When they had exited the Garganta they had expected that they may be met with some Shinigami who were on patrol, hoping to find that there was actually nothing wrong at all and that Ichigo's sudden urge to attack Soul Society had all been fake.
Well they had to wake up to reality once they did exit the Garganta and found to their surprise the first piece of the puzzle that painted their eventual picture of the situation. First of all, the massive hole in the wall that surrounded Soul Society, this thing was not just a small piece taken out of the wall. No this thing was about as wide as 20 people easily. Secondly was the levels of spiritual pressure that they could feel when they had exited the Garganta. Well… they were absolutely colossal, on levels none of the four of them had felt in a long time, even Matsumoto was astounded at the level her captain had gone in his fight.
Finally they got the piece of the puzzle that finished the picture when they felt the monstrous rise in two spiritual pressures, one of which was familiar, the other just feeling pure evil. Sado simply watched on unfazed as the levels of spiritual pressure finally capped off and the other three of the group were almost falling to their knees in fear. Rukia and Matsumoto for whole different reasons than Uryu. Matsumoto had felt the spiritual pressure of her captain being dwarfed by whoever it was that he was fighting and actually felt a sting of fear for him. Rukia could tell who her brother was fighting and was almost shaking in utter fear, she did not doubt the power of her brother but against whatever it was that Ichigo had become she worried for his life.
Uryu on the other hand wanted to fall to his knees for another reason. He wanted to believe that this was still Ichigo; the Ichigo that they had always known, the Ichigo who was fighting for the right reasons, fighting for those that meant something to him. The way he was acting though discouraged Uryu greatly. He was unsure if Ichigo truly believed that Orihime was in the Soul Society or f he simply wanted to go there and destroy it, despite Ichigo's many attempts at persuading him he was still human Uryu truly was still a bit sceptical. He just hoped that Ichigo knew what he was doing because otherwise he risked jeopardising much of what he had set out to change in the first place.
Ichigo had changed the Soul Society; no-one could ever deny this as it was an obvious truth. He had shown them that they had become somewhat complacent, almost to the level of arrogance; he showed them that a rookie who had owned the power they had for centuries for less than half a year that he could easily outmatch most of them. Even the captains had to admit that their levels of power could not even touch Ichigo when he was in his prime. When he invaded Soul Society, he showed them just how much they had fallen behind on their training and improvements to their techniques. That he could defeat at least two lieutenant levels and two captain level opponents spoke of his strength.
They had come to respect him after that. Understanding that without him, the whole plot with Aizen would never have been revealed. He had shown them their arrogance and their greatest threat, without even trying to. Because of that, the entirety of the Gotie 13 respected him; they viewed him as their saviour of sorts. His death at the hands of Aizen was viewed by many of them as one of the greatest losses of life in Shinigami history, one of the greatest threats ever posed to Soul Society and it was not even the Captain Commander who had stopped it. It was the substitute Shinigami who did not have to but did, literally lay his life down in order to save everyone.
The way he was acting just now though threatened to repel all of the work he had done right back at him. His invasion of Soul Society showed the Shinigami that the man who had been their greatest saviour was now one of their greatest threats. Uryu heard a roar of fury in the air and turned to the direction of the great rises in spiritual pressure, that roar was not from the voice of one he knew but he could not mistake the source of the roar. It was fury and loss, someone had clearly lost something precious and the ante was going to be upped.
"What was that?" Rukia asked almost afraid to know the answer to her question, which was not a welcome sound to her ears. Uryu turned to the short Shinigami with a look that gave nothing away about his emotions, whilst inside he felt almost the same level of fear as her.
"It is what I can only describe as not sounding at all good" Uryu answered for her to which she nodded her head, despite not wanting to accept the fact. Matsumoto looked over to Rukia and could tell that the girl was going through the same thing as her, worry about their respective captains and in Rukia's case, her brother.
"Don't worry Rukia, Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Kuchiki will do just fine, they are still strong remember" Matsumoto said to comfort the smaller Shinigami to which she received a small smile from the small woman before they were both taken by shock at the sudden interruption of a new voice.
"Doesn't matter how strong those captains are, The Demon Lord and God of Hueco Mundo are on a rampage just now" a voice spoke that Rukia had not expected. Turning on her heel she came face to face with the one man whom she had ignored far too much in the recent weeks and by the looks of it was going to pay for it very soon.
For not only was Renji right in front of her, he was right in front of her with the two Arrancar girls that were with Ichigo in the real world, both of which were standing on either side of him with looks of admiration and respect for the tall red-haired man. What was most shocking however what he was wearing was, he was not wearing his Shinigami uniform, no; he had on an Arrancar uniform, very much in the same fashion as his Shinigami uniform, only it was in complete and utter white, with black trimmings.
"Renji!" Rukia called, unsure whether to be happy or surprised by his sudden appearance. The two Arrancar that were standing so close to him were however not something she was overly excited about seeing. After hearing his name, said red-haired man turned his attention towards the woman who had called to him, with an almost bored expression on his face.
