Crisis Core: The Azure Moon
By: James D. Fawkes
Chapter Eight: Controlling the Iron Beast
— o.0.O.O.0.o —
Time: Unknown; Before 1000 BC
He looked out over the Earth, watching as the ground shook and the waters of the oceans surged, crashing over the land and plunging all life beneath the crushing waves. The skies trembled as thunder boomed, lightning split the air, and a torrential rain pounded down. Those not caught in the initial surge of the seas were drowned by the rain that flooded their homes and rose to swallow entire mountains.
He could not help the evil, satisfied smile that curled his lips. Everything was going according to his plan. The symphony of death and agony, the final cries of the dead and dying as crushing water pulled them to the darkness of oblivion, was much sweeter to his ears than he had imagined it would be. He almost felt giddy.
He reached up and touched a point in the air; the sky shimmered, then all the calamities ceased as he inspected the blackish gem held between his forefinger and thumb. In an instant, the rain stopped, the shuddering earth stilled, and the violent seas calmed. He paid it all little attention. He was focused instead on the jewel he now held and seemed as though he were appraising it for flaws and chips.
"Still not ready?" he asked rhetorically. "How long will it take, Hôgyoku? How many souls must I sacrifice? What does it take to sate your hunger?"
He did not wait for an answer nor did it seem he expected one. He placed the gem back into the air, where it stayed, motionless, for a moment, then shimmered and gleamed before it vanished once more. The calamities started up again — the earth split and cracked, the oceans surged over the land, and the skies screamed a cacophony of thunder, lightning, and torrential rainfall.
Centuries later, this event would be called "The Flood" by various religious texts. Bibles would tell of how nearly all the world perished and only a single man, his family, and two of each kind of animal survived a storm of forty days and nights on a massive ark. Whether or not the story is true is insignificant; what matters is that there was a Flood and nearly all life on the planet had been destroyed.
The sword at his waist pulsed, but he ignored it. Yes, it was his sword, but it wasn't his sword, not the one She had given him. He loathed it for that, and yet could not truly hate it — Kyôka Suigetsu was born of his own soul and so was a part of him, but it was not the same, did not have the same feel or power, as the sword he had once held, which had once been capable of tearing the sky asunder.
"Truly, it is aptly named," he mused, watching the world crumble before him. "'Hôgyoku'."
How much longer, he wondered. She would not turn a blind eye to this, to the devastation he was causing, for very long. It was only a matter of time before She sent either Her Azure or Crimson Knight to stop him; the question was whether or not he could be ready when they did come, whether his preparations would be complete when one of his brothers appeared to stay his hand.
"Tsukuyomi!" a voice called. He smiled slyly, evilly, and turned to face the man who had called out to him, making sure to bury his short burst of frustration. He wasn't ready yet. He would need to stall as long as he could, buy time for the Hôgyoku to finish. He would have to press the right buttons to keep the man across from him at bay.
His hair was long and golden, unruly, spiky, even, and he had eyes of the brightest blue. He wore a long, pale blue robe and black hakama that had been bound close to his legs by the plates of silvery armor that protected his shins. Beneath the robe, he wore a kimono, bland, ordinary black. Overtop the blue robe was a chest plate, smooth and flat, and two pauldron on his shoulders, simple but branded with intricate symbols. A thick black ring wrapped around his throat, a sort of collar. Strapped to his waist was a sword with a guard in the shape of an eight-pointed star and an ice-colored hilt. A pair of wings, feathered with soft, matte black down, sprouted from his back and his feet were protected by both black socks and sandals, and a thin plate of armor. The right sleeve of his robe and kimono were entirely gone, intentionally removed.
"Susano'o," he replied coolly, as if he were talking about the weather.
Tsukuyomi, in contrast to the one he addressed as Susano'o, had long brown hair that had been slicked back and milky white eyes with purple sclera. He had no wings and was dressed in white robes. His armor consisted of a similar chest plate, a bracer on his right arm, and a single sheet of interlocked plates that protected his left thigh. He did not have the black ring around his neck. He had removed it himself when he became disillusioned with Her, as it was a marker of Her chosen, of those who knelt before her and were Knighted.
Tsukuyomi's smile curled further upwards, "Here you are, and yet Kagu-tsuchi did not deign to join us? I must confess to my hurt. Does he not want to see me?"
Of course Kagu-tsuchi would not come. Susano'o was Her sword, the one who struck down those who opposed Her. Kagu-tsuchi, on the other hand, prioritized Her. Always, when two of the Knights were gone, it would be Kagu-tsuchi who stayed behind to protect Her. Rarely had all three been sent out, and woe betide the one who had earned such an honor — to have all three of Her Knights against you was a fearsome thing indeed.
Susano'o did not break his gaze, eyes steady and calm, but burning with an inner rage, "What is this, Tsukuyomi?"
Tsukuyomi laughed sinisterly, "Is it not obvious?"
Susano'o tore his eyes away from Tsukuyomi to look at the destruction and havoc raging over the Earth. When he looked back into those unfeeling white eyes, his own contained a sort of soft disbelief.
"What have you done?"
It was whispered and a fair question, but for whatever reason, it awoke a rage inside of Tsukuyomi and he gestured wildly, furious.
"What must be done!" he said. "As I am, I cannot do what must be done, so I have taken another method, another means, and I shall be able to change my circumstances. I shall take Her place! I shall be a GOD!"
"What are you talking about?" Susano'o demanded. There was an edge to it, harsh and hurt and angry. Tsukuyomi remembered for a moment all that they had shared, the camaraderie, the brotherhood, but could not find it enough to sate the fires of his hatred.
"She took it from me!" Tsukuyomi raged. "So I'll take it back, then take Her throne! And not even you will stop me!"
"Tsukuyomi," Susano'o said, his voice lowered dangerously. Tsukuyomi didn't allow him to continue.
"Why?" he demanded angrily. "Why do you follow Her? Why don't you see what she's done to this world, to me, to us?"
He reached out and grabbed the gem again, then tore his chest plate off and shoved the glittering black jewel into his heart. It pulsed, then the veins that surrounded it turned ash gray and foul-looking.
"I'll take it back," he said. "And I'll take her throne and create a new world, a better world, on the ashes of this one. These creatures, Hollows, will be at peace with Her Shinigami, and the lives of my creations will not be nearly as pitiful as Hers are."
"You betrayed us!" Susano'o snarled. "You turned your back on us, Brother! What…what have you become, that you could sever those bonds so easily?"
