Chapter 9: Shadows of the Past
Ho'o looked upon Aizen with pure white eyes as he took a deep breath before exhaling. The two merely stared at one another before Ho'o clapped his hands together while closing his eyes smiling. As his hands clasped together, Aizen was suddenly pushed backward by the sheer pressure from the darkness around Ho'o. Kage watched with wide eyes as some of his chains shattering releasing parts of his body, unlike the shadowy limbs he has been using.
[Flash Back]
Two figures stood face to face in a room split in black and white. The figure on the black side of the room was pure white with a mature build while the other was the complete opposite with the outline of a child. Both remained silent before the mature figure sighed heavily and shook his head and faced the floor.
"This war has gone on far too long little brother...do you not want to end it with just us?" The mature one asked before facing the child once more.
"Of course I want this war to end! Surrender brother! Your Soul Reapers cannot defeat my army of hollows. For every hollow you kill ten more rises in its place," The child replied gripping his hands into fists.
"Then we will end it with one more battle. A one on one battle," The mature one spoke.
"And why would I take up such a battle when my armies are winning?" The child questioned tilting his head.
"Do you think you would lose?" The mature one asked with a disappointed sigh. "You are the aspect of darkness and death itself...with so many deaths how do I hope to win?"
The child fell silent upon this question and faced the ground before slowly bringing his attention to his hands which he raised in deep though only to grip them into fists.
"All or nothing?" The child asked turning his attention to the other while straightening his posture.
"Yes. All or nothing," The mature one agreed to cause the two to nod their heads in agreement.
"Then let us begin," The child asked swaying his hands forward causing four weapons to spring out from the ground; a large shield made of water, a chain made of fire, a sword made of wind, and a dagger made of lightning. "Brother."
With that said the two raced toward one another just as the memory ended.
[Flash back end]
'So there is much more for me to remember after all,' Kage spoke within Ho'o's mind.
"What is this power I am feeling Kage?" Ho'o asked looking down at his clasped hands grinning.
'Although it is half of my powers, it is still powerful. From what I remember. With this power, you have access to my weapons. Weapons made of the elements of the world; a shield of water, a chain of fire, a sword of wind, and a sickle of lightning,' Kage explained in which Ho'o grinned while opening his eyes.
"What are my limitations exactly?" Ho'o asked looking at Aizen who was still frozen in place not out of fear but out of anticipation.
'You must first give these weapons a real form,' Kage answered.
Ho'o nodded as Aizen charged forward and brought his katana toward the Vagabonds body.
"Kioku (Memory). Oshantatour (Ocean turtle)," Ho'o whispered as he pulled his hands apart and brought his left arm up.
Right before Aizen's blade could connect with Ho'o's form, a shield made of pure water took form between them. Due to it being water, Aizen merely smirked as he watched his blade clash into the large shield with Ho'o taking hold of the shields handle with his left hand and bracing himself. As Aizen's blade made contact with the surface of the shield, it completely stopped the sword. Aizen's eyes narrowed at this before Ho'o brought his right hand back only to bring it at the back of the shield creating a larger shield that pushed the sword back.
"So you're strong enough to withstand my attack...but for how long?" Aizen asked before teleporting in a flash just to appear above Ho'o while bringing his sword down on him.
Ho'o simply raised the shield over his head to block the attack once more not even bothering to look at his opponent.
"Longer than you can last Aizen," Ho'o said with a chuckle before finally looking up at Aizen. "Cause for what I have...you haven't seen anything yet,"
Aizen could not help but smile before the two clashed with one another weapon before finally pushing one another back a few meters. Once they were given space, Ho'o took a deep breath and exhaled causing the shield to begin to fade.
"Henka Suru (Change)," Ho'o whispered causing the shield to fade away back into the gauntlets. "Ryusei Fenikksu (Meteor Phoenix)."
Aizen watched this time as burning chains slithered out of the forearm of Ho'o's gauntlets. At the tip of the chains hung a small, spiked morning star in which Ho'o tilted his head slightly with the length of the chains being ten feet long. Ho'o rolled his shoulders back and took hold of each chain before lashing out his right fire chains at Aizen. As dangerous as the chain was, Aizen merely teleported away and appear behind Ho'o with his sword coming down but widened his eyes as he saw the tip of the second whip racing toward his face. With a quick slash of his sword to deflect the morning star, he managed to knock it away until his eyes watched the spiked tip shined a burning red before exploding. This forced Aizen to teleport backward with a sweat drop rolling down his face.
