Arc II, Chapter 2: The Masked Army
Within thirty seconds of leaving the shop, the four of them phased out of Shunpo to see Shinji writhing on the ground, his now warped and distorted voice roaring as the Hollow within him demanded dominance. The thing's mask had already taken shape, and reminded Sasuke of a role from the history of this world. If he recalled correctly, it was called a pharaoh. The mask encompassed his entire head, and the man's skin had turned white as a sheet. His eyes were similar to those of the Hollow that had infected Sasuke's Soul, except Hirako's irises had turned a dull amber color as opposed to Sasuke's piercing crimson.
"Sasuke, use Bakudo 63, now!" Kisuke's order snapped Sasuke from his analysis. He used Shunpo to move to the other side of Shinji in the training ground, his Sanjo Sabaku already wrapping around his target's torso. The Bakudo was followed by two more identical spells, each cast nearly simultaneously. The instant the Hollowfied registered that it had been restrained, its Reiatsu exploded so darkly and intensely that Sasuke was forced to activate his Sharingan to stay steady. Before any of them could properly cast another Bakudo, the thing shattered the chains, and vanished into the low buzz that Sasuke identified to be a Hollow high speed movement technique. His Sharingan allowed him to blur into Shunpo in order to block a powerful slash that would have probably wounded Tessai quite badly. He shifted his forearm, which had instinctively blocked the unarmed attack. Normally Sasuke would have cursed himself for forgetting that the Hollow had claws, as he would have nearly lost his arm. But, to his surprise, the claws scraped off of his arm, sparks flying in all directions from the point of impact. He didn't have time to ponder this event, however, and instead threw himself backward to dodge another slash of the thing's claws.
"Keep him occupied, Sasuke! Tessai's casting a full incantation Bankin, so he needs more time!" Sasuke didn't respond to Yoruichi, but understood what was needed of him. He ducked a swipe of the Hollow's tail, lashing out with his leg to sweep Hirako's legs. It worked, and as the man fell, Sasuke activated his Mangekyou and whipped his body around to build momentum into a kick that planted itself directly into his opponent's solar plexus. Given that Shinji was in midair, all of the Reiatsu funneled into the kick was instantly dispersed throughout his body so suddenly, and with so much force, that it sent his entire Soul into shock. While this wouldn't be lethal, it would put him down for a few seconds while Tessai got the Bankin ready.
Sasuke allowed himself to relax, and deactivated his Mangekyou. He kept his normal Sharingan active, though, in case something went amiss. Just as his body stopped flaring with adrenaline, he was met with a strange spike in his own Reiatsu. He immediately turned to his Inner World. Not bothering to greet his Zanpakuto, he asked. "What the hell was that? I know that our Reiatsu is more than controlled enough to avoid little flares like that, so something is very wrong." His Zanpakuto was, for lack of a better word, shaken. It looked as though she'd just been through a massive battle, with cuts and lacerations scattering her body. She was leaning on her daito, a pained expression on her face. "It's Shinji's Hollow. Its ambient Reiatsu woke yours back up, and it was somehow leeching that Reiatsu to make itself stronger. I managed to fight the thing off, but I doubt it'll stay down for long. You need to get back out there and stop Shinji's Reiatsu from giving your Hollow any more power. It will overwhelm me if you don't. Now go! Get that taken care of before this gets any worse!" Sasuke was just about to leave once more, when she called out again. "If you don't, that thing will take the dominant role in your powers, and it'll consume you." He nodded, the grim reality of the things at stake burning into his mind.
The current situation, as dangerous as it was, couldn't help but ignite the excitement in Yoruichi's bones. They'd been trying to pin Shinji down, but the man had vanished into that strange variation of Shunpo, and they hadn't been able to line up a Bakudo since. Granted, Yoruichi was able to keep perfect pace with him, so it was mostly her battle to wage, as Kisuke and Tessai weren't up to matching this kind of speed. Kisuke could have, but his Bankai was a bit large scale for this fight. So she'd engaged Shinji in Hakuda-focused combat, the art in which she excelled. The fight was rough, and the man's new claws didn't allow for Yoruichi to block as readily as she would have liked. He was much faster than Yoruichi had expected, and his attacks were so heavy and fast that she'd have been dead long ago if she weren't the Goddess of Flash.
It hadn't been long, maybe five seconds total, but it had felt like hours before Sasuke snapped out of his daze. Yoruichi wasn't sure what had happened, but she was glad that he was back in the fight. She ducked another slash, still mid-Shunpo, and retaliated with a perfectly placed left cross to his jaw. He rebounded from the move almost instantly, not even breaking his mock-Shunpo to slip inside of Yoruichi's guard and grab her by the throat. She was just about to utilize a low-level Hado to escape, when Shinji reared her back and slammed her into the ground, the dry floor cracking under the immense pressure. At this point she was barely funneling enough of her Reiatsu into her neck to avoid it snapping.
