Lex Talionis

Chapter 11

White, wispy smoke, with a light blue tint began to spew from the hilt, and it soon enveloped the entire sword. The shape within the smoke began to elongate, and not long after Ichigo reeled his Zanpakuto out from its cover, revealing a scythe now within his hand.

The blade of the scythe was black and silver, while the staff it was attached to appeared to be black steel.

Aizen, Tousen, and Gin could ponder its appearance no more as Ichigo wasted no time, "Tsuki no zetsubō," he said softly before slashing at the air in the direction of the three traitors.

They all reacted very much in the same manner, with the exception of Aizen who was still desperately trying to dispel the binding spells Ichigo placed on him.

"It's too late," Ichigo said as Tousen and Gin had their blades drawn with defensive stances, "You've already been cut," he continued while walking towards the group slowly.

Gin merely quirked an eyebrow, while Tousen who was already on edge gritted his teeth and furrowed his eyebrows in further agitation.

"Which of you shall I kill first? Perhaps you...Aizen," Ichigo asked curiously.

The statement set off Tousen who was immediately upon Ichigo, despite Aizen's protests.

"Irritability."

Ichigo deftly avoided and parried Tousen's attacks, which were becoming increasingly sloppy and ineffective. Tousen would bring down his blade in an overhead strike, which Ichigo side-stepped, causing Tousen's blade to strike down upon the ground while he lost his footing and tripped forwards.

"Difficulty concentrating."

Tousen caught himself before falling to the ground, but he was within perfect range of Ichigo's knee which came crashing upwards into his face, propelling him on to his back, reeling in pain as he felt his nose break on impact.

"You weren't nearly this ineffective when you fought Captain Hirako," Ichigo whispered quietly so only Tousen could hear his words.

Tousen choked on his breath in surprise as he sluggishly attempted to create distance while stumbling to his feet.

"Anxiety."

Ichigo swiftly brought down his scythe, which Tousen dodged but in doing so tripped on his feet yet again.

"None of your comrades seem too keen on helping you, Tousen. They can't seem to help you at all," Ichigo stated while he stalked towards him.

"Silence!" Tousen bellowed before he flash-stepped towards Ichigo, striking out numerous times in a combination of vertical and horizontal slashes, attempting desperately to connect with any part of Ichigo.

"Isolation."

Ichigo closed the distance between him before bringing up the bottom of his Zanpakuto and landing the blunt end on Tousen's solar plexus, causing him to stop mid-swing and gasp in pain.

"You can't defeat me, Tousen," Ichigo whispered as the end of his Zanpakuto pressed against Tousen's chest, likely keeping him propped up.

"Hopelessness."

Tousen knocked Ichigo's Zanpakuto aside with his forearm and attempted in vain to stab Ichigo in the ribs. Ichigo moved to the side, causing Tousen to hit only air as his blade went underneath Ichigo's arm. Ichigo held his Zanpakuto horizontally and thrusted both hands forward, causing the staff part of his sword to land squarely on Tousen's eyes.

Tousen stumbled backwards, grasping at his eyes in pain, before falling to one knee in clear exhaustion.

"Lack of energy."

At that moment, however, Aizen had broken free from his restraints and was visibly annoyed going by the expression of his normally calm face.

"My greatest apologies Aizen-sama," Tousen nearly yelled, "I cannot begin to express the severe disdain I feel towards my inability to finish this man."

"Self-hatred. Worthlessness."

Aizen merely spared a glance at Tousen, seemingly ignoring his words as he looked back at Ichigo, but was soon surprised as Ichigo disappeared from his vision.

"Hitotsume: Nadegiri," Ichigo said, barely audible to those in the area, and he brought up his scythe in an upward strike towards the kneeling form of Tousen, and vertically split him in half. The pressure from the attack continued onwards into the forest, long after the two halves of Tousen's body fell to the ground.

"Suicidal."

"That was...unexpected" Ichigo mused with a tone of surprise in his voice, "I would've never imagined that a Zanjutsu technique could be so effective."

If Aizen was angry or saddened at the loss of Tousen, he certainly didn't show it.

Ichigo swiped out with his blade to remove the blood that bathed its form, before turning his body and facing Aizen with an ever so calm expression, as if the corpse of Tousen didn't faze him in the slightest.

"It appears that Captains Urahara and Tessai managed to escape with the investigation team. However..." Ichigo thought while Aizen drew his sword, "I'm going to need some kind of evidence that the real Aizen was out here."

Ichigo soon formulated a plan, and realized that to pull it off he couldn't let Aizen breathe if it was going to work, "I hope I'm convincing enough."

"I'm curious of your Zanpakuto's ability, Lieutenant Fushou," Aizen stated calmly, the interest evident in his voice.

