AN: Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was long overdue but I was sitting on it for some time as I was unsure whether to continue with this story. Taking a second look at it I am not completely satisfied with how the story turned out. So I was of the opinion to either scrap the whole thing or to rewrite it from the start. But a bit of unexpected urge came over me to continue with the story so here it goes. Hope you enjoy it.

SOUL SOCIETY

Aizen was reexamining all his plans as the game was about to begin. He had already amassed a mountain of data from Indra's evolution itself but the elder Kurosaki had already become a full-fledged hollow during the time of his transcendence. Which is why Aizen was eager to study the other Kurosaki twin who is still a human and that means the different powers within Ichigo Kurosaki was still in a race for supremacy. The board was set and all he needed was for the pawns to enter the game. His thoughts were interrupted when Gin entered the Spirit Library and found him.

"Captain Aizen, our friends from Karakura town has arrived in Rukongai." Gin said with a smirk

"Then it will be rude of us not to welcome them properly. I hope you will give them a warm welcome." Aizen said with a raised eyebrow with a small smirk that would have made his personal fan club swoon and his enemies hesitate

"It will be my pleasure captain." Gin smirked and left the Spirit Library with a spring in his step

Aizen shook his head and went back to reading about the finer aspects of the kido Urahara developed to access the depths of one's soul. That was his backup plan if Rukia Kuchiki gets rescued before the Sokyoku vaporizes her soul. He wondered how Ichigo Kurosaki will react as he plucked one more person close to the boy's heart. Indra has already become a power-obsessed person as a result of his interference with Grand Fisher. Being a hollow also helped fuel that hunger for power in Indra which has given spectacular results in his opinion.

Aizen's thoughts were interrupted as the entire Soul Society shook with a tremor. He realized that the defences of Sereitei has been activated and that means his guests are here.

Slowly a smile came to Aizen's face. Things are about to get very interesting, he thought. There was one small thing that troubled him and that was the death of Misaki-san of squad 10. Indra has unnecessarily exposed himself by killing that stupid girl. Aizen didn't care if a lowly shinigami died but he cared when such things happened right before Captain Unahona. It seems he will have to reevaluate the plans he had for Indra in Soul Society. Speaking of which it was high time that a small meeting to take place with his associates.

Aizen put back all the books he was referring and exited the Spirit Library. He walked back to the 5th division barracks but a Hell Butterfly stopped him in his tracks. Aizen listened to the message it was carrying and after it was over the butterfly flew away.

Aizen was not the only one that got a Hell Butterfly delivering a message. Every squad captains were being summoned to the squad 1 barracks for an emergency meeting.

XXXXXX

Genryūsai Yamamoto watched patiently as the captains began to fill into the hall. It has been a long time since the defences of Soul Society has been put to use and he had a feeling this was not going to be the last time either.

"Where is Captain Ichimaru?" Yamamoto asked in general

"Must be running late." Kyoraku joked

Suddenly from the west gate, they felt a concentrated release of spiritual pressure and they could identify it as Ichimaru's easily.

"Well, there he is. At least we don't have to worry about any intruders." Kyoraku commented in a lax manner befitting his character

"Hm... We will see." Yamamoto grunted as the hold on his cane tightened as old instincts flared sensing that Soul Society was entering into an uncertain future

XXXXX

Gin arrived at the west gate just in time to see Jidanbō lift the gate for the invaders.

"Jidanbō-san, that is not very nice. You are being a bad boy by letting the invaders entry into Seireitei." Gin admonished the giant gatekeeper

"But they defeated me in combat. I have to permit them entry." Jidanbō argued while he still held the gate up with his two hands

"A gatekeeper's duty is to guard the gate not to open it." Gin admonished the giant and proceeded to cut off the left arm of Jidanbō.

The gate nearly fell down but Jidanbō managed to hoist the gate with his remaining arm.

"Hey, you. Who do you think you are?" Ichigo shouted as he marched straight to Ichimaru

"Ichigo you fool, get back here." Yoruichi shouted

"Are you talking to me?" Gin asked playfully

"Yeah I'm talking to you, you snake-eyed freak. You are gonna pay for that." Ichigo raised his sword and rushed at Gin despite Yoruichi's warning

"Shoot to kill, Shinso"

Ichimaru's Zanpakuto began to elongate and rushed at Ichigo. He managed to block Shinso using his giant Zanpakuto but the orange haired teen got pushed away from the gate as well.

