Chapter 31

Madara charged at Kenpachi and Ichigo. Roaring, Kenpachi charged too, colliding with Madara. Madara was pushed back by Kenpahi, who took the opportunity to slash at Madara. He pierced his armor, but not before Madara threw some shuriken that grazed Kenpachi's skin.

"You are strong..." Madara watched his movements with ease. "I can say that you are one of the strongest opponents I have ever fought."

Madara closed his eyes for a moment. Kenpachi rushed towards him, laughing. "You let your guard down!"

"No, Kenpachi!" Ichigo realized that it was a trap.

Opening his eyes, Madara yelled, "Amaterasu!" Kenpachi was engulfed in black flames, but Kenpachi only hastened his descent onto Madara, hitting him and throwing him towards some rocks.

"You think that fire is gonna kill me?!" Kenpachi roared, pushing the flames away from him.

Suddenly, Kenpachi collapsed onto one knee. "What...the..." he said in disbelief.

"Consumes a lot of energy to deal with my attack, does it?" Madara got up, unshaken from Kenpachi's attack. "You would have easily killed me if I was in my universe. I have trained since, becoming more powerful than ever."

"You think I'm gonna give up because you put me on one knee?!" Kenpachi got back up, laughing. "Let's keep this fight fun!"

Kenpachi released more aura. "Show me, ninja!"

Rushing forward, Kenpachi cried, "Dragon Claw!" He viciously slashed at Madara, who dodged the hits easily. Noting Madara's ease, Ichigo watched the fight intensely.

"Dodge this!" Kenpachi released a energy blast, blowing Madara into a rock pillar. Before he could hit it, a blue aura surrounded him, protecting him.

"You are mad!" Madara could not believe what Kenpachi is doing.

"Well, are you done crying?" Kenpachi mocked him.

"Fine." Madara sighed. He closed his eyes again, and the blue aura surrounding him turned into a large, humanoid figure. It looked like it was shrouded into a blue cloak.

"All right! I'll show you my full power too!" Kenpachi removed his eyepatch, increasing his spirit aura. "Now, then, to release my blade's true power! Nozarashi!"

Kenpachi's blade grew into a large axe, pointed at the large figure. "Time to lose, long hair!"

"Well...impressive." Madara stood still, while the figure made hand gestures. Suddenly, multiple humanoid beings appeared, surrounding Kenpachi.

"Let's see how your powers match mine."

"Awww, look at all the fresh meat!" Kenpachi attacked a random one, slashing it to bits. The rest of the huge humanoids attacked, only to be cut down by Kenpachi.

"My sword can cut anything," said Kenpachi. "No matter what you throw at it-"

"No matter what, huh?" Madara opened his eyes, revealing an eye pattern with multiple circles. "Let me show you the full power of Susanoo."

The huge figure, Susanoo, changed into a huge warrior. It stood taller than a hundred feet, shaking the world with it's steps. Kenpachi was about to rush again, but Madara blocked his way. He too changed, donning white hair and white clothing.

"Fight this!" Madara weaved signs fast, then spat out a fireball. Kenpachi was scorched all over his body, blown away to a desert pillar.

"Allow me to finish this." Madara made a signal and flew up. The Susanoo raised it's sword and slashed around it, destroying the land around it. Kenpachi tried to hit it, but the Susanoo's sword hit him faster than he anticipated, throwing him miles away from Madara.

Ichigo was up in the air, watching the Susanoo. He breathed in, and aura surrounded him. "Don't forget about me, Madara!"

He slashed at Madara, clashing blades with him. "Well, you are different from that beast," he growled.

"What, you grouped me with him?!" Ichigo hit Madara with one of his blades, sending him towards Susanoo. Susanoo slashed at Ichigo, but the soul reaper was prepared. "RAYQUAZA!"

A Dragon appeared from Ichigo, slamming into Susanoo. Before it could react, Ichigo rushed forward, hacking it to pieces.

"You think this is over?!" Madara attacked with lightning. Ichigo reflected the lightning, then landed a hit on Madara, who was blown backwards.

"Its about time someone wanted this to end!" Ichigo and Madara charged to their full powers and charged at each other, colliding with each other and creating an explosion that engulfed the surrounding area.

Ichigo and Madara faced opposite of each other. Ichigo almost collapsed, but he used his swords as cranes to stay upright, Madara tried to use his fan to stand upright, but he collapsed, falling facedown. "I won..." Ichigo groaned.

"Well done!" Mayuri appeared from the sky, landing near Ichigo. "You seem to have gotten stronger. Anyways, we should get going. Bring Madara with you."

Ichigo carried Madara, then saw Kenpachi run towards him. "Well, you were able to beat Red-eyes!" grinned Kenpachi.

"You are just as bad as Yachiru," complained Ichigo. "Call him Madara!"

"Whatever. Let's go."

The three left through a portal towards a stone cavern. "What is this place?" asked Ichigo.

"The entrance to the Jigokuverse," answered Mayuri. "It will take several hours before we could attempt it, so let's rest for now."

"Put...me...down," asked Madara.

Ichigo put him down. Madara was half up, leaning on the walls.

"So, do you feel alright?"

"Yes...you are really powerful, though. More powerful than I thought."

"How do you know about the shinigami and the keyblade?" asked Mayuri.

"When I was a nobody, I was sent to the dark realm. I kept exploring there, beating dark creatures until I met a man in a dark cloak. He told me stories of the keyblade, and how one of it's wielders was the only way to save the world. I did my own research, finding a library-"

"Which library?!" interrupted Ichigo. "What library would have books about us?!"

"It was a library, lost in legend. It is a library that evolves from time, recording all of history. It was luck that bought me there. I found several books about shinigami, and a bio of important shinigami in recent history."

"Wait...is it in another world?" asked Ichigo.

"Yes. In the realm of darkness, it would be randomly teleporting, so I can't say for sure where it was. But, in actuality, it stands between the light and the darkness. If you enter it from the realm of darkness, I presume that you could go into the light. That was how I found myself back into the worlds. There was another person with me, who wishes to see this conflict you are in without getting involved, but I convinced him to help me."

"Who would that be?"

"Someone who has no real importance to what is happening. Anyways, what is that light?"

Ichigo looked behind him, noticing a bright light.

"Well, it came earlier than expected," said Mayuri. "Curaga!" Everyone felt fully healed.

"You knew magic?" asked Kenpachi.

"I'm a scientist. Although I wanted to keep this a secret, I was caught off-guard by this. So, Ichigo, Kenpachi, and Madara-"

"That man is coming with us?"

"I'll join you," said Madara. "Ichigo beat me, and now, we will go to the Jigokuverse."

"Well, good thing that you made up your mind so fast," said Mayuri. "Are you all ready to go?"

"Yes." Ichigo stepped through the light.