"What have I become?" Tsukuyomi retorted seriously. "What am I? How foolish of you not to have seen, not to understand. I…I am a monument to all Her sins. Do you understand, now? I am only what she has made me into. I am the devil she created."
"You…You're nothing. You betrayed us of your own free will. That's why she took your sword from you. She made you do nothing," Susano'o said, voice trembling with emotion.
"Really?" Tsukuyomi asked. "Then tell me…how many have you killed in Her name?"
"That's the way the world is," Susano'o said. "Not everything can be solved with words and promises."
"That's the thinking of a loser! A winner is always thinking about how the world should be, not how it is! How can you not see it? How can you not see the stagnation of Her world? I will make a better world! I will take her crown and start anew! And I shall not make mistakes!"
There was a silence for a moment.
"This person who stands in front of me…I don't know him," Susano'o said sadly. He closed his eyes a moment, and when he opened them, they were strong, resolute, resigned. "Goodbye, Tsukuyomi."
Susano'o vanished and Tsukuyomi had the briefest of moments to realize that it was Shukuchi, an umbrella term that applied to a number of high speed, teleportation, and time-space techniques used only by Her and Her chosen, before a hand had plunged into his chest and grabbed the Hôgyoku violently.
— o.0.O.O.0.o —
The warehouse seemed abandoned when Ichigo walked into it, but the door closed behind him, creaking and screeching as it was lowered, and plunged him into darkness. Too much of a coincidence not to be deliberate.
"Good job findin' this place," Hirako's voice called out as the lights flickered on, "Ichigo."
He tilted his hat, "Looks like you finally decided to join us. I'm impressed ya found us, considering how much you suck at controlling reiatsu. Then again, we pumped out as much reiatsu as we could to make it easier on you." He grinned. "So, Ichigo, you're here because you finally decided to join us, right?"
There was a moment of silence. Hirako's grin widened in triumph; he was sure now, the way Ichigo's head was hung looked resigned.
"As if!" Ichigo said, lifting his head to show off the scowl and 'are you stupid?' look on his face. Hirako faltered, tripping on air. "Me, join you? Keep dreaming! I'm here to use you, nothing more." He smirked. "I'm not joining anyone, but you will teach me how to suppress my inner Hollow."
"Looks like you're really underestimating us," Hirako said. "We're not teaching you anything, dumbass!"
"I'll force you to," Ichigo replied quietly.
"How?"
The smirk was back, "I'll beat it out of you."
"Don't make me laugh," Hirako said, his grin dangerous.
Ichigo's response was not verbal; he reached into his back pocket, grabbed his badge, and thrust it the closest bit of body he could. His human body slumped backwards while Ichigo, decked out in Shinigami garb, leapt forward, drawing his sword simultaneously. Hirako unsheathed his own zanpakuto.
"Guess we gotta do this the hard way."
They clashed in midair, steel flashing as they swiped at one another, dodging, blocking — lather, rinse, repeat. Neither gained any ground, but neither lost any either. It was easy to tell that neither of them was truly serious — or, perhaps more accurately, that neither of them was using the full extent of their powers. The others watched unworriedly.
"That Ichigo boy is pretty good to fight on par with Shinji," the one with long blond hair remarked.
"Idiot. Take a closer look," scolded the one with glasses and braided black hair, dressed in a sailor outfit. "Shinji isn't taking him seriously."
"It looks to me like Ichigo-kun isn't fighting with all he's got, either," said the large one, his pink mustache twitching with each word.
The one with the star-shaped afro sighed, "He's definitely scared."
"Scared?" asked the green haired girl. "Of what?"
"His Hollow," the stern-looking, gray haired man said. "That punk's so scared, he's trying to fight without calling his Hollow out. We've been trying to recruit this guy, and this is the level he's at?"
The blonde girl with pigtails and a pink tracksuit sighed, bored, and started forward.
"Where are you going, Hiyori?" asked the green-haired girl.
"Hachi," the girl addressed as 'Hiyori' said, "add another five layers to the barrier."
"Okay," the big one said, nodding.
She stopped a moment, then leapt into the air, one sandal in hand, and said, "Shinji! Tag out!"
She slapped him with her flip-flop, a stinging red imprint appearing on his cheek as he spiraled out of the barrier. She looked back at Hachi and leveled a glare his way, "I told you, add five layers!"
"I didn't have enough time!" Hachi protested defensively.
She turned to Ichigo, smirking, "Well, that's fine. Oi, Ichigo, let me tell you something. You got the wrong idea. See, we're definitely thinking about letting you become one of us. The thing is, it ain't your choice."
"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked.
"It means that it's our decision," she replied. "It doesn't matter if you wanna join or not. After we see your strength, we'll decide whether we want you…or not. That's it. So think about it. You don't have any choice in the matter! If you're powerful, then we'll let you join us. We'll even teach you how to suppress the Hollow. But, if you're weak, then forget it. We'll leave you to become a Hollow and die a pathetic death."
She turned around, "Now, if ya get the picture, turn into a Hollow already! Let's see how powerful you are."
"I refuse," Ichigo said. She stopped.
"You just don't get it," she turned to look at him, the same white stuff that had once appeared on Shinji's face coalescing on hers. "I told you, it ain't your choice!"
She turned all the way back once the mask had fully formed, a smirk on her face, "If you're too scared to turn into a Hollow, I guess I have no choice. I'll draw out that Hollow of yours myself! Even if I have to beat it out of ya!"
Ichigo shifted his weight, tightening his grasp on Zangetsu.
"What're you so afraid of?" Hiyori demanded. "Just because you have a mask doesn't mean you're a Visored. At least turn into a Hollow! Don't be chicken, Ichigo. I ain't as nice as Shinji. If you don't get over your fear and transform…" she grabbed her mask by its eyeholes and moved it into place on her face. In an instant, she had crossed the distance and laid a hand on his chest. "You'll die."
He leapt away, but she came after him, sword drawn. Every time they clashed, the building shook threateningly and Hachi shuddered under the strain. Ichigo quickly found out that she had not been exaggerating; she was beating him down effortlessly, toying with him, and he could not help the feeling that she could kill him at any moment if she got bored with him, or too frustrated. He distanced himself again, blood dribbling from several cuts on his head.
"Enough, already," she said, lifting the mask away. "I keep telling ya, quit being afraid, Ichigo!"
"I'm not afraid," he said stubbornly.
She scoffed.