"Only a fool would reveal such information, sadly you will have to discover its ability on your own...or perhaps," Ichigo said with pause, a smirk gracing his lips, "You can't figure it out."

Aizen lips pursed slightly, irritated at his failure to coax information out of Ichigo and glanced slightly at his own Zanpakuto. Ichigo noticed and immediately went on the offensive, hoping he could prevent Aizen from releasing his Zanpakuto. It worked.

Ichigo flash-stepped behind Aizen and brought with him his Zanpakuto in a wide-arc in an attempt to cut him at the waist. Aizen merely parried the attack, and no sooner Ichigo had flash-stepped yet again not wasting any time and was in front of him with an overhead attack, which was met with the same result.

Ichigo rotated his Zanpakuto so the bottom part was facing forward and he launched dozens of various attacks trying to strike Aizen's face with the blunted end before he swung it sideways, rotating it back to its normal position.

"Perhaps," Aizen said calmly as he parried a powerful swing, noticeable by the small impact crater made by his feet, "You should join me, Lieutenant Fushou. As you are well aware, I am short one person."

Ichigo didn't pause in his assault, he was relentless. He couldn't give Aizen room to release his sword, but he needed to goad him some more, so he replied, "It is as I have said before, you have ulterior motives."

He executed a high spinning back kick trying to hit Aizen's temple, but he ducked underneath his foot. He flipped forwards, facing away from Aizen, and brought his blade along for the ride, it having a clear path for Aizen's face, but the Lieutenant jumped several feet backwards to avoid the strike.

"Besides, your incompetence has become quite obvious," Ichigo tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, and it appeared to have the desired effect.

Aizen had a lapse in concentration, likely thinking of how his plan wasn't panning out the way he had hoped, which allowed Ichigo to smack Aizen across the face with the bottom end of his Zanpakuto, causing the traitorous Lieutenant to stumble sideways a couple of steps.

Ichigo again was unrelenting, there was no reason to pause and admire the accomplishment of gaining the first strike in their battle, and such confidence could turn the tide of battle.

That being said however, the strike did create the opportunity for high-level kidō. Recalling a moment from his time as an academy student, Ichigo thought of one particular spell that may just set Aizen over the edge given his remark following his use of it, "Hadō #90. Kurohitsugi," he said calmly, and a coffin of black and purple energy soon encompassed Aizen's form but a moment following the strike to his face.

The gravity in the surrounding area felt slightly different as the spears pierced the box, lacerating everything that it enveloped, before slowly dissipating revealing the form of Aizen. His body was adorned with gashes throughout his body, needless to say he was injured, but nothing life-threatening.

"It was a rather waste of time and energy," Ichigo recalled after he used the very same spell in front of Aizen at the academy. While Ichigo wouldn't ignore the physical damage the spell inflicted upon Aizen, his primary goal with the spell was to trigger that memory within Aizen's mind, trying to insult and annoy his enemy as much as possible.

Aizen was clearly gritting his teeth, his irritability at an all-time high. He had more than likely recalled the memory and interpreted the attack in the exact way Ichigo had planned.

"I'm a waste of time and energy?"

Having long lost his patience, Aizen went on the offensive, and if Ichigo wasn't able to maintain a cool composure as always, he was sure shock would be evident on his face. Aizen was more powerful than he gave credit for, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

They traded strikes, both parry and dodging numerous attacks, and both being just as unsuccessful. However, Ichigo was ahead in this skirmish thus far, which Ichigo was sure invaded the traitor's mind knowing full well of his arrogance.

Ichigo brought down a powerful swing, his scythe screaming through the air at an unusually fast velocity, but Aizen managed to parry the strike. However, after soon locking swords with Aizen, Ichigo took one hand off his Zanpakuto and pointed his index finger at Aizen's face, "Hadō #4. Byakurai," and a condensed bolt of lightning shot forward.

Aizen was momentarily shocked, but managed to avoid most of the spell by tilting his head, however a deep gash was not visible from underneath his eye all the way around his face over his cheekbone.

Aizen's eyes looked down at the cut, the blood from the wound painting his face, and that seemed to set him off.

"It worked," Ichigo thought.

A moment later and Aizen thrust his sword outward before raising his palm at Ichigo, "Bakudō #61. Rikujōkōrō," and six beams of light pinned against Ichigo's midsection, much the same way Ichigo's had towards Aizen.

Ichigo calmly began breaking down the spell to free himself, not losing his focus or concentration in the slightest, as doing either would not quicken his escape.

Aizen's confidence returned slightly, "It is as I said before, Lieutenant Fushou. Your execution is flawed."

With his palms down and two fingers outstretched, Aizen uttered words that Ichigo had not said but a few moments ago, "Hadō #90. Kurohitsugi!"

