Chapter 21: Ausführung! (The God's plan)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Inner hollow/Zanpaktou speech'
xxx
In the depths of Garganta, a path made of reishi shone bright like a diamond, illuminating the darkness of the precipice world and also a face of a lone shinigami, who rushed through the space like there was no tomorrow. The glow of the path beneath his feet revealed his face, twisted in trepidation and anxiety. Clearly, the man was hurrying as much as he could without falling prey to the turbulences of reishi all around him. His short, orange hair was forced to bend backwards from the sheer pressure of the air, a token of his speed. The inside of his mind was blank; aside from the multitude of emotions flowing within his system, he wasn't thinking anything. He was just pushing forward. Finally, an end was in his sight and he jumped through the gate to find himself in the middle of an unfamiliar street.
'Must have messed up while creating a Garganta in a hurry.' He noted in frustration. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his senses and tried to locate Urahara.
'There… and he's not alone… Dad?' His face went blank as soon as he sensed the unmistakable spiritual signature of his father in the vicinity of the shopkeeper. The notion of the two of them being together made his blood chill. With no time to spare, he turned to the right direction and flashed away.
As soon as he landed he noticed two things. One, the area around the shop looked quite demolished. It was quite fortunate there wasn't much people living there. Two, Urahara was staring right at him with a serious expression. That always meant something was wrong. A swift dash inside and Ichigo found his father sitting on the ground in his shinigami attire, looking over Tessai as the stoic man scanned two motionless teens.
"What…" Ichigo almost choked on his own tongue and gritted his teeth. Seeing the lacerations and bruises on his two friends, Orihime and Chad, it took all of his will not to burst through the doors and leap into the Soul Society and destroy the whole Quincy army himself.
"What happened?" He asked in a forcibly calm tone.
Urahara, who cautiously peeked over his shoulder from behind tapped him on the shoulder and motioned him to walk further into the room. Only then the shopkeeper started with an explanation.
"As you probably deduced from the way the outside of the shop looks like, we've been attacked. Specifically, by a small force consisting of a Quincy and some hollows. When I'm saying we, I mean me and Tessai. We won, but during the fight, a single Cero flew towards the area in which Inoue-san and Sado-kun live. The following explosion made me worry about their well-being so me and Tessai quickly got there but there were already two people trying to pry them out of the rubble." He trailed off and expectantly glanced at Isshin who opened his mouth but before he could continue in Urahara's stead, another voice cut in.
"They have been unconscious long before the Cero even hit the area."
"Uryū!" Ichigo stared at the boy who came inside through a different door, his torso wrapped in a set of bandages. The Quincy just nodded and, with a suppressed grunt, leaned on the door-frame.
"While Urahara-san and Tessai-san fought here, me and my father fought our own battle with Ywach. The man had the audacity to stand in front of us and ask us to join his army. Obviously, we refused." He said with closed eyes and continued after a sigh.
"That didn't bode well with him and so we fought." He opened his eyes and stared at Ichigo with a conflicted expression.
"Ichigo." He said and ignored the surprised look from Isshin and Urahara.
"He's strong. Ywach. I have witnessed power of many supernatural beings so far, hollows, Arrancar, Gotei 13 Captains and you. That man… he's really strong, bordering on a monster-like power-levels and something tells me I didn't see his full strength, I mean we…" A flash of pain flew through Uryū's eyes and he averted his stare.
"It seems that Ryūken sacrificed himself and let Ywach kidnap him in exchange for his son's life." Isshin suddenly said, finishing Uryū's sentence.
"…damn." Ichigo quietly cursed. Uryū raised his head.
"I thought that was it but the bastard didn't have enough. After my father agreed to go with him I, of course, followed them. Ywach, he went to where Inoue-san and Sado-kun lives and called them out. It goes without saying that the two fools tried to attack him and when they did…" It seemed that Uryū really went through enough shit that day as he was unable to finish another of his thoughts. Urahara took the mantle after him and cleared his throat.
"Apparently, Ywach somehow absorbed Inoue-san's and Sado-kun's special abilities. At first, I thought he did it with Sklaverei but it seems the effects are permanent."
As the realization dawned upon Ichigo, he turned his shocked face to his two unconscious friends and, with a grimace, he could not see the hairpin Orihime wore all the time anywhere.
"You don't mean to tell me…"
"It seems so, Kurosaki-san. They have forever lost their abilities." Urahara said in a grim tone and the whole room went deadly silent, only the slowly disintegrating material around Ichigo was the sign that something was happening.
The substitute tried as hard as he could, but the wild emotions within his heart were too strong and his enormous reiatsu began to eat away the inanimate things in his vicinity. He stood up and left the room for a moment, until he found a way how to cope with all the information.
"…how can that be?" He asked right after returning.
"Honestly? I'm not sure. Kurosaki-san, these two are not motionless because of the injuries they have sustained in the explosion nor they are simply unconscious. Their abilities weren't just a simple tool for them. They were parts of their soul and a forced removal like this is not natural. They are in a coma."
More ominous words and Ichigo really hoped he could find a way how to vent himself later. Urahara spotted the increasing scowl on the substitute face and so he hastily continued.
"Don't worry though, Kurosaki-san. I'm sure they will be alright."
"Don't try to sugarcoat it Urahara-san. I'm not a kid anymore." Ichigo snapped at him, very much aware of the grim possibilities. He turned to his father.
"I think I sensed Yuzu and Karin. Are they here too?"
"Yeah, I thought it would be best if all of us would stick together. They are in the underground training area together with Jinta and Ururu." Isshin replied and gulped down a glass full of something colorful.
Ichigo nodded, he actually wanted to suggest to move his sisters here as soon as he heard from Urahara through the transmitter.
