Chapter Ten: The Unstoppable Gonrymaru

One moment there was a flaring of light and pain, consuming everything. The next Rangiku was being held bridal style by Gin, who was landing on the far building. Blinking at how close he was to her, Rangiku shoved away romantic thoughts. She pulled herself out of his arms. 'Thanks, Gin.'

'No problem,' said Gin, smiling as always. 'my, my, it looks like that Zanptakto is quite impressive.' He put his hand to his sword, as an old man landed at a kneel by him. 'Shall we Shinso?'

'That's Shinso?' asked Rangiku. 'Wow, I kind of expected someone a bit younger.'

'Now is not the best time.' mused Gin.

The storm clouds rumbled. The zanpakto landed on the ground next to Kaien's comatose form. Ukitake's Lieutenant was charred all over, and wasn't moving. The zanpakto was clad all in white samurai armor which concealed his entire form. Between the eye holes, Rangiku could see a white flame. He nudged Kaien's body, before kneeling to check his pulse.

'Still breathing,' he mused, 'excellent, Muramasa will be able to use his powers.'

'Hey, what's the big idea?!' snapped Heineko. 'You nearly fried me!'

'Heineko!' snapped the zanpakto. 'Take Shiba and bring him to Muramasa. I'll handle these.'

'GETSUGA TENSHO!'

The wall was abruptly caved in by a massive wave of dark energy. Isshin emerged to stand before the armored zanpakto and landed between him and Kaien. 'Can't let you target my relatives actually. Gin, Rangiku stand back, I'll end this in an instant.'

At that moment it began to pour with rain, which soaked the faces and helmets of all who were standing there. Zanpakto and captain faced one another down.

'Presumptuous fool,' said the zanpakto, 'you have no conception of who you face.'

'I'll grant that lightning attack of yours packs a wallop.' said Isshin. 'But blindsiding a Lieutenant doesn't make you on the same level as a captain. And I know you aren't a Captain's zanpakto. You are the zanpakto of the Lieutenant of the First Division! Gonrymaru, and your wielder is Cho…' He raised a hand. 'Uh…. Chizuro… Chozo…. um… give me a minute.'

'Chojiro Sasakibe,' supplied Rangiku.

'That's the one!' said Isshin. 'Anyway, the point is that Chojiro has been a Lieutenant since long before I was born. Which means that he hit max rank years ago. Face it; you're outmatched. The reason your master isn't wearing a Captains Hiyori is that he lacked the spiritual pressure to-'

'FOOLISH CHILD!' roared Gonrymaru. 'I WILL TOLERATE YOUR INSOLENCE NO LONGER!'

He surged into the sky and reached out with one hand. A lightning bolt shot from the clouds above into his hand, and he gripped it like one would a spear. More lightning bolts poured down into his hand. His spear was shining with blinding light.

Then he threw it.

Isshin hurled a getsuga tensho to match it. The getsuga held the onslaught at bay. Heineko grabbed Kaien and disappeared. Then the lightning surged forward towards Isshin.

'OH SHIT!' cried Isshin.

Then he was consumed in brilliant white light. When the lightning evaporated Isshin was gone. So was a mile long stretch of the city. Rangiku stared in horror at what had happened, mouth ajar.

'Captain…'

Gin's eyes were wide open, and he was not smiling. 'He… just one shotted a Captain, didn't he?'

Gonrymaru landed on the building and turned to look at them. White flames emerged from his eye holes and a crown of blue fire surged around his head. 'Flee.'

'Well you heard him Rangiku.' said Gin, smile now somewhat nervous.

They ran, and just in time for a surging of lightning descended to annihilate the building they were on. It exploded behind them and they fled, lightning bolts striking around them. Debris slammed into them in storms as they fled. Building after building was consumed. No matter where they fled lightning bolts followed them seeking to annihilate them.

'Isn't this a bit more powerful than any Lieutenant should have?!' roared Rangiku.

Gin didn't answer. He halted on the rooftop, slowing to a halt and drawing out his blade. 'Shinso, I think its time we used our Bankai.'

'You have bankai?' asked Rangiku.

'Yeah,' said Gin as he pulled back his sword and took a stance, 'achieved it some time ago.'

'We were planning to wait on unveiling it for the opportune moment.' said Shinso. 'However, we have no further time.'

'Bankai,' said Gin, 'Kamishini no Yari.'

Rangiku didn't exactly understand what happened next. One moment Gin's blade was as short as ever, and then it was longer than she'd ever seen it. It had also impaled Gonrymaru through the chest. For a moment the zanpakto didn't even seem to realize what was happening. He looked down at the blade that had stabbed through him and far beyond into the air. Gripping it with two hands, he gasped. 'You…'

'My bankai enhances my already legendary prowess with my abilities.' said Gin. 'In my shikai my sword can extend to one hundred yards. But in my bankai it extends…' His eyes narrowed to slits and his smile widened. 'Thirteen kilometers.'

