Hanataro peaked out from underneath a tile on the ground.
"The coast is clear," he said. "You can all come out."
"It's about time, too," Ganju said as they climbed out. "I've breathed enough sewer air to gag a hippo."
They emerged into a mist-filled clearing.
"This is the closest opening to the white tower," Hanataro said. He pointed up and ahead of them. "There it is."
They looked up. Ahead of them was a large staircase leading up a hill. The hill was covered in large buildings, giving it the appearance of a small city. And behind the buildings stood a towering structure, the tallest in the entire Soul Society, the Repentance Cell.
"Sheesh," Ganju said. "This may be the closest sewer opening, but it looks like we've still got a ways to go."
"Maybe," Chad said. "But we'd have never even gotten this close on our own."
Orihime looked at Toshiro, who was staring intently at the tower. "Toshiro?"
"That's where she is," he said.
Uryu scanned the areas around them. "We need to move on. This is a kill zone, a perfect place for an ambush."
"Right."
They began to move forward, but quickly stopped. A lone figure could be seen walking slowly but confidently down the stairs in front of them.
"Who is that?" Orihime wondered.
"It's him," Uryu said gravely, being the first to recognize the reiatsu of their opponent.
Toshiro reflexively rubbed his shoulder where he had been slashed the night Rukia was taken. "Renji Abarai."
Hanataro's eyes widened in horror at the mention of Renji's name.
"You know this guy?" Ganju asked. "His reiatsu is on a completely different level from the guys we were tangling with before."
Hanataro was shaking in fear. "He's the lieutenant of Squad Six!"
Ganju looked at him. "A lieutenant!"
"More importantly," Toshiro said, "he's the guy who took Rukia."
Uryu looked at the boy. His reiatsu was rising in anger.
"Chad, Uryu," Toshiro said. "We'll take him together. Even he can't take the three of us at once."
"Agreed," Uryu said.
The three of them stepped forward to face Renji, who had reached the bottom of the stairs.
"I'm surprised to see you, both of you, in fact," he said.
"I left you bleeding out on the ground," he told Uryu. "As for you," he said to Toshiro, "I'm amazed anyone could survive the attack Captain Kuchiki inflicted on you."
"I don't know how you managed to survive that, but it seems that there's more to the both of you than I first believed."
"Let us pass," Chad said. "Otherwise we'll have to hurt you."
Renji glared at Chad. "I don't know who you are, and I couldn't care less."
He drew his sword. "But as I said before, I'm going to kill the one who stole Rukia's powers!"
"What do you care, when you're the one that brought here to die?" Toshiro yelled back at him.
"Don't you understand?" Renji asked. "As long as you're alive, Rukia's powers will never return!"
"What does that matter when she's going to die anyway?!"
"It matters because it's your fault!" Renji screamed. "If she never met you she wouldn't have to go through any of this!"
Toshiro took a deep breath to calm himself. "If you care so much, why are you trying to stop us instead of helping us rescue her?"
Renji looked at Chad and Uryu, who were moving to surround him. Uryu drew his bow, and Chad raised his fist. "You three may beat me here, but even if you do, there are eleven other lieutenants just as strong as I am, and above them are the thirteen captains. You'd have to defeat them all to have a chance at reaching the tower."
He looked back at Toshiro. "Don't you get it? No one can save Rukia! It's impossible! All anyone can do is avenger her death!"
He pointed his sword at Toshiro. "And that means killing you."
Toshiro lowered his head. "Chad, Uryu," he said softly. "Please back off."
"What?" Uryu asked in shock. "You can't be serious! We had a plan!"
"I know." Toshiro looked at Chad. "But I have to fight him alone."
Chad looked into Toshiro's eyes. "Please."
After a few seconds, Chad nodded.
"Let's go, Uryu."
"Not you too," Uryu complained. "Am I the only one who has any sense here?"
But he lowered his bow. "All right. This time I'm the one who's outvoted."
Renji watched them closely as they walked back to Orihime, Ganju, and Hanataro.
"What's going on?" Orihime asked. "Why are you coming back?"
Uryu grimaced in frustration. "Toshiro's fighting him himself."
"What?" Ganju yelled. "That's crazy!"
"I know." He turned to Chad. "Why did you agree to this?"
Chad looked at where Toshiro and Renji continued to face off against each other.
"Toshiro's trying to prove to Renji, and to himself, that it is possible to save Rukia, and that he can do it," Chad explained.
"Lives are on the line, and he's trying to prove a point? Does he think he can get Renji to join us?"
"I don't know," Chad said. "I just know that we have to let him fight."
'Before Toshiro seemed worried that he was too powerful,' Uryu wondered. 'Now he's worried that he's not strong enough? Is it even possible to be worried about both at the same time?'
Renji bared his teeth in a vicious grin. "Going to face me yourself? You're either very brave or very stupid."
