Chapter 7: Awaken! Meet Your Zanpakuto!

"Even the hardest of shield have a weak point where they'll shatter." Zoro said in the smoke. "Everyone has a weak point, even you!" Then Shusui came out of the smoke and ran through Nnoitra's head.

"He got him!" Chopper shouted certain that Zoro won.

"No way." Ichigo said not believing what he saw. Then the espada looked at the swordsman disapprovingly.

"How many times do I have to say it before you actually believe me?" Nnoitra said surprising everyone.

"What?!" Zoro said surprised turning toward the espada.

"It doesn't matter what you do, I cannot be cut!" Nnoitra stabbed Zoro's side with his bare hand, making the swordsman cough up blood. When the hand was removed, Zoro fell to the ground. "I bet you're asking yourself this question. You ran me through with your blade and yet I'm still alive." Nnoitra lit up his patch and revealed a hollow hole where his left eye should be and where Zoro ran his blade through. "Do you see it? Your sword didn't injure at all. As matter of fact, it would straight through me. Do you understand now? You can't defeat me, swordsman. You don't have the power. You might as well stay down."

"Zoro." A female voice rang in Zoro's head. It was voice that Zoro recognized.

"Kuina!" Zoro identified the owner of the voice.

Mayuri looked to around what left of Szyael Aporro's palace until found something off. "What's this?" The soul reaper captain moved some of the rubble to get look a better look what he found. "Nemu, come here!"

"Yes, Master Mayuri." A female voice said. Sanji looked at the owner of the voice and his eye turned a heart.

"Why hello." Sanji said entering his lover boy phase. "Who would ever thought in this desert-like hell, there's a beautiful angel here to release me from this place?" Renji and Uryu sweatdropped at Sanji's mood swing and actions.

"Is he serious?" Renji asked.

"I'm just as confused as you at the moment." Uryu said.

"Nemu, don't pay any attention to that idiot and come here!" Mayuri shouted to his lieutenant.

"What was that?!" Sanji shouted at Mayuri. Nemu grabbed Sanji threw him out of the way. Nemu's hand then started to move a drill as she started to strike the pieces of rubble with it. Then the rubble exploded and two figures popped of it.

"Ta-da!" The two arrancars shouted as they landed. "We're back. Two of out the three brothers of the burning sand are back in business!" Nemu approached the two and started to drill near their feet.

"Stop trying to attack us!" Pesche pleaded. "You met once before, don't you remember? It's Pesche and Dodonchakka! We're friends! We're on your side! On…Your…Side!"

"Who the hell are these guys?" Sanji said, lighting his cigarette.

"You're in the way." Mayuri said the arrancars. "I don't know who they are. Let's be safe and get rid of them."

"Yes, Master Mayuri." Nemu said as her hand started to move like a drill again.

"Wait a minute!" Pesche said. "You don't know who we are, we get that. I guess we can't blame you for not recognizing us since you arrived right in the middle of everything. Since that's the case, allow us to refresh your memory."

"Yes, we're very good at that." Dodonchakka said.

"I've seen you before." Mayuri said. "You're supposed to be dead, right?"

"Now that's just cruel." Pesche said. "It's true but it's cruel."

"We're still here." Dodonchakka said. Nemu continued to use her drill like hand to strike the area Pesche and Dodonchakka were standing and tossed the two in the air.

"GOOD BYE, EVERYBODY!" Pesche yelled as he and Dodonchakka were sent flying. Nemu struck the area a few more times and revealed a building that was standing among the palace.

"Where did this big door come from?" Renji asked.

"Good question." Uryu added. "Why is it undamaged when everything else collapsed?"

Mayuri walked toward the building and said, "Silly question. It's perfectly oblivious to me. When a scientist goes through the trouble building his own laboratory, he builds one place more sturdy and secure than all the others. And that is not the room for his costly experiments is located. Nor is it the archives where he files the reports he stayed up all writing. No, the place that a scientist wants to preserve more than anything is his most irreplaceable items. The research materials he crawled over glass to obtain." Mayuri opened the doors of the undamaged room. Uryu, Renji, and Sanji widen their eyes when they saw what was inside.

Meanwhile, Zoro opened his eyes and slowly started to get to his feet. He looked around the area he was in. His eyes widen when he saw where he was. "This place…" He's in a dojo similar to the one he trained in when he was a child. "This is the dojo where I grew up. This was the place where I learned about how be a true swordsman."

"Zoro!" Kuina's voice ranged again.

"Kuina." Zoro said looking around. "Where are you?"

"Over here." A shadowed figure appeared in front of Zoro. "Follow me." The figure started to run into the dojo.

