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"Rukia" – Normal Speech
'Ichigo' – Thoughts
*Kaien-dono*- Zanpakutō speech/thoughts
"Bankai!" – Spiritual Technique
Chapter 16: Broken Masks, Part 3
Kenpachi vs. Tōsen and Komamura
Tōsen Kaname gave Zaraki Kenpachi a sightless glare through his goggles, his unseeing gaze locked on the location his finely-honed spiritual awareness told him the Captain of Squad 10 stood. Even to someone with the barest hints of spiritual awareness Zaraki Kenpachi was nearly impossible to miss. Even suppressed, the man's Reiatsu was a massive, whirling, turbulent maelstrom steeped so heavy in bloodlust and aggression that not even the slightest flicker of emotion came through.
Honestly Tōsen had felt more human Reiatsu coming from Hollows than the monster that stood in front of him.
There was a lot about the Goteijūsantai that the blind man disliked, even ignoring the fact that they were responsible for killing his friend. But out of every grudge, hypocrisy, and sheer criminal act, the existence of Squad 11 and their Captain offended his Soul down to the marrow. Violent, uncontrolled, with no care for public orders or those who got in their way, their only concern seeming to feed their own desires for combat…truly, Zaraki Kenpachi and his squad exemplified the worst aspects of the rulers of the Seireitei.
The fact that Zaraki had also shrugged off the Shikai attacks of both Komamura's Tenken (Heavenly Punishment) and his own Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihikō (Cricket 2nd Movement: Crimson Flying Locusts) as if they were no more than the simple swings of a bokuto was also a factor in Tōsen's irritation. Not to mention holding them both off in a Zanjutsu fight for several minutes and kicking him through three walls and a roof.
No, his damaged pride had absolutely nothing to do with his hatred of the monster that stood before him.
"Tch. And those really the Shikai of Captains? Heh, still don't still why people make such a big deal out of those little tricks." The combative Captain spat in disappointment. "The Ryoka kid Ichigo put up a better fight than you two idiots."
'That boorish boy?' the dreadlock-haired Captain quietly seethed. That did it. It was time to stop playing around and put Kenpachi down for good.
"Step back, Komamura." He advised his old friend. It did actually pain him somewhat to have to eventually betray the gentle giant that was Sajin Komamura. He was the exact opposite of Kenpachi in almost every way; he was loyal, just, fair, honourable, and cared greatly for both his subordinates and even the humans that the Soul Reapers protected from the Hollow menace.
Still, the path of least bloodshed declared that he follow Aizen. He refused to admit that his decision had anything to do with the fact that it would also allow him to strike at the corrupt heart of the Soul Society and gain a degree of vengeance against those who had ordered the death of the first person he'd ever truly considered a friend.
That was merely a bonus to following the righteous path. A just reward.
"Got it." Komamura grunted out, leaping backward to just outside of what he believed to be the full reach of his Bankai.
"Zaraki Kenpachi, you say you seek a fight? A challenge? Then I shall oblige you." The blind Captain stated and raised his Zanpakutō. Placing his left hand on the ring that was attached to the tsuba of his blade, he channelled Reiryoku into it and felt Suzumushi, the very soul of his Zanpakutō, respond in kind to his desire.
The ring expanded in size as it spun, growing to the size of an extra-large hula hoop and detaching from his blade. Then it multiplied, spawning eight more copies.
With a slash of his sword, Tōsen sent them flying to float in a wide circle around where he and Kenpachi stood.
"Bankai: Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi! (Final Release: Cricket Final Form: Devil Cricket!)" Tōsen Kaname's whispered declaration filled the air like thunder.
Instantly, all nine rings generated orbs of darkness that grew, expanded and merged together until a giant black tent, held in place by nine chains leading out from the rings that now resided on the top of the dome.
"Now then…let us see how well you do, cut off from your senses of sight and hearing, you rabid beast." Tōsen stated calmly as he slowly advanced toward his opponent, considering the fight as good as won.
With Kirika
Everyone staggered as a frightening amount of Reiatsu was released. Quick glances showed a large tent-like structure suddenly blooming from nowhere, right about where Komamura and Tōsen were fighting against Kenpachi.
"Whew…so that's the release of a Bankai, is it?" Kirika whistled as she absently dodged the organic kusarigama wielded by a maddened Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
"STAND STILL, DAMN YOUR EYES!" he roared.
