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The Uncertainty Principle

A Bleach Fanfic

Chapter Three: War

Karin had never been much for swimming.

She had the sense that she'd preferred other sports in the living world—she remembered soccer especially. After their move to Soul Society, she'd never really bothered with swimming recreationally, though her dad had made sure both she and Yuzu knew how. Plus, now that she knew her zanpakutō was fire-type, it just seemed weird.

Nevertheless, swimming was how they were supposed to get down to the next level, so there really wasn't much of a choice. The Togabito supporting this huge slab of rock they'd been resting on stood on poles or something under the water, Amari had said. How swimming down was supposed to get them to the next level wasn't exactly clear, but considering a tunnel had put them out in the sky on this level, she figured physics was probably the wrong thing to think about in here.

Looking sideways, she smirked to herself. Uryū was hepling Rukia with her sleeve ties. Since Yuzu had to wear them pretty much every day at the Fourth, Karin and he were both experts in tying them by this point.

Who said skills exchange had to stop when they graduated?

The air on this level was warm and slightly sticky, so the fact that her arms were bare to the biceps was actually a relief. Hopefully, their shihakushō wouldn't weigh them down too badly. She had no idea how Urahara planned to swim with his haori or ridiculous shoes, or Amari with that full-body cloak, but whatever. They were adults; they could figure it out.

"Everyone ready?" Urahara wrapped his left hand around his zanpakutō, testing its snugness in his sash.

Karin nodded. "Let's go."

Rukia and Uryū dove. Urahara walked on the water for a while before letting himself sink. Karin, less sure, waded in. Renji sensibly decided to do the same.

The bottom of the lake, or whatever this was, dropped off sharply after several steps. Taking a deep breath, Karin submerged.

Opening her eyes under the surface, she had to remember not to pull the breath right back in. The Togabito really did support the island. They had maybe an inch or two of breathing room between the surface of the lake and the bottom of the massive stone slab, and their footing was actually wooden beams—vertical ones, without much space to stand on.

Motion caught her attention, and she turned her head. Renji had stopped beside her, gesturing downwards with his hand. The others were far ahead by this point. Grimacing, she kicked, actually glad for the thick fabric of her shihakushō—it made going down easier.

Every time she kicked, Karin pushed a burst of reiatsu through her feet—that was what everyone else was doing. Or so she guessed, from the trails of bubbles they left in their wakes and the speed they moved at. Moving her arms in sweeping strokes, she propelled herself towards the bottom. It was dark, but she thought she could make something out where she figured there should have been solid lake bed.

Ahead of her, Urahara hit the bottom first; he disappeared.

Karin's lungs burned with the effort of holding her air in. With three more mighty kicks, she pushed her self through and gulped in new air—only to find that she was falling through air again.

Flipping herself over so she was feet-first, she landed on the ground with a soft thud, spitting out a bit of excess water. Using her hands to push her wet bangs out of her face gave her a better idea of what she was looking at. Then again… maybe it would have been better to go without.

The fourth level of Hell was a flat plain for a long while, but ended in what looked like a sheer cliff upwards on all sides. The Togabito here were strung up, too, except their chains ran in vertical lines from earth to sky every few feet; she couldn't see the upper ends. They were spread-eagled and shackled at all four limbs to the big links with thinner ones. The chains hanging from their chests were wrapped around their necks. She couldn't tell, but it didn't look tight enough to kill them—just really uncomfortable. Most of them were bleeding from at least one major wound, though some were in various stages of healing.

The noise had to be the worst, though—just a constant, low-level groan of misery, interrupted by the occasional crack as someone's throat gave out for the who-knew-how-manyeth time.

"What the fuck are those?" Renji goggled.

Karin turned her head and felt her mouth drop open. They were huge, maybe half as big as a Gillian. Four-legged, red or brown in color, except for the fact that it looked like someone had peeled all the skin off of their faces and left them with only skulls. If she had to compare them to anything they knew, she'd say they were really big gorillas—they had the right general shape and the longer arms like that.

