I hope this isn't too long of a chapter…but I couldn't control myself.
I feel like maybe I should've separated it into two chapters or something.
I mean, you guys say "This length is just right", but is it really? I mean, does it get so long that you guys don't feel like reading?
It just didn't seem right to separate the two important fights here into two chapters, especially because there's still so much left to write…
Hope you guys are enjoying this all so far…I try to answer all queries in reviews and to make sure that there are no plot holes or weird discrepancies.
I'm used to writing Evangelion fanfiction, and while Eva deals with deeper and more difficult to write concepts than Bleach at times, I find Bleach is a harder series to write for.
Why? Because it's such a MASSIVE series. While I can remember every moment of the twenty six episodes and movies of Evangelion, it's intensely difficult to remember every moment in Bleach so far, especially with new revelations each week with the manga.
I try though, and I hope you're enjoying my arc so far.
Let's get this started!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its characters, settings, etc.. Did you really need me to tell you that?
Soul Society
Seireitei
Kaworu had sneered in Komamura's face.
"Don't project your pitiful past onto me, Fido. Out of my way before I send you to doggie heaven."
"I will do no such thing…long have I contemplated the mad wildness of Zaraki, the inflexible wrongs of your father, the skewed and subjective justice of Kaname…I see now that there is a balance between all three that I myself can find…I need only my will, my strength, and my sword! Tenken!"
Komamura flash stepped forward with speed deceptive for his massive size, slamming his zanpakutō down towards Kaworu.
The canine Captain's strength was indeed impressive, leaving a large scar in the earth with a single slash of his unreleased zanpakutō. However Kaworu was totally unharmed, having seemingly dodged it without much difficulty, a few inches to the right of the area where Komamaru's sword had struck.
"I see…then I have no choice…I'll have to end this quickly…no pulling punches…Todoroke, Tenken! BANKAI! Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō! Let the spirit of his own blade bear his coffin!"
Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai's eyes were no longer scornful and arrogant.
While Komamura's long nodachi-like zanpakutō hadn't seemed to have gotten any longer, his body was now surrounded by a soft yellow aura.
And behind him was…a massive glowing dragon with golden scales, stretching wings and fangs the size of towers.
A traditional Japanese dragon glowering and glowing with electricity and lightning bolts flying out of it, a burning golden tail, and a massive katana in its claws that seemed the size of a skyscraper.
Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai took a step back, the battlefield clouded with dust and rubble as he gazed upon the massive dragon and the now seemingly dwarf-like in comparison Komamura.
"I-Inazuma? How is that…possible?!"
Komamura glared at him slightly, bringing his sword down in a swing in the air, which the massive dragon quickly mimicked by sending his giant katana just as nimbly down at Kaworu's form.
The giant creature was deceptively quick, and when the smoke cleared, Kaworu was seen inches away from the massive katana which was still embedded in the earth. He was panting for breath, like an ant next to the giant sword.
Komamura stared at him, bringing his sword back up, the giant dragon also removing his katana from the earth which shook as the massive blade was removed from it.
"Tenken…hides like I did…long ago…My zanpakutō is still too shamed to show its true face and spirit, like I was for so many years and years in that mask before Kenpachi freed me with his fury. One day, Tenken will learn that there is no shame in his beauty and unique form, but until then his power remains absolute. His true form is shamed and so he takes on the form and power of my opponent's zanpakutō spirits. While every zanpakutō has special abilities, each also has a spirit, sentient beings that one must face when trying to master shikai and bankai, but you know all this I'm sure...it's why you recognize that dragon there…I remember being so surprised when I used this technique against Kenpachi, though I didn't show it. If only he knew who that giant swordsman he faced was, supposedly he is ignorant of his own sword. While Tenken may not really be your zanpakutō spirit, he can take on your zanpakutō spirit's form...his size depending on the spiritual power of the opponent…Thus, 'Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō! Let the spirit of his own blade bear his coffin'…"
Kaworu had been staring past Komamura at Tenken, clearly disgruntled or possible even scared.
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Suddenly Komamura flash stepped behind Kaworu, making Kaworu whirl around in anger.
"Silence will not save you; Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai…your punishment is absolute."
Kaworu hadn't responded, his eyes widening at the fact that not only had Komamura flash stepped behind him, but so had the massive dragon hundreds of times larger than them both!
