Chapter 7: To An End

The Night Before...

Sasuke Uchiha was… an enigma. The boy was strong, and had an intellect the was quite sharp. But of course, the greatest issue with the ex-Ryoka was the fact that he was an unknown. He operated alone, and never seemed to be off-guard. His very presence in the plan threw everything into a giant cloud of unsureness.

However, Sosuke Aizen was never one to back down from a challenge. The plan would simply have to be carried out before the boy could run about on his own. Sure, that meant the process would lose valuable information and field testing, but this interference forced his hand. In the case of an unknown, Aizen would normally just negate their effect on things using Kyoka Suigetsu. Sasuke, however, somehow never managed to fall into its hypnosis. He'd tried multiple times, and with each one the Uchiha would remain unfazed. To be quite frank, it made no scientific or logical sense for the boy to be capable of resisting. It simply shouldn't have been possible.

But, that wasn't what mattered in this situation. No, the issue of 'why' had never been the important factor. It was only the 'how' and the 'when' that needed to be addressed. He'd made proper preparations, however, and Sasuke's involvement should lead to almost no change in execution of this final experiment. All that needed to be handled at this point was determining who would take the fall for all of it. The first to come to mind was one Mayuri Kurotsuchi, but after some light digging Aizen had found the perfect candidate. This man was just as scientifically inclined, and held much less of a stigma about him. No matter how this ended, once blame fell on him, Kisuke Urahara would crumble to the earth. The rest of the issues with the plan had been smoothed over quite well, thanks to Tosen's progress with Garganta. The Hollowfication would go just as well regardless of the ex-Ryoka's influence.

In fact, he could actually make for a rather interesting experiment himself. Aizen shelved that particular idea for the time being. It was something he didn't want to bother with at the moment.

For most people, panic would set in. The introduction of an unknown as dangerous and intelligent as Sasuke would have sent many into a moment of rash action. Most were not as adept at quick adaptation and re-thinking stratagems. Aizen was not most people however. He'd spent centuries perfecting his mental and physical capabilities, and this was something he had ensured he could handle, if such a situation should arise. Just because things had changed so drastically did not mean that his plan was irrelevant. All that meant was that the plan would have to be re-worked slightly.

Aizen had considered, analyzed, and made at least seven different scenarios involving the new arrival's effect on the current timeline, as well as considered various alternate timelines that could take place, within the first day of Sasuke's appearance. And, to his amusement, the boy had caught on to him far faster than Aizen had expected. He figured the boy had begun to suspect him by at least his second day in the Seireitei. There was also the boy's uncanny efficiency as a taskmaster. He'd dug up more information and inconsistencies within the last week than Hirako had in years.

Regardless, it mattered not. The boy would merely be a simple hindrance, and nothing more. Something to be dealt with at his leisure. He had decided to accelerate the final stage of the plan due to Sasuke's possible effect on Hirako's investigation. The two, should they join forces, could very well find enough circumstantial evidence to bring him before Central 46 if he let them be much longer.

Just as he finished his train of thought, which had taken him no longer than thirty seconds, he heard the sound one of the windows in the barracks of the 5th opening. He knew the source, of course, and immediately flared his Reiatsu in five small, minute intervals. This allowed him to reveal his own location without setting off any alarms, and also worked as a way to ensure one another's identities. He waited, and was soon sensed an identical flare, this time flaring nine times, from outside his door. He walked over to it, and slid it open. His eyes were met with the blank, emotionless visor that was the hallmark of none other than Kaname Tosen. He didn't speak, but Aizen knew well enough why his subordinate had come to him.

And so, a few seconds later, they were sitting in chairs AIzen had borrowed from the 5th's barracks for these very meetings. They sat in silence for several seconds, neither very pressed to begin. After what felt like about five minutes, if Aizen were to guess, Tosen began.

"I was told by Gin that there had been changes made to the plan." His implied question was heard very clearly by Aizen. 'Why didn't you inform me earlier?' Aizen nodded, and continued. "I felt that this change could not afford to wait until an official meeting of the three of us. And seeing as I am the one spearheading this operation, it was within my authority to do so. It isn't of your concern, your only purpose in this particular phase of the plan is to draw out Hirako. You know this isn't something that is time sensitive, so I wouldn't have made any changes without good reason. And I'm sure you can guess what that reason is." Tosen nodded his head in confirmation. "The ex-Ryoka. He's been digging into you and your history, from what Gin told me. Is it true that he already suspects you? I had assumed he would have no interest in Lieutenant class Shinigami. Seems this 'Sasuke' is a bit sharper than we expected."