"Huh? Wait!" Zoro started to follow the figure into the dojo. He continued to follow the figure without getting lost until the figure stopped in an open area of the dojo and revealed to be Kuina. Zoro stopped when he saw his childhood friend and rival, Kuina, standing in front of him wearing a black kimono with a sword strapped to her side. "What the…Kuina? Is that you?"

"Yes, it is." Kuina said.

"How? I thought that you were dead."

"Zoro, I'm a soul reaper." Zoro looked at Kuina shocked.

"A what?"

"I'll explain. It all started after my funeral."

(Flashback)

"I want you to give that sword." Zoro said. "I will become stronger! I WILL BECOME STRONGER! STRONGER THAN SHE EVER WAS, YOU HEAR ME! STRONG ENOGH SO MY NAME REACHES OUT TO THE HEAVENS!"

Kuina's soul was outside listening to Zoro's declaration and started to cry with a smile on her face. Then from out of nowhere, a soul reaper appeared on front of her. "Don't worry, I'm a soul reaper." The soul reaper said.

"A soul reaper?" Kuina repeated.

"Yes, it's ok. I won't hurt you. I'm here to take to the soul society." The soul reapers drew his zanpakuto and performed a kenso on Kuina.

(Fast forward)

A few years later, a hollow was seen running through the Rukon district with several soul reapers chasing it. When they caught with the hollow, it was already turning into ash and Kuina was seen holding a sword. "Young lady, what's your name?" one of the soul reapers asked.

"K-Kuina." Kuina answered scared.

"Well Kuina, you shouldn't do anything that dangerous." the soul reaper said. "You could get yourself seriously injured or killed." The soul reapers were about to leave Kuina stopped them.

"Wait! I want to become a soul reaper!" That caught the soul reapers' attention. "Please!"

"Why? Why do you want to be a soul reaper?"

"Because there's someone I made a promise with. A promise to be the world's greatest swordsman. So please, let me be a soul reaper!"

(End of flashback)

"I never thought I would see you again. So becoming a soul reaper was my only chance to do so." Kuina said. "I'm glad that you still kept your promise after all this time. So I wanted to give you this." Kuina took the sheathed zanpakuto and handed it to Zoro. Zoro unsheathed the sword and was surprised he saw the blade.

"This is…" Zoro said with shocked look on his face.

"That's right. It's the Wado Ichimonji, a zanpakuto." Zoro's eyes widen when Kuina said that.

"What?" Zoro then remembered his question he asked Kisuke.

(Flashback)

"I got another question," Zoro said, "Would a regular sword become a zanpakuto?"

"That is unusual for it to happen," Kisuke responded, "But it's not impossible. Why do you ask?"

Zoro drew his Wado Ichimonji and said, "I was wondering that's all."

"Do you feel some type of presence in your swords?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"Well if you do feel a presence in your blades, then your swords could have a chance of becoming zanpakutos. But that is just a theory."

(End of Flashback)

"You had the physical sword since it handed to you." Kuina said. "But the zanpakuto version was always with me. Now I'm giving it to you."

"Why?" Zoro asked.

"Because I know you could do it. Become the world's greatest swordsman." Zoro's eyes started to widen. "Maybe with this, it'll help you. And maybe one day, you and I could spare together just the old days."

"Yeah, thanks." Zoro said as he was engulfed in a light.

Nnoitra walked toward Ichigo, Orihime, and Chopper but stopped when he felt something off. He turned around and saw Zoro standing. "Well, you're still alive?" Nnoitra asked.

'Thank you Kuina.' Zoro thought as he draws Wado. Once the sword is drawn, white aura surrounded Zoro and his spiritual pressure started to rise.

'What is this?' Nnoitra thought as he charged. 'It doesn't matter.'

"Wado Ichimonji!" Zoro said as the swords started to glow in a white light.

"Didn't you understand yet? You can't me with your swords!" Nnoitra charged towards Zoro, ready to finish him.

"Single Sword Style: Sword Draw…" Nnoitra got closer to Zoro as the pirate started to move. "…Lion's Strike!" The two ran past each other and stopped when they're a few feet from the other. Then a slash opened on Nnoitra's left side and blood gusted out of it.

"What?!" Nnoitra said surprised to see the cut.

"He got him!" Chopper shouted. Ichigo and Orihime widen their eyes at what they saw. Nnoitra fell down to a one knee and breathed heavily. He glared at the swordsman as he started to get up.

"Damn it! Where did he get that power from! No, I won't lose to a human. I'm not going to die here." Golden aura surrounds Nnoitra as he holds up his zanpakuto. "Pray, Santa Terasa!" Smoke surrounds the espada as his spiritual pressure changed rapidly. The espada appeared out of the smoke with his wound closed up, an extra set of arms that takes on an insect-like carapace and claw hands with a large scythe in each hand.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: Nnoitra Bears his Fangs! Zoro's Overwhelming Attack!