"Yes Rukia, how can I help you?" Renji asked, far too formally for Rukia's liking. His eyes held no warmth for her like they had in the past, it were as if he was not looking at her but through her. It hurt her heart to see him acting like that; it was as if he did not even want to acknowledge her even being there. If only she knew that this was exactly the way Renji had felt for the last few months.
"Where have you been?" Rukia asked, deciding to ignore the two Arrancar on both of his sides. Renji looked at her with his bored expression never leaving his face. Of all the questions for her to ask him, she asks him that one? After spending such a great amount of time forgetting about his existence she was interested now?
"Where do you think? I have been in Hueco Mundo for the better part of three days" Renji answered her simply, but even so his voice could still be heard as it was almost laced with venom. Rukia hearing such venom in his voice took an involuntary step backwards and looked at the re-haired man before her.
He was not the man she knew, it was too late that she had realised the effect her negligence of him had. Her negligence had pushed him away and it looked as if it was going to show her just what she had before pushing it away. His eyes did not hold the same level of warmth directed at her as they had in the past, now they looked as if they were dead when looking at her, like she were an eyesore to him. What showed he was so vastly different however was the Arrancar attire that he currently wore, it showed he had completely cast aside his old beliefs and was fighting against what he had fought so vigorously for in the past.
Renji cast his eyes over the group before him before looking over to the two columns of spiritual pressure that were blasting into the air. "I think it would be smart if we get to Ichigo soon girls" Renji spoke to which Kyota and Sachi turned to him. They understood his meaning and nodded their heads. Seconds afterwards they had used Sonido and were blasting across the night sky towards Ichigo's direction. Renji turned and prepared to move off also but was stopped in doing so when a small hand grabbed onto his bare arm. Not even bothering to turn around Renji addressed the owner of this hand.
"What do you want?" Renji asked to which Rukia once again felt the sting as he talked to her so informally and coldly, could he really have been so badly affected that he would change his actions towards her so drastically? She solidified her resolve however and pressed onwards.
"To know why you are doing this" Rukia stated to him. It was nt a question nor was it a plea it was almost bordering on a demand. Renji thought of how ironic that Rukia's nature could still hold true to such a situation as this one. Nonetheless he realised that an answer would be appropriate, it was not as if he had to hide his objective, they were all after the same thing.
"I am doing this to save Inoue. Ichigo saved you when you were to be executed, you were precious to me and I done all I could, yet he went against every order to try and save you. I am repaying the debt, I don't care how but I will help him save Inoue" Renji said as he stared directly down at the one who would have his love. She still had it, of that there was no doubt; it was just much more strained than it had been before. Without much further ado Renji leapt from where he was standing into the Soul society and bounded off in the direction that the girls had went.
Rukia stood there in stunned silence and the other three members of the group were unsure if there was anything that they could really say in light of the situation. Sado would not say anything as it was not his place; relationships were between people and the business of no-one else but themselves. Uryu was placing his full attention on the events unfolding within the Soul Society, the levels of spiritual pressure were certainly on an aggressive level. Matsumoto was however thinking over what had just happened before her, the small woman had been crushed, although she knew Renji and knew it was not his intention. He had done just that, he had crushed Rukia psychologically.
"Rukia-Chan…" Matsumoto said softly to which the smaller woman lifted her head and Matsumoto could see that there were tears in her eyes, distinct and destroyed. She looked as if she had indeed just been destroyed, like her heart had been taken out and beaten in front of her.
"Can't I do anything right?" Rukia asked almost despairingly. "I can't do anything right!" Rukia screamed as she fell to her hands and knees and stared at the ground as her tears impacted with it. "Why can't I get anything right!" Rukia screamed as she stared at the ground below her hazy vision. She smashed her fist into the ground. "I can't help anyone! I can't help Inoue! I can't help Ichigo! I can't even help Renji! What is wrong with me!" Rukia roared as she slammed her fist into the ground repeatedly, drawing blood eventually.
Her fist went plummeting towards the ground once again until she felt it being stopped by something; she knew it was not the ground as the position of her arm meant it was not that. She also knew that it was something soft, peaking through her hazed vision she could see the trademark white and blue of one of her companions and knew what it was that had stopped her hand. His hand had stopped her one from smashing into the ground. As she looked up to his face she could barely see the faintest hints of understanding on his face through her vision.
Uryu knew how she felt, how could he not? He knew what it was like to watch as your comrades fought onwards through trials they should not have to face alone. But more often than not it would be a situation where all he could do would be get in the way, that was what it was like on top of Las Noches, he could not fight alongside Ichigo against Ulquiorra, if he had tried all that would have happened would be Ichigo would worry about him and have his attention divided.
