Chapter 39: Enemy at the Gates (Shattered Illusion)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Inner spirit speech'
'Inner hollow/Zanpakuto speech'
xxx
"Because of Kurosaki, we are now aware of the new kind of security measure Gotei is using to protect Seireitei. Yet it stands to reason that it is used only there and not in the entirety of Soul Society since that would be, from the energy point of view, nigh impossible to construct and sustain. Therefore, group one will advance through Garganta and land on the border between Rukongai and Seireitei, where you'll press the attack on Seireitei walls. Still, I expect them to be at least alerted and ready for you, so with that in mind, I only expect you to keep them occupied for as long as you can, using any action you deem doable." Aizen stated as he stared at the complete gathering of Espada, Gin, Tōsen, and Ichigo at the same time.
"Expect great resistance. An attack on the Seireitei using a might like this will provoke them and force them to use their strongest combatants. Do everything in your power to keep them there but try not to die. Death can claim you only in the final battle and that is still days away." The man said and, with great expectations, glanced at Ulquiorra.
"Ulquiorra, you will keep an eye on the whole situation. I trust your judgment when to push harder and when to retreat. Aside from you, your group will consist of Nnoitra, Grimmjow, Zommari, Yammy, Kurosaki as well as a horde of Menos Grande. Do not disappoint me."
Ulquiorra nodded and the man transferred his attention to Ichigo.
"Kurosaki, you will lead the strike." Aizen said, earning more than a handful of surprised stares. Ichigo, on the hand, stared at him in shock.
"What? Me?"
"Yes. I have my reasons for this decision and I expect each of you to treat Kurosaki as you would treat me. Still, I am aware of your inexperience in waging warfare and so Ulquiorra will take care of commanding Menos Grande. You will be a sort of… threatening figure."
Recalling those words alone made Ichigo's skin crawl. It's been almost an hour since he had heard them and the anxiety in his stomach was yet to disappear. He, along with five other members of Espada, as well as a gigantic hollow known as Hooleer, stood in front of a large Garganta gate that was supposed to take them straight in Soul Society.
Ichigo tried to calm his emotions. Sure, he worried about his life but the more worrying thing was that Aizen wouldn't be joining them. Instead, he and the rest of the Espada, as well as Gin and Tōsen, were going to the Human World. For what, Ichigo didn't know. A thought of complete annihilation had come to his mind but he threw it away. Aizen himself had stated this was not the final part of the plan, so destruction was still days away. At the same time, not knowing the man's whole plan was something he knew he couldn't brush off.
Hence, the anxiety squeezing his innards like a hand crushing a lemon in an attempt to rid it of its juice.
A signal appeared high above him. His hands formed fists, his muscles stiffened and his whole posture froze. With a clenched jaw, he took a deep breath and forced his body to respond to his commands.
"Go." He said. It was neither an order nor a request, yet the group moved. Walking in silence, they all entered the gate.
Only to appear about one hundred yards in front of the sturdy wall that surrounded the entirety of Seireitei. Loud, sharp noise was reverberating across the center of the Soul Society. An alarm. The Gotei 13 already knew about their presence. Which meant there was no point in keeping quiet.
"Hooleer!"
The gigantic hollow stood behind them, still within Garganta space with only his head poking through. On the verbal command, the hollow lowered itself to the point where its large mouth hovered only several dozen feet above the ground. Then, the mouth opened and Ichigo smelled death.
Like a waterfall of darkness, dozens of Menos Grande spawned from a black goo pouring from Hooleer's mouth, making Ichigo's eyes go wide with surprise. He did not expect the horde of Menos Grande to appear in such terrifying fashion.
"MENOS!"
The yell of a single Shinigami carried across the area like a trigger for the inactivity of the assailants and they all sprang into action. Moving faster than he had ever seen them, the mass of Menos slid towards the walls of Seireitei with their mouth opening. Balls of red light formed in front of them.
"CERO!"
