Chapter 9: Ambition Towards the Oken! The Hogyoku!
"…Giri!" Zoro charged towards Nnoitra and connect with his attack, breaking the espada's weapon and cut him down. Nnoitra was bleeding profusely as the swordsman ran past him. Nnoitra was slowly falling to the ground as he eyed Nel. Nel slowly opened her eyes and she saw the espada defeated.
"Nnoitra." Nel said as Nnoitra fell to his knees and collapsed.
Zoro walked towards the fallen espada and said, "Thank you for a good fight, espada." Zoro turned around and walked towards Chopper and the others.
"Whoa, he really did." Ichigo said in disbelief.
"Well, well, what we do we have here?" A new voice said, getting everyone's attention. Ichigo and Orihime looked at where the voice came from and the Captain of Squad 11, Kenpachi Zaraki.
"Kenpachi." Ichigo said as the captain got closer to the orange shield in front of him. Kenpachi lifted his foot up and stomped on the shield, destroying it easily and surprising Ichigo. "What's the matter with you?! Are you crazy?!" Kenpachi grabbed by the collar and threw in the air.
"Ichigo!" Orihime cried as Ichigo landed on his feet.
"Hey, I'm on your side!" Ichigo shouted at Kenpachi.
"Your sword…pick it up." Kenpachi ordered. Ichigo looked his zanpakuto that is lying on the sand and picked it up. "Now that you got, take the woman and your new best friends and go home. Your work here is done. It's time for us to take over."
"What are you saying?!" Ichigo fired back. "I'm came this far, I'm going to see it through."
"What are you? You're a substitute soul reaper. Your job is to protect Karakura Town. Isn't that right? You've rescued this woman. You should be satisfied. So take what I'm saying and go home. You had your share of fighting, kid. Now it's time for the professionals to take over." Then Kenpachi looked at Zoro. "Same thing goes to you, pirate. Get your little friend and the rest of your crew and leave."
Zoro smirked and said, "Sorry, but you're not the one who gets to tell me to leave." He turned towards Kenpachi and grabbed on the hilt of Wado. "Unless, you want to prove me wrong." Then Zoro started to feel the aftereffects of his battle.
"Zoro!" Chopper cried out. "Come on, Orihime. We have to look at his injuries." Orihime nodded as the two started to run to the swordsman.
'So that's one of those pirates Kisuke was talking about.' Kenpachi thought, looking at Zoro then looked at the defeated Nnoitra. 'Who would've thought that punk would take down an espada?'
As Chopper and Orihime got closer towards Zoro, Coyote Starrk, Espada #1, appeared in front of them and grabbed Orihime's shoulder and Chopper's hat. "Sorry for this, you two." Starrk said. "I don't enjoy these types of assignments but I have my orders." Zoro, Ichigo, and Kenpachi drew their swords and charged towards the espada. "I need to borrow them for a bit." Starrk sonided out of the area, taking Orihime and Chopper with him, making the attackers to stop in their tracks.
"They're…gone." Ichigo said in disbelief.
"Damn!" Zoro cursed.
Starrk reappeared in a room of one of the towers with the two captives and disappeared. "You're back Orihime, Chopper." A new voice said, causing Orihime and Chopper to open their eyes and look at where the voice coming from. The both of them saw Aizen walking towards and started to get scared. "What's wrong? I thought you two would be happy to see us now that you're back again. But you two looked so troubled." And Aizen reached his hands and touched Orihime's chin and Chopper's hat. "You two should try to smile. Everyone gets so depressed when the sun doesn't shine. Smile and wait here for a while. That's all you two need to do. Just until…" Then a garganta opened up from where Gin and Kaname are standing, revealing Karakura Town. "Just until, my men and I are finished destroying Karakura Town."
"You're going to destroy…Karakura Town?!" Orihime asked scared.
"That's right." Aizen said, walking towards Gin and Kaname. "I need to destroy Karakura Town to create the oken." Aizen turned towards Kaname. "Kaname."
"Yes." Kaname responded.
"The Tenteikura."
"Right." Kaname threw two white diamonds shaped piece in the air and extended his hand to side as blacks markings on his arm and his palm. Then two squares, one black and one white appeared, floating. "Bakudo #77: Tenteikura."
