Woot, I'm finally back from Canada! God, I hate traveling.

It's nice to be back, I hope I didn't make you wait too long. I'll get to the story in a moment but first, I'd like to give a shout out to the Iphone, for helping me stay in contact with .

I'd also like to give a shout out to Kira michi, for being one of the greatest Bleach authors ever. You all should read her story, Life is Full of Surprises. I personally think it's a wonderful story, now if only she could get her computer working so that she could keep writing.

But seriously, go read it!

Anyway, enjoy the story

Chapter 11

A Call to Help, A Roar of Rage

Kuroda knew that there was a reason that he hadn't totally agreed with Kisuke's plan, and that reason was lying down just five feet in front of him.

Ichigo was in terrible shape.

Kisuke and Tessai had done a good job in patching him up, but the fact is the kid almost died that night. Ichigo must have been made of something real tough, because he'd somehow gotten out of at least 3 life threatening injuries in the past 2 weeks.

Now Kuroda had to wait for him to wake up, at the moment he was passing the time by figuring out how to break it to Ichigo that Rukia was slated for execution.

"Poor guy," he murmured, "not every day you find out your friend is going to die soon."

It was just then that Ichigo began to stir and start mumbling random things, though they mostly related to Rukia.

"Is he waking up?"

Kuroda turned to see Tessai at the door, a tray of medicine in his hands.

"I think so, he's starting to stir," replied Kuroda,

"Hm, he's quite remarkable to have recovered so quickly," Tessai observed, "well, if he's going to wake up. I must make sure that he's recovered thoroughly."

"How are you goi-" Kuroda stopped himself when he saw the large man crawl into Ichigo's bed and align his face directly above Ichigo's.

"Uh…that might not be such a good idea," he mumbled,

As it turns out, Ichigo chose that moment to wake up, and of course he screamed, very loudly.

"Ohh, instant reaction," observed Tessai, "Very good!"

Ichigo immediately pushed the large man away from his face, screaming, "Too close! Too close! Too close!"

"Boss! You wanted to know when the kid woke up!" shouted Tessai, "well he's awake!"

"Hey, I've seen you before! You're one of Sandal-hat's people!" screamed Ichigo,

Kuroda felt a sweat drop roll down his head as he watched to strange scene unfold before him.

"Why the hell are you in my bed? GET OUT!" demanded Ichigo before finally kicking Tessai off of him and onto the other side of the room.

"Well, you seem to have recovered nicely," said Kuroda,

"Huh? Kuroda?" said Ichigo as he turned to face him,

"Yo, good to see you'll live," replied Kuroda,

"Wh-" Ichigo was cut off as pain suddenly lanced through his shoulder, he reflexively gripped it as he clenched his teeth.

"Don't strain yourself," warned Kuroda,

"Wh-Where am I?" asked Ichigo through a pained voice,

"You're in my shop,"

The two of them looked towards the door to see Kisuke walking in, fan held in front of his face.

"Sandal hat, this is your place?" asked Ichigo,

"Exactly!"

"Then, you're the one who saved me," Ichigo deduced, though he seemed less than thrilled.

"Not what I was expecting," said Kisuke, "it sounds like you didn't want to be saved."

Ichigo chose to remain silent as he remembered the fight that had nearly taken his life.

"Hey," he said, "Uryu was there too, where is he?"

"He went home," said Kuroda as he stood up and walked next to Kisuke, "He lost a lot of blood, but his wounds weren't too serious. Kisuke managed to treat him on the spot. He was pretty worried about you."

"Uryu was worried about me? The blood loss must have affected his thinking," said Ichigo.

"I offered to let him rest in my shop," said Kisuke, "but he said was fine and went on home. He also said that you were the only one that could save Rukia."

Kuroda saw Ichigo wince, the memory of his loss still fresh in his mind.

"I'm supposed to save her?" chuckled Ichigo, "How am I supposed to do that? She's gone back to Soul Society, how am I supposed to save her from their?"

"There's no way to save her?" continued Ichigo, "NO WAY!"

"Ichigo, shut up," Kuroda finally said, this didn't sound like the Ichigo he knew, the one that he knew would never spout this nonsense.

"What?"

"Do you really think there's no way?" Kisuke calmly asked, "absolutely no way to get to Soul Society?"

"Is there?" asked Ichigo with renewed hope, "What do I do? Please tell me! How do I get there?"

"I'll tell you," said Kisuke, "But I have just one condition."

"Condition?"

"Yup," said Kisuke, "Ten days, starting now, you have to train with me and hone your skills in fighting."

"Train? We don't have time for that," shouted Ichigo, "We don't know when Rukia will be killed over there! We've got to get to Soul Society as soon as possible and-"

"You just don't get it do you" interrupted Kisuke, with a swift push of his cane, Ichigo fell to the floor flat on his back.

Kisuke knelt down and calmly said, "With the way you are now, you will most surely die there."

"He's right Ichigo," said Kuroda, hoping his friendship with the Ichigo would calm him down, "can't you feel it? You are no longer a shinigami. You're just a regular human again. You couldn't beat those other shinigami when you had power, do you think you can beat them as a regular human?"

Ichigo could see no way around Kuroda's logic, he was right. It would be suicide to go as he was.

"If you're worried about time, then I have good news for you," said Kisuke as he stood up, "Soul Society customarily takes a one month grace period before execution of death row prisoners. Rukia should be no exception."

"Really?"

"That means we'll have 10 days to train you, 7 days to open the gate to Soul Society," summarized Kisuke, "leaving us with 13 days once we get there to save Rukia. That will be plenty of time."

Ichigo seemed to finally relax, that small spark of hope finally igniting in his heart.