The same voice exclaimed in fear so great, it actually made Ichigo gulp. However, there was nothing he could do.
More than three dozen blasts of red energy came raining down on the wall in front of them, each intent on testing just how sturdy the construct was. A vast multitude of explosions created a shockwave that prevented Ichigo and the rest of the assailants from advancing. He stared at the aftermath with nervous eyes. When the smoke and flying debris cleared, he shivered.
The wall endured but not without sustaining damage. Despite being made from Sekkiseki mineral, the concentrated power of so many Cero littered the wall with deep gashes and abrasions. Large chunks of the wall had been gouged out and smashed into smithereens. Still, the wall held, proud and unbroken.
The horde of Menos began to form a second wave of Cero. Primitive in intelligence, Menos Grande seemed convinced that if something didn't budge with force, it just meant there wasn't enough of it.
They fired.
When the smoke cleared, it would have seemed nothing much changed. Though the wall sustained even more damage, it still held. However, there was a certain and noticeable difference.
Positioned outside of the wall, about fifty yards away from the group of assailants, stood a whole squadron of Shinigami. Regular officers and Captains alike.
"You made a big mistake coming here, hollows!" Leading the group was just the person Ichigo was itching to see.
The Captain of the 2nd Division.
Sui-Feng.
"Like hell it was a mistake! It finally gives me a reason to let fucking loose! Come on! Show me who's the strongest!"
A pillar of spiritual energy visible from afar rose from the person standing next to her. It was Kenpachi. Shifting on Ichigo's left, Nnoitra reached for his sword.
"That one is mine."
From behind Kenpachi, a large anthropomorphic figure of the Captain of the 7th Division, Komamura, stepped to the side.
"For Genryūsai-dono, we will protect the peace. For the sake of Soul Society, I must strike you down."
It was Zommari who reacted to that.
"I shall slay him for Aizen-sama."
Growling softly, Grimmjow nodded towards Sui-Feng.
"The bitch is mine."
Ichigo's mouth twitched in annoyance but he knew better than to try and convince the aggressive Arrancar. His heart fell when he noticed another Captain coming into his sight. Byakuya.
"Geh, I guess that leaves me with that stuck-up looking shit." Yammy muttered.
Ichigo glanced at Ulquiorra. The Quatro Espada gave no indication he noticed the gaze but spoke nevertheless.
"I will command the Menos Grande as per Aizen-sama's orders. I will also keep an eye on the situation."
One by one, Ichigo's comrades in arms chose their opponents from the group that once had been Ichigo's own. He remained as the only one without an enemy. But that changed when the temperature in the area suddenly dropped and a child-like Captain with white hair, Toshiro, came crashing down in front of Sui-Feng with a grimace full of rage covering his face. While staring straight into Ichigo's eyes, the small Captain shouted.
"AIZEN! I WILL KILL YOU!"
Ichigo blinked in surprise.
'Huh?'
…
It was like a short shot from a movie when the protagonist sees the world around him slowing down in an attempt to show the audience just how dramatic the sequence should be. Ichigo considered himself to be more of a book fan but he never outright rejected watching movies and so the idea behind such shots wasn't completely lost on him. However, he had never thought something like that could possibly happen in the real world as well. Maybe it was the anxiety in his stomach reaching its critical point or maybe it was a large amount of adrenaline pumping within his body but he swore the world around him slowed down. Funny thing was, it wasn't the first time he remembered experiencing it.
That he was being attacked wasn't something new to him. In fact, he was almost getting used to it. Even if the one rushing towards him was a Captain of the Gotei 13, he had faced strong adversaries before and so he had no idea what was happening to him. Then it hit him.
It was the name the small Captain shouted while looking at him that floored him enough to force his brain to come to a screeching halt.
"What?!" He managed to exclaim before his battle instinct took over and he swung his zanpakuto down to block the incoming strike. While doing so, he muttered the release phrase and entered Shikai. He did want to conserve as much strength as he could but fighting against Captains of the Gotei 13 in his base form was like asking for a swift death.