The same black coffin of spiritual energy soon began enveloping Ichigo. The gravity increasing more than it had when he used it, and its pressure could be felt quite easily. Even as he was encompassed in darkness, Ichigo merely continued breaking apart the binding spell, ignoring his predicament altogether.

The spears pierced the box, and all Ichigo could feel was the heavy spears cutting his flesh apart. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience, but despite being torn apart he continued his work on the binding spell.

As the box faded away, the gravity returning to normal and the pressure letting up around them, the bleeding form of Ichigo was revealed. The wounds were very similar to the ones Aizen had, but the cuts were far deeper, and he was losing much more blood. However, he was free from the binding spell and still stood on both feet, the expression on his face still very much the same before being bound.

Ichigo again, wasting no time, went on the offensive once more. He showed no signs of slowing down either, in fact, it appeared he was moving at an even quicker pace than before.

"Tch," Aizen nearly spat.

"I don't need your Zanpakuto to create an illusion for you, Aizen," Ichigo thought with an inward smile.

As the minutes dragged on in their exchange of strikes, Aizen had lost nearly all restraint. Ichigo had hesitated briefly, his injuries apparently having caught up with him, but that hesitation was all Aizen needed to bring down an overhanded attack with a deadly amount of force.

Aizen's blade connected with Ichigo's right shoulder and brought it all the way down to his waist.

Ichigo stumbled backwards, coughing something out of his lungs and eyes wincing in pain, before he fell to the ground flat on his back.

Aizen's victory hadn't come yet, however, as the traitor soon discovered that the investigation team was gone. As Aizen looked back at Ichigo's body, not a moment later his body was bathed in a wispy black smoke.

He disappeared.

Aizen couldn't sense his reiatsu at all, it was completely gone.

He couldn't dwell on it too long, he had to return to the Seireitei and salvage his plan, having wasted too much time fighting against Ichigo.

"Come Gin, Lieutenant Fushou has been dealt with," Aizen said, sheathing his Zanpakuto and calmly walking away.

Gin stared at where Ichigo's body previously lay, before smiling widely at Aizen, "Ah, Lieutenant Aizen," and following after him.

* Back in the Seireitei *

Urahara and his subordinates were working diligently to procure an antidote for the investigation team's ailment.

"What are the numbers again," Urahara asked as he glanced at several different computer screens, all giving varied bits of information.

"Sample A is at 0.68. Sample B is at 0.76. Sample C is at 0.81. Sample D is at 0.93," one of the division members said.

Urahara briskly walked to another screen, before pausing to think, "Use Sample D along with the number three serum for the synthesis."

"Yes sir!" the division member replied before quickly going to work.

"Attention! Attention! All Captains and Lieutenants are to report for an emergency meeting at the 1st Division immediately! I repeat, all Captains and Lieutenants are to report for an emergency meeting at the 1st Division!" a voice boomed throughout the Seireitei.

"I can't leave now!" Urahara thought worriedly, "What are the results?" Urahara asked, ignoring the announcement and going back to work.

The 1st Division meeting room was soon filled with various Captains and Lieutenants. Those part of the investigation team were absent, along with Lieutenant Fushou and Captain Urahara.

The meeting began with the sound of Captain-Commander Yamamoto's cane slamming against the floor, "Captain Yoruichi, where is your Lieutenant?" the Captain-Commander asked.

Yoruichi merely glanced upward in thought, "Ain't got a clue, Captain-Commander," she said.

"And where is Captain Urahara?" the Captain-Commander asked openly to see if anyone knew.

The silence was interrupted however, "Excuse me, Captain-Commander Yamamoto! My apologies for not reporting this sooner, but I have something troubling to report!"

Yamamoto glanced to his side, his stoic face unreadable as he considered the person who spoke, "What is it, Lieutenant Aizen?"

"Thank you!" Aizen said before quickly bowing, "Against my Captain's wishes, I observed the newly appointed Captain of the 12th Division, Urahara Kisuke. I found it odd that the souls in the Rukongai began vanishing around the same time that the Shinigami Research and Development Institute was formed. I am sure that I stepped out of line, but I searched some of their labs and came across vials that contained hollow reiatsu."

The Captain-Commander along with Kyoraku were both caught off guard by this statement, while the other Captains and Lieutenants present for the meeting weren't privy to all the information surrounding the situation.

"Vials with hollow reiatsu?" Captain Unohana repeated with a bit of disbelief.

"Yes sir!" Aizen said respectfully, "I just reported it to Lieutenant Fushou, which is why he is not present for the meeting."

At that exact moment, a messenger from the Inner Court Troop suddenly appeared in the meeting room, "My sincere apologies for interrupting Captain-Commander. I have a report from Lieutenant Fushou!" the messenger said while kneeling.

"Report!" the Captain-Commander ordered.

"Yes sir! Lieutenant Fushou has investigated the 12th Division laboratories and has discovered extensive research on something called Hollowfication!" the messenger disclosed.

