Chapter 9: The Fire

Captain Sui-Feng was repeatedly blocking her enemy's attacks. Despite being much slower than she was, the Quincy was pushing her to her limits.

She had been worn out by the repeated combat challenges he had subjected her to, and was pushing the far end of exhaustion. The longer that she fought him, the more blows she was taking.

Most distressing of all, however, was the fact that no matter how many times she struck him with Suzumebachi, the Sternritter would not die.

"What's wrong?" Mann chuckled, mockingly. "Having a hard time?" He struck her around the face and moved to knee her in the gut. His second strike was hurriedly blocked. "I'd have thought my Kill Zone would be the easiest for you to deal with. What a shame."

What does he mean? Sui-Feng thought, still engaged in the vicious melee. No matter how many times I cut him, he won't die. Why would he think that I shouldn't be struggling?

Blocking a straight left with her gauntleted forearm, the female Captain utilized her impressive flexibility to kick the opponent under the chin. Staggering back, Mann spat blood.

Strange... she thought to herself. Every time I cut him, he doesn't so much as flinch. But barehanded attacks always knock him back...

"You're going to need to cut me a lot more if you want to take me down," he laughed, dashing forwards and engaging the female Captain again.

He's trying to taunt me into cutting him more. Couple that with how poorly he reacts to barehanded strikes and...

Gripping the Sternritter around the wrist, she threw him over her shoulder and slammed his back into the floor. He cried out in pain and gagged on blood.

That must be it! In his Kill Zone, you can only be injured by barehanded strikes. That's why my Suzumebachi isn't working, and why he hasn't been using any of his projectiles.

Gritting her teeth, Sui-Feng yanked Mann to his feet by his arm before sidestepping behind him. Gripping the bald man around the head, she wrenched her arms sideways with every ounce of strength she had.

A sickening crunch filled the air. The Sternritter's head hung at an odd angle, his amber eyes open wide in shock. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth. His legs finally gave way and he fell face-down onto the rooftop on which they stood.

Wiping blood from the corner of her mouth, the Squad Two Captain began to breathe heavily.

The Zones surrounding her dispelled as her enemy died, and she finally regained spatial awareness. Echoes of Reiatsu pulsed through her brain.

"This isn't possible..." she whispered to herself, looking over the battlefield. "How can we be losing this badly...?"

Her eyes suddenly snapped to her left. Searing through the sky was a blazing ball of fire. Reiatsu so fierce that it took her breath away radiated from the flames.

"Captain Commander...?" Sui-Feng gasped.


All across the Seireitei, every single Captain and Lieutenant felt their General's Reiatsu. Sweat dripped from their foreheads as they all, without exception, trembled in awe.

"Wh-what's that?" Lieutenant Momo Hinamori asked, fear gripping her voice.

"That's the Captain Commander..." Captain Shinji Hirako said, not even bothering to glance over his shoulder at her. "Jeez... I'm getting goosebumps."

Elsewhere, Sajin Komamura rose to his feet. Bloodied and beaten, he bared his teeth and let out a deep battle cry.

"Stand up!" he roared, directing his attention to his men, laying beaten on the ground. "Our Commander is standing and yet you are laying on the ground?! I do not remember the Gotei Thirteen being so shameful!"

"Y... Yes sir!" Komamura's squad members cried as they too rose to their feet.

Watching the display, Tomoko Stano whistled between her teeth and grinned.

"Wow..." Captain Shunsui Kyoraku stated, from his own battlefield. "Old man Yama's Reiatsu is echoing all over the Seireitei... I don't think I've ever seen him this angry before. I don't even think I've seen him fight so close to the front lines either..." He raised his twin blades and took a step back from his opponent. "It's almost like I'm being scolded. 'How dare you have such a hard time with these enemies. I don't remember raising you to be a coward.'" He swung his blades up into a tight stance. "It's almost like he's right here next to me."


Joseph Fehler (Sternritter M) noticed Yamamoto's advance the exact same time that Byakuya did.