"Can I really get stronger in 10 days?" Ichigo asked Kuroda,

"Knowing you," said Kuroda, "absolutely."

"Leave your doubts behind you Ichigo," said Kisuke, "Can you train with me for 10 days to prepare yourself for the game of life and death?"

"Do you need to ask?"

Kuroda smirked, now that was the Ichigo he knew.

17 days later

It was finally the day, Kuroda didn't know who was more anxious, him or Ichigo.

For Ichigo, it was the day that he would finally use all of his training and go to save the woman who'd given him the power to protect his family.

For Kuroda, it was the day that he'd be walking back over the shattered memories of his past. It'd be hard for him not to suddenly start tearing the place to pieces.

He often wondered if his two friends shared similar feelings about their former home.

He decided to push away the thoughts for now and focus on the task at hand.

Currently, he waited in a dimly lit street, waiting for Ichigo.

The kid had improved dramatically in a very short amount of time, not only had he made contact with his zanpaktou, but he'd greatly improved his fighting abilities.

Kuroda for his part had helped Yoruichi train Chad and Orihime. Their unique abilities and friendship with Ichigo would make them invaluable assets in his mission.

It had been a bit hard to help them bring out their powers at will, but eventually they succeeded and using them became as natural as breathing air.

The sudden sounds of footsteps interrupted Kuroda's thoughts; he looked down the street to see Ichigo calmly walking towards him.

When he reached Kuroda, he took a moment to stop.

"You ready?" asked Kuroda,

"Yeah," replied Ichigo,

With that said the two of them headed towards Kisuke's shop.

"You don't have to come along," said Ichigo as they walked,

"That's where you're wrong Ichigo," replied Kuroda, "I have my own reasons for going as well, I won't be there just to help you save Rukia."

"Whatever you say, I just want you to know that I appreciate all the help you've given me."

"Don' mention it."

The two of them finally arrived at Kisuke's store, with Kisuke waiting out front. Much to Ichigo's surprise, Chad was there as well.

"Ichigo, your right on time," Kisuke said happily, "Very good, very good,"

"Chad! What are you doing here?" asked Ichigo,

"Rukia once saved my life," replied the tall man, "I'm going as well."

"Huh? Wait…what?" stuttered Ichigo,

"What, they didn't tell you?" asked a new voice,

Ichigo turned around to see Uryu, dressed in white robes.

"Uryu?"

"I can't let it end with me losing to those shinigami," explained Uryu, "I'm going as well."

"Now we're all here," said yet another voice.

Ichigo turned again to see Orihime, dressed in a pink shirt and white jogging pants.

"Pleased to be working with you," she said with a quick bow,

By now, Ichigo was very confused, "Wai…hold on, wha-wha-what? What is all this?"

"He's pretty slow, isn't he?" said a new voice,

Kuroda was not looking forward to how Ichigo would react to this one.

A midnight black cat stepped into the ring of friends, showing off its sentience as it said, "are you sure we can rely on him Kuroda?"

"Yoruichi!" squealed Orihime,

"Absolutely," said Kuroda, "I'd bet my life on this guy."

"And yet he hasn't noticed the power that has emerged in all of his friends," pointed out the feline,

"He kind of sucks at that," said Kuroda in a low and somewhat embarrassed tone.

"A…A CAT TALKED!" screamed Ichigo,

'Great, now he'll be down before the mission even starts,' thought Kuroda as his friend began to freak out.

"It's not a cat," said Orihime as she picked up the talking feline, "it's Yoruichi!"

'If only they knew how right she was,' he thought to himself.

"I guess it is pretty surprising," admitted Uryu,

"This was their first meeting," Chad pointed out,

"Don't worry," said Kuroda, as he put a hand on the shorter man's shoulder, "you'll get used to it eventually."

"Alright, alright, enough fun and games," said Kisuke as he clapped to get everyone's attention, "let's get inside already, we're not going to save Rukia by standing outside all night."

Kuroda grunted in agreement and eagerly walked into the store.

As Orihime started to walk in, she heard Ichigo call out her name.

"Orihime,"

"Huh?"

"How much have you heard?" asked Ichigo, a stern look plastered on his face, "I mean…it's going to be pretty dangerous."

Orihime smiled and said, "I promised Tatsuki, that I'd follow you and that I'd come home no matter what."

Ichigo's eye visibly widened with surprise.

Having nothing more to say, he followed his friends into the store.

Once they were inside, things started getting…weird.

"Wow!" Orihime stared in awe at Kisuke's underground secret lab, "Such a huge space under the store, it's so cool! Like a secret base!"

"Really?" asked Ichigo, a bit annoyed that she'd been impressed by such a thing.

Tessai on the other hand…

"What a magnificent reaction," cried Tessai as he held the girls hand and held a tissue to his eye as tears comically fell, "I, Tessai, am deeply moved!"

"You actually hang out with these guys?" asked Ichigo, a little disturbed.

"Uh, not really," replied Kuroda, who was equally disturbed.

"Alright, your attention please," shouted Kisuke, "all eyes over here!"

With the snap of his fingers, a large square made of stone suddenly popped out from thin air.

"Show off," mumbled Kuroda,

"This is the gate that leads to Soul Society," explained Kisuke, "It's called the Senkai Gate, now listen good, because I'm only going to say this once. But before I do…"

Kisuke picked up his cane and stabbed it towards Ichigo, effectively knocking him out of his body.

"Damn it!" yelled Ichigo as he stumbled forth, "warn me when you're going to do that!"

"Next," said Kisuke as he ignored the orange haired Shinigami and moved towards Kuroda,

"If you touch me with that," growled Kuroda, "you're going to have a very uncomfortable trip to the hospital."