"Or maybe," he said while assuming a battle stance, "you're hoping that once I've killed you I'll spare the rest of your friends. You know, I just might."
Toshiro continued to look at the ground as he drew his zanpakuto. His hands shook as he assumed his own battle stance.
"What's wrong?" Renji asked in a mocking tone. "Are you afraid?"
Toshiro looked up at Renji with a mask of pure anger. His eyes were glowing blue.
"No. Not afraid," Toshiro said.
The two combatants launched themselves at each other. There was a sound of thunder as their blades clashed.
The hair and clothing of the rescue party rustled in the wind caused by the first blows.
"He's doomed," Ganju said. "No matter how strong Toshiro's become, there's no way he could ever hope to defeat a lieutenant!"
Toshiro and Renji clashed again, their blades creating sparks where they met. Renji attempted use his greater size to his advantage, swinging his zanpakuto down in an overhead strike. Toshiro blocked the blow with one hand on his sword's grip and the other on the blade.
"This is it," Renji said as he pushed both blades closer to Toshiro's head.
Toshiro gritted his teeth and screamed. He pushed up and threw Renji off of him.
Renji stumbled back several paces before falling over.
"He-he overpowered Lieutenant Abarai," Hanataro said in awe. "What kind of human being is Toshiro?"
"I'm starting to wonder that myself," Ganju said.
Renji stared at Toshiro in surprise.
'How the heck did a little runt like him get so strong? It makes no sense!'
"Get up," Toshiro said. "I'm not done with you yet."
Renji glared at him and rose to his feet. "Don't get cocky, kid. You won't get so lucky a second time."
Toshiro put his hand on his blade again. "Hado Number Eleven: Tsuzurei Raiden."
A bolt of electricity enveloped Toshiro's blade, making it glow. He charged at Renji, who blocked the attack.
But the electricity in Toshiro's sword transferred to Renji's own sword, shocking him.
Renji stumbled back. His hair stood on end and the edges of his clothes were singed by the electric shock.
"I seem to remember you were vulnerable to kido," Toshiro observed.
"That does it," Renji growled. "Now you die."
He raised his zanpakuto. "Roar, Zabimaru!"
Toshiro's expression changed from one of confidence to fear as he watched the blade grow it's many segments and protrusions.
Renji swung Zabimaru forward, and Toshiro leapt out of the way as it slammed into the ground where he had been standing, leaving a large hole.
"Not so confident now, are you?" Renji taunted, launching another attack.
Toshiro dodged the second attack, and the third.
Each one of Renji's attacks left a large hole in the ground.
"This is bad," Ganju said. "It's all he can do just to stay alive!"
"This is madness!" Hanataro added. "No one can defeat a lieutenant!"
Uryu watched the battle closely. 'What does he think he's doing? He'll never hit Toshiro unless he switches up his attack. But he just keeps hitting the ground again and again.'
Uryu's eye's widened as the realization set in.
"Toshiro!" he yelled. "He's destroying the floor!"
Dodging another attack, Toshiro stepped in one of the now many large holes in the ground and lost his footing.
'Oh no!'
"You're mine!" Renji yelled as he launched yet another attack.
Unable to dodge as he was falling, Toshiro raised his zanpakuto to deflect Zabimaru away from his head. The attempt was mostly successful, as Renji's blade only nicked the side of his forehead, but it also knocked Toshiro's sword out of his hand.
Toshiro landed hard, but he knew he had no time to rest. Instead he rolled, barely escaping Renji's follow-up attack.
Toshiro kept rolling until he reached his sword. He grabbed the blade and rose.
Renji grinned. "Do you see? Your power is nothing compared to mine! So what makes you think you can save Rukia?"
Toshiro took the lull in the fighting to assess the damage he had taken. He had a few bruises from the fall, and Zabimaru had reopened the wound above his eye he had received from Ikkaku, causing blood to drip into his eye.
"Toshiro!" Uryu yelled. "Let us help you!"
Toshiro shook his head. "I'm all right."
Renji scowled. "You still don't get it?"
He threw Zabimaru forward again, but his time, Toshiro didn't attempt to dodge. He also threw his zanpakuto forward, causing the chain and sickle to appear again. The chain wrapped around the front section of Zabimaru.
"What the – " Renji said in shock.
Toshiro pulled on the chain, causing Renji's attack to land far to his side.
"That's the same move he used to beat Ikkaku!" Ganju observed.
Renji grinned again. "That's a neat little trick you've got there. But it was a stupid move."
"What?" Toshiro responded.
Renji lifted his sword, causing the section Hyorinmaru's chain was wrapped around to rise high into the air. Toshiro was dragged into the air along with it.
Renji began to spin Zabimaru in the air, twirling Toshiro around at the end of the chain like a toy attached to a string.
'I can't stop it!" Toshiro thought.
