Bleach: The Afterlife Saga
*Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. All the characters mentioned in this story, with the exception of OCs, are the property of Kubo Tite.
Chapter 7 The Strongest Swordsman
"Strawberry Ronin?" asked Dialgos. The warlord took in the name Ichigo had given for a moment. Then he suddenly burst out laughing. His henchmen laughed as well, as they couldn't believe anyone could answer to such a ridiculous name.
"Strawberry Ronin? What kind of pansy name is that? I bet it was a nickname your mother called you!" laughed Dialgos. Ichigo was barely fazed by their ridicule. He had chosen the nickname carefully. He had used the fact his former schoolmates had often called him "Strawberry" and pared it with the fact that since coming to the Soul Society, he had become a wandering swordsman whose only goal was to protect his sisters.
Ichigo's sisters had also figured out the nickname he chose. Both Karin and Yuzu secretly smiled. They thought the title 'Strawberry Ronin' was kind of cool.
"Well lads. It looks like this guy here is a joke after all. Tanzo's death was probably due to an act of carelessness. He's not deserving of my respect. Kill him!" barked Dialgos. The two henchmen that had been standing beside Dialgos advanced towards Ichigo with swords drawn. Ichigo glanced at Karin and Yuzu.
"Stay behind me girls," he whispered to them. The first henchmen swung his sword horizontally at Ichigo's neck, aiming to chop it off in one movement. What happened next completely stunned the other henchmen and Dialgos himself. Ichigo blocked the sword with his left hand and with his right he landed a haymaker against the henchman's face. His punch was so hard that it cracked the man's nose and sent him flying backwards into three other men. The other henchman yelled out and jumped in the air, aiming to cut Ichigo from head to toe. Ichigo dodged the swing, and after grabbing the man's arms he heaved the man forward with such force that the man was sent flying down the whole flight of stairs. He landed on the bottom of the stairs head first with a sickening crunch.
The other henchmen, having taken nearly a minute to recover from being knocked over, inspected their comrade, and discovered he had died from Ichigo's punch. In a rage they all tried to charge at Ichigo in unison. But all of a sudden they were silenced by Dialgos' voice.
"Halt!" shouted Dialgos. "Don't kill him just yet."
"But you ordered us to do so Dialgos-sama!" protested one of the men.
"Silence you pathetic worms! You can't even do as you're told without getting yourselves killed!" Ichigo could see that that the warlord was clearly angered by the incompetence of his henchmen, but if so, Dialgos tried his best to mask it a moment later.
"Well, well, it seems I underestimated you, Strawberry Ronin. You're not so easy to kill after all, even when you're unarmed," said Dialgos in a strained voice. "A quick execution here would not be fitting for a man as brave as you." A second later the warlord laughed again, but this time the laughter was of a man who had lost his sanity.
"Yes! I know what do with you! I'm going to kill you with my bare hands. But not here, oh no. Your death will take place in front of the entire city! I will crush you down in front of the people who regard you as some sort of savior, so that when your body is broken they will know that they'll have lost all hope for freedom!"
"Dialgos-sama, you can't possibly mean to hold that again?" asked one of his henchmen.
"I am! I'm going to hold a Kenpachi fight to decide who the strongest swordsman is! The winner will become the lord of this city! The loser will have his head chopped off! How does that sound Strawberry Ronin?"
"I don't care about becoming a lord or a king. All I'm interested in is beating your ass and getting the hell of here," said Ichigo. Dialgos was offended at Ichigo's rejection.
"Fine then. Have it your way. If you win the people of this city get to win their freedom. But if I win the two girls with you belong to me!" shouted Dialgos.
"Fine. I accept your offer." Karin and Yuzu were both frightened at the prospect of becoming slaves to such a disgusting man but Ichigo gave them a reassuring look. Don't worry, I'm going to win, was his indirect message to them.
The Kenpachi fight had become the biggest event in Kabuki-cho, and possibly the entire Chisio-oni district's history. Word of the fight had spread across the populace so quickly that by the morning of the next day every single person in the city had heard about it. As a result of a general decree by the warlord himself, townsfolk were given the permission to set up foot outlets and merchandise stalls in the grounds around where the fight would be held-at a specially built arena to the north of the city.