Glancing away from his fight, the Sternritter's bright green eyes locked onto the ball of fire lancing through the night sky.

"Well," he sighed, turning back towards Byakuya. "It seems I'm going to have to cut our duel off short." He smiled and flicked his gaze over the Captain's cut and bloody form. "Not that this hasn't been fun."

Byakuya lifted his shredded left arm and directed a swarm of cherry blossoms at the Quincy, however not a single one managed to find its mark. Be it from blood loss or fatigue, he didn't know, but Byakuya's attack missed by several meters.

"I would love to stay and fight you longer," the Sternritter explained, "but I have a job to do."

With that he kicked off of the floor and disappeared into the night sky.


Yhwach threw Kenpachi Zaraki's unconscious and bloody body to the floor. It landed with and crash and bounced once.

"To think that you were a War Potential," he stated calmly, looking down at the Captain's form. "Look at you now... Fragile."

Walking away from the body, Yhwach's tattered cloak billowed around his imposing form. Long hair flared up behind him as he made his way into the heart of the Seireitei.

"It seems that I've really overestimated you all... Sleep. The Soul Society is about to end..."

All of a sudden, an explosion ripped through the area. Colliding into the ground will all the force of a meteorite, Captain Commander Yamamoto entered the fray. Fire shot into the air, burning up all the oxygen in the surrounding area.

"It's been over one thousand years, Yhwach..." Yamamoto said, striding forward, swathed in flames. "I came here to annihilate you."

"Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto," Yhwach replied, breaking into a disturbingly calm smile. "To think that you would seek me out personally. You foolishness truly knows no bounds."

"It seems you have forgotten our last encounter," said the elderly Shinigami, pointing his blade at the Quincy King.

"And it appears to me that you have forgotten to mind your surroundings."

No sooner had he said this, three Sternritter dropped from the sky above the Captain Commander.

"I really hate having to do this..." said Snow, lazily.

"But orders are orders," Joseph continued.

"So go ahead and die you bastard!" Legion shouted.

Yamamoto barely moved. Fire shot from his back in a blast so huge it dwarfed everything in the surrounding area. Flung backwards by the shockwave, the three Sternritter crashed through several buildings before landing, charred, beneath piles of rubble.

"Tch," Yhwach tutted. "Meddling in my fight light that... I would expect nothing less." Noticing an odd expression on the Head Captain's face, the Quincy king tilted his head to the side. "What is with that look in your eyes? You look like you have something to say."

Leaping forwards, Yamamoto swung his blade of fire down at his enemy's head. The metal sliced through flesh before lodging itself in Yhwach's forearm. Flames seared his ragged clothing.

"In these one thousand years, you still have not changed, Yhwach," Yamamoto said, his voice deep and threatening.

"Ah, but you have, Shigekuni Yamamoto," the Quincy stated, smiling. "You have gotten old." He jumped back, dislodging the sword from his arm and spattering the floor with blood. "However... The way you are letting your rage rule your thoughts does remind me of your youth."

Yamamoto struck out twice with slashes of fire. Both of which Yhwach dodged by a hairs breadth.

"You're movements have dulled," the Quincy King taunted. "The strength which was so feared has diminished. You are but a shadow of your former self."

"You are mistaken," the Shinigami stated, slowly and with great weight. "I am no shadow, but the flame that casts it." Swinging his blade in a horizontal slash, Yamamoto let out a hoarse shout of: "Taimatsu!"

A fire so hot that it reduced the rubble underfoot to ash seared through the air. Leaping skyward, Yhwach narrowly avoided being engulfed in the blaze.

"A wise decision," the elderly Soul Reaper said, looking up at Yhwach. "Had you attempted to defend yourself with Blut Vene you would have not escaped with your life. You would have burned until nothing remained but ash."

Leaping into the sky, Yamamoto continued to launch fire at the Quincy King. Dodging repeatedly, Yhwach began to taunt the Head Captain. "Come now, Shikekuni Yamamoto, surely you can do better than this? You should know that this is nowhere near enough to bring about my end! Have you become so senile that you have forgotten this fact? Your Bankai is the only way in which you could even hope to land a scratch on me!"