Their blades clashed.
"Captain Hitsugaya! Control yourself!" Somebody shouted though Ichigo didn't know who. He was way too busy fending off what seemed to be a spirit of wrath itself. The white-haired genius was swinging his zanpakuto at a speed that forced Ichigo to slowly back away.
Each strike was powerful and rattled his arms but, thankfully, rage made Toshiro predictable. But Ichigo's relief was short-lived. As soon as it became obvious he wasn't having trouble preventing the young Captain from injuring him, the air around them started to turn even colder. Ice seemed to sprout all over the Captain's zanpakuto.
"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyōrinmaru!"
A stream of ice shaped like a dragon came into existence by swirling around the sword and, with a mighty swing, it shot at Ichigo with startling precision. Ichigo tried to move out of the way but the dragon trailed after him.
'Like a guided missile, huh?'
Having no other option but to defend himself, he waited until the dragon was right on top of him and then brought down his large sword down. Like a piece of blazing iron, his zanpakuto cleaved the dragon in the halves and shattered the ice into tiny particles. With his Pesquisa turned on, he sensed a sneaky attempt at his backside while, at the same time, the Captain appeared on his right side with his zanpakuto already moving to bisect him.
Nimbly, Ichigo bent his knees, pushed all of his weight into the soles of his feet and then leaped in the air, smoothly evading both attempts at his body. In the air, he noticed the one who tried to be sneaky, was the Vice-Captain of Ichigo's Division, Hisagi.
"Should have known it was you." Ichigo stated.
Then he frowned. So far, nobody commented on his presence on the battlefield. While he had no delusions of grandeur, he had thought the sight of him would have triggered at least some of the reaction from the Gotei 13. Yet there was none.
It was confusing.
"Stay back! Aizen's mine!" Toshiro screamed and released another ice dragon at Ichigo, though this one was a lot bigger. It made Ichigo narrow his eyes. While he contemplated his next move, he heard somebody shouting.
"No! Follow the plan! If that really is Aizen, you stand no chance!"
Before he registered the words, Ichigo finalized his plan and raised his hand towards the approaching dragon. An orb of yellow cackling energy formed in his palm.
"Hadō #63. Raikōhō!"
A massive concentration of energy in form of lightning strike shot from his hand and crashed into the ice dragon with animal ferocity. The ice construct lasted exactly a second before shattering, a fact that allowed the Kido spell to continue shooting down. The energy decimated a small area right below Ichigo with enough power to force every nearby combatant, sans for Ichigo, to move away. Only then he realized the contents of the shout.
For an instant, he froze in shock. It was less than a second, but it was also enough for something to hit him in the abdomen. Looking down, he saw a small cloud of ash pushing into him. It knocked him further in the air and tore through his clothes but his Hierro blocked most of the damage. He escaped with only small scratches.
'They… think I'm Aizen?' He thought in bewilderment. His eyes widening, he instantly turned his head to look at Ulquiorra.
The Arrancar stood at a distance but Ichigo's sight was good enough to see Ulquiorra looking back at him with his usual impassive expression. However, he swore he could see something else, a hint of emotion written all over the pale Arrancar's face.
Numbly, Ichigo smashed another ice dragon and evaded subsequent slices of zanpakuto when the realization dawned on him.
'Aizen… that bastard is making them see him instead of me. But, when? And, more importantly, why? Even more, how is he doing it? He's in completely different location! Does the ability of his zanpakuto have no limit?'
A growl of anger escaped his mouth and, when he saw not just Toshiro but also Hisagi and even Rangiku closing in on him from different directions, something in him snapped.
"Wake up you idiots! It's me!"
They continued to move towards him. There was no indication of them hearing him and he growled again.
