"Uuuuggghh..." Ganju groaned, dazed from the crash, and wondering where the hell he was.
The first thing that Ganju noticed once he regained consciousness was a crippling headache.
The second thing that he noticed once he regained consciousness was the crippling headache getting worse courtesy of someone yelling at him.
"Get up Dumbass!" A voice roared.
"What?!" He snapped, rising and glaring in the direction of the voice, a voice he recognizes as Ichigo's.
"Good, You're up." Ichigo stated. "I was worried you got hurt by the crash."
"Like hell a little fall would take me out!" Ganju roared, before noticing that they were alone. "Where did everyone go?!"
"Jeez, keep it down will ya?" Ichigo snapped. "We got flung into different directions by the shockwave. I don't know where anyone is."
"Crap," Ganju scowled, they had been relying on Yoruichi to guide them to the Senzaikyu, with the cat gone, they had no idea where to go. "What now?"
"Halt!"
"Oh great." Ichigo thought as he looked over to see two shinigami with wide grins. One was tall and bald. The other had a full head of perfectly styled hair and some weird feather looking things on his right eyebrow and eyelashes.
Ichigo readied his Zanpakuto as the odd pair walked over.
Orihime sighed, her and Uryuu laying on her Santen Kesshun. "That was close. Uryuu, are you okay?"
"N-not really." Ishida replied, looking at his burned and bleeding hands.
"Oh no!" Orihime exclaimed. "What happened?!"
"My hands got reaitsu burns." Ishida grimaced. "It happened last time I wielded Ichigo's power, it's just worse this time."
"Let me help! Sōten Kisshun!" Ayame and Shuno quickly got to work, and soon his hands were okay.
"Thank you, Orihime." Ishida practically glowed with gratitude.
"You're Welcome." Orihime smiled.
The two teens slowly floated down to the ground and took a look around.
"Looks like we got separated," Orihime started looking around. "I hope Ichigo is okay."
"He's fine." Ishida said, getting up. "For now, let's just try to find everyone."
"I could float us back up and make a bird's eye view." Orihime asked.
"Let's try that if we get spotted." Uryuu replied. "No need to blow what little cover we have left."
Orihime nodded and together they got up to find the others.
Izuru laid flat on his ass, looking up in horror at the Seki-Seki Barrier, or rather, the lack of one in the sky.
"Lieutenant Kira!" A random shinigami yelped getting up. "Are you alright?"
"...Yes." Izuru stated, getting up. "Just shaken up. Is anyone injured?"
"Doesn't seem like it." The shinigami said. "Everyone was merely knocked to the ground."
"Lieutenant Kira." Another shinigami trembled. "Was that..."
"A hollow," Kira replied. "A strong one at that."
"But it split up." The first shinigami stated. "Could there be multiple hollows in the Seireitei?"
"I'm afraid it's possible." Kira growled. "No matter, one of the lights dropped nearby. Maybe we can purify them before any damaged is done. Come."
With that, Kira and the squad he led rushed off to find the hollow.
They quickly find the landing spot, only to see a large crater with no hollow in sight.
Izuru scowled. "Spread out! Go into teams of three and call everyone else if you find them!"
While the various shinigami ran around to find the intruders, a large boy with armor covering his right arm and a cat on his left arm sighed. "That was close."
Yoruichi sighed as well, she knew that Urahara's training would give Ichigo hollow powers, but she had gravely underestimated how powerful, and more importantly, noticeable they would be.
Not that raw power on its own would help him against a captain, they needed to get back together quickly.
Hinamori groaned as she stirred on the floor.
She hadn't been knocked unconscious, but everything still hurt.
From what she could tell, the Seki-Seki barrier was gone, glass shards were strewn everywhere, everyone was freaking out in one way or another, and her Captain was just standing up.
"Hinamori!" Aizen shouted. "Are you okay?"
"Yes!" Hinamori replied. "What on earth was that!?"
"I'm unsure." Aizen lied. "All I know is that a great danger has come to the Seireitei."
Hinamori paled. "What do we do?"
"I will partner up with the other Captains and arrange a meeting." Aizen stated. "You will get all the other shinigami to safety."
"Are you sure?" Hinamori asked. "Don't you need my help?"