"If it's my Bankai you want..." the Captain Commander said, dropping to the ground. "Then it's my Bankai you shall get."

Yhwach slowly lowered himself to the floor, opposite his foe. A smile plucked the corner of his mouth.

"I know the secret behind the stealing of the Bankai," Yamamoto explained. "You require prior knowledge of its abilities and powers in order to steal it. That is why you are unable to do so to the Kurosaki boy's Bankai; it is still evolving. It was a fatal mistake to goad me into using mine... For one thousands years ago I did not reveal to you even one of my powers." He swung his sword to his side. "Prepare yourself Yhwach... I am about to reduce you to nothingness."

Placing his hands on his hips Yhwach didn't so much as twitch.

"Bankai. Zanka no Tachi."

The overwhelming fire disappeared leaving only a charred and broken blade in it's wake. All forms of moisture in the Soul Society began to evaporate. The clouds brought on by the blizzard and thunderstorms earlier in the battle vanished. On the horizon, a red sun began to rise.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming heat didn't last long.

A black flash erupted from Yhwach's hand. Clasped between his fingers was a bright silver medallion. Yamamoto's Bankai crumbled.

His lips twisting into a grin, Yhwach began to laugh under his breath. The Captain Commander looked dumbfounded.

"It appears that your hypothesis was wrong, Shigekuni Yamamoto," Yhwach said, pocketing the medallion. "I am, indeed, able to steal your Bankai."

Emerging from a pile of rubble, watching the scene, Joseph Fehler fell back so that he was leaning against a nearby wall. Aside from scorched clothing, he was otherwise unharmed. Green eyes narrowed discerningly as he observed.

"You made a mistake in thinking it safe to activate your Bankai," he said, slowly. "Another wrong move was that you chose to engage His Majesty on your own... But your greatest, and first mistake, was challenging Lord Yhwach at all."

A gigantic bow appeared in the sky above the Quincy King. An arrow was pulled taught into its massive frame before firing straight down. Planting firmly into the ground in front of Yhwach a broad sword, formed from reishi, threw white light upon his cloaked form.

Gripping the handle above the cross guard, Yhwach drew it from the ground and held it in front of his body.

"Farewell, Shigekuni Yamamoto."


"Hey, Old Man Yama?"

"Shunsui!" Yamamoto shouted, annoyance gripping his features as he burst through the door and scolded the young boy. "How many times have I told you not to come into this room?"

Grasping the lad around the ear, Yamamoto lifted him off the floor.

Kicking his legs frantically, Shunsui desperately apologised. "Ow that hurts! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"I can't even feel a bit of sincerity in your apology!" Yamamoto shouted.

"I am sincere! I'm sorry I came in here, I promise." Shunsui was released and landed on the floor with a crash. "I was just curious about that picture..." He indicated a framed painting on the wall, depicting a figure shrouded in fire. "What is it, anyway? Some kind of Fire God from a myth or legend or something?"

Noting the picture, Yamamoto pulled a somber face.

"That's a monster..." he said solemnly. "It appeared in the Soul Society a long time ago, when it was in danger and made it all worse..." He looked down at the boy. "But don't worry... It won't appear ever again."

Shunsui turned to face the older man and opened his eyes in concern. "What happens if it does appear again?"

"If it does..." Yamamoto said. "I probably won't return here ever again..."


Yamamoto parted his lips in a haggard breath.

Above him, rain clouds began to converge, brought on by the heat generated by his momentary Bankai. Droplets of water began to fall, reflecting the crimson light of the rising sun. Spattering against his skin, rivulets of rainwater ran down his face.

A gentle breeze blew past him.

Blood slipped from his mouth.

Yamamoto's remaining arm and head fell to the floor, severed midway along his abdomen. The bottom half of his body remained standing, almost as if it had been anchored to the ground.

Yhwach looked down upon his fallen enemy and smiled.