'They can't hear me…'
With a snarl, he let out a pulse of energy that stopped all three combatants dead in their tracks. Then a volley of Cero passed near him and made the hair on his neck stand up. It looked like Menos Grande were being sliced and diced but the progress was far too slow and the creatures started to shoot their crimson Cero indiscriminately. Few of them exploded on the Seireitei wall. Some of them pushed the group of lower-ranking officers back but some swooped past not just Captains but past the Aizen groups as well.
Simply said, the battle was turning ugly.
For a moment forgetting about the spark of anger within him, Ichigo managed to avoid a flying scythe blade through the passive use of his Pesquisa. However, just as it passed him, the scythe blade shot backward. Cursing, Ichigo shimmered out of existence, only to reappear on the ground, where he had to lean backward in order to avoid a stream of ash. With his back bent, he spotted a large dragon of ice, even larger than before, diving towards him. He quickly straightened his back to move away when a scythe blade circled around him and wrapped him in a tight embrace of thick chain.
"Not good." He muttered and quickly began gathering reiryoku. But before he could gather enough of it, a loud statement behind him made him curse.
"Hadō #11. Tsuzuri Raiden!"
"Shit!"
He knew what was about to happen. First, there was an immobilization, then exposure to pain through electrocution. And just as he thought it, he felt electric current racing across the chain and towards his body. In such situation, there was only one thing he could do but he wasn't allowed to. The stream of ash he had avoided mere moments ago returned in full force but, instead of trying to hit him, it grew in size and slowly spread all around him. A moment later, the cloud of ash swallowed him whole in a deadly tornado.
"I got him, Captain!"
"DIE!"
An ice dragon, several times bigger than Ichigo, rose in front of him. It leaped towards him at the same time as the electric current finally reached his body and at the same time as the tornado of ash began to dig into his hardened skin.
The sparkle of fire within him exploded just as pain entered his being.
"I'M KUROSAKI ICHIGO!"
His mighty roar was accompanied by a wave of tremendous reiatsu that pressed on everything within a hundred yards radius around him. His reiryoku flared up with enough power to turn visible and to blow away the remnants of the ice dragon, the ash tornado and the chain stuck around his body as well. When he was once again visible to everyone, Ichigo stood wheezing in a raspy voice, his face covered with a hollow mask. With small cuts and lacerations littered all over his body, Ichigo's face settled for an enraged grimace.
"It had no effect!"
"Captain!"
The lower part of Ichigo's nose twitched in annoyance as he spat on the ground.
"Oh, it had an effect alright." He mouthed with a clenched jaw.
Then he heard something he knew he didn't want to hear.
"Bankai! Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"
He raised his head in time to see water vapor rising from Toshiro's body as ice seemed to cover his whole zanpakuto, his sword hand, both feet as well as his shoulders, where it erupted to both sides to form large wings and then flow down from the center of his back to form a tail. It was an appearance of a small dragon. A powerful reiatsu seemed to pour out of him.
"Hyōryū Senbi!"
Ichigo watched the Captain swing his sword in a linear direction and ice in form of a crescent shot out of it and straight at Ichigo, who couldn't suppress the twitch of his brow.
'Fine. You leave me no choice.'
Copying Toshiro's movements, Ichigo let out a dense crescent of his own energy in form of Getsuga Tenshō and watched the blast crash into the Captain's technique.
Despite its size, the ice crescent couldn't hold against heavy, compressed blast of pure energy and in under a second, it got obliterated. However, unlike the ice that can melt, the pure energy of Getsuga Tenshō wasn't as easy to stop. It continued moving until it crashed into wide-eyed Toshiro, where it finally lost its structural integrity and detonated.
After a few seconds of complete silence across the whole battlefield, the fact Ichigo hadn't yet noticed, the smoke from the explosion cleared to reveal a panting and slightly bloodied figure. However, the small Captain seemed more in shock than in pain.
"That attack… that's not Aizen's ability. That's…"
The Captain looked up and only then Ichigo realized there was silence all around him. He saw the realization and recognition in Toshiro's eyes as the Captain stared at him at loss for words. A few gasps of shock reverberated across the battlefield.