The sight before him was not one he ever expected to see. To see Rukia on her hands and knees in despair was not a vision Uryu had ever seen. She was always so proud, so sure of herself, so unstoppable that it seemed like nothing could bring her down. As he looked at her now though he realised just how naïve he was being with himself. Everyone has a weakness, whether it be a person or an object, everyone had a weakness; it appeared that Rukia's weakness was in fact Renji, his pain was her Kryptonite.
"Kuchiki-san, you do get things right, there are just some things that cannot be controlled" Uryu tried to say to the woman who looked like she was not even listening to him, despite the fact that he was still holding onto her clenched fist.
"I could have controlled this one though, this was Renji, the man who put me above himself far too much" Rukia said while Uryu went silent, this was not a time to speak, but to listen. "I ignored him, I was selfish and only thought of myself at a time when it was not only me that would have been in pain, I deserve this" Rukia finally admitted to herself while Uryu simply looked at her in shock. Resigning was not something that Rukia Kuchiki done.
"I see, I never knew that Shinigami gave up this easily, if this is what you Shinigami are truly like then I am somewhat glad that Ichigo is no longer one of you, you disgust me" Uryu said flatly as he stood up to his full height. Matsumoto looked at the Quincy archer in pure shock which turned to fury as she registered what it was that he had just said.
"What the Hell are you talking abo-" Matsumoto began to yell before she was cut off from a much deeper voice in a tone no-one had ever dreamed of hearing.
"SILENCE!" roared the massive form of the Mexican man who was amidst their ranks. Matsumoto was so shocked by his sudden and loud interruption that she was stunned into silence as she looked at the form of Sado which did seem to be radiating some amount of spiritual pressure from it. "Sitting here will get you nowhere Rukia, you have to fight for what you want" Sado said in a heated voice as he began to walk towards the massive hole in the wall.
Matsumoto could not comprehend this. What was going on? Renji had turned on them, Uryu had so suddenly spoken harshly to Rukia and now even the gentle giant of Sado was losing his calm and exploding like that. The world was going mad; it was as if everything she thought she knew was going to hell.
Rukia was not holding up much better, the verbal assault from Uryu had hurt her of course but the way in which Sado had spoken to her held so much contempt and anger directed at her that she felt almost vulnerable at the mercy of those words. It stung her to realise what it was they were doing. Through their harsh words they were trying to stimulate her, it did not mean that it didn't hurt. Uryu had moved from his position in front of her to move over to where Sado was currently standing.
"If you do ever feel like showing us some worth as Shinigami you will find us in the thick of the fight, we will save Inoue or we will die trying" Uryu said without even turning to the two Shinigami who were both stunned at the sudden turn of actions from both men, there was no way they were going to act like this to them was there? Not after all they had been through, especially Matsumoto and Sado, they had shared something special, there was no way he would forget that.
"My only interest just now is to save Inoue and to help Ichigo however I can, if you still wish to carry on with us then you must also follow Ichigo" Sado said as he too did not turn around to them. With that Matsumoto's hopes that he was joking were gone, he spoke like that when he meant it, and regrettably he meant everything that he said. With that the two men looked at each other before nodding heads and sprinting forwards on towards the battle that raged on.
All that Rukia and Matsumoto could do was watch as the two men of their group slowly but surely left them. Matsumoto could only mutter one word as she felt it almost dying on her lips. "Sado…"
Earlier, 6th Division Barracks
For a time, nothing. Nothing happened between them. They simply stood with their abilities ready at their disposal. A wind swept through the garden within which they stood, carrying a few of the Sakura petals with it. The wind swept Ichigo and Byakuya's hair in the respective direction to which they stood.
Ichigo stared at Byakuya with a smile on his face, not a warm smile but neither was it an evil smile, it was simply a pleasant smile that had Byakuya somewhat apprehensive of charging at Ichigo. This was the man who had changed so much for him after all and Byakuya did owe him a lot. That was taking into account whther he believed this was still the Ichigo Kurosaki that he had indeed knew in the past, although his reason for being in Soul Society was something Byakuya based his belief on. He reasoned that no hollow would start a fight with Soul Society for a woman.
That however presented even more problems. If this was indeed the Kurosaki Ichigo from what he remembered of the young man then this was going to be no less than a tough fight that he was not even sure he would pull through.
Feeling the levels of spiritual pressure rising all around them, from both Shinigami and Arrancar alike, Byakuya felt a sad grin spread across his face. Ichigo saw this unexpected smile upon Byakuya's face and was somewhat taken aback, why on earth would Byakuya be smiling at a time like this. Putting aside the fact he barely ever smiled, but he was smiling at a time where Ichigo could feel the power of his allies increasing to levels capable of fighting captains.
"What has brought one of these rare smiles onto your face?" Ichigo asked the man before him, Byakuya did not respond instantly as he closed his eyes and gave out a heavy sigh.