"Here's a hint. Use your Bankai."
"Not a chance."
"I knew it," she said, smirking. "Whenever you fight someone strong, like me, and use your Bankai" — here, he thought that the only reason she was beating him was because she didn't have to consciously suppress her Hollow or keep her power from drawing it out — "you get scared that you won't be able to hold your Hollow back." She scowled. "Just looking at you pisses me off! You're so terrified, it's pathetic! All right, then!"
She pulled the mask back on, "Fight however you want. You don't have to use Bankai or transform into a Hollow. I'll just get this over with and kill you."
She rushed him and the blow sent him reeling, unable to block the second blow that drew a cut along his left arm. Then she was behind him and he forced himself to focus, to deduce, somehow, how she could put on and take off the mask without losing control to the Hollow. He spun around to face her and blocked, but her strike bit a dangerously large chunk out of his blade and sent him spinning backwards. She was too fast; he'd barely righted himself before she was on top of him again, her sword slicing a cut across his stomach.
She flew past him, too fast, and he had barely righted himself before she was in front of him again. He swung and again her sword bit deep into his blade, cracking it, and he was sent slamming into the wall. His tenuous control shattered and before he could stop it, his Hollow had wrenched control, screaming bloody revenge and triumph. He was thrown to the backseat of his own body as his Hollow rushed forward, forgoing a sword entirely, and clamped its hand down on Hiyori's throat.
They crashed into the opposite wall, the pink-clad blonde girl writhing limply as the life was squeezed from her. Her mask had been broken to nothing but a tiny chunk and as she gasped desperately for air, clawing at his arm, the black began to recede from her eyes as they bulged and flitted upwards towards the inside of her skull. Ichigo could only watch, sick to his stomach, as Hiyori was strangled and effortlessly defeated. It was clear his Hollow intended to kill her.
In the next instant, he had been thrown to the ground, all the other Visored surrounding him with swords drawn, immobile. A single flick of Shinji's sword and the half-formed mask around his face crumbled to dust and his Hollow retreated, tail between his legs. There was a sense of vertigo, then Ichigo was in control of his body once more.
"That's enough," Shinji said. He turned to the girl, who was touching tenderly at her throat and had scrambled as close to the wall, and as far away from Ichigo, as she possibly could. "That good enough, Hiyori?"
She didn't respond and he could see easily just how badly the experience had shaken her.
"Ya get it now, Ichigo?" he asked solemnly. "Suppressing your Hollow isn't as simple as just focusing your mind and body." He paused, then turned around, stuffing a hand in his pocket and resting his sword against his shoulder. "Congratulations, you passed. We'll pound the way to suppress your Hollow clear into the core of your soul."
Everything after that was a blur — being helped up, grudgingly, by one of the others, Hachi looking him over and healing his wounds, distrustful looks from Hiyori, disapproving stares from the others — when everything had slowed down again, Ichigo stood in front of a walker and had been told to exercise on it. He gave Hirako a disbelieving look and got a grin in return, then reached out to touch it. The moment his skin felt metal, he knew its purpose and could not stop the well of indignation and outrage that bubbled in his gut as he grasped one of the handles.
"You want me to use this thing…?" he asked lowly. Were they seriously underestimating him that badly, after the show he'd given them not so long ago? He spun around and heaved it over his shoulder, throwing it with all of his might at the nearest Visored — Shinji. "Yeah, right!"
The walker slammed into Shinji's chin — Ichigo didn't need the agonized yelp or quickly forming bruise to tell him that it had definitely hurt —and spiraled off into some dusty corner. Hiyori spun towards him, a vein pulsing on her forehead, and pointed threateningly at him, "Try that again and you're dead!"
"Quit screwing with me!" Ichigo hollered back. "There's no way I'm going to fool around on that stupid walker just so you can find out what I already know! You think it was clever, telling me to mess with that thing until I couldn't anymore? I only had to touch it once to know exactly what it was for! You wanted to know how long I could go on that thing so you could tell how much reiryoku I have, right? I can tell you right now that I'd have to run on that thing" — he pointed to it where it sat in a corner, surprisingly undamaged — "for a whole week before I had to stop for a break!"
He flung his arm around angrily, "Just teach me to suppress my Hollow already, damn it! I don't have time to play around with you Visored!"
"Shut the hell up!" Shinji yelled. Ichigo quieted instantly. "You don't have enough time? That's pretty rich, coming from a guy who has no idea how long it'll take for the Hôgyoku to awaken." Ichigo's look of surprise said everything. "That's right. I know everything — the Hôgyoku, the Arrancar, even Aizen Sôsuke. I've known about it for years."
In a blur, Shinji appeared before Ichigo, hand outstretched in front of his face and grin in place, "We'll talk about all that later. I thought it'd be a good idea to let you get used to our way and have your soul blend with ours. But now that I think about it, you can turn into a Shinigami, use your Shikai, and have a Bankai with amazing speed. I guess it'll work better if we just jump right into teaching you how to control your Hollow, like you wanted."
Shinji's hand glowed blue and Ichigo collapsed as the world melted into black. The last thing he heard was, "Don't go regrettin' this, now."
— o.0.O.O.0.o —
Rukia sat upon the roof of a house, feet dangling over the edge, and watched the warehouse across from her worriedly. She could feel Ichigo's reiatsu inside of it, but had not been able to cross the barrier that had been erected over it, and it was obvious that was the barrier's actual purpose — to keep others out as much as keep its occupants in.
"Ichigo," she whispered, brow furrowed in concern.
It was not simply that she could feel his reiatsu. There were others with him, and his rose and fell, dipped and soared, at random points (and from the similar activity of those with him, she had deduced he was fighting), though it never approached the level it had been at when he rescued her from the Sokyoku.
These must be the Visored, she decided. That's why he was here — he was getting training from the Visored to control his inner Hollow. But why hadn't he told her about it? Why hadn't he said where he would be going and why? That confession, telling her that he loved her, and then he leaves before she can give him a reply? Why?
Why wouldn't he let her stand by him?
"So, this is where he's been hiding," a voice said, startling her. She jumped and turned to look at the blond-haired man sitting next to her — how had he snuck up without her noticing? — one leg dangling over the edge and his arm resting on the other's knee.
"Worried?" Naruto asked without looking at her.
"Y-yeah," she said, turning back to the warehouse. There was an empty pause and another barrier rose up around the first. Moments later, Ichigo's reiatsu began to taint and darken, becoming more like that of a Hollow.
