Well That's Different

by Constant Cycle

Instead of meeting Old Man Zangetsu in his quest to regain his powers to regain his powers, Ichigo had stumbled across someone different. The Hollow Zangetsu. Now he sets off to save Rukia from her execution, but something bizarre is happening underneathe. Ichigo x Harem (Kinda) and only slight AU until chapter 11. (Hiatus for a bit, but not too long)

10. Time to Kick Gum and Chew Ass (Wait)

A/N: Merry (late) Christmas all you kissasses out there reading this… Or Happy Holidays… call it whichever, I don't give a fuck.

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Soukyoku Hill:

The attendance of the execution was surprisingly low with less than half of Captains appearing for the ceremony. Everyone was silent in the somberness of the moment as they were about to watch a kind soul burn before them. It was rather depressing for most, though some saw it to be fit as there was an order to be withheld.

"Kuchiki Rukia," called the Head Captain, an Asian looking old man with a silky, long, white beard who looked to be at least a century old. "Do you have any final requests?"

The former lieutenant gave a weak smile. "Yes. Just one."

Meanwhile:

Ichigo's eyes suddenly snapped open from his slumber as his whole body shot up as if he had been awakened by a nightmare. The first thing that popped to mind was the attack Zangetsu called "Cero". He immediately pulled open his shihakusho to see the damage that had been dealt to him. Upon inspection, he saw that there were no remnants of the attack anywhere on his body which mildly surprised him. But then he remembered, he did have Hollow regenerative abilities.

"Rise and shine sleepy head, it's time for your big entrance," called Yoruichi as she entered into the room. "Oh, you're already up! How you feeling?"

"I've been worse," the carrot top shrugged.

Yoruichi looked at him closely. He had the same expression as he did the previous day when he woke up, except this time, something was a little different. "Did you have that dream again?"

"Kinda," Ichigo chuckled. Something suddenly clicked in his head as gave a surprised look before turning to the werecat. "Wait. How did you-"

"You have the same look as you did before," she told him simply. "But now I see more confidence than before."

Ichigo gave a gleaming smile that was rather disarming for Yoruichi. "Well, let's just say Byakuya is going to get a bit of a shock when he sees what's coming for him." Ichigo then remembered something as he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, I have something to tell you."

Yoruichi gave an odd look. "What is it?"

Soukyoku Hill:

"Very well. As you have asked, we send the Ryoka back unharmed the dawn after your execution," said the Head Captain.

Rukia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much."

Despite what the he said, everyone else knew that the Head Captain wasn't going to keep his word.

Several men surrounded the large zanpakuto and began to release their reishi. "Release Soukyoku," ordered the Yamamoto. The men surrounding the massive halberd zanpakuto unleashed more of their spirit energy into their own respective pillars as pillars of blue shot up into the sky from each pole. The rope connected to Soukyoku quickly broke before unwrapping themselves and shoot off into the ground beneath the hill side.

Rukia stared distantly at the large zanpakuto. "Even though my heart had been burdened by Gin Ichimaru, it has slowly regained its peace. Is it because of Head Captain's promise, or is it because by brother has completely deserted me while my pathetic, confused heart clung to life?" She looked solemnly at Byakuya with a weak smile on her face. "Thank you, Brother."

Three cubes emerged from the ground and slowly rose in front of her. A force from within the blocks grabbed hold of the Kuchiki's appendages, one for each arm and the bottom one for her legs. She was then lifted into the air up to the point where the two wooden pillars she stood between were connected by another rectangular piece.

Nanao watched with a torn expression on her face as her friend was set in place. "Nanao," her Captain said, getting her attention. "Don't look so pained. You'll make me sad too."

She looked down at the ground with the same expression as before. "I'm not making this face because I'm in pain," she told Shunsui.

Just then, flames began to erupt around the large zanpakuto as they swirled around it like a tornado of fire.

"Wh-What?" said the lieutenant of squad two in absolute astonishment. "This is Soukyoku's release?!" Clearly this wasn't an everyday thing.

The zanpakuto lifted off the ground and positioned itself to point directly at Rukia as the flames around it emitted nothing but raw power that left almost everyone speechless. Suddenly, wings began to form and spread from the torrent of flames as the fire formed a large phoenix.

"Kikou," said Yamamoto. The creature's eyes opened its eyes and stared straight into Rukia's soul. "He is the true form of Soukyoku's halberd, the final enforcer of extreme punishment. When he pierces through the criminal, the execution will end."

"I'm not afraid anymore," Rukia told herself. "I have lived well." Her old memories began to flood her in her final moments before death. "I met Renji and his friends, was adopted by Byakuya, and was led by Kaien. Most of all, I was saved by Ichigo." She closed her eyes as she accepted her fate. "I am not suffering. I am not sad. I have no regrets. I am not leaving behind my heart."

Rukia opened her eyes again to stare at the majestic spirit once more. "Thank you," she found herself saying. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She repeated this a few more times before tears began to form in her eyes. "Good-bye." She closed her eyes one last time, letting every last bit of emotion out of her before her end.

She waited for the sensation of burning to overtake her senses. She waited… and waited… and waited. "You can open your eyes now," spoke a familiar voice. Doing what the voice said, she came across a sight that left her completely speechless. Standing before her was none other than the Orange Haired Teen of Chaos (I'm trademarking that), Ichigo Kurosaki holding back the Soukyoku with one hand, giving her a warm smile. He looked different from the last time she saw him. This time, he wasn't wearing that horrifying mask nor was his shihakusho its dark shade of gray. Now, it was its standard black.

"Sup."

Rukia was in utter shock as she stared in amazement and confusion at her friend being completely deadpanned about the whole situation. "Ichigo?"

"You know it!" he said, giving a thumbs-up and a cheesy smile.

A surge of emotions began to rise in the petite Soul Reaper. She was happy beyond belief to see that Ichigo was alright. But that joy quickly turned into anger. "You idiot!" she suddenly shouted, confusing the teen. "Why did you come back?!"

Ichigo had to do a double take on that. He blinked a couple of times before saying the most nonchalant, "What?"

"You should already understand this! You cannot defeat Byakuya!" She gritted her teeth in frustration. "This time you'll really be killed!" Ichigo's eyes became hidden, overshadowed by his bangs. Not noticing this Rukia continued her rant. "I've already decided that I am ready for my execution! I don't need to be saved! GO HOME!"

And just like that, Ichigo snapped. A large tick mark appeared on his head as he pointed his index finger at the Soul Reaper in anger. "WHAT DID YOU SAY, BITCH!" Ichigo shouted at the top of his lungs, silencing Rukia and almost scaring most of the people on the ground. "I go through the most intensive training any anyone has ever seen, and this is the thanks I get! You still think I'm not a match for your brother! Look at me! I'M HOLDING BACK A GIANT, FLAMING CHICKEN FOR GODSAKE!"

Rukia just stared, dumbfounded by the sudden yelling and insults that Ichigo was throwing at her.

Ichigo then pointed his index finger at her angrily. "Now you're gonna let me save you, and you're gonna LIKE IT!"

Back on the ground all the attending Captains were in a state of awestruck as the Ryoka continued to hold back the firebird. "Impossible," said Soi Fon. "Did he really just stop it? The Soukyoku halberd that has the power of one million zanpakuto… with only his hand!" The stealth Captain gritted her teeth in slight anger as a feeling of uncertainty began to create butterflies in her stomach. "Kurosaki, you bastard."

Shunsui was also impressed by the feat, but didn't show as much emotion as the others. "Nanao," he said turning to his lieutenant, "is this the boy that the other Ryoka mentioned?"

"Yes. His physical appearance also matches the reports sent from other squad members, but…"

Shunsui raised an eyebrow at his lieutenant's sudden drop of the sentence. "But what?"

A worried expression overcame her face. "He appears to be lacking the Hollow mask said in the reports."

"I see…" the Captain said before he tilted his straw hat over his face. "So, in the end, they were the ones who arrived on time."

The large phoenix let out a mighty shrill as it flew back a couple of meters and glared at the two. "No, fuck you!" Ichigo shouted, turning around to face the creature in a fit of anger. "Do you have any idea what I've been through to get this woman? You wouldn't understand how many times I've stood at death doorstep."

Rukia just stared in confusion at her friend's comment. "Ichigo? Who are you talking to?"

"The giant, fire chicken," he said deadpanned. "Who else do you think?"

The creature let out another call as if responding to Ichigo's comment. "What do you mean, 'you can understand me?' Of fucking course I can understand you!" The mighty Sougyoku let out another shriek, this time in anger. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry for calling you a chicken. It's… It's just been a long day, okay?"

On the ground, Ukitake and company finally made their appearance with the Shihouin Crest. Just before he could throw the rope around the creature's neck, Shunsui raised he hand in front of the sickly man. The Captain looked at his associate in confusion. "Things are starting to get interesting," the drunk said with an amused smirk on his face.

Soukyoku let out another cry causing Ichigo to scrunch up his face. "Damn, sucks to be you, dude."

Another response from the phoenix.

"Seriously? But the voice, it just doesn't… You know what? Whatever. I don't have time for this right now. Can I just get my friend and go? I'm kinda in a bit of a hurry and I really want to kick Byakuya's ass."

The bird looked down to see who this Byakuya character was. It cawed once more. "The one that looks like they have a stick up their butt," said Ichigo.

Soukyoku made a low grumble and gave a look that made it seem like he wasn't specific enough.

"The black haired guy," replied Ichigo.

The bird then looked back up to face Ichigo to give him a small chirp that seemed a bit out of character for such a large creature. "Sure, I guess. If I have time."

The bird gave a nod before its flames began to diminish and it reverted back into its spearhead form, falling to the ground with a thud. Everyone just stared at the boy, completely at a loss for words as to what just happened. "So wait," Ichigo began, turning his head to look back at Rukia. "You didn't get any of that?"

"N-No," she replied hesitantly.

"Hmm," Ichigo hummed at the response. "Well, anyways." The teen jumped up to the stool suspending Rukia in midair as a blue aura appeared, surrounding Zangetsu. "Jailbreak!"

"Ichigo, what are you doing?" shouted Rukia.

"Isn't it obvious? I'mma break this bitch."

"Ichigo, stop-"

"Shut up and let me do an awesome!" He stabbed the stand, going deep into the wood before the whole thing began to glow a bright blue. In less than a few seconds, the whole thing blew up. Rukia felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and held her like a person would with a newspaper. "Now let's get you outta here."

When Rukia looked up at Ichigo, she couldn't help but smile as a warm feeling came over her. She could feel her eyes beginning to swell up from realizing just how far her friends would go to save her. "I'm not going to thank you," she said as tears began to fall from her face once again. "Idiot."

Ichigo grinned with content. If he wouldn't be able to save her, he at least knew that he made her appreciate living for a little bit. His attention turned to the people staring at him from the ground. Some of them seemed impressed, some of them seemed angered, and one of them looked like he was scared shitless.

"Ichigo," interrupted Rukia. "What are you going to do now? How can you hide from so many eyes watching us?"

"Hide?" Ichigo said as if were to most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. "Pssh, I'm way passed that."

Rukia began to sweat nervously as she soon realized what Ichigo was implying. "You aren't seriously gonna…" She saw a cocky grin stretch across the carrot top's face causing her to become a bit paranoid. "Ichigo, these are Captain's we're talking about! Not just that, but the Head Commander as well. The most powerful person in all of Soul Society."