"The Kushanāda," Amari replied. Water still dripped from the edge of her cloak, darkening the black dirt underneath her. "Jailers, and tormentors. These people are here for dereliction of duty in life—the Kushanāda never fail in theirs."

"Tormentors?" Rukia echoed.

"Watch."

One of the Kushanāda approached a line of the Togabito. Its movements were surprisingly quick for a creature of its size. Quicker than she'd heard Gillians were, anyway. The pitch and urgency of the groaning at that part of the chains increased, until the Togabito closest to the creature were screaming. Karin watched with wide eyes and growing horror as one of the massive arms reached up, popping a Togabito off its chains and lifting him to its mouth.

The soul body broke easily between the Kushanāda's huge jaws, leaving nothing behind but a red smear on the grey skull.

No one spoke. Karin was pretty sure no one had any words. She sure didn't. She couldn't tear her eyes away from where one of the Togabito's arms still dangled from the chains, like the stem of a cherry.

"Are… they supposed to be looking at us like that?" Rukia pointed at a cluster of three Kushanāda. They stood apart from the others, all of their empty eye sockets indeed aimed at the group.

Amari's visible brow descended over her eye. "No. Get moving. Follow me."

The subtext of that was something like 'oh shit,' if Karin had to guess. None of them wasted any time in complying with Amari's order, fanning away from the chains and out onto the plain instead. The Kushanāda followed their motions with their heads.

That was creepy enough—worse was when they started moving.

"Run."

Karin stepped into shunpō. Hisaku's tsuka wrapping was firm and slightly warm under her fingers—she tightened her grip and drew, releasing it with a muttered command. It looked like they were heading for a narrow gap in the far cliff face. But with the angle they were at and the speed of the Kushanāda, she didn't think they were going to make it.

"They regenerate; if you have to fight, aim for the back of the neck. They won't go down unless you take off their heads!"

Amari's advice came right on time—Karin had to jump away from the nearest creature as it swung a closed fist down in her path. Leaping into the air, she watched the ground crack and fissure, cratering under the force of the hit.

"Dammit." Karin redirected herself with another flash step, climbing higher to avoid the backswing. She was a yappy dog next to the size of this thing.

"Bankai! Sōō Zabimaru!" Renji wasn't fucking around—neither could she.

She felt him appear next to her. "There's three," he said, "so we'll deal with this one."

"You got it, fukutaichō," she replied. "Want me to soften it up for you?"

He nodded quickly. "Keep it busy with some flashy stuff so I can cut its head off." He sounded almost eager to do it; then again, after watching what one of the other ones did to that soul, she wasn't feeling too sympathetic to it either.

Renji flashed away. Karin took that as her cue to get started. "Habatake, Hisaku!"

She swung her zanpakutō in a sharp arc. Fire bloomed at her edge, flinging free with a whoosh and a crack. The flames struck the Kushanāda in the side of its head, blackening a section of its dull grey jawbone. It swung its head toward her, creating ripple in the air that she could feel. A big thing moving that fast was just unnatural.

It reached for her with an oversized arm; Karin had had about enough of being caught in stupidly-large hands. Sidestepping in midair, she swung Hisaku down with both hands.

Her zanpakutō bounced off its furred knuckle without cutting at all. What kind of reiatsu did this thing have, to be able to deflect her like that?

The rebound from the hit left her vulnerable just long enough to miss the heavy whistle of its other forearm approaching from behind, and it hit like she imagined a truck would, swatting her out of the air and straight into the ground. Karin threw her arms out to catch herself; she yelped when her left cracked and splintered on impact, pieces of bone piercing her flesh. Her vision flashed—she bit down hard on her tongue until blood welled in her mouth.

Move, move, MOVE!