"Yes, his intellect is far greater than I had first thought. He most likely will report his findings to Hirako tomorrow, and will likely be present when the Hollowfication takes place." Aizen stated, though he knew there was at least an eighty nine percent chance that the boy would show up. Kaname seemed to tense slightly at this, and shifted slightly in his chair. "That is… troubling. We both witnessed his performance at Yamamoto's evaluation. His physical strength is even more intimidating than Kensei's. In fact, I can't confidently say if the Head Captain could have done the same. And given his impressive deductive reasoning skills, I highly doubt things will go smoothly now that his involvement is possible." Aizen let a small, confident smile cross his lips. "No. Sasuke Uchiha will not be a prevalent issue tomorrow night. If anything, he'll only cause the process to move along more quickly. You see, Tosen, this is a matter of manipulation. I need not to outsmart our new adversary, if I can force him to become an asset without the boy noticing until it's already too late. By the time he realizes he'd been played, he won't even be able to save himself, much less his friends. Oh, I assume tonight's operation went well?" Kaname did not respond verbally, instead merely nodding his head. "Ah, that's good. The search party should be called for by tomorrow evening. It gives us even more time to prepare, since the Head Captain will be busy arguing with Central 46 over Sasuke's fate. Normally he'd have called a search party within the hour. This is shaping to go even better than I might have hoped. You did restrain dear Kensei, didn't you? I don't want any more deaths in the Rukongai just yet."

"Yes, he's been restrained. I ensured that his soul was mostly stable, and he should make until Shinji and the others arrive at the scene. Why are you so sure Sasuke will show?" Aizen's smile now grew to a knowing smirk. "Because, dear Kaname, I know exactly what the boy's next move is going to be. It is an absolute certainty that Hirako will give Sasuke my night schedule, and it's easy to infer that he will recommend my leisure hours. The boy will then go to Kisuke Urahara, and there is a distinct possibility that he'd have made something in that lab of his that will aid Sasuke in avoiding detection. Though, that is not something that matters. He will tail me, and witness the Hollowfication take place. After that he will confront me, at which time you will activate your Bankai and end him. Seeing as people are going to think you to be dead, there isn't a logical way for him to have any method of defending against it. If he does, I will handle him." Aizen finished by leaning back in his chair, his smirk having grown even wider.

"I believe the Realm of the Living refers to this particular situation as… 'Checkmate.'"

The next evening, with Sasuke…

He's just arrived at the 5th when he'd run into Hirako. The man seemed shaken, and had an air of seriousness about him that Sasuke had never seen from him in the past. He'd told Sasuke that all of the highest ranking members of the 9th Division, including their Captain, Kensei Muguruma, had vanished. Apparently they'd been sent out the previous night to perform some search and rescue in the Rukongai, and never returned. It didn't really matter to Sasuke, seeing as he'd never really conversed with anyone from the 9th, but Shinji had seemed extremely anxious and worried. When he'd asked if his assistance would be needed, Shinji had declined, saying that he wanted Sasuke to continue with the plan. He'd agreed, of course, but the whole situation was… questionable, to say the least. There was no doubt a connection between Aizen and this situation, but Sasuke didn't want to impede an investigation until he knew more. So, he contented himself with his current task, and moved on.

So he sat, hidden in the upper branches of a tree just outside the entrance to the 5th Division barracks. It seemed to be mid-spring, as the leaves were filling in just enough to provide cover from any onlookers. He'd been there for several minutes, his Sharingan activated so that he could quickly identify any passing Shinigami. He silently thanked Kisuke for the jacket, as he wouldn't have had the option of using his eyes without it. The problem with the Sharingan was that it didn't just raise his maximum Reiatsu, but also simultaneously raised his minimum Reiatsu level as well. This meant that Sasuke couldn't suppress his power beyond a certain point, which was generally about Captain level. Sadly, his Mangekyou was still not the best option, as it raised his base Reiatsu to levels that, from what Yoruichi told him, would have forced even the oldest of Captains into activating their Shikai.

Sasuke was snapped from his train of thought when his eyes caught sight of a familiar face. He focused on the man, and all doubt vanished from his mind. Aizen walked by the tree, not even glancing in it's direction. Sasuke immediately began to follow, switching from one area of shadow to the other. The Shinigami never so much as peeked over his shoulder.

Sasuke continued to stalk the Lieutenant for several minutes, never once allowing the man to leave his sight. The sun had set, at this point, and Sasuke was beginning to become very concerned. He had only just realized that they were moving away from the center of the Seireitei. Which, in all likelihood, meant that Aizen was heading toward the Rukongai. He considered stopping, as he could more than likely tail Aizen another day, before being suddenly struck by a realization. Hirako and the others… they were going to the Rukongai, and given Shinji's disposition earlier… This is a trap! Aizen knew they'd come to find Kensei and the others, so he set it all up as bait. Clever bastard. He began to follow Aizen with renewed vigor. He may not be a part of this society, but he would be damned if he allowed them to die when he could help it.

