She had jumped into the Senkaimon ahead of him. She was just in too much of a hurry today. At first she wouldn't stop talking to her captain who had all the captivity of a cat with string when he being told about everything she had seen while she was away even though it was only a brief period of time. She had even drawn pictures for him which he intended to frame all over Squad 13.
Now watching that he thought they would never get to the other world with her holding him up, but the second the Senkaimon opened she jumped onto his head and propelled herself off and ahead of him.
Classic Rukia.
There was no sign of her when he jumped through to follow her. But what was even more unnerving was that there was no sign of her when he arrived down there either.
Renji landed in a small clearing inside a dense green forest, though it was far from gracious. His body collided with every tree branch that he came into contact with and he landed head first into the dirt, implanting himself into the ground and getting to know this world much more intimately than he had with Gohan's.
Picking up his head he shook the dirt out of his head and ears and picked out a few spare twigs and leaves from his hair. Wiping his face off, his head darted from side to side to find his oldest friend and companion, Rukia. He noticed that he pretty much destroyed everything on his way down before he collided with the ground. But he saw no sign of her.
"Rukia!" Renji called. He received no answer. "Rukia!" he called even louder and the silence that followed made him thought he had gone deaf. "Great." he grunted to himself and kicked the dirt "Damn it, why'd you have to jump ahead of me?!" he cursed.
What would his Captain think of this? Well thankfully, he wasn't here now, and he wouldn't have to find out about it, not if Renji found her that is. And maybe that was for the better. He hadn't heard of anything from Captain Hitsugaya or Zaraki, but Captain Kurotsuchi had more than enough to say when they were passing through, but none of it was important enough for Renji to hear. But if they all had run into trouble, it only gave him more incentive to find her.
The Senkaimon had closed behind him which meant he had no choice, but to go forward. Renji began his trek through the forest, his feet leaving footprints in the ground he went along his way. With his hand on his hilt, he was ready for anything that came at him.
Ahead of Renji, deeper in the forest Neji took charge of the larger half of the group and cut a path through the trees with everyone else following in tow. With his eyes it would have been easy to track Kakashi's trail, but that wasn't what he was after now. In truth he couldn't tell what it was exactly. But he could sense something, though he wasn't sure what it was just yet. His eyes scanned around and ahead and when he finally saw even the faintest trace of something he let it be known.
"I've found it!" he announced. He then jumped down to the ground, stopping all progress forward as the other ninjas landed behind him and he looked ahead.
"What is it?" Tenten asked "Neji?" she crept closer to his side.
Neji looked ahead with intensity and raised an eyebrow "I see.. I'm not sure"
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked concerned.
Neji opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out of his mouth. Instead, he stayed put and studied with eyes only what he could see.
'It's not chakra... but it's something that's similar.' he thought. He opened his mouth again, only this time he had something to say.
"Considering the amount of time we've been here and how fresh these tracks are whoever this is, seems to have covered a lot of ground" Neji said looking everything over "These tracks seem to just come out of nowhere." he stated. That got everyone in the group exchanging the same looks.
'They're just like the ones Kakashi-sensei fought against' Naruto concluded. Which meant they were one step closer to finding this out.
The sudden appearance of these tracks seemed incriminating enough, but fact that this set of tracks had in fact just only arrived here, having come from a door to another world would never have crossed their minds.
"The tracks come from there." he said turning his head to the right "Whatever it was that fell is that way. As for the one leaving this trail, they went that way" he said turning his head left. In the direction of Guy's group. Specifically Sakura, who had become separated from them.
"Well this is it!" Ino said aloud. Had Shikamaru been here, he'd say it was a drag "I'd say we find the one leaving these tracks before we investigate what brought him here. They might be more of a danger wandering around." It was easy for every one else to agree to that.
"Can you find him?" Naruto asked Neji. He was eager to find and put a stop to this himself.
"If I can keep track of the path, then yes" he then turned to everyone behind him "Alright, get ready were heading out." With that said they all bounded into the air and jumped through the trees.
As they leapt and bounded through the trees, everyone kept their eyes ahead of them to follow the group and keep track of the trail they were going on as well as the one that was being left by whatever they were following. Tenten then looked to her right and noticed the tips of the trees and noticed that as opposed to the others they were broken. She then stopped to get a better look, and noticed that there was a large gap between them.
"Hey! Everybody lo-"she called out to them, but realized that they weren't there. She called out again, but realized they were now too far away to hear her, continuing to follow the trail they found. Frantic now she stood on the tree branch unsure of which way to go, ultimately and she couldn't describe why, but she decided to go right to the gap in the trees. She landed on the ground and was both confused and shocked by what she saw.
On the ground there was a large hole; one that stretched a decent length below the surface, and above her the branches of the trees were completely devastated. This stretched all the way up from the tallest shattered branch to the ground which had a large hole made into it. Tenten followed the trail with her eyes. She looked to her right where it started and followed it left upwards towards the sky, she took steps to see what and where it ended but then a loud snap was heard and it caught her attention. She turned her attention straight and looked into the forest.