"Too close for comfort?" Ho'o asked standing behind Aizen.
Aizen could not help but chuckle at this while closing his eyes and nodding his head.
"You have surprised me Ho'o. And here I thought Ichigo was to be the one to stand against me," Aizen commented before opening his eyes and turning to look at Ho'o with a confident look. "But no matter how many surprises you have, you are no match for me,"
"And what makes you think that?" Ho'o asked with a raised brow.
"Although you are stronger than before, I can sense your spiritual pressure...and it is nothing compared to mine," Aizen claimed raising his head slightly.
"Is that what you think?" Ho'o asked with a smirk. "If you think you are so powerful then why did you run away from that attack before?"
Before Aizen could answer, Ho'o quickly lashed his left morning star at the other grinning while twirling his opposite chain in his hand. Aizen immediately brought his sword forward to knock the morning star away while teleporting backward again avoiding the explosion only this time his legs were caught in the right chains and pulled toward the burning fire that was set by the explosion he evaded. Gritting his teeth, Aizen teleported out of the wrapping of the burning chain to appear in the air.
"Slippery one aren't ya?" Ho'o asked looking up at Aizen still standing on the ground. "Henka Suru (Change)."
As the burning chains faded away, Aizen took this chance to teleport in front of Ho'o while thrusting his sword toward the Vagabond's chest.
"Raiko Kagi (Thunder Tiger)," Ho'o whispered as two sickles took form in his hands, one in each hand with lightning flowing out of the blades of the weapons.
Aizen watched as the sickle in Ho'o's left hand came down and moved the sword away while dashing forward. Ho'o grinned as hie right sickle raced toward Aizen's neck but was stopped by the Shinigami's blade. The two looked at each other before Ho'o gave Aizen a quick double raised brow before rotating around his blade to bring his other sickle toward his rib forcing Aizen to teleport away. Just as the Shinigami took form, he was met face to face with Ho'o once more who had a long grin on his face with both sickles racing down toward his shoulders. Gritting his teeth, Aizen brought his sword up and clashed against the lightning sickles and pushed Ho'o back breaking his stance allowing the Shinigami to thrust his zanpakuto forward in an attempt to pierce the Vagabond's chest.
"Bet," Ho'o said as Aizen's sword pierced his chest causing the Vagabond to hang loosely on the traitor's blade.
"See how different we are in terms of combat?" Aizen asked with a smug grin on his face.
"Yeah pretty much," Ho'o asked appearing on Aizen's head looking down at him while in a squatting position.
Aizen pulled his zanpakuto out of the body and watched it turn into a shadow image that Ho'o had left behind. Outraged at this, Aizen quickly brought his other hand up and slashed up at Ho'o but only allowed the Vagabond to hop off his head laughing.
"When?" Aizen asked growing annoyed at the fight.
"When? Dude, you were fighting a shadow image the entire time," Ho'o answered laughing softly. "I mean I was testing something out and found that this Shikai form allows me to turn my shadow and others into weapons. Sadly, the drawback is I can have only one of those bad boys at one at a time...nothing I cannot workaround of course,"
"Why are you telling me this?" Aizen asked glaring at Ho'o who nodded his head understanding his confusion.
"Just saying. Now I had my fun with the other forms but this one takes the cake," Ho'o said swaying his hands forward only to place his hands together as if praying as the darkness flowed between his palms. "Fu Ryu (Wind Dragon),"
Aizen stood there in silence while gritting his teeth not wanting to make a risky move again. Suddenly a Nodachi formed between Ho'o's palms just as he parted them and quickly grabbing the handle with his right hand and the left-hand swaying downward revealing the full thirty-five feet long blade. Ho'o watched Aizen before raising the long katana and hung it over his right shoulder while tilting his head.
"Shall we continue?" Ho'o asked with a smile.
"No," Aizen spoke closing his eyes earning a few blinks from Ho'o. "We shall finish this now,"
"What you talking about Willis?" Ho'o asked with a raised brow.
"Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado 90: Kurohitsugi!" Aizen chanted while raising his left hand into the sky causing a black box to begin to form around Ho'o's form.
The Vagabond watched as the box closed around his form in awe before it closed upon him.
"You may be an expert in the ways of Kido, but I transcend both Soul Reapers and Hollows. With a full incantation of Kurohitsugi, you shall be crushed like the many ants before me!" Aizen cheered.
Just as the Kido started, loud laughter echoed from within the box before it cracked and finally shattered revealing a pool of blood around Ho'o as his wounds began to rapidly heal themselves. As the kido faded away, Ho'o could be seen holding the Nodachi with both hands with the tip of the long blade touching the ground.
"That fucking hurt man. That hurt a lot!" Ho'o explained with blood dripping from his mouth and eyes only to watch as the red liquid slid back into his body.
"What...are you?" Aizen asked in sheer shock.
"I am but a mere puppet having his strings pulled Aizen...now that I let you do your thing..." Ho'o asked raising his Nodachi over his head to let it hang on his right shoulder again. "My turn,"
Aizen snapped out of his stunned state and prepared himself before three more figures walked out of Ho'o's shadow each one holding a different weapon. One holding the water shield, another held the burning morning stars, and the last one holding the lightning sickles.
"This is going to be fun," Ho'o spoke as he took a step forward and slashed forward with both hands gripping the handle tightly sending a long wind blade toward Aizen.
All Aizen did was teleport into the sky and watched the ground seeing all four had disappeared.
"Why are you running man?" Ho'o asked appearing right in front of him. "I thought you wanted to end this?"
Aizen glared at Ho'o before looking around himself to find he was surrounded by the other three.
"Did you know...that Bokyado were originally made by these weapons?" Ho'o asked pointing his Nodachi at Aizen. "So if I used Bokyado using the original founders...do you think they would become stronger or easier to use? Maybe they will even be both for all we know!"
Aizen remained silent trying to figure out what to do.
"Something to check out later, so let's continue our little party shall we?" Ho'o said with a snicker.
Aizen was gritting his teeth tightly as he looked around his form seeing the shield welder to his left then turned to his right revealing the chain user. With the real Ho'o in front of him, he could already tell the sickle user was right behind him. The traitor waited patiently while narrowing his eyes and gripping his weapon tightly in his right hand.
"Mark," Ho'o said causing the chain and shield welders to descend toward the ground while the sickle user flew at Aizen from behind.
Aizen was more focused on the real Ho'o as he had also dashed forward with his Nodachi immediately clashing blades with him locking him in place. The two glared at each other while Aizen held his own but watched as Ho'o chuckled as the Shadow image using the sickles pierced the traitor's sides earning a grunt of pain. This caused Aizen to glance behind him before feeling the weight of Ho'o fade followed by a large gash to be made from the Nodachi he was guarding against. Due to the damage, he immediately snapped his attention back forward seeing the Nodachi's blade had phased through his katana and made a clean cut down his chest to his gut.
"Oh I ain't done yet Aizen," Ho'o promised as Aizen's ankles were latched on by the chain user before exploding while the Vagabond and the shadow image flash stepped away laughing.
As the smoke cleared, Aizen was in pain before being pulled down toward the shield user where he was hit and knocked back into the air. With Aizen knocked into the air once more, Ho'o and his shadow images appeared taking aim and firing a beam of elemental energy toward the traitor's direction. Instead of finishing him off, Aizen released a powerful shout of pure rage causing a powerful shockwave to take form and knock Ho'o out of the sky and crash into the ground with his Shadow Images being destroyed.
"Ow...and here I thought it would not get any worse," Ho'o spoke pushing himself off the ground to see a glowing purple pillar of energy before it cracked and shattered releasing a pool of blood.
With the pillar gone, he could see what looked like a humanoid creature with six wings, and mostly a white-skinned body with the middle of the face, hands, and feet being black with purple eyes and long brown hair. It was Aizen's new form he had taken up to fight against Ho'o who had gotten to his feet and dusted his rear off sighing heavily.
"So you are a monster after all. I called it," Ho'o joked with a smug look on his face before he saw a mouth on each wing. "Woo...now that...is too much," The Vagabond pointed out with a nervous chuckle.
