THE SILENT PROTECTOR
CHAPTER 3
Previously in The Silent Protector
Wanting to get the fight over with as soon as possible, Kioshi released his Shikai as soon as he regained his footing. Pointing his Zanpakutō towards the sky, he locked eyes with his opponent. While moving the tip of his blade in a figure eight motion, he called out, "Bite and Strangle Hebinoō."
On to the Story
As Kioshi moved the tip of his Zanpakutō in a figure eight motion, he was covered in an eerie green light. The blade started to change shape. It went from a normal katana to a bull whip made of a snake. The whip was covered in black and white metallic scales and ended in a snakes head. It had bright green eyes and a purple forked tongue.
"What a nice and well-defined Shikai you have, Kioshi. Since I have seen yours, it's only fair you get to see mine. Unlike most Zanpakutō, my Shikai does not have a certain position I have to hold my blade in to release it. My Bankai is the same way, but I doubt we will get that far."
"I came here to kill you, not to have a conversation. Now release your sword or perish!"
"Very well. Destroy, Bakuhatsu no Masuta!"
Unlike Kioshi's Shikai, the captain of squad 11's shikai was very unimpressive. It changed from a standard katana to a black and white Japanese long sword which was twice as wide and double-edged.
"Huh, I'm actually surprised that the great Kenpachi's release is so bland," said Kioshi in hopes of angering the captain enough for him to use his Shikai's ability.
Partially succeeding, Futsunushi let out an angry roar and charged Kioshi.
Disappointed, Kioshi grabbed a section of his whip-like Zanpakutō and pulled it tight in front of him in order to block his opponent's strike and to get Futsunushi close enough to knee him in the gut.
Futsunushi ended up taking the hit, and he was forced to jump back unless he wanted to get head-butted by Kioshi as well. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he was forced to dodge Kioshi's incoming whip-like Zanpakutō.
Over and over, Kioshi attempted to strike the mighty captain with his whip-like Zanpakutō. Each time, the great Kenpachi was forced back.
Finally getting tired of being pushed back, the 11th squad's captain used Shunpo to get behind Kioshi. The Kenpachi then used his Zanpakutō's special ability to launch multiple combat knives at Kioshi with a single slash of his sword.
Kioshi turned and tried to knock the incoming projectiles onto a different path. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on who you were rooting for, this made the blades to detonate, kicking up dirt and rocks and causing Kioshi to be hidden from view.
All of a sudden, a bright red ball of energy known as Hadō number 31: Shakkahō burst through the dust cloud, blowing it away at incredibly high speeds.
The Kenpachi managed to twist himself out of the way of the incoming Kidō attack just in time for it to barely miss his face. As soon as the Hadō passed by him, he launched another barrage of explosive knives.
Having learned his lesson the first time regarding this technique, Kioshi used Bakudō number 81: Danku to negate the attack instead of blocking the blades or trying to change their course.
The Head-Captain showed up just after the 7th Kenpachi launched his attack. He was making a move to draw his Zanpakutō when he felt the hand of the 11th division's lieutenant on his shoulder.
"Head-Captain, I know he is your brother but he entered this fight under his own free will. If you interfere you will not only be stomping on the laws of the Gotei 13 but also on your brother's bride and his fallen wife's honor."
-FLASHBACK-
(1045 YEARS AGO)
(Genryūsai's POV)
It was just over 1000 years ago. We (Kioshi and I) had finally established a military force and a ruling government. The districts were finally being policed and peace for the afterlife was becoming a possibility.
My brother, a small group of men, and I were patrolling one of the most crime-filled areas in the Rukongai. It was strange. There was blood everywhere, but no bodies could be found. There was no stench from decomposing corpses nor was there a blood trail to follow. This had us all on edge.
All of a sudden, one of the men took off down a dark alley. Once he was in the shadows, we lost sight of him. While we couldn't see him, we could hear him. He was screaming in agony. You could hear the sound of something metallic slicing through flesh, and finally, there was silence.
Once the shadows retreated, we were able to see a man standing an inch above the ground. Below him was a pool of blood. It was all that remained of the man who ran into the shadows.
One of the men we had gone on patrol with was the dead man's brother. With an almighty scream, he charged at the one who had killed his brother.
The rest of us made a move to stop him, but with a snap of my brother's fingers, we were all held in place by ropes of fire. Strangely enough, the flames didn't burn us at all.
"Brother, what is the meaning of this?!"
"If we were to step in now, what would become of his pride? Even if we were successful in saving his life, the cost of such actions would be the death of his pride permanently."
"Brother, this makes no sense. What good is pride if you're dead?"
"Listen up and remember these words. There are two kinds of battles, and those of us who have chosen to be warriors and fight those battles must always know the difference between the two. There are battles that are fought to protect lives, and there are battles that are fought to defend honor. Right now, he is fighting with all his heart and soul to defend honor. That of the men and women who have died, his own honor, and above all his brothers honor."
"That was a very well…"
-END OF FLASHBACK-
"…spoken argument. I will not intervene, but I will not leave either."
"Thank you, sir. Why don't you sit with me and watch the fight."