"Hello?!" she called out "Guys is that you?" No response "Neji?! Naruto?!" she still received no response. She took a few steps back and started to breathe deeply. Perhaps whatever had done this had done been too far off after all. As she took steps back she tripped over a small twig and fell to the ground. She quickly picked herself up and looked ahead of her as something emerged from the woods…..a small squirrel. She let out a sigh of relief "You're not gonna hurt me are you little guy?" she asked as the squirrel paid her no mind. Letting out a deep sigh,f she picked herself up and looked forward. "Well, I guess there's nothing to do now than regroup with my squad." she then let out a nervous chuckle "I just hope nothing bad happens in between that." she said as she jumped onto a tree branch and threw the woods.
Tenten bounded through the air from branch to branch trying to maintain the same speed. She didn't really know where she was going or how exactly she would find her group. She wasn't a sensory type after all. She was hoping more that they would find her rather than whatever they were looking for found them first. She then decided to get a better vantage point and now headed up the tree instead of through it. Getting to the highest one she could find and sticking her head through the leaves she found that she had put considerably distance between her and the ravaged trees, but it did take a lot out of her.
With no sign or signal from her group, she decided to stop and rest, even though she imagined they wouldn't even if they had noticed she was gone. She went a little ways more until she found a small hill at the base of a much larger one. She sat on the ground and looked ahead of her to see trees, and what would make a pretty good vantage point for the surrounding forest, if anyone needed it that is.
Tenten took the time to rest while still trying to stay observant. She heard another snap of a twig, and she jolted her attention left. She heard more noises; the sound of feet against the dirt and heading her way. She tried to pick herself up and be ready, but right as she tried to move the figure darted from the bushes. She jumped back into some nearby ones and waited.
She sat back in the bushes as the footsteps became louder and closer to them while she cowered in the bushes. Then she saw something coming over the hill. It looked like a red pineapple. Curious she starred wide eyed as it came up the hill. The red was soon followed by a man's face and then the black garbs, but it still looked like a human being covered in black which wasn't what she was expecting to see. A black bandana was wrapped around his forehead and she could see the traces of more black lines of tattoos on his face, neck and chest. He took deep heavy steps as it walked, but it wasn't slow about taking them. In his hands was a long sheath.
The man made it to the top of the hill and just stood there, possibly looking right at her, but she couldn't tell. It then silently took a step to the left and walked off, but then did a double take and returned to staring right at them, only this time he spoke.
"Come out!" the Renji barked. He did not receive a response, but whatever was in the bushes was cowering there "Come out, I will not ask again!" he repeated and still he went unanswered and he wasn't going to take any chances. He then walked forward towards the bushes. As he did, he took his right hand off of Zabimaru and reached into the bushes. Suddenly something jumped out of the bushes at him and was pressed up against him.
Tenten jumped out of the bushes right as this man reached in for her and was now pressed against him with her cheek against his chest. She then turned and looked up to notice that he was not only much taller than her, but that he was staring down at her and she frantically backed up.
"Ah I'm sorry… I just.. I mean I" she rambled as he put the sword back on his belt. Tenten eyed it both nervously and enviously.
"I was sure somebody else down here, since I felt you through your reishi, though it felt off a little bit. No matter, here you are" he said sounding surprisingly genuine with his voice. Tenten was confused by what he said, but decided not to respond, mostly out of fear of saying something wrong. "SO based off that I knew you weren't who I was looking for. But it doesn't explain why you were in there." he paused waiting to see if she would speak, when she didn't he kept talking on "I'm looking for someone." he continued "A little shorter than you" he explained bringing his hand down to line up with the base of her neck "A little thinner too." he said pinching his fingers tighter in front of her. Tenten went a little red when he said that "Dressed like me." he continued on, not noticing and his sword rattled as his arm swayed above it. Tenten cowered quietly before him.
"So," he began again "have you seen her or what?" he asked crossing his arms. Tenten frantically looked around unable to form a response. "I don't know if there's a town or anything near by, but-"
The next thing she did was out of impulse. She reached her fist out and hit him in the chest and then darted left and ran off down the hill. "Dah-what was-Wait! Don't go!" she heard him call behind her. Tenten raced down the hill and through the trees until she was out of breath. Panting she found refuge under a tree by a waterfall. She then took the time to look over her situation. It wasn't until she calmed down that she realized that her hand was damaged from connecting with his chest. Now she had never been the best at anything except weaponry, but she did have limited use in healing. Hopefully it would be enough right now. She then using her chakra she started to heal it with her other hand, until a foot stomping caught her attention. She frantically turned her head to see the man looking over at her with one hand on the tree.
"Why did you run off?" he asked taking a step forward. Tenten started to crawl away while still facing him but he still advanced "No!" he shouted reaching out his hand. Suddenly Tenten reached back and felt nothing under her. She then fell back and over the side of the cliff and down to the water below.