"Hinamori." Aizen replied with a smirk, twirling his Zanpakuto flamboyantly. "Don't you think I can take care of myself?"
"No, I do."Hinamori blushed. "I'll get everyone as quick as I can."
"Good." Aizen stated. "I'll be off."
Aizen proceeded to shunpo away, leaving Hinamori to help the others.
Aizen smirked, his project had just touched down in soul society and was already incredibly powerful, who knows what strength it would get in the future.
In his head, his Zanpakuto cackled, and he had to restrain himself from joining in.
Ichigo and Ganju stared as the bald man began performing an odd dance.
"Lucky, Lucky, Lucky!" Ikkaku chanted as he danced. His friend waited patiently for him to finish.
"Maybe we can sneak away while he's busy?" Ganju asked.
"Why?" Zangestu asked. "We can take these guys."
"Are you insane?" Ganju snapped. "Can't you tell these guys aren't normal soul reapers?"
"Dude." Ichigo stated. "Being serious, I expected that I'll have to fight no matter what Yoruichi says. The crash we made falling in here only confirmed it. Even if we get Rukia, there's nothing stopping the Soul Society from showing up in the living world and trying to take her again. I'm fairly sure nothing other than force will get through to these guys. Stand back if you can't take them, but Zangetsu and I are going to waste these guys."
Ganju grumbled before smirking. "No way am I gonna just run for the hills while you stand and fight."
Ichigo smirked. "Good."
"LUCKY!" Ikkaku finished, landing in a Horse Stance, sword held horizontal before him. "Yumachika, you take the guy with bandana, I got the thug with the zanpakuto."
Yumachika nodded, before charging at Ganju with his sword drawn.
Ganju quickly put on a fisticuffs stance as Ichigo jumped in the air.
Ichigo dived at Ikkaku from the sky, who tried to block with his blade.
Crack!
Both Yumachika and Ganju turned in shock at the massive crater created by the blades clashing.
Pain exploded in Ikkaku's limbs as they nearly dislocated from the shock of the clash. "Holy Shit! This guy's really strong!" He thought.
And yet a shit-eating grin spread on his face as he registered his opponent's strength. "Extend, Hozokimaru!"
A glow formed around his blade as it transformed into a spear with a wax wood shaft and a red horsehair tassel.
"You're pretty good, Ryoka." Ikkaku complimented. "But it's time to get serious!"
Ikkaku lunged, Zanpakuto thrusting toward Ichigo's face.
With a smirk, Ichigo easily swept the spear aside with his free hand and drew back Zangetsu.
"Break, Hozukimaru!"
Ichigo's eyes widened as the spear separated in two places, curving around his back, the blade aiming for his neck.
Ichigo managed to block with Zangetsu before back pedaling for a bit.
While this was happening, Ganju had hurled a few smoke bombs around to distance himself from the feather haired shinigami.
"Bloom, Fuji Kujaku."
Yumachika's zanpakuto split into five, sickle-shaped blades, cutting through the smoke with a swing.
Ganju reached into his pockets, coming up with a series of firecracker bombs before lobbing them all at his opponent.
"Senpenbanka!"
In an impressive display of agility, Yumachika dodged, evaded, and weaved around all the offending explosives with almost unnatural ease before advancing toward Ganju.
Unable to find a way to keep any distance, Ganju jumped backward before turning a wall into sand and jumping through.
Yumachika followed, with a smirk on his face.
Meanwhile, the battle between the other shinigami had turned grim, at least for Ikkaku. His Zanpakuto's trick was simple for Ichigo to avoid after the first time, and Ikkaku's arms were already injured from the first clash.
"This guy's insane..." Ikkaku growled. "How is he so fast?"
With visible effort, the third seat blocked a slash that created another crater in the ground, and the blade on his spear cracked.
"Damn, I'm getting wrecked!" Ikkaku growled, making a particularly large slash to ward Ichigo off.
"This has been a good warm-up," Ichigo smirked. "But I got stuff to do here, so I have to end this."
"The hell you will!" Ikkaku roared, charging with Hozukimaru spinning on the end segment.
Ichigo grinned, swinging his sword with a little reaitsu fed to it.
An expolsion of reaitsu rocked the area, and Ikkaku's unconscious body flew through the air before crashing to the ground in a heap.