Before she could think of a proper counter, a strange heat began to focus in Shinji's palm as it gripped her windpipe, and soon an eerie red glow began to coalesce in his hand. The low, building groan of condensed spiritual energy began to grow in intensity. Just as the energy had capped out, and became unstable, Shinji was thrown off of Yoruichi her vision was overtaken by a purple glow. It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust, and her jaw slackened and her pupils turned into dinner plates at what she saw.
It was Sasuke. Sasuke, surrounded by a skeletal ribcage consisting entirely of a thick purple Reiatsu. The next thing Yoruichi's eyes flicked to was the massive arm that had extended from the ribcage, and slammed its fist into Shinji's side. Then, as she turned to thank Sasuke, her entire body froze.
His eyes. While he wasn't looking at her, she was at a close enough angle for his Sharingan to be visible. She couldn't place what about that look Sasuke was giving Shinji sent her fight or flight response into hysterics, she knew that ever aspect of Sasuke's glare told her to run. Run as fast and as far away from those eyes as possible. It took her purposefully forcing those instincts down to stop herself from running away right then.
Predator. That's what it was. The look Sasuke was giving right now was the look of an agitated apex predator preparing to slaughter its next meal.
She'd never seen him like this before. Even when he'd been fighting Tosen, his entire demeanor was controlled, and exuded a level of indifference that marked him as a born fighter. This… this was cold, determined, and completely single-minded. Yoruichi could literally feel the killing intent behind those eyes. It was… terrifying. There was no denying it. The way Sasuke was right now, those eyes, it chilled Yoruichi to her very core, and gripped her blood in the freezing embrace of fear. She'd never been frozen by terror, and before this would have proudly boasted that to be impossible. But yet here she was, pinned to the ground by this boy's contempt. No matter how much she willed herself to move, his gaze transfixed her in place, and forced her to remain still.
Sasuke usually tended to avoid using his Susanoo, as it was one of the mightiest powers an Uchiha could obtain, and most weren't worthy of dying at its hand.
But, he was not in the mood to play games with Hirako's Hollow anymore. It had threatened one of the few people Sasuke could safely call his friend, as well as woken up his Inner Hollow, which would undoubtedly lead to massive issues later on. Needless to say, his patience for the thing had curled into a ball and died.
So he'd activated his Mangekyou and Rinnegan, slipped into Susanoo, and punched his target off of Yoruichi with as much power as possible without killing Shinji. The sheer power of it sent the Hollow careening for several hundred yards before slamming into a large boulder, which exploded on impact. Sasuke instantly slipped out of his Susanoo, and used his Rinnegan to teleport over to the Hollow and ripped its body from the rubble. He reared his fist back, and a small sonic boom followed his strike as it slammed into Hirako's jaw with enough force to send a massive concussive shockwave into the ground beneath them, resulting in a medium sized crater forming.
Sasuke's grip failed him when the blow landed, and Hirako was sent back into the ground, his body still reeling from the force of the strike. Sasuke wasted no time in following up, and teleported to the man's side. He instantly drove his Zanpakuto into Shinji's gut, pinning him in place. He'd been sure to place the sword in a spot that wouldn't kill, and quickly leapt away, gathering a bit of distance. "Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end. Bakudo #75: Gochutekkan!" He slammed his conjoined fists into the ground, and the five pillars fell from the sky, pinning Shinji in place. If a full incantation, maximum power Bakudo couldn't keep the ex-Captain in place, Sasuke didn't know what would.
Luckily, Kisuke followed up with a Kin before that problem could be tested, and the combined power of the two Bakudo left Shinji completely unable to move. With the fighting done, the four of them decided to keep an eye on him. Tessai had set to work mending the various injuries that Kisuke and Yoruichi had sustained, while Sasuke had simply seated himself atop a boulder directly beside Hirako, acting as the first line of defense should he have broken out of the Bakudo. His Sharingan remained active, but he was relaxed, for the most part. "So, how's the situation in there? Should I put some distance between us?" His Zanpakuto was silent for a moment before responding. "No, you're alright. You put enough power into that Bakudo to completely subdue his Reiatsu output, so your Hollow shouldn't become any stronger. I still don't know if its awake, but I'll pull you back here if he turns up." By the sound of her voice, his Zanpakuto's condition had improved considerably. "What happened while I was fighting Hirako? You looked like you were on your last legs when I saw you." The Spirit laughed for a moment. "Your Hollow was a bit stronger than I anticipated. I doubt I would have lasted forever fighting him like that. By the way, I think his little tantrum may have caused you to fire off a Bala when you punched him." Sasuke didn't know what to say at first. Bala was an advanced Hollow technique that fired a fist-sized concussive projectile of hyper-condensed Reiatsu. Even weaker Bala usually tended to travel at around mach twenty, and the stronger ones could outpace lightning by several times over.