"I do believe I will."
After five more minutes of kidō blasts, sword strikes, and shikai special abilities, Futsunushi had finally had enough. "That's it! You, lieutenant, are about to learn what true power is! Bankai! Okina Kibaku Sōchi!"
The release of a captain's Bankai is not to be taken lightly. It is the pinnacle of a soul reaper's strength. The amount of spirit energy released has been known to make seated officers faint and cause gale force winds. This Bankai was no exception.
His Bankai took the shape of two Japanese long swords. Just above the guard and ending at the middle of the blade were spikes coming out at odd angles.
Kioshi knew he had to make his move soon or this fight would be over before it even got started. He saw his chance after Captain Inuzuri released his Bankai. The fool was basking in his own power, and he allowed it to distract him for a second. Luckily, a second was all Kioshi needed. He sheathed his blade before shunpoing behind his opponent, where he unsheathed his blade and delivered a deep, vertical slash down the captain's back.
"Aaagh! What the hell was that?" shouted the wounded captain.
"That, dear captain, was the beginning of the end," said Kioshi as he walked from behind the captain to stand in front of him.
"You think you've won just because you got one lucky strike in? How naive. Now watch as I… Why can't I move!?"
"The inside of my sheath is coated in a neurotoxin derived from Hebinoō's venom. You are paralyzed. Now, captain, you are about to learn what true power is!"
Kioshi stabbed his zanpakutō into the ground and shouted, "Bankai!" A bolt of black spirit energy shot out of the hilt towards the sky. Once the bolt of energy reached a height of about fifty feet above Kioshi's head it appeared to strike something and flatten out. The edges of the now circle of spirit energy started racing down towards the ground. The energy struck the ground creating a perfect black dome trapping everything in a fifteen foot radius.
Inside the dome where Kioshi and the still paralyzed captain were standing wasn't completely dark like one would believe. No, the dome was illuminated in a sickly neon green light coming from Kioshi's zanpakutō.
Then, as if on some unseen cue, the blade disintegrated and turned into a dense, low-lying fog. Kioshi then grasped the hilt that was unexplainably floating in mid-air where Kioshi had stabbed his sealed blade into the ground. He swung his arm out so that his foot and hand made a 90 degree angle. He then called out the name of his magnificent Bankai, "Hebinoō no Keimusho." After he said this, a small portion of the fog rushed towards the hilt, solidifying into a katana that looked almost exactly like Hebinoō's sealed form except the blade was the same color as the fog.
"Behold my Bankai. You will be the first to fall before its mighty power. You should feel honored."
"Fuck you, Kioshi!"
"You, Squad 11 Captain, 7th Kenpachi, Futsunushi Inuzuri are hereby charged with the murder of Lieutenant Shizu Mamoru and are sentenced to death by zanpakutō. Datsugoku!"
After Kioshi said that word the dome that had been surrounding them vanished and the green fog dissipated.
Sensing his impending death, the captain pushed his spirit energy through his veins, driving the venom out of his blood stream through the wound on his back. As soon as he had broken through the hold the venom had on his body, the 7th Kenpachi rushed at Kioshi with his zanpakutō raised, intending to cut Kioshi from his right shoulder to his left hip.
Using his superior speed to his advantage, Kioshi waved his sword in front of him, creating a wall of vaporized snake venom similar to Danku.
As soon as Futsunushi's Bankai made contact with the wall of venom, it exploded outwards to the captain, severely injuring and poisoning the mighty captain again.
"How sad. Injured by your Bankai's own special ability. I am well aware your Bankai causes whatever it cuts to explode. Why do you think I paralyzed you?"
"Jikkō." Once Kioshi uttered this word the blade of his Bankai vaporized and floated up into the air joining the cloud that was once the fog inside the dome. A second later the cloud reformed into thousands of swords. Kioshi raised the hilt of his zanpakutō to the sky and swung it down. Doing that caused the thousands of blades in the air to come crashing down to the ground, most of them impaling the injured and immobilized Futsunushi Inuzuri.
Coughing up blood, the proud captain's Bankai disappeared, signifying that he was near death.
"Do you have any last words, you murderous piece of filth?"
"I'm…sorry," came the reply between coughing fits.
Kioshi let out a sigh before speaking again. "Your apology doesn't absolve you of your sins, but it does grant you a warrior's death." Closing his eyes, raising his arm above his head, pointing his middle and index fingers up and concentrating, Kioshi said, "The oozing crest of corruption. The arrogant vessel of lunacy! Deny the seething urge…Stun and flicker…Disrupt sleep! The crawling queen of iron! The eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Feel the earth and know your own impotence! Hadō #90 Kurohitsugi!" While Kioshi had been chanting the incantation for one of the most powerful kidō spells in existence, his body was outlined in black spirit energy. Clouds gathered and darkened cutting off most of the sunlight in the area. Then once he had finished, a massive black box materialized on top of Captain Inuzuri with several spear like objects puncturing the box and, without a doubt, the Kenpachi inside.
When the black coffin finally disappeared, Kioshi got a glimpse of the captain giving him a thankful smile before his body collapsed into dust.