"If the gatekeeper loses the battle with an intruder he must die rather than open the gate for enemies." Gin said as he once again struck Jidanbō with his Zanpakuto and forced him out from the gate closing it permanently.

"That was fun." Gin murmured and disappeared in a flash step

XXXX

All the captains looked at Ichimaru as he stepped into the meeting hall.

"Captain Gin Ichimaru. I take it by your presence here the ryoka has been taken care of." Yamamoto commented

"I am sorry to say I failed to eliminate them Head Captain." Gin said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly

"What? I find it hard to believe that you could not kill a bunch of ryoka." Mayuri Kurotsuchi said with a nasty sneer

"Explain yourself Captain Ichimaru." Yamamoto ordered seriously

"I got no excuses. I made a mistake. I am willing to take any punishment." Ichimaru said with his usual smile

"You don't really expect us to believe you made a mistake do you?" Kurotsuchi asked incredulously

"I will deal with you at a later date Captain Ichimaru. For now, you may be dismissed. Alert all your squads and be prepared for anything until the ryoka are captured." Yamamoto struck the floor with his wooden cane ending the meeting.

All the captains began to fill out of the room one by one. Aizen moved closer to Gin conscious of Toshiro being nearby.

"Whatever you are planning will not work out as you hope. I will stop you." Aizen murmured

"If I were you I would watch my back, Captain Aizen. You never know who might stab you from behind." Gin warned and they parted ways all the while Toshiro looked confused by this conversation

XXXX

"Thank you for hosting us Kukkaku." Yoruichi said as she sat in front of her longtime friend in her cat form sipping sake

"No need to thank me. So, are you really planning to get these kids to invade soul society?" Kukkaku asked

"Yes. Do you want to join us?" Yoruichi asked

"No. I just wanted to know that you were still pursuing this mad plan of yours. You do know this is suicide for them right?" Kukkaku asked as she took a mouthful of sake

"They are highly motivated and ready for anything. So, tell me did you complete the cannon?" Yoruichi asked

"The cannon is ready by I don't know whether it is going to work for them." Kukkaku expressed her doubts

"Why do you think that?" Yoruichi asked curiously

"The orange-haired one has no control over his spiritual energy. His spirit energy is all over the place. What were you teaching the kid?" Kukkaku asked mockingly

"I was not the one that was teaching him. Kisuke taught the kid. Besides the kid only regained his powers recently. There was not much time for us to teach him anything." Yoruichi defended herself

"Well, you better teach him to control his spirit energy because I can say with certainty that boy is going to get burned to a crisp by the barrier surrounding the Seireitei." Kukkaku said

"I will deal with it. You just ready the cannon." Yoruichi said as she turned around

"He is 'his' son isn't he?" Kukkaku asked before Yoruichi left the room

"Yes." Yoruichi answered hesitantly

"He doesn't know does he?" Kukkaku asked

"Not yet." Yoruichi answered truthfully

"Isshin might have his reasons I guess. Anyway, I will prepare the cannon by tomorrow." Kukkaku said

"Thank you, Kukkaku." Yoruichi thanked her friend as the cat/shinigami went back to Ichigo and his group of friends

XXXXX

"Well… well… well… Look who's here…" Gin smirked as he watched Indra stroll into their secret meeting place in a leisure pace

"Something amuses you Gin…?" Indra asked with a raised eyebrow as he took a seat opposite to Gin as they were a little early for the meeting

"Tut…tut…tut…You revealed your hand when you killed Misaki-san. What made you blow your cover in the first place? It was a strong cover that would have helped you blend in easily." Gin commented airly

"We would also like to know the reason for that Indra-kun." Aizen said as he walked into the room followed closely by Tosen. They took their seats, Aizen at the helm and Tosen taking a nearby seat of Gin

"I killed her because of her Zanpakuto." Indra answered shortly

"Her Zanpakuto? Please elaborate Indra-san." Tosen requested

"Misaki's Zanpakuto is parasitic in nature and it latches on to whoever she comes in direct contact. The Zanpakuto invades into the inner world of the host and controls others emotions. It took me a while to realise that and I purged that influence from my inner world along with Misaki." Indra said and the other three immediately understood the need for swift action.