"Do you love him?" Naruto asked bluntly.
"Because of you…the rain has finally stopped…" That strange, half-way confession, the way her heart had fluttered upon hearing it, had haunted her from the moment he had said it. Was he trying to say it? Was he trying to tell her that he loved her? And then he had said it, not more than a day or two ago, and through the haze of pain, the feeling of encroaching death, she had felt her heart flutter again — and she knew what that meant, now.
Rukia blushed and looked down, "I-I do. I just…wish I could help him shoulder his burden, but…"
She wanted to voice her frustration, but the words were caught in her throat — she wasn't quite sure how to explain it, this inarticulate vexation the swelled in her chest. She was being left behind. Ichigo was moving on and she couldn't catch up — she wouldn't be able to be there when he needed it most.
"If you could follow him," Naruto began carefully, "if you could understand and share this burden, the one that brought him here…would you?"
The answer was immediate. She didn't even need to think about it.
"In a heartbeat," she said firmly.
There was a sigh, "I was half afraid you'd say that," then everything went black. Naruto stood and picked up her limp body the way Ichigo had on the execution grounds what seemed like ages ago.
"What have you done to her?" a voice asked, calm, but with an undercurrent of rage. Naruto looked over at Isshin, fully decked out in his shihakusho, and then turned back to face the warehouse.
"The object I just put into her will dissolve the barrier separating shinigami from Hollow," Naruto said in a monotone. "Within the hour, she will begin Hollowfication. Within two, she will become a Visored, as long as she can overcome her inner Hollow — something I have full confidence she can do."
"Something like that…Only Urahara could create such a thing," Isshin said, more to himself than anything. His reiatsu spiked threateningly. "Why did you do this?"
There was a pause and Naruto looked down at the girl he held under his left arm, then up at Isshin, "Love."
Isshin's eyes went wide.
"I never intended to force anything on her, force her to become what she will become," Naruto said. "However, Rukia-chan loves Ichigo and she can't bear the thought of the burden he must hold on his shoulders for being part Hollow. She wants to understand that burden and share it with him."
He thought back to the day he had first told Hinata of the Kyubi, of her determination to bear a part of the burden he had held, and could not help the wistful smile that crept across his face.
"I hate that I've done this to her," Naruto said, "but I understand how she feels. Hinata wished nothing more than to be able to share my burden with me, to shoulder a part of it, but she couldn't fully understand. Her support meant the world to me, but, in the end, she couldn't do anything more than support me. The Kyubi was a burden that only another Jinchuuriki could understand."
He looked back up at the warehouse, where he could feel Ichigo's reiatsu morph and darken further than it had before, "That's why I did this. She loves him and she wants to share his burden, so I've helped her do that. She'll stand by him, and he by her."
"You would go this far…" Isshin whispered.
"Yes," Naruto said stonily. "This is a war. You never know what will happen tomorrow, and if this helps them, if this brings them closer, if this gives her the strength to stand up to Aizen's Espada…"
He could see them, the faces of everyone he'd lost, of all the people who had died in battle — Hikari, gasping her last breath, Hinata, her frail, wrinkled hand going limp in his grasp as unseeing eyes closed, Tenten, dying with a soft sigh, Sasuke, impaled upon his own sword, old and gray and smiling, Jiraiya, bloodied and dying, Yuugao, her body falling apart on the inside, ligaments torn and organs and arteries sliced clean in half, Sarutobi, fighting desperately for the village he loved and dying on Orochimaru's blade, Haku and Zabuza, laying side by side and going together to the afterlife, and a glimpse — the tiniest glimpse, blurry but distinct — of two smiling faces standing over him, a blue-eyed blond and a gray-eyed redhead, impaled upon the Kyubi — claw or tail-tip, it was irrelevant — his parents. All of them were people who had died in his arms or before his eyes.
He, better than most, knew the pain of loss, and he, better than most, knew that you had to make the most of the time you had. That's why he Hollowfied Rukia, so that she and Ichigo could stand side by side, together, and make the most of their time.
"I see…" Isshin said solemnly. He changed the subject. "So, why aren't you the one training Ichigo? I would have thought you more than capable of it, and you definitely know what you're doing, if you can Hollowfy someone."
"Oh, I will train Ichigo," Naruto said. "But I figured I'd let them handle this part. I'm going to need all my strength to deal with Part Two, especially if I have to deal with a Hollowfied Rukia simultaneously."
"What's Part Two?"
Naruto turned his head and gave Isshin a very serious stare, "Complete Hollowfication."
Isshin returned a very confused look, "But I thought he was already doing that."
A head shake, "This is only partial Hollowfication, where his instincts will overwhelm his body. Complete Hollowfication is where his power will also overwhelm his heart."
There was a flare of power, then Ichigo's reiatsu wavered and plunged, purified of its previous darkness, but incredibly weak. A moment later, Rukia's began to taint and darken, as if to replace Ichigo's, but at a much slower pace than his had. Naruto frowned.
"It's time."
He leapt forward, sweeping through the barrier as though it wasn't even there, and burst into the empty warehouse. He looked around, then closed his eyes a moment and searched out Ichigo's reiatsu. He frowned deeper, then looked at the floor, tapping it with his foot after each step. Finally, he found a hollow section and grinned, lifting the trapdoor open effortlessly and descending down the steps — only to find a perfect replica of Urahara's basement. Six pairs of eyes turned to look at him, alarmed.
"Yo!" he said, lifting a hand in greeting. "Normally, I wouldn't be bothering you guys, but that carrot-toped guy in there is my student and this girl" — he nodded towards the unconscious Rukia — "is about to Hollowfy. And since you've got this nice little thing set up here, I'm going to be making use of your facilities."
"Bastard!" the girl in the pink tracksuit said angrily, standing. "What makes you think you have the right to barge in here like that?"
He ignored her, strolling up to the barrier and pausing.
"Big guy," he said, glancing once at Hachi, "you're the one making the barrier, right?" He received a bewildered look and a nod. "What I'm about to do is going to be really big, so if you guys don't want to be caught up in the crossfire, I'd suggest making this barrier here strong enough to stand up to Ryuujin Jakka."
He was secretly pleased with the looks of alarm and surprise he got as he opened up a hole in the transparent golden wall big enough to fit him and Rukia. He took as step through and steeled himself for what he was about to do.
— o.0.O.O.0.o —
Ichigo glared at the figure of his Hollow, eyes burning at the grin that met him, and in a flash they both leapt forward and crossed blades.