'You fool.' said Gonrymaru.

And then Gin screamed as countless lightning bolts descended to strike his sword. They channeled down to surge through him. Gin's blade returned to normal as he hit the ground with a crash. Gonrymaru landed, and Shinso surged towards him, blade in hand. Gonrymaru parried the blow and struck the old man across the face. That sent him to the ground, unconscious.

'Gin!' cried Rangiku, kneeling by him. 'Gin please wake up?!'

'Did you seriously try to attack me, an airborne target, with a mile long sword in the middle of a lightning storm?' asked Gonrymaru as he advanced. 'Your stupidity is indeed convenient. No matter, prepare to die.'

He arose into the air as lightning surged around him. Rangiku threw herself over Gin to shield him, knowing it would be of no use. The lightning shot downwards and Rangiku closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come.

There was a terrible crack of lightning.

Then nothing, for nothing had happened. Rangiku opened her eyes and looked up to see a figure in a Captains Hiyori, with long white hair. He was standing between them and the lightning. In his hands were two released zanpaktos connected by a string. The lightning was pouring into one of them. They glowed more and more. After a long moment, the lightning subsided.

Gonrymaru stared in horror as the other zanpakto was raised.

There was a crack and lightning shot from the second zanpakto. Gonrymaru screamed in agony as his own lightning consumed him. Then his sword fell towards the ground and was caught by Chojiro as he arrived. Her savior turned around and Rangiku beheld his face.

'Captain Ukitake!' said Rangiku in joy.

Ukitake glanced back. 'Sorry I'm late. Sickness and all, you aren't hurt I hope?'

'Gin is.' said Rangiku 'He needs Squad 4.'

'Well, we'd better get him to Captain Unohana.' said Ukitake. 'Chojiro, get Shinso will you.'

Kneeling down, Rangiku and Ukitake picked up Gin and flash stepped away. As they did so Chojiro surged up behind Rangiku. 'Lieutenant Matsumoto, I'd like to apologize for not handling the situation. Unfortunately, I judged that my strength alone would not be sufficient to defeat him. And Captain Ukitake possessed a shikai which was suited to defeating him.'

'What made you so sure you couldn't beat him?' asked Rangiku.

'I am not actually at a Captains level.' said Chojiro. 'Nor will I ever be. I lack the natural power to achieve that lofty rank. However, my zanpakto is far more powerful than I am, when properly utilized. It can call forth storm clouds to enhance its power over lightning. Thus with proper prep work, it can do enormous damage. Once I even scarred Yamamoto's face with it.'

'I believe this is what we call falling victim to one's own success.' mused Ukitake. 'Chojiro has mastered every aspect of that zanpakto. He can call together masses of storm clouds on very short notice. The result was that his zanpakto far too dangerous for him to tackle alone.

'If someone else were to somehow gain access to Chojiro's bankai, of course, it would be a different story. Their inexperienced hands would be completely incapable of wielding it properly.'

They came to a halt near Squad 4 and found Unohana tending to Kaien Shiba. Ukitake landed. 'Hello Unohana, we have another one for you to minister too I'm afraid.'

'At the rate, people get themselves injured, sometimes I despair of ever having a quiet moment.' reflected Unohana sadly, making her way over to Gin and looking over him. 'He'll be fine, he just needs a bit of healing kido, and rest.'

Rangiku looked at Kaien. 'When did Lieutenant Shiba get here? I thought he'd been captured.'

'Oh he was,' said Unohana, 'however I approached the nice young lady on the other side. I politely requested she hand him over to me for medical treatment. She was quite reasonable.'

'Ah,' said Rangiku. She remembered rumors of how terrifying Unohana could be when asking nicely. 'what about Captain Shiba? He got hit, and I didn't see him anywhere?'

'I have people looking for him right now.' Unohana assured her. 'Don't worry, I'm sure he's alright.'

Isshin Shiba opened his eyes to see a pale version of himself looking down on him with a smirk. Groaning, he got up. 'Engetsu…'

'So, Isshin,' said Engetsu, 'how did that whole picking a fight with the 1st Lieutenant's zanpakto thing work out for ya?'

'Shut up…' said Isshin, clutching his head as he stood up. 'How the hell was I supposed to know he could annihilate whole city blocks?'

'Well, you could have been less of a moron about it.' said Engetsu.

'That's what you always say!' said Isshin, picking up his sword. 'So are we gonna fight or what?'

'I guess we might as well.' said Engetsu, drawing his own pure white blade. 'Seems like all the cool kids are dueling their soul partners so we should run with the trend y'know.'