"Leave it to you to find a group of strong allies and then break into a stronghold that has prided itself with only ever being broken into once, by you again" Byakuya said as he finally looked up to Ichigo and he swore that he almost saw another smile on his face. "This time however there is nothing I have to come to my senses about, so I am afraid that I must fight you back for the safety of this realm and indeed the human one as well" Byakuya finished as he made all of his Senbonzakura petals rise up behind him.
Ichigo saw this show of power and felt a grin spreading under his mask. Byakuya was not going to disappoint by the looks of things. He was taking this seriously. This made Ichigo happy as it at least showed Byakuya realised Ichigo was on the same level as him, in power at the least. Ichigo then looked to his blade that he held in his hand, it's clear surface shining off the light that the moon graced the land with.
'alright guys let's make this quick, I want to find Orihime quickly and get out of here with little casualties' Ichigo spoke into his mind towards his hollow and the Hogyoku, Zangetsu did not even reply, still in his depressed mood.
I concur; let us get out of here quickly before we really have something to worry about the Hogyoku answered to which Shiro raised his eyebrow in question. What else did they really have to worry about? The captain who was one of ichigo's greatest rivals was right before them, what else could possibly go wrong.
What you talking about 'Yoku? What else is there to really worry about?The alabaster man asked in question. With his question out both entities within Ichigo's mind turned to him with stupefied looks on their faces. Even Zangetsu took the time out to come out of his depressed atmosphere to look at the hollow with a look of incredulity. What? Shiro asked indignantly as the two continued to stare at him.
Captain Commander Zangetsu said while Hogyoku simply stood next to the Zanpaktou spirit with his arms folded and nodding his head. Shiro looked between the two spirits with a confused look on his face. Still not understanding what was going on Shiro spoke his mind.
Ok, you told me a title, any real reason behind that? Shiro said to the two before they looked at each other and gave a sigh of resignation.
You wanna take this one, might let you get back at him too Hogyoku said to Zangetsu as the Zanpaktou spirit gained a grin of sheer malice that the hollow spirit – one that is made simply from fear, hatred and malice – was slowly finding himself moving backwards away from. In short Zangetsu could not wait to get to the point.
Ah shit! Come on guys! I don't get it! Shiro pleaded to the two other spirits as Zangetsu moved forwards with his grin getting even larger and Hogyoku's face only taking on an exasperated look. Soon enough the scene had changed into one where Shiro was running for his life while Zangetsu chased him, swinging his Zanpaktou at the hollow spirit as it tried its hardest to get away.
Hogyoku sighed heavily before he began speaking again. Sorry master, we will train him one day, I just think he lets his mouth work before his brain catches up. As I was saying though, I agree we better finish what we must do here before Yammamoto Genryusai comes out Hogyoku says to Ichigo as Ichigo was left to nod dumbly in the real world.
"What are you nodding at Kurosaki?" Byakuya asked in slight irritation, the man had been standing there staring into nothing for the last few moments and now he was nodding for no apparent reason, although there should have been no reason to be, he was slightly annoyed. With his question however it seemed as if something had snapped within the mind and attention of Ichigo as he shook his head slightly before turning his attention to his enemy again.
"Sorry, my tenants are rather rambunctious spirits and sometimes distract me, their antics are funny sometimes though" Ichigo admitted as he smiled across at his enemy. "Don't worry though, that was the last time you will get a chance like that to attack me while I am distracted" Ichigo said as he lowered himself to a fighting stance that was ready to leap at his opponent or leap in order to avoid an attack.
"I would not attack you while you are distracted Kurosaki" Byakuya retorted in a manner that made Ichigo feel as if he had said something highly offensive to Byakuya. Seriously it was as if what he had just said trampled on his toes something fierce. To this fierce reply Ichigo could only come back with the most intelligent answer he had at the time.
"Huh?" he asked as he looked over towards the 6th division captain who had his eyes overcast by the shadow of his hair. Ichigo was watching this in honest surprise, Byakuya was taking this exceedingly badly, to a level Ichigo had never seen the man take anything before.
"I would not attack you while you are distracted, while it is not an honourable move in the first place, I would still not have done it if this was not an honourable fight" Byakuya said scathingly and Ichigo almost felt as if those words were said in both anger and sadness. Seeing emotion on the 6th division captain's voice and face was something very confusing for Ichigo to see.
"How do you mean?" Ichigo asked as he could hear the after effects of whatever was going on in his mind.
Zangetsu I get it! Captain Commander, the leader of all Shinigami equals bad! Now stop trying to kill me! Shiro screamed in ichigo's mind as the Zanpaktou spirit did not listen. You may have that information beaten into your brain now, but now it is my chance to get back at you! The Zanpaktou spirit yelled as it continued to chase the hollow spirit. Leaving Hogyoku to face palm slightly honestly, it's a wonder how Ichigo-sama managed to survive with you two hogyoku lamented mostly to himself as the two spirits continued their game of cat and mouse.