"I see. You did the right thing but I am afraid your cover will be blown with this action. Captain Unahona will not be that easy to fool and she will be onto you without the aid of my Kyoka Suigetsu." Aizen mused as he looked between his associates

"Looks like Indra-kun will have to cut short his stay in Soul Society Captain Aizen." Gin said with a smirk

"That seems to be the case. It seems our escape plan must include Indra as well." Aizen said after thinking it over and then turned to Tosen, "Ensure that you adjust the plan for extracting four of us."

"I will inform Hooler Aizen-sama. The Menos will be ready when the time comes." Tosen promised

With that settled, Aizen turned his gaze on to Indra.

"It seems you will have to fade into the background in the chaos that is about to grip Seireitei. I advice that you stick close to Captain Hitsugaya until the opportune moment." Aizen said as he looked at the impassive looking Indra

"Very well." Indra agreed with a nod

Aizen then turned to his not so loyal sidekick Gin Ichimaru who was enjoying the fact that Aizen's initial plans had gone down the drain.

"I believe you know what to do with Captain Hitsugaya don't you Gin?" Aizen stared at Gin and his glasses flashed hiding the cruel eyes of Aizen

"Oh, I know what to do with our local prodigy Captain Aizen. I am almost looking forward to paying a visit to our esteemed members of Central 46. I am sure Tosen-san will also be excited about that little trip." Gin smirked and sneaked a glance at his blind fellow captain

"I have to agree with Gin, Aizen-sama. It will be extremely satisfying to dispense real justice to those corrupt fools in Central 46." Tosen said with a rare smile gracing his face and all the others saw it despite his efforts to hide it

"A day that is fast approaching my dear friend." Aizen smiled confidently

"If there is nothing else let's conclude this meeting and Gin I am disappointed that you forgot to bring tea to this meeting." Aizen said with a shake of his head as if admonishing a child

"There is a shortage of tea because of you captain. You are the one that has hoarded all those supplies in Las Noches." Gin pointed out as we all stood up

"We should always have some tea in reserve for occasions like this Gin. Without tea meetings like this can become dull and unsatisfactory." Aizen complained on the way and eventually began to go our own separate ways.

Meanwhile, Gin was seriously considering the pros and cons of poisoning the tea to kill Aizen. The mad man surely liked to drink his tea a lot. It was something to look into, he thought in the privacy of his mind.

XXXXXX 2 days later XXXXXX

A great battle was being fought by two powerful beings. The landscape around them had already turned into charged ash and all the structure and forests we're crumbling down under the intensity of the battle. Two swords clashed and an intense wave of spiritual energies battled against each other. As the deadlock of their powers continued one combatant charged a cero in his hand and fired at the other. The cero blasted away through a score of buildings and mountains. After the destructive wave died down, one smoking and partially burnt figure could be seen standing at the end of the path cleared by the Cero.

"It seems you have still not mastered it." Kagetsu commented as he floated down nearby his wielder who had several burn marks on his hand

"I am finding it difficult to activate it mid-battle." Indra commented as he concentrated his spirit energy and healed his own skin with instant regeneration

"I did warn you that the Blut Vene takes years of practice to even properly manifest." Kagetsu commented with a shrug

"You did but I don't have much time to wait for it to manifest naturally." Indra said as he once again concentrated on his spirit energy and tried to channel them through his veins. Slowly a blue glow began to take form in an intricate pattern on his forearm but it died down quickly making Indra sigh disappointedly

"Don't try to force it out with your blunt force Indra. As you train continuously it will manifest on its own." Kagetsu advised as he patted on Indra's shoulder comforting his wielder

"I hope so. Now that most of our plans have gone down the drain any advantage that I can have is a blessing." Indra huffed at the predicament he found himself in. To think that all of this happened because of a silly girl and a moment of weakness from his own part was embarrassing.

"What about that other side mission? Are you going to pursue it?" Kagetsu asked as he dismissed his blade

"I am putting it on hold for the moment. With my actions I have attracted unnecessary attention. The time is not right to make a move like that." Indra mused

"I agree. Perhaps you can revisit this mission at a later date when Soul Society is distracted and Aizen's gaze lay elsewhere." Kagetsu suggested

"Hmm… that seems to be the better way." Indra mused but he immediately saw the expression on Kagetsu change rapidly

"What happened?" Indra asked in concern

"You must return back to your body. Something has happened outside and your senses have been triggered." Kagetsu advised as all of the training were now done inside the inner world of Indra rather than in the physical world.