The fall was long and she felt her back smack against the water as she hit it and she was submerged falling deeper and deeper into the water with the pressure keeping her down. She looked above to see the surface of the water far above her and the sun shining through it, but a shadow suddenly formed over it. Then suddenly the water broke and she saw that man dive down into the water and towards her. He waved his arms through the water and kept getting closer to her. Then he reached down, grabbed her by her arm and pulled her to him. While still holding her against him he used his free arm to bring them up to the surface. They erupted from the water and headed for the shore. He carried Tenten across his arms and set her on the ground, a spot where there was still water only much more like a puddle. She let out a cough and was dripping wet as she tried to move the hair from her eyes while her sleeves covered her hands. She moved her hair and noticed him standing her over her. She let out a shriek and tried to crawl back again.
"I wouldn't try that again." he told her as she turned her head to see the water behind her. Tenten then remained in place as he walked towards her "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. Here" he extended his hand "Let me help you out of there." Tenten then took it and he helped her up out of the water and they looked at each other. "You're.. not from around here are you?" he asked curiously.
"Yes? Why wouldn't I? Well I wandered to some other lands for a while but…." She noticed that he had nothing to say to that or at least she assumed that from the silence behind his solemn face. "I'm Tenten" she said introducing herself.
He was silent for a moment, but did respond "Lieutenant of Squad 6."
"That sounds more like a title."
"It's what I usually go by." he said glumly.
"It still doesn't substitute a name."
"…..Renji."
"Renji.." her eyes went down to the sword" ..What are you doing here. Who sent you?" she asked her own questions now.
"The Soul Society." he answered.
"Soul Society? Squad Six? Is that your village?"
He paused. A hint of confusion came across his face "Sort of." What did he get himself into? He went quiet after that and Tenten's eyes went down to his waist again, where the sword dangled.
"That's a nice sword." she complimented, but sounded worried.
"uh.. thanks." he let out, it seemed it wasn't sure of what to say. Truly someone like this wasn't who she expected to meet out here. Renji didn't know how to respond to that. He moved his gaze somewhere else. "Your hurt." he said looking at her hand.
"Oh! It's nothing I'll take care of it-Hey!" she said as he took her hand.
"I'm not the best at this-in fact I'm not really good at all, but this might have to do" He was about to begin applying his own 'medicine to it' and tried to heal her while they sat down, but he retracted his hand.
"Well that was um.." she trailed off as he stood up and looked around. "nothing happened."
"Yeah, I know" het let out a defeated sigh "..are you alone out here?" he asked.
"No, I uh.. came with a squad" she confessed, it's not like he didn't know already. She knew he came with at least one other person as well.
"Find them, then get out, it's probably dangerous here" he told her as he stood himself back up.
"This is our home we know how to protect it." she refuted him. It was possible that he was one of the ones they had to defend it from.
"Not from what's here now." he answered "It's the whole reason I'm here, after all."
"Well then.. what are you doing here?" she asked. He was silent for a few moments.
"I was just gonna ask for directions." he admitted cluelessly. "Or if you'd seen- Suddenly Renji darted his head behind him
"What is it?" she asked alerted. Maybe it was this threat he just spoke of.
"Someone's here" he said. He quickly stood up, and grabbed his sword and Tenten did the same. They looked around. Suddenly someone appeared before them startling Renji and surprising Tenten, but she was relieved to see him even if she couldn't see his face. "It feels like your reishi" Renji said "Different that what I'm used to sensing in a human"
"Tenten!" a voice cried out. It was new to Renji, but when Tenten looked over she saw Neji appear from the trees. He was crouching at first, but soon raised himself upwards to view his teammate standing alongside a dark clad swordsman. And he was alone.
"Neji!" Tenten exclaimed and went to him
"You're hurt" he stated.
"nono" Tenten insisted holding her hand "I'm fine. And thankfully you're here" she said relieved. It seems her disappearance didn't go unnoticed after all. And Neji was easily the first to find her.
"I am." he answered though his voice lacked concern and showed only suspicion. And it showed more in his eyes when he looked over her "And someone else is as well." he said to her, but he wasn't facing her. Instead he was looking past her and glaring at Renji was starring at them with indifference.
"Where is everyone else? Are they alright"
"I had them stay behind for now." Neji told, but kept his eyes ahead to Renji.
"Guess that solved itself." he said about to turn his back to them.
"Wait!" a voice called and Renji turned back to see the young pupiless man walk past Tenten and approach him. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Neji asked.
Renji turned to face him "Just passing through." Renji replied.
"Passing through?" Neji repeated. Renji nodded. "This is the Land of Fire. Home to the Village hidden in the leaves. And you cannot just pass through here. What is your purpose here?" he told then asked again.
Renji grumbled "One of my comrade has gone missing. Not unlike yours." he nodded to Tenten "And I'm intent to find her." It was for Rukia he spoke, but he did not forget about his duty to Ichigo or Gohan.
"Is that so?" Neji asked his eyes peering forward to Renji "As it just so happens of our jonin was attacked within our own lands. Not far from this very location." Neji declared. Renji looked on confused and with a blank face and the wheels turning in his head came to a simple conclusion.
"uhh she's right there" he pointed again to Tenten, though Neji was far from amused.
"Not her." he snapped.
"Well you better go looking for him, because that's what I'm here to do" he pointed to himself.