"I simply mean that I would not stoop to such levels as taking you unawares, you have shown me a level of commitment and determination I find it hard to locate in many of my current allies and even captains. You are one of the very few men who I have come to respect, and because of that I will never fight you in such dishonourable ways" Byakuya said as the pi9nk petals were still in formation behind him.
"What if I were to fight dishonourably though?" Ichigo asked as he clenched his fist that was not currently holding on to his crystallised weapon. Byakuya actually smiled at what Ichigo had said and almost caused Ichigo to fall on his face due to the sight he had just witnessed.
"Despite the fact I doubt you of all people would suddenly fight dishonourably, unless you are no longer Ichigo Kurosaki, then I would still fight you honourably, it does not matter to me, it is what feels right and I shall follow that, even if it means my death" Byakuya finished as he then raised his arms from his side and gained a reaction as the petals behind him raised up into the air, mimicking his arms movements.
"Well you are in luck Kuchiki Byakuya, because I am Kurosaki Ichigo, God of all Hollows" Ichigo said as he watched Byakuya's face register his words. Such words were enough to make even him who had enough respect for Ichigo as it was, to find whole new reasons to respect the man before him. To have the entirety of all hollows to view him as a God only spoke levels of how far Ichigo had come. Not only since he had been a Shinigami, but ever since Byakuya had last seen him and been forced to fight him in the real world. Though he felt that he had done the right thing, otherwise the whole reason for Ichigo being in Soul Society would not have made sense.
"Let's go" was all Byakuya said in warning before he had sent his right arm forward and sent a tendril of pink petals towards Ichigo. Not to be caught off guard so soon Ichigo leapt up into the air as the petals passed right under him. With a simple movement of Byakuya's arm however the direction of the petals changed until they were once again racing towards him. Ichigo smiled as this brought back memories of the past fight he had with Byakuya. He could not reminisce for long however as the tendril of petals demanded his immediate attention.
Ichigo drew some spiritual pressure into his left hand; his hand began to glow with red spiritual pressure before he formed a fist and sent a small ball of condensed spiritual pressure at the incoming tendril of petals. The Bala impacted with the petals and managed to disperse them, this however presented a new problem as Byakuya brought his other arm into play and formed the now disperse petals into all new tendrils.
Ichigo landed on the ground again and had to look up as the impeding tendrils of petals began to descend down upon him. Bracing himself he slashed outwards as the individual tendrils closed in on him, managing to deal with them with surprising speed, despite not using the abilities of his Zanpaktou's Bankai form.
As his last swipe tore through the air Ichigo looked up to the surprised face of Byakuya. The man had clearly not expected him to be capable of doing that once again, without the aid of his Bankai either. His surprise was quickly masked however as a small smile played upon his face. He knew that things would be harder but he had not anticipated Ichigo to retain his abilities to such a degree.
Ichigo stood up straight before he leapt upwards. Byakuya watched his movements in anticipation of his next move. It was once Ichigo began descending at a rapid rate did Byakuya do anything to help himself. Just as Ichigo had reached him Byakuya raised his arm and pointed the index and middle finger on his right hand towards the torso of Ichigo. It was at that moment that Ichigo felt his blood run cold; he felt a spiritual pressure or to be exact a collection of spiritual pressures that were closing in on his position, ones he did not want there at any rate. Ichigo was momentarily confused until he saw the dull glow of blue beginning to get brighter as small arcs of electricity began to bounce between the tips of both fingers.
"Byakurai!" Byakuya called out as the lightning that had collected on his fingers then shot outwards towards its intended target. Ichigo, who was too mesmerised by that attack, was unable to move in time as the super fine beam of lightning moved towards him at speeds even he could not reach. It was too late when he finally realised what was going to happen, and in that time the beam of lightning had already passed through his body.
Ichigo grunted in apparent pain as his hand shot to the area of his wound. He had become too careless and possibly arrogant, deluding himself into thinking that Byakuya was not as strong as him. While this may be true, Byakuya was no pushover and would not simply take any beating, no he would fight back.
"I did not think I would get you with that again Kurosaki" Byakuya said somewhat disappointed. He had honestly expected that if the boy had the gall to break into Soul Society again, surely the boy would have been better trained for it?
"Sorry, got a little distracted" Ichigo replied as he focused on Byakuya again. He knew now that he would have to finish this fight soon, otherwise things could very possibly turn from bad to worse, and knowing his luck it would indeed happen. With renewed vigour Ichigo shook himself as he tried to get rid of his numbness in his chest area.
It was after he re-gained feeling in his chest area that he made his next move. Lifting his crystal sword and extending it outwards Ichigo continued to watch Byakuya. His next move had Byakuya watching him in slight confusion once again. From Ichigo's hand the crystal sword began to disintegrate, turning back into the dust upon the ground. Byakuya continued to watch this until the entire sword was gone and Ichigo was left standing with his arm outstretched.
