-North-

Byakuya raised his hand, palm facing Eien, and said "Hado 33, Sokatsui"

From his palm a wave of blueish white flame erupted, tearing up the ground as it surged toward his enemy.

Eien casually sonidod away as the flames obliterated where he had been standing. He appeared in the air, looking down at Byakuya, he was about to charge back in when streams if blade fragments began to close in in him from multiple directions

"Tch..." Eien said as he dodged again, only to find himself in the path of another stream. "Cero!" He said, blasting the fragments away with his golden beam of energy. But the fragments didn't let up, splitting around the cero and circling behind the man and attacking from behind

"Too slow!" Eien snarled, blasting the blades away again.

Byakuya frowned, then raised his hands and directed his blades physically. Instantly all the billions of blades doubled in speed.

Eien spun, firing a cero at Byakuya, but the fragments around him rose to protect their controller, pressing together to form a solid barrier

While the attack was being blocked the rest of the fragments surrounded the man and surged in from all sides

"Damn, I have to use it" Eien cursed "blink... Shi no furrashu"

Eien's sleeves shredded themselves, revealing arms with spines growing out of his skin. Apart from this his appearance changed little except for now he glowed golden.

The fragments closed in around him, forming a sphere of bladed death, cutting him billions of times before slamming him into the ground and dispersing

"My my, that would've killed most of my comrades" the man said as he stood and dusted himself off

Byakuya stated on shock "how...? You're not...?"

"Hurt in the slightest" Eien finished "yes, my ressurecion had the ultimate defense you see. It's why I was assigned to fight you, despite only being number 8"

Eien rolled his shoulder lazily "you see, my power is pretty elementary, even a shinigami peasant like you could understand it, I instantly heal all of my injuries every fraction on a second" he said as he walked forward, casually drawing his sword

"In order to kill me, one would need to inflict a massive amount if damage to me in a single blow, enough to kill me instantly before I healed. Your bankai consists of billions of tiny attacks" Eien said "therefore it is impossible for you to kill me"

Byakuya pointed two fingers at Eien, "Byakurai" he said, unleashing a fearsome stream of lightning through the golden arrancar. Eien grimaced in pain, but when the kido faded he was uninjured

"Your kido is impressive, but insufficient" Eien said, then his form blinked out and appeared behind Byakuya, slashing with his sword.

Byakuya tried to turn and send his fragments to guard, but he was far too slow, the blade tore through his back, it was a shallow cut, but went from his shoulder to his hip.

Byakuya stumbled forward and Eien scowled "I misjudged my distance, that strike should've killed you instantly, I apologize, I wanted to respect your power by killing you painlessly"

Byakuya's wound dripped with blood, his reiatsu stopped most of the bleeding, but not all of it.

"I see, your abilities are truly dangerous, with no need to defend and instantaneous movement to attack with, you could kill nearly any foe" Byakuya said, gritting his teeth against the pain

"Indeed, you never stood a chance" Eien said as he raised his blade to deliver the killing blow, but then he stopped and looked at the blood on the ground "hmm?"

Byakuya's blood had turned into pink flames rising into the sky and forming a dome around them, then becoming a black void.

Slowly, glowing swords appeared in the void, each glowing the same pink color as the blade fragments Byakuya commanded before. There were three rows of swords, each row holding hundreds of swords that slowly circled around the two combatants.

"Senkei, Senbonzakura Kageoshi" Byakuya said "the true form of my bankai"

"Impressive, our files didn't cover this, is it a new technique?" Eien asked

"No" Byakuya said "I only use it against those I have resolved to kill with my own hand, you are the third to see it"

One of the glowing blades seperated from the void and shot into Byakua's hand, becoming a regular katana

Eien looked amused "you think a single blade will affect me more than billions?"

"Come and find out" Byakuya said as he shunpo'd in range and slashed. The man blinked out as the blade passed through the air where he had been, appearing behind Byakuya again and slashing diagonally in the other direction to make an X on the captain's back.

Byakuya spun and parried, creating a shock wave that knocked them both backward about 10 yards.

"You swing hard for such a frail-looking man" Eien said "something isn't right here"

"My senkei form compresses my billions of blades into these swords, explosively increasing my attack power" Byakuya said "it is a form where I abandon all defense and give all I have to killing an enemy"

Eien frowned "that sounds dangerous" he thought "I don't now how hard he can hit now, but Id better avoid getting hit just in case"

Byakuya charged again, slashing upward from hip to shoulder, Eien blocked, them countered with a slash at the throat.

Byakuya dodged with shunpo, moving behind Eien and slashing down the middle. Again Eien blinked out, this time appearing above Byakuya with his palm facing down.

"Gen Rey Cero!" Eien said as he fired a large blue cero down at Byakuya, who deftly dodged the blast and resulting explosion.

Byakuya raised a hand "hado 33, sokatsui" he said, unleashing another wave of flame at the man

"Cero Obscuras" Eien responded, firing a black cero with a golden outline at the incoming attack. The cero expanded in width rapidly, meeting the attack head on and completely overwhelming it.

Byakuya managed to narrowly avoid the cero with a hasty shunpo, his feet slid along the ground, trying to slow his momentum.

"Got you!" Eien said as he appeared, Byakuya appeared just in time to see the man's blade descend on him, cleaving him in two.

Eien stood up straight "we'll fought captain, for a shinigami your power was quite admira..."

Eien paused and looked down at the blade that had erupted from his chest "ah crap" he said before blinking out.

"For an arrancar, your power was quite admirable" Byakuya said as the image of him cut in two faded, revealing that it was just his haori, now ruined.

"It still is" Eien said as he reappeared and blasted Byakuya with a point blank cero to the back.

Byakuya stumbled forward, barely able to stand now. His back smoked and cracked from the explosion.

"Your strike nearly killed me" Eien said "but you fell just short of enough damage. Be proud captain, nobody has ever come that close to slaying me"

Byakuya turned to face the man and said "Rikujokoro"

Six pillars of light slammed into Eien's midsection, paralyzing him with the powerful bakudo.

"You only delay the inevitable!" Eien laughed "you cannot defeat me!"

"Perhaps not with Senkei" Byakuya agreed as the swords surrounding them broke apart and surged towards his blade, becoming white energy as they all fused together.

Eien watched in horror as Byakuya was engulfed in white energy that formed two wings and a halo-like ring behind him, the energy glowed freely in a circuit through his sword.

"Shuhei Hakuteken" Byakuya said "all of my fragments condensed into a single attack"

Eien panicked, frantically trying to break the bakudo binding him as Byakuya charged.

Byakuya's blade tore through Eien, and the ensuing scream of pain echoed even after the body blinked out, this time for good.

Byakuya's bankai sealed itself and he stumbled forward

"Ni-sama!" Rukia said as she and Renji followed behind

"You two are alright" Byakuya said

"Of course captain, it'll take more than a few hollows to take us down" Renji said

Byakuya nodded "good, now lets go" he said

Rukia and Renji nodded, and then the three advanced onward.