'Speaking of that message.' He glanced back at the quiet shopkeeper.
"You said something about Uryū wanting to storm the Hell?"
Urahara perked up at hearing those words and motioned the substitute and his Quincy friend to follow him deeper into the shop, leaving Tessai and Isshin with the comatose duo. Urahara spoke up only after they entered a dark room.
"Yes, I did say that. Despite the fact I consider this idea to be a mistake, I promised Ishida-san to open a gate to Hell for him right after you would arrive. It is his decision to make, after all. I just hoped that maybe you could convince him otherwise but I guess that is out of the question?" He pressed a few buttons on a large computer and a beeping noise came out of it.
"Some time ago, Uryū told me he would be on my side no matter what happens. It works both ways. If he wants to save his father, who am I to try and stop him? There is one thing though, I'm going with him."
There weren't any surprised gasps coming from anybody after his statement, but Urahara couldn't hide his smirk.
"I suspected as much. That's also the reason I stalled Ishida-san for this long. While I hoped you could convince him not to do it, I hoped more that you'd go with him. It would be suicide for him going there alone. With you going along, there is just some chance you can pull this off. However, I have to warn you both of something." The atmosphere around the scientist fell dark and he stared at the duo in full seriousness.
"Be careful you two. Hell is nothing like you've ever seen till now. It's not a pleasant dimension just as the name suggests. If you stay within the basic Hell for too long, it will consume you, turn you into the Hell-servant. A soul slowly dies and withers away while there. The more powerful you are, the more time you have. Kurosaki-san, while you are strong, Hell is even more dangerous for you than for your friend. Due to your powers' origins, the hollow part of you and within your zanpakuto might and probably will, affect you negatively. Don't lose yourself there, Kurosaki-san."
For a minute, Ichigo just gazed at the man with uncertainty in his eyes but he realized what his words meant. Even though he had long learned to control his zanpakuto powers, he hadn't forgotten the darkness within it that could swallow him. He swallowed hard.
"Basic Hell?" Uryū asked, perplexed. Urahara shifted his eyes from ichigo to the Quincy and nodded.
"Indeed. What I mean by basic Hell are the nine layers, circles or levels if want to call them like that. Each circle tries to swallow your soul. The deeper you go, the harder it is to resist just letting go of your life and becoming the servant. Each subsequent circle will appeal on a different side of your soul. You'll probably have to travel across all of them in order to find Ryūken-san as Muken, the pocket dimension within which the Ywach's headquarters is located, is situated in the middle of the last layer, the Ninth circle of Hell." Urahara explained, showing them an intricate plan on the computer screen.
"Can't you just send us directly into the Muken?" Ichigo asked in confusion. Urahara just numbly laughed.
"I would if I could, Kurosaki-san. But this time, things aren't as simple. Even I can't just simply bypass the Hell's security like that. The only person who can directly open a pathway to the Muken is the Captain Commander. The other possible option of accessing the Muken is through the underground prison facility in the Seiretei, under the 1st Division barracks. And even that is under several conditions. Because of that, this is the only viable way. I mean, you could go to Soul Society but…"
"No. The war has already began and the Gotei 13 probably has enough at its hands."
"You're quite calm despite knowing that, Kurosaki-san." Urahara pointed out in a somber voice.
Ichigo just showed him a small smile.
"Yeah. I believe in them. They can take care of things there by themselves. Right now, I'm needed elsewhere."
Urahara nodded to him in acknowledgement.
"Fine then, prepare you two."
"Wait a minute. Something doesn't quite add up here." Uryū stopped the scientist and the substitute before they could move in either direction. The curious stare from Urahara was met with a slight nod from the Quincy.
"It's just… I'm not doubting any information you have given us, Urahara-san. However, I think you're not telling us everything. If it was so easy to locate Ywach's headquarters, I'm having a hard time believing the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 would have just waited for such a long time and wouldn't invade the place with all of his military might." Uryū inquired suspiciously. Despite his mind being filled with anxiety about his father's well-being, he still showed to be the most collected person within the room. An enlightened expression formed on Ichigo's face as he recalled something and joined Uryū in his stare at the scientist.
"That's right Urahara-san. I remember you explaining to me that Muken is a sort of an endless and infinite dark dimension in which it is impossible to orientate. How are we supposed to find anything or anybody after we enter it?"
The former Head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute shifted under the accusing stares from both young men and took down his beloved hat to cover a part of his face, save for his eyes, from them.
"Ah-hah, I almost forgot about that." He tried to play it off as one of his quirks but sensing the heavy atmosphere, he quickly adopted the serious expression.
"Right. Indeed the Captain Commander wanted to strike the Ywach's headquarters as soon as he could but he was informed of the same thing Kurosaki-san just said. It is impossible to orientate within Muken. That's a fact. I don't know how Ywach's army is doing it. However, don't forget the most important part and the reason you're going into the Hell in the first place."
"My father?" Uryū replied almost instantly.
"Exactly."
Urahara reached behind the computer and picked up a tiny device with a small screen. It was constantly making a quiet beeping noise until now covered by the beeping of the main computer.
"I have known Isshin-san and Ryūken-san for almost twenty years now. During that time I have collected much information from both of them. Admittedly, Ryūken-san had informed me about Ywach's possible return only in recent years but that's not the point. It is the fact that he was quite well aware of the chance Ywach coming after him or after you, his son. Because of that, ever since Aizen's disappearance, I gave him a small transmitter and told him to wear it all the time in case something like this ever happened." He revealed with a small but proud smile.
"And my father took it?" Uryū pushed his glasses up in an attempt to mask his surprise.
"He didn't want to at first. Called it a 'useless piece of junk that was created with the sole purpose of me spying on him'." Urahara sweatdropped. He couldn't have believed others trusted him so little when Ryūken had told him that!