That was until he saw a small purple orb being formed over one of the mouths before it threw the orb at Ho'o. The Vagabond's eyes widened as he clapped his hands together and parted them.
"KIOKU (Memory)! OSHANTATORU (Ocean Turtle)!" Ho'o shouted creating his tower shield of water and placed it in front of his form.
As the orb touched the tower shield, it exploded shattering the shield with ease but taking with it the entire explosion leaving Ho'o unharmed. Ho'o looked around himself finding that he was in the center of a large crater now floating.
"Well, shit man. Now that's one hell of a..." Ho'o stopped as Aizen took hold of the Vagabond's throat before flying high into the sky.
Now in the sky, Aizen glared at Ho'o while the six mouths surrounded the Vagabond and used an unknown sealing spell leaving Ho'o suspended in midair. This allowed Aizen to release his hold on Ho'o gritting his teeth while gripping his hands into fists.
"I grow tired of meaningless prattle!" Aizen shouted as he continued to fly back with each of his winged mouths opening and charging another orb. "By destroying you I will bid an eternal farewell to the inferior essences of the Shinigami and the Hollow. Now, prepare to die! Ho'oku'u Aupuni!"
With that said, Aizen launched all six spheres Ho'o and watched every last orb crash into him before exploding. As the smoke cleared, there was nothing left, not even dust. A satisfied grin grew over Aizen's lips before he felt a dark presence behind him.
"Do you think it would be that easy?" Ho'o whispered into Aizen's ear before a soft pat on his back making the traitor fly forward and turn around to see the Vagabond unharmed and his hands behind his back chuckling.
"What is the meaning of this?" Aizen demanded gritting his teeth again.
"What? I swapped places with a shadow image after I was able to block your first orb," Ho'o answered with a shrug while bringing his hands to his sides revealing his Shikai was still in effect. "Plus since I was able to touch you...the fun and games are over,"
"What are you talking about?" Aizen questioned narrowing his eyes.
"You're about to find out Aizen," Ho'o spoke clasping his hands together and closing his eyes.
Aizen saw this and immediately flew at Ho'o in an attempt to grab him but was stopped as chains of fire wrapped around his form from under him. The traitor looked under his feet seeing a shadow image with the burning morning star. Unlike the other times, it did not explode but rather locked him in place and unable to break free as it burned into his flesh earning screams of pain. Ho'o opened his eyes and parted his hands with a serious face and killing intent.
"Kioku (Memory). Fu Ryu (Wind Dragon)," Ho'o spoke creating the wind Nodachi into his hands while pointing it at Aizen. "Bokyado #1: Doragon No Shogekiha (Shockwave of the dragon),"
Aizen widened his eyes and immediately took to the sky in hopes of evading the orb he saw back at the time during Rukia's execution. Instead of an orb this time, the Nodachi Ho'o had in his hands shifted into a slithering dragon that raced toward Aizen. Once the dragon caught up, it clasped its jaws down on Aizen's right side before becoming a large shockwave that knocked him to the ground as well as making him lose consciousness for a few seconds.
"Well that was neat," Ho'o commented as he looked at where Aizen landed but chuckled. "Let's keeper going then!"
Aizen woke from his unconscious state and pushed himself off the ground while shaking his head trying to break out of his stunned state.
"Kioku. Ryusei Fenikksu (Meteor Phoenix).Bokyado #2: Fenikksu No Bakuhatsu (Explosion of the Phoenix)," Ho'o said in excitement as he created the burning morning star that quickly transformed into the Phoenix and flew toward Aizen.
As Aizen got off the ground, he looked up to see a large phoenix fly toward him and crash into his back creating a massive explosion with the traitor at the bottom.
"Kioku. Raiko Kagi (Thunder Tiger). Bokyado #3: Tora No Raimei (Thunderbolt of the Tiger)," Ho'o continued as he clasped his hands and parted them to create dual sickles.
The moment they were finished being made from shadows, they flew outward and merged into a large tiger of lightning racing toward Aizen. Aizen was still laying down but pushed himself up just in time for the tiger to appear on his left to clamp down on his left side and erupt into a large lightning bolt. This attack as well as the others before him had done a number on him with all his wings destroyed and most of his body seared from the fire and lightning.
