IX. Flames of Fury

"Now, I ain't really good with these intro-speakin' thingies, so let's jus' get started."

Hitsugaya reached for Hyourinmaru that, as far as he could remember, was slung on his back. When his hands reached for it, however, he found nothing. He turned his head a little sideways, just enough for him to see over his shoulder at the side of his eye, and this confirmed his fear. Hyourinmaru was missing.

"Lookin' fer this?"

He turned his head towards the unknown man, and he saw his zanpakuto in the hand of that person. His brows furrowed and his face contorted in deep seriousness. Not good, he thought. The mysterious man clutched his hand that was holding Hyourinmaru, therefore crushing the blade into two shattered pieces. Hitsugaya's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Ya ain't gonna be goin' with dear ol' Hyourinmaru fer now. He's gonna be havin' a li'l break so don't go on disturbin' 'em."

He gritted his teeth. Things were not going well. Without a zanpakuto, his only way of defending himself was with kidou and hakuda. His enemy scratched his head, scoffing at the boy. He took out a zanpakuto from his coat, and flung it at Hitsugaya. The captain caught it, and eyed it curiously. He instantly recognized it as the red zanpakuto that looked very much like Hyourimaru.

"Take that, since ya rely on a zanpakuto too much. Tch. It ain't gonna do ya any good, anyway. A zanpakuto without a name is jus' good fer throwin' away. But if ya wanna last long in this li'l intro of ours, I suggest ya take it."

Hitsugaya eyed the zanpakuto carefully, before pulling it out of its sheath. No choice. Better with a weapon than none at all.

"That's better, boy. Get a li'l closer with yer zanpakuto…" his reiatsu started rising. "Now I suppose we could get started."

The person disappeared in a flash. Hitsugaya peered to see where he might be.

"WHERE THE HELL DO YA THINK ARE YA LOOKIN' AT?! I'M OVER HERE!!!"

He looked up, and saw the red-eyed person crashing down towards him covered in an unbelievable amount of reiatsu. He raised his zanpakuto, securing it with his two hands and blocked an incoming fist from the enemy. The impact caused a crater to form where Hitsugaya stood. The enemy shifted his position quickly, landing on his two feet and tried to land another punch on Hitsugaya, once more being blocked, but causing the boy to fly away with the large amount of force applied in the punch. While in midair, the enemy reappeared on top of the still-startled Hitsugaya, and landed a kick on him. He raised his blade, and blocked the attack, though it still sent him crashing down the ground. He stood up, though he was still shaking with the sheer force used by his enemy. Just a few meters from him stood the man, still burning with reiatsu. The person eyed him cockily and scoffed.

"Ain't ya gonna call on yer zanpakuto already? You're pathetic! Look't yerself! Yer so desp'rate in blockin' my attacks, but even though I can't hit ya directly, ya still take damage from the impact. And ya can't even fight back! The hell with that?!"

"Destructive Art #31: Red Flame Cannon!"

A blast of red energy started ramming towards the blood-eyed male, who didn't even move a muscle. He just scoffed at the sight of the kido cast on him.

"Kido, huh? Don't be so damn ignorant, boy, and show me your zanpakuto's power already!"

He brushed off the red ball with one hand, and instantly charged towards the startled captain with a fist drowning with reiatsu. His target was not able to react in time, and his fist landed on the boy's stomach, causing him to cough blood and be flung away at a good distance, forming a crater where Hitsugaya crashed. He started walking towards the boy slowly, his body releasing vast amounts of reiatsu. Hitsugaya stood, leaning on the unnamed zanpakuto for support. His garments were already torn from the previous attacks he took, and his felt as if he was at his limit already even though he hardly used any of his reiatsu. The single blow he took on the stomach was so powerful he could barely stand and recover. He felt his bones crack upon standing up, and he could hardly support his weight.

"S'that all yer good for? No wonder that Aizen bastard could whip yer li'l ass around. I hate wasting my time on weaklings such as yerself. If ya ain't gonna show me yer zanpakuto's true power, then I'm jus' gonna kill ya already."

He started gathering an unbelievable amount of reiatsu in his palm, taking the form of a small ball of fire. Fire was blasting around them, and he was blazing with extreme levels of energy. The air around them distorted their visions with too much heat. Hitsugaya felt his bones crumble, and he couldn't muster the power to fight with his opponent. He was at the brink of being killed when he suddenly heard a voice ring inside his head.

"Having problems with fighting, huh?"

"Who are you?"

"I feel that you have the need for power right now… and I am willing to give it to you. Just call on me, and I will help you…"

"…you…"

"…call on me from where I come from, and I will come to you."

"Oi! Don't space out on me like that!"

Hitsugaya's eyes started burning with reiatsu, though it was unlike those times he uses Hyourinmaru. This time, his eyes were burning bright red. The man threw the ball of compressed reiatsu at him, burning the ground that traced its path. He concentrated his reiatsu on the unnamed zanpakuto, and mustered the strength to hold it up straight.

"Rise from the depths of hell, Gogyou Enjin!"

A large demonic creature appeared behind Hitsugaya, spewing forth scorching flames. Hitsugaya brought down his zanpakuto, and a flaming dragon came forth, drowning the surroundings in a sea of flames. It intercepted the ball of red energy, and the two canceled each other's effects when they met between the two warriors. His opponent smiled.

"Remember my name well, kid. I ain't gonna go this far again as to talkin' through yer head and tryin' to tell ya what it is…" the figure was hidden behind a wall of fire, and disappeared. In his place stood the large demon-like creature that was behind Hitsugaya a while ago, now with flaming dragons flying around him. Once more, he spoke, but now in a frightening tone. "Keep it well in your mind well, Hitsugaya. I am the one who shall bring you power beyond your greatest imagination. Just call on my name, and I will come out from the depths of hell to your assistance."

With that, the large image crumbled into a wave of flames that rushed towards the blade in Hitsugaya's hands, entering it, and disappearing. He was afterwards engulfed in flames, scorched by the burning heat. His vision was blurred, and the world seemed to be consumed in a vastness of black.

"So what's next for the kid, Aizen-sama?"

"A little training must be done first, Gin. I brought back someone to help a little with this." Aizen spoke to the silver-haired commanding officer of his army.

"Yeah, it's been a long time, hasn't it, Aizen-sama?" aired a familiar cocky tone that bounded from the walls of Las Noches. A familiar man dressed in a white hakama, with a zanpakuto whose crossguard was shaped like a crooked S jutting from a sheath hanging on his black sash. "I'm gonna deal with that bastard shinigami after I'm done with the kid."