"Hollowfication?" Kyoraku said in surprise, his mind reeling at what to believe and disbelieve.

"Lieutenant Fushou gathered that this 'Hollowfication' is related to the vanishing souls within the Rukongai and asked that I report this immediately while he pursued the investigation team to discover their fate," the messenger relayed.

Everyone in the room was well beyond shocked at this revelation, although two people were a little more skeptical: Yoruichi and Kyoraku.

"Tell me," Yoruichi said with a pause while gaining the attention of the messenger, "What is your password?" looking expectantly at the Inner Court Troop member.

The messenger stiffened slightly, "Excuse me, password?"

"Are you deaf? I said, tell me your password," Yoruichi repeated, her suspicions growing ever so slightly.

"My apologies Captain Yoruichi, but I am unaware of any password," the messenger said respectfully.

Yoruichi's eyes narrowed, "Ichigo implemented some new security measures for the Onmitsukidō, they're only a couple of days old, so anyone trying to impersonate one of our members wouldn't likely be aware of it," she said before flash-stepping behind the messenger and landing a severe kick to the back of his head.

"What is the meaning of all this!" the Captain-Commander said loudly.

Their attention was soon diverted, however, at the sound of a voice, "Tsuki no mitōshi."

Everyone's eyes darted in Aizen's direction, as a figure appeared out from a black wispy smoke, with a blade resting against Aizen's neck, "You're under arrest, Lieutenant Aizen."

Ichigo stood behind Aizen, holding his blade against Aizen's neck, with wounds all over his body and exhaustion evident on his face.

"I don't understand Lieutenant Fushou..." Aizen began, but Ichigo soon cut him off, "You will be detained within the Special Underground Detention Facility for terrorist actions against Soul Society, attempting to overthrow the balance of Soul Society, and the murder and experimentation of Rukongai citizens and several members of the 9th Division."

"My apologies Lieutenant Fushou, but I've been within the walls of the Seireitei all evening, and forgive me but if memory serves correctly, you don't have the authority to arrest a fellow Lieutenant," Aizen said respectfully.

"That is incorrect, Lieutenant Aizen Sōsuke. He was granted the authority by Central 46," Captain-Commander Yamamoto stated, observing the situation with a careful eye.

"I see. I was unaware," Aizen stated, maintaining his composure at this revelation, "However, I'm sure there are members of the Gotei 13 who can attest to my whereabouts this evening, Lieutenant Fushou," Aizen explained.

"You've been within the Seireitei all evening then, Lieutenant Aizen?" Ichigo questioned, his blade still pressed up against his neck.

"That is correct, Lieutenant Fushou," Aizen said calmly.

"By all accounts of this 'messenger' I went out into the Rukongai in search for the investigation team. So please, Lieutenant Aizen, would you care to explain why there are traces of your reiatsu in one of my wounds?" Ichigo said, much to the surprise of everyone, Aizen included who couldn't cover the shock on his face.

"If you were within the Seireitei all evening, and I was out in the Rukongai, how could your reiatsu possibly be in one of my wounds?" Ichigo pushed further.

Aizen looked back at Ichigo, a smirk forming at his lips as he considered Ichigo, "Well done, Lieutenant Fushou, it appears that I underestimated you, a mistake I won't make again," Aizen said, his facade falling.

"You won't get the chance, Aizen," Ichigo stated.

"Ah, but you are wrong. You see, I just created an illusion for all the Captains and Lieutenants in this room. They can't hear nor see either of us right now, they're observing illusions of us having an argument over the validity of your wounds. I will admit, you have won this time, but I have not come out of this unrewarded," Aizen divulged.

Ichigo pressed his blade further into Aizen's neck, "Even if there are 'illusions' arguing right now, any conclusion they come to the Captains and Lieutenants will know of your guilt, so you are only delaying the inevitable."

The smirk on Aizen's face turned into a smile, "Again, you are wrong Lieutenant Fushou. I did not create the illusions to delay anything. I simply wanted to have an uninterrupted conversation with you before I left."

"What makes you think I will let you..." Ichigo began before Aizen cut him off.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Fushou, and give my regards to Captain Urahara, you have both helped me immensely," Aizen said and Ichigo was completely caught off guard when Aizen struck him down with his sword.

"I couldn't track his movements. I couldn't feel him move. I couldn't do a single thing to prepare myself," Ichigo thought as he fell backwards, blood spewing from new wounds, "I see," he realized with twisted fascination, "He's far more powerful than he made me believe during our battle."

Ichigo fell to the ground, unconsciousness soon taking over, and the illusion shattered.

The Captains and Lieutenants were horrified. Aizen was nowhere to be seen, and Ichigo was lying on the ground bleeding to death. In the end, they didn't see it coming, despite their suspicions.