"That sounds like him."
"He changed his mind after I pointed out it's really useless to me as it doesn't really work while he's in the World of the Living. The transmitter switches on only after it leaves this dimension so it would be really impossible for me to spy on him."
Apparently satisfied with the explanation, Uryū grabbed the quietly beeping device from the scientist's outstretched palm and thanked him. Following after that, he and Ichigo followed him into another area, where they waited until a small gate of hell forcibly popped into existence, looking as terrifying as the first time Ichigo had seen it. The memory of a large hand with an even larger hand shooting out of it caused him to unconsciously take a step back.
"Don't worry, this is an illeg… I mean, unofficial gate. There won't be any hand sticking out for you." Urahara tried to ease the substitute and completely ignored the correction of his own words.
After the gates opened and Uryū resolutely walked inside, Ichigo stopped inches before he actually entered the Hell and glanced at Urahara.
"Shady as ever, Urahara-san. Don't think I have missed it. You created the device for tracking Ryūken-san because you knew this would happen and you knew this would allow the Gotei 13 to locate the Ywach's headquarters. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether Ryūken-san knew about being a scapegoat and decided to go with it or not. Just to let you know, I won't tell this to Uryū." And with his parting words, he jumped inside, the gates of hell immediately closing after him.
The scientist watched the energy from the gates slowly vanish into thin air and with his left hand wiped the sweat from his brow that quickly formed during the substitute's speech. With an uneasy feel inside his stomach, he realized his hand was shaking.
'That glare… he played it off nicely but he's hungry for blood.' He gulped and turned around to stare in the direction two comatose teens were motionlessly lying on the floor. He really needed to make sure they would be alright.
'And I need to contact the Soul Society. God knows both sides need some information.'
In the next instant, all of his senses went haywire and he instantly flashed outside of his shop to join Isshin and Tessai in staring at a small Garganta with a single person coming out of it.
"Urahara Kisuke I presume. I'm afraid I cannot let you contact the Soul Society and meddle with the affairs of my son."
'The Ancient?!' For the first time in decades, Urahara felt a tiny pulse of fear entering his being. He faltered and it cost him dearly as he found himself sailing through the air and numerous walls of his shop.
…
Soul Society
Like a raging fire, the oldest member of the Gotei 13 sailed through the air of Seiretei, his spiritual pressure overwhelming the whole of both armies fighting below. It was time for Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto to join the frail, the conflict boiling under the blanket of a peaceful and calm millennia, the conflict that could and would change the course of the whole world; all of them. It wasn't just fate of the Soul Society at stake. The World of the Living, Hueco Mundo, Hell, all the other dimensions were balancing on a thin thread between annihilation and peace.
Yamamoto was burning with desire to avenge, to kill, to demolish, murder, destruct and obliterate Ywach and every single member of his army, foolishly marching against the peace he had been guarding for a long time. It was true, he accepted the fact that he had gone soft over the years of harmony and prosperity of the Soul Society. But right now, the killer within was coming back. The instincts honed during the harsh centuries pushed his dark desires out. Ryūjin Jakka, his loyal zanpakuto, was only further instigating those emotions. Right now, he was not the frail old man that allowed Shunsui and Jūshirō to treat him like a surrogate father or the grandfather that just shook his head in exasperation at Kurosaki Ichigo's name-calling.
Right now, he was the Firestarter.
The blazing inferno of flames hotter than any fire landed amidst a rubble fast and hard, the sheer amount of the power crawling around him creating an impact not unlike an unstable bomb.
"It's been nearly a thousand years, Ywach."
He stated in a deadly calm voice to a tall man standing near the edge of a clearing, watching his men purging the filth that called themselves 'shinigami'. The man slowly turned around and welcomed him with a wide, almost diabolical, grin.
"I have come here to annihilate you." Yamamoto continued in a tone so hard, even a hollow would run away from.
Taking a step forward, the Captain Commander casually glanced to all sides and with a disappointed grunt turned his attention back to the man in front of him.
"Hmph, I have expected some of your subordinated to come straight at me."
"They would be fools with a short lifespan, then. They know better than to attack the likes of you, Genryūsai Yamamoto." Ywach answered, the grimace of a demon still present on his face. A small twitch of eyebrows was all it took for the leader of Gotei 13 to cross the distance between them, the blade of his sword already pushing against the raised forearm of his foe.
"It seems you have changed a bit, Ywach. In the past you wouldn't have thought for even a second to sacrifice your underlings just to prove a point." Yamamoto said as a few droplets of blood dripped on the ground.
"Don't let your eyes deceive you, Yamamoto Shigekuni. I just simply want to enjoy your annihilation, your humiliation, with my own hands and without any interruptions." Ywach replied and pushed the old Captain away.
"On the other hand, you've grown old, Yamamoto Shigekuni. A thousand years ago, you would have already blown me away with your Bankai. Or is it that you're afraid I might steal it from you?" He bared his teeth at the man with one of the strongest zanpakuto in existence.
"Nonsense!"
A torrent of fire assaulted Ywach's position but the man was already backing away from it. In a fluid motion, he opened his cloak and reached inside it to take out a sword of his own. It had a black blade with an ornamented hilt.
"So you've finally drawn it."
"It's almost as if you're trying to say you were waiting for me to do it." Ywach retorted and noticed the grin that appeared on Yamamoto's face.
"Indeed I was. You said in the past I would have already used my Bankai to blow you away? That right now, I'm afraid to use it? You're being too naïve, Ywach. It's unbecoming of you. And you're greatly mistaken."
The spiritual pressure around the Captain sky-rocketed into the height only few could hope to reach and the flames became hotter, harder to reach.
