Hello.

Chapter 14:

There they were. Outside the gates of what is known Seireitei. They stood a good distance away from the gate, seeing that they couldn't actually see if there was a gate keeper or not. Uryū had the very obvious feeling that there was one, just to annoy them. The group began to move as one in complete silence. The Quincy was rather adept at sensing Reiatsu but his senses were dulled just a bit when around Ichigo.

His reiatsu was insane. It was higher than the time they fought off the hollows. But it also felt weird, a though that there was another being living inside of him. Uryū stared at him for a moment before he turned his attention to Ash and Tōshirō, whom both seemed to be monstrous in their own rights. He had seen first hand what those two can do in battle and he happened to over hear that they only got stronger since that period.

Uryū was baffled. He tried to sense at least at least a minute portion of Tōshirō's power but felt absolutely nothing at all. Almost as though he wasn't there, same went for Ash. The power to mask one's presence is truly a frightening ability.

They neared the wall, where they were met by a gargantuan man. He seemed to not notice them at first which gave Ash the idea to just sneak around him but, of course Ichigo would have to open his big mouth and give away their position.

"Oi." The orange haired teen said calmly. "Open the gate."

The giant only now noticed the weird group of individuals at his feet and seemed to chuckle at the boys request. "Haha! Do you know who I am boy?" Ichigo nodded slowly. "I am called Jidanbō! I am the gate keeper of the west gate. Have some respect."

"So I take it you won't open the gate then?" Ichigo questioned. Tōshirō noticed that Ichigo had begun picking up some of he and Ash's habits. This may or may not be a good thing.

"You seem all to calm boy. You have to beat me in battle of you want this gate opened. Now which one will it be?" Jidanbō asked with a cocky grin. He scanned all the faces and his eyes stopped on Ash for a second…'he looks like…-'

"Me." Ichigo said as he stepped forward. He gripped the girl of his massive sword and raised it high in the air, making the tape wrapped the sword fly off. Jidanbō quickly brought his giant axe into view and raised it high in the air as well.

Ichigo jumped at the giant and Jidanbō swung his axe downwards. Their weapons met with the sound of thunder and pieces of metal flew off in random directions. One flew quickly at Orihime's neck. It was blocked by Uryū, who seemed to just teleport in front of her. Yoruichi noticed the boys speed and stared at him for a few seconds; analyzing him. 'Wow.' She thought, 'these kids have some serious power to them.' She then looked at Ichigo. 'He broke that axe with just one powerful swing. This may actually go smoothly.'

Her thoughts were interrupted however by the sound of Jidanbō opening the massive gate which surrounded the Gotei 13. She opened her reiatsu senses and was horrified at the first person she sensed. Her tiny cat eyes widened and just as she went to voice her concerns, he appeared.

"My, my." The man said, his voice calm but mocking. "What do we have here? Intruders?"

Everyone turned to the source of the voice. The first thing anyone noticed was the long, sleeveless "haori" as Yoruichi called it. Tōshirō's eyes narrowed on the man. He was taller than most, and his hair was stark silver. He seemed almost ill with his thin he was. His face was ominously cheerful; him wearing a seemingly permanent grin. His eyes were unreadable as they were narrowed to slits themselves.

"Kita! Hitsugaya! Kurosaki!" Yoruichi yelled. "Retreat, that's the captain of the Third Division!"

"Kita?" The man said in confusion. He looked around for a few moments before his eyes stopped on Ash. "Oh this is most interesting. My, my. Where are my manners?" The man said with his grin growing more sinister by the moment.

"I am Gin Ichimaru." Gin said as he withdrew his sword. "And Shoot to kill! Shinsō."

Without any indication, his sword shot forward towards the group at blinding speed. Tōshirō was the first to react, him using his Reiatsu to move everyone out of the immediate area. He himself simply shunpoed out of the way and allowed the blade to shoot past him. Gin's grin faltered imperceptibly and he quickly retracted his blade. Then it got cold…

"Reign over the frosted heavens! Hyōrinmaru." He exclaimed. He then shot a massive ice dragon at Ichimaru, with its size being comparable to a small bus. Gin stood unmoving for a moment before simply pointing his sword at the beast and focusing his reiatsu into its tip. The ice grinded against the steel for a moment before the dragon shattered.