"What are you doing Kurosaki?" Byakuya asked as the man looked up at him. The mask still somewhat troubled Byakuya although he had to admit that with a title like 'God of all Hollows' it would only really make sense now. That still did not make the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach lessen one bit.
"I think it would only be honourable for me to fight you with what I did in the past, I shall use my Zanpaktou to fight you" Ichigo said to the captain before him who slightly nodded his head in understanding. He was actually rather glad that Ichigo was taking this as an honour bound battle. He had not intended it as such, but it was nice to see Ichigo acting in such a manner, it proved he was at least partly still the same boy/man he had known in the past.
YAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSS! It's about time! Roared Zangetsu in the back of Ichigo's mind, Ichigo even cringed a bit at the level of the roar that had just raced through his head. Zangetsu could be pretty loud when he wanted to be that and if he was happy.
Ichigo smiled softly under his mask, it was never his intention to neglect the Zanpaktou spirit like he had. Yet to hear the way that Zangetsu reacted when he was finally getting used made Ichigo almost chuckle lightly, it was almost like everything that had made Zangetsu in the past, his wisdom, his age and his maturity had disappeared. He flipped over his already outstretched arm and had his palm facing the sky above.
"Slice at the moons and the heavens, Zangetsu!" Ichigo called out as the massive cleaver slowly formed out of his palm. The blade was literally slowly moving out of his hand before he pushed lightly and caused the Zanpaktou to jump. With Zangetsu's descent Ichigo then grabbed onto the handle of his massive cleaver and held his Zanpaktou at his side. With the darkened bladed edge shining off the light coming from the moon above, Ichigo prepared to use the Zanpaktou he had only used to fight his own father so far. In his head he could hear Zangetsu running around like a kid in a candy store, with Hogyoku trying to calm him down, to no avail obviously.
"Your Zanpaktou! How is that possible! It should not exist after you had passed away, if anything you should have gained a Zanpaktou much like an Arrancar's!" Byakuya called out to Ichigo who simply swiped his Zanpaktou through the air happily before he gave his response to the 6th division captain.
"Well, there are a lot of things that cannot be explained, questions that can never be answered, I just happen to be both of those things, I am unexplainable and unanswerable. I am sorry Kuchiki Byakuya but I must bring this fight to an end soon, I wish to be on the move again soon" Ichigo said as Byakuya watched him unflinchingly. Ichigo had to give him his dues, after being told things the likes of which Ichigo had just said, he himself would have been worried. Byakuya was however either very strong willed or was very good at putting up a façade. Either way it was impressive to Ichigo and he remembered now why he respected the captain quite so much, even if it had come grudgingly in the past.
"Very well" Byakuya answered simply as he closed his eyes and Ichigo felt a familiar feeling coming over him. The whole area within which they stood grew darker and then all around them they were surrounded by pink katana, in two large rings around them. It was then that Byakuya opened his eyes. A katana fell from one of the rings and was caught once Byakuya had shot his hand out in order to catch the falling blade, once it touched his hand the pink glow faded away and revealed Senbonzakura in its unreleased form. "Senkei: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi"
Their battle resumed with a thunderous clash. Ichigo's Zanpaktou meeting with Byakuya's with full force, trying his best to win out over the captain. With a roar that was reflected on his mask Ichigo applied even more force into his attack and was rewarded when Byakuya's arm was forced to buckle under Ichigo's superior strength. With Byakuya slightly off-balance, Ichigo began to charge his spiritual pressure into his blade before swinging it in Byakuya's direction.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo roared out as he set the wave of spiritual pressure loose at an extremely close range to Byakuya. Despite how much Ichigo believed the attack to have been a sure shot victory; his opponent had managed to escape it, if only by the skin of his teeth. Byakuya had dropped his body to the floor when the crescent moon of spiritual pressure had come for him and allowed it to pass over his head. As the Getsuga continued onwards and finally collided with the rings surrounding them Byakuya got back to his feet.
Ichigo was not going to give up quite so easily however. After the swing he had stepped forward and with his arm outstretched and the manner in which Byakuya had dodged his attack, Byakuya was now standing behind him. As such, Ichigo spun around, bringing Zangetsu with him and only just managed to bring his Zanpaktou into play in order to parry an attack aimed for his chest.
Ichigo pushed outwards and caused Byakuya to jump backwards before landing and fixing him with a cold stare. Ichigo wasted no time and leapt towards him, slashing at Byakuya in varying arcs and directions. Byakuya was able to block them yes, but there were some that still managed to get through and left him with minor cuts and grazes at the most. With one last swipe at Byakuya, Ichigo stopped his onslaught to see just how his opponent was holding out.
To his utmost surprise, he found Byakuya breathing heavily but still able to stand and was even smiling slightly; if Ichigo were to have a wild guess he would have thought that Byakuya might even be enjoying this. Despite his numerous wounds that were bleeding onto his uniform Byakuya seemed to be almost at ease. When he looked up Ichigo saw something that he had not seen upon the usually stoic captain's face. Determination.