"Your blood, your flesh, your sword, your soul, your very bones… it was so I could crush it all to dust." The demonic tone of the Commander was only surpassed by the infernal temperature of the fire emerging from his body and sword only to completely vanish in the next second.
Even Ywach was caught unprepared and narrowed his eyes at the charred sword tightly secured in Yamamoto's grip.
"Bankai. Zanka no Tachi."
With a daunting glee, the Captain of the 1st Division registered the brow, creased in frown, forming on Ywach's face as the man's eyes carefully trailed the blade in his hand as a thin trail of smoke rose from it and disappeared within the breeze of wind.
"You have seen this Bankai a thousand years ago, haven't you? I wonder… is it same as before?" Feigning an innocent question, Yamamoto raised his sword so that it covered half of his face, twisted in a carefully controlled fury.
"Whether or not it's the same as it was a thousand years ago, let's test it out on your body." He stated.
Ywach's expression slowly cooled down and his eyelids drooped half-way, showing an emotionless and cold gaze filled with meticulously nurtured loathing. Moving backwards, he evaded a horizontal slash aimed at his torso and glanced at the piece of his cloak that got cut, the wheels in his mind already spinning fast. He was not as naïve as the Commander thought he was. Ywach was well aware just how powerful the old man could be and just because he couldn't see the power of his zanpakuto, his keen mind didn't allow him to slow down for even a second. The flames of the sword couldn't have just disappeared without a trace. The picture of a madman blowing a portion of an undefined area with a calculated explosion of flames floating within his mind reminded him to stay alert all the time.
A side-step later, he observed as the tip of the Commander's zanpakuto hit one of the stones on the ground and before his unbelieving eyes, a large chunk of ground literally vanished into thin air, leaving only a thin, but concentrated, crater most likely deep dozens of meters.
"The edge." He stated when the revelation hit him.
"Correct." Yamamoto replied and when Ywach evaded even his following slash, he calmly raised his sword and showed it to the man again.
"Zanka no Tachi – East, Kyokujitsujin. All the flames that I possess are concentrated on my blade's edge. It neither burns nor erupts. Anything it touches is simply eradicated into nothingness. Without a trace." The fake calmness faded away and in the next instant, he was already next to Ywach, his sword on the move.
"Even the defense you Quincy possess, the Blut, cannot hope to stop it!"
Ywach's thick moustache moved upwards as his mouth formed a grin.
"Revealing the mechanics behind your abilities can cost you greatly, Shigekuni Yamamoto. I just need to evade your blade and strike you directly, then." Matching the impressive speed of the Captain's movements, Ywach brought his sword up and down, cutting the man in the process. However, when no blood appeared anywhere, he recoiled and took a step back in realization.
"Cost me greatly? How foolish." Yamamoto almost wanted to laugh as he stood there, unharmed.
"I can afford to spill my abilities because there is nothing you can do to overcome them. It's that simple. And you weren't listening. I said Zanka no Tachi – East. If there is an 'East', there will be 'West'... I guess I can't blame you though. I should make it visible to your eyes so you could comprehend what was going on." He said and enjoyed the overwhelmed expression on Ywach's face as a great cloak of flames, surrounding him from head to toe, slowly became visible to the naked eye.
"Zanka no Tachi – West, Zanjitsugoki. It heat reaches fifteen million degrees. You cannot even touch me. Now that I have unleashed my Bankai, think both of my body and my blade as the embodiment of the Sun!" Yamamoto explained and with the blithely serenity took a step forward, moving towards the leader of the Quincy who, for the first time during their fight didn't look as confident as he did at the beginning.
"Absurd! Such temperature is impossible to exist in a form of visible flames… and sun? Have you gone senile, Shigekuni Yamamoto? If such thing walked on the earth's surface, it would have turned into nothingness the moment you had activated your Bankai."
Yamamoto just tilted his head a hint of amusement playing on his lips.
"…is it fear I sense, Ywach?"
The leader of Quincy moved his head so that his expression was covered in the shadow his hair was producing and stayed silent for a moment.
"Well, then, let's end this, Ywach. If this doesn't end soon, then you, myself and the whole of the Soul Society will burn to ash.
He took another step forward.
"What's wrong? Are you just going to stare?"
Ywach raised his head a bit and stared at the Commander with eyes devoid of emotions. If not for the multitude of emotions running through his mind, the old Captain's keen sight might have spotted the tint of a hidden laughter behind that emotionless gaze. And so he continued in his mocking, being none the wiser.
"…no, that might have been a bit mean-spirited. With your sword broken, you have no techniques left. It's not that surprising you are unable to move. It's fine if you want to run."
"I'll just capture … and kill you now!" He finally cracked a laugh but the grim expression on his face, filled with the hatred of his dead comrades, made it sound ice cold. Coupled with the almost impossible spiritual pressure pouring out of him, Ywach's skin began to produce sweat that had nothing to do with the actual heat of the air.
Hastily, the man reached in his pocket and took out a small device. Soon after that, a large reishi arrow sped from his position towards the Captain only to get stopped with a bare hand.
"Right. I almost forgot about your Heilig Pfeil. Well then, let's go." Yamamoto said after successful blocking the reishi arrow. He jumped in the air, intent to cross the distance between them in one leap.
Ywach reacted in an instant and jumped backwards and as soon as Yamamoto landed on the ground, he took out a second device from his pocket, activated it and plunged it into the ground. Five trails of reishi glowed brightly and Yamamoto felt something constricting his feet.
"What is this? Nothing will work against me." He said, not in the least bit frightened.
With one hand, Ywach tilted a tube filled with a bright blue, liquid-ish material and let it drip onto the tip of the device embed in the ground.
"Don't think that Quincy are limited only to Heilig Pfeil in their battles. Sprenger!"
