards slamming against his body multiple times. Roshi gasped in pain as the segments of Hihio Zabimaru crashed him straight into the ground.
With their task completed, the pieces of Zabimaru came back together in a flash of red light. Zabimaru roared flying up into the air before coming back down with frightening speed. The segments along its body started to disconnect generating flashes of red energy travelling up to its jaws.
"Hikotsu Taiho", Hohio Zabimaru opened its maw unleashing a devastating red beam of energy, destroying everything within the blasts radius.
Renji looked at the destruction he had caused. It was times like this that made him remember just how terrifyingly powerful his zanpakuto could be. At the same time he also could not help but berate himself for his actions and began hoping that Roshi was still alive after that blast. Renji made his way over to Roshi's location when suddenly he tensed as the whole area began to shake as an incredibly powerful force manifested itself.
"What the hell is going on?" the area behind Roshi burst open as a giant pillar of dark red light rose into the sky. From the spot where the pillar rose hundreds of cracks traced along the ground as jets of steam and lava flew out in every direction forcing Renji to jump back on Hihio Zabimaru and fly a good distance away.
All around him the ground began to heave as a giant shape began to rise from the ground. Renji watched in awe as the ground shattered revealing the colossal behemoth before him. It resembled a giant ape with red fur and had four long tails growing out from its tail bone. Each tail had a series of bones spines that grew out on the tails length. The creatures face, hands, feet and abdominal area were all hairless and with a green skin color, contrasting with the rest of its body. On the creature's face had a bone like plate growing out from its forehead where two extensions resembling a crown that grew on each side of its head. The beast looked at Renji and gave a giant roar that shook the earth and the forest around it.
"I got to admit Kid..." The beast spoke with Roshi's voice, but at the same time it sounded completely different, as if the voice belonged to two different people. "It's been a long time since anybody has forced me to use my bankai, not that I really needed it anyway. I just felt that since you're using yours then it was only fair you got a taste of my own."
Renji was astonished at the elderly jinchurriki's words, " You're telling me that this giant creature is your bankai?!"
"Yup that's right. This is my released form: Yonbi Seji en'O, Son Goku " at the same moment both of them sensed a new power and this one was just as strong if not stronger than the Roshi's bankai. They both turned their heads to see another giant creature rise out of the forest, eight large appendages were moving around the creature in the far distance.
"Tch! That Killer B always has to steal other peoples thunder." He grumbled under his breath, "Well in that case I better not keep you waiting. By the way if you want to live to see another day, then I highly recommend you fight me with everything you have. If not then it's highly possible that I may kill you"
Renji barely had time to react as the newly transformed Son appeared right in front Hihio Zabimaru palms covered in green flames. Son Goku slapped its palms together creating a wave of green fire. The force of the flames was strong enough to send Hihio Zabimaru flying back and coiling its body to protect its master from the flames.
Renji peeked through his bankai just in time to see the flames dissipate and Son Goku dash forward his fist extended back. Renji quickly had his bankai spin around the fist to dodge the attack and simultaneously using the spines along Zabimaru's length to dig into the giant sage monkey's body. Unfortunately this failed to do any harm as Son's fur was incredibly thick and thus did not allow them to pierce through his flesh. If anything this only seemed to make things worse as many of them got tangled in the mass of wild hair halting Hihio Zabimaru's movements.
Seeing an opening Son went to crush the head but Renji forced Zabimaru to split apart leaving behind multiple segments that could not be removed from Son Goku's fur.
With agility that contradicted its size, Son went to grab the head with a flurry of quick motions. "If you cannot reach the serpents body, then go for the head," he yelled and Renji watched the giant ape like hand about to grab it. In a desperate move he willed the remaining pieces of Zabimaru to spin into the ape's arm. The desperate move worked and Son Goku howled in agony as the pieces of bone like constructs pierced his skin. This distracted him long enough for Renji to rejoin the parts in the air. Son quickly shifted his focus to tearing off the pieces lodged in his flesh throwing them away.
The pieces flew back to form Hihio Zabimaru. Renji maneuvered his bankai through the air and sent it flying straight at Son Goku. His bankai began to glow with bursts of red light as energy made its way to the demons maw. However before it managed to fire the beam, Son took a deep breath and hundreds of tiny red and blue orbs appeared and began to gather into a single dark orb. Song opened his mouth swallowing the orb. Renji fired his beam just as Son opened his mouth fired his own pure white beam of energy.