Their blades locked and they unleashed a flurry of blows on each other. Again and again, their swords clashed, with neither able to prove the victor. Both leaped back and summoned their power in unison.

'Getsuga…' said Isshin and Engetsu at once. 'TENSHO!'

Black and white waves surged towards each other and met in a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, they were both still standing. Isshin looked at his zanpakto. 'So why did you break with me anyway?'

'I dunno,' said Engetsu, 'bored.'

'Your kidding?' said Isshin.

'What is boredom not a good enough reason to do something?' asked Engetsu. 'We don't have a goal. We've already achieved everything which can be expected of us. We're Captains, and our Lieutenant has tits the size of our head.

'Lemme ask you something Isshin, where do you see yourself a hundred years from now?'

'I dunno..' admitted Isshin. 'I mean as a noble I guess I ought to find some arranged marriage or something. Have kids to continue the bloodline. But if the Kuchiki's are getting away with marrying for love, I don't see why I can't.'

'So you want to get married?' asked Engetsu.

'No,' said Isshin, 'I mean yes. I don't know.'

'Ever think about Rangiku?' asked Engetsu. 'I mean she is one hell of a looker, and she's got the power. Your kids would probably be real strong.'

'Look I know most people would p call me gay for this,' said Isshin 'I mean even the girls want her. But I'm not interested in Rangiku in that way. I mean she's easy on the eyes, but she'd laugh at me. Besides I'm pretty sure she's into that smiling Gin creep.

'Didn't they used to be old friends in the Rukongai.'

'Apparently,' mused Engetsu, 'look I'm really not in the mood for a showdown right now. This doesn't seem like the kind of question you find the answer to overnight. So why don't we just call it quits and head over to Squad 10. Then get some nachos or something.'

'You mean after we finish defeating the evil zanpakto invasion, right?' asked Isshin.

'I know what I said.' said Engetsu.

'Look, let's go kill this Muramasa guy and get things over with.' said Isshin.

'Sounds fun.' said Engetsu.

Then they flash stepped away.

Aizen had been reviewing his options. Finding Tosen was obviously the best way to ensure he could defeat Kyoka Suigetsu. But even then he had to have a fallback plan. So he reviewed the weakness which the sword possessed. They were weaknesses which he had never discussed with a single living soul.

Kyoka Suigetsu's complete hypnosis was very powerful. But the more people he was affecting with it at once, the more it cost his reishi to use. Fortunately, Aizen had improved himself to the point where he had more than enough for it. However, there was another weakness. If someone did not trust you, or worse, was aware of his abilities, then the reishi cost would be increased. It also took a great deal of mental effort to use it, which meant he couldn't fight at his best while using it.

This was why Aizen had never simply used his complete hypnosis to kill everyone who opposed him. He could not have kept up a convincing illusion for that long. Which brought him to the only surefire way to stop his complete hypnosis. To grab the blade before it was released.

Too late for that, Aizen had already been affected. And this was why Sosuke Aizen was currently wearing a blindfold. He was navigating by sense through the Seretei. No doubt he looked somewhat silly. But his complete hypnosis was powerless to confuse one sensing spiritual pressure. That was why Tosen was so important. The man had never seen a day in his life, so his senses were good enough to find Kyoka Suigetsu.

He sensed Tosen and Kommamura nearby and flash stepped to them.

'Captain Aizen,' said Kommamura, 'why are you wearing a blindfold?'

'A zanpakto blasted me with a light-based technique.' said Aizen. 'I'm not supposed to take this off until my eyes have recovered. A bit silly isn't it?'

'I wear masks all the time.' said Kommamura. 'So I will not judge you.'

'Aizen,' said Tosen, 'is there something we can help you with?'

'Yes Kaname,' said Aizen, 'I was looking for my zanpakto. I was wondering if you might help me in seeking it.'

'I am certain I can be of some assistance.' said Tosen.

'I will help as well.' said Kommamura.

'Actually,' said Aizen, 'there is a problem. My Lieutenant Gin has disappeared, I was wondering if you might be able to find him for me. I don't have time to look for him now, but it would set my mind at ease if I knew his whereabouts.'

'Very well.' said Sajin. 'Good luck to both of you.'

Then he flash stepped away. Aizen and Tosen remained silent for a long time.

'Lord Aizen is this part of your plan-'

'No.' admitted Aizen with a laugh. 'No it is not. But don't tell anyone.'

Authors Note:

Okay, so this is my reason why Ichigo was able to punch out Chojiro. His zanpakto is super broken, but he himself is only around the level of a Lieutenant.

As for the whole thing with Engetsu, I just sort of played it by ear.

Enjoy!