"Three down and one more to go Aizen," Ho'o spoke standing at the edge of the large crater made by the Phoenix with his hands already clasped together.
Aizen raised his head to look at Ho'o with hate in his eyes before grunting in pain and pushing himself off the ground gritting his teeth.
"Not...like this..." Aizen spoke as he got to his feet not breaking eye contact with Ho'o. "Not...by you...DIE!" The traitor screamed firing a concentrated beam of pure reiatsu at Ho'o.
"Kioku. Oshantatoru (Ocean Turtle) Bokyado #4: Kame no Nami,(Wave of the Turtle)," Ho'o spoke parting his hands creating his shield that instantly transformed into a large sea turtle of black water that absorbed the beam only to descend at Aizen and crash into his body.
As the water cleared up, Aizen could be found reverted to his human form and struggled to get back to his feet with his skin still pure white.
"Is that all...you have Ho'o?" Aizen questioned as he got to his feet and smirked while his Zanpakuto began to shatter in his grasp.
Both looked at the shattering Zanpakuto before Aizen chuckled and looked up at Ho'o.
"The Hougyoku has determined that I no longer require a Zanpakuto! You're finished! Ho'o!" Aizen declared in which Ho'o only sighed.
"You speak as if I was done," Ho'o said with a smirk of his own. "I have one more Bokyado to do,"
"As if I would let you finish!" Aizen spoke before his eyes widened looking over Ho'o seeing a towering black figure looking down at the traitor with a wide smile.
"You have no choice...like I have no power to stop myself," Ho'o spoke aiming both of his palms at Aizen. "Bokyado #5: Honto No Bokyaku (True Oblivion),"
Aizen was then encased in a large sphere of reiatsu and lifted five stories into the air before all four animals appeared again from outside of the orb. Instead of charging toward Aizen immediately, they all flew overhead and merged into one being that took the form of a large humanoid with red glowing eyes. Ho'o's eyes widened as the image of the large figure that looked almost like Kage himself but weaker. The large figure grasped the sphere in its hands and started to crush the orb in its hands. While the sphere was shrinking, constant flashing could be seen within the sphere from water, fire, lightning, and wind. Once the sphere was as big as a marble it shattered and released a tattered Aizen who laid on the ground in a bloody mess.
"Damn you actually survived," Ho'o spoke a little confused while rubbing the back of his head with his left hand.
'Bring him to my domain,' Kage demanded in which Ho'o sighed and nodded his head while squatting down and placing his hand on Aizen's head before sinking into the shadows.
[Kage's Domain]
Aizen opened his eyes to find himself off the ground with chains wrapped around his ankles and wrists keeping him in place.
"Where am I?" Aizen questioned while looking around.
"You are in my domain Aizen Sosuke," Kage spoke causing Aizen to look down and find a cloaked figure standing there looking up at him.
"And who are you? Another Soul Reaper?" Aizen questioned while narrowing his eyes.
"I can assure you I am no soul reaper," Kage answered before sighing heavily. "My name is Kage, a forgotten Deity...and you have something that prevents me from sending you into Oblivion," Kage spoke raising his left hand and swaying it down causing Aizen's form to lower while still being chained. "And I can only guess it is this...Hougyoku ...you told my Herald,"
"Your Herald?" Aizen repeated confused.
"He is resting right now," Kage said while he plunged his left hand into his chest to take hold of the Hougyoku and tear it out earning a scream of pain from Aizen. "Hmm, it has the same feel...but not completely,"
"You summoned me Kage-sama," Yoshi spoke walking out of the shadows and kneeling in behind Kage with her head lowered.
"Yes. What do you think of our new guest?" Kage asked turning his head to look at Yoshi who raised her head to look up at her master.
"Nothing compared to you Kage-sama," Yoshi answered before lowering her head again earning a nod from Kage.
"Nothing? You call yourself a deity yet can only be high and mighty while I am locked up," Aizen spoke with a smirk.
"How dare you!" Yoshi shouted while getting to her feet glaring at Aizen while putting on her doll but was stopped by Kage who placed his right hand out to halt her action.