"I cannot allow you to pass through here with impunity. As of now you'll have to come with me for questioning."
"I've already answered your questions" Renji snapped I've no time for this." Renji replied "One of my comrades has gone missing as well. As well as have others I was meant to trail." he repeated.
"Strang coincidence that we should meet here then." Neji said suspiciously.
Renji didn't like the tone that was being taken with him here. Who was he to question him? Though he was here unannounced. it wasn't by his choice anyway. It reminded him far too much of the oppressiveness and belittling of his own captain. And perhaps that's ultimately what made him rise more to meet him.
But if one of Tenten's allies had a fight here. Perhaps Rukia had run into trouble. Not to mention Ichigo or Gohan.
"Strange indeed." he replied, but inched closer to his sword.
"So your mission is to find your lost comrades, who have gotten lost within our lands."
"That's my end of it." Renji answered the edge of his mouth forming into a snarl.
"Well isn't this compromising." a new thin voice suddenly carried itself over the wind to them. Everyone looked around to see where they voice came from. Eventually, they all looked up to see it had come from above.
They all looked up to see another figure standing above them, handing upside down from the tree. He was dressed in a dark gray cloak that concealed most of his body. But he looked down and spoke with an eerie interest in what was going on.
"Shino!" Tenten exclaimed.
"You." Neji scolded him, though it didn't seem to register with him. Or at least they couldn't tell if it did. "What are you doing here? I thought you were to stay with Guy sensei and Sakura" he was now interrogating Shino as he did Renji. Shino then casually fell from the tree to stand amongst them.
"I was." Shino answered in a low voice once he raised himself back up "But my group thinned out it seemed. Not unlike yours."
"What?" he questioned.
"Sakura went missing. Guy sensei doubled back to find her and ordered me to link up with you. It seems that you're lost yourself." he said to which Tenten only nodded embarrassingly.
"That's terrible! We have to do something." Tenten said.
"I intended to do just as he ordered. Of course" Shino paused and turned his head towards Renji. A flash in his glasses seemingly giving away some dark intent as far as Renji saw them. An uncomfortable feeling crawled up Renji's back when he thought he layed eyes on him "when I saw this one I had no choice, but to pursue. Seems that was the right option." he said turning back to them "and that you thought the same."
"Shino" Neji said "This is-"
"I know who it is." he cut him off "I've been trailing him for some time."
"Hm?" Renji let out. When suddenly a small dark dot from his robe hopped off and landed on the ground below "Huh?" he grunted. Looking down he saw that a bug suddenly jumped off of him, and was crawling across to this newcomer Shino. Finding that to be the source of the the very true crawling feeling he had. He surmised that if Neji reminded him of his own captain, this new one was more akin to Captain Kurotsuchi. Uneasiness was taking over him soon as more and more of showed up and threw accusations at him.
'Who is this now?' he thought to himself.
"Well, it seems you've found another one of your friends. Am I free to go yet?" he asked to Neji, but it was Shino who answered for him.
"Not in the slightest."
"Seems you got more than your hands full without getting me involved." he called back
"But we weren't done with you" he paused briefly "After all, we just agreed we had a shared purpose here. Both of our comrades have gone missing. And that warrants an investigation. One that starts with you."
"Sorry, there's nothing I can do to help you. I can't sit around here any longer. And I won't be detained." he said aggressively. They didn't seem to have a retort to that instantly.
The three ninja's starred down the heavily armed soul reaper from across the clearing. Shino just starred them down with his arms by his sides watching not only the two in front of him by the others whose whereabouts he didn't know of.
"That's a lot of talk." Shino said "Does that mean you won't come quietly?" Renji made no response ,but he reached back for his sword. He then noticed Shino kept his hands in his pockets and Renji returned his arm to his side as he continued to walk up to him.
"Shino" Tenten spoke up "I don't think-"
"Seems you know how to use a sword" he said cutting her off "Let's see what it can hold up against"
"It doesn't have to be this way." Renji said.
Shino stopped "Will you come with me then?"
"No" he said answered sternly.
"Then it has to." he then sprinted towards Renji he readied himself for battle.
"Shino!" Tenten shrieked after him with an outstretched hand, but he was too far gone, already in front of Renji.
Shino swung at him, but Renji moved back, then another swipe which he barely dodged too. Then he swung his fist forward but Renji jumped back and dodged it. He was fast Renji could admit, but not fast enough. Slashing his sword at him Shino jumped back dodging the blade. Now there was quite a noticeable distance between them as he landed back in front of Neji and Tenten.
Shino turned back to them "Go." he said though his command only shocked them.
"Shino are you-" Neji asked.
"Certainly." he said agreeably from beneath his shroud "After all, I was the first one who laid eyes on him. It's only fitting I be the one to take him down." he said as he settled back on Renji.
Neji and Tenten did the same and eventually they relented. "I'll go and rendezvous with the others. And once we find Sakura and Guy we'll be back." Neji said.
"Shino.." Tenten called, but he intensely continued to stare down at Renji. She looked over to him, and he seemed just as ready for a confrontation as him.