"Hey, don't blame me you slacked off on the Zankensoki." The masked Soul Reaper scoffed. "And really, a kusarigama made out of your own flesh, bone, and sinew? That is just gross. No one could blame me for dodging something so disgusting."
"Grrrrr…!" the deranged scientist ground his teeth together. "That's it! I am going to render you helpless before vivisecting you while you're still alive!"
Putting his disgusting weapon away, he drew his sword from the sheath hanging from the front of his shihakushō.
"Kakimushire… Ashisogi Jizō! (Scratch out…Leg-cutting Jizō!)" He snarled. In a flash, the blade was mostly replaced by a praying Buddha-like face and hands, with three long, curving, serpentine blades erupting out from the top of its head like a trident.
Kirika became more serious at this. Ashisogi Jizō lived up to its name with its special ability. It severed the connection between the brain and whatever limb it was stabbed or cut into, without taking away the sense of pain like an anaesthetic. As fast as she was, there was no way she would come away unharmed if he managed to so much as clip her with it.
Still, this wasn't even her fight. A smile crossed her face under her mask as she turned slightly.
"OI! Ishida!" she called. "Someone you've been looking for is here!"
With a hum, Ishida Uryū appeared using his Hirenkyaku technique and glared at the man who had killed his grandfather. Readying his bow, he nodded stiffly to Kirika.
"I'll handle this…scum…Kokken-san." He said with a glower at Mayuri. "There are two more strong sources of Reiatsu approaching from that direction. You may want to intercept them."
"I will leave this in your capable hands then, Ishida-san." Kirika nodded before blurring away with a Shunpo, reappearing facing towards the new sources of Reiatsu approaching the battle royal behind her. The entire situation was starting to get more than a little out of hand. What the hell was Aizen doing, playing tiddlywinks? Why hadn't he intervened to try and steal the Hōgyoku yet?
'Because he's waiting for everyone to be too exhausted or badly wounded to have a chance of stopping him when he makes his grand play.' she mentally answered her own question. It was what she would do, cheat-code Zanpakutō or not, in his shoes. There was no point in Aizen expending more effort or energy than was strictly necessary at this point when he could just count on the two sides exhausting themselves to the point he could simply waltz in then and take what he wanted.
The fact she could get inside of Aizen's decision-making processes like that was more than a little disturbing. She really did not want to be anywhere near the insides of that particular bastard's mind.
"Oh hell." She cursed as she saw the two figures advancing towards her. The Captain and Lieutenant of Squad 4, Unohana Retsu and Kotetsu Isane. The last of the so-called 'Old Guard' of the Thirteen Captains of the Goteijūsantai, Unohana was a figure of mystery for everyone outside the Sōtaichō. There was no knowledge available about where she had come from or what she'd done before she'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere at some point in the past thousand years and taken command of Squad 4. Even most of her abilities were a mystery to Yoruichi and Kisuke, save that she was a master of Kaidō and her Zanpakutō's Shikai was a Kidō-type that manifested a large manta-like creature capable of flight and healing.
In any case, should she and her Lieutenant start healing those that her friends defeat, allowing them to re-join the fight, there was no hope of them surviving this.
"Captain Unohana. Lieutenant Kotetsu." She greeted the pair politely. "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to advance any further."
"Stand aside, Ryoka!" the tall, short-haired Lieutenant placed her hand on her weapon's hilt, only to be stopped by a quiet word from her Captain.
"Isane." Unohana Retsu was a beautiful woman, there was no doubt about it, but that was marred by the memories that Kirika had inherited from Kaien, as he had pissed the Captain of Squad 4 off something cruel. That single word from her made the masked Soul Reaper tense up as if she had started the incantation for a high-level Hadō.
"You are Kokken Asa-san, correct?" Unohana asked.
"Correct. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Unohana-san." Kirika inclined her head politely.
"Might I ask you to allow Isane to proceed?" the second most senior Captain requested.
"The situation is, as I am certain you can sense, rather complicated." Kirika said, deciding that a massive understatement was better than getting into everything else. "The Sōtaichō is fighting with his two students, Yoruichi-sensei is fighting Soi Fon-sempai, Byakuya-sempai is fighting Kurosaki-san, Kenpachi is facing Tōsen and Komamura-taichō, the Last Quincy is facing Mayuri…and those are only the main highlights. I would think that everything is chaotic enough without throwing more people into the mix."