"You are talking too much Aizen," Kage whispered while slowly raising his right hand and quickly gripping it into a fist making a fifth chain come out of the ground and wrap around his mouth keep it open. "One more word out of you and I will snap your lower jaw off and leave it that way until I need an answer from you,"
Aizen laughed before his lower jaw was pulled off earning a scream of pain from the Soul Reaper while Kage continued to look at the Hougyoku. Yoshi only chuckled at this before closing her eyes and going back on her knee and facing the ground.
"I am not one for bluffs Aizen. Do not worry though for your death will never come here...sadly I cannot keep you here as it would endanger my Herald," Kage spoke sighing heavily in annoyance before looking at Aizen. "You have no power here spirit,"
[Outskirts]
Ho'o laid on a flat ground smiling happily with his hands behind his head and his shirt over his eyes to block out the sun. That was until he heard a pained grunt causing the Vagabond to sigh and lift his head up and move the shirt away from his left eye to see Aizen on the ground unmoving. Suddenly, Aizen was lifted off the ground while being a coating in white liquid and eventually turning into a large white cross. This caught Ho'o off guard as he let out a loud whistle.
"Well shit that's new," Ho'o said before looking to his left seeing Urahara appear along with Yoruichi and Soi Fon. "I am going to go out on a limb and say this is your doing," The Vagabond asked pointing at the white cross.
"Guilty...but it could only be this way if he was massively weakened," Urahara said with a proud smile while looking at the white cross then at Ho'o. "But I did not expect the person to do such a thing would be you Ho'o-san."
"Yeah. Uhh, surprise!" Ho'o said with a nervous chuckle before clearing his throat and dusting himself off. "So what now?"
"We take him back to the Soul Society to have him judged," Urahara said looking at the large white cross.
"Sure sure...welp speaking of which I'ma head back to the Barracks to nap. I think I earned that much right?" Ho'o asked looking at the three with tired eyes.
"No," Soi Fon answered stopping Ho'o in his tracks. "We must check on everyone else first while assisting with escorting the prisoner,"
"Fine...but I'm bugging out afterward," Ho'o warned before flash stepping away.
[Soul Society: Outskirts 5 days later]
Ho'o sat under a large tree overlooking the soul society sighing heavily with Soi Fon and Yoshi appearing behind him.
"Kage is almost free," Ho'o said closing his eyes and laying back in which Yoshi placing her lap under his head.
"Is that not a good thing?" Yoshi asked tilting her head slightly.
"That's not it. Kage's brother has two pillars. He was able to capture one but was forced to release him," Ho'o answered closing his eyes.
"What's a pillar?" Soi Fon asked with a raised brow.
"The pillars of light. Agents under Kage's brother command who hunt his Heralds. I am the only one to live so long and even more so get this close to freeing Kage," Ho'o said opening his eyes slightly. "But what most worries me is that Kage said the other pillar of light is in the Soul Society. So that's a lot of people,"
"Which explains why you've been staying out here a lot," Soi Fon spoke looking at Ho'o.
"Well, nothing to get worried about now. Right now all I wanna do is celebrate and what better way to do that than have some fun," Ho'o said opening his eyes to look up at the two.
"This is a first," Yoshi said with a chuckle. "All this time we are the ones who would have our way with you with taking no for an answer...what brought upon this?"
"Two beautiful women and one dude. Mix that with a lot of fighting and too much information given to me that could end my life any day now..." Ho'o answered bringing his left hand up to take hold of Yoshi's chin and pulling her close allowing their lips to lock.
Soi Fon blushed at this and looked away before a soft moan escaped Yoshi's lips followed by hands wrapping around the female soul reapers body to find Ho'o had gotten to his feet.
"I said two beauties didn't I?" Ho'o asked kissing Soi Fon's neck before moving in front of her and kissing her lips tenderly while Yoshi moved to begin to lick the Vagabonds neck.
/To be continued?
Alright, now for a poll to finish up or continue.
I know there are three arcs for Bleach which are the clones and zanpakuto arc. Here is my question. Do you want me to continue to those arcs OR end it here for now till the Quincy War Arc becomes an anime?
The question remains until its next rotation. By the time it hits this story again, if there are no votes for either then I will simply end this fanfiction here.
Till next time everyone^^