Other opportunistic vendors set up betting rings where people could give odds on who would be the likely victor. Dialgos himself was the overwhelming favourite, with most people giving him almost unbackable chance at winning. The best odds Ichigo got were a fifteen to one bet by Tanaka and Minazawa, and even then, they only wagered a small monetary figure.
The arena itself was huge. The central ring where the combatants would fight was more than thirty yards across on all four sides. Surrounding the ring were a series of stands that together could seat nearly four thousand people. Ichigo didn't think the city had that many people, so when he saw almost all of the seats had been filled two hours before the scheduled, he was a tad surprised.
For the two fighters themselves, their preparations couldn't have been more different. Dialgos spent the night in a lavish dressing room, pampered by four scantily dressed ladies. Ichigo on the other hand was only accompanied by his sisters and stayed the night in a dark basement room underneath the arena stands. He hardly slept at all. Instead, Ichigo spent most of the time meditating. He remembered the art of Jinzen his father had taught him and tried to converse with his blade. He didn't expect a response as he knew well that he no longer had a Zanpakuto spirit inside him. Still the entire meditation process allowed Ichigo to get a good grasp of the level of spirit energy and reiatsu he currently had and finetune his senses. By the time the sun came rose in the morning, he was ready.
The summons came about half an hour before the fight was due to begin, at noon sharp. Ichigo stepped out onto the arena, with his sisters staying close behind him. He was well aware of the jeers and taunts that were thrown at him as soon as he appeared. Some of the taunts were levelled at his sisters, who tried hard to ignore them. The three of them sat down on a bench beside the ring and waited for Dialgos to appear.
Ten minutes later, the warlord emerged, still accompanied by four immodestly dressed women, as well as nearly two dozen henchmen armed with swords. The reception he received was raucous. Ichigo could hear chants of "Dialgos, Dialgos!" from all corners of the crime. When he got to the ring, Dialgos threw off the cloak he had been wearing, to reveal the sword strapped beside his belt. The warlord climbed onto the ring and motioned for Ichigo to follow.
"Good luck Onii-chan," said Yuzu. Ichigo thanked her for her encouragement, before he stepped onto the ring as well. He walked ten steps before stopping. Dialgos did the same. When the two fighters stood facing each other, one of the warlord's henchmen, dressed up as an announcer of some sorts, addressed the crowd.
"Get ready you guys! The ultimate Kenpachi fight is about to begin!" the henchmen exclaimed. "Who will emerge victorious? Will it be the all-powerful Warlord Dialgos-sama? Or will it be the mysterious outsider, the so-called 'Strawberry Ronin'?" At this point loud chants of
"Dialgos-sama!" could be heard again. The henchmen faced Dialgos and Ichigo, before shouting "Let the match begin!"
"Come, Strawberry Ronin, show me what you have," said Dialgos as he unsheathed the sword hanging from his belt. It looked like a plain three foot-long asauchi. Ichigo unsheathed his sword from its cloth scabbard and held it with both hands. He was a bit surprised to see that Dialgos only held his sword with one hand, with almost no semblance of a guard at all. What a poor stance, Ichigo thought. No experienced fighter would expose himself so badly.
After a ten second standoff, Dialgos made his move. He swung his sword in a downward arc at Ichigo's left side. Ichigo blocked his attack with the flat side of his sword, before parrying it away. Dialgos appeared to be surprised that his first attack had been blocked. The warlord swung his sword in a horizontal arc, aiming to slice at Ichigo's waist. Ichigo jumped backwards, did a mid-air somersault, before landing on his feet some distance away.
"You're quite a fast pest," said Dialgos. He charged at Ichigo and started thrusting his sword at him in a quick succession of stabbing actions. Rather than block each attack, Ichigo calmly sidestepped them all, ducking or dodging them as he needed. This guy is a joke, thought Ichigo. Even an ordinary human would be able to avoid his sword thrusts. The warlord followed up the quick thrusts with one big forward thrust at Ichigo's face. Ichigo calmly parried it away, before launching a counterattack that was but a mere feint to test Dialgos' nerves. The warlord seemed to think it was a genuine attack, for he jumped backward in an awkward fashion as soon as he saw Ichigo attack.