"Take your time by all means." Shino said almost maliciously. Once they were gone he turned back to Renji who seemed just as eager to be in his company.
"I hope you have something else planned." Shino said "Because you'll need more than that just to beat me alone."
Renji smirked menacingly "That's my line!" he declared holding his sword out before him and ran his hand across the blade. "Roar Zabimaru!" he shouted out as his shikai was activated. Shino stood in place, carefully observing what had just happened before him. Strange as it may sound the sword had changed shape. It was longer now and wider from the hilt to the tip with what seemed like teeth producing off in six different places. Then Renji swung it at him and the sword extended out quickly covering the length between the two of them. Shino stood in place and was ready to counter this assault.
Renji snapped his wrist and twisted the sword in Shino's direction, but he jumped out of the way. Renji then pulled it towards him and the sword came at Shino from behind. Noticing it at the last second, he jumped up and over the attack before kicking it away. Renji then pulled it over in a move that would take Shino's head off. The sword slashed at Shino right across his head and Renji saw it separate from his body.
"I said it didn't have to be like this." he said aloud to the life he had just taken.
Then Shino's body and head disappeared into two black clouds- they were bugs!
"What the he-" Renji let out, but suddenly Shino appeared in front of him.
Renji made a move to protect himself, but Shino unleashed a powerful punch right into his cheek knocking him back into a tree. Then Shino threw more knives at him, but Renji slashed his sword knocking them aside and hurled it towards him, causing Shino to jump backing away from him. Renji looked at him curiously once he landed. He knew now that whatever that was before wasn't him, but how'd he pull that off?
"That trick of yours before?" he called out "What was that?"
Shino regarded him curiously as legions of bugs started to swarm around his arms.
"My jutsu." he stated simply, but his voice was oily and unnerving even more than before "When I fight people I always use my full strength. You're clearly a long range fighter, so a close range fight doesn't seem to be your specialty. So I used a substation to get close. It worked out just as I intended." he explained.
"I'll say." Renji said cracking his jaw.
"I hope you have more than just that extension." Shino said "Because even if you beat me, it won't be enough to stop every one else once they get here." that realization startled Renji. He certainly hadn't thought of that. Maybe his shikai alone wouldn't be enough... luckily he had a good back up. "Perhaps you should just give up now."
"You're using your full power?" he asked without waiting for an answer "Let me show you mine." he grinned. If Shino was anticipating anything, Renji surely couldn't tell. "Bankai!" he roared. Shino stumbled to a halt as Renji suddenly became engulfed in smoke. He studied it closely. He wasn't about to rush into something when he didn't know what was inside. He was anticipating some kind of flanking movement, but as the smoke began to thin he saw what appeared to be, Renji still standing there. Only there was more now.
Slowly the smoke began to disappear and Shino got a better look at what it concealed. Whatever it was, it was larger than before. A winding, twisted figure encircling all around Renji.
There he stood in the middle of it all, with some kind of fur coat around his shoulders with skulls adorned on each one, but that was hardly the most eye popping of it all. Starting from the hilt of his sword and extending all around him in what seemed to be the skeleton of a snake. If the handle was the tail then the head was massive, larger than Renji and Shino combined.
"What disgusting creature is that?"
"Disgusting?" Renji spat "Coming from the guy who attacks with cockroaches? Tsh" he spat "The ultimate release of a zanpaktou. One that takes years of training and practice to attain let alone master. And I am the only lieutenant who has one." Renji answered.
"Is that so?" Shino asked, his interest peaked a bit.
"This is my full power." Renji nodded "Are you ready for it?" He thought Sino smiled under his coat. Whether he did or now, what he said surely made Renji smile.
"That's my line." he said as he raised his arms and a black cloud began to grow as his swarm took form around him.
Renji raised his arm and in doing so Zabimaru's massive head raised itself high above Renji and seemed to be looking down at Shino, but he didn't feel intimidated by it at all. It opened it's mouth wide in Shino's direction and he thought he could see something red building up inside it.
Shino moved away as Zabimaru unleashed a horrifying blast from it's mouth right at him. Missing him, it traveled through the forest eradicating the trees and anything else it came to contact with. Looking back over his shoulder Renji looked past him as they both starred on at the destruction it left behind.
And entire column of trees had been destroyed and the ground was unearthed to make a deep, wide trench. It was starting to look almost like the battle Kakashi had had left behind.
'Impressive. This truly is the threat we've been told of.' Shino thought to himself before turning to Renji "Your physical strength and output is greater than mine, I'll acknowledge that."
"Well thanks for your approval" Renji grinned smugly "Do we have to continue on with this pointless fight?"
"If you don't want to that's fine. It's already over."
"You seem so sure of yourself." Renji gripped his blade tighter.
"I'm sure of you as well." he answered.
Renji swung his arm causing Zabimaru swayed and charged again at Shino. Swerving over the ground it came directly at him with it's mouth wide open. Shino stood his ground and prepared to strike. The second the Bankai came close to him he struck it in the head, managing to knock it away to his left. It rebounded quickly, but he jumped away again.