"Hopefully, there are stronger people here to fight." Zangetsu said, somewhat dejected.
"We're supposed to not fight everyone here, remember?" Ichigo stated, albeit dissapointed as well. "Welp, let's find Ganju."
BOOM!
Just as he said that, Ichigo turned to see fireworks in the sky, giving him a good idea of where Ganju was.
Ichigo quickly rushed over to the source of the fireworks.
Chad and Yoruichi looked to the side as they felt a familiar reaitsu.
"Damn, he's throwing what little stealth we have out the window." Yoruichi scowled.
"I don't think we have any left after that crash." Chad argued.
"Fair point." Yoruichi grumbled, wondering what to do. She could easily find Ichigo with the level of reaitsu he's putting off, but then she wasn't sure what to do next, as she wasn't sure where to go.
"We'll find one of my hideouts, then come the others." Yoruichi ordered. "Preferably one that's abandoned, that way no one will come in at a bad time."
"What about the others?" Chad said.
"As long as they don't bump into a captain, they'll be fine." Yoruichi said.
Chad nodded and, with Yoruichi directions, headed off into the forest, hoping his friends were all right.
Yachiru's head whipped around as she felt one of her friend's reaitsu drop right after a spike of another.
"Kenny, I think Baldy got beat." Yachiru stated, pointing to the left. "Over there."
"Looks like we found the hollow." Kenpachi grinned, rushing off to fight it. "Let's see how long it lasts against me!"
For a brief moment there was silence, then the roof tiles of a storage building rattled slightly as something – or, rather, someone – shifted their weight.
"I think he's gone." Orihime stated.
Uryu sighed in relief. "The reaitsu I sensed from that monster was incredible. Fortunately, his observation skills are rather lacking. But what he talking about? How did a hollow get here?"
"I don't know." Orihime stated. "Maybe he's sensing us wrong?"
"His observation skills are rather lacking to not notice us. Now, where do we go?"
"Maybe that white tower." Orihime pointed in the distance. "We could fly up there and look for everyone from up high-"
"Orihime!" Uryuu suddenly shouted.
Crash!
"...To have dodged my blade at such a close range." The giant shinigami turned to Uryuu holding Orihime tight. "Impressive, but it means nothing. You will have ten seconds to regret coming here before you die. Ten..."
As the man counted, Orihime looked at Uryuu in astonishment. "When did he get so fast?" She thought.
However, she soon got over it. "Thanks for the save Uryuu."
"Yes." Ishida stated. "You'll be fine."
"Zero!" The giant shouted, charging with his sword drawn. "Hope you had enough time to reflect on your grief!"
Orihime's hands went to her hairpins as the giant leaped. "Santen Kesshun!"
Clang!
Her shield materialized, blocking the blade with ease.
"What is this?" The shinigami gaped.
"Koten Zanshun!"
The shinigami squawked as he felt a small flying blade cut into his arm.
Orihime gaped. "That worked!" She thought in combined excitement and guilt.
Uryuu wasn't idle during this however, and quickly shot the giant in the hand with a arrow.
"A quincy." The giant frowned. "And a girl with strange powers, both specializing in ranged combat...It appears I will need my full power. You two, my name is Jirobo Ikkanzaka! Remember it, because it will be the name you will ever know!"
Jirobo quickly points his blade upward, before placing his hand on it.
"Flap Away, Tsunzakigarasu!"
Poof!
Where a normal katana was, a few dozen flying blades now were.
"Behold, the zanpakuto of the Kamaitachi, lord of ranged weapons, Tsunzakigarasu! My blades fly in the wind, preparing to strike you both down with great force. You can only watch as they rush toward you to claim your-"
Fwoosh!
Jirobo blinked as his blades were all shot out of the sky by blue arrows.
"It appears that your title is a bit misleading," Uryuu stated, his bow still smoking from the shots. "When it comes to ranged attacks, I'm clearly the better man."
"A-Absurd!" Jirobo spluttered, unsheathing his zanpakuto. "That was a fluke! You're too cocky for your own go-"
Before he could recreate his blades, his hands was cut by another arrow courtesy of Uyruu.
"My hand!" Jirobo wailed. "What have you done to my hand?!"
"Amazing!" Orihime thought. "Uryuu is so much more powerful now!"