"Uh…right, sorry," said Kisuke as he slowly put down his cane,

As soon as he was sure Kisuke wouldn't ambush him with his cane, he pushed himself out of his gigai, popping out in his usual attire, cloak and all.

All of their friends watched, fascinated by the simple act.

"Wow look, there's no more Ichigo, in this Ichigo," said Orihime,

"Don't talk like I'm candy in a jar!"

Kuroda quickly dragged off his body before they could make fun of it too.

Wow, Kuroda, you look like some kind of super hero!" said Orihime as she pointed at his cloak.

"It's not a cape, it's a cloak!" he growled, "and since when do super hero's dress like me?"

"Your right, you look more like an emo," mocked Ichigo,

Kuroda let out a low growl.

"Hey listen everyone," shouted Kisuke, "this gate here is made by piling spirit exchangers on top of a normal senkai gate."

"Spirit exchangers?" asked Ichigo,

"That's right, Soul Society is a world of souls. Go there is normally impossible unless you're soul. But since Ichigo and Kuroda are the only ones able to move around as Souls, we need spirit exchangers, to turn you into spirits and send you there."

"Basically what you're saying is, without pulling out our souls, if we go through this gate…"

"You can enter Soul Society in your current state," finished Kisuke,

"Alright, we get it," growled Ichigo impatiently, "let's go already!"

"Hey," said Kuroda as he delivered a swift kick to Ichigo's back, "he's not done yet."

"However," said Kisuke, "the amount of time we can open this gate and stay connected to Soul Society is at most, 4 minutes."

A dreadful silence fell over them as each of the group members took in that bit of information.

"Can we even make it in time?" asked Ichigo

"Normally no," said Kisuke, "if you don't make it over, you'll be trapped in the realm between here and Soul Society."

"Then, what do we do?" asked a worried Orihime,

"Run forward really fast," answered Kuroda, all eyes suddenly turned to him, "and don't look back. You'll be fine as long as you truly believe you can get there, otherwise you'd best stay here for the sake of your own safety."

"I don't care what the danger is," said Ichigo, "I'm going, that's that!"

Kuroda allowed himself a small smirk, "Yoruichi will be our guide."

"Huh? The cat?"

"That right," said Yoruichi, "do you have a problem with that?"

"Uh…"

"Yoruichi knows the Soul Society better than anyone here," explained Kuroda, "and while I have been there myself, a lot might have changed since the last time I was there."

Ichigo gave a nod of understanding,

"You understand, boy, that if you lose, you'll never be able to come back," said Yoruichi.

"All I have to do is win, right?" asked Ichigo,

"Exactly," replied Yoruichi,

"Then what are we standing around here for?" asked Ichigo, "lets get going!"

Kuroda had to agree, he nodded to Kisuke, confirming that they were ready.

The shop owner and Tessai stood at opposite ends of the gate. Together they planted their hands on the ground and released their reiatsu, channeling it into the gate until it finally came to life, giving off a bright blue light.

"Alright everyone, this is the moment we've all been waiting for!" shouted Kisuke, "everyone jump in as soon as it open!"

"Got it!" shouted Kuroda,

"Here it comes!"

In a single bright flash of light, the entire group was gone, leaving the two men alone in the giant underground cave.

Kisuke stood up and experimentally reached out towards the gate. It immediately reacted and let loose a small shock of energy, he recoiled from the small sting, taking comfort in the knowledge that it had worked.

"Good luck," he whispered, "you're going to need it."

!*#($(#&!$()!*&$!()*!&$()!

Inside the Dangai Precipice World

"GO FASTER DAMN IT!" screamed Yoruichi as the group of high school students tried to out run the living wall that was currently trying to crush them, "if you get sucked into that, you're done for!"

Too late, Uryu was caught by the tip of his cape.

"Uryu!" cried Ichigo as he went for his zanpaktou,

"Stop," shouted Kuroda as he grabbed the man's hand, "if you use your zanpaktou, you'll get caught too!"

Thankfully Chad grabbed Uryu's cape and tore it apart, separating the Quincy from the living wall. Then promptly tossed him over his shoulder and continued running.

"Hey, let me down!" demanded Uryu, "I can run by my-"

The Quincy suddenly noticed something new coming out of the wall.

"Hey, guys, something else is coming!"

A large, bright yellow light suddenly appeared in the middle of the wall, then what looked like a giant purple worm like train burst through the wall and headed straight for them.

"It's the cleaner!" shouted Yoruichi, "why did it have to show up now of all times!"

"Don't talk about it, just run! Look!" he shouted, pointing at a light at the end of the tunnel, "go towards the light, that's where the exit is!"

The group doubled their efforts, yet the cleaner gained on them still.

"It's no good," shouted Uryu, "its right behind us!

Orihime suddenly, spun around and touched her fingers to her hair clips.

"Santen Kesshun! I reject" she called, immediately 3 sparks of light left her hair clips and formed into a triangle shaped shield of orange light.

The cleaner slammed into the shield but it held fast, however, it did not keep the cleaner from moving forward and slamming into the rest of them. Luckily, by some large amount of luck, the cleaner actually ended up pushing them out the exit.

In the Rukongai, a bright white light suddenly appeared above the town as three beams shot out from it and crashed into the ground.

When the dust cleared, it revealed the group of travelers, a bit shaken, but relatively unharmed.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Orihime,

They all responded with a collective groan. Kuroda had managed to land on his feet, but that didn't make anyone else's pain any easier. Ichigo in particular had landed in a very, weird position.

"Geez," muttered Uryu, "that was some ride"

"Are you okay Yoruichi?" Kuroda asked,

"Just peachy," muttered Yoruichi as she struggled to stand up.