"Oh, really?" He said in slight surprise as he looked at the old man. Looking at his expression, Rukia knew exactly what was going through Ichigo's mind. More and more of his reiatsu began was released in his excitement as a small current of wind progressively grew stronger around him.

"Ichigo, don't you do it," she said, giving him a glare that was as sharp as knives.

Ichigo, in return, gave a foxy grin. "I'mma do it."

As they both continued to stare at each other for a while until both of them noticed the sounds of someone getting knocked out. Looking over to where the noise had come from, they saw all the summoners of the Sokyouku, knocked out and laying on the floor. "Great job!" Ichigo called out sarcastically. "You really showed those defenseless soldiers who's boss, Renji!"

Renji, still winded from his injuries against Byakuya, scowled at Ichigo. "Fuck… you…" he said in between breaths before falling to one knee.

"Renji!" Rukia called out in joy. "You're alive! Thank goodness."

"Of course," Renji grinned, momentarily forgetting about the pain from his injuries. "Who'd save both of you if I didn't come?"

"Well, we had Yoruichi!" Ichigo butted in. Soi Fon seemed to perk up at the mentioning of that name.

"Touché," Renji smiled.

Ichigo smiled back as he felt him finally beginning to bond with the lieutenant for a bit. "Well," Ichigo said, raising Rukia and held her by the strap around her waist. "Here you go."

The two Soul Reapers were a bit confused as to what Ichigo was planning. "Oi Ichigo. What the hell are you doing?" Rukia said worryingly, unsure as to what the teen was thinking of doing.

As for Renji, he knew exactly what the Ryoka was about to do, and he was more than a bit concerned by it. "W-Wait, Ichigo. You're not gonna…"

Ichigo wound back and loaded his legs. "Catch!" He then threw Rukia like a javelin sending her screaming towards an ill-prepared Renji.

"AAH! YOU IDIOT!" Screamed both of the Soul Reapers as Rukia was sent sailing through the air.

It took a few seconds before Rukia face planted straight into Renji's stomach, knocking him to the ground and sending them skidding a couple of meters. The two didn't lay there for long though as they both immediately shot up with angry expressions on their faces.

"Ichigo, you jackass!" the petite girl shouted first.

"Are you stupid!" her childhood friend yelled at a similar volume. "What would have happened if you had missed?!"

Ichigo just looked away with an annoyed expression as he picked at his ear. "You caught her so what difference does it make," he mumbled.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" both Rukia and Renji bellowed, furthering Ichigo's annoyed look.

Once he finished hearing their complaining, he turned to them with a serious look on his face. "Leave!" he shouted in a lower volume leaving both of them still in agitation at the fact he ignored their comments. Ichigo waited a second, but neither of them moved. "What the fuck are you still doing here?! Take her and leave!" Ichigo shouted back at them.

Though still a bit upset, Renji got back on his feet and ran off away from where all the action was taking place. "Don't let her go, even if it kills you," Ichigo said quietly.

The Captain of the second squad, obviously upset, began shouting at her Lieutenant. "What are you doing?! After him you dumbass! All Lieutenants, go!"

The only two Lieutenants present began chase after the rogue Abarai which didn't go unnoticed by the carrot top still standing on the execution stand. All they heard was a low buzz when suddenly, he appeared before them with a cocky grin on his face.

Omaeda gave a low growl, trying to intimidate his opponent so that he wouldn't have to fight him. "You're in my way!" he yelled. "Crush him, Gegetsuburi!" his zanpakuto a glowed bright yellow as it transformed into a large ball of spikes

"Bite," announced the other Lieutenant, "Gonryomaru." His Zanpakuto transformed as well, only his was just turned into a fencing sword.

Ichigo didn't say a word as his expression remained unchanged, allowing the two time to summon their Shikai. Everything seemed to fall silent all of a sudden with the two staring down the teen. Even nature itself grew quiet as the wind ceased to blow on the grounds they stood upon. The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy, as it became harder for the two to breathe. Everyone in the vicinity had a spine chilling feeling run down their backs at the presence they were feeling.

It took a while for them to realize it, but they discovered that the source of the power was coming from none other than the boy between them and Rukia. In an instant, he unleashed an unrelenting amount of reiatsu that rendered almost every Lieutenants before him unconscious, including Nanao.

However, the orange skinned Lieutenant struggled to keep himself on his feet. Ichigo slowly began to approach him in a calm manner. The man's muscles tightened, as he watched the boy moving closer and closer. He weakly pointed his zanpakuto, preparing to do battle only to have the Ryoka pass right by him. "You're not my target," he said softly, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to the man.

As soon as it had come, the reiatsu suddenly vanished. A few of the Captains were a bit terrified by the amount of energy the orange haired kid had presented and how much control he had over it. Within that moment of his release, even they found themselves having a difficult time standing sturdily.

"So," Ichigo smirked as he rested the dull side of his blade on his shoulder, "who's next?" He scanned the area before pinpointing at two certain Captains that he needed to get even with. "Byakuya? Soi Fon? Any takers?"

"You insolent brat," growled Soi Fon as she drew out her zanpakuto.

Before anything else happened a blur suddenly passed her and charged straight towards Ichigo. He nonchalantly raised his sword and blocked the strike. Ichigo gave a smirk as he looked at the face of his attacker. "I told you already. I can see your movements, Byakuya."

Byakuya's stoic expression remained unchanged as the two looked each other down with intense stares. "What happened to your mask?" asked the Captain.

Ichigo was silent for a moment as he had an unreadable expression that matched Byakuya's. "I don't need it anymore. It wasn't my own power, so I had to grow stronger to become independent." He began to apply more pressure to the blade which alarmed Byakuya. Seeing that he was getting pushed back, the Captain jumped back in retreat.

With the two of them apart, Ichigo decided to use this time to ask questions of his own. "Now that I've answered your question, allow me ask one of my own. Aren't you Rukia's brother?" His reiatsu to flare up along with his anger. "Why do you do nothing to try and save her?"

"What an asinine question," said the Kuchiki which irritated the hybrid a bit. "Even if you were to learn why, someone like you would never understand."

A tick mark appeared on Ichigo's head due to the illusiveness of the Captain's words. God, how he hated that about him. It always sounded like the words coming out of his mouth were something from an emo kid… or a cringy fanfiction.

"It would seem talking will serve no purpose." Byakuya tightened his grip around his zanpakuto and began to charge it with his own reiatsu. "There is only one path left for me, and you're in my way."

Byakuya used Shunpo straight towards Ichigo with his blade ready to strike. As soon as he closed the gap between them, he swung his sword aiming to slash at Ichigo's chest. But the attack hit nothing except air as his target suddenly vanished from sight. Byakuya's eyes widened in fear as he soon realized what had happened. Immediately, he turned his head to look behind him only to find none other than Ichigo with his large sword poised for a critical hit on his back.

"Too slow." He lifted the Khyber blade above his head with his one hand, and gave one, mighty swing to put a swift end to the fight. However, instead of slicing through flesh, his blade was met with a loud clang that rang throughout the Soukyoku Hill.

At first Ichigo was stunned by the sudden sound of clashing metal. But soon, that surprise turned into a smile upon recognizing the figure that stood before him. "I was wondering if you'd join," The petite Captain gritted her teeth as she firmly held her position under Ichigo's sheer strength. "Soi Fon."

As thing started to heat up in the battle, the rest of the captains watched in astonishment at the display of power the teen was showing. However, the Head Captain paid little attention to that as he stared at the crest Ukitake was holding. "Captain Ukitake," he called for his attention, "what purpose do you have for bringing the Shihouin Crest? Was with the intention of destroying the Soukyoku?"

The Captain was hesitant to answer, but he did nonetheless. "That was indeed my intention."

Genryusai didn't bother to say anything as he gave a dissatisfied look at the white haired Captain. "This is your final chance. Are you going to join us, or are you going to continue your pursuit with this foolishness?"

Ukitake gave an unsure look to the Shunsui. The straw hat Captain just gave his pokerface smile before blocking his eyes from view. The white haired Captain understood the message before giving a glare of determination. "I'm sorry Captain, but I'm afraid I will have to continue. Rukia is my squad member, I must do everything in my power to protect them."

"You are not ignorant of what this means," said Yamamoto with disappointment behind his voice.

"No," replied Ukitake. "No, I am not."

Suddenly, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder which surprised him a bit. "Alright, then there's no choice!" Shunsui said in his usual upbeat manner. "Shall we run away for the time being, Ukitake?" Before he could give a reply, the two Captain suddenly disappeared along with Nanao. The Head Captain watched in dismay as two of his strongest subordinates ran off. After a few seconds, he too, disappeared.

Outside the Seireitei:

Jidanbou punched the ground with a great amount of might, but it wasn't out of anger or frustration, it was to test his arms durability, checking to see if it was functioning correctly. "You really alright, Jidanbou?" asked a man who was in the same room as him, his haircut was designed like a strange mohawk.

"Yeah," the large man responded, "I'm all better now. Sorry for putting everyone out."

"I told you it all good," replied another one of the four.

"Be thankful to that girl instead of us," said another man who was resting his hands on a sword. "If that girl hadn't had worked so hard for hours on your arm, then you wouldn't have recovered at all."

"Yeah, Orihime," said one of the men dreamily as a blush appeared on his face.

"She certainly was cute," said another, entering into a similar dreamlike state.

"It's been five days since they entered the Seireitei," replied the one with the mohawk.

"Really? Five days, huh?" Jidanbou replied rhetorically. "I hope their alright."

"Are you that concerned, Jidanbou?" shouted a female voice from outside. The door to the warehouse began to open up, revealing an all too familiar figure. "If so, then come with me."

Everyone was incredibly surprised to see who it was with only the large man being unable to say any words. "Kukaku!" the three unnamed men shouted.

This cause the female Shiba to spread a grin across her face. "Yo."

The three normal sized men immediately stood up at attention with their backs as straight as sticks. "Good to see you again!" they all said stiffly.

"Yup," she replied, not paying much attention to them.

"We will wait upon you, ma'am," the only one with a weapon said.

Kukaku swayed up to the gargantuan man before folding her arms over her chest in a confident stance. "What's the matter, Kukaku?" Jidanbou asked politely, still a bit shocked by her sudden arrival. "Do you need me for anything?

"After sleeping for five or six days, you must be feeling rather depressed, Jidanbou." The large man made a confused sound as one of his eyebrows raised. The Shiba continued. "Why don't you join me in a walk. I have business with that bitch, Yoruichi," she said playfully.

Jidanbou, realizing the intent behind her words as a wide grin gradually began to stretch across his face. Soon, this expression was mimicked by the one armed woman as she placed her hand on her hip. "Let's go."

Seireitei:

"Woop," Ichigo said comically as he dodged another swipe from Byakuya. As he moved back, he sensed Soi Fon's presence coming in from behind, and he effortlessly dodged her attack. However, the Captain of the Second Division expected this. She quickly stopped herself and did a full round house, aimed at his head.

Instinctively, he raised his arm to block the attack. As this happened, Byakuya took this as an opening to go for Ichigo's backside. However, as soon as he got close, the teen jumped into the air, narrowly avoiding the graze of the attack. Ichigo then used the reishi in the air to propel himself away from the two Captain before landing a good distance away from them.

