There was a stare down between the two madmen. Mayuri stood on the ground with his giant bankai behind him. Orochimaru and his undead companion stood on top of the giant summoned snake. Dark poison filled the air close to the ground.
"You think an overgrown snake can beat me?" Mayuri asked.
"Damn you, Orochimaru!" yelled Manda. "You better have thousands of soldiers you're willing to sacrifice. I don't fight for free."
"Have I ever let you down, Manda? I'll have your dinner ready but first you must take care of this trash." Orochimaru replied.
Yondaime slowly rose to his feet. Since Mayuri released his bankai the paralysis on his leg wore off a little. "I'm ready to fight for you, Orochimaru-sama."
"Good. Just stay on top of Manda. If you hit the ground where the poison is, you will surely die." Orochimaru stated.
Mayuri's bankai let out another gust of poison. It surrounded Mayuri. Of course, his body protected him from the poison's effect. Orochimaru and Yondaime looked down in the poison but couldn't detect the captain.
"Here he comes." Yondaime said.
A fireball came flying out the poison, aimed at Orochimaru. Yondaime moved in front and stopped the blast with his zanpakuto. Another fireball came out of the poison. This time it crashed right into the side of Manda.
"Bastard!" he yelled. He swung his tail around in the poison. Mayuri jumped out and landed on his bankai's head.
"Go, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo!" The bankai let out a loud cry and dozens of blades stuck out under its cape. It began to charge towards the giant snake.
Yondaime covered his blade with chakra and air gather around the swirl. "Rasengan Barrage!" He wildly swung his sword sending many Rasengan bombs at the large bankai. They all crashed into it's head but it never stopped coming.
Mayuri smirked as he approached Manda. Manda slashed his tail at the bankai. Some blades pierced his skin. He yelled but still smacked the giants infant face, turning it to the side.
"I will destroy that overgrown worm!" Mayuri yelled. He held out his hand to perform a spell but his arm was bitten by two snakes. He followed the snake's bodies and saw them connected to Orochimaru's sleeve.
"Caught you." Orochimaru said. He jumped into the air and put his other hand under his mouth. A stream of fire shot out and headed for Mayuri.
"Not bad." said Mayuri. He grabbed the snakes and ripped their fangs out of his arm. He shunpoed into the air to dodge the fire. He appeared in front of Orochimaru and punched the sick snake right in the face.
"Orochimaru-sama!" Yondaime yelled.
Before Orochimaru could fall into the poison mist, Manda caught him on top of his giant head. Yondaime rushed to his masters side.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Orochimaru frowned as he stood on his feet. "Why are you standing here? Do something!" he ordered.
"I don't have much chakra or reiatsu left. My next attack may be my last." Yondaime said.
"Fool!" Orochimaru yelled. "I've had enough of this place. Use your strongest attack again. Put every last bit of power into it. I want this whole place completely obliterated!"
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Yondaime took a step back and looked at Mayuri on top of his monster. "Three steps to destruction. First step, uzu." He began charging his ultimate technique again. He continued to give Mayuri an intense glare.
Mayuri smiled. "Well well well. Looks like you're late." he said with a grin.
"Have you gone mad? What's that supposed to mean?" Orochimaru asked. Then, he heard a scream. He turned around and saw Yondaime being knocked to the ground. His zanpakuto even fell out of his hands.
"My deepest apologies, Mayuri-sama." Nemu said.
Still on the ground, Yondaime reached for his sword. As soon as he grabbed it, Nemu kicked him in his chest. He spit out blood and flew backwards, off Manda's head. Before he fell off, he swung his sword one last time. Thanks to his zanpakuto's ability, a wave of wind hit Nemu and knocked her off the snake's head. Both of them fell into the poisonous mist below.
Orochimaru turned back around and looked at Mayuri. "Looks like that's the end of your partner."
"I could say the same for you." Mayuri replied. "It would seem you don't care for your subordinates life."
"I could say the same for you." said Orochimaru with a grin.
"You know what? Sadly, we are alike in some ways. Along with studying you, that's one more reason I would like to keep you alive. It's a pity. You already insulted my intelligence several times today. No matter what I want, you don't deserve to live!"
Mayuri pointed his left arm at Orochimaru and his hand shot off. A wire extended out his arm and connected to his hand as it flew towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru put his arm up and the hand grabbed his wrist.
"Why don't you come closer?" The wire retracted and pulled Orochimaru off Manda and towards him. With his free hand, Mayuri grabbed his ear and pulled it out. It turned into a scythe connected to where his ear was. As he pulled Orochimaru towards him, he threw his scythe at him.
"Fool." laughed Orochimaru. As the scythe struck him. There was a puff of smoke and a log was in his place. Mayuri quickly looked up and Orochimaru was in the air. Orochimaru opened his mouth wide and something glowing shot out. It was moving too fast.
"Damn!" Mayuri yelled. Before he could react, a long glowing sword plunged into his right shoulder. His hand and scythe quickly retracted and reconnected to his body. Mayuri fell to one knee and coughed up a lot of blood.
"Too bad." Orochimaru said as he landed back on Manda. "This is the end for you." He pointed two fingers at Mayuri. He slowly turned his hand clock-wise. The sword in Mayuri started to wiggle. Then, the sword turned just as his hand did. Mayuri flinched from the pain. The sword shot out of his shoulder and flew back to Orochimaru. Even more blood was spilt.
"Damn you!" Mayuri said. Near the ground, the poison mist started to evaporate. His bankai let out a yell as it slowly began to fade away. When it disappeared, Mayuri fell to the ground.