"Bastard," Ichigo said lowly, "when did you learn Bankai?"
"Isn't it obvious?" the Hollow asked, pressing forward a little more. "I learned it the same time you did!"
The Hollow swiped his sword away and the violent clash of energy pushed Ichigo backwards, eyes closed against the bright flash of black and white. When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in Urahara's basement, the intense blue sky littered with clouds — he still didn't know how they did that.
"What the…?"
"Sôten ni zase," a familiar voice said, "Hyôrinmaru."
Ichigo leapt out of the way of the ice dragon that had threatened to swallow him, then turned to face the blonde responsible. The look on Naruto's face was calm and determined.
"Naruto?" Ichigo asked confusedly. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"
"Pathetic," Naruto said. "Is that all the farther you've come?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo demanded. "What's going on, here?"
Naruto frowned, "You've fallen, Ichigo."
A wave of spiritual pressure swept outwards and nearly sent Ichigo to his knees, pressing insistently down on him. Hyôrinmaru gleamed viciously, then was swung and released a trio of dragons, all of which bore down on him. He leapt out of the way, slashing each apart with a Getsuga as they came upon him.
"Stop!" he called. "This isn't the time for us to be fighting each other!"
A fourth one came, hidden behind the third, and caught him off guard. He barely dodged in time, but his left arm was still frozen, encased in a heavy layer of ice. Ichigo landed and fell to his knees, grunting in exertion — the impressive spiritual pressure had not lessened in the slightest.
"Haven't you realized, Ichigo," Naruto began, "just how confused your heart is?"
"What's that?" Ichigo demanded, growling.
"Stand, Ichigo," Naruto said, eyes gleaming coldly. "Or maybe I should save the Arrancar the trouble and kill you myself."
Three more dragons came and Ichigo forced himself to leap away, "Damn it, Naruto! What the hell are you babbling about?"
One of them got through, pressing against his blade as he tried desperately to block it. The force of it threw him violently into a boulder, pushing him against it as freezing water and slushy ice lunged at his sword. When finally the torrent had subsided, Ichigo fell to his knees, panting, his back aching from the stone and rock that had stabbed at it bluntly. Naruto appeared in front of him.
"Those who lack the desire to fight cannot deflect my sword," he said, Hyôrinmaru held lightly in his right hand. Ichigo pulled himself to his feet and Naruto leapt forward, swinging. "It's over."
Ichigo blocked and their blades clashed, except he was no longer in Urahara's basement, but in his inner world once more, and it was his Hollow who stood opposite him. Ichigo blinked, then flung himself away as his Hollow did the same, grinning.
"Don't be so tense, King," the Hollow said. "Let's have some fun!"
"Shut it," Ichigo said darkly. What was that, he thought. Why had Naruto shown up in the middle of his fight like that, and attacked him, no less?
"Quit staring off into space!" the Hollow called, rushing forwards. Ichigo deflected the strike that came, spinning around to face his enemy.
"I wasn't," Ichigo said.
"Bullshit," the Hollow grinned. "You were daydreaming, King!"
"I was not, damn it!" Ichigo insisted. He swung his sword and a crescent of energy leapt from it, black and tinged red. "Getsuga Tenshô!"
The Hollow's eyes narrowed and it split the attack down the middle with a single swipe of its hand. Ichigo looked stunned, and it was only battle-honed reflexes that brought his arm up to block the next blow. The Hollow's grinning face leaned forwards as one pale hand was pressed up against the dull side of the white Zangetsu.
"Getsuga," the Hollow said, "Tenshô."
There was a flash of black and even with the speed of his Bankai, Ichigo wasn't fast enough to dodge the attack. A jagged gash had been carved onto his stomach and a significant portion of his coat had been violently torn off. The pain in his chest seared, but Ichigo forced himself to focus. An instant of distraction, that's all it took, and he would be done for.
"Like I said, Ichigo," the Hollow crowed smugly. "You really suck."
A blur, and then it was standing in front of him, one hand grasping the black blade of his sword. Its grip tightened, then Zangetsu began to turn white and disintegrate, like it was being bleached. It was over in a scant few seconds — by the time he realized what was happening, his sword was gone and he was defenseless. "Give it up. You can't be King anymore, Ichigo."
Ichigo looked down at his empty hand, "Z-Zangetsu…"
"How many times am I gonna say it, Ichigo? I…am Zangetsu."
The Hollow was in his face in an instant, grabbing him with a hand and flinging him backwards and into one of the countless skyscrapers littering this world. A grin stretched over his pasty white face as he tossed Zangetsu up and caught one of the chain links on his index finger, spinning the white blade as he had when first he and Ichigo had met.
"Ichigo, what's the difference between a king and his horse?" he asked purposefully. "I don't mean kiddy shit like 'One's a person and one's an animal' or 'one has two legs and one has four'. If their form, ability, and power were exactly the same, why is it one becomes the king and controls the battle, and the other becomes the horse and carries the king?"
He stopped spinning his sword and gripped it tightly in his right hand, "INSTINCT!"
He brandished the white Zangetsu, "In order for identical beings to get stronger and gain the power they need to become king, they must seek out more battles and power! They thirst for battle, and live to mercilessly crush, shred, and slice their enemies! Deep within us lies the honed instinct to kill, to slaughter! But you don't have that! You lack that pure, base instinct!
"You fight with your brain. You try to defeat your enemies with logic. And it doesn't work! You're trying to cut them with a sheathed sword! That's why you're weaker than me, Ichigo!"
A flash and the sword was thrown, embedding itself in Ichigo's gut with a sickening squelch.
"I'm not going to have it," the Hollow said calmly. "I don't know about Zangetsu, but I refuse to carry a king who's weaker than me and get cut to ribbons with him." He walked forward slowly, casually, confident that he'd won. "If you're weaker than me, then I'll destroy you" — he grasped the hilt of his sword, still stuck in Ichigo's stomach — "and take your crown for myself."
Flashes of his battles, against Byakuya, Kenpachi, Renji, and all the others who had stood against him as his equal, swept past his eyes as his Hollow slowly began to pull its sword free. Something inside of him protested, raged quietly against losing his sword, and his hand moved on its own, grasping the white blade. A surge of black swept down it, tainting it to a deep midnight, and the Hollow was almost too slow — his entire right hand and a small portion of its sleeve had become a perfect replica of Ichigo's.