Ichigo began to pour his reiatsu into Zangetsu creating an intense blue aura surrounding the zanpakuto. Noticing this, Byakuya did the same action except with him, the aura was pink. The two glared at one another once again before Ichigo used Shunpo to charge at Byakuya, clashing their blades several times over. Each collision possessed so much force that it caused the ground below them to crack or outright shattet into pieces from the blow. However, the entire time, it was Byakuya who found himself on the backfoot as he was frantically blocking Ichigo's strikes.

"What's happening?" Byakuya asked himself. Not three days ago Ichigo was less than equal to his strength, and now here he was, pushing not only him back, but another Captain as well at the same time. To add on to that, it looked like he was barely even trying as Ichigo's face maintained a bored expression almost the entire fight.

Finally, Byakuya found himself in a stalemate with Ichigo as their two blades were resisting each other's force, putting them on equal ground for the moment. As the two stared at each other, Ichigo noticed the faintest of eye twitches from Byakuya.

At first, he was confused, but soon realized the situation he was in. He quickly ducked, knowing exactly what their plan of attack was. Once he did this, the two Captain's had a minor heart attack as Kuchiki watched Soi Fon in midflight coming straight at him with her zanpakuto aimed directly at him.

Both of Captain's eyes widened in shock as the two were on the verge of colliding. They both made their attempts at dodging one another, however, Ichigo would not allow this. He balled his hand into a fist and both punched Soi Fon then back kicked Byakuya in the stomach. They both had the wind knocked out of their lungs as saliva spat from their mouths. They were both sent sailing back a few meters before finally finding their footing.

"This is impossible," thought Byakuya, a bit winded from the fighting. "How could he have grown so strong is in such a short amount of time?" A feeling began to boil deep inside him as his heart rate increased rapidly. There was something unfamiliar, yet nostalgic to him about this feeling. This feeling was none other than anger.

Soi Fon was feeling the same way, though a bit more annoyed than Byakuya. "This brat," she thought with gritting teeth. "How is he able to avoid us so easily?"

Ichigo, seeing both of their frustration let out a sigh as he shook his head in dissatisfaction. "You're both holding back on me, aren't ya?" he sighed in disappointment. "It seems to me like you're just testing the water. Like you aren't taking me seriously." Ichigo didn't bother to catch a glimpse at either of them as he stared off into the landscape that was Soul Society. "Let me tell you something. My power is like an ocean, and you have yet to even see the tide. If you're struggling to keep up now, well… you're gonna be in a world of hurt once the storm comes in."

He turned his head and locked eyes with Byakuya before giving a cocky smirk. "Besides, I thought you were gonna kill me, and here I stand without a single scratch on me. Are you telling me that this is the best the Captains of Soul Society has to offer?" Both Captains felt a shiver of anger run down their spin as their muscles tightened. Ichigo's simile disappeared as he locked eyes with both of them with a look of seriousness on his face. "Show me your Bankai."

Soi Fon was having a hard time deciding what angered her more, his insult, or the fact that he thought he could fight against a Captain in their Bankai state. Either way both her and Byakuya remained silent at his request.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the two as he looked back and forth between them before letting out yet another sigh of disappointment. "If you don't do it," he said, "I'm just gonna crush you both right here, and right now."

"A cheap provocation," scoffed Byakuya. "You can holler all you want, but it won't change my mind in the slightest. One way or another, I will kill you and see through with Rukia's execution, even if I have to kill her myself."

The Kuchiki began to move hand holding his zanpakuto while keeping his calm demeanor. "Bankai? Don't be stupid, boy." He brought Senbonzakura up near his face as he held it vertically in front of him. "You're a thousand years too early for the likes of you to die by my Bankai."

He closed his eyes as a pink aura surrounded his blade. "Scatter," the blade began to transform into thousands of sakura petals which swirled in front of him like a cyclone. "Senbonzakura."

Right at the mentioning of its name, a sudden blast of blue reiatsu passed right by Byakuya. The size and suddenness of the beam made his eyes widen in shock. The attack was so large and so powerful that there was no way he could have missed such a thing, and yet, he did. After a few seconds the energy dissipated and left a large scar of destruction in the ground.

"I'm sorry what was that?" he said mockingly. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of me wrecking your shit."

Both Captains stood wide eyed and motionless at what had just happened. Neither of them could believe what had happened. One second Byakuya was summoning his Shikai and then next a bright light appeared completely destroying his summon. As the two remained stunned from the attack, blood began to roll down Byakuya's arm and drip to the ground.

"What was that light?" said Byakuya. "Is that the power of your zanpakuto?"

"Yeah. When I swing Zangetsu, it collects my reiatsu then releases a highly concentrated energy blast from the blade. In other words, I just swung my sword," Ichigo said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He then looked at Byakuya, who still had the same stunned expression.

Ichigo wondered at this for a bit before it finally clicked. "That's right, I still haven't shown you this ability yet," he chuckled at the realization. "Well then, consider this an introduction to my attack. I call it, Getsuga Tenshou."

Soi Fon, who was watching the entire thing playout was having a hard time figuring out what was going on. She didn't know what to think of it. It wasn't because it was all happening so fast, but because it was all so sudden. Her thoughts were then cut short when the sound of metal smashing into stone rang in her ear.

Ichigo had stabbed his zanpakuto into the ground and stared at Byakuya with a determined look on his face. "Now, let me say this one more time." His reiatsu began to flare once more. This time, however, it took a physical form similar, emanating of him like blue steam. "Show me your Bankai."

"Moon Fang Heaven Piercer," Byakuya repeated the name of the attack to himself. "What an arrogant name." He then raised his hand and extended it forward with his zanpakuto blade aimed towards the ground. "So be it. Since you so strongly desire my Bankai, allow me to show it to you." He then released his blade, letting it fall straight into the ground which surprised caught Ichigo a bit off guard. "Remember this moment well," Two rows of swords began to emerge from either side of Byakuya as their surroundings suddenly turned into black oblivion. "Because before you can regret it, you will be nothing but dust in front of me."

The swords had stopped rising from the ground, he finally said the words Ichigo was waiting for. "Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Ichigo was impressed by the display as he stared, whistling in amazement. It was quite the sight for him due to this was his first encounter with a Bankai that wasn't his own. After he was done admiring it, be brought himself back to reality and tightened his grip on his zanpakuto. He charged his blade with reiatsu, and launched yet another Getsuga Tenshou at the Kuchiki.

Byakuya stared with an unamused expression as the attack came hurdling at him. "How naïve," he said as a wave of pink flower petals rose from the ground to negate the attack.

The Captain then sent a flurry of pedals at him, forcing Ichigo to jump into the air to avoid the attack.

As his eyes remained on his opponent, Ichigo felt some reiatsu quickly approaching his position from above. Looking up, he saw those very same flower petals rushing towards him like an ocean wave. There was no way for him to avoid the speed of the attack as it came streaming at him at top speed.

Only two words came to mind as he watched the wave get progressively larger in his eyes. "Well shit."

Reacting as quickly as he could, Ichigo raised the flat side of his zanpakuto as a shield and blocked the attack just in time. However, the force behind the charge of petals had far more strength than him, slamming him into the ground. A large explosion of dust blew up when Ichigo hit the ground followed by a water fall of pink.

"The strength of Senbonzakura lies in its ability to attack with its many countless blades from all directions," Byakuya stated. "The strength of your zanpakuto is great, however, it is impossible to dodge my zanpakuto's attack." His fellow Captain Soi Fon soon appeared by his side to access the damage he had done.

The dust that was picked up from impact revealed a smoldering crater, and a beaten and bloodied Ichigo. He was kneeling and putting some of his weight onto zanpakuto for balance. His breathing was deep and rapid, getting as much oxygen into his body as he could in as little time as possible. All in all, he didn't look to be in any condition to fight. However, completely disregarding his injuries, he still managed to pick him. "Goddamn that hurt," he said as he regained his balance. "It was incredibly stupid for me to think it would be easy to beat a Bankai with my Shikai state."

Both Captains gave an amused look by Ichigo's word choice. "Watch what you say. You sound as if you have already achieved Bankai," said Byakuya.

Ichigo stood panting with his bangs covering his eyes. He was quiet only for a moment before a devious smirk appeared on his face. "Oh, Byakuya. There you go again, doubting my abilities. Go ahead and keep saying I can't do things. If there's one thing you should take away when dealing with me, it's that you should never assume."

He slammed his foot into the ground with enough force to crack a miniature crater. He let out a deep breath before letting out a burst of reiatsu appeared around him and began swirling around and rise to the sky like a cyclone. As the two Captains watched, they soon noticed the wounds on his body beginning to rapidly close.

"Impossible," thought Byakuya thought as they watched the teen's reiatsu rise at a rapid rate.

The final stage of the zanpakuto. Only a Soul Reaper of the highest level are able to attain it. Out of the four noble clans who are born with far greater reiatsu than others, only one in several generations have the abilities to reach that level. That is Bankai. But yet, this brat stood before him claiming that he had achieved that power, in was absolute blasphemy to him. How could he talk so casually about Bankai? How was he releasing so much reiatsu?

Soi Fon was having a similar epidemic at the sight of Ichigo's raging power. "What power. To be able to attain so much in such a short amount of time." She lost all feeling in her still body as a feeling began to emerge from deep inside her. Something she hadn't felt in a very long time. Admiration. Ichigo had been through so much and even went out of his way to learn Bankai, just to save Rukia. She could only imagine the amount of pain he must have gone through in order to do so.

From behind the trees, away from the cliff-side, stood Yoruichi, hiding behind the vegetation. She had been watching the whole thing pan out. She had remembered the favor Ichigo had said back the hideout. He wanted to test his abilities out, his strengths and limitations, against the likes of both Byakuya and Soi Fon. He had wanted to get even with them seeing as both had on win against him.

Of course, she was hesitant at first, but with a bit of persuading and compromising, Ichigo had convinced her. She hadn't had seen Ichigo's power after beating Zangetsu, but now that she had a full view and sense of Ichigo's power, Yoruichi felt confident in her star pupil. She found herself chuckling a bit when she looked back to see how much stronger the kid had become.

"You really are a monster, Ichigo," she whispered under her breath.

Ichigo raise his sword and pointed it in the direction of both Byakuya and Soi Fon and used his other hand to grab the inside joint of his elbow. "BAN-KAI!" The dust swirling around them suddenly dispersed at the explosion of power as a pillar of red and black energy shot straight into the sky.

"His reiatsu. It changed," everyone thought in confusion. Aside from its color, the energy that Ichigo was producing was somehow from before. It caused the two captains to sweat nervously as the pressure he was exuding was very similar to that of a Hollow's.

The pillar of reiatsu suddenly disappeared. From amidst the settling dust stood Ichigo Kurosaki with a whole new appearance along with a new sword, and not a scratch on his body.

"Tensa Zangetsu."

He no longer had the usual shihakusho attire that he once wore. Now it was long sleeved, ankle-length coat that had a black exterior, but was red on the inside and had white lining around the collar and legs of the coat. His zanpakuto was now surprisingly smaller, looking more like a typical zanpakuto except keeping its previous obsidian black color and possessing a short chain at the end of the hilt.

The Captains didn't know how to react upon seeing the form of Ichigo's Bankai. Both were taken aback by the size of his zanpakuto. It was so much smaller than a typical Bankai, it didn't even look that special. Was he mocking them?

"What is this?" Byakuya final said, breaking the silence. "That little thing is your Bankai?"

"It's just a regular zanpakuto!" said Soi Fon a bit offended by the blade's design.