"Good Orochimaru!" yelled Manda. "Let him be my first meal!" Manda began to strike and swallow Mayuri whole.
"Sorry, but this is my kill. You can eat later." Orochimaru said. And with that, Manda poofed away in a giant puff of smoke.
Orochimaru landed on the ground. He looked in front of him and Mayuri slowly rose to his feet. "Why do you still stand? Save me the trouble and die already."
"You think I'm through? No. I still haven't repaid you from stealing from me." Mayuri replied.
They stared at each other for a while. Then, Orochimaru moved to the side. Nemu's foot went right past him. He spun around and kicked her in the back. She flew forward and fell in front of her captain.
"I knew you wouldn't be dead." Orochimaru stated. "Even though you don't look it, I'm sure you're made of the same stuff you captain is made of. It's a pity you killed my newest subordinate." Orochimaru looked to the side and in the distance, he saw the fourth's skeleton.
"My deepest apologies, Mayuri-sama." Nemu said.
"You filth. Stand up!" he ordered. She jumped to her feet and stood beside him. "You can't do anything right can you? You screw something else up and see what happens!" Before he could say more, he felt a presence coming up behind him. He grunted.
"Is that..." Nemu began to ask.
"Damn! I won't let that scum steal my kill. Nemu, attack! We will kill this nuisance before that bastard shows up!"
Nemu turned to Mayuri, then to Orochimaru. "Yes, Mayuri-sama."
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
Itachi and Kisame stared at Byakuya. A sword in one hand and three swords spinning behind him. He was a dangerous opponent.
"Kisame. Use your strength to break out of that. I'm low on chakra so we must subdue him and retreat."
"Yeah I gotcha." With all his strength. He tried to move his arms. He focused his strength and chakra. Finally, with all his might the lights cracked and he broke free.
"Prepare yourself, captain." Itachi said.
Byakuya pointed his hand at his enemies. "Destructive Art #33, Blue Fire, Crash Down." A blue blast of energy shot out with great force. Itachi and Kisame jumped in different directions to dodge the attack.
Byakuya shunpoed in front of Kisame. He pushed his sword forward but Kisame moved to the left to dodge. He grabbed his Samehada and swung it down. One of the blades spinning behind Byakuya flew over his head. The spinning blade blocked Kisame's strike. Byakuya turned his sword to the side and swung at Kisame.
'He's good.' Kisame thought. Using his sword he pushed down on the spinning blade, pushing himself into the air. Right over Byakuya's attack. He threw his sword to the side and performed a few seals.
"Water Shark Bomb!" He landed behind Byakuya and a shark made of water rose from the ground. It headed for Byakuya but one of his spinning blades blocked the attack. Byakuya was going to turn and counter attack, but a huge fireball was coming right at him. It took two spinning blades to stop the fire. Byakuya took a couple steps back and looked at each of his sides, Kisame on one and Itachi on the other.
'I'm at an disadvantage since its two on one.' he thought. 'I'm rapidly losing reiatsu when I defend with my disk blades. I'll be exhausted before I can get an attack in. I need to attack one of them from all directions. The big guy is slow. I should focus on the other first. If the big guy tried a sneak attack I can easily dodge. Besides...' he turned and stared at Itachi. 'he seems the most dangerous.'
"Are you going to keep standing there wasting time, captain?" Itachi asked.
"You should cherish this moment. It will be your last." Byakuya replied. He pointed his finger at Itachi. One of the floating swords came down and shot at him. Itachi jumped to dodge.
"Destructive Art #4, White Lightning." Lightning shot from Byakuya's finger and struck the airborne Itachi. It turned into water and hit the ground. When he saw that, Byakuya quickly shunpoed away, dodging Kisame's strike.
"Damn." Kisame mumbled.
When Byakuya reappeared he turned around to see Itachi. Not one but many. A dozen Itachi clones were standing before him.
"We don't have time to play games." They all said. "You shall release us from your technique, willingly or by force."
'The other guy must be hiding within those clones.' Byakuya thought. The spinning blades behind Byakuya stopped spinning and fell to the floor. 'I'm almost out of reiatsu. My next attack will finish it.'
All the Itachi's surrounded Byakuya. Each drew a kunai. "You will die here." They all said.
"Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya said. "The only man to defeat me within my bankai. He was the first, and he will be the last."
"That is the boy with hollow powers within him. To think you lost to him gives me confidence." Itachi said.
"Actually, I told you that to do just the opposite. That shows that not only are you two weaker than me, but there are others far stronger. Just because you two can put up a fight together, doesn't mean you can defeat anyone of my level." All the swords surrounding them disappeared and pink energy began to surround Byakuya. "After today you will see how insignificant you power is."
One Itachi stepped forward and looked Byakuya in the eye. "You seem to take cockiness to a new level." he said.
"I'm cutting this conversation short." Byakuya said. "I can't waste too much time conversing with those who will die soon."
Itachi got an angry look on his face. "Attack." All the Itachis ran towards Byakuya. They all attacked at once, but Byakuya just shunpoed out the way.
"Where'd he go?" shouted Kisame, still hiding in the Itachi crowd. There was a bright light. It came from the sky. They all looked up to see pure white energy. It was in the form of two wings. They were behind Byakuya along with a halo over his head. He came at the ground with his sword pointing down. He gripped it at tight as he could.
"Kisame, prepare yourself!" Itachi warned.
"Shukei, Hakuteiken!" When Byakuya hit the ground, there was a massive explosion. White energy flew everywhere. The white blast sent a shock wave through the forest. Trees were blown away. In an explosion like that, it would be hard to believe than anything survived.
to be continued...
R&R please