"Can you hear me, my daring intruders?" Aizen said, getting everyone's attention. The Straw Hats were on guard since they didn't regonize that voice but the soul reapers know who it belongs to.
With Usopp and Robin…
"Who just said that?" Usopp said, getting in a defensive stance.
With Franky and Brook…
"That awful voice." Rukia said, knowing who it is.
With Zoro…
"Aizen." Ichigo said spitefully.
Back in the halls of Las Noches, Luffy and Nami were running the down the hall but stopped when heard Aizen's voice.
"What the…" Nami said. "Who said that? And where is that voice coming from?"
Back outside, with Usopp and Robin…
"They're using the tenteikura." Isane said to Unohana and Unohana nodded.
"Tentikura?" Usopp questioned. "What's that?"
With Orihime and Chopper…
"I commend you for coming this far, Straw Hat Pirates, and defeating my espadas." Aizedn continued. "As a reward, I'll tell you this much. We're proceeding with our plan to invade the world of the living."
With Zoro…
"What's that?!" Ichigo said shocked.
With Sanji…
"They're what?!" Uryu said also shocked. "I thought they determined that such an invasion was impossible to carry out unless Orihime awakened the Hogyoku."
With Franky and Brook…
"Wait a minute, where is Orihime?" Rukia questioned.
With Usopp and Robin…
"What happened to Chopper?" Usopp asked.
With Orihime and Chopper…
"Orihime Inoue and Tony Tony Chopper are being held in the fifth tower." Aizen said. "If you want to affect their rescue, feel free to come and get them. They're no longer in any use to me."
With Usopp and Robin…
"What's that?" Chad said.
With Sanji…
"They are…no use?" Renji repeated.
With Orihime and Chopper…
"Their powers are indeed amazing." Aizen said. "One with the ability to reject all forms of phenomena is beyond anything the human race has ever demonstrated. And the other with the ability to switch into different forms at will, especially a certain form that was revealed at Enies Lobby. The leaders of the soul society are not fools. They understand the importance of one of these powers from the beginning. That's their captive is such a threat to them. It helps to explain their response when Orihime was captured. They were afraid. They immediately took steps to protect not the world of the living but the soul society itself. Orihime's very presence caused them mobilized. She became the bait to bring in the soul society potential new military strength, the ryoka, which included the substitute soul reaper and his friends."
With Franky and Brook…
"Damn it!" Rukia cursed.
With Chopper and Orihime…
"As the pirate, we analyzed his captain's personality and how quick he is to respond if one member of his crew is captured." Aizen said. "That response is an all out assault into enemy territory with the sole objective to rescue that member any cost. We used that knowledge to lure the crew into Hueco Mundo."
With Sanji…
"They did what?!" Sanji said angered.
With Franky and Brook…
"They used him as bait?!" Franky said angered.
With Luffy and Nami…
"Aizen!" Luffy said furious at what Aizen said.
With Orihime and Chopper…
"If you're wondering about your fate and the fate of the four captains, don't worry." Aizen said. "I was able to imprison you in Hueco Mundo." With that said, the garganta used to bring the Straw Hats and the soul reapers to Las Noches began to close and were sealed.
With Robin and Usopp…
"The garganta we used in order to get here have all been sealed." Isane said.
"Wait we're trapped!" Usopp shouted.
With Sanji…
Uryu turned to Mayuri and said, "Wait a minute, can't we open them up from this side?"
"I'm afraid it's impossible." Mayuri said. "The trouble is that there is only one person who knows how the garganta works. And that, unfortunately, is Kisuke Urahara. If we can't contact him, I afraid opening them again is going to present something of a problem. As much as I hate to admit it."
With Nami and Luffy…
"Damn it!" Nami cursed. "He used Chopper to get us here and now we're trapped." Nami turned to her captain. "Luffy, we may need to…" Nami stopped when she saw Luffy shaking in rage. "Luffy…" Then Luffy started to run down the halls at Las Noches and Nami followed him, trying to catch up. "Luffy, wait!"
"AIZEN!" Luffy yelled angrily. "COME OUT HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS!"
Next Chapter: Ticking Down to the Time of Battle! The Soul Reaper's Strongest Lineup in Position!