"I didn't think I'd have to use my spare cape so soon," said Uryu as he pulled a brand new cape from out of his robes.

"Is he a friend of yours?" asked Yoruichi,

"Shut up!" growled Kuroda, "Cloak! Not cape!"

"Whatever," mumbled Yoruichi,

"So, this is Soul Society," asked Ichigo as soon as the dust cleared.

"Sure is," replied Kuroda, gesturing to the thousands of endo period style houses that surrounded them.

The team had landed in large dirt street, looking down it one could see that the houses stretched on for miles upon miles without end.

"This place is known as Rukongai," explained Yoruichi, "the first place a soul shows up when it arrives at Soul Society. It is located outside Seireitei, where the Shinigami live."

And yet, none of them could see a single soul for miles, the place was practically a ghost town.

"Where, is everyone?" Orihime asked nervously,

"Hiding most likely," replied Kuroda,

"Hiding? Why?" she asked again,

"Out of fear, whenever outsiders come to soul society, trouble starts. The people of this district of Rukongai are poor and mostly peace loving. They tend to stay away from trouble like us," he explained,

As Kuroda spoke, Ichigo noticed a part of the town that looked completely different. Instead of being made of wood, the buildings were made of pure white rock and the roads were paved similarly. It gave off a feel of high class or money.

"What's that part," he asked,

"Well that's-" Kuroda began,

"I know!" Ichigo said, cutting him off, "that's the town where all the Shinigami live!"

"Alright!" he shouted before charging off,

"Hey wait!" yelled Yoruichi, "Get back here! If you charge in you'll die!"

Ichigo looked back in confusion just as a barrage of giant stone walls came crashing down as sank into the ground, knocking the poor Shinigami off his feet.

Mountains of dust and rock were thrown up in the air and spread like a cloud over the town.

Kuroda was thankful for his cloak as he brought it up in front of his face to block the incoming storm, allowing him to see silhouette of some giant creature standing in front of the gate.

"It's been a while," bellowed a deep voice, "since someone without an entry pass tried to get through these gates."

The dust finally cleared, revealing what could only be described as a giant guarding the gate into Seireitei.

"My first customer in a long time," bellowed again,

The giant was incredibly muscular and wore a red hat with tassels. He wore the standard Shinigami shihakusho, but left the left side of his chest exposed and wore a series of armored plates on his left arm.

"Welcome brat," he said,

The members of the team stared in awe at the giant gatekeeper.

The giant reached into his shihakusho and pulled out a short handled battle axe, which was appropriately huge as well, and brought down the butt of the handle crashing into the ground in front of Ichigo.

"Feel free to attack at any time," taunted the giant,

"He's…huge!" gaped Uryu, "What is he! A human can't be that big!"

"His name is Gidanbo," explained Yoruichi, "He is one of the chosen warriors of Soul Society. He is the gate keeper of the first gate, otherwise known as Hakutoumon."

"Then that means we have to defeat him in order to get in," realized Uryu

"That's right," said Yoruichi, "but it won't be easy, ever since he was appointed, his gate has never been breached for over 300 years. We should compose a plane to-"

Kuroda suddenly cut of his feline friend by tapping her on the shoulder.

"What is it?"

He calmly pointed towards the gate.

"AH!" she yelled as her fur and tail suddenly shot up in surprise when she saw Chad and Orihime running to Ichigo's aide, "Chad, Orihime! Both of you! Come back!"

They of course, ignored her.

"Kuroda! Get them to stop," she yelled in distress,

"Calm down, they'll be fine," he replied casually,

"Calm down! Did you not hear what I just told everyone!" she screamed angrily,

"…I'm kind of sleepy," was Kuroda's only response,

Yoruichi head drooped in depression.

Gidanbo noticed the two humans running to aid Ichigo, but he didn't like three on one battles. To solve the problem, he raised his ask and used it to strike the ground, then dragged it across the ground, effectively creating a barrier of jagged rock around himself and the orange haired boy.

"You guy's, are not well mannered!" stated the giant, "I bet your peasants!"

"Listen closely," he continued, "there are rules in the city that you must abide by! One: Wash your hands when you eat. Two: Don't eat anything that fell on the floor. Three: When dueling, only one person at a time!"

Chad and Orihime's eyes widened

"My first opponent will be the orange haired kid," decided Gidanbo, "Until it's over, you have to stay where you are!"

The giant then turned to face down Ichigo

"Orihime," whispered Chad, "Once I see an opportunity, I'll create a hole through here. As soon as I do, use Tsubaki to attack."

"Excuse me?" asked Gidanbo, "that's just rude, planning to butt into someone's fight!"

"He has, really good hearing," Orihime said nervously, Chad nodded in agreement,

Kuroda chose this moment to step in. He walked past Chad and Orihime and knocked on the stone wall.

"Oi, Ichigo, you still alive over there?" he shouted,

"Kuroda? Uh, yeah I'm fine!" Ichigo shouted back,

"Do you need help?" asked Kuroda,

"Uh, no! Don't worry, just stay put!" answered Ichigo,

"What?" shouted Orihime, "But Ichigo, that's-"

"Don't worry," Ichigo interrupted, "just wait!"

"No! I refuse!" shouted Uryu as he walked up next to Kuroda, "we need to work as a group! We can't have you playing hero!"

"You're here too Uryu?" asked a genuinely puzzled Ichigo,

"I've been here the whole time!" Uryu shouted indignantly,

Chad walked right up to the stone wall and softly asked, "Can you beat him?"

"Hmmm…probably," replied Ichigo as he rubbed his neck in deep thought,

"This is crazy!" screamed Uryu "probably isn't good enough!"