Forcing her remaining limbs into compliance, she rolled to her feet before the Kushanāda could crush her. She jumped away with hohō, shifting her injured arm behind her back. Above her, Renji had taken over distracting it—he blocked a doublehanded blow from the creature with the thick blade in his right hand.

"Kurosaki, go cut it!"

"I can't!" she shouted back, spitting blood to the side.

"Yes you can! Focus your reiatsu into your sword!" He barely fended off the second blow; the Kushanāda bellowed and retracted its hand when he managed to slice off one of its fingers.

He was right. She could do this. More importantly, she had to. Pushing off the ground, Karin gained height again, ignoring the throbbing agony in her left arm and adjusting Hisaku in the grip of her right.

The back of the Kushanāda's neck was protected by part of its oblong skull, almost like a hood of sorts. She'd have to aim carefully. If she could burn it first, eat away at some of its toughness, she might have a better chance of being able to sever it.

Swinging Hisaku three times in quick succession, she used the blade of the sword to direct the fire, angling it down for the gap between its skull fringe and the base of its spine. The three flame lashes all hit the same spot—the smell of charred flesh confirmed that she'd done some damage. She had to do the rest before it abandoned Renji for her.

"Sakebe!"

Hisaku's blade itself burst into flames, heating the edge of the metal to a strawberry-red color. Karin kicked off with shunpō and drove herself down, pushing as much of her reiatsu as she could stand into the sword.

Skin parted beneath her; her good arm jarred when she hit bone. Gritting her teeth, Karin forced more energy into her zanpakutō—the fire on the blade flared and with a crack like thunder, the vertebra under her sword broke.

She fell more than sliced the rest of the way through, landing hard on the ground, but she'd cut or burned away her body's width from the whole left side of its neck. Slowly, like a massive tree in a forest, the Kushanāda toppled over.

Rukia pulled in her breaths rapidly—this thing just didn't want to die. It seemed mostly impervious to Sode no Shirayuki's ice; whenever she froze it, she held it at most for a few seconds before it broke free. It seemed apt defensively—every time she or Ishida got near it, it focused on batting them away. So far, they'd managed to stay out of its reach, but it was near impossible to get in close.

She wondered why Ishida wasn't using his bow. Compared to the close range of his zanpakutō, a tactic like that would have been extremely helpful. But Rukia of all people knew that something that obvious would have already occurred to him—so there had to be some other reason he wasn't doing it. Anyway, there wasn't a whole lot of time to be thinking about it.

Trusting him to figure something out, she decided to keep harassing it—if she could bind it long enough, he'd be able to get in close.

Turning her zanpakutō in her grip, Rukia pierced the ground four times in a semicircle with the point. "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren." A draft of chill air blew her hair back from her face, a sheet of ice flowing towards the Kushanāda like a wave.

Ishida, in the path of the attack, flashed away at the last possible second, and the ice encased the creature's right arm first, flowing up the rest of its body. Knowing she had only a few seconds, Rukia pointed at its center mass with her free hand.

"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel!" A small sphere of golden light flickered into existence at the tip of her finger. She hoped Ishida knew this incantation and could use the time it would buy him for something. "With light, divide this into six! Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!"

The first beam hit the Kushanāda straight on. The second crashed in from the right; by then, the ice was cracking, but Ishida was already in motion. Three powerful shunpō jumps launched him up and over the creature's head, and he passed in an upside-down arc over it. Each of his swords bit deep into the same spot as he passed by, leaving a footlong gash at the exact center of its nape.

On his downward arc, he made eye contact for just a moment, then reoriented himself so that his feet were beneath him again. His swords lit with blue fire—Rukia knew exactly what he meant, and braced her own palm in front of her as well.

"Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!" Their spells were just about in unison.

His hit first since he was closer, hers right on the heels. Between them, they managed the power required, and the Kushanāda's head snapped forcefully to the side, lolling on a broken neck, before it fell.