"BIJUUDAMA"
The beams collided creating a deafening explosion and blinding both fighters with a brilliant flash of light. A large smoke cloud obscured obscuring Renji's view of his opponent. Renji suddenly reacted as one of Son's arms appeared out of the smoke forcing him to send his Zanpakuto upwards.
"Close one" he said, but paused as he felt a shadow loom over him. He glanced up and gasped in shock as the rest of son appeared over him. Apparently the giant red ape had jumped earlier and used its quadra manual appendages to trick Renji to fly up to meet him face to face. Renji barely had time to have his bankai surround him as Son set his fists ablaze and unleashed a barrage of feral strikes on his. Once Son halted his attack Renji took notice of the increasing number of fractures on Zabimaru's upper body.
Son lifed both arms into the air bringing them down in a hammer strike. The impact from Son's giant fists causing the ground in front of him to rise up and sent Hihio Zabimaru crashing into the ground. The giant ape then slammed its palm into the ground and twisted the earth causing large spikes of earth that rose from the ground and pierced certain areas and surrounding Hihio Zabimaru, trapping it in place.
Son gulped in large amounts of air and started spitting out large globs of yellow lava that upon contact began to spread all over Zabimaru's body, "Gomutrappu!"
"Zabimaru!" Renji shouted as his Zanpakuto was swallowed by lava, he tried his best to separate as much of his Zanpakutou as possible, but he was surprised to see that much of his zanpakutou was unable to separate itself no matter how hard they pulled, the lava like substance always drew them back. Having lost his only means to defend himself Son Goku crossed his arms gathering energy for his final attack. Son uncrossed his arms releasing a vast amount of energy that shook the earth and tore apart the forest. A large fissure made its way towards Renji and as soon as it was directly under him and his bankai the ground exploded in a burst of red light.
"En'o no Sabejidoramu/ Monkey King's Savage Drum!" Son Goku started to rapidly beat his fists against his chest and with each beat a blast of white fire and lava was produced completely engulfing Renji and his bankai. Son ceased his attack and looked at Renji's current state. He was surprised when a red beam of light flew from the dying flames catching Son of guard. The red beam shot into and out of his shoulder sending him falling onto his backside. Son roared in pain clutching the bleeding wound.
"Hikotsu Taiho"
Son watched in shock as Renji slowly made his way out of the inferno covered in third degree burns, his bankai stood at its full height ready to attack again. Then without warning HiHio Zabimaru vanished in a flash of red light, returning into its shikai state before returning to its sealed state. Out of power to keep himself standing Renji abruptly collapsed.
Son Goku looked at is downed opponent with a mixed expression o both surprise and pride.. Son Goku's form gained a red hue then erupted into a giant smoke cloud, obscuring it from view. From out of the smoke cloud emerged Roshi holding his Zanpakutou, slowly fading from a dark red color to its original form. The old man was covered in sweat and his left arm though bearing no visible wound was limp. He quickly made his way over to Renji's body. Kneeling down he brought two fingers to Roshi's neck, exhaling a sigh of relief when he found there was still a pulse.
"Good to see your still kicking kid though it kinda pisses me off that you were the one to get the last shot in"
Renji's hand shot out and gripped Roshi's ankle. Roshi remained calm as he looked at Renji's serious expression. This lasted for only a second before his grip went slack and he fell unconscious.
Roshi picked up the injured shinigami and slung him over his shoulder. "Well played kid. Well played."
Soifon vs Yugito
Soifon breathed heavily her breath escaping in large gasps as she tried her best to calm her breathing. Her eyes darted every which way trying to determine her opponent's next move.
"Too slow Soifon-chan" Soifon darted her head to the right to see Yugito, flying straight at her. Soifon ducked under the initial swing and parried her opponent's next strike using her zanpakutou, now back in its sealed state.
Yugito unleashed a whole barrage of strikes, while Soifun skillfully dodged them. She finally noticed an opening while Yugito was in mid swing. Soifon spun around and swung her leg at Yugito's face, while Yugito's blade simultaneously swung her own blade.
Time slowed down as both attacks neared each other. Yugito's blade almost cut into her, but Soifon brought her zanpakutou up just in time to block it. However just as Soifon's kick was about to smash into Yugito's face, her leg simply passed through the women, like she was an after image.
Yugito immediately jumped back and using her corps special technique, sunk into the embrace of the shadows. Soifon's guard immediately went back up as soon as her opponent disappeared. Her eyes darting across the trees, her mind predicting every possible location her enemy could emerge from.