A surge of energy raced across the pentagram-shaped seal, creating a massive, but concentrated explosion within its borders. The bluish torrent of energy swallowed the Commander and for a moment, obstructed him from being seen. Ywach watched the scene with cautious frown which turned into a grimace when he heard Yamamoto's voice from within the torrent of reishi.
"Oh corpses, ashes of the dead scattered by my flames. Len me your aid. For a spell, I shall grant you the pleasure of battle once again. Zanka no Tachi – South, Kaka Juumanokushi Daisoujin!"
What happened next easily surpassed even the wildest and darkest of Ywach's expectations of Yamamoto's Bankai. The ground started to shake and from its very depth trail of ashes crawled out, forming a countless masses of rotten and charred corpses, practically skeletons. The most terrifying detail of those skeletons was the fact that they moved. For the love of the non-existent and ever-present God, they moved; this thought filled the empty mind of the leader of the Quincy as he unconsciously took a step backwards, away from the army of the dead.
"To the ashes of those I have slain thus far… my blade has given them heat and called them forth. The awakened dead become my hands and feet… and chase after those who oppose me, until they become no more than dust!" Yamamoto roared, the dissolving energy from the Sprenger revealed the Captain practically unharmed; his claim of nothing ever working against him apparently more than just a taunt.
Ywach's grimace twisted itself into a wide grin as his laughter filled the area.
"How ironic that the leader of shinigami can call forth the dead! Quite the disgrace, Shigekuni Yamamoto! Don't think that I could be stopped by the likes of this." He said and leaped forward only to crash into a wall of skeletons that rose in front of him.
"You're being too talkative and it blinds your eyes. Take a good look, just whose arm you just broke… and just whose skull you shattered, look well upon their faces."
As the words echoed through the air and entered Ywach's ears, the Quincy leader narrowed his eyes when the skeletons in front of him suddenly took the form of men clad in quincy uniforms. When boney arms grabbed him from behind, he turned his head towards them and they too, took the form of more Quincy men. Such shocking truth made him freeze for a moment.
"How is it? The feeling of being held down by your former subordinates?" The Commander lowered his gaze and turned around before walking away.
"You have ventured into the enemy territory with insane amounts of arrogance on your part but after not even a day of this foolish war, you will fall into the oblivion of being forgotten."
"You think this will hold me down for long? Come back, Shigekuni Yamamoto!"
Yamamoto stopped in the middle of a step.
"Don't make a fuss. I'm just making some distance. If you want to kill me, then come at it. Just bring down your subordinates in front of you first."
The emotions boiling under Ywach's skin returned the pulse to his system and he narrowed his eyes again, this time at the distant back of the old Captain.
"You… I see, this is more like you, Shigekuni Yamamoto. More like the man from a thousand years ago. Ruthless, merciless and most of the time brutal beyond belief."
Slowly turning around to face him directly, Yamamoto didn't react to those words and instead stared at Ywach with piercing gaze.
"You said I was afraid of releasing my Bankai, yet you have not tried to steal it once. Is it because you're trying to show me you can fight me without doing that? Because my instinct is telling me that rather than that, you wouldn't be able to do it, even if you tried. You analyze a bankai's power and by knowing this, you're able to steal it. Am I right? Which is why you have somehow lured Kurosaki Ichigo out of the Soul Society. He acquired his real powers quite recently and there is still room for it to evolve. That is why you're so vigilant against him. I, on the other hand, did not display my real strength even a thousand years ago and thus you can't steal something you don't know the limits of. It's just simple logic." Yamamoto offered the restrained Quincy a lengthy explanation, trying to further decrease his morale, his will to fight.
However, despite everything, despite the course of the fight so far, Ywach didn't panic. His face didn't betray any despair, any anguish. Quite the opposite. His narrowed gaze straightened itself out and became a quite calm expression of someone who was being entertained by a high-level theatrical drama. With a casual flick, he demolished half of the boney wall in front of him, smashing the living skeletons into pieces not caring for the faces of his dead subordinates in the least bit.
"I see. That is quite logical, just as you say, Shigekuni Yamamoto. Now, you are obviously burning with desire to slaughter me. Do it!" He smoothly encouraged the Commander and the tiny glint of laughter appeared in the background of his eyes again. Yet again, the leader of the Gotei 13 didn't notice it. Instead, he reacted violently and dashed forward, his blade already in a middle of a vicious slash.
"Zanka no Tachi – North, Tenchi Kaijin." He said and closed his eyes when a portion of Ywach's body literally disappeared from this world, blown into oblivion. As the remnants of his body fell on the ground, he deactivated his Bankai and welcomed the droplets of rain falling on his face, cooling off his skin. It was over. He defeated Ywach. The time of prosperity and peace can return to the Soul Society once again.
"Yamamoto Genryūsai, to you I won't say I won't kill you. You are Soul Society's history itself. And you, at least I will finish with my own sword… I remember telling you those words not that long ago."
An indescribable emotions clutched the heart of the Commander. His pupils dilated, his heart beating faster from the adrenaline entering his veins and his very being trembling from the rage that suddenly exploded within him, he slowly turned around as the body in front of him flickered from the existence.
"That voice… those words… this cannot be."
He turned around just in time to see as the face and the whole imposing figure of the Quincy leader flickered from the existence just like the dead body did and in his stead, there stood a different enemy. Somebody, whom he thought he wouldn't see so soon. A traitor. The traitor.
"Aizen Sosuke."
"Greetings, Captain Commander. Did you enjoy my performance?"
Maybe it was because of his use of Bankai but the Captain Commander thought his throat was a bit dry as he had to swallow his saliva to regain his ability to speak. The man in front of him just stood there watching him with great amusement playing in his eyes, dressed the same way he had been during the Winter War. From his relaxed posture it was too obvious he was confident in his power.
