Chapter 32: And a New Plan Begins

Byakuya's POV

The Sereitei was now a battleground between shinigami and the spirits of their zanpakutos. After the battle on Sogyoku Hill, everyone separated, going off into various directions for reasons ranging from finding their respective spirits to checking on their divisions. I can feel the spiritual pressure of some of the captains and vice captains around the vicinity, all of them fighting in their own battles with either their own zanpakuto spirits, or someone else's. As for myself, I've managed to dodge any unwanted attention from the spirits, keeping my spiritual pressure low to avoid detection.

However, I know it won't be long before I run into one of them.

I was going to my division to see if it had sustained any damage from the spirits' assault when the sudden spike of Abarai's spiritual pressure, and the slight decline of my sister's, catches my attention. Using shunpo, I arrive in time to prevent Lieutenant Sasakibe's Gonryƍmaru from attacking Rukia, allowing her to get away unscathed.

"Brother!" "Captain!"

I look down from my perch to see Rukia and Renji looking at me in astonishment from below, as if the Sereitei had not become a war zone all around us.

"Keep your guard up." I tell them as I suddenly feel the presence of two spiritual pressures in the area, one of them feeling more familiar than the other.

"That is a very important piece of advice you should consider," I look up to see Muramasa standing on top of the building across from the tower I'm standing on, Senbonzakura standing silently by his side. ". . . Considering the fact you shinigami used to possess very powerful zanpakuto, you should all know what exactly they are capable of. For example, Senbonzakura if you may . . ."

". . . Leave." I say quickly as I unsheathe my blade.

"But brother-"

"Don't make me repeat myself." I tell Rukia quickly before jumping into battle, crossing blades with Senbonzakura before I could even leap toward Muramasa.

"You out of all people should know that you cannot beat my thousands of blades with just one sword." my zanpakuto coldly states as his blade breaks apart to become his shikai. I move out of the attack's way, jumping from rooftop to rooftop to escape the large scale attack; the blades coming closer with each leap I make.

"BROTHER!" Rukia's yell was faint to my ears as the scattered blades fully enveloped me in a cloud of pink death. I feel his attack propel me into the building in front of me, but I manage to dodge the brunt of the attack before it could slam into me. I reappear under the building, right in the sewers, and as soon as I turned around, Senbonzakura is there ready to strike. We leap at the same time, both of us ready to kill if it came to it. The next few instances were a dark blur, with scattered blades flying everywhere before I manage to fire off a Byakurai without an incantation. Senbonzakura manages to dodge the brunt of the blow, but in doing so, his mask sustains some damage to the left side of it. However, it's enough to stun him. I take advantage of this, shunpoing to stand in front of him with my blade raised so that he wouldn't be quick enough to do the same thing himself.

". . . Master?"

"So, you have returned to your senses Senbonzakura," I tell him with my eyes narrowed, but inwardly, I was completely relieved to have my zanpakuto back. "Tell me, what happened to you that made you turn against me?"

"I, I don't know," he tells me quickly. "I remember hearing a voice, telling me to free myself and follow my instincts."

"I see . . ." I say as I let out a short breath. "As I feared."

"You feared?" Senbonakura asks me confusedly as he stands back up on his feet. "You knew this would happen?"

"I never knew that the zanpakuto spirits would turn against their masters and turn the Sereitei into a battleground," I tell him with a small shake of my head. "However, I did speculate that Muramasa would somehow be behind this scheme. He is the only one I can think of that is able to make a zanpakuto spirit turn against its own master."

"Muramasa . . ." mumbles Senbonzakura as he brings a hand to his chin. "That name is connected to the Kuchiki Clan for more bad reasons than good."

"I agree," I tell him as I close my eyes. "Muramasa must be stopped, but stopping him alone will not be enough. We must stop the source of his power if we are going to finish him for good."

"Stop the source?" my zanpakuto warily asks. "We would have to destroy his master to do so."

"That is correct," I tell him as I begin to walk away. "However, I need to learn my corrupted relative's location first before I can finally end him. The records my family keep do not state his exact whereabouts, so I need to check the Records Hall to see if any of the texts there mention where he is."

"You're not going to ask any of your fellow shinigami for help?" Senbonzakura asks rather accusingly, which makes me stop my movements for just a second. "Not even Mina? She knows about this just as much as you do."

"No, this is a personal matter, one that does not need the assistance of any other shinigami, whether I call them allies or not," I tell him shortly as I look over my shoulder at him. "As the head of the Kuchiki Clan, I have to settle this alone."

"I see . . . However, there may be a problem with your plans."

"A problem?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. "What do you believe that problem may be Senbonzakura?"

"If you continue to try to do this on your own, without explaining why to anyone else, the others are most likely going to force the answers out into the light one way or the other," Senbonzakura calmly explains to me as he takes a step. "If you plan to do this alone, you are going to have to deceive them in order to hide your true goal."

"You are saying I'm going to have to come up with a decoy reason in order to hide my real plans?" I ask as I narrow my eyes at my zanpakuto.

"Yes . . ." he tells me as he crosses his arms. "Say you pretend that you're going to defect from the Gotei 13 to join Muramasa's side. You would be close enough to him in order to monitor his movements, and if you do not find out your relative's location from the Sereitei Records' Hall, then staying close to Muramasa to find out what he knows is your next best option master."

"You're right," I tell him as I think his idea over. "Your plan is reasonable enough. You should get back to Muramasa. He's probably wondering what's taking you so long, and if this plan is going to work perfectly, you still need to appear as if you still dislike shinigami, including me."

"Well that's not going to be a hard thing to do," I hear Senbonzakura mutter under his breath, which makes me narrow my eyes at him once again. "I'm just kidding . . . I'll be going now."

"Hmm . . . Sometimes I have no idea what to do with my zanpakuto."

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