"It appears..." Uryuu stated. "That you are the one with regrets now."
"You...You arrogant brat! I'll kill you!" Jirobo roared, attempting a shunpo to slug the brat with his fist...only to run face first into a transparent wall. "What?!" He gaped as he found himself in a bubble. "What is this?!"
"That would be my Souten Kisshun."
The giant turned incredulous eyes on the girl behind him.
"Incredible." Jirobo gaped. "I've been defeated so easily, both of your attacks and defenses far exceed mine in speed."
A few seconds passed with the three standing on the roof.
He then scowled. "Well then? Finish me off. This is the fate of a loser."
"Jirobo?" Orihime stated. "Look at your hands."
Jirobo gaped as he saw his hand were healed, as if they had never been injured in the first place.
Uryuu was dumbfounded at the kind gesture. "Why would Orihime heal the enemy like that?!" He thought.
"You...You intend to let me live?" Jirobo asked in shock.
"Yeah." Orihime agreed. "We don't want any trouble, stop attacking us and we'll be on our way."
"...It would seem that you are a kind hearted soul," Jirobo stated. "...Too bad for you!"
It only due to a combination of Yoruichi's training and Tatsuki's martial arts spars that Orihime managed to dodge the blade, even then blade grazed her neck and almost cut a major artery. "Gah!" She yelped as she stumbled back and held a hand to her neck to slow down the bleeding, shock, pain, rage, and fear surging through her. "What was that for?! I healed you!"
Jirobo swung his sword to release more spinning blades and flung them at Uryuu. "You are intruders! I am obligated to kill you no matter what you do. Regret that it was your naivete that killed you here!"
Uryuu easily destroyed the flying blades and shot Jirobo in the back. "Coward," He spat, cursing his shock, had he not been taken off guard by Orihime's healing, he would've easily intercepted that attack. "To think you'd have so little pride in you that you'd strike a girl that just helped you."
Orihime was particularly shocked at the attack, outraged that he'd try to kill her after what she did.
"You..." She growled, one of her hairpins glowing as rage won out in her, her, blackness bleeding into her right eye. "Koten Zanshun!"
Tsubaki blasted out of her hairpin, his barrier noticeably more solid than before.
Jirobo wailed in pain as the hand holding Tsunzakigarasu was cut almost in half.
Uryuu quickly capitalized on the giant's pain, and shot the giant in the Soul Sleep and Chain, destroying his shinigami powers and sending him flying into the distance. "Coward, I bid you farewell."
Uryuu then turned to Orihime. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." Orihime said, her rage quickly fading along the the black in her eye. She quickly used a Souten Kisshun to heal the cut to her neck.
"Good." Uryuu stated, before frowning a bit. "Why did you heal him?"
Orihime started looking down. "I didn't think he'd attack us like that after what you did, and Jindanbo was rather nice."
"Fair point." Uryuu retorted. "But don't think that everyone here will be so grateful, we are invading after all."
Orihime nodded solemnly before clapping her hands to her temples. "Right! Let's go!"
"Prepare to die-awk!"
Ichigo sighed as another shinigami jumped him, only to be swatted aside by Zangestu.
"These grunts are weak." Zangetsu whined. "They all have gone down in one hit, and most of them can't even catch us."
"Would you rather someone capable of killing us show up?" Ichigo said incredulously.
"Yes." Zangetsu replied.
"Seriously!?" Ganju snapped in dumbfoundment, while Ichigo's expression wasn't much better.
"What?" Zangetsu shot back. "You have to admit steamrolling these random foot soldiers is getting boring."
"I'd rather be bored than dead." Ichigo replied, crossing a corner.
"Hey!" A voice called out, drawing Ichigo's and Ganju's attention. "Get them!"
They turned to see a few dozen foot soldiers rushing them.
Ichigo, with a bland look on his face, swings his sword, sending a black energy wave that sent all of the shinigami flying in different directions.
"Although this is getting annoying." Ichigo admitted.
A squeak of fear caught their attention.
Ichigo blinked as he saw a short boy look at the two in terror.
"Um..." The shinigami muttered. "You're the ryoka running around the seireitei, are you?"
"Yes, we are." Ichigo stated. "I'd rather not waste anymore foot soldiers, so could you move aside?"