"Kurosaki?!"
Ichigo's eyes widened.
'The illusion… faded?'
Immediately, his hollow mask turned into spiritual particles and faded from his face. Silence all around him vanished with a snap of a finger and multiple battles restarted with renewed vigor. To Ichigo though, they didn't matter as much as the slowly changing expressions of the three Shinigami in front of him. But before he could identify the emotions in their faces, a woman's voice reverberated across the area.
"Captain Hitsugaya! Switch! Now!"
Ichigo recognized the voice and watched Toshiro jerk in surprise. The small Captain looked towards the owner of the voice, another Captain that was currently in a battle with the Sexta Espada and nodded. In a matter of a single Shunpo, a different opponent stood in front of Ichigo. The two Vice-Captains that had been coordinating their attacks with Toshiro left to follow after him with angry scowls. That left Ichigo and his new opponent alone.
He stared at the petite Captain of the 2nd Division with an unreadable expression. She met his stare with an unflinching gaze.
She shimmered out of existence. Immediately, Ichigo's hollow mask reformed. Never doubting his opponent's abilities and his own Pesquisa, Ichigo spun around and with a flick of his smaller sword batted away a potentially dangerous strike.
Sui-Feng's brow twitched in surprise but she didn't back down. Instead, she used her momentum to spin around and deliver a kick aimed at his left shoulder. It connected.
Ichigo only grunted in discomfort. Once again, developing his Hierro proved to be an excellent choice and the kick that in the past would have dislocated or potentially even break his shoulder, now only resulted in a brief but intense pressure accompanied with a fair amount of pain. To retaliate, he hit the Captain between her breasts with the pommel of his larger sword and forced her to stumble.
She let out a quiet hiss of pain.
Ichigo noticed her harsh glare only a split-second later. It was followed by an increase of her reiatsu that took the form of bright, condensed reiryoku forming around her hands like blankets of light. Those hands then began to move faster than before and Ichigo narrowed his eyes in an unpleasant surprise. It seemed Sui-Feng was done treating him lightly and kicked it up a notch.
Their arms a flurry of blurs, the two of them exchanged a long series of blows using both their zanpakuto and their limbs before her greater experience rewarded Sui-Feng with a powerful direct punch in Ichigo's sternum that blasted him all the way across the battlefield and between the first buildings of Rukongai. In the last moment before crash-landing, Ichigo managed to bend backward and, using a tap of his hand, flipped himself in the air to land on his feet. As soon as he did so, he lowered himself on one knee and rubbed his chest with a pained grimace.
"You know, weeks ago, that would have most likely pulverized my sternum and turned it into dust." He muttered when an irate Sui-Feng landed in front of him. Hastily glancing behind her, she let out a quiet snort.
"Weeks ago, your reiatsu wasn't like a damned ocean pressing down on my shoulders."
Instead of replying, Ichigo shook his head, exasperated. In return, Sui-Feng adopted a serious posture and stared at him with hard eyes.
"We don't have much time, Kurosaki. Report. What have you found out?"
…
Ulquiorra
The Cuatro Espada prided himself for being in nearly absolute control of his emotions. Memories of his life as a regular Hollow were sparse and the only thing he could recall from them was a total withdrawal from everyone. Solitude and isolation had been his only true companion. As he evolved and began to fill out his empty, missing heart something else began to accompany him on his journey through the afterlife. Melancholy and nihilism. All of those mashed with tiny amounts of different emotions became one central core that truly filled him once he turned into an Arrancar. From that point onwards, he was the one among the Arrancars whom Aizen trusted.
Therefore, acting as his eyes and ears, Ulquiorra had known about the devious scheme of using an illusion to make Kurosaki Ichigo appear as Aizen. The plan had come to an existence for many different reasons.
To test Kurosaki's allegiance.
To confuse Gotei 13 with his appearance in both Soul Society and Human World.