When Ichigo's vision cleared, he was lying face up on a building, and around him floated other demolished buildings, swimming in a sea of red — a sky the color of blood. He blinked, tilting his head back, and saw the bottom of a shihakusho with a torn captain's haori. An instant later, a jagged sword stabbed down into the space next to his head and he let out a panicked scream, rolling to the side. Kenpachi looked down at him, bored, disappointed, or solemn — it was hard to tell with him.
"Kenpachi?" Ichigo whispered. "This again?"
"Kenpachi?" the hulking figure asked. "Who's that? I just came here to kill you!"
The sword came down again and Ichigo blocked it desperately, his arms protesting against the force of the blow. "What the hell are you doing?" He leapt backwards and Kenpachi's sword continued down, slicing into the ground. "Stop it! We finished our fight a long time ago!"
"Finished?" Kenpachi asked. "It'll never be finished." He started walking forward. "A fight isn't like some stupid argument. As long as someone's still breathing, the fight isn't over."
"I don't have any reason to fight you!" Ichigo insisted.
"You want a reason for fighting?" a wide, terrible grin. "Why don't you just accept it already, Ichigo? You seek out battle. You desire power. Isn't that right, Ichigo? Everyone who searches for power, without exception, searches for battle! Do you fight in order to become more powerful? Or do you become more powerful in order to fight? I can't tell you that. The only thing I know for sure is that guys like us were born this way!" He threw his arms out in a grandiose gesture. "We were born to fight, Ichigo! Your instincts will always lead you to new battles. It's the only way you have, the only way to become stronger. Fight, Ichigo!"
Then he was back and wrenched the sword from his gut, spinning it until the hilt rested in his hand. He rushed forward, his Hollow too surprised to even try dodging, and stabbed the white-haired, white-skinned lookalike through the chest. The instant it pierced flesh, the white coat tainted and bled into black, starting from the wound and spreading outwards.
"Shit," the Hollow cursed. "Looks like your instincts…and your desire to fight…aren't completely gone. Guess there's no way around it. You got me. I have to recognize you as King, at least for now. But don't you dare forget that either of us could become the king or the horse. If you ever give me the chance, I'll drag you down and crush your skull. And Ichigo…you better not die before we meet again!"
There was a bright flash of light and Ichigo had to shut his eyes as an intense wave of vertigo claimed him; when he opened them again, he was lying face down on the barren ground looking at a pair of sandals and a haori with a familiar flame pattern. Surprised, he mustered as much of his strength as he could and slowly crawled to his feet, the mask on his face falling to the ground and disintegrating.
"Naruto," he said quietly, looking up at the blond figure — who, he just realized, had Rukia slung under one arm. "What are you doing here?"
Naruto didn't respond a moment, face solemn and blank, then sighed, "Ichigo…I'm sorry."
Before Ichigo could ask why, Naruto's free hand had come up and plunged through his chest and out the other side. Ichigo's eyes went wide, looking down at the fist-sized hole where his heart should be disbelievingly, then up at Naruto as his eyelids became heavy. His knees fell out from under him and he collapsed to the ground, whispering one word, "Why…?"
Cries of outrage echoed from outside the barrier.
"Don't you dare let it down!" he called back over to them. They shut up instantly and he took a moment to set Rukia down a distance away, then returned to Ichigo. He glanced down, then took a moment to steel himself for what was to come.
"What are you doing, lying there?" he demanded harshly. "Get up, Ichigo! You don't have time to relax!" The Visored started yelling again, but he ignored them. "You can't protect them like that! If you don't get your ass up, they'll all die!"
There was a pulse of reiatsu then — two, actually, one of which was Rukia's and the other, much weaker one belonging to Ichigo. Naruto breathed an internal sigh of relief.
"What are you doing, Ichigo?" he shouted. "Are you just going to lie there? Are you just going to let Aizen and his Arrancar waltz over and kill everyone you care for? Stand up, Ichigo! Stand up! If you don't get your ass moving, then everyone you love will die! Everyone, Ichigo! You'll lose them just like you lost your mother!"
Another pulse, stronger, but not strong enough.
"Uryuu! Chad! Orihime!"
Another pulse, still stronger.
"Isshin!"
B-bump — a fourth pulse, two short ones that bore resemblance to a heartbeat.
"Karin!"
B-bump — B-bump — B-bump.
"Yuzu!"
B-bump — B-bump — B-bump —
"Rukia!"
Bump-bump. Bump-bump. Bump-bump. BUMP-BUMP.
Reiatsu exploded outwards, incredible, strong, suffocating, and the majority of the Visored were forced to their knees — only a couple managed to stay standing, Shinji among them. Hachi panicked and quickly did as Naruto had earlier instructed him, reinforcing the barrier to withstand Yamamoto's power.
Naruto quickly unsheathed Hyôrinmaru as Ichigo stood, skin turning a pale, chalk white as his hair lengthened down his back, straighter than Naruto could have imagined. A mask had formed on Ichigo's face — a skull that covered everything, even going over his head and stopping to let his hair fall free. Two horns pointed forwards, bent and wicked-looking, and two thick red lines descended over the skull, whose eye sockets cast Ichigo's eyes into darkness. Were it drawn two dimensionally from the front, the mask would look like the symbol for Aries, god of war. Tufts of red fur encircled Ichigo's wrists, ankles, and flared out along his collar — Naruto quickly realized they would match up with the hem of Ichigo's Bankai coat were it not ruined. Red lines reached out from the perfect Hollow hole that had formed where the injury Naruto had inflicted once rested.
The Hollow's hand twitched and Tensa Zangetsu leapt into its palm — that's all the warning Naruto had before it was on top of him and he was suddenly quite grateful he'd removed the limiter before coming here. Then it vanished with the buzz of static and appeared behind him and he spun to block, the force of the blow pushing them both backwards and digging a long trail in the ground.
A growl issued out from behind the mask and a red ball formed between the tips of the horns, growing larger and larger by the second. Naruto swore and dodged out of the way just in time as the Cero lashed out, an angry red, and pushed against the barrier, straining it. Hachi let out a whine of exertion.
Naruto had barely regained his bearings before it spun and leapt towards him again, swinging. He blocked it, but the strength behind it was jarring and nearly flung Hyôrinmaru from his grasp — his arm was forced up and away, leaving him open for the follow up slash that he couldn't dodge. The Hollow let out a triumphant roar as Naruto distanced himself from it, his entire left arm missing as blood stained the once white sleeve and dripped to the floor in great big globs.