"Thank you for setting this up for me!" Renji yelled. He spun Toshiro around faster and faster.
Finally, he threw Zabimaru forward. The force of his thrust caused the chain to disengage, and Toshiro was thrown forwards at incredible speed.
The rescue party all had to jump out of the way as Toshiro crashed into and through the wall behind them.
"Toshiro!" Orihime screamed.
"I-is he dead?" Hanataro asked.
Renji recalled his blade again. "You seem to think that just because you fought me once before in the world of the living that you now know my true power. Well let me tell you something, you amateur. Whenever captain or lieutenant ranked Shinigami are sent outside, severe limits are placed on our powers so that we won't adversely affect the world of the living."
"My strength right now, is five times what it was that first day we met," he explained. "So no matter how confident you are, or how powerful you think you've become, you can't defeat me."
Everyone stared at the building Toshiro had been thrown into. The destruction of the wall had created a cloud of smoke that they could not see through.
"So … is that the full extent of your zanpakuto's power?" a voice asked from within the smoke.
"Huh?" Renji said in surprise.
Toshiro slowly walked out of the building. He was hunched over, breathing heavily, and had a huge head wound that was bleeding profusely, but he held his sword firmly.
"Toshiro, you're alive!" Orihime yelled happily.
Toshiro nodded at her and walked towards Renji.
"I asked you a question, Renji," Toshiro said. "Is that the full power of you zanpakuto's release?"
Renji assumed his battle stance.
Toshiro grinned and held up his sword. "Because if that was your best shot, then I don't have anything to worry about, from any of the lieutenants!"
"What?" Renji said.
"That attack doesn't even begin to compare to the power of my own zanpakuto's released state."
Renji's eyes widened in fear for an instant, but then he began to laugh.
"My sword's power doesn't begin to compare to yours? Why don't you show me this power, instead of just boasting about it?"
Toshiro considered it. His head wound was severe, and he suspected that he had broken at least one rib.
"I would," he said. "But to tell you the truth, I really don't want to kill you."
Renji backed up as Toshiro approached. 'His reiatsu's rising. But how can it when he's in this condition?'
"But perhaps a taste of Hyorinmaru's power will suffice."
"Shut up!" Renji screamed, swinging his sword down at Toshiro again.
Toshiro threw Hyorinmaru's chain at his opponent's sword.
"That again?" Renji asked. "When will you – "
He looked up in shock at his sword, which had not extended as he had expected.
Zabimaru was frozen solid in a block of ice.
Toshiro pulled the chain back as Renji stared at his sword.
"So that's his power," Ganju said. "His zanpakuto is an ice-type."
Renji attempted to swing his sword, but it could not extend while encased in ice.
"Come on, damn it!"
He attempted to break the ice by smashing his sword on the ground, but only a small piece chipped off.
"You can't win," Toshiro said.
Renji glared at Toshiro. "Damn you! I'll kill you!"
He charged, swinging the ice-covered sword down at Toshiro.
Toshiro slashed up, shattering the ice – and Zabimaru along with it. His movement continued upwards, slashing Renji across the chest.
Time seemed to slow down for Renji as he watched pieces of his sword and his own blood scatter around him.
'What just happened?' he wondered. 'Have I lost? Damn it'
Toshiro looked away as Renji let out an ear-splitting roar of agony.
He looked back in shock as Renji grabbed the front of his kimono.
"All this time I've been blaming you for the fact that Rukia's been imprisoned. Every time I thought of you it made my blood boil," Renji said.
"But I was wrong. It wasn't you. It was me from the start. Because I didn't stop Rukia from going to the Kuchikis. I didn't want her to go, but I thought she'd find happiness there. How could I have known she'd end up a condemned criminal?
"Renji…" Toshiro said.
Renji continued. "And I wanted so badly to surpass Captain Kuchiki for taking Rukia from me. I trained with only that thought in mind. But even to this day, not once have I been able to beat him. He's just too strong."
Renji began to cry.
"So, Toshiro, now I'm swallowing my shame and my pride, and I'm asking you to save Rukia. Will you promise? I'm begging you, will you save her?"
Toshiro looked back at the rest of the rescue party. The boys were staring in awe, but Orihime was holding her hands over her mouth and crying.
He put his hand on Renji's arm. "I will. You can count on it Renji. I won't let anything happen to Rukia."
Renji smiled. His hand released Toshiro's kimono and he collapsed at Toshiro's feet.
Toshiro took a deep breath and swayed on the spot.
"Toshiro!"
The rest of the rescue party ran over as Toshiro sat down and put his head between his legs.
"Are you all right?" Orihime asked.
"Been better," Toshiro said.
Hanataro heard something in the distance. "Someone's coming."
"Then we'd better get out of here," Ganju said. He picked Toshiro up. "C'mere, you."
"Sorry for the mess," Toshiro joked. His eyes closed as he passed out.