"How, how can this be?"
The humor still not leaving his gaze, Aizen raised an eyebrow at the question he considered to be redundant.
"I believed there was nothing confusing about this but it seems you can't accept the fact that until now, you have been fighting me, not the real leader of the Quincy. It was all but my illusion."
The flames, for the last few moments barely licking the ground around the Captain, erupted with great strength and scorched everything in his vicinity as his ire began to boil again.
"Preposterous! You have lost the ability to use your zanpakuto. It crumbled, turned to dust in front of everyone's eyes!" He shouted and gripped his sword.
With a wide smile, Aizen raised one finger and put it front of his own mouth.
"Shhh. Don't shout, Captain Commander. It makes you look weak. I believe I said something like that to Captain Hitsugaya." The finger slid from his face and his smile uncharacteristically turned into a grin.
"And as far as I remember I'll say one more thing I used to say in the past. Since when were you under the illusion I couldn't just repair my zanpakuto? It is, after all, a part of me, my soul." He stated and the air around his right wrist shimmered and a thin blade of Kyōka Suigetsu came into existence.
"…Aizen…" Yamamoto growled and released his Bankai once again, despite his heavy breathing. He really was getting too old.
"Hmm, Zanka no Tachi. Yes, it'll be very useful for us, for him. I can see the anxiety in your eyes Captain Commander and while I'm most likely superior to you almost in everything, this Bankai of yours is still practically impossible to fight head on. It's time to take it away." Aizen said and used his Shunpo to circle around the Commander as the zanpakuto of annihilation was closing up on him. While doing so, he reached inside his clothes to take out a different device which he plugged into his ear.
"Yes. Everything is in place. Begin with the phase 2." He said and watched the Commander spin around.
"It is very… distasteful to rely on others but if it allows me… well, you probably aren't interested in my little backstory, are you Captain Commander?"
As a bright light exploded in the distance, at the Sōkyoku Hill, Aizen smiled again. This time, it was the smuggest smile the old Commander had ever seen.
"What you said about how the Quincy steal the Bankai was very amusing. An interesting theory though, a failed one."
…
Sōkyoku Hill
"Yes, his Majesty, everything is going according to the plan. The Sternritter are fighting most of the shinigami Captains. No, we have been unable to ascertain the location of two Captains, Unohana Retsu and Kurotsuchi Mayuri… yes, I understand."
A certain white-haired Quincy kept one of his hands pressed against his ear, on a device which allowed him to communicate with others. The spiritual energy of his being clearly showed he was not an ordinary Quincy.
Jugram Haschwalth, the Grandmaster of the Quincy army, was currently talking with the Emperor himself, providing him with necessary information about the progress of the invasion while carefully watching the motionless man in front of him. In a calm voice, he ended the call and as soon as he lowered his hand, noticed the bead of sweat on the back of his palm.
'So he successfully baited the Commander.' He thought, feeling a slight satisfaction at the smooth way things were developing. Aside from that, he also felt the patterns of numerous spiritual beings all over the Seiretei. It was time to prepare for the next part of the invasion.
With a single thread of spiritual energy, he led the other man forward, until the remnants of the Sōkyoku's execution pole, broken by Ichigo's efforts during his mission to save Rukia came into his sight. The man formed a tiny, fleeting smile that disappeared before it could have been even discovered by the hawk flying over his head and jumped upwards. The thread forced the other man, Muramasa, to jump along with him.
Standing on the remnants of the pole, Haschwalth embed small devices on either side of the broken pole and pouring a bit of reishi into them, the gap between the remnants filled itself with a bright light. The Sōkyoku's execution pole was once again, whole. A moment later, Haschwalth put Muramasa in the center of the pole, the repaired part made from spirit particles shining brightly beneath his feet. Taking a step backwards, the Grandmaster of the Quincy army waited.
After a few more minutes, the device in his ear beeped and he calmly picked up the call.
"Is it time?... I see. Proceeding with the phase 2 of the plan." He replied and hung up. Narrowing his eyes at the motionless Muramasa, he took a shallow breath.
"Muramasa, the zanpakuto of Kōga Kuchiki, our small and barely relevant plot device, your help is greatly appreciated. Even if it is not a voluntary one."
Faster than the clap of hands, Haschwalth shot small Heilig Pfeil into each device on the sides of the pole, causing a bright light to envelop him. He quickly covered his eyes so he could watch as two additional threads shoot out from the devices and latched onto Muramasa's hands, keeping him in place. A pulse of energy indicated the start of the sequence and a torrent of energy shot from the center of the pole and struck the motionless man into his back, causing his face to twist in a silent scream.
The second pulse of energy tore his body into thirteen pieces that exploded in a scene of fireworks and shot to various places of the Seiretei in a speed unmatched by any living being.
…
All over Seiretei, a bizarre phenomenon started to occur. It was an event that took the most of the remaining hope within the ranks of shinigami away from them and replaced it with anxiety, despair.
…
"Ryūjin Jakka…" The Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 paled as his Bankai vanished and the flames of his zanpakuto completely left him. He was left with a simple sword in his hands and all he could do was to stare at the fiery figure standing in front of him with its back turned to him.
Just a moment ago, the Commander had been hit with a beam of energy which had caused his zanpakuto to materialize in front of him, taking all of its power away from its wielder in the process. Moreover, it seemed that the zanpakuto spirit was in some sort of a trance, as it just stood there, unable to react to its wielder's words.
On its left, Aizen Sosuke watched the scene with a mild delight. It was the second time he had the pleasure to rob the Commander of his main power, his Ryūjin Jakka. He didn't dwell on this feeling for long as the necessity of the following action shook him out of it and he raised his left hand, which was gripping a medallion-like device, upwards.