Her ears twitched as she heard movement, from behind and her body instinctively reacted and spun around only to face shock as her blade parried a shinobi's kunai and her opponent nowhere in sight.
'Where…?'
Her thought was interrupted when an arm emerged from the trunk of the tree next to her, gripping her arm firmly in place. Soifon watched as her opponent emerged from the shadows on the trunk and swiftly swung her blade at her.
Yugito's blade, Matatabi, slashed through her body, but the blade passed through her leaving not even a scratch. However despite no visible wound Soifon couldn't help but release a cry of pain and coughed up a lot of blood as she felt the blades power come into effect. Her cry was silenced as she felt a swift kick to her jaw that sent her soaring into the air, Yugito shunpoed after her and appeared behind her delivering a sharp kick to her backside with enough force to break through two trees and leave a deep imprint in the third.
Soifon quickly recovered in time to avoid another strike from Yugito. The blade phased through the tree. Soifon watched as the spot where the blade struck began to crack and blue lines began to appear like veins across the tree's trunk. Wisps of smoke rose from the marks before the entire tree turned to ash and collapsed in on itself.
"You were fast to dodge that Soi-chan. It wouldn't be in your best interest to get hit too many times by my blade." Her fingers softly traced the length of the blade, wisps of azure flames licked her fingers before vanishing.
"You can't hit me directly and you can't block my strikes either. So tell me how will you get out of this situation?"
Soi-fon controlled her breathing to mask her fatigue and stared at her opponent defiantly. "Getting a little cocky aren't we?" a smirk appeared onto her face. "It's true that while you do have the ability to become intangible as well as your blade. What's more whenever I tried to strike you, my blows went through your body while your sword became tangible and vice versa."
Yugito lost her smile and her eyes narrowed, "I have already deducted when it comes to your sword or your body you can only make one go intangible at any time. In addition there is a brief five second period when you need to switch between your sword and your body."
Yugito's eyes momentarily widened before she chuckled in amusement. "You really are Yoruichi's student."
"I am her star pupil and lesser performance would make me unworthy of her. While we are on the subject why not tell me about your swords other unique ability?"
Yugito looked at her in surprise, before suddenly erupting into a fit of full blown laughter. Soifon watched in confusion as her opponent was holding her sides from laughing so hard. Her laughter soon became a low chuckle until it subsided completely.
"That was really funny. I have experience handling covert affairs little girl, I was a ninja when I was still alive. I am not as dumb to reveal all my secrets to the enemy. Especially if said enemy may have an idea what exactly those secrets may be. You shouldn't expect things to be that easy." Soifon entered a fighting stance her small tanto blade held in front with a reverse grip.
"You know you should joke like that more often. It just may help bring a little romance back to your life." Soifon blushed at that and lashed a roundhouse kick at Yugito, who dropped to the ground and kicked Soifon with both legs into her gut, sending her flying back. Soifon dug her heels into the ground halting her movement and then dashed forward perfroming an upward slash forcing Yugito to go intangible. Going with the momentum Soifon ran through Yugito reappearing behind her.
Yugito looked back and delivered a roundhouse kick of her own, but Soifon raised her arms to block the hit and threw her opponent back. She then surprised her by sheathing her blade as she was suddenly enveloped in bright pillar of light. The output was so intense that Soifon's haori was vaporized and before she could react and go intangible Soifon reappeared in front of her, her fist embedded in her stomach.
"Shunko"
Yugito coughed up blood Soifon's punch blasted her through the roof of the trees sailing high into the air. Yugito's eyes widened when she saw Soifon reappeared with her leg held high as she delivered a devastating axe kick that sent Yugito flying back to earth the forming her own personal crater.
Soifon jumped out of the crater and landed back on her feet wiping the blood from her face. Soifon reappeared below and swiped her hands in the air creating an inverted golden triangle, the three pints of the triangle lit up as three more golden pyramids formed.
"Bakudo # 30: Shitotsu Sansen"
The kido spell sailed through the air at swift speed towards Yugito. She frowned in annoyance and quickly jumping towards them and with an incredible display of flexibility, Yugito tucked in her body and spun around; barely avoiding the spell as it shrank and grazed her fore arms. By passing the attack Yugito sailed straight towards Soifon and raised her sword, all of a sudden the tiny wisps of flame that surrounded the blade erupted into a blazing inferno of dark blue flames, catching Soifon of guard with her sudden change in battle style.