'This thing is far too big for me to loose track of' Shino thought to himself 'but I have to get to him if I'm going to end it.' he looked over to Renji.
Controlling it from behind Renji maneuvered so that Zabimaru encircled the ninja. Swooping behind him with it's mouth wide open it was about to bite down onto Shino.
He put his arms up and grabbed it by the teeth as Zabimaru dived in and picked him up. It continued barreling through the trees and ground as Shino used all the strength in his arms and legs from preventing those jaws from closing in on him. Swerving up into the air with Shino in it's jaws both of them knew what as coming next. Red light began to shine on Shino from its throat. Another red blast built up in Zabimaru's mouth with Shino looking down at it point blank. Then with Shino in it's jaws unleashed the blast.
Renji looked down from the ground below quizzically. If he had fooled him once before, he may do so again. His suspicion proved right as Shino, did not fall down from the sky, but dived from out of the tree's at him. But Renji was quicker to react this time. Zabimaru raced back towards them and Shino stopped his assault to dive back behind a tree as Zabimaru came and barreled through it unharmed.
Diving out of the way Shino threw three knives towards Renji. Zabimaru's body rose up and defended him and Renji was confident this battle was indeed already over if that was the best he had.
But then something else garnered his attention.
"What's that sizzling sound?" he said aloud. He looked over to the three knives to see paper attached to each of them; it was dissolving before his very eyes. "What the, he-" the paper exploded in balls of fire engulfing him and Zabimaru with it.
As the smoke spread across ground and in between the trees, Shino stood calmly amongst it all waiting to see what awaited him this time when it clears.
He got his answer just as he did before, only he liked the results of this one more. Renji stood with tattered clothes and Zabimaru in pieces all around the area.
"So" Shino said "that's it then?"
Renji grinned "Not by a long shot". Looking around Shino saw the scattered remains of Zabimaru start to shake. Their ends began to glow red and they rose up from the ground and flew back towards Renji. Then before his eyes, piece by piece began to restore itself until it was as if nothing happened from head to tail. "We're not done, yet" Renji roared.
"Hmm" Shino paused "Interesting." he said introspectively.
Renji then swung his arm forward at Shino, who readied himself for another attack as Zabimaru charged him. The gaping jaws of Zabimaru glowed red and Shino put his hands up in response. "Wall of Insects Jutsu!" he shouted and a surge of insects shot out of his sleeves and collar to shroud his vision and encircle him in a protective dome. The last thing he saw before they closed him off was the bright glow of Zabimaru's blast before it was dimmed by his bugs.
Then a violent collision caused his shield to shatter almost instantly as a red blast hit him dead on. Jumping to the side Shino hardly managed to dodge the blast which obliterated his dome and the entire line of trees and earth behind him.
"Damn you." Shino said as he went to his knees and glared at Renji from under his hood "You'll pay for that." he threatened, but he had little time for threats as Zabimaru came at him head of the snake knocked him hard into a tree. Grunting Shino picked himself up and began running into the forest. Running between the trees Zabimaru followed right behind him, colliding and destroying everything in it's path.
'There's got to be a limit to it.' Shino thought as he began to turn around and head back for Renji. Pivoting off a tree branch he darted back towards Renji. Zabimaru turned clumsily rounding into more tree's to slow it's turn. Then it sped up and followed him barreling through everything to reach him as if it was invincible. But it couldn't be.
Hopping from tree to tree Shino could see Renji up ahead, but could hear Zabimaru closing in behind him. Jumping off he missed as it bit down on a tree branch fracturing it into pieces.
Jumping down to level ground with Renji, Shino charged at him, but he seemed to have seen than coming. Zabimaru came crashing from the forest and cut in front of Shino putting itself between him and Renji, but didn't stop there. He began encircling Shino, faster and faster closing the gap between them. Then it snapped it's body together with Shino crunched in-between it. Like a snake holding onto it's prey, Shino was trapped in its coils.
Struggling to no avail Shino grunted in the zapaktou's grip. Maybe he was wrong... but he was right about one thing, this fight was over.
Feeling the pressure around him, Shino felt Zabimaru suddenly become stiff and immobile as if it had suddenly frozen in place.
Underneath his coat he smirked. Renji however, was much more alarmed.
"What the?-" Renji let out as he twisted his arm causing the hilt in his hand to do so as well, but instead of traveling up to the rest of his bankai, it did no such thing and instead went limp no farther than his hand. Trapped in the center of his Bankai, he heard Shino let out a sigh. "What did you-"
"It's simple really." he answered confidently despite his position. "It's quite a shame really, that I'd fought one of your ilk before." Renji remained puzzled "He was a puppeteer just like you. You even have the similar tattoos" Shino explained, but Renji's confusion only deepened. "His weakness was the same. All I did was amend a few details, like using my bugs to wrap your sword into place. Though it's energy like that of yours is strange to them." he explained, as suddenly black clots and clouds could be seen in the breaks in Zabimaru; it's hold greater than Renji's control and limiting his movements ". I had to call in even more given the size as well. But that's not all" Shino continued "I-"
Then a blood curling shriek came from Renji's direction. Turning his head as best he could Shino saw Renji squirming where he stood as a swarm overtook his body. His entire right arm and leg were covered and they were joining together at the torso before moving on to the rest of the body.