He barely had any time to realize what was happening when Komamura swiped his sword through the air in an overhead slam, his eyes widening as a giant shadow encompassed him and he glimpsed the massive katana above him descending just as quickly as Komamura's had.
Impossible! A being of that size moving as quickly and easily as that goddamn Captain?!
The ground shook with the massive collision of the blade to the ground, shaking up rubble and dust as Kaworu quickly flash stepped up and away into the air.
He grit his teeth, his eyes widening like saucers as he glimpsed Komamura simply swiping his katana to the side in an easy motion and the giant dragon mimicking this just as easily to send the katana embedded in the ground hurtling at the man who had just barely leaped away from it into the air.
Darkness.
Kaworu groaned, shakily standing from the dust and dirt and wiping the blood from his nose. It appeared as if some fellow had simply punched him in the face, while in fact the blow had been massive. He had only just managed to cushion most of the force with a massive blast of his own spiritual power.
His body was now trembling, and for the first time it seemed it was more exhaustion than anger.
I have no choice then…
"Damn you! Kowasu, Inazuma!"
He drew the small tantō-like zanpakutō from his hip as he spoke, sputtering angrily.
The tantō became a long cross spear suddenly, the blade of the tantō serving as the main blade of the spear though a bit elongated, while two other blades had formed in the sides as well as a long thick wooden pole handle, to form a cross spear.
He managed this just as the massive blade of the giant dragon was brought down once again, Komamura close by having made that same slash first.
Kaworu grunted, shaking his head as he began to flash step around the massive quaking blasts of each blow of the katana.
I won't be able to keep up this sort of speed forever without having to go bankai or maybe even opening some of Inazuma's seals…and there's no way I can waste any of that on a fool like this…I have about five other Captains waiting on the outskirts of this battle! And I have more important fish to fry! Not a fox to fry!
His eyes widened in shock as the sword just barely missed him now, landing inches away and sending massive boulders and rubble slamming into him.
Kaworu spat blood, turning to see a massive black wall in front of him. Obviously it was simply the blade of the katana.
He whirled around to see Komamura close by with a calm and almost peacefully confident look on his face, holding his own smaller katana down in the ground with that same stroke the giant dragon had made.
Fox…to fry…What have I been thinking? This is far easier than I thought…Even if that dragon moves with the speed of someone my size and with unbelievable power, if I simply eliminate his director, there will be no problem.
Komamura's eyes widened suddenly as Kaworu appeared right behind him, flash stepping with spear in hand as Komamura whirled about to face him.
It was too fast, before Komamura could raise his sword or make any sort of direction to the giant dragon that was now behind him.
Nor could Komamura stop the great agility of Kaworu's hands directing the sleek and vicious spear in his hands, slamming it with great force right at Komamura's chest.
A gasp…drops of blood hitting the ground.
Kaworu's cross spear slide rudely out of the terrible wound it had cause on the right side of Komamura's chest, sending Sajin Komamura slumping to his knees in a spiraling splash of blood.
Komamura gasped for air, trying to stop the blood flowing onto his Captain's robes, eyeing Kaworu's looming form with obvious abhorrence that at the same time seemed collected and restrained.
Kaworu stood over the bleeding Captain who was now wounded and on his knees.
The former Captain Yamamoto-Genryūsai gloated and stared with terribly arrogance that suffocated just as much as his massive and earth-shaking spiritual power.
"On your knees, huh, doggie? Are you this way with my father everyday? Does he give you bones for your nice little tricks? Like this one, summoning my zanpakutō's spirit?! Don't be ludicrous! A nice trick, but it didn't hold up well, did it? All I had to do was kill the trickster directing it, and the illusion or summon itself would be useless! Without your smaller form to direct that giant thing's speed and movements, he's useless…Inazuma or not. How about I put this nice little doggie to sleep now?"
Komamura shook his head sadly, nursing the bloody wound on his chest, his pain evident.
"No…you are a fool…I limit Tenken, not the other way around…he mimics my movements because I force him too, otherwise he would cause far too much collateral damage and destroy the entire area around a battle of mine…His movements are far faster and more brutal than mine…"
Kaworu's eyes widened as he stared at and listened to the wounded fox-like Captain, hearing a massive explosion and whirling blast of dust behind him. It was then he noticed the giant dragon that had been behind Komamura when he had struck the anthropomorphic captain had disappeared.
