Chapter 10: Ticking Down to the Time of Battle! The Soul Reaper's Strongest Lineup in Position!

"Orihime Inoue and Tony Tony Chopper are being held in the fifth tower." Aizen said. "If you want to affect their rescue, feel free to come and get them. They're no longer in any use to me. Their powers are indeed amazing. One with the ability to reject all forms of phenomena is beyond anything the human race has ever demonstrated. And the other with the ability to switch into different form at will, especially a certain form that was revealed at Enies Lobby. The leaders of the soul society are not fools. They understand the importance of one of these powers from the beginning. That's their captive is such a threat to them. It helps to explain their response when Orihime was captured. They were afraid. They immediately took steps to protect not the world of the living but the soul society itself. Orihime's very presence caused them mobilized. She became the bait to bring in the soul society potential new military strength, the ryoka, which included the substitute soul reaper and his friends. As the pirate, we analyzed his captain's personality and how quick he is to respond if one member of his crew is captured. That response is an all out assault into enemy territory with the sole objective to rescue that member any cost. We used that knowledge to lure the crew into Hueco Mundo."

With Nami and Luffy…

Nami saw Luffy shaking in rage. "Luffy…" Then Luffy started to run down the halls at Las Noches and Nami followed him, trying to catch up. "Luffy, wait!"

"AIZEN!" Luffy yelled angrily. "COME OUT HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS!"

Aizen passed through the portal that links the World of the Living and Hueco Mundo. "The strength of the thirteen court guards is simple when you break it down." He said. "The thirteen captains have the ability to stand as a military force of their own. But now, however, three have defective and four of them are imprisoned. If you do the math, you could say that the military power of the soul society is cut in half. It makes our job easy." Aizen stopped as he reached the other side of the portal and looked down at Karakura Town. "We will destroy Karakura Town, create the oken and overthrow the soul society. When all of this is done, I shall take each of you on in my ledger."

With Zoro…

"Damn it!" Zoro cursed under his breath.

Ichigo widen his eyes in realization on what Aizen said. "Karakura Town…destroyed?" he said as he stood up and to search for the fifth tower.

"Hold on, Ichigo." Kenpachi said, stopping the substitute soul reaper. "Where are you going? What the hell do you think you'll be able to accomplish?"

Ichigo turned to Kenpachi and said, "You have any better suggestions? Karakura Town is in real danger! Do I just wait for them to destroy it?"

"Didn't I mention this? The old man gave Kisuke Urahara a set of orders. He waited until he knew the final battle was coming in winter, and then he acted. The first order was to the captains, they were all assigned to duty in Hueco Mundo. This is until a group of pirates showed up and stole all of the fun." Kenpachi glared at Zoro then turned back to Ichigo. "Do you know what the second order was? It went to the rest of the officers."

In the World of the Living, a group of figures appeared sprinting through air until they are few feet from the garganta that Aizen is using. Then they stood in the air, ready for war. The figures were revealed as followed: Soi Fon (Squad 2 Captain), Marechiyo Omeda (Squad 2 Lieutenant), Sajin Komomura (Squad 7 Captain), Tetsuzaemon Iba (Squad 7 Lieutenant), Shunsui Kyoraku (Squad 8 Captain), Jushiro Ukitake (Squad 13 Captain), Toshiro Hitsugaya(Squad 10 Captain), Rangiku Matsumoto(Squad 10 Lieutenant), Chojiro Sasakibe (Squad 1 Lieutenant), and Genryusai Yamamoto (Squad 1 Captain and Head Captain of the Soul Reapers).

Back in Hueco Mundo…

"It was shortening to the point; every officer of Captain-level was to prepare for battle in Karakura Town." Kenpachi said, ending his explanation.

With Sanji…

"Wait a minute that means the thirteen court guard squads are…" Uryu said.

"Yes." Mayuri said. "If my calculations are correct, they should've arrived by now."

With Robin and Usopp…

"That's crazy. They can't have a battle there." Chad said. "The power of those captains is too much." Chad turned towards Unohana. "What do you think will happen to Karakura Town? I'm telling you right now, it'll be destroyed."

"Are they really that strong?!" Usopp asked surprised.

With Franky and Brook…

"Remember what I said, everyone should be ready for battle." Byakuya said. "That was his order. Think about it. Just increasing the number of captain-level fighters doesn't necessary equate as being 'ready for battle'."

With Sanji…

"He meant Tenkai Kecchu." Mayuri said. "It means to reconstruct Karakura Town in order to make it possible to fight there. In order to do that, Kisuke Urahara did something creative. He constructed a device called Tenkai Kecchu which connected four pillars to form a giant senkaimon. He then placed the Tenkai Kecchu around the four corners of Karakura Town. At the same time, he asked my department of Research and Development to do something incredible. He asked us to construct a replica of the entire town, down to the last dwelling. He asked to place it near one of the mangroves of Sabaody. An incredible challenge but I have to humbly admit, we pulled it off. Here the twist, whatever Tekkai Kecchu encircles can switch something in the blue sea world, where these pirates originally resign in. By utilizing this technique, we were able to transfer Karakura Town from its present location into an area in Sabaody Archipelago."

With Robin and Usopp…

"Wait a minute, Ms. Unohana." Robin said to the captain. "What about the residents?"

"We put them to sleep." Unohana said. "And then we transported them and the town to a spot in Sabaody where they'll be undetected by any pirate or marine."

With Sanji…

"What you see out of now is nothing more than a replica of Karakura Town, completely devoid of people." Mayuri said. "Presuming that the captains will do battle there. Even if the town is destroyed, it won't matter a bit."

In the World of the Living, Aizen looked down at the soul reapers led by Head Captain Yamamoto, trying not to look surprised of their arrival.

"Excellent." Yamamoto said. "It seems we made it here in time."

"Made it time?" Aizen questioned. "Now why would you think to say something like that?" Aizen stepped out of the garganta. "I'm well aware that what lies beneath is not the real Karakura Town. This may come as a surprise but that means to me. Starrk, Barragan, Haribel, come here." Then three more garganta opened up and revealed the three espadas with their followers behind them: Starrk with one follower beside him, Barragan with six followers behind him, and Haribel with three behind her. "If Karakura is in the blue sea world, then we'll just kill you here and create the oken within that world. It is that simple. Until then, I shall leave Las Noches…under your care…Ulquiorra."

Back in Las Noches, Chopper and Orihime widen their eyes as they heard a sound that is like grass breaking as a pale hand stuck out of front of the throne and Ulquiorra came out of the crack he made.

"Sir." Ulquiorra said as the portal closes. Orihime and Chopper turned around and looked at the espada in fear.

"It's him." Chopper said scared, remembering what happened in Sabaody. Ulquiorra looked at the two with his emerald eyes, causing Chopper step back.

With Zoro…

Ichigo felt a familiar spiritual pressure and narrowed his eyes since he know who it belongs to. "Kenpachi." Ichigo said, getting the captain's attention. "You said earlier that I had only job, didn't you? And that job was to protect Karakura Town. You're wrong. I know what my job is. It is to protect my friends." With that said Ichigo sprinted into the air and headed towards the fifth tower.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: Ichigo Back in Action! Orihime's Desperate Resistance!