Indra nodded and as he concentrated his awareness transferred back to his body and he opened his eyes in the real world. Immediately he was assaulted by a screeching sound and wave after wave of some distantly familiar spiritual pressures. He immediately looked out of the window of his office in the squad barracks. In the sunny sky of Soul Society, he saw a large ball of Spirit energy battling for dominance over the protective barrier of Sereitei. He was sure every living being inside the city could feel the invaders as it was that obvious. Indra really wondered what made the former captain of Squad 2 take this route rather than other subtle methods. Whatever the case might be he knew things were about to get interesting around here and he was really looking forward to meeting his twin.

After a little while, the ball of spirit energy managed to pierce the barrier and each one of the ryoka split off in mid-air in different directions across the city. For a time Indra stood still and just as he expected pandemonium broke out within squad 10 barracks. As Indra walked out of his office he could see the panicked faces of squad 10 members all around. It was a little bit understandable as the Shinigami of Seireitei had never faced an enemy that had ever invade their home for a thousand years. Even the most prominent battles against powerful Vasto Lorde class hollows have always happened outside the protection of the city. This was the first that protection was breached and naturally, the Shinigami were troubled. Only those with poor sensing abilities panicked like that as others understood that there was only very few invaders and most of the spiritual pressure they felt were minuscule in comparison to the stronger Shinigami present in the city.

All the ruckus came to an end when the frosty spiritual pressure of Captain Hitsugaya focused upon the squad members. Indra silently slid next to Rangiku and together they watched Captain Hitsugaya bring order to the squad.

"There is no room for panic. The thirteen court guard squads will deal with the ryoka in a timely manner." Toshiro's confident voice cut into the silent squad like a promise and those who were filled with doubts regained their confidence

"Now, I want all of you to be diligent during your daily patrols. We don't know who the intruders are and that must be our priority. I am ordering you to not engage the ryoka if you find them. Observe their appearances and immediately report back along with their location as quickly as you can. Our objective must be to capture these ryoka alive and interrogate about their intentions and who helped them in infiltrating our impenetrable defence systems." Toshiro ordered with a steely look

"Do you think there is a traitor in our midst captain?" someone asked making a ripple of unease pass through the squad

"You all have your orders. Return to your duties." Toshiro barked out and immediately marched back into his office with Rangiku and Indra closely following him

Rangiku closed the door once all three of them were inside and turned to Toshiro with a disapproving look.

"You could have worded it a little more diplomatically, Captain." Rangiku admonished the youngest captain of Soul Society

"I agree. Talks of traitors among our ranks at this crucial state will only demoralize our forces." Indra pitched in as well while secretly he was quite pleased as this would make his job a lot easier as chaos and distrust will spread among the ranks of Shinigami making it harder for them to coordinate and track the ryoka.

"It was ill-thought-out. I am sorry." Toshiro slumped into his seat tiredly

"You should take some rest Captain. I can see dark circles under your eyes. Did you not sleep last night?" Rangiku asked in a suave manner

"I overheard a conversation lately and it has disturbed me somewhat." Toshiro murmured absently

"What are you talking about? A conversation between who?" Rangiku pounced on that and began hounding for more details but Indra could see that Toshiro had closed up tightly

"Enough Rangiku. It's just a small doubt but for now, leave it be." Toshiro greeted Rangiku with a serious look and she pouted at being denied some gossip material. Toshiro then turned his attention to his other subordinate who had an amused look on his face.

"Indra I want you to file a request for the transcripts of the trial of Rukia Kuchiki." Toshiro's order surprised Indra

"Uhh…Captain, Rukia Kuchiki is a member of a noble family. I don't think Indra can get the trial transcripts with normal procedures. I think the request must go directly from you to Central 46." Rangiku reminded her captain gently

"Oh, then write up a request and I will affix my seal." Toshiro ordered and Indra began to quickly draft a request.

But the die has been cast long ago and there was nothing much anyone could do except to brace and stand fast for the coming events that were surely going to shake the very foundations of Soul Society. The game has just begun, a game for the throne of heavens.