The second Byakuya's head had snapped up he had charged straight at Ichigo, with said red/orange haired man taken by surprise. Ichigo brought his Zanpaktou up just in time to stop the progress of Byakuya's Zanpaktou towards his stomach. He found that there was actually a surprising amount of force behind Byakuya's attack and he had to actually apply a great amount of his own strength to hold him at bay. With such proximity Ichigo decided to use one of his trump cards. As he held Byakuya at bay he applied his spiritual pressure to more useful ends, in between his hollow mask's horns for instance.
Byakuya saw the build-up of spiritual pressure collecting in between the horns on Ichigo's head and his eyes widened greatly. As the small red orb began to grow in size Byakuya tried desperately to put distance between himself and the man whom he was fighting, leaping backwards as far as his legs would allow. Ichigo's head then snapped forwards as the beam of spiritual pressure was released and at the same time added to the attack with his hollowfied roar.
Byakuya was in a real tight situation. It was as if time slowed down to accommodate his thinking process. The cero was already within distance that he could not feasibly use Shunpo to escape it, he could not recall Senbonzakura either as it would take too long for the petals to reach him. When he had finally come to a conclusion the cero was barely within an inch of his face.
What Ichigo saw next was not something he had ever expected he would see in his life, not that he would have went out of his way to do so that is. Opposite him Byakuya landed on the ground, kneeling in exhaustion and breathing deeply, blood was dripping down his body from the cuts and gashes from before as he breathed in deeply. The surprising thing for Ichigo at least was the way that he was dressed, or lack of clothing for that matter. You see, Byakuya had absolutely no clothing on his torso, the reason being what he had been forced into doing, the lightning dancing across his shoulders and back being a testament to that.
"Having to use a technique that that accursed woman taught me, you really have improved since last we fought Kurosaki" Byakuya praised as he stood up again and faced his opponent. Ichigo smiled under his mask, he knew how much it bugged Byakuya when he had to use one of the techniques that Yoruichi had taught him. With a deep breath Byakuya grabbed onto his Zanpaktou tighter before he stared at Ichigo once again, without much further ado Byakuya had leapt into the air and was once again upon Ichigo, slashing at him.
Ichigo had to be fast to react as with the added bonus of Shunko coursing all over the torso of Byakuya his speed was increased to a much greater degree. So it was with great luck that Ichigo managed to bring his Zanpaktou up and block Byakuya's downwards slash. Ichigo grunted at the force applied, he did not remember Byakuya being this strong in the past, sure he was strong, but never this physically strong to his knowledge. Byakuya lifted his Zanpaktou from Ichigo's causing Ichigo to push upwards more than he wanted to and in that moment Byakuya had landed on the ground. His next move was to drop down and with his left leg, swipe away both of Ichigo's.
Ichigo landed on his back in complete and utter surprise. He was unable to think upon this for too long however as a fist suddenly made itself known as it came into Ichigo's vision. Rolling to his left quickly Ichigo was just able to miss the left handed punch that was aimed for his face, when he got back to his feet however and looked to where Byakuya had punched he was again surprised. Byakuya's fist was still clenched and was in a deep crater in the ground where Ichigo had been only a few seconds ago. Byakuya noticed the absence of Ichigo and turned to the man.
"It would appear that your speed is still indeed impressive, I congratulate you Kurosaki" Byakuya said as he turned around and faced Ichigo again and once again Ichigo saw that look of determination. Byakuya had definitely changed, what Ichigo was more concerned about just now though was this sudden increase in physical strength, it was becoming slightly hazardous to be caught on the wrong side of it. Glancing back at the crater in the ground Ichigo deduced that if his head had still been there then that would have been one painful punch. No matter who or what he was, that one would hurt. Apparently noticing where Ichigo's attention was directed Byakuya spoke up.
"Over the last year as many others have been doing I have been training. Where most others have been training so that they can gain new abilities with their Zanpaktou and become more powerful, I do not like to depend on my Zanpaktou too much, as a result I have trained my body to increase the strength output, this way even without a Zanpaktou I shall be able to fight at a far greater level than I would have been able to before" Byakuya explained as it finally made sense to Ichigo. He would not have expected Byakuya to be the one to physically train his body, and then again who was he to judge?
"I also increased my endurance so I can fight for much longer than I could have before" Byakuya added as he swung his Zanpaktou through the air idly. This made much more sense as the vigour in which Byakuya had been attacking him made sense now too. Ichigo dug his feet into the ground below him as he prepared for another attack to come from Byakuya; it was looking increasingly like he was going to have to kill Byakuya to move on, despite his unwillingness to do so.