The sight of their warlord retreating from the outsider caused murmurs of despair amongst Dialgos' supporters. Amongst the townsfolk who detested him, there were many, including Minazawa and Tanaka, who were heartened by the fact Ichigo was pressuring him.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid of my attack?" asked Ichigo. His question had the effect he desired; it made Dialgos even more unsettled.
"Enough of your arrogant talking fool!" shouted Dialgos. "I'll show you now why the people here fear me!" Like a raging bull, he roared as he charged the Strawberry Ronin head on. The warlord swung his sword madly, lashing out at Ichigo in whatever way he could. Ichigo calmly blocked each of his attack, noting they were becoming sloppier as the warlord became more desperate. Soon Ichigo did not even need two hands to block each attack; a casual raise of his sword was enough to intercept Dialgos' every move.
Dialgos made one final desperate attack against Ichigo, putting all of his strength in a blow that he was certain would slice his enemy apart. Ichigo responded by holding his sword with hold hands and blocking the warlord's attack using the flat edge of his blade. The surrounding crowd looked on in awe as the two combatants' blades were now locked together in a struggle for supremacy. Dialgos was maddened at his inability to get past his opponent's defences, but however much he tried to push forward, Ichigo simply would not budge.
"Looks like this is the limit of your strength," said Ichigo. "I was expecting you to be stronger. No matter how hard you try you won't be able to cut me with this much power."
"What did you say?" asked Dialgos in a rage. "I'll show you the limits of my strength!" He raised back his sword arm and held it high above his head. The warlord didn't get a chance to launch another attack however, for at this point, Ichigo jumped up and landed a precision slice across Dialgos' right hand. The crowd gasped in shock as the warlord's sword was sent flying out of the ring and Dialgos grasped his right hand in agony, for Ichigo's slice had chopped one of his fingers.
"Shit, shit, shit!" swore Dialgos. He glared at Ichigo with murderous eyes. "You're going to pay for this you son of a bitch!"
"How are you going to do it then?" asked Ichigo. "You no longer have a sword in your hands. Do you intend to attack me with your bare fists? Go ahead then, but I don't think you'll have much of a chance."
"Dialgos-sama!" some of the warlord's henchmen called out. They were dismayed that their leader was in danger of losing. Ichigo prepared to finish the fight but just as he began his charge at Dialgos, the warlord did something completely unexpected.
"Bakudo no 1, Sai!" shouted Dialgos as he pointed his left hand at Ichigo's body. In an instant Ichigo's arms were tied behind his back and he fell onto his knees. Crap, this is bad! Ichigo thought. He looked up to see Dialgos gloating triumphantly.
"You bastard. I thought this was going to be a fair fight," muttered Ichigo.
"Ha, ha, ha, all's fair in love and war!" shouted Dialgos in a gleeful voice. "You were careless in underestimating me! You said I didn't have much of a chance huh? Then have a taste of my fists!" The warlord landed a massive punch at Ichigo's waist that almost knocked the wind out of him and caused him to cough up blood. Dialgos proceeded to kick Ichigo hard in the face, sending him flying backwards ten feet. Ichigo's body skidded across the surface of the ring before coming to a stop. As he struggled to break free of the kido, Ichigo conceded to himself that Dialgos had got him.
He watched as Dialgos grabbed hold of his legs, and with one big heave, he flung Ichigo over his head, causing him to land on his front. Ichigo's chin impacted hard with the ring surface and the aftershock almost broke his jaw. I was careless, Ichigo thought. I didn't expect him to know kido.
"Onii-chan!" cried Yuzu. Tears were streaming from her face.
"Get up Ichi-nii!" shouted Karin. "Don't let the bastard get you!" The shouts of Ichigo's sisters were drowned out by shouts of "Finish Him!" from the warlord's supporters in the crowed. Dialgos stood in front of Ichigo's face again.