Inazuma, or rather Tenken in Inazuma's form, loomed directly behind him, eyes blazing, each eye large enough to hold a hundred Kaworus…his jaws definitely large enough to swallow many many more.
"Shit…"
Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes widened as he glanced behind himself, noticing Uryū Ishida's determined-looking face and eyes full of latent rage.
"Ishida?! What the hell do you think you're doing? We were worried about you, what're you doing here?!"
"I'm here to stop you and your Shinigami compatriots…"
"What're you talking about Ishida? Are you with him? What did he do to you?!"
"By the honor of the Quincy, I will avenge my history!"
Ichigo let out a gasp, just barely dodging as Ishida let loose his nimble spirit arrow. However Ichigo could feel it burn against his cheek, his dodge that close a call.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"As long as you are what you are, alongside them…I have no choice…Rukia I can ignore, out of my own prehistoric chivalry…but you are a problem."
Ichigo grunted, leaping backwards and drawing his large unreleased zanpakutō to block another one of Ishida's incoming spirit arrows.
Ishida's eyes widened in annoyance and he quickly used Hirenkyakuto flash step away from Ichigo towards Ichigo's right flank.
Ishida quickly aimed his glowing bow up in the air, firing a single spirit arrow into the sky.
"Kabetengai!"
Ichigo looked up to the arrow in puzzlement, and then his eyes widened in confusion as he was suddenly surrounded by a volley of flowing spirit arrows that seemed to be pointed at him from every direction.
They quickly hurtled at him and connected in a massive explosion of spiritual power and dust.
When the dust had cleared, a calm wind drifting by, it revealed Ichigo with his reiatsu massive and pulsating. He seemed totally unharmed, though his Zangetsu was sizzling and his eyes were wide in rage.
"How did you…"
Ichigo shook his head angrily.
"Doesn't matter how many you throw at me, Ishida…the number, the direction…I'll block them all…You may have been brainwashed or tricked, but I'm not just going to lie down and take it…After all, you're just a-"
"Just a what?! Just a Quincy?!"
"No, I-"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Ishida flashed directly in front of Ichigo, his body and bow glowing as he absorbed the spiritual particles that made up all of their surroundings in Soul Society to make a particularly abnormally large arrow.
Ichigo's eyes widened and he brought up his massive Zangetsu as Ishida let loose the giant almost missile-size arrow.
The sword sizzled with an explosion of spiritual power and wind, deflecting the arrow away harmlessly.
Ichigo quickly rushed forward, swinging the flat of his blade at Ishida's head.
"I'm going to have to knock you out for your own good! Maybe he's done something to you, but I'm not going to get shot up because of that!"
Ishida's eyes widened and his hands seemed to be reaching for something as the blade hurtled towards him, but Ichigo simply smirked in supreme confidence as his blade…
Collided with another blade?!
"What ?!"
Zangetsu, instead of slamming against Ishida's head, had been met by a glowing white saber, slim but deceptively strong with an impressive spiritual strength.
"W-What is that?!"
Ishida's eyes gleamed with confidence behind his spectacles.
"It's too bad…I really wanted to save this for later. Now, let's continue…"
"What?! But you're a Quincy!"
"Seele Schneider, 'that which slits the soul'….The one and only weapon of an advanced Quincy that is a blade. Kaworu gave them to me. Five in fact."
Kurosaki's eyes then noticed the five small sheaths at Ishida's hip he hadn't paid any mind to at the start of the battle.
Ichigo grit his teeth, pressing his Zangetsu against Ishida as the Quincy clearly strained to hold his ground.
"Hah, I don't know what you're talking about, but you've got to be crazy to be trying to go blade against blade with me!"
He smirked, his spiritual power rushing out in full force as he began to push Ishida sliding back, sword against sword.
Then…suddenly…he noticed.
The so-called Seele Schneider was…sliding into his blade! Cracking it! Cutting into it! Zangetsu was giving?!
Ishida smirked.
"The Seele Schneider is a weapon that is technically most like a chainsaw…the spirit particles travel back and forth thirty million times a second over the surface of the blade, which is constructed of spirit particles itself…"
"Dammit! Shut up you bastard!"