Unohana nodded seriously. "Evidently so. Why are Ukitake-taichō and Kyōraku-taichō fighting the Sōtaichō?"
"Because they are well aware that someone has been playing you Soul Reapers like a fiddle." Kirika stated flatly. "They've both decided that the buck stops here. As they are two of the only people who can face down Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryūsai with any degree of success, that is the role they have taken on."
The slight frown that flashed across Unohana's face for an instant made gears start to turn in Kirika's head. The morgue in the Squad 4 Barracks was where the corpses of all Captains were taken to be examined post-mortem. If anyone could see through the illusory power of Aizen's Zanpakutō, it would be Unohana Retsu.
Illusions, especially those of the power and detail that Kyōka Suigetsu seemed to be able to create, were split into three main categories. The first was fine detail for a single person, while the second was broad details for multiple people. The third was both of the previous ones at the same time. What all three shared was that while the user constructed the basic illusion, the better ones relied on the target's mind filling in the finer details for the illusion.
What this meant was that the smarter a person was, the more susceptible to illusions they were, as their own intelligence was used against them to fuel and better construct the illusion. That's how it went with humans, anyway. Unohana Retsu was over a millennia old, however, and there was no person more familiar with the ins and outs of a body than she was. If she had sensed something off about the 'body' of Aizen, then…
An explosion from behind her made Kirika twist her head around to see that the large tent-like structure of Tōsen Kaname's Bankai was gone, shredded until it vanished.
"Wow…go Kenpachi." Was all Kirika could say. How the hell had her brother managed to score a draw with him again?
"Bankai: Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō! (Final Release: Vidyaraja of Kalasutra's Heavenly Punishment!)" A loud roar could be heard a second later, swiftly followed by another blast of powerful Reiatsu. Rising up from the same area was a massive armoured samurai, wielding an equally massive sword.
"Who the hell does that belong to?!" Kirika gasped.
"That would be Komamura-taichō." Unohana said as she stepped next to Kirika with an ease that belied the skill she had just shown. Distracted or not, Kirika had been keeping an eye on her and the Captain had used the Shunpo so flawlessly that not a strand of hair was out of place on her head, nor was her shihakushō wrinkled in the slightest. Not only that, it had been done with almost no sound and it had been done with Kirika watching her with one eye.
'She is a lot more dangerous than people think.' The masked Soul Reaper thought in slight alarm. Whatever Unohana Retsu was, a simple healer was certainly not it.
"Have no fear, I have no intentions of partaking in the fight or of healing anyone until it is resolved." The far older woman said softly. "Isane, on you go."
With a grim look on her face, Isane vanished in a Shunpo.
"I have to show that I am willing lest we make our foe suspicious, but as I am not one to become involved in a fight, Isane will be an acceptable substitute." Unohana said quietly. "You know what is behind the scenes here, don't you?"
"Yes. All will become clear before today's end." Kirika said with a sigh. "Many will be grievously injured, Goteijūsantai and my friends alike. If I do not survive…take care of them for me."
"You intend to protect them with your life." The Captain of the Fourth stated simply after eyeing Kirika for a moment. There was no judgement in her tone, she was simply stating a fact as if discussing the weather. "Even if it kills you."
"They're all just regular children, Unohana-taichō. Regular human children that I could not protect, getting them involved in matters of the world after death." Kirika was not happy with what Urahara's plan had forced her to accept as 'necessary measures' in order to defeat Aizen. Her friends, her brother…Rukia.
"Your sense of responsibility is well-honed, but I sense no hesitation in the Reiryoku of any of your allies." Unohana stated absently, her eyes slowly drifting across the battlefield as she spoke. "They are here because they choose to be here. Not because they were forced. Not because they felt it was something that they were required to do. They want to be here, they want to fight alongside you and Yoruichi-san. Regardless of what happens today, it is due to their free will that they are here. If nothing else, take pride in that. And yes, I will take care of them, but you must try to survive. I have a feeling that you will shed a lot more light on the subject than might be expected otherwise."
'You have no idea.' Kirika thought sadly.
With Rukia
Kuchiki Rukia really didn't know where to look. The blurs to one side were Yoruichi and Soi Fon, Chad was blasting away with his strange powers, keeping the rank-and-file Soul Reapers back, Ichigo was fighting against her brother, Ishida was firing arrows by the dozen at Kurotsuchi-taichō, and the enormous samurai was where Komamura-taichō and Zaraki-taichō were fighting.