"Retreat!" Yoruichi yelled. The whole group then began to run in the direction of the Rukongai, but suddenly Gin appeared next to Tōshirō. The white haired teen scowled and blocked a powerful swing from the captain, with his arms vibrating from the sheer force. Ichimaru and Hitsugaya locked eyes are a brief instance before, the teen summoned another ice dragon at the captain. This was was much smaller than the first but it's speed was nearly doubled.

Gin easily parried the attack and once again aimed his sword at the direction they were just standing in, only to see the closing gate. His sky blue eyes met Tōshirō's turquoise orbs a mere second before the gate fell.

Now, Gin stood completely emotionlessly in silence, quietly contemplating what had just happened. 'My, what a troublesome boy.' He thought. Slowly his grin returned and he turned to walk away; paying the gate one last glance, 'I'll be waiting for round two Hitsugaya.'

-Outside the Gotei's wall-

"What the fuck was that?!" Ichigo swore. "That guy's power is insane!"

No one said anything for the second it took for them to head in another direction. "…he was holding back, big time." Tōshirō finally said. "When we clashed, I saw the look in his eye. He was toying with me…" The white-haired teen said with immense anger dripping from his being.

'Figures.' The cat thought. 'There would be no way for him to hold his own against Gin at this level.'

"Don't worry Tōshirō-san. I'm sure you'll get another chance to fight him." Orihime said cheerfully. Chad said nothing but gave a quick nod.

"Don't worry. I fully intend to have a second round." Hitsugaya said with malicious intent clear in his voice. Everyone sweat dropped lightly to the scene before Ash stepped forward and cleared his throat, "So? How do we get in?" He asked, with a tone that sounded as though he were tired.

"I know just the place." All eyes fell on the cat.

-Shiba Estate-

"Yoruichi!" A robust women called out. "It's been a long ass time!"

"Kukakū!" Yoruichi said in her human form. "Yes it has, how you been?" She questioned cheerfully.

"Meh, same old. Trying to keep this restaurant running." Kukakū said with a sigh of annoyance. Only then did she notice the sizable group behind the tan-skinned former captain. She stared at them for a brief moment with an expressionless face before sighing. "Table for 7, I assume?"

Yoruichi chuckled. "No, we simply need to use the cannon."

"Oh. You're finally taking revenge on the Gotei? About time." Kukakū said enthusiastically.

The beautiful woman chuckled once more. "No no, we're here to save a friend…" She said vaguely, motioning her hand to add emphasis.

"Oh. Is it that Kuchiki girl? I figured someone would see through the old man's bullshit."

"Gramps doesn't make decisions like that. If he wanted to kill her, she wouldn't have made it here in one piece." Kukakū chuckled but she knew this grizzly truth.

"So this goes deeper than even old man Genocide."

"Much.."

"Well we shall talk more about this later, but for now I'll get the cannon ready." With those words, Kukakū walked away, leaving her guests in the care of her servants.

-A few moments later-

The "Rescue Rukia" team had now been fully locked and loaded inside. Yoruichi had fully informed them about what they would be.

The plan is since Ichigo, Tōshirō and Ash are all powerful enough for even mid to high level lieutenant, they would go alone. She was fairly confident that they would be able to hold their own against a captain but she had her major doubts. She would accompany the rest until a certain point. The Quincy, Uryū, he had promise. She woul have to wait until he took down at least a third seat for her to leave him by himself. She figured that Ash and Tōshirō would have enough sense to locate someone to direct them around.

Ichigo's charisma alone my be enough to get him by. As they shot up and the rocket met its apex, she glanced around. "Now!" She yelled. Ash, Tōshirō and Ichigo all jumped out; each heading in their own directions. As they fell, Yoruichi informed them to use their reiatsu as somewhat of a parachute to slow them down. As if on cue, each boy let his reiatsu surround him, giving the appearances of a black, white and blue comet respectively.

One thought was on Tōshirō's mind as he heard the sirens below and as he neared the ground.

'Well, no turning back now!'

A/N: Sorry for the long wait but as most of you know of or experienced before, being a senior in high school takes up a lot of time. :/ Sorry for the delay.