Ichigo had no choice but to quickly flash step backwards, grunting as Ishida flashed with him as brought his white blade back down towards Ichigo's head.
Ichigo grit his teeth, ducking under the slash and sending a hard fist into Ishida's face.
He followed this up by slashing Zangetsu in a long horizontal motion that just barely missed the stumbling Ishida.
Ishida grunted, wiping the blood from his nose and then looking down with evident shock at a small cut at his stomach. Evidently while Zangetsu had seemed to have missed, Ishida hadn't gotten away fast enough.
Ichigo stared at Ishida, shaking his head sadly.
"Powerful or not, you're not a swordsman, Ishida…you've got no chance against my speed and experience with blades…In the end, if the powers of the two swords fighting are nearly the same, the sword with the longer reach is victorious."
Ishida looked up from his wound to stare coldly at Ichigo.
"'Nearly the same'? You're a little off. The spirit force vibration of the Seele Schneider isn't to cut something. It's so that using the vibration it loosens the fusion of spirit particles in the area around it, therefore making them easier to absorb and fly through. Did you forget? The Quincy battle by absorbing the spirit particles around them and turning them into their weapons. That is embodied the strongest in this Seele Schneider. Your spirit particles might as well be mine…"
"Shut up! Enough of this crap!"
Ichigo quickly rushed forward with increased speed, roaring as he raised his Zangetsu over his head in preparation to bring it down hard at Ishida's head. This time it seemed he clearly didn't intend to just 'knock out'.
"And…another thing you're wrong about, Kurosaki…The Seele Schneider isn't a sword..."
Ishida brought the Seele Schneider's glorious white blade up and notched it against his blue bow before continuing.
"Quincy traditionally only use bows and arrows…Sorry, I win Ichigo Kurosaki…the difference in reach really does determine the winner, and your reach is far too short."
Ichigo's eyes widened in terror, realizing he couldn't stop his charge at the Quincy as Ishida let loose the glowing white blade-like arrow right towards his chest.
Hitsugaya's eyes blurred in the darkness and he felt that opening them caused him great pain.
The last thing he could remember was…Mayuri's laughter?
Dammit?! Experiments? What did that bastard do to me?
Opening his eyes he found himself…in darkness…
He could see his own body, but all that stretched out before him was a black void.
His eyes suddenly widened, behind him he could hear a terrible roar.
Spinning around he found himself face to face with a massive blue dragon, covered in scale with tall protruding spikes made of ice and water swirling in an aura all around him…along with piercing red eyes.
"Hyōrinmaru?!"
He barely managed to let that out as the beast hurtled itself at him.
Chad sat silently yet alert on the grand white steps as he detected Ichigo's spiritual power again…and Ishida's? And others…
Where did Ichigo and Rukia go? And Ishida and Orihime? Why was I not told? Are they in danger?
"Stop poutin' you big dope!"
Chad slowly looked up to see Captain Kenpachi Zaraki with Yachiru balanced on his shoulders, giggling as she made faces at Chad.
Zaraki eyed Chad warily.
"It's you from before…one of Ichigo's friends, huh? Wondering where he is, or are you trying to find that massive spiritual presence like me?"
"What're you talking about Kenny?! I know exactly where it is! No one's 'trying'!"
"You see, neither me or my little Lieutenant here have much of a mind for detecting spiritual power…but I think I've figured exactly where Ichigo and that fellow with the big power I keep trying to find are gonna be. If you're looking for them, you could join me…if only to watch as I beat them to a pulp."
Chad stared at Zaraki in stoic curiosity.
"Where?"
Kenpachi turned around, ignoring Yachiru's annoyed little fists on his head.
"Where Ichigo and I fought first, after all…It tends to be that every trouble in this place centers on getting to Shrine of Penitence or Yamamoto's headquarters…everything ends up targeted at the center, and I'll be there at the top of the steps waiting…Doesn't matter if it's Ichigo or that supposed new intruder who comes…I just need a good old fight to the death..."
And with that, the tall Captain began moving forward towards the grand ivory steps in the distance, Chad following him.
Ishida watched as the dust began to clear, but he could barely stifle his gasp at what appeared.
In front of him was a different Ichigo…in black robes with his slimmer black katana, shimmering with massive spiritual power that was almost menacing.
