Ichigo and the others were astounded. Hayne's sword was really a zanpakutō, but he wasn't a soul reaper. He stated that he wants to destroy soul reapers.

"What's going on here? Who exactly are these guys?" Ichigo said.

"If these two aren't soul reapers or arrancars, how do they hold zanpakutō?" Uryu said.

"I don't see how that matters. You're about to be a dead man, soul reaper!" Hayne said. He tossed the dagger end of his weapon, but Ichigo blocked it. Hayne pulled it back and got it around Ichigo's ankle.

"This can't be good." Ichigo said and Hayne tossed him into a tree.

"I'm going to have a lot of fun with this guy." Hayne said and decided to fight him.

"That's going to make two of us." Makin said as he was about to step in and join in the fight, but an arrow was shot and landed near his foot. He saw that it was Uryu that fired it.

"That was just a warning shot. Don't forget that I'm here and I don't like to be ignored." Uryu said.

"I'm warning you, fighting us is a mistake. Our target are soul reapers, but if you step in our way, you will get hurt." Makin said as he pulled out his sword. Uryu fired a barrage of arrows. Makin moved as quickly as he could to avoid them and duck behind a tree. 'He can fire multiple arrows at once?! I'm not sure if I can avoid all of them.' He thought.

"Are you going to be alright Chad?" Orihime said as she was healing him.

"I'll be fine." Chad said as he stood up.

"Tatsuki, you might want get out of here." Orihime said and Tatsuki understood.

"Okay, but be careful Orihime." Tatsuki said and ran off. Hayne kept slashing or throwing either end of his weapon at Ichigo. Ichigo used the flash step and got above Hayne. He came down, but Hayne was able to block his attack.

"You've got some power. I can feel your spirit energy and you can swing a sword like that so easily. You might actually be a lot more fun than I thought." Hayne said.

"You seem excited about that." Ichigo said.

"It's no fun if I don't have a challenge." Hayne said as he pulled out the dagger end. He was about to stab Ichigo, but a shield blocked him and saw Orihime with him jumping back. "You again? You want to play some more sweetheart?"

"Thanks for the help Orihime, but you better stay back. I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire." Ichigo said.

"Right." Orihime agreed. Uryu kept firing arrows at Makin.

"I'm done with you, I'm getting annoyed." Makin said as he went for a straight forward attack, but then he spotted Chad was about to attack him. He brought up his sword and blocked his fist, but was pushed back.

"You okay Chad?" Uryu asked.

"You don't have to worry. Orihime healed me in almost no time." Chad said. Makin looked around and saw he was up against enemies that could hold a threat to their plans.

"Hayne, we need to go." Makin said.

"Are you serious?" Hayne said.

"Look around. We're against enemies with capabilities we do not understand." Makin said.

"Yeah, but one of them is a soul reaper. Our goal is to destroy all soul reapers." Hayne said.

"Yes, but he is human." Makin said. "We have to retreat for now and report this to our mistress. She needs to know who will dare get in our way."

"Fine, but I'm going to get this guy." Hayne said as faced Ichigo. "Remember this soul reaper, I'm going to come back and we'll settle things then. I'm going to enjoy beating you down."

"Just where do you two think you're going? You won't get that far." Ichigo said.

"You think so." Hayne said with a smirk. There were even more surprises as both of them used a technique that seemed similar to the flash step.

"Was that the flash step? How did they do that?" Orihime said.

"I don't know, but I'm going after them." Ichigo said.

"No Ichigo, leave it." Uryu said.

"Why?" Ichigo questioned.

"We don't know who they are, but they will be back. There's something going on that we don't understand." Uryu said. "They were human, but they can use techniques like soul reapers. I think we should talk to Kisuke about this. Maybe he'll have an idea as to what we're up against."

"I agree with Uryu." Chad said. Ichigo groaned, but saw that they did have a point.

"Okay. Let's go talk to him and figure out what's going on around here." Ichigo said.

…

Urahara Shop

When Ichigo and the others arrived at Kisuke's shop, they informed him about Hayne and Makin. He did find it fascinating, but not even he held the answer as to how they could acquire the abilities they hold.

"That is rather strange. If they aren't substitute soul reapers like Ichigo, they shouldn't be able to do any of that stuff." Kisuke said.

"Wouldn't it be possible that they are substitute soul reapers like Ichigo? Did a soul reaper give them powers?" Orihime said.

"Orihime, that Hayne guy just said that they weren't soul reapers." Chad reminded her.

"The Soul Society would have known if they existed since Ginjo and Ichigo were really the only substitute soul reapers that existed." Kisuke said.

"Plus they didn't hold combat passes or anything. They had their zanpakutō right with them." Ichigo said. "I can't do that."

"Okay, I'm sorry. It was just a thought." Orihime said.

"It's okay." Chad said.

"They said they want to destroy all soul reapers. Do you even have the slightest clue as to how they're going to do that, Kisuke?" Ichigo said. Kisuke put some thought into it and Ichigo and the others thought they were going to get an answer.

"Nope!" Kisuke said with a laugh as he waved his fan and caused all of them to fall over anime style.

"That's not funny." Ichigo said as he pounded him on the head.

"I guess I deserve that one. I will contact the Soul Society to send a couple people to investigate this." Kisuke said. "We'll figure this out and if you see them again, handle it with care."

…

A Cavern

Hayne and Makin were walking through the woods and came upon an entrance to a cavern that they went in.

"I could have taken that guy. I also could have taken the girl with us. You've got to admit that she was hot." Hayne said.

"Let it go already and quit talking about girls like they're play things. It gets annoying." Makin said. Inside the cavern, there were other figures and it looked like they lived in there. One was playing pool, one was reading a book, two were watching a movie, but only one noticed them.

"You're back, but you're later than you said you be." The voice sounded female.

"We ran into bit of trouble. It could possess a problem since a soul reaper was involved." Makin said.

"Really? Show me." She said. Makin went with her in private.

"Trick, Mirāraito. (mirror light)" Makin's sword turned into a black bladed scythe with the bottom of the blade coated red. He pressed it against the ground and created images of Ichigo and the others.

"Who are these people?"

"They are humans that have strange abilities." Makin said. "As you can see, the one with the sword is a soul reaper, but he said that he was a substitute soul reaper."

"A substitute, what does that mean?"

"From what I can figure, it means he's part human." Makin said. She studied all four of them, but one of them really caught her attention. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Go and tell what you saw to Susuke. Right now, just leave this with me so I can study them and know who we're dealing with."

"As you wish." Makin said and left her to her thoughts with the illusions.

"I never thought I see you again….Orihime."

To Be Continued…