Chapter 21: The Septima Espada
Byakuya's POV
"Sir, Rukia Kuchiki and Lieutenant Renji Abarai have mysteriously disappeared. Soldiers from Second Division and the Onmitsukido are searching for them throughout the Sereitei, but they have yet to find any clues to their disappearance."
"I see. You are dismissed." I tell the soldier passively as I see the top of the Senkaimon appear in the near distance.
"Yes sir!" he exclaims before leaving in the opposite direction, a small dust cloud appearing where he once stood.
"Renji and Rukia should be in Hueco Mundo right about now, by my estimate."
I quickly glance at Minata from the corner of my eye. She was staring up at the sky, her face an emotion that I couldn't figure out.
"I believe that's the most likely possibility." Senbonzakura answers for me before I could even let the words past my lips.
"Hmm," she mumbles as she places a hand under her chin. "Here's to hoping those two won't get into too much trouble while over there."
"The possibilities are endless I suppose, especially when it's my lieutenant we're talking about." I tell her as I look up at the blue sky above us. "Who else is supposed to be a part of this mission?"
"Along with us, Captain and Lieutenant Kurosutchi, Captain Unohana, Lieutenant Kotetsu, and Seventh Seat Yamada, and, unfortunately, Captain Zaraki and Lieutenant Kusajishi." the glum look on Mizukiri face perfectly reflected what I was already starting to feel inside. "This should be fun."
If only that was possible. I think to myself. Not only do I have to go on a mission with Zaraki, I'm lucky enough to go one that also involves Kurotsuchi. That mad scientist, at times, is even worse than Urahara. Fortunately enough, Kurotsuchi has a better control over his behavior than Zaraki, but that's barely, and who knows how long that will last.
"Captain Kuchiki, Third Seat Fukudome, right on time," says Unohana as we finally reach the gate, Minazuki standing eerily silent by her side. "Everyone is here, except for Captain Zaraki and his lieutenant."
"That pea brained idiot is probably drinking it up back at his barracks right as we speak." the mad scientist mutters as he and his lieutenant stand beside a rather large cart. His zanpakuto, Ashisogi Jizo, hovers near his head as he continues, his eyes both vacant and alert as he looked at his master. "We should just leave him."
"Well aren't you rude?" calls the barbarian himself as he finally makes his presence known. "And don't say that I was late alright! I got lost along the way!"
"Kenny, you are so bad with directions!" whines Kusajishi as she suddenly appears behind his right shoulder.
"I got lost because of YOUR bad directions!" Zaraki tells her bluntly as the Senkaimon begins to open.
"Save your idiotic chit chat for later! We have got to get moving! The longer we wait, the less likely are my chances to collect valuable samples for experimentation." the mad scientist rants before walking through the gate, followed by his zanpakuto and his lieutenant, the latter given the task of pushing that cart of his through the gate for him.
"Oh, that Kurotsuchi." mumbles Unohana, her tone fair, yet indifferent as she went through the gate, followed by her two subordinates. Minata and I exchange a quick glance with each other before walking through the gate ourselves, leaving Kenpachi and Yachiru to bring up the rear. Not a single word was uttered as we quickly passed through the gate, emerging in Hueco Mundo in before a full minute could pass.
"Hueco Mundo doesn't usually get sunlight." Kotetsu mutters as she looks up at the sky above us. Her words were sound. Hueco Mundo was known for its endless nightfall, but strangely enough, the sky was clearly blue as day as a 'sun' shined from above.
"It never does," mutters Kurotsuchi as he crosses his arms. "We're currently in Los Noches, Aizen's compound here in Hueco Mundo. The sky and sun above us is only an artificial copy. Everything else is completely real."
"Besides the fake sky, all I see are some stupid pillars and a whole lot of sand. Where's the battles?" says Kenpachi as he looks around the area.
"If there were any battles, they must have been minimal." says Unohana as she raises an eyebrow in surprise.
"Or they were contained in the pillars," suggests Minata, all eyes now falling on her. "I can sense the spiritual pressure of a few people I recognize, along with some I don't coming from those pillars and towers over there."
"Wait? Those stupid things are actual buildings? Aizen seriously needs to fire his architect!" And with that, Kenpachi, fortunately, leaves the area in a flash with his lieutenant in tow.
"Where could he have possibly gone to now?"
"Captain Kenpachi must have had a good reason for leaving, as did Captain Kurotsuchi," says the Fourth Division Captain as she gestures to the mad scientist and his party, who were a good fifty feet east of us. "Let's go Isane. Seventh Seat Yamada, I want you to stay with Captain Kuchiki and Third Seat Fukudome for the time being."
"Yes Captain!" says the timid man as his higher ups shunpo away, leaving the rest of us to ourselves.
"Master, can you sense that?"