"Do you seriously think that will work?" Ganju said incredulously.
"It's worth a try." Ichigo argued. "Rukia's gonna be pissed at me for wasting as many people as I have already."
"...Wait." The shinigami paused, wondering if he heard that right. "Rukia? Rukia Kuchiki?"
"Yeah!" Ichigo yelled, running over. "You know her?"
"N-Not really." The shinigami admitted. "I just talked to her during my janitor work."
"Wait!" Ganju roared. "That means you can get us the shrine of penitence, right?"
"Um, Yes?" Hanataro gulped, starting to think he most likely wasn't getting out of this.
"Great!" Ichigo stated, picking the guy up. "Lead the way!"
"Kay." The shinigami moaned, now knowing he definitely wasn't getting out of this.
"Is this all of the lieutenants?" Yasochika asked.
"Except for Yachiru." Lieutenant Hinamori answered. "Give us the report. What's happening out there?"
"We haven't seen any trace of the hollow that crashed down into the seireitei, but the ryoka have been seen at many different areas."
"Where?" Iba asked.
"In the 11th Division, sights of a orange haired shinigami with blade as tall as he is defeating multiple dozen shinigami with relative ease." Yasochika stated. "Sources believe that he also defeated Ikkaku Madarame of the 3rd Seat and Yumichika Ayasegawa of the 5th. Both are being treated at the 4th division as we speak."
Needless to say the other shinigami were alarmed with this news, what they sensed seemed like a problem yes, but two seated members down so quickly?
"Such damage in just a few hours." Isane stated.
"Tch." Omaeda snorted. "The 11th division is really slipping."
"They seem to be heading this way, but we cannot sense their Reaitsu at the moment, so their whereabouts are unknown." Yasochika added.
Renji frowned. "I don't know where that bastard is now, but I know where he's going!" He thought.
"Obviously, our intelligence needs work." Rangiku stated.
"Now that I think of it, our 4th seat has been missing for a while." Iba added.
"Wait, the wind scythe was defeated?" Shuhei asked incredulously.
"What the hell is going on here?" Kira snapped in confusion.
"My my, I guess we have a real problem on our hands, right Renji?" Hinamori turned to where she thought Renji was, only to find herself speaking to thin air. "Where did he...?"
"Sewers." Ganju moaned. "It had to be SEWERS."
"Shut up!" Ichigo snapped. "We were running into shinigami left and right before, now we won't have expend any more reaitsu on fighting!"
"This still sucks!" Ganju argued. "You can't deny that!"
"OK, fair point." Ichigo agreed. "How do you stand this stench anyway, Hanataro?"
"We 4th division shinigami usually get stuck with grunt work due to us only being good at healing and medical care, and people rarely get injured up here." Hanataro stated. "Well not counting when a 11th member cuts someone."
"Yeah, I noticed those guys seem kinda stab-happy." Ganju added.
"Sucks that they were so weak," Zangetsu said. "They would've made a good warm-up for Byakuya."
Ichigo agreed, he really did want to pay back Byakuya for what happened.
"Hanataro?" Ichigo asked slowly, after a few seconds had passed. "You said earlier that you'd heard about me from Rukia. What did she tell you about me?"
Hanataro blushed. "Well… before she was brought to the Senzaikyuu, Rukia was interred in the Sixth Division barracks, where I was assigned janitorial duty.
"She was incredibly nice for a Noble, I thought she wouldn't even look at me, and yet she called me over for someone to talk to." Hanataro said. "She didn't even want me to call her 'Miss Kuchiki', she just wanted 'Rukia'."
"Yep." Ichigo said with a smile. "Sounds just like the midget."
"Her voice was so gentle, and her demeanor so kind. She talked about the living world for so long." Hanataro said. "About juice boxes, TV, and mod souls in stuffed animals. But mostly... she talked about you, Kurosaki-san."
"She said she could trust you with her life if she needed it, despite only knowing you for a few months." Hanataro continued. "But she told me that because of what she did, you had to go through a lot of changes and pain in your life. She thinks that she could never make it up to you, and that seems to bring her even more pain than her impending execution."
"Seems like this Rukia is as unusual as you." Ganju stated to Ichigo.
"Yeah...she is." Ichigo said, starting to run.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Ganju roared.
