Disclaimer: The ideas and concepts used in BLEACH belong to Tite Kubo, as well as any regular characters. Most of the characters in this story belong to me. Thank you.


"How far away is it?" Hoji asked as he and his troupe of killers walked down the road.

"Far enough to be a pain" Shin said. "Still, I don't fully understand the mission."

"What's not to understand?" Suichi said, still stealthily sulking that he had to go along. "An orphan from years ago got into trouble and Lady Unohana wants us to rescue him."

"It's the brat's own fault" Hoji noted. "Still, what I'm worried about will be the opposition."

"Mercenaries" Shin said with disgust. "Regardless of our orders, let's make sure they all die."

"Why?" Suichi asked.

"Besides good practice?" Hoji began. "Mercs are filthy. They sell the most basic practice of fighting for unreasonable prices. They may as well just go home and join a militia, at least that way they'll have the benefits of being heroes."

"I don't like the concept" Shin said "that they embrace. Money over honor, reputation over actual skill. They just stab people in the back and call themselves amazing slaughter-monsters...no offense Suichi."

"Why would I take offense?" Suichi asked. "I do things honorably enough for an assassin."

"It's not that we don't have anything against you" Hoji said "we're just to forward-fighting minded to care about any other style of fighting."

"Scars on a back" Shin prosed "are a warrior's shame. For you, Suichi, it's a way of life."

"That's true" Suichi said. "I'm more worried about the leader than the actual mercenaries."

"Why's that?" Hoji asked.

"Weren't you listening?" Suichi asked in shock. "Lady Unohana said this guy has a sword that can control people's minds. That's not an easy opponent to take down."

"Once we figure out the trick" Shin said "it will be easy. Until we do, take precautions. Don't look directly at the sword, don't get touched by the sword, don't get within a certain proximity of the sword, and don't let your sword touch his sword. Other than that, I don't know how we can get mind controlled."

"Hopefully that will be enough to protect us" Suichi said.

"Tch" Hoji scoffed. "Don't do this and try not to that, that's a bunch of crap. I can just use Senkou no Shikyou and kill the bastard before he gets a chance to hit us."

"Let's refrain from doing that" Shin said "until we're sure it will work. It may be akin to yanking an arrow out of your gut. It's better to leave it in and let a trained professional cut it out that to yank it out and have your organs stuck to it."

"Thanks for the visual" Suichi nervously said. "So, how long is it?"

"We still have a while to go" Shin said. "It's in a neighboring territory of the country, and remember, we just recently got here. We're going to be as lost as we were when we first entered Soul Reaper territory."

"Damn" Hoji cursed. "Hopefully some Hollows will pop out. I wanna try some new stuff out on them!"

"Well, keep hoping" Shin said. "Maybe we'll get lucky and an ambush will be waiting."

"Please no..." Suichi groaned. Now, for the first time, the ferocious three set foot into a completely new land! From the seclusive Unohana Manor deep in the wooded foothills at the base of a round mountain, Shin's gang set out down the rolling hills and dipping valleys into the unknown, dense forests of this exciting new wilderness! Would Hollows truly be prowling behind every tree waiting for a meal, or are there bandits crouched in attack position to make a meal of the passing traveler's wallets? The encounters from start to finish are unknown, the best kind of knowing for the mighty warriors Shin and Hoji!


Elsewhere in the spirit world, the ramifications of the fateful battle at Gevlav were finalized. The magic bullets Suzumebachishuriken that Suichi had redirected completed their long and tiring flight over unfathomable amounts of land. Of the three Suichi sent out, only two were left, the other one being lost somewhere along the way. Their target was the same as when Suichi reprogrammed them: Ken Yaburashiji.

"Sir" a dutiful butler said, approaching his boss, "there are some deadly, deadly magical darts here to kill you."

"What?" the old voice of Ken said. He got up from his seat and stomped outside. He could see from the balcony of his snowy-mountain lodge the two corroded and slowed cones that were shaking to come at him. "Annoying..." Ken growled. He took his sword, and with one swift and clean swipe he blasted the air and obliterated the spiritual bullets from the world. Then he sheathed the sword, clicking its golden, gilded hand guard against its sheathe.

"Are you alright, sir?" the butler asked. Ken coughed in the cold air and tucked his hand into the sleeves of his thick yukata robe. An older man with the lines of wisdom across his firmly cut cheeks, Ken Yaburashiji had a daunting and menacing stance. He always seemed to be on edge about things and couldn't be seen by his subordinates smiling. His hair was dull and gray, but it filled his head and the area around his mouth. His short beard seemed like one, solid piece that couldn't move and his frayed sideburns gave the appearance of a climbing fire along the sides of his face. He wore a traditional samurai knot that flowed down into a long tail. His eyes had seen pain, suffering, success and loss, but now they saw the end of an era that he had seen coming months ago...

"I'm fine" Ken growled, marching back into his heated room. He sat down at his table, where a one-man game of go was set up. He played by himself, not caring about the outside world at all.

