During Ichigo and Orochimaru's Fight
"Someone shut Jidanbo up with a loaf of bread or something."
"Woah Kimimaro, I'm the one who usually bags on that portly 'ninja,' " Tayuya exclaimed. She shifted her weight on Choza Akimichi.
"But one of those ninjas that tried to interrupt Lord Orochimaru is even fatter than you!" The female member of the Sound Four couldn't keep her laughter in, and she fell off of Choji's father and started rolling on the floor which was slick with blood.
Jidanbo grunted, before taking his weight off of Asuma and getting to his feet. "Let's see if our master requires assistance."
The Sound Four vanished, leaving blood and bodies in their wake.
IIIIIIIIII
The four subordinates of Orochimaru skidded to a halt next to Kabuto.
"What has the next commander of Konoha ordered?" Kimimaro asked seriously, all four arms fidgeting.
"He wishes for the barrier to be set up. Lord Orochimaru is currently engaging the single threat to our plan - Ichigo Kurosaki."
Now
Orochimaru licked his lips in anticipation. They were rapidly cracking from the pressure of Ichigo's reiatsu. His eyes glanced over to the outside of the stadium, checking to make sure that the barrier was in place, then, seeing that it was, refocused on the orange-haired Shinigami.
"Ban...Kai!"
The reiatsu was so concrete that when it came into contact with the air, friction occurred and sparks fizzed.
The power that had rendered Anbu agents helpless all circulated in a single location around Ichigo, then spiraled outwards in a single blast, blowing away leaves and the bodies of Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke.
The barrier held for a moment.
The Sound Four were all straining and pouring their chakra into it to reinforce against the sudden exponential jump in strength, but it was all in vain. The instant they let up out of exhaustion, it shattered. The force of the blast reached until the farthest parts of Konoha and dented the faraway monument to all Hokage.
Orochimaru fell to his knees.
Shards of the barrier trickled down from the reddening sky, specks and spots of chakra falling.
The mist that had been twisting around Ichigo finally dispersed. The black blade shivered in the wind, but the self-proclaimed Lord of Konoha fancied that it was calling for blood. He blinked, only to find himself not looking at the Shinigami anymore.
A breath disturbed the hairs on his neck.
Orochimaru front-flipped forward, executing a 360 degree turn, then landed.
Ichigo breathed on him again from behind to make him aware of the subsequent assault, then attacked.
Kabuto intercepted his blow, hands enveloped in a sparkling aura that could barely be seen with the naked eye. The blue chakra colored like the sea had allowed Kabuto to grasp the sharp-edged blade that could cut a hair if one fell on it. The boy backhanded Kabuto away.
Ichigo strided over to Orochimaru. His black robe dragged along the ground.
Rasp, rasp.
That sound of cloth against the ground came closer and closer until the rasping stopped entirely. Orochimaru looked up into Ichigo's eyes, then closed his own. I guess my time has come. This fucking blows, but I guess my human experiments have to gon hiatus. Just like Hunter x Hunter...
A whish was heard. Nothing after.
Orochimaru carefully let one eyelid up. Maybe he's trying to enjoy the kill.
Instead what he saw was Kabuto Yakushi saving his life.
Ichigo's zanpakuto hovered inches away from splitting Orochimaru's skull. Kabuto's curled hands had been attached to Ichigo's neck, and when they dropped to his sides and stopped moving, his mouth did the opposite. "Lord Orochimaru...please get up. Wasn't it your dream to gain immortality? Well now you are so incredibly close...but you are just going to throw away many years and years and years of work and experimental procedures for some random, weird-looking ninja? And you!" Kabuto directed his attention toward the orange haired teen. "I've closed all your chakra points. You shouldn't be able to move or use chakra anymore. We've got you!"
The Sound Four closed in on their lord's attacker.
Ichigo smiled indulgingly. Pressure in the stadium dropped.
Then the Sound Four felt a tremendous amount of relief as the burden on them disappeared.