Kisuke had to admit—the woman calling herself Amari had hakuda skills Yoruichi might envy. He'd played at distracting the Kushanāda they were left with when the others split up; mostly, he'd been observing her. Not without warrant; he now believed he had confirmed the hypothesis he'd been working with since they met.

Of course, it was one thing to know. It was another thing to be able to prove. But he had a feeling she'd do that for him, if he was subtle enough about prompting her into it.

Or maybe, if he just confronted her outright.

She ended the Kushanāda with a heavy punch to the back of its neck. The impact reverberated through the spine—he heard the bones shatter. Like anything else in Hell, it would be alive again soon enough, but for the moment, the problem was dealt with.

She landed lightly on the ground next to him. "Do you always let your friends do all the work?" She asked the question lightly, shaking blood off her fists.

"Are we friends?" he asked back.

She smiled under her zukin. "You're the genius. You tell me."

The other two Kushanāda toppled; Kisuke smiled enigmatically and turned to face his approaching comrades. They were acquitting themselves well—if nothing else, the experience they were gaining here would be of benefit to them in the future. He knew that.

And if it conveniently allowed him to feel slightly less remorse for asking them to do this, well… he'd take that.

"Well, well. Remind me not to upset any of you in the future," he said slyly.

Karin scowled at him. "Whatever. Can someone do something about my arm? I can't heal for shit."

"If you can hold on for a bit longer, I can take care of it," he told her. "I think we should probably get somewhere a little more protected."

Amari nodded, crossing her arms. "The gap in the cliffs here leads to another cave passage. If nothing else, the Kushanāda are too large to follow us down there."

"Before we go," Kisuke said, halting her mid-turn. "I think it's about time we were honest with each other."

"What're you talking about?" Renji asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Well, Renji," he replied, folding his hands into his sleeves. "I think it's only fair to warn you that we're in the presence of royalty here. Isn't that right… King of Hell?"

He cocked a jaunty eyebrow at Amari. The others looked confused, which was understandable, perhaps. Except Uryū—Kisuke derived a tiny bit of pleasure from the thoughtful look on his protégé's face.

Amari made no attempt to deny the claim. "How did you figure it out?"

"Your chain," Uryū said, understanding dawning over his features. "All the other chains we've seen… feel different."

Quincy really did have a subtle sense for variation in reishi. As expected, that much had remained intact even after the loss of his other powers.

"From so little?" She blinked.

Kisuke shrugged—she'd been careful with her words in telling ways as well. And, of course… there was the fact that she was guiding them in the first place.

"Wait—if you're the King, then it was you that let those people out in the first place!" Karin's good hand tightened into a fist.

This revelation produced an impressive reaction in the others—Kisuke tilted his head at them. They were, to a one, reaching for weapons. Suddenly wary and ready to fight, even knowing that they were looking at the being that ran a place capable of such torments as this.

He wondered what they'd do if they knew the rest of the story.

"I did," Amari confirmed. "Not to the result I desired, but the fault is nevertheless mine."

Kisuke felt the eyes fixed on him, waiting for him to react. He, however, merely regarded Amari with a flat stare. For several moments, tense silence pervaded. Renji shifted restlessly. Uryū's hands flexed. Karin was grinding her teeth. But he was quiet.

Amari reached up, pushing down her hood. Hooking her fingers over the top of her zukin, she pulled it down, pushing away the fabric that covered her left eye. It was closed—he could tell from the shape of it that the eyeball itself was long gone. The skin in the area was pinkened and rough with burns, though the other half of her face remained whole and smooth.

Uryū visibly started. "…Lucia?"

Amari smiled. "Not quite, Uryū Ishida." She fixed her eye on Kisuke. "I did not intend for innocents to become involved in this. They were supposed to take you—and cutting chains had nothing to do with it. Believe me or don't, but the fact remains that what I have told you is true. I wish to bind my traitorous subordinate, and give you back what was taken from you. If you will assist me with the spell, you will walk out of here with those children in tow."