"Bakudo #81: Danku" The intense blue flames washed over the barrier and began to devour everything in their path reducing all obstacles to ashes. Soifon grit her teeth as she tried maintaining her barrier but the intensity of the flames melted the barrier away and Soifon crossed her arms as the inferno swallowed her. Yugito flicked her wrist and the wild flames on her sword died down and dissipated. For a few seconds, Yugito stood there with an apathetic look on her face, before erupting into a small smile.
"I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I can't stop this sense of excitement coursing through my veins." Her smile turned into an amused grin as she watched Soifon emerge from the remains of her attack. Soifon's entire body was covered in burns, but had it not been for her Shunko it would have been much worse.
"Yoruichi did a good job raising you well, heck you even managed to master her famed Shunko. I like your drive Soifon-chan, however I am sad to say that our little match cannot be dragged out any longer."
"How dare you…" Soifon growled but stopped when she sensed something that caught her off guard.
"You have sensed haven't you? Everyone's fight is coming to an end." Soifon could feel it clearly the signatures of her allies dwindling one after the other.
"So what do you say how about one last attack to decide the winner. You're Shunko versus my strongest move." Yugito brought up her sword holding it up to her side. The calm blade once again burst into flames but they soon focused, retracted and became more controlled as they crawled up her arm extending past her shoulder. Her flame covered hands suddenly enlarged before five long razor shape blades of fire emerged.
"Jigoku no kurushimi: Nekomata Tsume/ Hell's damnation: Nekomata Claw"
Soifon narrowed her eyes and smirked, "All right then if that's how you want to play it then I will abide to your wishes."
She crossed her arms before she swung and brought them down with so much force that the earth caved in on itself as she activated her shunko and was once againenveloped in a bright white pillar of energy.
"THIS NEXT ATTACK WILL DECIDE EVERYTHING"
Then as if a signal went off both fighters charged forth with so much speed that the ground under their feet caved in from the pressure; Soifon's form was enveloped in a white sphere while Yugito's flame covered arm acted as thrusters increasing her speed to match Soifon's.
Soifon brought threw her fist forth with intense speed, meeting Yugito's claws with equal force. The attacks collided and both fighters where enveloped by the enormous shockwave generated by the attack. From the point of origin two domes of blue and white energy appeared, both struggling for dominance.
Eventually the light of the domes dissipated revealing the two shinigami back to back one another. Soifon had one of her arms extended forward while the other was firmly tucked into her side, while Yugito had one of her arms hanging limp at her side, her other hand held on firmly to her cracked and broken zanpakutou.
Soifon smiled as she took a step forward, "How… pitiful your blade broke from that one blow?"
Yugito cracked a small grin, "You have nerve calling Matatabi frail. Especially considering…"
Soifon pace was interrupted as she suddenly collapsed face fist into the ground, "That you are the one who lost. "
Yugito turned to watch her fallen opponent. This lasted only a moment before she looked at her damaged sword. "This girl was fun to play with, but I never would have guessed that she would have the strength capable of severely damaging my shikai. Bet you also weren't expecting that were you … Matatabi?" the last part she uttered while bringing her sword up to her face where a faint blue glow temporarily shrouded the blade before disappearing.
Yugito sighed as she sheathed her blade and began to slowly make her way towards Soifon. With a little difficulty she managed to hoist the captain of the second division onto her shoulders.
"Time to go Soifon-chan."
Meanwhile, with Naruto and Ichigo
Ichigo dodged another swing from his opponent and retaliated with a swing of his blade that Naruto parried, but he went with the momentum that Naruto used to throw him off balanced and swung his sword with increased force onto Naruto who quickly brought of the flat end of his blade taking the full brunt of the attack.
The attack struck with plenty of force, but Naruto using large amounts of reishi refused to budge an inch and firmly maintained his position and held Ichigo back. Naruto continued to hold his ground even as he and Ichigo were fighting a stalemate.
"Not bad for a substitute Shinigami" Nauto muttered. Ichigo's eyes widened when he felt Naruto's resistance go slack before he returned with full strength knocking him back. This provided enough time for Naruto to dive straight back into the forest. Ichigo followed suite jumping through the trees to catch up to his opponent.