"You're finished Strawberry Ronin," he said. "But I'm not going to give you a quick death. Oh no, I'm going to make you suffer every bit of the way!" With that, he began stomping upon Ichigo's head. Each stomp caused Ichigo to spew blood from his mouth. Shit, I'm being beaten like a ragdoll, Ichigo thought. If only I could break free of this kido...As his head and back were pounded by Dialgos, Ichigo's mind suddenly flashed back to the very first moment he met Rukia, which was so long ago now it sounded like ancient history. But Ichigo remembered something from that meeting. Rukia had bound me with the same Bakudo... and I broke free of it! With that memory in his mind, Ichigo concentrated all of his willpower and resolve into breaking free of the spell.
Dialgos landed one last kick on Ichigo's head before admiring the battered body before him. He turned to one of his henchmen.
"Hand me back my sword! I'm going to cut off his head!" he shouted. As Dialgos waited to get his sword back, he and the entire stadium were suddenly hit with an enormous wave of reiatsu. The spiritual pressure was so strong that most of the people in the crowd buckled under its weight and fell over.
"This spiritual pressure! Where is it coming from?" asked Dialgos. He got the answer when Ichigo's body started glowing. With a ferocious scream Ichigo broke free of the Bakudo and regained control of his arms. He then slowly got up. Dialgos and his henchmen were astonished at the whole sight. Despite his entire face being a bloody mess, Ichigo had lost none of his strength.
"Impossible! How could you break free of my spell!" gasped Dialgos. "How could you even be standing?" Ichigo grinned, showing the warlord his half-broken jaw.
"That spell was so weak, I was wondering how I was even caught by it. Any Shinigami would be able to break free from it," said Ichigo. "And I've felt harder punches before." Dialgos was too shaken to react. He just stood there and watched as Ichigo raised his sword above his head. With his spirit energy packed into the blade, Ichigo swung it down with all of his might.
Ichigo's sword didn't directly make contact with Dialgos but his swing still had its intended effect. A second later the warlord's entire left arm was severed from his body, in front of a shell-shocked crowd. Gallons of blood spilled from the wound as Dialgos collapsed onto his knees. His henchmen dashed onto the ring as they saw their lord fall.
"Dialgos-sama!" they shouted. The warlord glared at Ichigo, his eyes now completely blood shot and his mouth drooling with saliva and blood.
"Kill that bastard!" shouted Dialgos in a roaring voice. "And kill his two bitches along with him!" Almost at once, the henchmen who were in the middle of the ring and the henchmen who had been watching from the stand moved into action. They unleashed their swords and charged at Ichigo.
"Oh shit!" swore Ichigo. He ran towards Karin and Yuzu.
"What do we do Onii-chan?" asked Yuzu.
"We get out of here now!" shouted Ichigo. He and his sisters ran as fast as they could from the thirty or so henchmen chasing behind them but before they could get to one of the arena exits their path was blocked by twenty more henchmen.
"We're surrounded Ichi-nii!" exclaimed Karin. Shit, she's right, Ichigo thought. Had he been at full strength he would have been hard pressed to take on this many men and live, but now, after an exhausting battle, he knew he didn't stand a chance. We're doomed.
It was at this moment that salvation arrived for Ichigo and his sisters. Only it came from a most unexpected place. Unbeknownst to everyone in the arena, an old man had been watching the entire fight from high in the sky. Only this wasn't an ordinary old man. For behind the facade of this senile hermit lay the visage of a Shinigami of unfathomable power.
"Ho, ho, ho, he sure has come far," said the former Captain Commander Yamamoto Shigekuni Genyrusai. "But I suppose even this is too much for him." The cane he had been holding in his right hand wasn't actually a cane. At a mere gesture it turned into a Zanpakuto with a brown scabbard.
"Turn all of creation into ashes, Ryujin Jakka!" chanted Yamamoto. The sword in the scabbard transformed into an immense fire dragon, with wings more than a hundred feet across. The old man sent the dragon flying down the arena below.
Just as Dialgos' henchmen were about to surround Ichigo and his sisters, a shout came from numerous people in the crowd, for a shadow soon descended from the sky. At once everyone looked up, and utter terror filled all of their hearts and minds.