"Shut up already," muttered Ichigo,

"Kuroda, please say something!" pleaded Uryu,

Kuroda stood and took a long pause before finally saying, "I'm going to go take a nap."

Uryu immediately fell to the ground in despair.

Kuroda calmly walked away from the stone wall and sat down against the nearest building, taking AnShen out of his sash and placing him on the wall next him.

"You must have a lot of confidence in the boy to be this calm," he heard,

Kuroda turned to see Yoruichi staring at him curiously.

"I do," replied Kuroda, "Ichigo may be young and inexperienced, but I've seen his power increase exponentially in an incredibly short amount of time. He's special in some way, not sure how, but I'm certain that he is."

"It's rare that you speak so highly of anyone," said Yoruichi,

"Well, maybe you just aren't around when I do," he suggested, "now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap."

Kuroda closed his eyes and almost immediately dozed off.

"Don't worry Uryu," said Ichigo,

"This isn't about whether I'm worried or not it's-"

"Let me tell you something," interrupted Ichigo, "the original plan was for me to take 10 days to regain my powers as a Shinigami. Instead, it took only 5 days.

"Then what were you doing the rest of the time?" asked Uryu,

"I was fighting, one on one with Bucket Hat, 5 days straight, day and night," replied Ichigo,

"So, you learned some new techniques?" asked Uryu, his confidence rising,

"Nope," replied Ichigo, and it immediately dropped back down,

"Then what were you doing?"

"Instead, I acquired immense stamina and strength," answered Ichigo as he unsheathed Zangetsu.

"Are you done talking?" asked Gidanbo impatiently,

"I don't remember ever asking you to wait," taunted Ichigo.

Gidanbo raised an eyebrow, "You are definitely a peasant, you have no manners!"

Ichigo smirked in amusement, which only served to make Gidanbo angrier.

Raising his battle axe, he shouted, "When someone waits for you, you have to say THANK YOU!"

With a powerful roll of his shoulders, he swung his axe down towards Ichigo. The blade collided with its target and sent out a powerful wave of dust.

Gidanbo lifted his axe, sure that his attack had crushed the tiny peasant. But when the dust cleared, Ichigo stood completely unharmed.

"Isn't it also rude to attack when someone isn't ready?" asked Ichigo

Gidanbo's response was to let out a loud and hearty laugh.

"This is great," he roared, "it's been decades since my axe was stopped!"

"Alright !" he said as he stood up to his full height, "today I finally get to fight with my full strength. Out of everyone who came here, only three, including you, have been able to stop my attack. But no one has ever survived my second attack!"

Gidanbo raised his axe once again and Ichigo quickly raised his own blade, the gatekeeper brought his axe down with full strength.

Amazingly, Ichigo held Gidanbo's second attack at bay with but one hand. The two blades trembled ever so slightly as both combatants struggled for control of their battle.

"Good!" bellowed Gidanbo, "you're still up. But it just keeps coming!"

Then raised his axe again

*Mean while*

Yoruichi watched from a distance as the gatekeeper continued to pound away at Ichigo's defense, though from what she was seeing, he wasn't doing a very good job of actually hurting the boy. Perhaps Kuroda's trust was well placed.

Kuroda himself slept peacefully against the house, almost as if the battle just 50 feet away wasn't even happening.

"He's got another axe" she heard Uryu shout,

She turned to see that the gate keeper had indeed pulled out a second axe. Gidanbo brought both axes down with as much strength as he could possibly muster.

"Sorry," whispered Ichigo, "but I'm gonna smash those axes."

And with a single swing of his sword, he did just that. Both axes were completely obliterated, the force of his strike was so strong, the giant was sent flying backwards.

"Amazing," whispered Yoruichi as she walked over and leapt on one of the broken heads of Gidanbo's axes, "well it seems Gidanbo's axes have been slightly modified. I'll go wake up Kuroda, you kids finish up here."

She quietly walked over to him and roughly jabbed him in the side, "Oi, Kuroda, time to wake up"

"Huh?" he sputtered as he awoke, "uh…five more minutes."

"Come on," she said as she prodded him some more, "get up already, your never this lazy."

"What's that noise?" he asked groggily, "is that a siren?"

"No, the gatekeeper is crying," replied Yoruichi,

"Ichigo must have beat him pretty bad," he decided as he started to push himself up.

Yoruichi looked back at the kids then said, "Gidanbo's opening the gate, hurry up."

Then pranced away to join the victorious substitute shinigami.

"So, we can pass too?" asked Uryu,

"Yes," said Gidanbo, "I lost to your leader, I have no right to stop you."

"What?" shouted Uryu, "Ichigo's our leader? I don't remember agreeing to that!"

"What are you so mad about?" muttered Ichigo, "I got us through the gate."

"So your name's Ichigo huh?" asked Gidanbo

"Yeah,"

"Sounds kind of feminine," stated the giant,

"Shut up," growled Ichigo, "Ichi means one and go means guardian! There's nothing feminine about that!"

"Whatever," said Gidanbo, clearly not convinced, "I'm not sure why you want to get in, but you should be careful. There are many strong shinigami in Seireitei."

"I know," smiled Ichigo, "but I don't care, I'll beat them all."

"Well, then, I guess I don't need to worry," decided Gidanbo, "Step aside now, I'm going to open the gate"

Gidanbo dug both of his hands under the gate and immediately began to lift. The strain was apparent as veins began to pop from his face and his legs trembled, threatening to give but still holding on.

Gradually, the gate began to rise higher and higher, soon the bottom was parallel with Gidanbo's face. With one more push he managed to step under the gate and put its full weight on his back.

The four teens gaped in awe at the magnificent display of raw strength.