He tailed Aizen for what seemed like the next hour. He'd nearly blown his cover when they reached the outer gate, but managed to improvise and slip past the gatekeeper. He could swear the goliath's name was something like Jibando. Not that it mattered, of course. Sasuke hadn't expected Aizen to go so damn far from the Seireitei. They'd been going in a nearly straight line for ages, and had been traversing untamed forests for several minutes more. Through the trees, Sasuke spotted a clearing not too far ahead. Before he actually reached the clearing, Sasuke was suddenly hit by a massive downpour of Reiatsu. The shear weight of it made Sasuke's ankles wobble, and his breathing became shallow. He found a decent lookout point atop a medium sized tree, and took several seconds to adjust to the massive wave of various Reiatsu signatures bearing down on him at once. Once he felt normal, he looked into the clear, and his heart nearly stopped.

There, in the middle of the clearing, was the missing Captain of the 9th Division, with various white bone-like plates adorning him. On his face was a mask. Sasuke, having been told of them by Kisuke, knew that the mask on Muguruma's face resembled a Hollow's. In fact, Sasuke was half convinced that this was exactly the case, as the Captain's Reiatsu had a very distinct difference from that of a normal Shinigami. While most Shinigami could be described as having a certain… signature to their Reiatsu, the 9th Division Captain was completely chaotic. It was as if all control the man once held over his power had vanished, replaced by unchecked, untamed bloodlust.

The Captain was currently in combat with a Lieutenant Sasuke knew to be named 'Lisa Yadomaru,' and the battle was obscenely one-sided. Sure, Lisa's skills were nothing to be ashamed of, but she couldn't hope to defeat a powerful, bloodlusted, Captain class fighter. Just Lisa was about to be dealt what Sasuke assumed was a fatal blow, he spotted Hirako using Shunpo to get between the two of them. Shinji seemed pressed to keep Muguruma from breaking through the block, so he disengaged, and began to go on the offensive, slashing and jabbing at the berserker Captain. To Sasuke's surprise, Kensei was able to block or dodge nearly every attack Shinji attempted, and was able to counterattack quickly and efficiently. Off to the left, Sasuke was able to spot Kensei's Lieutenant, Mashiro Kuna, locked in battle with Kisuke's Lieutenant, Hiyori Sarugaki. Mashiro, to Sasuke's detriment, was in a similar situation to her Captain. That same hollow-like mask, the erratic and bloodlusted Reiatsu. It was at this point that Sasuke was about to intervene, when a man Sasuke had yet to meet appeared in the clearing, near the battle between Mashiro and Hiyori. He raised his hands, and shouted. "Bakudo #75: Gochutekkan!" Five massive pillars of stone materialized, and slammed down onto Mashiro with so much force that Sasuke could feel the shockwave from his tree. With Mashiro now unconscious, the man blurred across the field, using Shunpo, and stopped just out of Kensei's range. He held up a single hand, and shouted once more. "Bakudo #63: Sajo Sabaku!" A tendril of golden chains instantly wrapped violently around Muguruma chest, restraining him. But, to the Shinigami's dismay, the chain was only temporary, as a single flare of the Captain's augmented Reiatsu snapped the chains like twine. The others seemed to marvel at this display, and Sasuke cursed under his breath at their lapse in focus. Kensei phased out of sight, quickly appearing behind the other blonde that had accompanied Shinji. Sasuke recalled that Hirako had referred to him as 'Rose.' Regardless, the sight of another Captain gave Sasuke some hope that they'd be victorious. Kensei slammed his fist into the Captain's back, knocking him nearly across the field. The others reengaged Muguruma, but they were mounting injuries quickly. Sasuke immediately shed the jacket, and leapt from his tree.

When he hit the ground, Sasuke did a quick scan of the clearing. Mashiro was incapacitated, and Lisa seemed on the verge of falling as well. Other than that, the only ones with serious injury were Rose and Captain Aikawa. Sasuke hadn't noticed the man at first, but was grateful for another Captain being with them. He dashed forward, intent on delivering a debilitating slash to the back of Kensei's knee. Before his Chokuto could make contact he was forced to disengage, throwing his body to the left as Kensei's fist flew past his face a mach speeds. Sasuke was quick to counter, flipping his Chokuto into a reverse grip and slicing down the length of the man's arm. Blood speckled his face, but he didn't allow it to stop his momentum. He dropped to his left hand, using his legs to lock around Muguruma's lower left leg. He applied a significant amount of pressure to the front of his shin and the back of his knee simultaneously, resulting in the Captain's leg buckling, which sent him to the ground. Sasuke was about to deliver a final blow, when he heard Shinji shout at him. "Get back!" Sasuke trusted the command, and leapt backwards. As he disengaged, he watched as the round man that had incapacitated Mashiro closed that distance in turn. He held both hands out to his sides, and slammed them together. "Bakudo #99: Kin!" Kensei's arms were suddenly wrenched behind his back, and a black material began to lock them in place. Once they were secured, several spike slammed into the space between Muguruma's arms, pinning the binding in place.