'All of this fighting, all of this chaos…because of me…' she thought bitterly.
"Chin up, Kuchiki-chan." Sentarō smirked.
"Sentarō, how is it that you're so…so blasé about all of this?!" she asked in exasperation, flinching as Orihime used an orange triangular shield to block some stray shards of rock.
"Because this has been coming ever since Shiba-fukutaichō died." Kiyone said sombrely. The small girl looked down sympathetically at Rukia as she spoke. "Having one of the Four Great Noble Houses cast down like the Shiba were changed things in the Seireitei. You aren't the cause here, Rukia. Just the catalyst. The straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak."
"She's right." The large male glowered at his fellow Third Seat. "As much as it pains me to admit that little fact. You're just caught up in the middle of something that's been building up for centuries."
Then there was a blur of movement and Sentarō was sword-to-sword with Lieutenant Kira Izuru. Another blur of movement and Kiyone was doing the same with her sister, Isane.
"Kiyone, what are you doing?!" Isane cried in a mix of disbelief, anger and fear. "You'll be executed or tossed in the Maggot's Nest for this!"
"That's only if we lose, nee-san." Kiyone said firmly as she pushed back against her sister's blade. "Oi, Sentarō. Can you handle blondie there, or do you need me to hold your hand?"
"Screw you!" the other Third Seat scoffed. "I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much."
"A Third Seat standing up to a Lieutenant?" Kira scoffed.
Both Third Seats smirked and raised their Reiatsu until it matched their opponents' own exactly. The looks of shock on Isane and Kira's faces were priceless.
"The only reason one of us isn't the Lieutenant of Squad 13 is because neither of us have the administrative experience necessary." Kiyone informed them.
"That and we fight each other so much that Ukitake-taichō can't choose." Sentarō added. "Point is, we're strong enough for the position. So underestimate us at your peril!"
With that, the Third Seats of Squad 13 exerted their strength and threw back their respective opponents before hurling themselves after them.
Yumichika, ignored in the confrontation, pouted. "How unbeautiful. I was ignored."
Kira vs. Sentarō
Kira was not an arrogant person. He was not prideful. He viewed himself, first and foremost, as a pragmatist. That being said, he had a very ordered opinion of how the world should be. Up was up, down was down and you never won against someone in a higher position in the Goteijūsantai. That was the world that he believed in.
So then, the fact he was being matched in Zanjutsu by someone a rank beneath him was not only somewhat galling, it was also very much against how he saw the world. His efficient Zanjutsu style was being matched by the less efficient, but much faster, style that Sentarō was using.
'Well then. Let's see how he handles this.' Kira thought grimly. He raised one hand quickly and said, "Hadō #58, Tenran!"
The Kidō tornado erupted from his hand and shot towards the Third Seat.
"Bakudō #9, Hōrin!" Sentarō shouted. This made Kira blink. Why Hōrin?
The Binding Kidō erupted from the Third Seat's hand and latched onto the ground in front of him before the wind Hadō struck him, anchoring him to the ground and preventing him from being flung away.
"That was a rather inspired use of a Bakudō." Kira admitted. Credit where credit was due, after all, and that was a suitably creative use of a rather low-level Bakudō to defeat a much higher ranked Hadō technique.
"Thanks. My turn." Sentarō smirked. His zanpakutō glowed green and he pointed it at Kira, creating a disk of green light. "Gaki Rekkō! (Raging Light Fang!)"
A fusillade of light beams shot out in a random cage-like pattern that forced Kira to use the Shunpo to dance through them. One clipped him on the shoulder just as he was coming out of the Shunpo, and he was forced to use an Enkōsen to block another.
Panting, he narrowed his eyes at the Third Seat. He had underestimated his opponent. Badly.
"Very well then. If you wish to be taken seriously…allow me to oblige you." Kira said softly. "Now…Omote o Agero, Wabisuke! (Raise your head, Penitent One!)"
With a flick of his wrist, Wabisuke's Shikai took shape. The curved shape of a katana straightened out and two ninety-degree angles appeared, making the end of the zanpakutō look like a three-sided square.
"Huh. Interestin' shape your sword has there, Lieutenant." Sentarō noted as he raised his own blade. "Welp. Better show the same respect you're showing me."