To prevent Kurosaki from making any possible contact with anyone.
To keep Kurosaki's part in the whole thing for a bit longer.
To keep most of Gotei 13 forces occupied with his fake presence.
To make Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya blind with rage.
To list them all would have been too tiresome so Ulquiorra stopped the train of his thoughts. It no longer mattered. For some reason, some unearthly, ungodly reason, the perfect illusion of Kyōka Suigetsu shattered like a mirror and rendered most of the reasons behind it moot. Even if he couldn't perceive the illusion, Ulquiorra knew it was no longer active as soon as he saw the expressions of enemy changing and turning into those of shock. It was then, when Ulquiorra felt, after a long time, an emotion until now alien.
Doubt.
What he doubted, he didn't know. It couldn't have been Aizen. The man was the only thing within Hueco Mundo that was stationary, unmoving and absolute. It was said his illusions, his 'perfect hypnosis', was just that; perfect.
In spite of that, it shattered.
Was it intentional?
Was it just a part of a plan even he, Ulquiorra, didn't know about?
Or was it unintentional and accidental?
Forced by outside force?
Unplanned?
The last word caused him to shiver, albeit slightly. Aizen was nothing short of obsessively meticulous with his plans. For something like this to slip through his keen mind, it was astoundingly worrying.
Then he watched Kurosaki battle the Captain of the 2nd Division, the woman known as the best assassin in the entirety of Soul Society and also the enemy who easily took on Grimmjow, giving him more than just a few deep wounds in the process. Kurosaki got blasted away and out of his sight. Because of his advanced Pesquisa, Ulquiorra knew Kurosaki was not out of commission but, at the same time, he appeared to be in some sort of a stalemate with neither opponent attempting to press the attack.
One could even say they seemed relaxed.
However, before the thought could shift into something solid, a blast of energy swooshed past his ear and forced him to turn his attention back on the battle that wasn't going very well for their side. Fighting in Soul Society, where the air was rather poor in reishi in comparison with Hueco Mundo, didn't allow them to push their limits to their limits. Some of them, like Ulquiorra himself and, surprisingly, Yammy, were doing fairly fine but the other three, Nnoitra, Grimmjow and Zommari were already being forced to their Resurrection. Not to mention the horde of Menos Grande that was slowly, but consistently, being wiped out.
Looking at it realistically, they had at most minutes left before being forced to retreat and Ulquiorra knew it. He deftly evaded another strike and made a decision. With Aizen's illusion down, their mission was already fulfilled. The Gotei 13 knew about it now. There was only one thing they could do.
Three minutes.
Three minutes and they were going to retreat.
…
Back with Ichigo
Ichigo managed to squeeze all of the time he had spent so far in Las Noches into a one-minute report that left Sui-Feng staring at him with a mixture of appreciation and uneasiness. It was a grimace of deep concentration.
"So, yeah, there's still much he hasn't said and I actually have no idea what is it that he wants." Ichigo finally admitted.
The two of them exchanged a series of light blows to keep the appearance and Sui-Feng shook her head.
"That is fine. The note you left on Sōkyoku Hill gave us more than we had hoped. We have suspected Vice-Captain Hinamori Momo right from the start but threw the idea away as too predictable. Once I found your message, we began monitoring her closely and found out enough. It's only thanks to you that we knew Aizen would strike at different locations." She said right after vaulting over him.
"Good. I was worried you wouldn't get it." Ichigo confessed and lazily lowered himself to avoid Sui-Feng's sword passing near his chest.
"After following some clues, we also think we know Aizen's plan, which is to construct an Ōken."
Creasing his brow, Ichigo raised one eyebrow and looked at Sui-Feng questioningly. She quickly continued.