So awed were they that Ichigo almost didn't notice that Gidanbo had suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong," he asked as he ran to the side of the giant, "why'd you stop?"

The face that Ichigo saw on Gidanbo was one of pure terror. Ichigo followed the giant's gaze inside Seireitei and spotted a lone figure approaching them.

He was a skinny, sly looking man with squinty eyes, silver hair and a fox like face. Then there was his smile, unnerving in itself it seemed like it was plastered there. And finally, his white haori, seemed to give him an aura of authority.

"Who's that" he asked,

"Captain of the 3rd division," stuttered Gidanbo, "Ichimaru Gin!"

!(*&$*(#!&*()

Kuroda had just finished stretching, though fully awake, he had missed the last five minutes events entirely. It was…kind of sad really, I mean this guy was Captain of Black Ops? Seriously? Thirty minutes ago he was incredibly serious, now he's…lazy.

Kuroda sneezed, "Hm, I feel like I was just insulted."

Ah! How'd he do that!

"Well," he said, "I guess I best go join them."

As he lazily combed his hair with his fingers, he started to walk towards the gate. He was just about to take his first step, when he heard three words that might as well have been whispered, but to him, rang loud and clear.

"Shoot to Kill"

*#$&%*(#&)

Ichigo saw the flash as Gin called to his zanpaktou, he saw it race towards him. Without a moment's hesitation he raised Zangetsu in defense, hoping to catch the attack on the broad side of his blade.

Then there was a sound, like a dozen leafs being quickly cut by a fine blade.

In the blink of an eye, Kuroda shot past his friend and positioned himself between the orange haired shinigami and Captain of the 3rd division. Rage coursed through his veins as he drew AnShen and thrust him forward with all his might.

The two blades collided tip first, causing them to end in a standstill. Kuroda, had stopped Gin's attack.

"Kuroda!" Yoruichi shouted,

"My, my," said Gin, "there's a face I never spected (expected) to see again,"

"Ichimaru Gin," Kuroda growled, he tried his best to maintain a calm image, but was less then successful, venom practically dripped from his words and his hate was palpable to all those surrounding him.

Behind him, Gidanbo groaned in pain, out of the corner of his eye Kuroda could see that the giant's strength was waning.

This wasn't good, they needed to get in through the gate, but Gin was here. If Kuroda let them through, he'd have to multitask between fighting Gin and protecting the others. He could probably do it, but the risk was far too high. One of them could die before the mission even began. He couldn't let that happen.

Taking his left hand of AnShen's hilt, he stretched it out towards Ichigo and said, "Hado. 1: Sho!"

Ichigo was suddenly blown away by an invisible force, sending him flying back into Gidanbo with enough force to knock both of them far away from the gate.

"Kuroda," shouted Yoruichi, "what are you doing!"

Kuroda didn't respond.

"You sure are strange Kuroda, just like always. Must've been hard to make a decision like that," Gin said in his sly voice.

Both their swords were still stuck in a dangerous tip to tip lock, both blades shaking violently as each combatant struggled for control.

Kuroda made the first move. Quick as lightning, he stepped forward and broke the lock by turning his sword to the side, sliding the edge of his blade across the top of Gin's katana and straight for his face.

AnShen swung out towards the 3rd division Captain, Gin jumped back just in time to avoid taking the full length of the blade to his face.

As he landed, he felt a small trickle of blood drip down his face, Kuroda had managed to cut him ever so lightly across the bridge of his nose.

"Not bad, not bad," complimented Gin, "just what I'd expect from ya."

"Shut up," spat Kuroda, "I remember you all too well. That smile that you always kept on your face, even when you watched me and the others suffer like we did. Is it safe to assume that Aizen and Tosen are still here as well?"

"You'd guess correct," replied Gin, "Lot's changed since you were here."

"I see," growled Kuroda, "I've waited a long time to see you three again. I promised Yoruichi that I wouldn't kill anyone when I returned to Soul Society, but-"

Red reiatsu began build around him, covering him from head to toe like some sort of wild fire. Its flames soon reached absolutely ridiculous heights, Kuroda's eyes seemed to be overflowing with a drive to kill.

"I'm sure, she'll understand," he finished, Gin just smiled.

Kuroda raised AnShen, let loose a savage war cry and charged forth. He swung madly at his opponent, gradually slipping into an intricate pattern of attack. Gin, though hailed as a prodigy, had a hard time keeping up, his lack of experience began to show as he received another shallow cut along his wrist.

Gin parried an incoming blow and stepped under a horizontal slash, he thrust Shinso forward but Kuroda quickly pushed back on his foot and successfully dodged the attack.

The captain took advantage of Kuroda's momentary opening and used shunpo to reappear behind the inflight warrior. Gin unleashed a lethal barrage of thrusts, Kuroda used shunpo to avoid the attack but Gin was persistent.

Kuroda found himself on the defensive as he successfully blocked each thrust.

"Shoot to kill"

Gin's zanpaktou suddenly shot forth, extending its blade like some sort of metallic snake. Kuroda just barely dodged the attack, letting it whiz right past his ear.

Gin smile grew even larger, with a quick flick of his wrist, he swung the elongated blade at Kuroda's neck in an attempt to decapitate his foe.

Kuroda quickly pushed himself back, just in time to let the blade swing above his face at the same time, his foot shot out and caught Gin in the stomach, sending the captain tumbling across the ground.

Kuroda caught himself in time and pressed the attack. Just as Gin was able to push himself up, he was forced to block a savage barrage of powerful strikes that Kuroda rained down on his defense.

The endless stream of attacks forced him to back pedal in order to avoid being overwhelmed or even worse, having his zanpaktou knocked out of his hand.