Ichigo just stood and gave a playful smile to the two Captains. "Well, I guess you can say that size doesn't matter. I bet you would know something about that, wouldn't you, Byakuya?"

A sharp exhale accidentally escaped Soi Fon's nose, but she quickly to silence herself as soon as she felt Byakuya's death glare. The Kuchiki's blood began to boil with rage as he moved the peeved look towards Ichigo. First the delay of the execution, then achieving Bankai, and now he mocks him with such barbaric jokes. Byakuya had had enough of it.

His teeth began to grit with his new-found fury. "I see… You enjoy treading on all things that we hold sacred. Then I'll show you! I'll show you what happens when you insult our honor! My honor!"

The pink petals began to gather around the Captain once more, swirling around him gently before turning into a giant wave behind him. They started to rush forward, but they didn't get very far.

Before anyone knew it, the petals dispersed into tiny shreds of pink and fell gently to the ground. Standing before the stoic Captain was the carrot top himself with his pitch black katana pressed up against Byakuya's neck.

"Your 'honor' you say? If killing your own sister is what you call 'honor', then I want nothing to do with it." Ichigo pulled back his blade. "I'll tread on something like that as much as I want." He then jumped back, away from the two stunned Captains. "That's the reason why I got this power."

He then turned towards Soi Fon and pointed Zangetsu at her. "I suggest you use your Bankai too, or you're not going to last very long," he said threateningly

She clicked her tongue against her teeth in irritation as she quickly entered her Shikai state. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of her cheek due to nerves as she took a combative stance and activated a white aura that surrounded her entire body.

"You fool," said Byakuya. "Why did you draw your sword away from my throat?"

The teen was silent to respond as they both glared at each other with expressionless looks. "Are you that confident in your abilities?" asked Byakuya. "Arrogance destroys the foothold of victory."

Again, silence.

"I'll tell you once more. That is no Bankai. One could never be so small and so fragile, and a lowly Ryoka could never even hope to reach that level." The fallen sakura petals started to levitate off the in around Byakuya's feet. "You will regret not slicing my throat when you had the chance. A miracle only happens once, never a second time."

Another torrent of petals came flooding towards Ichigo at lightning pace, but for Ichigo, they were too slow. Right before they made contact with the target, the teen vanished from sight. For less than a second at a time, Ichigo would appear only to dodge another stream of the seemingly infinite number of blossoms at the Captain's disposal.

Ichigo then suddenly appeared directly in front of Byakuya with his sword held high over his head. Kuchiki raised his hand quickly to create a wall to block the attack, but then Ichigo vanished from sight once again. The loud clanging of metal rang once more as he turned around to see Soi Fon, covering Byakuya's back from Ichigo's sneak attack.

The orange hair was moving at incredible speeds that the two Captains were having more than a difficult time keeping up with. Even Byakuya's Senbonzakura wasn't keeping up. Ichigo started to use Shunpo as he ran around the two Captains creating more and more afterimages as the seconds flew by.

The Captains couldn't follow his movements at all as they found themselves in a loop of constantly having to move their heads back and forth. "What's the matter? Can't keep up?" taunted Ichigo. "I can go much faster, you know."

"Don't get so cocky, boy!" yelled Byakuya. He raised both his hands, forming a cylinder of blossoms around both him and Soi Fon. He pushed his hands to the side which caused the wall to spread wider to take up the entire cliffside. As this happened, a hole suddenly appeared in on one side of the barrier of which Ichigo appeared through. The hybrid charged straight towards the backside of Byakuya only for a Soi Fon to appear in front of him.

"Got you." She thrusted her gauntlet forward, aiming straight for the teen's chest. With a quick maneuver, Ichigo spun around in midair, dodging the strike as it grazed past his arm, and leaving a small tear in his sleeve. As he struggled to regain his footing, a surge of pink covered his line of sight.

"Uh oh," said the carrot top nonchalantly.

Ichigo charged Zangetsu with his red and black reiatsu and discharged a Getsuga Tenshou, destroying the wall of petals collapsing on him. The wave fell apart into many thousands of petals, but Ichigo's counter didn't stop there.

The attack continued its path, rushing in towards an off guard Byakuya who quickly raised another barrier to negate the strike. But this one was persistent. Instead of exploding upon collision, there was a bit of a stalemate between the two Bankai abilities.

After a few seconds, Ichigo's counter proved too much for Byakuya's defense, cutting through the wall and making contact with Byakuya's arm. Seeing the time that was given to him, Ichigo used the reishi in the air to push himself back away from his two opponents to give himself some room.

The two Captains stayed in their spot seeing that it was too risky to attack him without thought. The Kuchiki was holding his arm tightly as blood leaked from a rather deep wound inflicted on his shoulder. He was gritting his teeth in both anger and pain as he gave a hateful glare at Ichigo.

"Captain Kuchiki," Soi Fon called, catching her fellow associate's attention. "I hate saying this as much as you hate hearing this but, we can't defeat him like this. We have to go all out"

"Nonsense, I can-"

"Byakuya! If there's one thing I've learned from my experiences as the Captain of the Stealth Division, its that you should never underestimate an opponent's abilities." She turned back to face Ichigo. "With you in Bankai as well as me in Shikai, we still have yet to put a scratch on him. Even now, I can barely follow his movements. We need to rethink our strategy."

Kuchiki clicked his tongue frustratingly, but inclined to his ally advice. "His Bankai compresses all of his reiatsu into that small blade allowing him maximum fighting capabilities at unimaginable speeds. I think I have a way to get around that."

Ichigo wasn't paying much attention to his two opponents as he accessed the small tear in his sleeve. No butterfly mark had appeared meaning that he was in the safe. "Shit, that was actually pretty damn close. But I still have one more trick up my sleeve." He then looked toward both Soi Fon and Byakuya who were both discussing something that Ichigo could pick up on. "Hey! What are you two talking about!"

The two then finished their conversation to look back at the impatiently waiting teen. "Pay attention Ichigo," said Byakuya. The blood that had dripped to the ground suddenly began to glow a bright pink and rose up like fire. The whole area seemed to follow suit as pink reiatsu rose like a raging fire all around the three. An uneasy feeling began to come over Ichigo as he tightened his grip on Zangetsu.

The flames then shot up into the sky to form a dome of darkness around them. "This is what happens… when I abandon all defense… and risk everything to kill my enemy."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the proclamation, bracing himself for whatever was yet to come. "This is the true form of Senbonzakura." Dozens upon dozens of glowing swords surrounded them as the environment turned black. "Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Ichigo, for the first time in a while was in complete awestruck. He couldn't make any remark or even breathe for a moment. He just stood and stared.

"Don't worry," said Byakuya bringing him out of his trance. "This procession of thousands of swords will not attack you all at once. Senkei is the form I show to only those-" he extended his hand sideways, breaking free one of the swords from its perfectly aligned row so that it would land in his hand, "who I vow to kill by my own hands. You are only the second person to see this."

"Was the first one Renji?" asked Ichigo out of nowhere. "I bet it was Renji. Man, he managed to push you this far? Props to that guy."

The two were astonished by how lightly Ichigo was taking whole situation. They couldn't figure one what emotion to feel at this point. "Hmm?" he said noticing the confusion on their faces. "Oh, I'm sorry. I stopped worrying the moment you said that the swords weren't going to attack me all at once."

"This…" muttered the Captain. "This is the last time you mock me!" a torrent of pink reiatsu exploded from Byakuya. Smirking at this, Ichigo did the same as a burst of red and black reiatsu exploded like fire around him.

As the two built up their energy, the ground below them cracked as chunks of earth teared from the ground, having them float in the air. "Here I come, Kurosaki!" called Byakuya.

In a blur, both of them vanished from sight. A loud clash of metal was heard which was then followed by a large explosion of white energy. The two figures then reappeared several meters away from the crater they had created before charging at each other once again. With each strike from their zanpakutos, a burst of energy would blow up leaving behind nothing but a fresh crater in their wake.

After a few more blows, the two of them reappeared apart from each other, panting heavily from exhaustion. "Damn he's become much faster in this form," thought Ichigo as he wiped a bit of blood from his face. "But, I'm still faster."

"He's not slowing down," though Byakuya worryingly. He too wiped a bit of blood running from his forehead before taking a readied stance and charging back at the hybrid.

This struggle continued on for a while as now both of them were fighting on almost equal footing. However, from Soi Fon's eyes, it was still clear that Ichigo still had the upper hand. She waited patiently for her opportune moment to strike.

Finally, after a minute of waiting, Byakuya had parried one of Ichigo's attack, rendering him a bit off balanced. Using this moment, the Second Division Captain leaped at her top speed towards Ichigo. She reared her straightened fingers and jabbed Ichigo with Suzumebachi. Ichigo didn't have time to react or move, allowing the strike to make contact on his right shoulder.

"Got you," said Soi Fon before leaping away to wait once again for her opportune moment.

The teen clicked his tongue in frustration of his carelessness. "Well that's not good," Ichigo made a mental note before blocking another one of Byakuya's strikes. "Damnit, one more shot like that and I'm finished."

"He is still keeping up with Senkei," Byakuya thought in irritation. "Does he have no limit?" He stuck again, but Ichigo was quick to avoid the attack and began sending a barrage of attacks of his own. Byakuya quickly jumped back to avoid the attacks just in time. "Damn you Kurosaki!"

Ichigo didn't allow the Kuchiki to recuperate as the teen immediately closed the gap between them. He dashed towards Byakuya again sending another flurry of attacks. Byakuya was quick to block all of them, but something was different about them. They weren't as quick as before, and weren't nearly as precise.

"He's slowing down," he thought as he waited for another opportunity to parry. After a few more strikes, he did so and knocked Ichigo's zanpakuto back leaving him exposed again.

Soi Fon noticed this and immediately went for the final strike. She was a mere few centimeters away from making contact before she noticed a smirk grow on Ichigo's face. Her eyes widened in horror as she herself in a position where she could no longer maneuver to avoid the attack. Ichigo brought his zanpakuto down diagonally and slashed it across Soi Fon's chest.

Blood gushed from her chest as she lifelessly fell to the ground. Byakuya, though shocked at Ichigo's trickery, didn't spare a moment to attack the distracted Ichigo. The teen quickly effortlessly jumped back avoiding the strike completely.

Soi Fon struggled to pick herself back up as the feeling of pain enveloped her nervous system. "Damnit, I was careless," she said to herself. More blood poured on the ground as she picked herself off the ground. "Byakuya! We need to finish this now!"

He only nodded in confirmation as he started to regather all of his reiatsu. All the swords around him suddenly vanished and gathered into the zanpakuto that he was holding on to. A vortex quickly appeared teeming with white energy as wings spread on each side of Byakuya and a large ring around appeared behind his back. "Shukei Hakuteiken."

"Bankai!" The gauntlet around Soi Fon's arm also began to emit a white energy as it grew exponentially in size, turning into a golden rocket launcher. "Jakuho Raikoben."

"Ah man, that's cool as shit!" thought Ichigo before shaking his head of distractions. "Oh shit, that's right… I have to avoid that."

Byakuya raised his now single sword over his head and Soi Fon aimed her Bankai at the orange hair. "Eat this!" they both shouted as both Captains launched their attack at Ichigo. First there was a bright flash of light that illuminated the already sunny day. Then there was the sound; the thunderous crack of combustion as the explosion engulf all its surroundings.

Finally, the wind. The powerful energy displaced the air, creating a powerful gust that sent everything flying. Trees on the hill were all uprooted and sent sailing in every which direction. The sheer amount of destruction was unprecedented. There was no way anything could have survived the blast.