"Ordinary Shinigami don't know about Ōken, so keep it to yourself, Kurosaki. Ōken is also known as King's Key and it… allows the passage to the separate dimension in which Soul King resides. I don't know much more about it, only Captain-Commander does. However, Ōken is something Aizen cannot simply find, therefore the man managed to discover a method that potentially can create a new one. Ōken can be forged with one hundred thousand souls and a Jūreichi, an Important Spirit Ground, with a radius of half a spirit-mile. The current Jūreichi in the Human World is Karakura Town, Kurosaki."
At that, Ichigo stiffened.
"How?"
"We're not exactly sure. The most obvious course of action would be to simply eradicate Karakura Town in some kind of ritual sacrifice but that begs the question of his obsession with Hōgyoku. Does he plan on using it for this purpose or did he simply use it to strengthen his army? Or both? It's hard to say."
When Sui-Feng grew quiet, Ichigo raced his brain to try and come up with an answer but nothing come to his mind. With a frown, he broke the stream of his thoughts and pulled another memory from his mind.
"Whatever it is, it's going to happen soon. Very soon." He muttered. In response, Sui-Feng nodded.
"Yes."
Falling into silence, they continued the charade of fighting for a few seconds before Sui-Feng spoke again.
"Kurosaki… what of Yoruichi-sama?" She asked with a hint of hesitation in her voice, making Ichigo stop moving.
"She's fine. As far as I know, she hasn't been tortured or anything like that. She's just confined in a cell. I did make a contact with her, though."
Sui-Feng stopped moving as well. There was a piercing gaze coming from her eyes and Ichigo had to look away.
"That was incredibly risky, Kurosaki. Does she know?"
Before he could stop himself, Ichigo let out a snort.
"I used the certain favorite phrase around here. I told her I did it for 'the sake of Soul Society'. I think she got the message." He said and glanced back at Sui-Feng, to see her purse her lips and then clench her jaw. A moment later, she shook her head.
"Very well. With this, I think your mission is ov-"
"Bakudō #61. Rikujōkōrō!"
Both Sui-Feng's and Ichigo's eyes bugged out at the sudden exclamation that seemed to have come from nowhere. In a flash, six thin, wide beams of light slammed into Ichigo's midsection. Surprised, Ichigo instantly realized he had just been immobilized. Then, the same voice spoke again but this time, its owner walked from behind a nearby building and in a short distance behind Sui-Feng.
"Hadō #33. Sōkatsui!"
A torrent of blue energy crackled in the air and shot at Ichigo like a wave of blue fire. It crashed into him with enough power to knock the breath out of him. Pain squeezed his body and a pained hiss escaped his mouth.
"No! Kuchiki! What are you doing?!"
Despite the pain, Ichigo heard Sui-Feng's shout and forced himself not to scowl. It was none other than Kuchiki Byakuya who had hit him with the Kido spells.
"What does it look like I'm doing, Captain? I'm disposing of traitorous garbage."
Internally, Ichigo felt like laughing bitterly.
'The price for working undercover. Everyone becomes a potential enemy.'
But he couldn't laugh. Despite his Hierro, the Hadō spell dealt enough damage to his body that it made Ichigo growl in anger.
"I have him under control!"
"You are toying with him. Enough! Same as Aizen, Kurosaki Ichigo is now considered a traitor and he won't go down easily. Scatter, Senbonzakura!"
Thousands of tiny pink sword fragments that looked like petals of a cherry tree flew at Ichigo at frightening speed. Through the pain rocketing his body, Ichigo flared his spiritual energy, broke through the Bakudō spell and jumped away. However, the petals followed after him, leaving him with no other option but to bite through the pain and use Shunpo.
As soon as he landed, he came face to face with a large ice dragon. In the last moment, he tried to Shunpo away, only to find himself surrounded by a tornado of ash. While that wasn't enough to stop him, a chain wrapped around his left calf was.
The ice dragon crashed into him and tried to shred his skin just as much as the ash vortex had been for the past few seconds. Anger and self-preservation instinct bubbled within him. With a snarl, he pushed back against the ice dragon with his larger sword while using the smaller blade to release a Getsuga Tenshō at the chain inches away from his leg.