So busy was he with the threat from the front, he did not realize Kuroda's real plan, Gin's back suddenly hit the wall that surrounded Seireitei, leaving his maneuvering abilities limited.

Kuroda stretched out his hand and spoke, "Hado. 33: Sokatsui!"

Blue lightning lashed out from Kuroda's outstretched hand and raced towards the 3rd division Captain. Gin quickly leapt into the air just in time to dodge the deadly missile, but he had once again played into Kuroda's plan. Now in the air, his options were becoming increasingly limited.

Gin suddenly found Kuroda right behind him, he had just barely enough time to spin around and deflect the first incoming blow.

Kuroda spun himself like a top and unleashed an endless stream of strikes against Gin, while none actually landed a hit, they served throw of his balance.

He followed up with powerful overhead strike that sent Gin crashing into the ground, sending a storm of dust and rock flying in all directions.

Kuroda landed a safe distance from the crater and waited for the dust to settle.

"Shoot to kill!"

Shinso shot out from the cloud of dust, Kuroda dodged the attack, only to find himself needing to dodge another, this time barely scratching his cheek.

Again and again the attacks came at him, the bastard was trying to take him on from a distance!

"Ya know what's the good thing bout Shinso?" asked Gin as he took a temporary break from his assault, "close quarters combat, is optional."

Kuroda scowled as Gin resumed his barrage, he dodged and blocked each incoming attack but he couldn't keep it up for long. The attacks were getting closer, more accurate and some of them had managed to land minor wounds.

Already Gin had managed to land a cut on his right arm and his left rib cage and the attack just kept coming, he had to act quickly.

"Hado. 31: Shakkaho!" a red ball of energy shot from Kuroda's palm towards Gin, it was a hastily fired shot and as such was not very accurate, coming up short and hitting the ground in front of him.

But Kuroda had learned to turn failings into success.

Dust now obscured Gin's vision, if he fired now, he'd be striking out blindly. He either had to wait for the dust to settle or get out it himself.

He chose the latter and shot out from the cloud of dust towards his opponent. Kuroda however had been planning on just that.

Gin had chosen to come out swinging at the first thing he saw, which just happened to be Kuroda. He swung his sword at Kuroda's stomach, for whatever reason, he was unable to defend.

Shinso sliced through the man's gut, then, he was gone.

Just as Gin realized that he'd been tricked the real Kuroda appeared just inches away from Gin, sword in a low position.

Kuroda gave Gin a moment to figure out what had happened, and then swung his sword up. Gin, being the talented Captain he was, managed to push away just in time to avoid death.

But AnShen would not be denied blood, its blade had cleaved through Gin's flesh and cut in between his ribs, badly wounding the man.

Gin was in bad shape and he knew it, along with the gash along his side, he had a series of minor cuts and bruises and had taken the most damage in the fight. The wounds at the moment weren't life threatening, but they'd definitely take their toll.

"Well, I guess I should have expected as much," stated Gin through gasps of air, "ya're just as deadly as ya were all those years ago."

"Flattery won't save you Gin," growled Kuroda as he raised his blade once again, "but as long as you're alive, you may as well serve a purpose."

"And what might that be?" asked Gin,

"I'll show you," answered Kuroda as he stretched out his left hand, "Kyuuketsu Ude."

Red reiatsu began to cloak Kuroda's entire arm, sharpening itself at the tips of his fingers. Flame like wisps danced upon him as he slowly raised his hands towards Gin, who amazingly still held his fox like grin.

Without another word, Kuroda dashed towards his foe, intent on victory. Gin uttered his release command and shot Shinso forth. Kuroda rolled to the side to dodge the attack, then pushed of his foot and shot forth again.

Gin shot Shinso again and again, each time Kuroda managed to roll out of the way, at best Gin was able to keep him at bay.

Gin fired Shinso again, this time the it's blade passed right through Kuroda. Gin just barely managed to roll out of the way of a deadly swipe from Kuroda's reiatsu covered hand.

Gin grin widened, he fired Shinso at the exposed warrior, only for it to pass through again. As he jumped to his feet Gin found himself surrounded by dozens of Kuroda's after images.

"Moving too fast for you?" asked Kuroda with faked pity,

The real Kuroda suddenly jumped out from the dizzying legion of images and attacked with full force.

Gin managed to parry the blow and swing his own blade at Kuroda's stomach. The blade made contact, only to reveal another after image.

Another image jumped out, then another and another, each he cut them down, each time it was only another after image.

"Shoot to kill!"

Shiso shot for once more, but this time before it could retract, Gin swept it in a full 360 spin, cutting through all the after images in a single move. Only to reveal nothing, Kuroda wasn't in the circle.

"Now where did he-"

"Over here!", Gin's eyes shot up to see Kuroda barreling down towards him from the sky.

"Shoot to kill!", Gin fired Shinso, his aim was true and the blade head straight for Kuroda, threatening to impale him from one side to the other.

But Kuroda showed no fear as he continued his descent, his composure stayed with him even as Shinso's point came closer and closer. His eye's narrowed in concentration.

At the last second, just as Gin's sword was about to skewer him, his left hand, armored with reiatsu, shot out and pushed the blade to the side.

It's tip instead caught on the edge of his cloak, taking a small amount of cloth with it. Needless to say, with the sword of balance, Gin's defense was thrown of as his sword arm was forced to move with his sword.

Kuroda crashed into Gin with his full force while jamming his left hand into Gin's stomach. Gin crashed to the ground, the force of the impact actually crushing him into the pavement and creating a spider web of cracks.

Kuroda's hand immediately got to work, Gin began to glow the same red as his hand.