"Wh-ehaH" Renji shrieked horrified as his body began to be taken over. He swatted at them, but no matter how many fell off more and more seemed to come.
"I guess it's no bother to explain the rest." Shino said casually. "Since your about to find out for yourself" Renji looked over to him; trapped by Zabimaru just as he was trapped by Shino's bugs.
"Ho-eh-w" he coughed as the swarm overtook him.
"That first punch I threw." Shino said as Zabimaru loosened his grip on him allowing him to peacefully drop to the ground, plopping on his legs and putting his hands into his pockets. "I did more than hit you. I planted a female on you headband" he explained as Renji swatted away at another swarm attacking his once free left leg. "Once she was comfortable up there, I just had to wait until the rest showed up. I took a gamble though.." he paused dramatically as Renji continued to be swarmed "Neji said you didn't use chakra.. but I assumed you had a substitute that would work just as well.. they say you taste funny" The bugs traveled up Renji's leg with only his left arm and head still free. "I told you." he said as they overtook his arm "This fight's over." his head disappeared under the cloud of black. "About time you got that through your thick skull" he said as he felt hard to the ground as his bugs overtook him. Mimicking him Zabimaru's large skull landed as well.
Sunagakure
Out in the desert Gohan clashed with the Kazekage Gaara. His blows may have been strong enough to breach the sand and strike Gaara, but his defenses proved to be a unique challenge none the less and allowed for easy and constantly flowing counterattacks. Gohan flew towards him as they battled in the sky. He threw a kick but the sand came and stopped him erupting from the blow like waves against a rock, but blocking him at the same time. Then Gohan twirled around to throw a punch, making contact that time and Gaara was propelled away. Gohan flung his right arm forward and unleashed a blast and many more soon followed. But a shield of sand blocked each and every one as Gaara managed to stop himself in the air.
Then he ceased his attack as a stream of sand came at him. He flew away but it grabbed ahold of his ankle and swung him down to the ground below.
He landed hard on the sand and as he got up more crashed down on him from the sky. It wasn't long before he was buried beneath it.
Gaara looked sternly down below as Konkuro and Temari cheered for his victory and Ichigo looked on in dread. But then the sand began to rupture. It started out soft and then erupted all around as the sand was propelled away; all from a spot where Gohan stood shouting, as he emerged from the sand. He turned his gaze up to the Kazekage who stared right back down at him. Temari and Konkuro seemed uneasy by his return while Ichigo smirked before they returned to their own battle.
Temari swung her fan releasing a torrent of wind at Ichigo. He jumped out of the way of the upcoming gust and prepared for another assault. He jumped towards her and swung his sword, but she jumped into the air and on top of her fan to fly away.
"That won't do you much good!" he declaredf as he prepared to follow her into the air.
Suddenly bursting up from the sand came another one of those puppets. Instead of following Temari he jumped away as Black Ant emerged from the sand. Now all of Ichigo's attention went to the puppet.
Suddenly it's limbs started to fall off and float in the air around it. From behind him he saw even the destroyed crow had done the same thing. Each one had a blade attached to it and he was completely surrounded. Then they all flew straight towards each other, only he was in the middle. Kankuro let out a smirk as his all of his blades bore down on Ichigo. Then suddenly before any could hit him he vanished.
"What?!" he let out shocked, but he would find his answer soon enough. Suddenly Ichigo appeared right before his eyes with his sword raised above his head. Kankuro ducked back behind the safety of Salamander just as Ichigo dropped his sword onto the puppet. His sword sliced against the Salamanders protective shield, but he didn't stop there; he swung his sword all the way down, cutting the puppet along the way. Then much to every one's shock Salamander split into two pieces. And standing amongst it all, was Kankuro. He wasn't hurt, since he managed to jump out of the way of the strike, but he was beyond words.
'What terrible power!' Kankuro thought to himself as he grimaced at the substitute soul reaper. Ichigo started back sternly at him 'I didn't want to have to use this yet... but I have no choice now' mustering his strength he brought out his latest puppet. This one unlike the rest looked distinctly human with a bare torso and blank face sitting under a mop red hair. Though it was still clearly an intimidation and not real at all. Though unique amongst the puppets was that it once was. Ichigo's expression didn't change at first, but then he did something Kankuro didn't expect. He smiled.
"That was pretty tough" Ichigo grinned "I had to put all my strength into that swing to break it. So what's this one do?"
"Come find out" Kankuro replied. He then then jumped back as Temari swung a her fan and a gust of wind overtook Ichigo. Noticing at the last second he dodged and moved out of the way only to instantly have Baki swiping at him with Kunai knives. Then the Sasori puppet joined him. Ichigo slashed at Baki only for Sasori to throw a kick. He ducked and then dodged an oncoming sawblade from the puppet. Then Ichigo kicked Sasori away knocking it into Kanuro. Then he turned his sword to deflect kunai's being thrown by Baki. Then the two charged each other. Ichigo swung his sword down onto Baki but he put his hands up stopping the blades mere inches before his face. The two struggled against each other. Baki's body began to shake as Ichigo pushed against him with all his strength. Struggling against him, Baki dropped to one knee. Ichigo did not relent and pushed down on him further. Baki moved his head just as the giant blade cut down into his shoulder. Blood began to trickle from the wound and stain his clothes.