Tayuya was the first to realize something was wrong. "Wait where did that carrot-top go- " She stopped midway. Blood spewed out of her in a huge geyser, dousing the ground in red for yards. The other three fell soon after, eyes blank, unaware of what had transpired.
Ichigo flicked the gore off his sword.
Orochimaru didn't know what to say. He instantly got past them and sliced all four in the span of a second. How could he even move? Not only that, but his speed has increased a ridiculous amount! Orochimaru stroked his chin hurriedly. He...wanted us to think he was totally immobile as to catch us off guard. To think that Shinigami did not use chakra!
Kabuto dashed towards Ichigo. "Get away master! You cannot die now, you are the future ruler of Konoha! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A giant crab materialized into existence.
Orochimaru ran as he looked behind himself. Kabuto has been training on his own time in addition to spying for me? Impressive. Perhaps he can take out this reaper of souls.
Kabuto grinned at the sight. His master was safe. "I shall buy time and be after you soon! Fighting someone of such low power and skill is not fit for the man who will conquer Konoha - and then the world!"
The crab's pincer flew at Ichigo.
Who flash-stepped around it and sliced both the crustacean and Kabuto in two equally large pieces.
Orochimaru picked up the pace, his sandals barely touched the ground and his legs blurred together in his haste.
Ichigo hurled his sword.
Zangetsu sliced through the air.
Orochimaru jumped.
His toes felt a breeze from below, and he looked down only to see a sword lodged in the ground beneath him. Ichigo flash stepped again, appearing in front of the ninja renowned throughout the nations for his ability and odd nature, Orochimaru, who snarled in delight, and then clapped his hands together into hand seals, springing his trap.
He dissolved into a horde of snakes, which all fell to the ground in a slimy, shiny scaled mess of writhing objects. The true Orochimaru burst out of the ground, mouth unhinged and something shiny shoved deep inside.
He ambushed Ichigo and thrust the legendary blade Kusanagi into Ichigo Kurosaki's back.
Orochimaru could not quite see Ichigo's wound, but he imagined it as a large, gaping hole with droplets of blood sliding down.
He backed off to see for himself.
And not a scratch was there.
No.
In actuality, he saw a small butcher knife held by Ichigo's hand. Orochimaru realized this at that moment in time: Ichigo Kurosaki had blocked a hit from a blade sharp enough to cut through twenty stacks of paper and even chakra, the fabled Kusanagi, which the storybooks said could penetrate a iron replica of the Great Wall of China. With a piece of metal about as big as a kitchen knife and seemingly as sharp as one designed to cut butter.
Without even looking.
"I knew that was coming. Because of our mutual friend. But I didn't know you would be so weak," Ichigo snorted. "Guess it's not a big deal considering the blades I wield, the dual Zangetsu."
"How...?" Orochimaru stammered, fully aware his life could end if he fought this beast of a man.
Ichigo laughed in a sarcastic manner.
The sleeves of his black robes had been blown clean off from the battle.
He held an oversized, untarnished cleaver with a hollowed out middle portion in his right hand and a blade about half the other's side that was akin to a butcher knife, equipped with a handle built into the blade and a heavily sculpted pommel.
His hair changed hues in the sunset and glowed fiery red as a result.
Reiatsu made the air shimmer.
Ichigo's bankai was awe-inspiring, and the raw power poured out of Ichigo like an overflowing bath.
"You see, the Kusanagi is indeed a famous blade. But not as the famous as the two of mine combined. This little one is associated with my Quincy abilities, and the other, my Hollow and Shinigami abilities. I call them both Zangetsu. But their true names give them more power. The former is called Joyeuse. The latter is called Goujian." Ichigo grinned. "I initially thought Joyeuse was Juha Bach. But have you ever heard of Charlemagne?"
Orochimaru had not.
"Hm. Charlemagne was one of the greatest rulers in world history. He was king of the Franks, and the father of two entire nations - Germany and Europe. He was also the first Holy Roman Emperor. How did he manage all of this you ask?" Ichigo took a breath. "You could say he was a prototype to the product that would come along many years later, for he was a former Quincy...and Juha Bach's grandfather."