Which meant that Shinji had just taken a full force, Bala infused punch from Sasuke, when he didn't bother holding back. Honestly, the man was probably unconscious. Before he could continue his conversation with his Zanpakuto, the sound of jogging to his left made his head snap in the direction he'd heard it from. To his relief, it was Yoruichi heading over to him with Kisuke and Tessai close behind. "What the hell was that out there, Sasuke?! Seriously, you can't expect me to believe you already have Shikai, so what?" Yoruichi seemed to be a bit shaken, though Sasuke couldn't blame her. It was a predictable reaction for someone who'd never laid eyes upon the Susanoo before.
"A technique members of my family are able to obtain. It's an extension of my eyes, and learning to master it is practically impossible. It's called the Susanoo." When he finished, Yoruichi just seemed even more awestruck. "So you're telling me you could do that when you were alive?" Sasuke merely nodded his head. "Sasuke, that was the most perfect physical manifestation of Reiatsu I've ever seen. Most Captains can't manipulate their Reiatsu at a level even resembling that, and you talk about it like an everyday occurance!" Not knowing what exactly to say, Sasuke simply shrugged his shoulders. "I've been using the Susanoo since I was sixteen, so yes, this is fairly normal for me." His statement was met with a deafening silence. It reigned for about thirty seconds before Yoruichi finally spoke again. "So… how old are you? You look like you're in your early twenties, if I had to guess." Sasuke couldn't help but scoff. "If I were twenty Madara would be dead, not me."
"I'm seventeen and a half, actually." This was met with a barely audible gasp from Yoruichi. While most people wouldn't have noticed it, Sasuke's Sharingan picked up the sound perfectly. Her entire boy language told Sasuke that she had not expected that response. Her shoulders slackened, her eyes dulled slightly, the growing look of pity spreading across her face. It was obvious that his age troubled her deeply, though Sasuke couldn't imagine why.
Before either of them could continue, the sudden groaning to their right caught their attention. Without a word, they gathered around Shinji's body, waiting to see if their shared suspicion was correct. Within a couple more seconds the man began to cough, and the white material covering him began to melt off of his body. More of the white substance came from Hirako's mouth as he coughed, and before long all that was left was his mask. Kisuke bent down, getting a better look at Shinji's face. "You awake, Shinji? We had to hit you with some serious Bakudo to keep you down, but we managed." Hirako shifted, his head turning slightly to face Kisuke from underneath the pillar of Gochutekkan. "Fine, yeah. Son of a bitch took one hell of a beating, though. Nearly killed me. What about you? Looks like hell from under hear. Speaking of which, ya mind undoing this Bakudo? Kinda cramped in here…" Kisuke got a bit of a chuckle out of that, and he dispelled his Kin after a moment. Sasuke followed suit, his Gochutekkan vaporizing as he released it.
Shinji took a moment to stand, his joints stiff from being pinned under Sasuke's Bakudo. Once he stretched for a bit, he looked over to Sasuke, his mask still adorning his face. "Yo, Sasuke, what did I miss?" Sasuke had no doubt that the man was wearing that same bone-chilling grin beneath that mask. Luckily, he seemed to realize that there was something amiss, and soon reached up to remove the thing. He looked it over once before tossing it to the side. "Tch, can't believe I got stuck with that. I don't know how you take being part Hollow so casually." He walked over to Sasuke, his hand slowly raising to rest on his face. Sasuke wasn't sure what the gesture was supposed to mean, but before he could ask Shinji continued. "But, I suppose we're just gonna have to live with it, aren't we? We'll also need to find some kind of name for what we are, seeing as 'Shinigami-Hollow hybrid' is way too wordy for me. Whatcha think, Sasuke?" As he finished, he ripped his hand down across his face, and his Reiatsu became laced with killer intent so thick Sasuke could almost see it. There was a small moment where black and yellow Reiatsu coated his face, before Shinji's mask formed. When he next spoke, his voice was warped and garbled.
"We're going to be a masked army, Sasuke. Not Shinigami, nor Hollow, but masked hybrids of both. As such, I believe the name 'Visored' would be rather appropriate, don'tcha think?"
Well, I believe that's another chapter down. The Visored name has been established, and we get a look at 'fucking murder you' Sasuke. Sorry if it came off as rushed towards the end, as I ran into a writer's block. Other than that, not much else happened in this chapter, as things are in a bit of a dull spot right now. Don't worry, I won't make you sit through ALL of the Visored gaining their masks at once, but I will include them every few chapters.That's all for now, Buh-Bye!!!