Kisuke placed a hand on his hat, sighing. "You drive a hard bargain, really." He suppressed the flare of something low and hot in his guts. Coolheadedness was the order of the day here—anything else risked far too much.

"But I think that'll do just fine."

Amari claimed she was going to scout out the last level. Uryū wasn't sure he believed that, but Urahara seemed to, and he was in charge of this rescue attempt. They needed to stop for a while to take care of Karin's arm, in any case.

Urahara worked on the injury with healing kidō while the rest of them sat in a rough semicircle. Rukia kept glancing at him, a troubled look on her face; Uryū didn't ask what it was. He had a feeling he knew, and this was not the place for that conversation. He settled back against the cave wall behind him, jagged stone pressing unevenly into his shihakushō. Of course nothing in Hell would be comfortable.

"Urahara-san," he said, turning his head to observe the other man at work. "I never asked how you met Ururu and Jinta in the first place."

The children had last names different from each other and everyone else at the shop, and there was no mistaking that their capabilities were beyond those of ordinary humans—let alone ordinary human children. When Uryū had first moved in with them, his training partner had been Ururu rather than Urahara himself. Having a better idea of what shinigami were like, now, he'd easily place her at the level of a seated officer.

"You didn't," Urahara agreed. He shifted slightly; his kidō-illuminated hands moved to Karin's elbow.

"They aren't… modified souls, are they?"

Urahara shook his head, eyes shrouded in the shadow of his hat brim. "No." There was a pause.

"Jinta and Ururu were human children."

"Were?" That was Rukia—she sounded unsure. Her knee bumped into Uryū's when she crossed her legs underneath her.

"The building next to my shop used to be a florist's," Urahara said, tone unreadable. "Ururu's parents owned it. All three of them were in a car accident several years ago. Jinta was in the other car, with his grandmother, I think."

Urahara's mouth was turned down, almost thoughtfully, but Uryū couldn't see much more of his face than that. "All of the adults died on impact. The two of them… almost did as well. I was just in the right place at the time. Ururu recognized me. She… asked me if she was going to die." He shifted again, moving his hands further up Karin's arm.

"I told her no. And… decided I meant it."

"So their abilities…?" Rukia hesitated.

Urahara shook his head. "Byproducts of the process that kept them alive. And possibly the only thing keeping them alive now—without reiatsu of their own, they would be unable to resist the process of acquiring Hell Chains."

He lapsed into silence.

No one broke it.

Yoruichi had no idea how time flowed in Hell, but to her, it took the Gotei 13 about a day to arrive in Karakura after their advance party.

It wasn't just a few more soldiers, either. The Sōtaichō must really want to close this Gate—he'd sent three captains to do it. Yoruichi felt their approaching reiatsu and stood. Putting her back to the open gate wasn't the best idea, but it was much better than putting her back to the combination of Jūshirō, Byakuya, and Unohana-san.

Behind the Fourth's captain, she could also see Yuzu Kurosaki. That was strange—why would the Sōtaichō have complicated this by sending a family member? Unless…

"So I guess one of them sent a message before they left, huh?"

Kisuke had told her to expect them soon. Maybe he'd anticipated that one of their number would get something back to Soul Society before entering the Gates.

"Rukia thought it might be a good idea if I knew," Jūshirō confessed, smiling mildly.

Yoruichi crossed her arms over her chest. "It hasn't even been a day," she said firmly. "I'm not going to let you banish these Gates." Not while they were still in there. Not while there was still a chance.

"The energy is already beginning to contaminate the living world," Byakuya said.

She scowled at him. "This room will contain most of it for a while longer yet," she replied.

Kisuke had designed it to do so.

"Nevertheless," Unohana said. "We will perform a kidō seal to contain the interference. We have strength enough to maintain it for several days."

A seal…?

"More pressing will be how long it takes everyone to notice that we're gone," Jūshirō added. "Not everyone can be 'sick' for weeks at a time." He shrugged ruefully—clearly amused despite the fact that the humor was at his own expense.