It took a few seconds for everything to clear up. The bright light had dissipated, and the wind settled down leaving a large smoldering crater at the top of the hill. Soi Fon let out a single small triumphant laugh. "There's no way he could have survived that."

She then collapsed to her knee as the pain became too unbearable for her to stand. A small laugh of relief escaped her lips as she bled. "It's finally over," she said. "We won." She called off her Bankai state thinking that it was over.

Byakuya, though exhausted as well, remained standing. He had to find his sister to finish what he had set out to do. "Rest for now Soi Fon, I'm sure Unohana will be on her-"

His sentence was cut short when a familiar presence began to rise from the crater. Their eyes widened in disbelief as they looked back to the gaping hole in the eart. "There's no way," said Soi Fon in horror. "How?"

Byakuya had the same feeling as his associate as only one word came to mind when he stared at the crater. "Impossible."

From behind the dust, a silhouette struggled to pick itself up from the ground. It stabbed the sword it carried into the ground for the person to keep its balance as it panted to catch its breath. Once the dust settled once more, it revealed none other than Ichigo, struggling to keep up his own weight as liters of blood leaked from his body.

He looked up at the two Captains with the flame of determination still very much in his eyes as he wiped a bit of blood off his mouth with his sleeve. At this point, it was just his pure willpower that kept him standing on his own two feet.

"…Ow," he snidely remarked.

Byakuya was relieved to see the condition that the teen was in. He then outstretched his hand to have a sword then materialized in it as the two gave glaring looks at each other. "Impressive, Kurosaki," he began. "You managed to survive a blast that could kill anyone of us Captains.

"What did I tell you before?" Ichigo smirked. "Never assume when you're facing against me."

"I have indeed learned that today, but as you can see you are no longer in the condition to fight. This is the end of the road for you."

Yoruichi, who was now hiding in a ditch from one of the unrooted trees, was now ready to jump in to rescue Ichigo.

Just as she was about to leave the ditch, she heard Ichigo begin to chuckle softly.

Byakuya raised and eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Do you remember when you asked me what had happened to my mask, Byakuya?"

Everyone's eyes narrowed at the sudden question.

"I do remember, yes. What relevance does that have with this?" he answered.

"I answered your question by saying that it wasn't my power, and that I didn't need it," Ichigo continued, ignoring the Captain's last question. "I guess I was wrong."

"What are you saying?" shouted Soi Fon. "That you're going to bring him back out again?"

Yoruichi's heart nearly stopped when she heard the proclamation. After seeing that 'thing' completely annihilate Soi Fon with little to no effort, she wasn't going to allow it to be set free. It was psychotic, a rampaging animal with no self-control. Yoruichi was not willing to see it harm anyone again.

Ichigo just gave a smirk that made everyone's blood run cold. "I'm not bringing Zangetsu out, no."

A sigh of relief escaped both women upon hearing this while Byakuya remained tense.

"I'm bringing out something much worse." A blast of pressure burst from Ichigo as black reiatsu began to swirl around him like a vortex. The energy moved like lightning, jagged and static. The color had changed once again. Instead of a crimson red outline, it was now an illuminate blue.

The reiatsu was suffocating. It was far beyond anything they had ever faced before. What was this power?

"Allow me to answer your question," Ichigo said calmly. His voice had become bizarre, like there was a faint gargling that echo every word he said. "This reiatsu you're feeling is Zangetsu's and my own combined into one." He raised his hand over his face and gathered the blue and black reiatsu into the palm of his hand. "And this…"

The energy quickly surrounded his face entire face leaving on his eyes visible to see. His deep brown irises turned glowing yellow, and the whites of his eyes had become black. Ichigo brought his hand down to expose a white mask with red stripe markings on the left side of it.

"This is where my mask went."

No one could believe their eyes as they stared in awe at the raw power that Ichigo was displaying. A feeling of hopelessness soon over took both Captains' senses as they stood frozen in fear.

"Now you see," Ichigo said in his distorted voice as he gripped his katana with both hands and pointed it towards the two Captains, "you never stood a chance to begin with." He took a deep breath as he gathered the circling energy into the obsidian blade.

A bright blue aura built up around the hybrid's blade. Zangetsu emitted a low hum from the sheer amount of energy being built up in the zanpakuto. It was so immense that it caused the blade to vibrate somewhat.

"Gekkou," he said in a hush voice. The blue and black energy around him began to gather to the slim sword before moving to the tip. A small sphere of energy, no larger than a baseball, appeared at the tip. "Hakai."

Within the next instant, the ball of energy blasted huge ray of blue and black energy towards the two Captains. All they saw was an intense glow rushing towards them. They were sitting ducks watching wide eyed as their lives flashed before their eyes. They were soon swallowed up by the attack, disappearing from sight, like everything else.

Yoruichi watched in both amazement and horror at the blast of reiatsu that seemed to cut the cliffside in half. She was amazed at how powerful Ichigo had becoming in just three days. She was having a hard time believing that the innocent boy whom she teased so much was capable of so much. But that wasn't the only thing she was on her mind.

A small rise of concern popped into her head as began to realize that her two former pupils were caught in the blast. shapeshifter wasn't sure if they were alive or not. After an attack like that, it was most likely that they had vanished with their surroundings.

It took a few seconds for the attack to fade into the air. But once it did, it revealed a large scar in the earth that cracked the cliffside in half and two collapsed bodies lying on the ground. Ichigo turned around and cupped his hand in front of his mouth. "Don't worry, Yoruichi!" he shouted, "I didn't kill them!"

He faced back towards the two Captains and noticed that Byakuya shifted ever so slightly. "I think it's time I got some answers."

Byakuya struggled to move across the ground as he reached for his zanpakuto only to have a sword be stabbed right in between him and it at the last second. "Sup asshole," said a distorted voice. He looked up to see the mask wearing Ichigo staring down at him with his yellow eyes. "I think it's time we talk for a bit."

Ichigo kicked the zanpakuto away from the broken and beaten Captain as he sat down cross legged in front of him with Zangetsu stabbed in the ground beside him. He dispelled the mask so that they could have a face to face conversation. "So… tell me, why are you so insistent about killing your sister?" his voice returned to normal.

Byakuya just gave him an angered glare as his teeth were clamped shut. "Come on man, I beat you fair and square. It's time to give a little about your back story. That's how these things work."

"Why do you want to know? I've already told you, you'd never understand."

"At least let me hear you out. Then I'll be the judge of that."

Byakuya let out a sigh of defeat. He knew there was no way around it. Ichigo was going to keep bugging him until either he told him, or he'd die from blood loss. Seeing as there were no other options, he'd much rather die at peace than to die annoyed.

"Sinners must be brought to justice," Byakuya began. "Once their punishment is decided, it must be carried out. That is the law."

"So it's all because of the law? You'd kill your own sister just to uphold it?"

"Sympathy towards relatives? It's worthless." Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Compared to the law, feeling means nothing. I don't have much worthless sentiments like that to begin with. The Kuchiki family is one of the Four Great Noble Clans. We serve as examples to all Soul Reapers. Who would enforce our laws if we didn't uphold them?"

Ichigo stared long and hard at the fallen Captain as the gear turned in his head. "Yup," he finally said. "You were right, I don't understand a thing."

Byakuya let out a small laugh. "Figures."

Ichigo opened his mouth to continue, but suddenly closed it shut when he realized what Byakuya had just done. "Did you just laugh?"

"No."

"You totally did!"

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Oh, right. If I was in your position…" he paused for dramatic effect, "I would fight the law." Byakuya stared at him like he had grown two more heads which slightly worried Ichigo. "What? Is there something on my face?"

It all suddenly clicked in Byakuya's mind. He wasn't Ichigo's true enemy. He had been fighting Soul Society's laws from the beginning. He gave a small half smirk as he laid his head against the ground to look up at the sky. "No, there's nothing at all."

Ichigo gave a warm smile. "You know, underneath all that stoic bull crap, you're not such a bad guy."

"You're not too bad yourself, Kurosaki." A shocked look came over the teen as he stared at the Kuchiki in surprise. Did he just get complimented by Byakuya? "If only you weren't such a brat."

A tick mark appeared on Ichigo's, but he refrained himself from further injuring the Captain and stared off into the skyline. Yoruichi had heard the entire thing surprised, but happy at how well the two were able to communicate with one another. She decided to invite herself in, surprising Byakuya a bit with her presence.

"Hello, boy," she said with a playful smirk.

Byakuya just gave a hateful stare seeing as he couldn't do much else. This earned a small giggle from Yoruichi as she sat beside Ichigo and rested her head on his shoulder. It wasn't in a romantic way. The intent was more for the sake of a resolution. A chance to breathe after everything that she had seen Ichigo go through.

The three rested in complete silence as the sound of the wind blew past their ears on the hill top. It was nice. For the first time, no one was trying to kill each other. It was just them enjoying the moment.

After a little while Ichigo sensed several familiar presences approaching. Yoruichi caught wind of this as well as she lifted her head and looked for the oncoming group coming to them. A bright smile appeared on Ichigo's face as he saw who they were. "Inoue! Chad, Ishida, Ganju! You guys are alright!"

"Well, we're really not alright, but compared to how beaten up you are, we're like unharmed," said the Quincy.

Ichigo let out a chuckle. "Yeah, but if it weren't for my regeneration abilities, I'd be in a much worse condition." He looked behind them to see the two friends he had made along the way. "Oh! Isane, Hanatarou! You guys made it too!"

Hanatarou smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, we were all broken out by Zaraki."

Ichigo grinned. "I'm just glad to see you again."

He then turned to Orihime only to see her pouting childishly as she stared at Yoruichi. "Um, Inoue?" called Ichigo.

"Hmm, yeah?" she said, breaking her out of the gaze, returning her to her normal bubbly personality.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" she then stared back at Yoruichi with a concerned look on her face. "I was just wonder who this woman was. After all she did save you," she said, referencing the time when Ichigo first fought Byakuya on the bridge.

"Okay first of all, I could have taken him," he said with full confidence causing the one's who knew better to roll their eyes. Ichigo then lazily pointed his thumb at the dark skinned woman. "And to answer your question, that's Yoruichi."

All the Ryokas' eyes widened in disbelief as their eyes moved to Yoruichi in unison. The woman just gave them all a cheeky grin, pleased to see all of their surprised faces. "Hi how you doing?"

"EEEHHHHHH!?" the whole group shouted simultaneously.

"Ow, my ears," thought Ichigo, rubbing his ear.

Orihime was the first to break free from her trance as she suddenly appeared in different areas areas around the shapeshifter, examining extensively. "Are you really Yoruichi?" she asked curiously as she looked all over Yoruichi.

"Yup, the one and only."

The auburn haired girl stared at her with gleaming eyes as she seemed to be incredibly bewildered by that information. "Wow, you're so beautiful and cool!" she said.

Ichigo watched this interaction with a deadpan look on his face. "I just destroyed an entire cliffside and defeated two Captains at the same time, and this is what she finds amazing?" he muttered before slouching over in defeat.

"Don't be discouraged," said a voice as a hand pat him on the back. Turning around, he saw Isane with a bright smile on her face. "You did an amazing job!"

He was not prepared for such a shining smile as a small blush appeared on his face. He quickly stepped out of the Lieutenant's reach and gave a nervous chuckle. "Uhmm, thanks Isane," he said while apprehensively scratching his cheek.