To Ichigo's surprise he didn't cry out in pain or even flinch. And that's what worried him. Taking one of his hands from the sword Baki motioned towards Ichigo with his hand. Then suddenly he was cut across the shoulder. Letting up on his sword he jumped back from Baki who instantly got up.
"Now were even." Baki said getting up "Your swordsmanship is impressive. But you can't dodge something like that" he pointed to Ichigo's shoulder "That attack is unavoidable." he said confidently.
"Is that right?" Ichigo retorted "Just like her I bet?" he said looking at Temari floating above him. "Bring it on!" he screamed as they charged at each other again.
Gohan from the ground below fired a powerful Kahmehahmeha at Gaara. The blast traveled so fast that his sand couldn't stop it in time and it hit Gaara leading to a large explosion in the sky.
Gohan looked on with pride as he saw Gaara's body fall to the ground below and.. dissolve into sand. Gohan was shocked and had no time to react before the real Gaara appeared behind him and sent him tumbling across the sand with a powerful kick.
Gohan picked himself up again and looked at his opponent "It's too bad I can't sense your energy very well or else I would've known that wasn't you" he stated "I guess I'll have to try harder next time"
"I believe you" Gaara said "But I will not allow you try again." he said as he brought his arm up. And with that simple motion a wave of sand shot up and attached itself to Gohan, encasing him in sand. "Sand Coffin" Gaara said the name of his attack as he clenched his fists.
The sand crushed its victim in a death hold and Gaara lowered his hand at his victory.
But just like before when Gohan was encased in sand, the sand started to rupture again. Then it blasted off Gohan in all directions as he stood his ground screaming as he powered up. The waves of his energy blasted the sand off him and shook his surroundings. Then he calmed down and the shaking stopped. He brought a hand up to his mouth and when he took it away he saw red on it. He wiped the trickle of blood from his chin to his mouth and turned back to Gaara.
"You are strong." he stated "It's a shame we had to meet as enemies. But I have no choice but to beat you!"
Gaara waved his hand and a volley of sand attacks came at Gohan from above. He dashed across the sand dodging each one; every step brought him closer to Gaara.
Then he threw a blast at Garra, but his sand shield protected him. Gohan then crashed through the shield which was disrupted by his blast and was no directly in front of Gaara. He brought a fist down and hit him in the head stunning him. Then he planted his feet on the ground before the stunned Kazekage and placed his arms behind his back and when he brought them forward together he unleashed a powerful point blank Kahmehameha.
Gaara was forced back by the powerful blasts and his sand followed. Now dozens of feet away from his opponent he was wounded by this attack no less than the sand coffin had hurt Gohan. Groaning he picked himself up and faced him down. His sand piled around him as he did so and he prepared to unleash a lethal wave of it upon him.
Staring right back at him Gohan readied himself to continue the fight. The tension rose as the two fighters stared each other down. Then at the same time they charged each other prepared to continue their battle.
But that was soon halted as a man suddenly appeared between the two of them bringing it to a sudden halt. Gaara couldn't see too much of him. But he had black hair, an orange gi and a round black and white symbol on his back.
"Gohan!" he said excitedly before to him.
"What! You're here Da- " Gohan blurted out shocked.
"Huh?" Gaara let out as he stopped.
"Come on!" he cut Gohan off there's no time, come with me!" he rambled
"Alright." Gohan agreed without hesitation.
The man turned around to see Gaara "Hi." he said cheerfully before putting two fingers to his forehead. If this sudden appearance was strange to Gaara it was strange enough for Ichigo, Baki, Temari and Kankuro who had stopped fighting as well.
"Wait!" Ichigo called out "Gohan!" he raced up to the sky towards Gohan, but it was too late. Before his very eyes they just disappeared. Someone had taken him away. Standing where Gohan once was, Ichigo gripped his sword tightly in anger. "No" he grumbled to himself. He promised he'd try to help him, but now everything only seemed to be worse. Who was that? He hadn't heard what was said between them, but it might have made no good even if he had. How was he supposed to help Gohan now? How would he find his father and friends and get home? He'd find and answer for that, he'd find a way to fix everything... somehow. But first he had this to deal with.
Looking back over his shoulder he saw Gaara looking at him curiously.
"Who was that?" Gaara asked as perplexed as it by Ichigo was though his face remained the same.
"I'm not sure." Ichigo admitted "But that was my friend.. so what are we going to do?"
Gaara raised his hands and two oceans of sand raised up to their level and overshadowed the city.
"Alright... I guess it's just me now" he raised his sword out and pointed it at Gaara. A shame Gohan wouldn't see it "Bankai!"
Next time: Reunited at last! I knew I'd find you!
A Father and son together at last and Two fierce rivals cross paths yet again!