Chapter 30: Muramasa
Byakuya's POV
"Hmm, everyone's here, for the most part . . ." I hear Renji mumble as he looks around the area, his eyes landing on Madarame and Ayesegawa a few feet away from us. So far, Kenpachi and his lieutenant have no shown up, and personally, I would like for it to stay that way. "I wonder why the Captain Commander called for this meeting."
"Who knows?" says Matsumoto as she walks over to her fellow lieutenant. "But he did pick one heck of a time to call for it."
"Are you worried that this meeting is going to interfere with your beauty sleep Matsumoto?" asks Hitsugaya as he suddenly appeared at her side, his annoyance with her whining clearly beginning to show.
"Why of course!" she tells him. "I have to get a good night's sleep in order to keep looking this good don't I?"
That's when I tune out of their mindless conversation, returning to my previous thoughts from earlier today, the ones centered on Senbonzakura.
My zanpakuto's actions during my spar with Renji were worrying. When I use him battle, I stay positioned in a safe zone for my own protection. None of Senbonzakura's blades can pierce me within the zone unless I command them to. I never did such a thing today, so being suddenly grazed by him was certainly an eye opener.
I do not remember any problems becoming apparent between the two of us. We have always been in synchronization with each other ever since I first gained him . . . I cannot imagine him cutting me out of his own free will, which only leads me to one possible suspect.
"LIEUTENANT SASAKIBE!"
The yell breaks me out of my thoughts, and I turn to see Captain Unohana and her lieutenant crouched down on either side of Mina's superior, who somehow appeared out of nowhere to lie unconscious on the ground.
"What happened to him?" asks Ukitake as he walks over to the two. "Is he going to be alright?"
"He should be in a few hours. He looks to have been just knocked unconscious, but I'll have to do a thorough investigation to see what actually happened to him." answers Unohana as she places a hand on the unconscious lieutenant's back.
"That won't be necessary Captain Unohana."
The sudden deep voice instantly catches all of our attention, the voice unknown to all of us. The sudden pang of spiritual pressure is instantly felt in the air, and we all turn to the direction it's coming from, coming face to face with a man shrouded by the dark clouds that hung above us.
"I'm afraid that Captain Commander Yamamoto will not be joining us tonight." says the man as the dark clouds finally move, giving us all a better view of his face. Going just by his white and purple robes alone, I could tell that this man was not a shinigami, which only makes me even more suspicious at what his purpose may be.
"What do you mean Captain Commander will not be joining us?" asks Komamura as he suddenly appears in front of the intruder. "Who are you?"
"Captain!" calls his lieutenant, but it appears his yell has fallen on deaf ears as Komamura doesn't even appear to have heard him. The man remains silent in response to Komamura's question, which only seems to irritate the wolf even more.
"You're not going to tell us huh? Well then, I'll just have to make you talk!" he suddenly yells as he unsheathes his sword. He moves to strike him down, but he outstretches his hand, sending mysterious gusts of wind toward us. He moves out of the way from Komamura's blade, but judging from the way the Seventh captain looked, he was not going to give up that easily.
"Bankai! Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō!" The large samurai that was his bankai suddenly appears behind him, its blade ready to strike as soon as his master will move to make the blow. Komamura does just that, but then it happens, He doesn't attack the intruder. . .
. . . Tenken attacks Komamura.
"What the-?" asks Hitsugaya, so shocked that he can't even finish his own question. Tenken quickly continues his assault, materializing into his regular form and trapping Komamura before striking him down across the front of his body.
"Tenken attacked his own master?" I hear Soi-Fon ask in disbelief as she too stares at the scene, just like everyone else among us. "A zanpakuto spirit attacking it's' own wielder . . . That's impossible, unheard of even."
"On the contrary Captain Soi-Fon, what you have just witnessed is not entirely impossible." said the man as he suddenly reappears.
"I've had enough of this . . ." growls Hitsugaya as he jumps into the air, his sword already in his hand. "Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"
"Sting all enemies to death, Suzemebachi!" says Soi-Fon as she too takes out her sword, but her results are the same as Hitsugaya's. Neither zanpakuto obeyed their commands.
"I, I can't sense any spiritual pressure from my sword." Hitsugaya suddenly says in a stunned voice as he gazes down at his sword. Everyone around me begins to check their swords to see if they have ended up in the same situation. I don't bother looking myself, because I know what the result would be.
"You cannot sense any spiritual pressure from your zanpakuto because you are no longer one with your zanpakuto spirit. I have made sure of that," explains the man as he brought a hand to his face. "I have freed them from your control. You can no longer use your zanpakuto spirits' power in battle."
"How is that even possible?" I hear Renji ask as I take a step forward.
"Enough of this, tell us who you are. . ." I say as I stare the intruder in the eye, my suspicions to his identity only increasing with the next words he spoke.
"I go by the name Muramasa . . ." says the man as he outstretches his arm, the sights of explosions and the sounds of the alarm instantly raising a high alert among the people around me. "And this is the start of a rebellion. Tonight, the zanpakuto spirits will overthrow their shinigami masters."
And then it happens, our zanpakuto spirits appear above before us, sneering at us or shooting menacing glares as they moved to join the other side. Some of them, including Senbonzakura, materialize from behind us to join them in their group.
So my suspicions were true. Muramasa was indeed behind Senbonzakura's sudden behavioral change earlier in the day. Even though his power will prove to be a problem for all the shinigami in Soul Society, I cannot focus on that matter for the moment . . .
Tonight may be the start of a rebellion, but for me, it's only the start of the promise I made many years ago.
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