A second later, with his hollow mask slowly forming on his face, the chain no longer wrapped around his calf, the ash tornado no longer surrounding him and with the ice dragon disappearing in a wave of shattered ice, Ichigo stared at the group of Shinigami in front of him with a murderous glare.
Just as he opened his mouth, a wave of pink petals crashed into him from above. Each fragment was sharp as a zanpakuto and tore through his Hierro even further. Already covered with blood, a large set of cuts and incisions opened in his body and forced even more blood to trickle down his skin.
His patience reached its limit and he roared. Releasing as much spiritual energy as he could, the sea of razor petals was blown away.
"ENOUGH!"
Glaring at the group in front of him with as much rage as he could show in his eyes, Ichigo ignored the blinding pain in his body and took a step forward.
At that moment, an orange translucent barrier rose in front of him. Before he could protest, he felt the pain lessening and a familiar, impassive voice he hated called out to him.
"For the first time, I agree with you, Kurosaki. Enough. We are retreating." Ulquiorra announced from somewhere above him. Ichigo followed the Arrancar's voice until he saw him.
His eyes widened. His expression reset itself and turned into nothing. Ulquiorra was saying something. Others were saying something. Shinigami were most likely saying something back but Ichigo didn't hear any of it. Instead, all of his attention was pointed at two newcomers that stood next to Ulquiorra, within the borders of a newly-created Garganta gate.
Two figures staring right back at him.
Those two he remembered as friends he had had during his life in Human World.
Those two who had been normal high-schoolers the last time he had seen them.
Two girls, that he had known for a long time.
But they were no longer just girls or even human.
They looked like the rest of Aizen's army.
Arrancars.
One of them had her arms outstretched towards him, in what seemed to be an act of keeping up the orange barrier around him. The barrier that was slowly healing him.
There, from next to Ulquiorra, stared at him his former friends.
Orihime Inoue and Tatsuki Arisawa.
A shock of immense proportions assaulted Ichigo's mind, paralyzing him from the tip of his toes to the top of his head like a poison. Cold sweat formed all over his body. He started to hyperventilate. His mind locked itself down.
They stared at him in anger, hate and in something absurd, something that made him shudder.
All too soon, mental and physical exhaustion became too much for him and Ichigo's eyes rolled back into his head.
'No…'
End of Chapter 39.
I'll be brief.
This chapter, packed with action and revelations, marks the beginning of the end of this arc as well as the last test for Ichigo before he can reach a peace of mind. It will be his final but also one of his hardest tests. Pinned in a situation where he's against a master manipulator, Ichigo is way over his head and there's only so much he can do. But he's Ichigo.
He will preserve.
There will be two more chapters in this arc. After those are published, I'm afraid I'll have to take a brief break to deal with real life issues but I can tell you with 100% certainty that it won't be more than a few weeks. Then we'll plunge into the next arc.
For reviewers:
Zionchar11 - right now, it terms of power, Ichigo is just below 4th Espada... but you'll see that soon enough...
Bosma17 - yes. I created about 50 new Kido techniques just for this story, though I doubt even half of them will appear and Ichigo certainly won't learn all of them. His Quincy heritage won't be forgotten as well.
Guest - no. All of them are written in my notepad and will appear as the story progresses.
BrokenLifeCycle - as mentioned above, I have all the abilities for Ichigo already written down. But those are not bad ideas.
blarg7865 - I don't plan on having anyone else join his mindscape.
kaxipoptos - it's been 400k words already? Oh my... also, I plan on explaining the very existence of Hollow later in the story (most likely in the last arc). Bala is a possibility in the future.
The Last Kenpachi - same.
D - yeah, the three of them are all equally insane in their own right.
Well, since this AN is getting too long, I'll stop here. However, I'm thankful for every follow, fav, review and view equally. Thank you.
Next chapter: Chapter 40 - Lunar Dukkha (Fall of the Black Sun) - will be posted on 24/25th of May!