As the Commander moved from his spot to grab his zanpakuto spirit, it crumbled into raw spiritual particles and vanished from his view. His eyes moved along the trail it left within the air and he finally spotted the medallion in Aizen's hand. It was now glowing with red light as if something alive was seemingly kept and stored inside of it.
"What have you done?!"
At the booming but also a little bit broken voice of the Commander, Aizen lowered his hands with a smirk.
"Like I said, Captain Commander. Your theory was good, albeit wrong. The process of stealing the Bankai uses a living entity… well, now it's a dead entity, as its source of power. We used it to forcibly materialize your zanpakuto spirit in the real world, where we can interact with it and after that, using the old Quincy technique of enslaving the reishi, we steal it. Well, as your zanpakuto materialized while you were in Bankai, if my reiatsu is powerful enough, I can use your Bankai techniques too. Thank you for showing them to me, by the way." He explained in an irritatingly taunting tone that caused the Commander's blood to boil more than ever.
"AIZEN SOSUKE!" The Commander roared and flashed across the area to deliver a blow to Aizen's body, forcing the former Captain to jump backwards.
"So quick to anger. What a shame. If you were Urahara Kisuke, you'd surely ask how I did this, since I'm not a Quincy but alas, your temper is getting the better of you." Aizen taunted him further, while flashing all over the place as even after robbing the old captain of his zanpakuto, he didn't plan on taking any hits from him. He knew first-hand what the man could do even without his sword.
A large explosion nearby forced both of them to look away from each other as a tall, muscular body of Kenpachi Zaraki sailed through the air and crashed into a wall next to the Commander.
"Gah!" Huge amount of blood flowed from Kenpachi's mouth as he pried himself from the stone. When he realized where he landed, he scoffed.
"What the fuck is wrong with you hussy?! If you want to fight me, do it someplace else and not here. I don't want the old fart hogging all of my fun." He yelled at a small figure which was quickly closing on the scene.
Yamamoto ignored the insult and looked over the Captain of the 11th Division. He was a mess, even by his standards. From the multiple injuries all over his body it was a miracle he could still move, not to mention, fight. He looked like he had just came from a battle with a dozen bombs exploding in his face.
"Sternritter 'E', the Explode. What are you doing here?" Aizen turned his head in slight distaste as a slender young girl with long, straight hair landed next to him.
"Would it kill you to call me Bambietta-sama at least one?" She replied in a frustrated tone, making the former Captain's eyebrow to twitch.
"Captain Zaraki… report." Yamamoto quietly said as the large man slowly got up.
"Tch… what can I report, old man. That hussy cowardly fights from a distance and she somehow stole my zanpakuto spirit… and it was only a few weeks since I got to know the bastard."
Hearing that, the Commander cursed.
'It is as I feared… they can steal the Zanpakuto from anyone, not just form those who had achieved a Bankai… this is bad.' He thought grimly as he looked around himself.
He had just completely lost his zanpakuto and along with it a portion of his reserves, he was tired from using his Bankai and he was against a traitor who was now arguably on his level and a Quincy girl who must have been quite strong too, if she trashed Kenpachi Zaraki like this. In the past, the Commander would just scoff at this, thinking he was way out of those younglings' league but now, he knew better. He was getting old and even he had his limits.
But that didn't mean he was going to just give up. He was the Captain Commander for a reason, after all. A warrior that had lived through worse situations than this.
What he could do, though? He was fairly confident in his durability and he could tank most of the attacks but he was not immortal, unlike Aizen. Immortality; that was the problem with the current situation.
The only way how to stop or restrain the traitor was to bind him with some kind of a seal or a barrier. And Yamamoto, while being the strongest fighter of the Gotei 13 and the most versatile warrior, never really tried to attack using defense. His way of doing things was to overpower the enemy until he couldn't resist anymore. Bah, too much useless thinking. He would do what he could do. Keeping this attitude in mind, he started to build up his spiritual pressure in order to fire a Kido spell while Kenpachi, despite his wounds, ran across the area, towards the enemy duo, intent on executing at least one of them and not caring about anything at all, not even his well-being.
Neither of them got too far as Aizen instantly shifted his attention from the, for some reason irritated, Sternritter and onto two shinigami Captains as soon as he felt the build-up in the Commander's spiritual energy.
"It is admirable you're still thinking you can defeat me, Captain Commander but also, as you've always liked to say, foolish. While the Hogyoku no longer recognizes me as its master and because of that I'm no longer a transcendental being, thanks to its constant presence within my soul, I'm still stronger than I was the last time we fought during the Winter War. Not to mention, immortal. Anything you do is pointless against me. You don't possess the necessary intelligence to fight me effectively, Captain Commander." He said as the female Quincy next to him threw a rough ball of energy, which exploded shortly after it touched the ground, in the direction of the other Captain, halting his movement. His eyes solely focused on the Commander's face, Aizen completely ignored the explosion, Kenpachi and the Sternritter as a whole and continued to talk with a devious smirk.
"I did tell you the line: 'to you I won't say I won't kill you. You are Soul Society's history itself. And you, at least I will finish with my own sword' but unfortunately for me and fortunately for you, I find myself unable to comply with it. Nothing would bring me greater satisfaction than seeing you die by my sword but this… gratification… is reserved for somebody who longed to do it for a much longer time than I did. Ywach is coming for your head, Captain Commander and there is nothing you or the rest of the Gotei 13 can do to stop it." His smirk grew wider when Yamamoto gritted his teeth, the distinct sound of teeth smashing against teeth was loud enough to be heard even through the sounds of a battle happening directly next to them.