Isane was a bit confused by Ichigo reaction but decided not to further the carrot top's in discomfort. "Oh yeah, Isane," announced Ichigo as he snapped his finger. The lieutenant immediately stood at attention at the mentioning of her name. "You think you could heal up Byakuya?"

Both her and Byakuya were a bit surprised by the request. Isane felt a bit reluctant to do so. "But why? Isn't he supposed to be the enemy? Wasn't he trying to kill you almost a little less than a minute ago?" The Captain remained silent in understanding.

"Yeah, so?" Ichigo pursed his lips as he shrugged. "That doesn't mean I want to see him die. He was only following orders. Besides," he looked back at the laying body of Byakuya, "if you're not gonna do it for me or for him, do it for Rukia. I'd hate to tell her than I killed her brother."

Both parties remained silent. In the end, Isane nodded her head and complied. She couldn't find it in her heart to argue with Ichigo. He was just too kind for her to get frustrated with.

She got down on her knees beside Byakuya and extended her hands above the fallen Captain. A green aura appeared around both of them indicating that she was beginning the healing process. Both Shinigami remained silent as the healing progressed, neither of them daring to look each other in the eye in fear of one's opinion from another.

"I'm sorry," Byakuya suddenly said.

"What?" replied Isane, wondering if she heard him correctly, but the Captain remained reluctant on repeating himself. Understanding the situation, a small smile appeared on her face as she returned her focus on healing the injured Captain. Hanatarou came in as well to help Isane make the healing progress quicker. That seemed to brighten the mood even more.

Ichigo watched as the tension between them loosened a little bit before letting out a sigh of relief. He then returned his gaze to Yoruichi and Orihime who was still staring amazed at the mocha skinned woman.

"Orihime!" he called for her attention. The two immediately turned to face the hybrid with wondering faces. "Can you heal Soi Fon over there?" he said directing towards the unconscious Captain laying face first into the ground.

Orihime stared at the fallen figure for a little bit before turning around and giving a childish salute. "Roger that!" she said cheerfully before skipping over to the woman's side.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile at how Inoue still managed to keep her cheery attitude, even after all that she may have been through. "I bet she'd really make someone a happy man someday," he thought to himself.

Meanwhile:

Her eyes opened to an unfamiliar place. A rather scenic area filled with millions of lush flowers of all kinds all around as she found herself standing on the only hilltop in sight. "What is this place?" The woman said to herself as she examined the area.

"Hey Soi Fon," came a calm, friendly voice from behind her. She spun around to see who it was, only to find that the person standing before her was none other than the infamous Ryoka, Ichigo Kurosaki. He was still wearing his Bankai attire, but no longer had his Hollow mask nor did he have his zanpakuto. "Good to see you alive and well," he said with a rather charming smile.

Almost immediately, Soi Fon took a defensive stance. She was not convinced by anything in the situation she was in. She reached for her zanpakuto only for her to noticed that it was missing as well. She quickly turned her glare back to Ichigo with narrowed eyes. "What is this place, and what are you doing here?"

"Relax," Ichigo chuckled, "this is nothing more than a mere dream you are having."

The Captain scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself Ryoka. As if I would ever have a dream about you."

Ichigo gave her a deadpan look, "Then how do you explain all this then?" Soi Fon just gave a small huff before realizing the silliness of her thoughts. "You certainly are an uptight woman, you know that?"

"I don't need to hear that from you, Ryoka," she shot back.

"Oof, already off to a bad start I see," Ichigo said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. He then gave a peculiar look at Soi Fon, which did not go unnoticed by her.

"What is? Is there something wrong?" she said curiously, seeing as his gaze was more observing than anything else.

The teen waved his hands in front of him while giving a goofy smile. "No, no, nothing's wrong. It's just…"

Soi Fon raised an eyebrow, waiting for the teen to give a response. "Well?... Out with it?"

"I wish that you wouldn't carry yourself like that," he finally said.

Her eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" he said as he tried to find the right words to explain himself. "I see that you're trying to be something. Trying to break out of a shadow that has been covering you for so long. You keep putting on this stoic act thinking that that it will help you escape from it, but really, you keep finding yourself in the same spot."

A frustrated look came upon her face upon hearing this information. "What nonsense are you spouting out? I am not putting on an act, this is just who I am." She crossed her arms in a huff before turning her back on the teen.

Ichigo remained quiet as he stared straight into her eyes, examining them for every ounce of detail. "It's about Yoruichi, isn't it?"

Almost instantly, the woman's eyes widened at the mentioning of Yoruichi's name. She turned around and gave a despising glare at the Ryoka. "What do you know about my relationship with Yoruichi?"

"More than you think," he chuckled before looking off to the side. "While I trained with her, she would sometimes mention to me this student she once had in her time as a Captain. One that always proved to be one of the best among the best. She even went as far as to deem that student as the closest to becoming her equal." He turned his head back to face the petite woman. "That student was you, Soi Fon."

She stood there in absolute astonishment from the words she was hearing. Her? Equal to Yoruichi? Did she really think that highly of her? It was all so much to process, she didn't know if she could handle it.

"Yoruichi told me that if she wanted to bring you with her, she would. But she didn't want you to be put in any kind of danger that she may have faced. She knew it was selfish of her, but she just couldn't bare to see you hurt. That is why she left without you."

She found her eyes beginning to swell up with emotion as she failed to contain them. To know that she actually meant something to the person who she devoted her life to all those years ago, and to know that she still does. It was like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders.

How embarrassing. Here she stood, a Captain, crying in front of a Ryoka. She knew she would never forgive herself for such actions later, but for now, none of that mattered.

Ichigo smiled happily. "Now I can see it."

"See what?" sniffled Soi Fon.

"You are finally becoming your own person." He stretched out his arms invitingly. "Need a hug?" he offered.

Soi Fon didn't show any signs of a response as she stared blankly at the teen's open arms. She wanted to hold back, to not give in to her instincts, but her emotions were far stronger than any logic she could muster. The Captain, without a word, ran up to the teen, body slamming her petite body into Ichigo's hug.

The teen just chuckled as the woman stood crying into his chest. Gently, he began to rub the top of her head soothingly to calm her down.

"It's okay, just let it out," he said comfortingly. "You don't need to keep it in anymore."

After a few minutes, her sniffling gradually came to a stop, but she still held onto the boy tightly. "Why was it you?" Soi Fon suddenly said, her voice muffled in Ichigo's clothing.

"Hmm?"

Soi Fon looked up into Ichigo's soothing brown eyes. "Why was it you to tell me all this? Why wasn't it Yoruichi herself?"

Ichigo just shrugged unknowingly, "I don't know. I'm just in the dream, you're the one making it."

It took a bit of time for the words to process in her head before it finally clicked in her head. She was dreaming of Ichigo… Wait, she was dreaming of Ichigo? Why was she dreaming about Ichigo!? That didn't make any sense!

The first time they met, she had almost killed him only to have him almost kill her. It just didn't make any sense.

Her face became a hot mess as a rather obvious blush tinted her cheeks with a bright pink color that anyone could have noticed. Her mind was rushing for an answer. Anything that could be logical, only to always fall short. As ideas and questions ran rampant in her mind, Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction.

"Whoa, whoa Soi Fon, take it easy. Our relationship hasn't gotten to that point yet. Let's start things off simple." He extended his hand out in front, gesturing for a handshake. "Friends?" he said with an endearing smile that seemed to brighten the very area around his face.

Soi Fon looked hesitantly at the gesture. She had tried multiple attempts at killing this boy, and yet, here he stood, hand extended, asking to be friends with the assassin that had previously tried to kill him. After some careful thought, Soi Fon saw no better option than to accept the gratuitous offer as she reached for his hand and shook it.

"Friends," she said with a half grin.

There was something different about the teen as she shook his hand that she had only just noticed. Ichigo's behavior seemed a lot more upbeat, and much less cocky compared to their previous encounters. His attitude reminded her of an energetic puppy seeing its owner come back home. It was rather adorable in her honest opinion, but she would never allow anyone else to know of it.

"Awesome!" exclaimed the teen. "Now it's time for you to wake up."

"Pardon?"

Small particles began to float up into the air in front of her, like pollen leaving the flower in the spring. She looked down only to notice that those particles were pieces of her body. Soi Fon looked back up to see Ichigo waving goodbye to her as she quickly began to dissipate. "It was nice to finally talk to you," he said.

Soon, the Captain was nothing more than pollen in the wind, disappearing from the realm of her dream. Later Ichigo also met the same fate, except his was much more sudden. Once he was gone, a small figure emerged from underneath the flower bed. It was a tiny woman clad in mostly yellow, and some black. Her attire resembling that of a wasp's exoskeleton.

"Well, well, well," said the tiny woman with a large grin on her face. "Looks like somebody's finally opening up their heart."

Snap Back to Reality: (Oh, there goes gravity)

Soi Fon eyes snapped to find herself in an orange, translucent dome surrounding her. She turned her head a bit to the left to see a young, auburn haired girl with her hands extended to the dome. The girl quickly noticed this and gave the Captain a warm smile.

She looked down at herself and saw that almost all of her wounds had disappeared. Surprised, she looked backed to the smiling, young female. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"Oh! No worries!" she said before giving a sheepish giggle.

Soi Fon herself gave a weak smile at the girl's attitude as she rested her head against the stone ground. "Well, look who decided to finally wake up," a female voice said from her other side. She had heard the voice before. She recognized it all too well. The voice of the person she had devoted her life to all those years ago.

The captain immediately turned her head to see the source of the voice to see exactly the person she had expected. The beautiful dark skinned woman who she deeply admired. The state she found herself in was utter disbelief as she could only mutter one word. "Yo… Yoruichi."

The woman just gave her a warm smile as the two looked into each other's eyes for a good amount of time. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like it just enough for the two to connect once more.

"Good to see you're awake!" exclaimed yet another familiar voice, this time from behind Yoruichi. Tilting her head slightly up to see who had spoken to see the orange haired Ryoka himself, Ichigo Kurosaki. "Yo," he said as he gave a warm smile and a two fingered salute.

The memories of Soi Fon's dream came flooding into her mind as she stared into the hybrid's eyes. A faint blush gradually began to appear on her face, forcing her to turn away so that the two wouldn't see her in such a shameful position.

"You alright?" asked Ichigo a bit concerned. "You seem to be blushing a bit."

"It's nothing," she said in a huff head still turned away from the teen.

Ichigo raised his eyebrow. "Mmm," he hummed with suspicion in his voice.

Before anything else could happen… well… something else happened. There was a sudden pick up of wind near their location as a dome of white cloth suddenly appeared before unraveling to reveal Rukia in a coughing Renji's arms with a new, and unfamiliar figure standing beside them.

"What the hell was that?" exclaimed the confused red head. Their eyes widened as they saw the sight before them in utter disbelief. "We're… we're back at the Soukyoku Hill."

Ichigo immediately began shouting at Renji. "Renji, what the hell? You had one job!"

"Shut up!" he retorted. "It's not my fault!"

"Welcome, Abarai," spoke a new figure from behind him. Turning around, he saw Gin standing next to a man equal in height with messy brown hair, glasses, and a white haori.

Renji as well as Byakuya and Soi Fon's blood ran cold at the sight of him. Their body seemed to freeze in shock at the scene as the previously man who everyone thought was dead, was standing before them with a hauntingly calm smile gracing his lips. "Captain Aizen," spoke Renji in disbelief. "What's going on…"

Aizen's smile remained unchanged. "Please, put down Rukia and leave."