I turn to Mizukiri to see her looking to the east of us at a building about three miles away, her eyes scrutinizing it with a hard glare.
"Indeed I can," mutters Mina as I sense her spiritual pressure spike up for a second. "Rukia's spiritual pressure . . . it's weak."
"Let's move" I say in an instant as I shunpo toward the building. I instantly sense Senbonzakura, Minata's, and Mizukiri's spiritual pressure right at my side, but I can barely feel Yamada's pressure behind us.
"What happened to Yamada?" asks Mizukiri as she quickly checks behind her for the man.
"Simple," says Minata as she turns to her partner. "He does not know shunpo. He'll have to run after us."
"Well that explains it." mutters the zanpakuto as we reached the building. "Now how do we get inside?"
"There are windows at the top. We can enter through there." suggests Mina as she points to said windows above us.
"Well isn't that a sneaky way to enter a building?" Senbonzakura instantly asks sarcastically as we shunpo before one of the windows on the side.
"What can we say? The ninja ways of the 2nd Division and the Onmitsukudo still linger within us." says the fellow noble as we easily enter the building. My senses instantly lock in on Rukia's fading spiritual pressure coming from an area further down the hallway we currently stand in, along with a new spiritual pressure that was certainly new to me.
"Minata, why don't you check the rest of the area for any more of the Arrancars?"
Her eyes widened for a split second before they registered the true meaning of my words: give me some time to take on the enemy myself.
"Understood Captain Kuchiki" said Minata with a small nod of her head. They leave in an instant; shunpoing away in the other direction, leaving my zanpakuto and I alone in the hallway. We silently reach a large room, just in time to see a dark skinned man in white robes with his blade raised high above his head, ready to strike down my wounded sister with no hesitation.
As if I was going to let that happen.
Senbonzakura quickly returns to my blade and I shunpo into the ongoing scene, managing to stop the enemy's weapon from striking my sister.
"Oh, I see I have a guest to this party." the man says in his deep voice as he slowly turns his head to face me. He takes a quick glance at my captain's robe before returning his yellow eyed gaze to me. "I see . . . you are one of the captains of the Gotei 13; the ones that Lord Aizen talked about. Tell me, what is your name, shinigami captain?"
I remain silent, letting my cold gaze do the talking for me.
"Well? Aren't you going to say your name, nameless captain?" asks the man, his voice barely showing any emotion. "How about I introduce myself first, and then you follow after me? I am Zommari Rureaux, the Séptima Espada, and you?"
"Were you the one that hurt this shinigami?" I ask in my stoic tone as I nodded my head to my fallen sister.
"I see. You are not going to tell me your name," he tells me with a sigh. "Aren't you prideful? And to answer your question, no, I did not hurt the girl, but I am going to be the one that finishes the job."
"Is that so?" I ask, inwardly resisting the urge to grit my teeth.
"Indeed, and I will not let you interfere with my work." he tells me as he pushes his weight against his blade in an attempt to gain the upper hand, but I use my shunpo to move a few feet away from him before he could strike my chest.
"Impressive," mumbles the Espada as he stands up to his full height. "Your speed is impressive. You must be one of the fastest in all of the Gotei 13. But your speed is not going to work against me."
"And why do you say that?" I ask, barely stopping myself from raising an eyebrow.
"I have the fastest Sonido among all the Espada. With my speed, I can use my Gemelos Sonido to create quasi-clones of myself." he tells me, the slight hint of bragging evident in his tone.
"It's ridiculous to reveal your ability so quickly."
"We'll see about that." and that's when I feel his spiritual pressure shift to my side. I swing my blade, cutting down the Espada in one strike, but that's when I sense his spiritual pressure again, this time coming toward either side of me. I manage to move out the way, but I'm stunned to see three more Espada's come at me, the blade of one cutting into me.
"You're pride has led you to your downfall." the Espada behind me says, his face expressionless as a stone column.
"Are you sure?" I say, now a couple feet away from him, my captain's haori the only thing that remains at my original position.
"How were you able to pull off such a trick?"
"It's called Utsusemi, also known as Cicada. By moving at great speed, I can leave an after-image that appears to have taken damage from my opponent, as I have shown just now." I explain as I ready my blade.
"Interesting, but it's not going to last so long against an opponent like me. You said earlier that it is ridiculous to reveal your abilities so quickly, yet you just revealed your Utsusemi technique just like that," he tells me as he points his blade toward me. "How hypocritical can you be? Now that you have revealed that ability to me, I can easily think of different ways to counter that attack."
"Yes, but that is only one of my maneuvers. Will you be able to think of counters for those?" I ask.
"Don't let your pride get in the way, nameless shinigami. Like I said before, your pride will be your downfall." he tells me, the slight hint of irritation evident in his tone.
"We'll see about that." I say as I ready my blade.
"Yes," says the Espada as he points his blade my way. "We shall see."
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