"You're… not here to close the Gates." Yoruichi paused, narrowing her eyes. "And that's because the Sōtaichō has no idea what's going on."

"The only place Hell is mentioned in the bylaws of Soul Society is in the second dictum," Byakuya said flatly. "Which states that we are not to interfere in its affairs. There is no rule regarding how such infractions are to be handled."

Slowly, Yoruichi smiled. "That's a nice loophole you have there, Byakuya-kun."

He frowned at her, his displeasure with the nickname obvious. She grinned.

"Okay, then, let's—" Yoruichi tsked, throwing herself forward and springing away from the spot with her hands.

A naginata slammed blade-first into the ground where she'd just been standing, cleaving a furrow in the dirt. From behind it, a cloaked Togabito emerged, swinging the weapon in a broad arc. Everyone jumped back.

"Shit. Looks like we'll have to clean this up first." There were six Togabito and counting—clearly, several had banded together to take advantage of the wide-open doorway.

"Ukitake-san and I will set up the kidō," Unohana said, her tone unruffled. "I'm sure the rest of you can resolve this matter." Calmly, she moved to one side of the gate, Ukitake mirroring her on the other side.

Yoruichi, turning aside a blow from the naginata with her hand, arched her eyebrows in surprise at the line of blood that appeared on her palm. "Careful," she warned. "These ones are pretty strong."

Not, of course, as strong as they were—but definitely more numerous.

"Chire, Senbonzakura."

"Sakisomero, Hasuhime."

Yoruichi grinned. "Let's do it."

"The deepest level of Hell is reserved for those who have committed infractions against the balance—or against god." Amari's eye slid sideways to land on Urahara. "In another life… well, that doesn't matter. The important part is that it also contains my residence. That is where Shuren is. And where your children are."

"Well, then what the heck are we waiting for?" Renji said, making to step past her and out of the cave.

Amari's arm blocked his passage. "Do not go so swiftly into danger, shinigami. There is something else you must understand."

"What now?" Karin asked—Renji shared her obvious frustration.

Scratching the back of his neck with his free hand, he kept the other one on Zabimaru. What part of this was complicated? They just needed to get in there, bind that guy, grab the kids and leave. Sure, there would probably be a fight involved, but if those Togabito were just like the Kushanāda or whatever, they could handle it.

"If you die here, you will remain here." Amari tilted her head to the side. "That is the law of Hell."

"Couldn't you simply make an exception?" Ishida asked, pushing up his glasses. "You're the one who decides these things, are you not?"

She frowned. "Such a thing as freeing the enchained is long beyond my power. I rule here because I am the strongest. Only the most primitive order exists here now—and you must understand that together, Shuren and his allies are stronger than I. The risk that you will die is real. And it is a risk greater than death under any other condition. You have seen the torment the others undergo—yours would be worse yet, if you died in the lowest level. Do you understand?"

"Don't die, don't underestimate these assholes. I got it." Renji still didn't see the problem.

Amari sighed, shaking her head; her mouth pulled up on the good side so she was smiling, sort of. "Very well then. They await us. Come."

The first thing Renji noticed when they stepped out of the end of the tunnel was the heat—it felt almost like he had a sunburn just from standing there. It had a sudden effect on everyone, actually—turning their faces pink like they'd run a long distance. Only Karin didn't really seem to notice. She squinted at all of them with a strange look on her face.

The source of the heat was obvious: they were far underground, and apparently like anywhere else, that meant there was magma—lots of it. It bubbled slowly in huge pools, taking up most of the floorspace on this level. The gravity also felt heavier—like he was standing under a captain's reiatsu pressure or something.

At the far end of what he could see, there was a castle, of sorts. It looked like any fancy house, really, except that instead of wood, it was made of… some kind of shiny black rock or something. A lot of the ground under them was similar, actually. Urahara probably knew what the deal was—but he was completely focused ahead.