What?! Isn't this his bankai?!
In Ichigo's hand was the powerful Seele Schneider Ishida had fired.
Kurosaki stared hard at Ishida, frowning as he pointed to a single dot of blood on his chest.
"I managed to use bankai and catch this thing before it pierced my heart, you bastard! Like I said, I don't know what happened to you, but I'm not playing games anymore. You no longer have a chance."
Uryū Ishida's eyes widened and he let out a startled gasp as Ichigo was suddenly directly in front of him, sending a flurry of slashes at him.
Ishida grunted, feeling some of the slashes leave shallow cuts on his chest, flash stepping back and trying to notch another arrow.
Before he could even fire, Ichigo was with him, sending Zangetsu flying in an overhead slash down towards Ishida's head.
This speed?!
Ishida barely had time to take a single step back and let the arrow loose at Ichigo's feet, the spirit arrow hitting the ground and sending dust and rubble flying in a thick cloud.
When it had cleared, it revealed Ishida with a long slash on his forehead, bloody but not serious…though it clearly could've bisected his skull if he'd been any closer. He hadn't paused at all, another arrow notched and aimed.
It was aimed at Ichigo of course, who stood unharmed and confident in front of him.
"Why don't you just give, Ishida? You can't beat me like that…"
"Like what?! Like a Quincy?!"
"Whatever you wanna hear…just give up already…"
"Hah! Batsutengoku!"
Ishida let loose the spirit arrow he had notched, however instead of simply flying at Ichigo like a normal arrow, as it flew at him it began to split one by one into copies of itself.
Suddenly Ichigo found almost a hundred arrows hurtling at him.
His eyes widened in strain as he sent his black katana-like zanpakutō flashing in a blur of speed, deflecting all of the arrows in blinding agility that seemed utterly impossible.
When the smoke had cleared, all that was left was Ichigo, his smirk, and his sizzling but unharmed Zangetsu.
Suddenly even Ichigo was gone.
Ishida's eyes widened and he took a painful step forward as he felt Ichigo's sword pass through his side and out.
Ichigo was directly behind him, his zanpakutō now slightly bloodied.
All Ishida could do was to stare down at his bleeding wound in horror, falling to his knees muttering.
"Die…might as well…"
"Die…you'll die like this…You've let yourself go, Ishida…be weighed down by your so-called 'honor' and foolishness…Even NOW the murderers of your grandfather and great grandfather and your ancestors frolic ALIVE! Cavorting in their survived guilt…"
Kawuro paused, gazing at Ishida with pained eyes.
"I will allow you this foolish chivalry regarding women, because you are young and do not yet understand that there should be no special allowance accorded to them. Why? Because they possess vaginas? What difference does that make? They can be even more cruel and merciless than the vilest man. I believe in equality, it makes no difference to me if the evil I slice apart with my sword has a vagina or penis…I…find all living things equally vile."
"I will use your training to grow strong and bring back the honor of the Quincy line, but I do not believe in such words…you are too hateful…"
Ishida stared determined at him, letting loose a spirit arrow at Kaworu, who promptly dodged it and appeared inches away from Ishida with his unreleased knife-like zanpakutō close to Ishida's neck.
"Such compassion…'tis weakness, just as is the weakness of your Quincy form…"
Ishida trembled as his eyes looked down at the blade next to his neck.
"W-What do you mean?!"
"Gaze upon the skills of a Quincy…they be solely projectile…therefore, the simplest Quincy has a weakness in his guard, the moment after he fires his missile. Miss, or leave the opponent wounded but not dead…as you Quincy like doing because of your 'mercy'…and the opponent, perhaps a Shinigami or Hollow who is adept at close combat, is given the chance to advance in that moment of weakness and strike down the Quincy. My father was a wise man…using preferable terrain and superior numbers, he was able to off-set the projectile prowess of the Quincy and slash them apart with his armies…"
Ishida's eyes widened and his lips trembled with anger.
"However, before your great-grandfather Shigeru Ishida was killed in such a battle, he helped give birth to a new type of Quincy fighting that utilized both projectile and close combat. He named this new type of Quincy the 'Shishōfū'. A Quincy hybridized with the versatility and melee skills of a Shinigami…I was the first…and the last…The Quincy line was destroyed and I…well I suppose I was executed by your friend Yoruichi on my fathers orders. As you can see, she's a better lover than an assassin, but oh well…such things happen. I can teach you how to become stronger, as the last true Shishōfū."