With a grin, he raised his blade so that it was horizontal before him, the blade facing to the sky. Running one finger from just above the tsuba to the tip of the blade, he commanded, "Shibaridase, Senkōmaru! (Bind and draw out, Flash Circle!)"
Glowing yellow, Sentarō's sword blade dissolved. The hilt changed shape, turning into a Western-style basket-sword hilt. Then with a hiss-crack, a scimitar-like blade made of light appeared, glowing with Reiatsu.
"That is also an interesting zanpakutō." Kira observed. "Let us get to it. I have to save Momo."
"If you win." Sentarō said with a grin. Then he charged.
Kiyone vs. Isane
Isane, for all that she was a higher rank than her sister, was not a better fighter.
Oh, she had the slight edge in height and reach, with a little more experience to boot, but Isane was not a fighter by inclination. That was why she had joined Squad 4, so she could simply heal.
Now though, she had to fight. Not only that, she had to fight her own sister (blood or not, they had been sisters since the Rukongai and that was how it was done in the Soul Society). This did not leave her any happier.
Kiyone…in fact, most of the two-hundred members of Squad 13…adored Captain Ukitake. The loyalty that her sister had for the sickly, white haired man was greater than her loyalty to the Goteijūsantai. Before now, that hadn't been an issue because while Kiyone held Ukitake above the Goteijūsantai, Captain Ukitake himself was loyal to the Goteijūsantai.
Now though, he and Captain Kyōraku were in open revolt and fighting against Yamamoto-sōtaichō himself! While the Captains seemed to think something was going on behind the scenes, Isane was a little too distracted by her sister rebelling against the Seireitei to care.
"Put your sword down!" she shouted at her impish sister. "I don't want to hurt you, Kiyone!"
"As if you could." Kiyone scoffed.
"Hashire, Itegumo! (Run, Frozen Cloud!)" Isane said firmly. Not much changed about her weapon other than two small blades appearing out of Itegumo's blade at 45-degree angles on the bladed and dull sides of the weapon.
"Going at me all out to begin with? Man, you're seriously trying to beat me down, aren't ya sis?" Kiyone shook her head in amazement before her eyes hardened. "But you aren't the only one with a Shikai, in case you forgot! Mae ni susume, Tetsugumo! (Advance forwards, Iron Cloud!)"
As opposed to her sister's Shikai, Kiyone's weapon changed completely once she finished her Kaigo. The blade vanished and the hilt became like that of a Western hand-and-a-half sword, while bubbling out of the top of the hilt where the blade ordinarily did was a mass of smoggy dull black-grey clouds about 43 inches long and shaped like a standard katana blade.
This was the first time that Isane had seen her sister's Shikai. Their various duties, combined with the fact that Kiyone had not achieved Shikai until the first century of her time in the Goteijūsantai, meant that she hadn't had much of a chance to do much more than have lunch with her sister every so often, outside of the Soul Reaper Woman's Association meetings anyway.
"Let us see what you can do with your sword, sister!" Isane challenged as she charged forwards. Swinging her zanpakutō down, she was surprised when the blade of her sister's blocked it easily. Not only that, she couldn't see any ice forming. Itegumo's special ability was freezing anything that it cut into, so why wasn't it working?!
"You can't freeze a cloud, sis." Kiyone smirked. She then slammed a kick into Isane's midsection and then stabbed her blade at the ground. "Tetsugumo: Shiroi Kumo! (Iron Cloud: White Clouds!)"
Just before the blade struck the ground, it turned white. Then a massive bank of white clouds erupted from the ground and swamped the Lieutenant. She peered into the pea soup around her to no avail. The mass of clouds were thick, thicker than Bakudō #21, Sekienton, and they didn't look like they'd fade after a couple of minutes either. She tried to stab one, but her Itegumo bounced off the fluffy surface like it was a block of steel.
"Byakurai!" a bolt of pale lightning scored a small hit on Isane's left arm. The muffled sound of both the Hadō's name and the actual release of the technique made dodging it very difficult. Only the brief flash an instant before it pierced the clouds around her had allowed her to dodge it.
"Tenran!" the Squad 4 Lieutenant shouted, spinning her sword and grabbing it, unleashing a powerful blast of wind…that ruffled the clouds without moving them.
"My clouds are held in place by my Reiatsu, sis." Kiyone called, her voice echoing through the little area Isane was trapped in. "They move when I want them to move, not beforehand. Unless you have a Wind-type Zanpakutō, Tenran isn't gonna do jack all!"