"What are ya doin?" Gin asked weakly,

"Do you know what Kyuuketsu Ude means?" asked Kuroda, "It means the vampire's arm and like a vampire drains blood, I use this arm to drain my enemies of their reiatsu."

For once, Gin frowned in despair.

"You can feel it can't you?" said Kuroda, "your own reiatsu, leaving your body, leaving you powerless. Soon, you'll be completely dry."

"My," Gin managed to say with a smile, "that sounds very…evil."

Kuroda scowled, paused for a moment, then hoisted Gin into the air with one hand. There was still just a little bit of reiatsu left, but Kuroda had gotten what he needed, with a single move he tossed Gin away.

The 3rd division captain amazingly enough, had enough energy to spin himself and land on his feet. But his breath had become labored and he visibly slouched out of lack of energy. But he just kept on smiling.

"Seems, I'm not going ta be able ta win this fight," observed Gin,

"No, you won't," agreed Kuroda who held up his vampire hand to reveal a glowing red ball the size of a man's head, "this is all the reiatsu I took from you."

"Hmm, I thought it'd be bigger," complained Gin, "whatch ya gonna do with it?"

Without responding, Kuroda tightened his grip on the ball of reiatsu and crushed it, causing it to turn into a thousand pieces of glass like material. The glass like shards of reiatsu covered Kuroda from head to toe, a minute later, they seemed to dissolve into his skin.

Almost immediately, his wounds all began to heal, each of them closing up within seconds.

A second later, the reiatsu around his hand dissipated.

With that done, Kuroda turned his attention back to Gin.

"Well," said Gin, raising his zanpaktou "I guess there's no avoiding it."

Kuroda nodded and raised his own blade.

Before either of them could charge, someone shouted, "Captain!"

Two shinigami suddenly shunpo'd in front of Gin, Kuroda recognized them as Lieutenants by their armbands.

The first was a gloomy looking man with long blond hair that managed to cover his face. The other was a confident looking man with spikey purple hair, a gray line drawn across his face and the number 66 imprinted on his cheek.

"Are you alright Captain Ichimaru?" asked the blonde haired man,

"Ah, Kira, I was wondering when ya would show up," said Gin,

"Captain, your badly injured," said Kira, "we've got to get you to the 4th division."

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant!" shouted someone else, another two dozen shinigami suddenly flooded into the courtyard, swords drawn and ready to defend their officers.

"Damn," muttered Kuroda, he'd been moments away from killing Gin and now all of them showed up. This was too good a chance to pass up.

"You, Ryoka!" shouted the purple haired man, snapping Kuroda out of his thoughts, "I suggest you surrender now or we will have to make you submit by force."

"Me? Surrender?" asked Kuroda, pointing a finger to himself, "How far have the Shinigami of Soul Society fallen? A hundred years ago Ryoka would have been killed without another thought."

"What are you talking about?" asked the purple haired lieutenant, "we aren't butchers, we show honor by staying our swords."

Kuroda paused for a moment, before saying, "since you two are Lieutenants, I can only assume that you've managed to achieve Shikai with your zanpaktou. That's good, I'll use you two as examples of how strong the rest of Soul Society is."

"Examples?" wondered Kira,

"You see, I have this problem, I'm not allowed to kill you due to my promise to Yoruichi," said Kuroda, "but my zanpaktou has been getting pretty mad at me for not using him for such a long time."

"What's he talking about?" asked someone,

"Does he really think he can take us all on?" suggested another person,

"So you see I'm in a hard position here. If I release my zanpaktou, I might accidently kill you," said Kuroda as he held up AnShen, "but if I don't release him, he might get even angrier at me."

"That's a zanpaktou?" asked Hisagi, "how'd he get one? Did he steal it?"

Kuroda turned his eyes back to the gathered crowd.

"But if you're Lieutenant level Shinigami, you may very well survive my attacks," explained Kuroda,

"Such arrogance," muttered Kira,

"Kira," Gin whispered weakly, "run,"

"Captain? I don't understand,"

"Run Kira," Gin whispered again,

"You two take note," called Kuroda, he guessed that there was at least twenty feet between him and the two Lieutenants, so it was a good range to use that, "I'm going to show you the power of those that held the positions you so treasure 100 years ago."

A sudden surge of red reiatsu began to seep from Kuroda, some of the gathered shinigami actually fell to their knees. Kira and Hisagi were also having some trouble though they managed to stay on their feet. For them it was like breathing through a tube, everything felt heavier, both of them realized, this man was clearly at the level of a captain.

Holding out his zanpaktou in front of him, Kuroda uttered the command,

"Unleash chaos, AnShen"

A/N

Wow, that was a long chapter, according to my word count, around 8,300 words or so.

Let me just say, I know that he whole, "17 days later" thing was a cheap trick but can you blame me?

I just really wanted to get to the Soul Society Arc, I felt empty go so long without writing any large action sequences.

There might be a little less OcXYoruichi for the next few chapters if only because they are in enemy territory trying to save Rukia. Doesn't leave a lot of room for romance.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Here's an Omake

Back at Kuroda's porch,

"Are you kidding me!" screamed AnShen, "DB84 finally decides to unleash your Shikai, and he cuts off the chapter!"

"Will you calm down," said Kuroda as he sipped his smoothie, "at least I got to say the release command, that means the next chapter will actually have my Shikai."

"But it's not fair! He finally gets back from Canada and I still don't get to show off!" whined AnShen,

"My he doesn't like you," suggested Kuroda,

AnShen fell to the floor, then immediately got back up, "Ha! Yeah right! How could anyone hate this face?"

Kuroda felt a sweat drop roll down his forehead, "we can't see your face you idiot."

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