"I'm going to save her! She said she could trust me with her life, and now she lost her powers and is going to lose her life because she wanted to protect me and my family! What kind of person would I be if I didn't do something about this!" Ichigo roared, charging for the exit.
When they got of the sewer, they were met by a thick mist covering the area.
"The coast is clear." Ichigo said after doing a quick 360. "You guys come up."
"Fresh air!" Ganju roared. "Finally!"
"There!" Hanataro stated, pointing to the white tower in the distance. "The shrine of penitence. I'm afraid this is as far as you get with the sewers."
"Well then, let's go." Ichigo said, walking up to the stairs
Ichigo froze as he felt a wave of powerful reiatsu slowly wash over him, vaguely familiar to his senses. "Guys, hold up! I can feel it, someone's out there!"
Slowly descending from the steps of the building in front of them was a Shinigami with long, vivid red hair and black tattoos over his eyes. He slowly lifted the visor he was wearing, revealing brown eyes.
"It's been a long time, Ryoka. Do you remember my face?"
"I do, Renji Abarai," Ichigo scowled. "But you'll be forgotten soon enough."
"You remember my face and my name." Renji gave a grin of spite. "Impressive, but this is the end of the line."
"We'll see about that." Ichigo growled, black reaitsu forming around Zangetsu.
"Who is this guy?" Ganju blinked. "His power is even greater than the seated members we bumped into."
"Oh noo..." Hanataro gasped in terror. "That's Renji Abarai! The lieutenant of squad 6."
"Lieutenant?" Ganju gaped. "Shit. Ichigo we-What are you doing?!"
"Getting some payback." Ichigo growled, walking towards Renji.
"You fool." Renji snarled. "You are going to die here. I'm going to kill the one who stole Rukia's powers. As long as you live, Rukia will never recover her power!"
"Why would you care after you all sentenced her to death?!" Ichigo roared, charging at Renji and swinging Zangetsu full force, and Renji barely got his Zanpakuto drawn in time to block it. The red-haired Shinigami moved to retaliate, his zanpakuto's name coming out of him.
"Howl, Zabimaru!"
Orihime and Uryu paused as they felt a surge of Ichigo's reaitsu in the distance.
"I think Ichigo ran into some one tough again." Orihime gulped.
"You could say that again." Uryuu growled, recognizing the reaitsu of the guy Ichigo's fighting. "Renji Abarai, one the bastards that took Rukia in the first place."
Orihime's eyes widened, "Should we go help?"
"Yeah." Uryuu started sprinting to the location of the tower.
Yachiru grinned as she felt Ichigo's reaitsu on the rise again.
"Kenny!" She ordered. "Over there! The Ryoka's fighting again! Against Renji this time!"
Kenpachi grinned, rushing off even faster than before. "This ryoka seems to be one-upping himself again and again. He may truly be a worthy opponent."
Clang!
Zangestu clashed against Zabimaru with incredible force, the shockwave alone blowing dust in the air.
Renji jumped back and swung his blade, extending and shooting it at Ichigo, who merely sidestepped it before swatting away the follow up slice with Zangetsu.
Renji recalled his blade, then was forced to duck under a blast of energy from the sword.
"Amazing!" Hanataro gaped. "He's completely overpowering Lieutenant Abarai! What kind of human is he?"
"I'm starting to wonder myself." Ganju stated.
"Tell me, Ichigo!" Renji snapped. "Do you really think you can rescue Rukia?"
"I do!"
"Even if you defeat me here, there are still 11 Lieutenants left." Renji explained. "And above them, there are 13 Captains. You'll have to defeat us all to rescue Rukia."
"I don't care how many Liuetenants and Captains there are!" Ichigo roared. "No one will stop me!"
"That confidence of yours borders on insanity!" Renji taunted. "You gain Shikai and you suddenly think you're invincible!"
"He said we'll do it so we'll do it!" Zangetsu roared. "Send in every Captain here and we'll cut them all down!"
Ichigo took the opening made by Renji's shock at Zangetsu's talking with gutso, swinging his sword down on Zabimaru.
Renji paled. "I can't dodge this!"
Boom!
An explosion rocked the area as the blast hit, sending Renji flying.
"Fuck!" Renji roared, spinning in the air to land on his feet.