Grinding her teeth together, Isane started to consider what to do. Inferring what she could from what she knew of Kiyone's zanpakutō so far, it was quite the powerful one. Kiyone could apparently freely control the density of her clouds, as well as the shape and location of them. It was also likely that she could sense the location of people within her clouds by using the Reiatsu inside of them to detect any foreign Reiatsu.
Time to see exactly how solid the clouds were.
"Hadō #78, Zangerin! (Way of Destruction Number Seventy-Eight, Cutting Flower Ring!)" Isane cried as she drew back her zanpakutō. Waves of condensed Reiatsu started to pour off of it and then Isane slashed down, unleashing a wave of energy at the clouds. This particular Hadō had, when executed correctly, enough force behind it to level a building, so it should break through Kiyone's clouds.
The Zangerin slammed into the clouds and ripped them apart, just as Isane had planned. What followed was not according to her plan.
"Tetsugumo: Kuroi Kumo! (Iron Cloud: Black Clouds!)"
A hail of black clouds the size of mandarin oranges entered the gap Isane had cut in the clouds, pelting her all over. One beaned her right in the middle of her forehead and Isane found herself sitting on her rear end, somewhat dazed.
"Surrender, sis." Kiyone called out as the clouds sealed themselves shut. "You lost the moment you were trapped in my Shiroi Kumo technique. If you don't surrender, I'll be forced to use a stronger one that will immobilise you."
Shaking her stupor off, Isane stood up again and prepared to use another Hadō to break through the clouds. She would not surrender to her little sister!
"Fine. You asked for it, Isane-nee-san." Kiyone sounded resigned. "Tetsugumo: Haiiro no Kumo! (Iron Cloud: Grey Clouds!)"
At once, the clouds around Isane turned from almost eye-blindingly white to a stormy, overcast grey. The rapid change in colour set Isane on edge for some reason. This was proven to be the correct response when the clouds started to silently close in on her.
"Sanzai suru, kemono no hone! Sentō, kōshō, kōtetsu no sharin. Ugokeba kaze, tomareba sora. Yariutsu neiro ga kōjō ni michiru! (Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!)" Isane chanted quickly. She did not want to be caught in whatever this technique of her sister's was! An orb of yellow light formed in her free hand, lightning sparking from it as she chanted.
"Hadō #63, Raikōhō! (Way of Destruction Number Sixty-Three, Thunder Roar Sear!)" The Lieutenant finished the incantation and fired the lightning Kidō at the encroaching clouds. It roared and hissed and struck the clouds like an angry serpent, for all the good it did. The clouds seemed to channel the lightning somehow, spreading it out across every single part of the cloud.
'It has to have a limit to how much it can take!' Isane thought as she poured more Reiryoku into the kidō, but it was to no avail. Whatever diffusion limit the clouds had, her using a Raikōhō on them was not working.
Then the clouds surrounded her on all sides, trapping her, pressing in on her, squeezing her body until it felt like she might burst. Then a hand appeared in front of her, emitting light.
"Tanma Otoshi. (Time-Out Drop.)" Was the last thing she heard before darkness overtook her.
After she left consciousness behind, Kiyone dismissed her Shikai and the clouds it had summoned, catching her tall sister's nerveless body before it hit the ground. She grunted at the weight. It wasn't that Isane was overweight; it was just that there was a lot more of Isane than there was of Kiyone!
"Jeez sis. You just had to make this more work than was needed." The Third Seat groaned as she respectfully slid the resealed version of Itegumo back in its sheath. All zanpakutō resealed themselves automatically when their Soul Reaper was rendered unconscious. A very fortunate fact, as Itegumo did not like anyone other than Isane touching her (Itegumo was female, Isane had mentioned it once over lunch shortly after she attained her Shikai) unless they were being slashed or stabbed by her.
"Wonder how Sentarō's doing?" Kiyone mused.
With Kira
Something was very wrong here.
This was the conclusion Kira had come to. His zanpakutō doubled the weight of anything he slashed with it. Then, if he slashed the same object again, the doubled weight was doubled again. He could essentially keep slashing an unlimited number of times, endlessly making something heavier, but he had never had to cut something (usually a weapon or limb) more than two-dozen times before they sagged to the ground, as if penitent before him.