Renji was in too much shock to move a single muscle as he stared, astonished at the fact that the man before him was still alive. "But how? How are you still alive? More importantly, what do you want from Rukia?"

The smile on Aizen's lips fell as it was replaced with a look of peculiarity. "Strange. You were supposed to listen to me," he said sounding rather disappointed by the result of his demand. "Put down Rukia and leave."

From the sidelines, Ichigo was not having any of it. "What the fuck is this? Who the fuck are you? What the fuck is going on?" he exclaimed in a rather panicked voice.

As if by sheer coincidence, a calm, motherly voice began to speak from within everyone's head. "Those of Captain, Lieutenant, and seated position as well as the Ryoka, this is Captain of the Fourth Division Unohana Retsu. This is an emergency message. Everything I'm about to tell you is true."

After a few minutes of listening to the message, Ichigo lifted Zangetsu and rested it on his shoulder and moved in front of Renji. His bangs overshadowed his eyes as his scowl grew much deeper in his face. "I think I see the situation now. So, you're the guy who's behind all this, and who's ass I need to kick."

Aizen let out a small chuckle as he smiled amusingly at the hybrid. "I guess you could say that. However, I'm running on a rather tight schedule, but you're welcome to try."

"Well then," he lifted his head to reveal piercing, golden irises replacing his usual warm brown ones, "don't mind if I do."

In a quick burst, Aizen found Ichigo directly in front of him with his obsidian sword at aiming right towards Aizen's chest. The man's smile suddenly disappeared as his expression was replaced with a look of seriousness. He quickly drew his zanpakuto and stunted the jab using the flat side of his blade.

He was surprised. He hadn't anticipated Ichigo to be so in sync with his Hollow abilities and become so powerful. "Fascinating, Gin did not inform me of this. You've far surpassed my expectation, Kurosaki," said Aizen as the two found themselves in a deadlock.

Ichigo's eyes were filled with raw anger as they glared with flames at his opponent. "You're the reason Rukia got caught in this mess! If it wasn't for you, Rukia wouldn't have had to go through all of this, you bastard!"

A sinister smile reappeared on the Captain's face. "My, how quick you are to assume that its all my fault. Did Kisuke tell you nothing?" A confused look appeared on Ichigo's face upon hearing those words which caused the man to give his sinister chuckle once again. "Weren't you ever curious as to why Kisuke wanted you to save Rukia so badly?"

Having heard enough and seeing that his push wasn't getting him anywhere, Ichigo jumped back to get himself out of the stalemate. As he did this, he saw three blurs pass him, all aiming towards the monotone Captain. In less than a second, five different people appeared near Aizen. Byakuya, Soi Fon, and Yoruichi all tried to take advantage of the situation, but their pursuit was stopped by the other two traitors: Gin and the dark skinned man.

"My, my, so impulsive. Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to interrupt." Gin said mockingly as he stared down Soi Fon causing her to growl.

Byakuya and Tousen glared wordlessly at one another as they stood in an impasse with neither one of them willing to use more strength than necessary.

Aizen stood smiling calmly at the situation as his zanpakuto was raised, holding back the attack made by the Goddess of Flash. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Yoruichi?" he said ominously.

"I'd figure you were going to make a move sooner rather than later," she replied.

"Your intuition was correct. However, that isn't going to change anything."

Yoruichi's eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen. "Everyone, get back!" she warned as she jumped back. But the others couldn't react in time. Blood began spewing everywhere from the two loyal Captain's bodies as Aizen suddenly appeared behind them. She could see their eyes widen in terror before becoming lifeless as they fell like rag dolls to the dirt.

Yoruichi herself did not entirely escape the attack as a piece of her clothing had a large tear in it revealing a long gash where blood was leaking from underneath. She placed her hand on her wound out of pain as she then looked at it to see it covered in blood. She gave a low growl as she stood her ground.

Aizen still kept his composed smile on his face as he turned back to Ichigo who was still awestruck, trying to figure out how the Captain was able to pull off taking out two Captains almost simultaneously. "So Yoruichi hasn't mentioned a word about it to you either?" he asked.

"Shut your goddamn face!" Ichigo shouted in anger. "I don't want to hear another word out of you!"

"Oh, but Kisuke is the whole reason this is happening to Rukia," he said calmly. "He's the one who put her in danger. Wouldn't you like to hear why?"

"I don't give a damn!"

Aizen's expression turned into a look of pity. "Shame," he said, "But I presumed you'd be this stubborn."

Ichigo almost immediately sensed something was off. As he sensed Aizen's reiatsu, in a split second he felt two of the same presence in a different area of space, and one of them was fast approaching. Reacting as quickly as he could, he brought up his zanpakuto in front of him as if to block an absent attack, and sure enough, it connected.

Sparks flew from the impact of the collision as Ichigo found Aizen suddenly appearing directly in front of him. Aizen had an astounded look in his eyes as they almost seemed to gleam when they stared at Ichigo. "Marvelous," he said. "You are the closest thing to perfection that I've been trying so hard to find."

Ichigo grit his teeth as he tried to hold his ground against the unrelenting pressure of Aizen's attack. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Oh, so you do care to hear my story," he grinned. "All things have a limit placed on them. It is the simple law of nature. One thing can never be omnipotent to all things, and it is the same for Soul Reapers. What ever method you master, your reiatsu is bound to hit a wall. That's where the growth stops."

Ichigo suddenly felt the weight on his blade loosen up as Aizen calmly lifted is zanpakuto to and stepped back to give the hybrid space. The teen was confused by the sudden display as they both stood eye to eye with neither of them poised to attack each other. "However, there is one way of breaking that limit: the transformation of a Soul Reaper into a Hollow."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the man as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Yes," said the sinister man, "you're beginning to understand now. The concept had has existed in theory for a long time. I'd tired various experiments on fusing the two together. Hollows that could hide their reiatsu. A Hollow that can make a zanpakuto disappear by touching them. Even Hollows with the ability to fuse with Soul Reapers.

"But no matter my efforts, they never turned out right. Other researchers were bound by morality and stupidity, so no one made any sort of breakthrough. No one, except Urahara Kisuke. He created a device that reacts beyond the conventional physics of Soul Society. It could instantly dissolve the barrier between Hollow and Soul Reaper. That device was called the Hougyoku."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "So, does that make me your ideal result and what's this got to do with Rukia and Kisuke?"

"Indeed. You've far exceeded any expectation that I had for you. You're everything that I've been working so hard to seek. As for Rukia and Kisuke's involvement, Kisuke viewed his invention as dangerous so he sought to destroy it. However, he was unable to. In desperation, he put a barrier around his invention and buried it within the depths of a person's soul."

Ichigo's eyes widened upon realizing who that said person was. "You catch on quick, Ichigo," commended the captain. "The gigai he designed was meant to keep the Soul Reaper's power from ever recovering. Their control over that gigai would eventually become dull and would lead to them losing all their powers, and then change from Soul Reaper into a normal human spirit."

Aizen raised his hands to his waist height in front of him. "Do you see now, he had no intention of helping her. He was trying to turn Rukia into a human."

Ichigo's grip on Zangetsu tightened as he looked down at the ground with a somber look on his face. "Kisuke…"

"Not the man you thought he was, was he?" Aizen said rhetorically. "Now that you know the truth, I have one question for you, will you join me?"

Ichigo looked up, confused at the proposal. "What?" he nearly shouted. "Why the hell would I do that?"

Aizen let out a small laugh at the boy's reaction. "An understandable response. Allow me to elaborate. Originally, I presumed that you would be at war with your Hollow, always in conflict over who has control over your body. But now I see that you've moved passed that and accept the Hollow that resides within you as your own strength. As I said before, you are everything that I've been looking for and I can see that your strength will only increase exponentially which would make you extremely valuable for me. I see that you want more strength, more power to protect your friends and family. You deem yourself as strong enough, but as you will soon see, you are not. If you join me, I can grant you that wish, and your friends will be out of harms way."

Ichigo still had a skeptical look on his face which was to be expected as it was a choice, with no force swaying him to either side. That was until Aizen added one extra piece of information. "However, if you don't join me, all of your friends will be much more involve in my plan."

Upon hearing this, Ichigo grit his teeth in frustration. His fists clenched as his mind raced for an answer. He could join them to keep his loved ones safe; to make everything as quick and as painless as possible. He could do all the wrong thing for the right reasons. Ichigo couldn't bare to see his friends in pain. He couldn't. He won't.

"Aizen," said the hybrid, "I've come to an answer." Aizen lifted his head slightly indicate his interest. "I reject your offer!"

Aizen's smile slowly disappeared upon hearing Ichigo's response. "I see," the lenses on his glasses gleamed to block the disappointment in his eyes. "What a shame."

Suddenly Aizen found the orange haired teen appear in front of him with his sword raised, aiming for the man's shoulder. "This is the end for you."

The traitor's sinister smile suddenly appeared once again. "Not for me," he said.

Ichigo swung Zangetsu with as much force as he could, but something was off. At the last second, Aizen's reiatsu changed slightly. Noticing this, Ichigo immediately held back on his strike as the blade cut through the smiling man much shallower than he had originally intended it to be. The Captain chuckled as he looked at Ichigo with an unchanged expression. "You've already failed your friends."

The image of Aizen suddenly vanished to reveal none other than Isane with a dumbfounded look on her face. Blood began to leak from the wound and slowly seep into her clothing. "I…chi…go," she said weakly before falling to her knees and collapsing before to the ground.

"Isane!" he called out as he caught her in his arms. "No, no no no!" he cried as he tried to put pressure on the wound. Isane raised her hand up to Ichigo's face, cupping it soothingly. She gave a warm smile as if to comfort Ichigo.

"Ichi…go-" she lost her consciousness as her arm fell limply and all her muscles became loose.

Suddenly, the calm atmosphere around him fell apart as if he had been transported back into the real world. Everyone suddenly reappeared into reality as he found most of them lying lifelessly on the ground with the only person standing being Yoruichi.

The three remaining fighters were winded. Yoruichi was severely injured, with blood dripping off every corner of her body. Ichigo brought his attention to another sight. In the center of the cliffside stood Aizen beside a large man with an animal head, presumably a dog, or a fox. In front of him kneeled Rukia with a shocked expression on her face as if she had faced a near death experience. In the man's hand was a tiny gem that was barely the size of his thumb resting in his fingers.

"Remarkable, so much power in such a small thing," he said before pocketing the stone. He looked back at Rukia before lifting her up by the collar around her neck. "You are of no more use to me," he said, "Gin, kill her."

"Guess there's no helping it," said the teal haired man as he grabbed the handle of his zanpakuto. He drew his sword and aimed it at the collared female. "Shoot to kill, Shinsou."

The length of the blade shot forward towards its target at an incredible speed. Rukia watched in horror as the reflection of the sword grew larger and larger in her eyes. It was all happening so quickly that she couldn't even come up with any final thoughts as her impending doom approached her.

Yoruichi, seeing the blade shoot towards Rukia, used her Shunpo technique to launch herself to push the petite Soul Reaper out of harms way. But her movement was slowed down by her injuries. She knew she wouldn't make it in time, but she had to try.

In the very next second, blood began to spill onto the ground, but it wasn't Rukia's blood. Yoruichi stopped herself as she skidded to a halt to see the sight before her. Rukia was now sitting flat on the ground, completely out of harms way. Confused, she looked up to see Ichigo in her place with a sword running through his chest.