Byakuya leapt up into the air and descended towards Ichigo at great speed as expected. What was not expected was for one of the spiritual pressures of his comrades to drop significantly. Zakabe had gone down; Ichigo felt his concentration waning already. He knew Byakuya was coming towards him at great speed but his attention was already diverted. With great effort Ichigo managed to use Sonido in order to avoid the slash that came towards him. Once at a large enough distance Ichigo was able to think on what happened Zakabe's spiritual pressure was low but not at a level where his life was in peril.
With his mind cleared now Ichigo turned to face the speeding form of Byakuya that was closing in on him with a great amount of speed. Moving his own Zanpaktou into position Ichigo prepared to deflect this attack, yet another spiritual pressure dropped and this time there was no mistaking it, Sera's spiritual pressure had gone down to a dangerously low level. It was then that he made his biggest mistake in the whole time since regaining his human qualities.
"ZAKABE! SERA!" Ichigo roared as his attention was completely averted from Byakuya that was coming straight for him. it was too late when Ichigo realised that Byakuya was still attacking him with the intent to injure or at the very most kill. Once he realised this however there was a searing pain in his stomach. He looked down to see that the Zanpaktou within Byakuya's hand was deeply embedded within his flesh, so deep in fact that the guard of Byakuya's Zanpaktou was touching Ichigo's skin.
Ichigo grabbed onto the back of Byakuya's hand and gripped it tightly. Byakuya was able to hold on for so long until Ichigo began to literally crush his hand. He let go of his Zanpaktou and jumped back a few times, bringing another out from the ring of katana surrounding them. Ichigo, with his head bowed down began to breathe very heavily. At the same time as this there was a great build-up of spiritual pressure from the man before him, to levels Byakuya could not believe even existed.
Ichigo's head snapped backwards and his arms shot out leaving his arms out wide. With that Ichigo released a roar, a hollow roar that shook the very dome that they stood within. Byakuya could even feel the air pressure around him blowing strongly simply from the roar. As he continued roaring at the place where the sky would have been a column of multi-coloured spiritual pressure surrounded the form of Ichigo as he continued to roar at the sky.
The spiritual pressure smashed through the dome that was created in Byakuya's Senkei, causing all of the pink katana to disperse into the individual pink petals once again and making them all float over to Byakuya again. With his technique gone Byakuya was not able to more acutely feel the spiritual pressures around him. He felt the spiritual pressure of Ichigo rising to monstrous levels, but it was not only his. There was also another one that was rapidly growing; looking over in the direction Byakuya could see a column of spiritual pressure much like Ichigo's. This one was black though, pure midnight black.
Byakuya's attention was brought back to Ichigo as the spiritual pressure began to disperse and reveal his opponent. it was a form Byakuya had never seen before and he never did really want to see it. Ichigo still had his mask, his body had changed colour though to pure alabaster white, in his left hand was a white sword, like the one he had used at the start of the fight. In his right hand was the form of Tensa Zangetsu with the chain wrapping all the way up his arm. He was wearing the clothing he had been before, his large sleeveless trench coat that was slightly singed at the entrails and his pants that seemed to be fine actually.
Ichigo once again snapped his head forward and released a roar towards Byakuya that had the man almost shaking. Such power behind a roar, what else was in store?
He was about to find out as Ichigo leapt across the ground towards him at speed he could not see. In the blink of an eye Ichigo had appeared before Byakuya and a fist had been applied harshly to Byakuya's cheek, sending him through the air and into the wall of one of the nearby buildings. As he groaned and pulled himself out of the wall he could also hear as another creature went on a rampage, they were going to need a miracle if there were two things on a rampage, and Byakuya honestly was once agin finding their chances running slim. Nonetheless, he had a duty to uphold and as such he pulled himself out of the wall.
Dropping to the ground he raised his Zanpaktou and waited for Ichigo to make his way over. Byakuya would hold him back for as long as he possibly could, that way it would at least give him comrades a chance to prepare to fight this beast or get rid of the other one, either way Byakuya had a feeling that this was a suicide mission.
Right then, here you guys go. I hope that you like this chapter. I tried to take Ceelia-18's idea and put in a non-fight scene, I dono if you guys liked it or not but I hope you did =]. Anyway I would like to clear this up before any confusion can take place. Ichigo has went berserk because he felt both Zakabe and Sera's spiritual pressure dropping, I know Zakabe gets back up but the moment Ichigo went berserk was the moment where Zakabe also went berserk. I hope that clears up any confusion if not leave it in a review or personal message. As always I hope that this was a good chapter as I appear to be doing poorly with my Naruto fic.
I hope the Byakuya vs Ichigo fight has been good so far too, I think I maybe hyped it up a bit too much for myself but don't worry the fight is not over between them yet. There will be at the most another one or two chapters of fighting, after that it may relax, so that is for those of you who maybe don't like all these chapters full of fighting. Anyway that it probably the largest rant I have went on after a chapter. I hope you enjoyed and look forward to my next chapter and I will try to get it out quickly for you guys. As always R&R please and I shall see you guys later, Sayonara until next time! =] - Varrukh