"The Kyuuhiouto seems to be destroyed" the butler calmly noted. "Are you depressed sir?"

"I'm not" Ken said truthfully. "If the only purpose of that wretched project was to give those kids something to do with their time then I feel like I've accomplished something. I never intended it to do any good or bad, I just wanted to inspire people to act."

"You should feel honored then, sir" the butler pointed out. "You inspired three men to act to the point of taking out the entire structure of the Kyuuhiouto. A Shin Kenpachi was their leader, apparently." Ken's hand stopped with a clack on the board. It seemed that, form a professional point of view, Ken's white color had lost all possible moves. He was trapped by an utter veil of black on the board, an unintended circumstance.

"Kenpachi...?" Ken repeated. "The murderer?"

"I believe he prefers 'warrior'" the butler corrected. Ken folded his arms and sighed gruffly.

"Whatever he is" Ken said "keep some tabs on him. He may come in handy for my next project."

"What do you intend to do next, sir?" the butler asked.

"I want those idiots at Seireitei" Ken began "to realize a better way. My system will show them how good things can be for them if they bother to organize things correctly. The royal court guard will be transformed into my 'Gotei 13' and, hopefully, we can bring some peace to this waring land..."

"A noble cause" the butler complimented. "I'm sure it will succeed before it fails."


Still elsewhere, the maniacally ambitious forces of the Tenshioni were continuing their pursuit of a very distant enemy. Netami headed his group by hopping from craggy rock to spear-tipped stone on his sandaled feet. The others, Kakugari, Horoshi and Senshi, trailed behind the over-eager killer.

"Hey Netami!" Horoshi, the obviously weakest link of the group shouted, "Can you slow down a bit?"

"Death doesn't wait around for weaklings to catch up" Netami shouted. "If you can't keep up with me, then go home! I don't need you here anyway." Netami continued dashing off with Senshi quickly gaining form behind. Kakugari offered his strong hand to the young Horoshi and gave him a piggyback.

"Don't worry yourself much, young one" Kakugari said. "Netami is rushed, not angry at us. He simply needs some reconciliation with his past aggressor to be at peace."

"I know he's after revenge" Horoshi groaned, "but does he have to degrade us all the time?"

"You have no blame there" Kakugari said with a grin. "Netami is surely the strongest of us all! And he knows it! His power is enough to move the very mountains, and as such his pride is very vulnerable to getting hurt when he is shown up at any time. It is why none of us remark on his record of service, or lack thereof, and why he is so irreplaceable to the Tenshioni!"

"But still" Senshi bravely started, "he is physically ranked among the last of you! I, Senshi, the loving prophet of demise, am infinitely more attractive than Any of you!"

"We never properly voted on that" Kakugari mentioned. Finally, after climbing for an indiscernible amount of time, Netami reached the apparent summit of the mountain. To his surprise there seemed to be a disheveled temple carved out of the solid rock wall.

"A temple?" Netami noted. "All the way up here? Who would come here?" Finally, the other three caught up and rested to catch their breath.

"That was a hard climb!" Horoshi pointed out. After panting at the sky for a while, Horoshi also noticed the strangely placed temple. However, his senses also registered an unknown presence that forced him to draw his sword. "Someone's here!" Horoshi warned. Before Netami could bother to care about considering Horoshi's warning, a blast of undefined kido magic exploded at his chest. Netami, being the prodigious man that he was, was completely unfazed by the attack, but the ambush attempt did rile him up. He glared bitterly through the snow and smoke at the top of the temple steps. There a small hermit with long, wrinkled arms stepped out with a cane in hand.

"My my my" the old man said, "what have we here? Some pathetic young lost souls, looking for some otherworldly wisdom perhaps?" Old man grasshopper quickly took notice of the angry Netami and pointed his long, ancient finger at the black-haired menace. "You! I see a cloud of death handing over, and a rain of blood drenching you from head to foot! You are seeking a dangerous enemy, one who will force you to meet with death at the border of the unliving world!"

"What?" Netami said, drawing his horrible sword and taking his favorite stance. "You're saying someone will try to kill me?"

"Eventually" the old man chuckled, "he will kill you. That is fate!" Netami would have none of this! He flashed forward and crossed swords with the old man's cane. "You have power and skill abound" the old man said, "but what you lack will surely be your ultimate downfall."

"I lack nothing" Netami growled. "I'm a perfect, absolutely powerful warrior!" Netami drew his sword up sharply and thrusted it down into the ground, destroying the temple steps and collapsing the gate. He stood up, eyes shining, and saw the old man had retreated onto an ornate statue.

"What you lack" the old man explained, "is calmness...that is your undoing!" Netami flashed forward again and started fighting inside the temple. The rest of his group stayed outside and gawked at the spectacle they only wished they could stand to watch.

Such amazing power! Horoshi awed. But, is it true? Can there really be someone more powerful that Netami!? The fight would go on for more than a day, while that destined man moved further towards his own goal far, far away.