"Damn it," Naruto hissed, holding at the stump. The Hollow took a step forward, walking towards him at a leisurely pace. It knew it had won. Naruto held up his hand, sword still gripped tightly, two fingers and his thumb outstretched. "Swords of bright light, wall of cold steel, blades of blue sky. Divide into nine, cast in white sun. Pierce the impure world, impede the iron beast. Bakudô no Kyuujuu-hachi: Jôdo Hakken!" (Way of Binding Ninety-eight: White Swords of the Pure World)
Nine swords of light formed and attacked from all sides, each piercing a point on the Hollow — one for each ankle, one for each wrist, one through the stomach that jerked him back and pinned him to a boulder, one through each shoulder, and one through each thigh. The guards on each hilt stretched outwards to connect with their brothers', forming a bright white cage. The Hollow let out another roar, this time in rage, as Naruto tenderly felt the stump of his left arm — it had been severed cleanly. He steeled himself.
"A thousand hands, gentle hands, pure hands, reaching into black, cleanse the darkness," he incanted. "The warrior in white who severs the red string. The undying demon, the light that shines forever. Gather in the empty hall, obey my commands. Shafts of light, bodies of red, chains of flesh, masks of bone. With purity, the phoenix ignites into flame. Bakudô no Kyuujuu-roku: Hakusaisei!" (Way of Binding Ninety-six: White Rebirth)
From nothing, bone sprouted out the stump, slowly piecing together as though it were forming from the air itself — humerus, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals. After the skeleton had formed, muscles surged outwards from the torn, bleeding flesh and wrapped around the bone, then skin seemed to leak out of the muscles like water from a squeezed sponge to finish forming a perfectly new arm. Naruto clenched and unclenched his fingers, idly blocking and repelling a slowly Hollowfying Rukia, and let a sigh out through his nose — his arm was as good as new.
The Hollow roared again, angry and furious, and with pure strength, began pulling itself free, shattering each sword one at a time. Naruto scowled and stepped into the opening stance of Tengoku Issen, sword brandished.
"You ready, Hyôrinmaru?" he asked calmly. The growl that rumbled through his head was answer enough.
He leapt forward as the Hollow finally broke free, parrying its slash and spinning into its guard. He pressed his hand against its chest, right beneath its Hollow hole, then was flung backwards by a vicious punch to the face, skidding across the ground and sliding to a halt. He straightened slowly, raising Hyôrinmaru in a horizontal block as the Hollow came upon him, swinging down. The moment their blades made contact, there was a bright flash and standing in Naruto's place, wearing the exact same clothes, was a man with long, straight white-silver hair and bright, blue-green eyes.
"Hitsugaya Toushiro," the man said in a calm voice. "Pleased to meet you."
— o.0.O.O.0.o —
His eyes snapped open and Naruto nearly pitched over in alarm as he discovered himself standing sideways on a skyscraper. He stumbled, heart racing, and breathed a sigh of relief. He was not a splatter against the pavement.
"Ichigo," he mumbled to himself, "you have one hell of an inner world."
Indeed, Ichigo's inner world seemed a monument to Murphy's Law — it was sideways. Naruto thanked whoever was listening that gravity had also been affected, or else he may have been a flesh-colored puddle on the asphalt below. He let out a breath again, less of an 'I'm not dead' sigh than a 'Let's get started' sigh, and looked out over the tall glass-and-steel blue buildings, his senses searching for Ichigo's distinct reiatsu.
He found it not a moment later and leapt off the side of his building, using flash step to swing himself down next to Ichigo's prone form. He landed lightly, frowning at the rumble of thunder that echoed in the clouds to his right, and looked down at the unmoving lump that was the owner of the bass-ackwards world he now stood in.
"Oi, Ichigo," he said, nudging the orange-haired teen with his foot. "Wake up."
"Protect," Ichigo said quietly, his brown eyes blank and staring off into nothingness. "I…I will…protect…"
"Oi, Ichigo," he said louder, nudging harder than before. "Wake up, idiot. You can't do much protecting if you're lying there."
"He will not wake," a smooth, young tenor voice said. Naruto spun around to the face of what looked to be a teenage Zangetsu (who he had seen during Ichigo's Bankai training). "Not until I let him."
"Who are you?" Naruto asked dangerously, hand reaching for the sword that wasn't there and meeting only air.
"What does he call his Bankai?" the teenager asked calmly. "I am Tensa Zangetsu. And you don't belong here, Namikaze Naruto."
Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but, at that moment, his shihakusho tore and a long line of red drew itself along his chest. He reflexively clutched at the wound, flinching; Tensa Zangetsu raised one thin eyebrow.
"I see," he said stoically. "So, you're not really here. You're still tied to your own body — anything that happens outside this world will affect you in here."
He walked forward, "Your time, therefore, is limited, so I'll make this quick. Why did you kill Ichigo, Namikaze Naruto?"
"Complete Hollowfication," Naruto said. Blood began dripping down his forehead and into his right eye. He reached up and wiped it away, grimacing as he looked down at his fingertips, painted red. "Ichigo's strong — incredibly strong — but he's not ready to face even an Adjuchas level Arrancar, let alone the Vasto Lorde. I've met four of those, and, at the time, three of them thought me too weak to be worth bothering with — even though I was Captain-class, if just barely — and one nearly killed me."
Naruto grunted as another cut drew itself along his ribs, "Aizen's not stupid. I don't know how, but he'll find a way to separate the Gotei Juusantai to make it easier on himself, and when he does, I'm going to be looking after Ichigo — Shigekuni, Juushiro, Shunsui, and the others can handle themselves. Eventually, Ichigo will face one of those Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar, and he'd be cut down effortlessly — in which case he'd undergo complete Hollowfication anyway. I figured it'd be easier if it happened in a controlled environment."
"I see," Tensa Zangetsu closed his eyes. "And how did you know he would undergo complete Hollowfication and not just die?"
Naruto grinned, "Ichigo's descended from me. There's no way he'd have an inner Hollow and not get high-speed regeneration to go along with it."
Tensa Zangetsu smiled, just a little. A moment later, he stood in front of Naruto, fingers pressed against his forehead. His eyes were scarily intense.
"To stop the rampage," Tensa Zangetsu said, "and awaken Ichigo, you need only damage the mask."