Ishida grunted, using Hirenkyaku to quickly get away and to Kaworu's open side.
"Liar! You speak of honoring the Quincy line, yet you speak of tainting it with Shinigami brutishness?!"
Quickly he let loose a volley of spirit arrows which hurtled at Kaworu.
Kaworu whirled around, grinning as he weaved and spiraled around the arrows, avoiding them gracefully.
In an instant, before he could fire another arrow, Ishida found Kaworu directly in front of him. Before he could blink once more, he found Kaworu's hand grasping his throat and lifting him like a doll off of the ground.
"IMBECILE! You speak of the Quincy line yet cavort around in the home of your very enemy?! You speak of the Quincy line yet allow them to live and laugh around you?! They are all the same ilk, the Shinigami, I know this well…always ready to stab you when you least expect it…This isn't about dishonor or honor, it's about SURVIVAL! Your great-grandfather saw that, and saw it fit for the Quincy to take a new step in their evolution! This is about a united strength used to quash the Shinigami…the Shishōfū …Can you imagine a Quincy bestowing Quincy powers on a Shinigami or a Shinigami bestowing Shinigami powers on a Quincy?! The key truth in the creation of Shishōfū depended on a supreme trust, a united step forward!"
Kaworu released the gasping Quincy, Ishida falling to his knees, croaking.
"H-How?!"
"Using the Seele Schneider and other advanced Quincy techniques, along with the powers of the Shishōfū …all such I can give to you…You see, a Quincy bow is the manifestation of the Quincy's own spirit as a weapon to protect…However, the Quincy has no further progression past that…the zanpakutō of a Shinigami is a restricted representation of the wielder's soul and the weapon's spirit that can be unrestricted step by step…"
"So?"
"So with a Shishōfū the same will apply for your bow, fool! You seem to think you know your bow's name, but look how you treated it so recklessly and lost it! A Shishōfū knows the step beyond, the power to call on your bow's name and TRULY fuse it with your own spirit…I may have restored your powers, and that pentacle-shaped scar on your chest is validation of that…but if you cannot learn the next evolution of the Quincy, you may as well be dead!"
"May as well be dead…He trained me for weeks…barely any sleep, no rest…only power…but I discovered that power to validate my existence as a Quincy…"
Ichigo stared at him with confused eyes, though the confusion seemed deep in Ichigo, not just at Ishida's words but all the events that had shook him recently.
"What? What're you talking about now?! I don't care, you've been tricked and fooled, but I'm taking you down! I can't waste time like this when Rukia and Orihime may be in danger!"
Ishida slowly looked up, glancing at Ichigo's haggard form with eyes that suddenly seemed to lit up with some realization, as if he'd found the meaning of life suddenly out of nowhere.
"So…you'd kill me, without a thought? You already wounded me many times…"
"N-No…I don't mean that…I don't know what's wrong with your head, and I don't know what to do…but I won't just let you get in my way when Rukia and Orihime may be hurt!"
"Enough, SHINIGAMI! You fought against them too, back then, and I almost admired you…but now it is suddenly peace? After such transgressions against you, trying to kill you and Rukia, you simply turn your head and fight alongside them?"
"All that is over, alright?! I'm a Shinigami, Rukia's a Shinigami…we were fighting against Shinigami, but they were confused, conflicted, caught in the middle…now everything's-"
"Everything's alright? Maybe for you…you suffered under Soul Society's mistakes, and in the end lost nothing for it…but I lost my entire people, my grandfather, my everything…because of a Shinigami mistake…Orihime could've died because of one of those Shinigami mistakes…You expect me to just turn around and forgive and forget? To just turn around and ignore people like that Mayuri? No…you preach the ignorant joy of laughter and forgetting, but I cannot simply erase my past with a coy smile! The weight of history is far too great for that! It's the same with Kaworu…"
"Him? Enough talking…I can see that bastard's brainwashed you with bullshit! Whatever, I don't have time for this, if I have to take you down to save Rukia and Orihime…I will!"
In a flash Ichigo hurtled towards Ishida, his bankai speed blinding.