Starting forward before the rest of them, he followed a thin trail of the black rock; the rest of them filed in behind. The heat only got worse—Renji was sweating though his shikakushō and could feel his hair starting to stick to his head.

"Where are the Togabito?" he asked Amari.

"You do not wish to know the answer to that," she told him.

Going was slow, but no one confronted them until they'd made it past the worst of the magma.

"No," Rukia murmured.

Renji lifted his head, sucking in a sharp breath.

Dangling from the front walls of the castle were two iron cages. Each of the kids was held in one of them—neither looked conscious. Both were soaked—in their own sweat, most likely—and probably beyond dehydrated, if the waxy color of their skin was anything to go by. Worst of all, though… Jinta already had a short, black chain protruding from his chest.

"Since I doubt Her illustrious Majesty was polite enough to say it," called a voice from above, "allow me: welcome, shinigami, to Hell. We're so glad you could make it."

Renji searched for the source of the voice, drawing Zabimaru almost without thinking about it. The hilt of a sword was a reassurance in his hand—he wasn't all that worried about dying, but this still demanded that they take it seriously.

"Nake, Benihime!"

From behind him, a bright red arc of light flew forward, slamming into one of the walls with enough force for Renji to feel the tremors in the ground under his feet. It landed well away from the kids—but when a brief flurry of movement followed, he understood that Urahara had hit what he meant to.

A cloaked figure landed on the ground in front of the wall, rising slowly from his crouch. He pushed his hood back—honestly, he didn't look that different from any other soul. Black hair, cut to his chin and neck. His eyes might have been red; everything looked black and red in this light, though. Most obvious was the chain shackled around his neck.

"Shuren." Amari managed to say the one word with disdain, anger, and something that sounded like pity all at once.

"Your Majesty." Shuren's tone was mocking.

Renji's sleeve stirred as another blast of reiatsu whipped past him; Shuren jumped away from it with a look of obvious irritation.

"And here I thought we were going to negotiate this like civilized men," he said, sneering at Urahara.

"Let's save the trouble," Urahara replied, swinging his zanpakutō again and forcing Shuren another half-dozen feet back. "You want me to cut your chains. I refuse. You threaten Ururu and Jinta. I kill you. Negotiation concluded."

"Is that so?" Shuren replied. "Let's see you try, Kisuke Urahara." He raised a hand and gestured forward with it. From over the castle wall appeared dozens more Togabito, all cloaked like Shuren, all armed.

"Urahara!" Karin stepped forward. "Leave this guy to me. You have more important stuff to do, remember?"

"She's right," Ishida confirmed, releasing his zanpakutō. "We'll deal with the Togabito. You take care of the rest."

Renji and Rukia exchanged a look—he saw his own intentions reflected in her face, too. What Urahara needed was time. They could give him that.

"Hoero, Zabimaru."

Term Dictionary:

Kushanāda – クシャナーダ – The "guardians" of Hell. Mine are slightly different from the ones in the movie, but they have a similar size and function.

Sakebe – 叫べ – "Shriek/cry out." One of Hisaku's special techniques. This one sets the entire blade on fire, which allows for quicker uses of Habatake, but also makes the metal of the sword hot, increasing its cutting potential and destructive power. The flames have no adverse effect on Karin or Hisaku.

Rikujōkōrō – 六杖光牢 – "Six Rods Prison of Light." Bakudō #61. Strikes a target with six beams of light through the midsection, rendering them completely unable to move. Byakuya is known for being particularly good at this spell, but Rukia is also capable practitioner.

Sōkatsui – 蒼火墜 – "Blue Fire, Crash Down." Hadō #33. Direct kidō blasting spell. One of Rukia's favorites.

One more chapter to go! I hope everyone's enjoying the story—some parts of this are going to be pretty relevant way down the line in the series. Comments, thoughts, and reactions much appreciated.