Sasuke and the others were cautious for several seconds, unsure if Kensei would be able to break the Bakudo. The Captain struggled, flaring his Reiatsu and writhing on the ground for several minutes before anyone felt confident enough to speak. "You think it'll hold, Hachi?" Shinji asked, turning to face the man who had cast the Bakudo. "I should hope so. If he begins to break free, I should be able to cast Bankin. There's no way that Kensei is going to break out that Bakudo, but I'm pretty sure we won't have to resort to it." Shinji nodded as he listened, keeping a very close eye on Kensei. After listening to Hachi, Hirako looked up, staring Sasuke directly in the eyes. "I thought I told you to finish the plan. Regardless, I'm impressed with how you handled that. Not many can engage a Captain like Kensei with so much control and focus. I imagine you were quite the fighter, back when you were alive. Anyways, where's Aizen?" He asked, his tone switching within the blink of an eye. Sasuke thought for a moment, and realized that he'd lost track of Aizen during the commotion. "I'm not sure. I followed him here, and he just sort of vanished during the chaos. Be on guard, I doubt he would come out here just to obse-" Before Sasuke could finish, the group was surprised to here Hiyori cry out. Shinji, who had been standing beside her, turned to face the girl. Before anyone could so much as blink, Hiyori had lashed out with her sword, slicing Shinji deeply across the shoulder. He recoiled, and as everyone was about to act, Sasuke suddenly found his entire perception of the world around him cut to black.

He did a full three hundred and sixty degree rotation, hoping to see something, but was met with nothing but inky blackness. Sasuke was then hit by the instinct to move. He did, rolling to his left, and remaining in a crouched position. He activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, and suddenly he was struck with two sights. The first, was the outlines of several bodies. Their Reiatsu signatures told Sasuke that one of them was Hirako. The second, was three separate Reiatsu signatures, one of which was only a few feet away from him with their Zanpakuto drawn. They seemed to be stuck in place, as if transfixed by something. The one closest to him began to move, his blade slashing at Sasuke again. He sidestepped the attack, instantly rounding on the man with his Chokuto. His opponent barely managed to block the attack, letting Sasuke's blade slide off of his own as he made to swipe at his legs. Sasuke leapt into the air, slinging himself into a horizontal rotation. As he came back to face his attacker, he lashed out with his Chokuto, the built-up momentum slamming into the man's guard. The sudden pressure proved to be too much, and the man was slung halfway across the clearing. His landing was rough, and he skidded across the ground for several feet before coming to a stop. The man didn't move for a few seconds, but eventually began to drag himself back to his feet. But, Sasuke was merciless, and was on the man within seconds. He led with an overhead slash, which the man stepped out of range of. He followed up with a stab aimed for the man's lung, but the strike was deflected. He continued to press his opponent, eating up the man's space and forcing him to lose room for dodging. Sasuke didn't allow even a millisecond to go wasted, each movement thought out with speed and precision. He went low, swiping at the man's knees. His adversary made to block, but Sasuke disengaged that attack and slung his body around, slamming a kick into the man's temple. There was a concussive shockwave, and the man was sent flying into a tree to their right. This time he didn't get back up.

As Sasuke turned to face the other two, he realized that whatever had clouded his senses before had vanished. He was suddenly met by the sound of someone… chuckling? His eyes darted around the area, and he instantly locked eyes with a laughing Sosuke Aizen. His laughter soon died out, replaced by a warm smile. "I must say, I certainly wasn't expecting this! You were not only able to fight despite the effect of Tosen's Bankai, but you also managed to defeat the man! You're certainly more interesting than I first thought. But," His gaze shifted from a smile to a completely emotionless stare. "It would seem that is an experiment for another day. We have company, after all." Sasuke's eyes flicked to his right, where the sound of a Shunpo had alerted him.

Standing there were three people. The first two Sasuke was able to instantly recognized as Kisuke and Yoruichi. The other was not nearly as familiar. Before Sasuke could address them, he was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea. He stumbled for a few seconds before collapsing. As his consciousness faded, Sasuke was able to make out a massive flash of blue light before everything went dark.

BOOM!!! The climax of the first arc has taken place! Tell me what you think of the fight scene, and I'm still looking for suggestions as to which pairing to go for with Sasuke. Well, I suppose that's all for now.Buh-Bye!!!