He gave a push and everything around Naruto melted into black as he fell backwards. An intense wave of vertigo crashed into his stomach, then he was standing, arms raised and sword held high, back in the Visoreds' basement, the Hollow's mask glaring at him with empty, soulless eye-sockets from a few inches away. He snarled and flung the beast away with a flick of his finger and an unspoken Hadô no Ichi: Shô.
"Rikujôkôrô!" he spat, palm out. Six thin shafts of light slammed into the Hollow's body, pinning its arms to its waist. "Sajo Sabaku!" Thick chains of yellow reiryoku wound around its body, pulling its arms further against its sides. It roared in anger, throwing its head back and opening its jaw wide.
Naruto spun around, swinging his arm, "Hainawa!" and a rope of energy lashed out like a whip to catch a now-nearly-Hollowfied Rukia, wrapping around her arms and sending her reeling away, literally swept off her feet. With her taken care of for the moment, Naruto turned back to the Hollowfied Ichigo, who was slowly breaking the Rikujôkôrô that kept him in place. In a single flash step, he crossed the distance that separated them, sword already in motion, and cleaved off one of the beast's horns.
There was a flash of bright light, then the figure slumping in the two binding spells was Ichigo — the hole in his chest filled instantly, as though it had never even been there. Naruto sighed and snapped his fingers. The two yellow spells dissipated into thin air and Ichigo's limp body thumped to the ground. Naruto nudged him with his toe.
"Cut it out," Ichigo's voice said tiredly.
"How do you feel?" Naruto asked, grinning.
"Like shit," came the answer. Naruto chuckled.
"You ready to try out those new powers of yours?"
Ichigo shifted his head, looking at Naruto with one brown eye, "On who?"
There was a distinctly inhuman screech and Naruto moved to the side easily, grabbing the arm of a Hollowfied Rukia and using her momentum to throw her out of the way. Ichigo watched as the barely recognizable figure soared over his head and crashed a distance away, kicking up dust. Naruto nodded in its direction, "That."
Ichigo's eyes widened, "Is that Rukia?"
"Not right now, no," Naruto said nonchalantly. "But it will be in…" he looked over at the Visoreds, one of which grimaced and held up ten fingers, "about ten minutes."
"That's not the point!" Ichigo said angrily, dragging himself to his feet shakily. He glared. "I mean, why is Rukia here? Why is she a Hollow right now? What did you do to her? Damn it, Naruto, she shouldn't — !"
"She chose this path, Ichigo," Naruto said with a dangerous seriousness. "She chose to follow you, to stand by you. Don't you dare step on that."
Ichigo scowled and looked away, brow knit and eyes downcast, and he seemed filled with self-loathing. Naruto could tell he was thinking, "I'm the reason she's like that." It was an expression he knew well; he had seen it in the mirror often enough to recognize it instantly. Hinata always got sad when he wore it.
Ichigo looked up, "Why?"
There was a note of desperation in his voice, pleading for there to be a reason behind the madness that he saw before him. Naruto knew it just as well as the look; he had asked that question every time someone died for him, and he had sounded far more broken, far more helpless than Ichigo did. He hoped the day never came when Ichigo sounded like his echo.
"Because she loves you," Naruto said. "And that's all the reason she needed."
Ichigo blushed a brilliant red — like a strawberry — and his mouth flapped wordlessly. In other circumstances, it would have been funny to see him so flustered.
Another howl broke them out of their conversation and they both turned to face the girl, Naruto grabbing Hyôrinmaru and Ichigo picking up Tensa Zangetsu, "Right, you can talk to her about it later, Ichigo. Right now, pull on that mask of yours and see what it lets you do."
Ichigo reached up, tearing his hand down his face. In an instant, his mask had formed, the same as it had been previous but minus the horns, "Got it."
— o.0.O.O.0.o —
To be continued
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach
Bonjour. Konnichiwa. Hola. Guten tag. Zdravstvujtye. Salveo. Maes senois aneu.
I don't like how the last scene of this went. I mean, it went pretty much how I envisioned it, but it feels incomplete. Yes, Hakusaisei is the technique Naruto used to cure Juushiro. It's a binding spell because it binds new flesh in place of the old. Next chapter, Diamond Dust Rebellion.
There's a lot of subtle stuff going on in this chapter. First of all, despite still having his real body, Naruto has not gotten much stronger than he was after absorbing Toushiro. Unlike Ichigo, Naruto is plenty strong already, so he doesn't have to push himself to reach that limitless potential the way Ichigo is. His power will remain mostly the same throughout the entire story. It's not so much that he has hit limits so much as he has no need to push past them.
Second, we see the true devastation of Ichigo's full-blown Hollow powers. We never really had a good idea of what he was capable of in that form, just that it was ridiculously easy for him to defeat Ulquiorra, whom a lot of people believe is actually stronger than Starrk. That said, he could push Naruto into a corner in that form, but that's mostly because Naruto was trying not to kill him. Under the same conditions, Yamamoto would have had just as much difficulty. If, however, either of the two were to face him with the intent of killing him, Ichigo would, nonetheless, have died.
I will remind you, also, that just because one character says something doesn't mean he's right. As a general rule, the only one you can trust to be telling the truth every time while also being absolutely correct is Hyôrinmaru. Except Aura, none of the other characters, not Aizen, not Yamamoto, not Naruto or Shinji or Urahara, has as much true knowledge. In regards to Naruto's past and power, Hyôrinmaru and Aura are the only ones who know everything. I'm not like some authors (whose stories I generally exit moments after I start reading) who have what's called a "writer's convenience" explain everything right away and with an impossible level of accuracy (my characters have to go through a whole lot of pain and suffering before the most significant stuff is revealed). Kyubi and Aizen especially will say some very significant things that are outright lies. I don't want to lose you guys because you think, "Oh, this is bullshit. Just an excuse to give so-and-so more power."
Lastly, I will remind you all that EVERYONE has a weakness. NONE of the characters is truly invincible. Naruto himself seems particularly strong, I know, but he lacks knowledge on several important things (for example, though we never really see it, he doesn't know how to perform a proper Konsou; he also gets lost around the Seireitei, which is why he showed up after Ichigo and Rukia at the beginning of chapter six; there are also memories that will cause trouble for him later) and even he can't whoop Barragan's ass and come out unscathed. Hakusaisei is NOT unbeatable.
I am the Cerberus which guards enlightenment.
James Daniel Godric Alan Fawkes
J.D.G.A.F.
James Daniel Godric Alan Fawkes(Signature best viewed in Wendy Medium font style)