"I won't even bother using my illusions on you, Captain Commander. Right now, you're not even worth it. You can't do nothing to stop the fights around the Seiretei. Not even Kurosaki Ichigo, the boy you all hail as your savior…" Aizen trailed off, a grimace of displeasure surprisingly showing on his face in the moment he uttered Ichigo's name, which he quickly replaced by his annoying smirk.
"…can do nothing as well, seeing as he is busy trying to force his way through the Hell."
"WHAT?!" Yamamoto was unable to stop the words from bursting through his mouth. What had the foolish boy done this time?
"Amazing, don't you think? How easily manipulated some people are. But do not blame him, Captain Commander. He's not a warrior with hundreds years of experience on the battlefield like you are." He smirked and turned away from the Commander, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword as he prepared to strike down Kenpachi.
It was not meant to be as a Hell gate, same as the ones that brought the Quincy into the Seiretei, rose from a dark shadow suddenly appearing in the ground nearby.
"I see. Well then, it's been fun, Captain Commander. We will meet again." Aizen eyed the gate and turned around to glance at the Commander, a gleam of superiority within his eyes.
"WAIT!" The Commander roared, finally overcoming all the surprises that came crashing down on him during the last few minutes. But he was too late.
The gate already swallowed both Aizen and the female Sternritter, leaving the wary and tired Commander alone in the area, the only spectator of his rampaging emotions an unconscious Kenpachi, lying in a puddle of his own blood. The old Captain was stupefied with this development and the only thing, eerily floating in his mind, was completely unrelated to his fight with Aizen.
'How did Zaraki Kenpachi lose so easily?'
…
An uncanny, creepy silence unfolded across the Seiretei as soon as the last Hell gate vanished. One would argue that such a thing was impossible, that screams of pain, despair or anger would resonate through the large city.
One would be wrong. The reason was simple. There was almost nobody who could scream anymore. And the ones who could, had more on their plate than to just do something so useless, futile and above all, pointless. The Captain of the 2nd Division was on her knees, cursing her own weakness, her inability to win and her regret at seeing her Lieutenant's body splattered across the whole battlefield. The Captain of the 3rd Division's eyes were once again slits as he stared at his unconscious Lieutenant with an unreadable expression on his face, his willpower suppressing the urge to flee towards the reiatsu signature that vanished moments ago from the Commander's position. The Captain of the 4th Division raced across the Seiretei, in an attempt to save the most injured warriors and cursing the order she had received from the Commander after the Quincy declared a war. The Captain of the 5th Division patted his Lieutenant on the shoulder and grabbed her when she almost fell on the ground, her stamina completely spent. His eyes finally left the place, where the Hell gate swallowed barely alive body of a Sternritter 'N'. The Captain of the 6th Division had no thoughts as his corpse lied on the ground while his Lieutenant, bleeding from multiple wounds and lacerations, forcibly closed his opened eyes, tears of anger flowing from his eyes. The Captain of the 7th Division motionlessly lied on the rubble from his fight, his consciousness flickering in and out while Iba grimly crawled to him, intent on trying to help him with his injuries. The Captain of the 8th Division slowly walked through the destroyed surroundings, lightly limping as he sighed at the sight of a gaping hole in his calf. Despite the deafening silence around him, a wave of relief washed over him when he felt a healthy spiritual signature of his Lieutenant and his best friend. The Captain of the 9th Division was breathing heavily, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his leg as he called out to his two Lieutenants. He didn't stop even after five minutes of nobody answering him. The Captain of the 10th Division was trying to pry himself out of his Lieutenant's hug, feeling the fatigue from the battle hitting him hard. The Captain of the 11th Division was being supported by the Commander, his hazy mind trying to locate his tiny Lieutenant. The Captain of the 12th Division was nowhere to be seen. The Captain of the 13th Division opened his eyes and a worry struck his heart when the reiatsu of his Lieutenant, located somewhere near him, slowly dropped down to a critical level.
The first attack of the Soul Society had ended.
Casualties on the side of the Wandenreich: too few.
Casualties on the side of the Gotei 13: too many.
End of the Chapter 21.
Hey again, I'm back with a new chapter! Finally, with this chapter, the first invasion ended. Will there be a second one? Who knows... *smirk*.
In this chapter, we saw Ichigo trusting his friends to take care of things in the Seiretei but... maybe he shouldn't have done that. What awaits him? You'll see. I took the liberties with the depiction of Hell, which will be different from the one you could see in Hell's Verse. My Hell is a bit based on Dante Alighieri's Hell, at least in a sense it has nine layers (circles).
Aizen is back! Did it rustle your jimmies? It certainly did mine. He's such a fun character to write. Bambietta seems interested in him, don't you think? Orihime and Chad are in coma... what a twist! Cookies to the person who knows how could Ywach do this to them. And nope, Sklaverei is not the answer.
Ausfuhrung - command to execute a given order, lit.
Yep, the Quincy used Muramasa as the middle man for stealing zanpakuto spirits. I included him because I wanted the stealing action to make some sense.
*Krazyfanfiction1 - oh, you sneaky little... thinking about Gremmy, are we? What happens if Ywach dies? Well, I'm not sure how Kubo will resolve this however, it is my understanding that if anything is killed by a Quincy, just a portion of its power goes to him, not a whole soul.
*Harbinger_of_Kaos - Renji's bankai will be as in canon but his power-level will not be the same. About Harribel... something like that.
*cruel_vamp - why not combine the arcs? *smirk*
*Hell'sWorstWriter - thanks but I have some twists left in my pocket. Original twists... until Kubo does something similar to what I have planned aaand I'm screwed.
To others, I read all your reviews and I greatly appreciate them. The next chapter awaits us (although I don't know when, sorry). What will happen next? Will Ichigo save Ryuken? Will he not? Why is Aizen cooperating with Quincy? Where is Mayuri?
See ya again!