Uryū quickly pulled back his blue bow, firing a volley of spirit arrows haphazardly at Ichigo.
Kurosaki snarled, whirling around and flash stepping from them easily as if they were toys.
"Again?! Is that all you've got?! Enough of this!"
In an instant Ichigo was in front of Uryū, having dodged the arrows and moved quickly before Ishida could fire more.
That moment of weakness every archer has against a melee opponent of great speed and power.
However…not this archer.
Kaworu smirked, facing Ishida.
"I can no longer truly use the techniques of a Shishōfū or Quincy in a real pitched battle…but the pride of a Shishōfū is this…advancing to a new stage of power, speed, and strength…A Shishōfū's techniques are stronger, faster, more dependent on the user's spirit than simply the absorbed spiritual particles around him…And it also invests a infinite world of new techniques that only the Shinigami so far have had, with their foolish shikais and bankais…The Shishōfū is the warrior of the future…"
He strode forward slowly.
"I know you may not agree with everything I say, but we are both people fated and weighed down by the insufferable weight of memory and history…and perhaps even, love? I know you want her…but that's besides the point…The point is that we are both fated for a common goal, changing this world of its injustice, be it in the people we love or the people we've lost. With your abilities now, as the new and final Shishōfū, I can free my own ascension to the Throne of God…and with that, the key to Paradise…Aizen is an example of the ultimate Shinigami, or so he thinks…he strives to reach that Throne and make his own horrid kingdom…I will preempt him and bring about a world of true happiness, where the Shinigami are a mere fantasy and the Quincy are honored and at peace…your every dream can be my creation if we combine our strengths for that common goal."
"Toko Nemuri, Ginrei Kojaku!"
Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief and he was suddenly pushed back by a renewed and steadily rising spiritual power.
Before him stood Uryū Ishida, but both he and the bow in his hand had changed. The bow in his hand was no longer the simple blue longbow-shaped weapon Ichigo had gotten used to seeing; now it was a more concrete shining white weapon that resembled an octagon-like spider web with protruding spikes.
And Ishida himself was surrounded by a menacingly-high spiritual power that seemed to swirl all around his new bow and his body.
"W-What the hell?! What the hell is this?!"
It's almost like…shikai? He called out a name…but I mean…he's a Quincy! What the hell is this?!
"This is your death, Ichigo Kurosaki."
"How did you-"
"This is the power of the Shishōfū."
Suddenly, Ichigo realized Ishida had spoken from behind him.
"SHIT!"
Kurosaki barely had time to turn around as Uryū Ishida let loose the massive pulsing arrow from his bow towards Ichigo's prone body.
Anyway, that's it for this chapter.
I'm sorry if occasionally the focus is missing from some characters like Rukia, Hitsugaya, Kenpachi, Chad, or Orihime or etc…but we're in some important battles and plot movements right now…it's not like I can have every character always around and involved…
But I try my best to weave characters in…for example, who would've thought Ishida important in this arc at all? New surprises obvious indicate that he is very vital…
Anyway…Is Kaworu in deep crap?! What about Ichigo Kurosaki?
And where are Captains Hisagi, Ukitake, Kyōraku, former Captain Urahara, and the two girls Rukia and Orihime…perhaps caught up in the dust and chaos of the fights going on around them? Hopefully the original plan can go into action and they can get the hell out of the way before they're made collateral damage.
For the record, Ishida's bow in this new released state looks like this, there he is with the bow and with a Seele Schneider.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2217/ishidawithswordfd6.png
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3180/18qv5.jpg
Of course following a different path with my own arc, so who knows what its abilities will be like. That's just appearance.
I tried to describe it well.
Interested by Komamura's abilities? He's not down and out just yet, it's clear.
I've always thought he'd gotten cheated out of much of the spotlight and been shown to be a weak character just because he had the bad luck to go against Aizen…I've always thought he could be a really cool character given the chance, and if abilities were deeper than just "SUMMON GIANT GUY".
By the way…you know what this means retroactively about the giant swordsman you saw in the Kenpachi vs. Komamura fight in the Soul Society Arc?
Ohhhh yeah baby, Kenpachi is going to have some fun in this Kaworu Arc. Hehehe.
Hope you guys stay along for the ride.
See ya next chapter.