His eyes were overshadowed by his bangs as his face held an unreadable expression on his face. He showed no signs of pain, not even in the slightest, but there was one thing for sure. He was absolutely pissed. "Ichigo!" she screamed as she reached for Ichigo.

Suddenly, she was hit with a wave of reiatsu like none other she had ever felt before. It was monstrous, and wild, like a beast untamed. The pressure was too much for her to bear as she slipped out of consciousness and fell to the ground.

For those still awake, could not believe what they were feeling. This reiatsu was something beyond strength, this was something far more sinister. This reiatsu was the epitome of unadulterated rage.

Gin retracted his blade from the hybrid's chest, but the teen remained unfazed as he stood with the same expression on his face. He lifted his hand over his face and curled his fingers as if to claw his face. He was visibly shaking with anger as his muscles tensed up.

"Ichigo," Yoruichi whispered under her breath as she was too shaken to use her voice.

"AAARRRRRHHHHH!" Ichigo roared as he brought his hand down across his face to summon his Hollow mask once again. There was a massive burst of energy that resonated throughout the entire Seireitei. Even Aizen had to take a few steps back as he too grew a bit fearful of the situation.

"You bastard!" he said in his masked voice. "I'm gonna fucking kill you all!"

His voice was a lot more menacing than before. It almost sounded like it wasn't Ichigo at all, like had become an entirely different person. Even his mask underwent some changes. Now, it had grew, covering a bit more of his head. A thin line, no more than an inch wide had appeared directly over his right ear connecting to the edge of his mask. At the end of that line spouted a small nub of a horn from the side of his head.

"Well this can't be good," said Gin as he readied himself for combat.

"We no longer have the luxury of time," stated Aizen in all seriousness. "The others are coming."

As if on que, a large shadow appeared overhead. Aizen and Gin both looked up to see a large man with a woman on his shoulder. She seemed to be chanting something as they descended onto their position. Suddenly, a strike of lightning came crashing down on them. However, this didn't seem to bother them as they effortlessly jumped out of harm's way.

That was a big mistake.

With them being distracted by the sudden ambush, Ichigo suddenly appeared beside Aizen with Zangetsu low to the ground. In a swift motion. He brought the blade up across the Captain's chest injuring him severely. But that wasn't all. Ichigo had charged his blade with reiatsu and released it, flying straight towards the brown haired man.

Being unable to avoid it, he raised his own zanpakuto to block the strike before having it explode in his face. Seeing the situation beginning to go south, he lifted his index finger and began to chant. "A crest of turmoil swells. The vessel of madness grows insolent." As Aizen's two allies noticed this, they immediately recognized what to do. They positioned themselves between Ichigo in order to by time, for their mastermind.

"They boil, they deny, they become numb, they blink, and they impede slumber." The blades of the three Soul Reapers clashed with great force as they did everything in them to take the other one down. "The princess of iron crawls." Gin shot his sword at the teen once again only to have Ichigo avoid it like the wind as he charged at the Captain and sent him skidding across the ground with one kick. "The mud doll ceaselessly destroys itself!" Tousen launched a barrage of swords at Ichigo, only to have them be swiftly cut down in the next instant. "Unite! Revolt!" Ichigo launched himself and slammed his sword into Tousen's with enough force to make his hands go numb for a moment. "Be filled with earth and know your impotence!" Ichigo, still in his fit of fury, sent the blind man flying with a Getsuga Tenshou and immediately resumed his pursuit of Aizen. "Hadou number 90: Kurohitsugi!"

Suddenly, a large black box quickly began to envelope the enraged hybrid. Not caring about the thing surrounding him, Ichigo still charged at the man with a blood curdling roar that didn't even sound human and pounced. He stretched out his hand to grab Aizen's face, but was too late as the opening quickly closed and the black box sealed with the teen a mere foot away from the Captain's face.

"Ichigo!" shouted his allies as he disappeared from sight.

The black box expanded, exploding with reiatsu to signify the immense energy put into the technique. After a few seconds, the box vanished to reveal an exhausted and bloodied Ichigo with his mask slightly fractured. Despite all this, everyone was surprised to see him still standing on his two feet, albeit barely.

He began to tilt slightly before catching himself by stabbing his sword into the ground. "I'm," he panted. "I'm not done with you… yet."

The astonished look on Aizen's face slowly turned back into its calm, chilling smile. He saw the wounds already beginning to heal as the minor ones closed right before his eyes. "I'm afraid that it is, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Suddenly, multiple figures appeared out of nowhere all around them. Ukitake, Shunsui, Yamamoto, along with other Captains and Lieutenants. "You have nowhere to run Aizen," said Yoruichi as she gave a hate filled gaze at the traitor.

Gin picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off only to have a sword pressed against his neck. "Don't move," said the person holding the sword.

"Rangiku." He turned his head to look at her with dismay in his eyes. "Sorry Captain," he said, "it looks like I've been captured."

"It would appear so," Aizen chuckled as he looked up at the sky.

"What's so funny?" demanded Ichigo as his eyes narrowed.

"Did I mention my plan of escape?" he asked rhetorically. Just then a pillar of energy shot down from the sky around each one of the traitors.

Wondering where this source was coming from, everyone looked up to see a large crack in atmosphere. The crack grew wider in size before white claws broke through it revealing a horde of Menos Grandes. As each of the Hollows poked their head out of newly created hole, a large purple eye appeared behind them that was opened just a crack.

Soon, the three Captains as well as the ground below them began to lift into the sky. No one made an attempt to do anything as they knew now that it would be impossible to even touch the three as long as they were in the Negashion. They could do nothing except watch. Everyone except one.

As everyone watched, they suddenly felt the pressure of the wind beginning to shift. Confused, everyone looked to see where it was coming from. There before their eyes stood Ichigo with only a quarter of his Hollow mask covering his face and his sword held ready to slash at his waist. Surrounding his zanpakuto was the blue and black reiatsu from before emitting burning like fire around Zangetsu. In an instant the flames grew to massive proportions as they burned like thrusters, engulfing a large area behind him making everything have a blue glow around it. Even the sky became a darker shade of blue.

He looked up with anger still very much burning in his eyes. "I said, I'm not done with you yet!" He loaded his left leg before letting out a mighty war cry. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo flung the monstrous attack up to the sky, aiming it directly towards Aizen.

When the attack hit, the explosion was much larger and more violent than anyone had previously anticipated. The very air they breathed seemed to vibrate under the sheer ferocity of the attack as it possessed the force to rattle the entirety of Soul Society. Almost everyone was awestruck at the display of power before a torrent of wind blew past them, picking up dust and particles all around and sending them flying every which way.

They all had to lift their hands to prevent the dust from flying into their eyes, but they were still glued to the now dying explosion. Despite the power behind the attack however, the result was still the same. Aizen remained unharmed and the Negashion still intact.

"Aizen," Ukitake stepped forward in anger, "why have you joined the Menos?"

The traitor was silent at first as he glared at the sickly man with an unhappy expression on his face. "To search for greatness," he finally responded.

Ukitake gave a similar expression right back at the man. "Have you fall so low?"

"You're too arrogant, Ukitake. From the very beginning, no one was standing in Heaven," he explained. "Not you, not me, not even God." Aizen the proceeded to remove his glasses and run his hand through his hair. "But now, that emptiness shall end." His glasses shattered to pieces in his fingertips. "From here on out, I will stand in Heaven. Farewell, Soul Reapers."

He then turned his head to Ichigo who was still staring at him with hate filled eyes. "And farewell, Ichigo Kurosaki. I hope to meet you again soon." And just like that, the hole in the sky sealed shut, leaving no trace of it ever existing.

Hueco Mundo:

"That was really cutting it close there, Aizen," stated Gin, still feeling sore from the kick Ichigo gave him.

"A simple miscalculation," he replied before putting his hand on his bleeding chest.

"Well that 'miscalculation' almost got us all killed," Gin said in a matter of fact tone.

"I must agree with Ichimaru," added Tousen. "The boy's growth has far exceeded anything that we have previously imaged. He was even able to make a crack in the Negashion. He is still young, and he is only going to get stronger from here on out."

Aizen put his hand to his chin as he gently rubbed it with his index finger. "Indeed, I did not plan something like this." He then looked at Gin with a rather upset expression. "However, when you encountered Ichigo at the gate, you never informed me on how much more powerful he had become."

Gin just simply shrugged. "Didn't seem that important at the time. He was only able to block my shikai."

"At base form," Aizen corrected. "That didn't seem to alarm you in the slightest?"

Gin thought about it for a moment. "Huh, I guess that is rather peculiar. Sorry, my bad."

"Lord Aizen!" said a new voice from around the corner. A young male arrancar appeared before them, and kneeled at their presence. "Something has happened in your absence!"

"And what has happened?" Aizen said, unamused.

"It's the Espada! They've all been attacked!"

Each of the Soul Reapers raised an eyebrow at the announcement. Who had the courage to attack the only group of people that could take down the Seireitei? "Take us to them," ordered Aizen.

The arrancar bowed his head before standing up and guiding them through the hallways. As they passed through, they noticed holes of massive proportions in the walls around them. Some of them possessed singe marks while others were broken down by force. The whole scene seemed… chaotic.

Finally, after several minutes of walking, they found themselves at the doors of the infirmary. When they entered, they were met with an unpleasant sight. Most of the Espada had injuries all across their body with one of them having their arm dismembered. The only one that seemed unharmed was Ulquiorra.

Out of all of them, Harribel, the sole female Espada, was the most devastated by the situation. Her fraccion was nowhere to be seen which Aizen viewed as suspicious. Seeing the atmosphere in the room he approached Ulquiorra. The green eyed Espada looked up in surprised. "Lord Aizen, you're injured."

"Never mind me, what happened here?"

"We were ambushed by a creature of unknown origin and were swiftly picked off one by one. It's a miracle that it didn't kill any of us."

Aizen looked at the fourth Espada with suspicion. "What was this creature? A Hollow?"

"It possessed the appearance of one, however it lacked any visible hole on its body as well as its mask being black with yellow teeth."

The fugitive gave a look of concern as he scratched his chin in deep thought. "How did he get past all the Menos undetected?" he asked curiously.

"His reiatsu was incredibly well hidden. Only the top four Espada could sense him when he was outside the structure."

As the two, the lone female Espada sat worryingly in her seat with an empty look in her eye. Her whole Fraccion was lying unconscious in the medical beds beside her. She couldn't protect them from that 'thing'. He fists squeezed with anger.

If she crossed paths with that creature again, she had no intention of letting it live.

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A/N: I was contemplating whether I should have posted this on Christmas or edit it a bit more so that it would more cohesive for you guys to read to make myself not sound like an idiot. I was going to post this the day after Christmas, but the damn website wouldn't let me load my story so I apologize for such a late update. As you can tell, this was a long chapter too, hence why it took so long to make and post.

I'm a take a short break on this story so don't expect many updates next year, but don't worry; I won't abandon this story like all those other people on hiatus. After all the success and viewership of this story, there's no way I could leave this story behind. I'm not only doing this for myself, but for those who enjoy reading this. I freakin' love you guys/gals/whatever, I don't care.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and it's living up to your expectations, and feedback is always appreciated. Unless your complaining about the time between each chapter and the length of them, in which case, go fuck yourself. I do what I want!