Yet here…he had cut Third Seat Sentarō's zanpakutō over fifty times and he was still holding his weapon easily. Kira did not know what was going on here!
"Confused?" Sentarō asked with a laugh. "I know what your Wabisuke does. Ukitake-taichō's got a lot of respect for your sword's ability, called it perfect for detaining and capturing enemies without killing them. Thing is though, it's useless against my Senkōmaru. Want to know why?"
"That would be helpful." Kira said calmly, not letting a bit of his frustration show.
"Senkōmaru is a Light element Kidō/Melee type zanpakutō." the Third Seat explained. "As you can clearly see. Some egghead from Squad 12 explained that what Senkōmaru does is control photons, light particles. One thing that struck me is this: photons have no mass. With no mass, there is no weight. With no weight…"
"…Wabisuke is utterly useless against your blade." Kira concluded. No matter how many times you doubled zero, it would always remain zero. Senkōmaru was apparently the perfect counter to Wabisuke's ability.
"Yup. But all of that is just a little sideshow compared to what Senkōmaru's real ability is." Sentarō smirked. He slashed his light sword vertically and horizontally, leaving a cross of light hanging in mid-air.
"Kōji! (Light Cross!)" Sentarō said.
One moment, the cross of light was in front of Sentarō. The next, it was slamming into Kira like a thunderbolt.
"Yeah. I can sketch things in mid-air and they attack my enemies." The Third Seat smirked as Kira got up and glared at him. "Pretty useful, and while they don't move at the real speed of light, they're still pretty damn fast right? Now, let's get back into the swing of things, shall we? Kōsen! (Light Ray!)"
Rather than drawing something this time, numerous beams of light not dissimilar to Gaki Rekkō erupted from his blade, angling to englobe Kira.
Once again, the use of Shunpo was what saved him. He was still not as accomplished with the Hohō technique as he would like and resolved to improve his skill with it at some point in the near future.
Unfortunately, Sentarō was able to control the beams of light remotely with his sword, which was unsurprising, given that the beams were made of a part of his sword. Kira eventually had to slice them up with Wabisuke.
But that wasn't the end of it. The ability to make your attacks up as you go was ridiculously flexible and Kira soon found himself dodging a two dimensional bull, samurai and dog, all of which looked as if they had been drawn by a three year old.
"Eh, I need to work on my art." The Third Seat grumbled. "Still my Hikari no Zumen (Drawings of Light) technique is pretty damn good."
"Sentarō, stop playing with him and just beat the guy already." Kiyone appeared in a Shunpo, her sister tied up and hoisted over her shoulder.
"Ah shaddap." Sentarō grumbled. "You just had to fight your sister, who didn't want to fight you to begin with."
"Luck of the draw. Now just win already." The smaller Third Seat ordered.
"Pushy little tyrant." Sentarō grumbled before blurring into motion in a Shunpo. In a flash, a circle was drawn around Kira. "Kōen Tojikome! (Light Circle Confinement!)"
Faster than Kira could react, the circle contracted and snapped into place around his arms. As he was distracted with trying to break the binding, Kira missed Sentarō speeding in to hit the back of his head, knocking him out.
"That was a lame way to end it." Kiyone jeered.
"Oh shut it, you." Her counterpart grumbled. "Unlike your zanpakutō, Senkōmaru doesn't have a simple instakill technique…or at least, if there is one, he hasn't taught me it yet."
Senkōmaru flashed brightly at that and its wielder scowled at it.
"Yeah, yeah…laugh it up." Sentarō grumbled.
Same Time
Seijōtōkyorin, Central 46 Compound
"How…irksome."
The sole occupant of the chambers, one Aizen Sōsuke, was taking advantage of the surveillance equipment that some of the less ossified members of the Seireitei's governing body had ordered Squad 12 to install for security purposes. Should someone cause the walls to fall, they would have eyes on the targets and sentences handed down in less time than it took to drink a cup of tea.
Well, they now served a different purpose; that being, showing the murderer of the Central 46 just how annoyingly persistent the members of Kuchiki Rukia's rescue team were being.
Who knew, for example, that those two incompetent goofballs that lazed in the Third Seat position of Squad 13 were actually at least Mid-Lieutenant level? Or that Kenpachi could easily defeat Tōsen and hold off Komamura without a Bankai? Especially since both of them had used theirs?