The shinigami jumped dodged and slashed their way through the forest, not knowing that one of them was being lured into a trap. Naruto smirked as stabbed the branch of tree, using the branch as an anchor and flung his body to the ground where he met the shadow of the tree and disappeared. Naruto observed his opponent approaching from the confines of his shadow veil and once he was in perfect position he jumped.
Ichigo having momentarily lost sight of Naruto had just reached the branch he last saw him and was about to continue when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Acting almost out of instinct Ichigo abruptly stopped his momentum and quickly leaned back.
Blood spatter filled Ichigo's vision as he felt something slash into his body from his right pectoral up till his right shoulder. The slash had an effect and Ichigo stumbled back falling to the ground, but he quickly regained mobility in midair and landed on his feet. Ichigo clutched the wound and his eyes raced over the area in an attempt to find his opponent. He caught for the briefest of hints a form appear before disappearing as quickly as it came.
Ichigo stopped moving and closed his eyes. He stood motionless waiting for the right moment as a small breeze wafted through the forest. Suddenly the breeze stopped and Ichigo's eyes snapped open. He swung and jabbed the end of his blade into thin air where it met with resistance. Naruto from within the veil was shocked when he felt an intense blast of energy erupt from Ichigo's body.
"BANKAI!"
Naruto was gob smacked as he felt the intense and sudden rush of energy that radiated off of Ichigo. The blast was enough to send him flying through the air and even flattened the area within a hundred yard radius.
Naruto gasped when he felt something slam into the back of his head sending him soaring to the ground with frightening speed. A crater formed from the fall and a figure appeared next to it. Ichigo stood tall over Naruto's downed form his appearance radically different from before. His shinigami robes had changed and he had gained a long black cloak that flowed in the breeze and possibly the biggest change was his sword which had changed from the giant butcher blade into a pitch black katana with a guard in the shape of the four pronged manji.
Ichigo jumped back just as Naruto shunpoed to his earlier position and brought his sword down. The force of the swing released a giant wave of blood red energy that Ichigo dissipated using his sword.
Naruto lowered his blade looking directly at Ichigo. "That was really unexpected. I didn't think you would release your bankai in order to expose the veil produced by the Kage Suterusu. That was a nice touch."
Ichigo kept his scowl, "Didn't really leave me much choice. That technique you and the rest of your corps use is pretty damn annoying. However it is only effective if your opponents have no idea what it is in the first place. If someone knows how it works then it is pretty much useless."
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "You have the attitude of someone who doesn't like to follow other people's orders, yet at the same time you would do anything to protect your friends. I am curious as to why someone like you would work for the Gotei 13."
Ichigo looked off guard from his statement, but merely answered with a nonchalant expression, "I have to agree with you on that one, they can be a real pain in the ass, but considering that there is some type of new threat out there that could threaten both the human and spirit world. I am not about to stand around and do nothing."
Ichigo looked directly at Naruto and raised his sword at him, "If I have the power to protect those dear to me then you can be sure as hell that I won't stand by and do nothing. So let me just make one thing clear, if I am going to fight it's because I want to fight, not because the Gotei 13 wants me too."
Naruto just looked at Ichigo with a surprised expression before he sighed rubbing the back of his head, "Geez you are one weird kid, but you definitely have guts to back up your bravado."
Ichigo blinked when he noticed that Naruto's left hand had suddenly began shaking.
"You all right? You're hands kinda shaking all over the place."
"… Sorry but my hand is not what's shaking… it's my zanpakutou."
Without warning the giant kunai knife in Naruto's hand released the strange blood red energy from before and it swirled around like a tornado around the blade.
"You see my zanpakutou spirit can be a bit troublesome at times. When I use my bankai we both fight using our full awareness and our thoughts become one. However when inactive he is usually asleep and like most spirits he is the type that has quite a temper. So whenever I release my shikai he gets pissed and rather than fight coherently, he he fights by using his instincts. Trust me when I say, that against my shikai, fighting with instincts is like going up against a living, breathing natural disaster."
While he was explaining the energy around the blade began to take a more distinct form. The energy took on the appearance of a giant fox head with long rabbit like ears. The maw was wide open showing large sets of serrated teeth and glowing white eyes glared at Ichigo with the gaze akin of a predator hunting prey.
"HERE I COME ICHIGO KUROSAKI!"
Chapter END!
Wow, what a cliffhanger! Next chapter will feature the decisive battle between Naruto and Ichigo. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, feel free to review and please no flames.
I am really glad to have my writing spirit back after a year of school. Thanks again to the support of all the readers who followed this story.