"You've gotten stronger." Ichigo stated. "Last time we fought you could barely move after that."
"You seem to think that you already know my strength just by having fought me once." Renji growled. "Well let me tell you something, When the ranked Lieutenants and above are sent outside, our powers are severely limited so that we don't adversely affect the human world. I'm 5 times more powerful than before!"
"Well that isn't making a difference isn't it?" Ichigo shot back. "I have been overpowering you this whole fight! You have yet to even cut me!"
"Allow me to fix that!" Renji roared, jumping in the air and swinging Zabimaru down.
Ichigo rolled to side, trying to slash at where Renji was falling, only for him to suddenly blur from view, catching Ichigo off guard and rushing past him so fast that Ganju and Hanataro barely registered what happened.
"Damn it…" Ichigo grunted as he took note of the decent sized gash on his right side. "What was that?"
"Shunpo." Renji stated. "A high-speed movement technique which allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. You may have strength, but your skill is lacking."
Renji blurred from sight again, and Ichigo jumped back to see where he went.
This decision proved well for the shinigami, allowing him to see Zabimaru rushing towards from above.
"This is all your fault!" Renji roared. "If it weren't for you, Rukia wouldn't be going through all this!"
Ichigo slashed upwards, deflecting Zabimaru and jumping upwards to clash with Renji in mid-air.
As the two fell, the blades countered and parried each other in an attempt to cut the owner.
"My word." Hanataro gaped. "Those two are so strong."
"I only hope Ichigo's stronger." Ganju growled.
"The sun is setting." Chad stated.
"I know." Yoruichi growled. "Finding everyone will only get more out of hand in the dark, but I think I can find them before then."
"What should I do?" Chad stated.
"You stay here." Yoruichi ordered. "I'll bring everyone I can here. There's a training ground under her to refine your powers a bit more."
Chad nodded, he could feel the reaitsu Ichigo was blasting out in the air, if he had to use such power, Chad wasn't sure he could keep up, hopefully a little more training would help with that.
"Quite an exciting day, eh, Captain Aizen?"
Sosuke Aizen turned to his old Lieutenant and smiled. There was no sign of the friendly Captain, liked by everyone. In his place was the mastermind that normally hid behind the personable mask. "Indeed, Gin."
Aizen had left his Division headquarters in the middle of the night. His current Lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, was still having a meeting with the other lieutenants. Tonight, Sosuke Aizen would disappear.
"You left the note, right?" Gin stated, referring to the note about Hitsugaiya murdering Aizen.
"Actually," Aizen stated. "There will be a change of plans tonight."
"Oh?" Gin blinked, wondering what was his former captain planning.
"At the rate at which the ryoka are going, they may have a chance at rescuing Rukia." Aizen explained. "It would do well to slow them down."
"So you're framing the ryoka?" Gin's smile grew wider.
"Of course." Aizen stated. "Ichigo has already proved himself capable of defeating seated members and his hollow powers will be discovered soon enough. He will be easy to frame. Plus, you will be able to get around easier with less suspicion on you."
"Pity." Gin shook his head, yet kept his grin. "I looked forward to messing Shiro-chan and Momo."
"Don't worry." Aizen stated, pulling out Kyoka Suigetsu. "You may be able to toy with them yet."
Zabimaru extended yet again, charging down Ichigo with murderous intent.
Zangetsu met the other zanpakuto's blade, deflecting it yet again.
By now, both combatants were tiring and injured, albeit Ichigo less so.
"Is that all you have Renji?!" Ichigo roared. "You claim to want to kill me and is all you can muster?" Ichigo then smirked as he lunched forward and swung his sword ferociously.
Renji scowled as he dodged another crushing blow from the ryoka. "Damn, his reaitsu's gotten even stronger than the last time we met." He thought. "How could he improve so much in so little time?"
Renji used shunpo again, blitzing past Ichigo and striking at him in the back.
However, used to that trick now, Ichigo was able to counter the blade and slash at Renji again, spilling more blood.
"Damn it!" Renji gasped, having difficulty even raising Zabimaru. "What is this? How are you so much stronger?"
"I grew stronger because I need to save Rukia," Ichigo declared proudly.
"From what you caused!" Renji shot back.
Ichigo scowled. "Have you ever wondered why Rukia gave me her powers?"