"A dragon! Run for your life!" screamed one of the townsfolk. Before anyone could react the fire dragon breathed out a long stream of flames that instantly engulfed ten of Dialgos' henchmen. The men screamed as their bodies were set alit. The vast majority of the people in the arena quickly headed for the exits, but Dialgos' men, whether out of sheer stupidity or bravery, stood their ground against the dragon. One by one each of them were consumed by the flames.
"Yuzu, Karin! Let's get the hell of here!" shouted Ichigo. He had no idea what the heck was going on, but he sure wasn't going to stay and get roasted alive. The three of them merged with the fleeing crowd as the townsfolk rushed out of the arena and headed for the city. The warlord Dialgos and his men on the other hand, were stubbornly defiant to the end.
"Come you monster! You'll never defeat the great Dialgos-sama!" shouted Dialgos in an arrogant voice. A second later a tongue of flames jumped onto his face and the warlord screamed in pain. His henchmen saw him disappear into the changing rooms with his head on fire. Those who were still alive saw no reason to stay and get cooked, so they too fled the arena as fast as they could.
At the exact same moment, on the other side of Kabuki-cho, two Shinigami arrived at the city's eastern gates. Even from where they were, the flames coming from the arena were clearly visible.
"Look Renji! There's a huge fire in the distance!" exclaimed Rukia. She pointed to the smoke and flames to the northwest.
"Wait, I see something in the air," said Renji. He pointed to a bright red object flying in the air. "Isn't that...Ryujin Jakka?"
"Then Yamamoto-dono must be nearby. That that would mean Ichigo is also close!" Rukia and Renji Shunpo-ed over the city gates and started their search of the city. All around them they could see signs of chaos and anarchy as dozens of people either ran past them or shut themselves up in houses along the street.
"Come on Ichi-nii!" shouted Karin. She and Yuzu were now carrying Ichigo on their shoulders, for just after they entered the city's northern gates Ichigo suddenly collapsed on the ground. The fight with Dialgos had taken a far greater toll on his body than he had initially thought. It wasn't due to his wounds; apart from his face Ichigo hadn't been that seriously injured. But he had expended far too much of his spirit energy both in breaking out of a kido spell and unleashing his last attack against Dialgos.
The three of them navigated their way through the continuing press of townsfolk running past them. Just then they heard a loud bang coming from the arena followed by a shockwave that knocked all of them onto the ground.
"What was that?" asked Yuzu.
"It sounded like an explosion," said Karin. They looked up and saw that the billowing flames had become a towering inferno. Ichigo realized that the flames would soon spread in the city. He knew that they wouldn't be safe until they fled Kabuki-cho altogether.
"Come on, we've got to get out of the city," said Ichigo. He and his sisters headed for the eastern gate, as smoke from the arena started drifting over the city. Just then Ichigo heard a voice calling out his name. "Ichigo!" shouted a female voice. I must be hearing things, Ichigo thought. Or the smoke and haze had muddied his senses. But then he saw two silhouettes in the distance, both approaching towards him at a rapid speed. There was no mistake now. Ichigo knew who they were. And he was glad to see them. As the silhouettes materialized into two familiar Shinigami, Ichigo called out "Rukia! Renji!"
As soon as she saw him, Rukia ran towards Ichigo as fast she could and hugged her arms around his chest, much to the surprise of Ichigo and his sisters.
"I'm glad that you're still alive," said Rukia.
Notes: This chapter might seem like a grand climax of sorts but the story is far from over. The only thing that ends this chapter is the story arc that began with the first chapter, which I will call the Rukongai arc. The next chapter will be the start of a new story arc.
Some readers have commented that Ichigo has been a bit OOC in the last few chapters, but I think his personality in the story so far is faithful to how he was during and after his fight with Aizen. He is definitely more ruthless than the Ichigo in the manga, but I thought Ichigo was pretty ruthless against Aizen too. And Ichigo won't always be this calm and collected. As the story goes on, he will have moments where he'll lose his resolve or experiences despair.
I thank everyone who has sent in reviews so far. Your feedback and critique has been very welcome.