Certain things, such as Soi Fon's grudge against her former mentor, had been taken into account, but he had never suspected that Shihōin Yoruichi would once again take up her blade. It completely fell outside of his expectations and estimations for her to do that.
Then…oh yes…and then there was his personal headache, one Kokken Asa. She had defeated, not only an entire complement of elite Keigun operatives, but Lieutenant Hisagi Shūhei and, might he add, she had done it both physically and philosophically. She had defeated him in a fight and she had proven that Tōsen Kaname's philosophy was at least partially wrong, if the expression on his face before being defeated had been anything to go by.
'Kokken Asa…when I have the chance, I will make you regret interfering in the affairs of your betters.' Aizen thought calmly. Her interference had thrown his predictions and plans so far off course that it was only due to the ossified nature of the Goteijūsantai that they were still even remotely on track.
The three biggest problems caused by the masked girl were that she had started spreading doubt about his 'murder' by way of using logic, she had stopped Hinamori Momo from going berserk and distracting various Captains and Lieutenants, and she had broken Kuchiki Rukia out of the Senzaikyū.
He'd planned on using some of Kyōka Suigetsu's more subtle hypnotic powers to keep the tempers and emotions of the various fools amidst the Seireitei in a suitable state of chaotic frenzy searching for little Ichigo and his friends and leaving his death as simply another tragedy needing to be avenged. A tweak of pride here, a nudge to anger there, sprinkled with the occasional spot of grief, dozens of little emotions all implanted to activate when certain conditions were met and keep anyone from being able to thinking too much about the inconsistencies he hadn't been able to iron out of his plan.
He was willing to admit he'd been a bit lazy when he'd set the stage for his disappearance, a bit too reliant on his Zanpakutō's power to keep things going as planned. He'd have to be careful of that in the future.
Sadly, outside influence could, and had, overridden the hypnosis and made the hidebound fools actually start consulting the law books. Only the Sōtaichō could have possibly remembered the Statute of Punishment Limitation that had been passed by the Central 46 at his subtle 'urging.' That he didn't bring it up was something of a mystery, but Aizen had long since stopped trying to get into Yamamoto's head; he was fairly sure the old fool's mind had ossified centuries ago and his body was simply repeating the motions that it had been going through for eons before.
Hinamori not going berserk and distracting her brother figure and former classmates was slightly annoying, especially after all the work and bother he'd gone through in order to shape her into someone who had a hard time living without him. He'd had Ichimaru sneak into the Squad 5 barracks and destroy the letter he had left for her, as it was pointless at this juncture. Still, that particular part of his plan had been more for the entertainment value than anything else
That and it had tickled his sadistic fancy at the time. Now it would be nothing more than a hindrance and another item to raise suspicions if it had been discovered.
Breaking the slip of a girl out of the Senzaikyū…now, that was something he was more than slightly upset about. Out of every single piece on the board, Kuchiki Rukia currently occupied one of the most valuable positions due to her containing the Hōgyoku. The one possibility in all his plans that still managed to terrify him (or at least as close to terrified as he could become these days) was if someone on the other side killed her before he could extract the precious item. If that happened, the Hōgyoku would be hurled into the wheel of reincarnation, being reborn within the Soul of a human or New Soul days, weeks, months or even centuries in the future.
The best thing to do was to keep her locked up somewhere she could not break out of and was nigh impossible to reach to an invader. The Senzaikyū was the best location and as she had been sentenced (by him) to death by Sōkyoku, it was where she had been placed after the arrival of Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends.
Now that she was out and about though, she was a walking target again. Tōsen and Ichimaru knew not to kill her, but hotheads like Zaraki, Kuchiki Byakuya and Soi Fon were the ones who worried him the most.
He let out a sigh of frustration. Why couldn't his chess pieces just play the game as he had planned it rather than mucking things up? Things would be so much simpler then.
Just about the only part of the plan that hadn't gone awry was Kurosaki Ichigo gaining the strength of a Captain. Oh yes, he had a Bankai now. He had yet to use it, granted, but the confident set to his stance and the amount of Reiryoku he now possessed told Aizen everything that he needed to know.
"Well then…I suppose waiting a bit longer couldn't hurt." The puppet master mused as he sipped a cup of coffee. Despite being blind, Tōsen really was rather skilled at making coffee. One of the benefits to recruiting him rather than killing him immediately, he supposed.
Yes…just a short while longer…
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Next Chapter: Broken Masks, Part 4
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