Renji was temporarily struck mute, causing Ichigo to scoff.
"I was under attack by a hollow, a hollow that Rukia couldn't defeat, a hollow was going to eat me, her, and my two sisters." Ichigo snarled. "She gave me the power so I protect myself, protect her! We would've died if she hadn't! Could you imagine how strong a hollow that ate a shinigami and someone like me would become?!" Renji paled at the implications. "We had no other options, and even if we did, could you blame us for not thinking of them?"
"Yes, we broke the law." Ichigo said. "But if the says what we did is grounds for death, then I'll kick down the law and beat down anyone who upholds it!"
Renji growled, unable to accept that Ichigo was justified in his actions. "You bastard!" Renji roared, going for one last attack. "This is your fault! If you never existed, Rukia would've have never been in that situation at all!"
"You idiot! You think I don't know that? That's why I have to save her!" Ichigo shot back, swinging Zangetsu as well.
"And what happens if you or one of your friends die saving her? She accepted her fate to save your worthless life! Can you possibly imagine the pain she would feel after you threw it away!?" Renji roared.
"Nobody will die on my watch!" Ichigo shouted back. "I'll stand and beat any opponent that tries to hurt my friends!"
"Empty promises!" Renji hotly declared, tears forming in his eyes. "Easy to state!"
"I have never, in my whole life," Zangestu and Zabimaru clashed yet again. "Thought of any promises as easy!"
"How could you stand there and declare a pipe-dream like defeating all of the captains so easily then?!"
"It's not easy! I worked really hard! I made myself better one day at a time! Through training that could and would kill anyone without the resolve to see through to the end!"
A shockwave that rocked the area came from the dueling shinigami, as their reaitsu were pushed to their limits, Renji's red fighting Ichigo's black.
Soon, the light was blinding anyone who didn't shield their eyes.
And yet soon, the black won out.
A second shockwave knocked Ganju and Hanataro off their feet as Renji, with his now broken sword flew through the air.
As he was sailing through the air, Renji could feel his strength and will to fight rapidly dwindling away. "He beat me...again."
Renji hit the floor with a thud as Ichigo fell to his knee, the battle damage taking its toll.
"He...He won!" Hanataro squeed. "Ichigo won!"
Ichigo got back up to his feet. "Yeah, I won. Phew! That a good enough fight for ya, Zangetsu?"
"Hell yeah!" Zangetsu roared. "That was definitely a worthy opponent."
"Heh." Renji chuckled, causing the others to jump.
"He's getting back up!" Ganju roared.
"You...you really think you can save Rukia?" Renji asked.
"Yes." Ichigo stated proudly.
"Well then, I can't stop you." Renji said. "And hopefully no one else can either."
"Did you even want to stop us?" Ganju asked.
"No...not really," Renji said. "I was just scared of getting my hopes up." Renji stumbled forward, coughing up more blood. "Ichigo...Can you promise me something? Do what I couldn't. Defeat Byakuya, and save Rukia. Please."
"...I will."
"Thank...you..." And with that, Renji dropped to the floor.
"Renji!" Ichigo rushed to his side.
"H-Hey. This guy isn't..." Ganju paled.
"N-no, he's okay." Hanataro stated, checking his vitals. "Though he has lost a lot of blood. Around a class 2 hemorrhage."
Ganju blinked. "You deduced that so quickly."
Hanataro blushed. "I am a member of squad 4, I'm pretty good with these things. I think a few sessions of healing kido in a safe spa-"
The air doubled in weight, and everyone in the area suddenly dropped to their knees.
Something very powerful had just popped up out of nowhere.
"Gillian?" Ichigo thought. "No. This reaitsu doesn't have the hunger most hollows do. But the bloodlust...the potency...nothing else even comes close. Hell, this seems even stronger than that giant thing. It's like a blade is being pinned against my throat."
What…?" Hanataro gasped in a way that betrayed the brand of confusion he was feeling to those that could hear him. This wasn't a question asked as if he didn't know what was going on…
It was the question asked in pure terror, as if he knew what this was, but didn't know why it was happening.
"Not that one..." A voice from nowhere stated. "Not that one..."
"The fu-" Ichigo stammered. "Who is that?!"
"Are you the one?"
That was all the warning Ichigo got before something impaled him through the chest.