Gently caressing
Over a thousand blades
Like the wind I rise again
CLANG!
The loud sound of metal impacting metal shook the forest, sending whole flocks of birds scattering for miles around. A blistering wind billowed from the connection of razor teeth digging into a smooth bore edge, sparks flying about like fireflies.
At the center of the conflict, Ouetsu Nimaiya, found his blade drawn faster than he thought possible. The beast of a man drove his sword hungrily down upon him, the pressure so great it took all he had to not buckle underneath it.
Gritting his teeth, sweat perspired around his face with eyes squinted behind his shades.
A sudden whoosh of air followed the rapid blur of Kenpachi bending back suddenly from his downward stroke. A bolt of light shined above Nimaiya's gaze, showing the reason for Zaraki in bending back a step.
Twisting around to slash across Kirinji's face, he fucked beneath the slash and palmed Kenpachi's sword baring arm; pulling him into a thunderous kick. Throttled across the clearing through an acre of forest, Kirio stepped up, revving up a sphere of pinkish light.
"Cero."
SHEEEOOOOOOW!
Unleashing an enormous blast of reishi into the forest. Even as it burned away the cracked glade, burrowing the earth with intense heat, the imminent explosion of it striking Kenpachi was lost to the possessed Shinigami.
SHING!
That is, until the light became severed in a single swipe of Kenpachi's Zanpakutō. Kirio's eyes blinked at this, seeing her hand bleed at the palm up her middle finger. Seconds later half of her left arm from shoulder to fingertip fell apart in a grotesque bifurcation of her entire limb.
"He did that at range?" Kirio asked with bewilderment, still staring at her arm with perplexity. "My Hierro didn't even respond in time. Frightening."
"I kicked him full force," Kirinji sneered, hefting his spear forward with both arms. "How is he able to react so quickly after that?"
"I don't know how, but it seems like the Gotei 13 have improved since their own loss to Aaroniero," Nimaiya guessed, staring coolly at the distant Kenpachi Zaraki. "This must be the one that Aaroniero warned us about. She did say there is a Shinigami that could prove difficult even for us Royal Guards."
SHFT!
"This is good," Kenpachi says, his feet touching the ground between Kirinji and Nimaiya. "You two will be first."
A spear thrust at the neck, a sword slashed at the side.
Catching the naginata between a set of fingers - while parrying the sword with his own - Kenpachi pulled Kirinji forward-
Whoosh!
-narrowly missing the Guard by an inch, having rolled around to the side as the heel burned a line across his exposed chest. As he staggered past Kenpachi, a fist came down towards his skull.
Snatching it into an upraised palm, Kirinji grinned as he clenched Zaraki's hand in a vice.
A sudden bright light flashed in Kenpachi's eyes, emanating brilliantly from the spear adjacent to his head.
Without a word spoken, both Kirinji and Nimaiya dashed forward, moving in a blur of white with strokes of black and gold carving around the statuesque figure.
Blood spurted out from the body, the silhouette swaying in place behind the two.
"Heh, too easy," Kirinji says with a widening smile.
The next thing Kirinji thought is this:
How did my head get into the ground?
POW!
Nimaiya turned his head, just in time to see Kirinji's head snatched by the back and slammed into the ground with titanic force. Turning back to look over at the Zanpakutō creator, Nimaiya could see the cuts he and Kirinji landed, from the top of his neck down his chest and around his waist; it all looked like it barely bled at all.
One eye is closed and an eye patch removed, revealing Kenpachi's solution to the inhibition of blindness.
Bending his knees, Kenpachi dashed forward, arcing his blade around to slash at him. Nimaiya parried the blow, sparks flashing with a burst of reiatsu as both warriors began to exchange a flurry of sword swings at each other's weapons.
Ouetsu could scarcely believe it. Not even Aaroniero has been able to compete with his striking abilities, and here this Shinigami is his equal!
Not since Oushou have I felt such strength in a sword! Nimaiya thought with a nervous smile.
Zaraki relished in his current engagement. Apart from how fast as physically strong, the one with the pompadour didn't interest him. The wound in his side actually felt closer to a deeper one, compared to the shallow scratch he lessened with his innate reiatsu.
Finishing the exchange with a twist of the blade to veer the dominant arm of Kenpachi's away, he pulled down another stroke of his sword over the 11th Division's front.
Clang!
"Ngh?!" Nimaiya grunted in surprise, his sword grinding against a palm that didn't cut into the surface of the skin.
"This is-!"
And in that moment, an arc of gray slashed down his own body.
Crimson arched up in a spray, tears of his Shihakushō and his Haori jacket shred in a smooth line. Staggering back, Nimaiya had his eyes open wide, his shades falling in an uneven half as his cheek down his chest had been cut downward.
"Huh, I thought that would cut you in half," Kenpachi remarked with a querying tilt of his head. "Your body is quite tough, for someone of your stature."
"I could say the same of yours and your reiatsu," Nimaiya said with a chuckle, grasping his other half of his glasses to inspect it. "I don't think I've ever had a sword of mine get stopped by sheer reiatsu alone. I don't know why, but I think your strength increased when you took off the eyepatch."
"It was a seal," Kenpachi admitted. "I usually keep it on to keep the thrill of a fight going on for as long as I can. I would rather not end it too quickly. But, just then earlier," he gestures to his side, the wound already closed up, "if I hadn't taken my eyepatch off, that would have been a lot deeper."
"No wonder you got suddenly faster, and stronger," Nimaiya says, arching his head over at the head planted Kirinji; the latter of which is only now getting his head out of the earth with a gradual groan.
"Owww, my head," The Hot Springs Demon hissed, his forehead bleeding as he dabbed his face with his palm.
"Are you alright over there?" Gin asks in a sing-song voice.
"I'm fine!" Kirinji growled, jumping to his feet and grasping his spear. "I'm not going to let some punk Captain get the best of me!"
A flicker of light, and the Captain vanishes. With Hikari no Bēru, Kirinji is cloaked in reiatsu snuffing light, while also maximizing his speed with Kinpika. Even to Aaroniero's reikaku, it had been able to get past her senses for a short span of time.
However, Kenpachi doesn't use reikaku to sense his enemies.
In a streak of momentum, Kirinji thrust a beam of light from above, striking the ground through a fading silhouette of Kenpachi. Without a word, Kenpachi thrust a sword straight into Kirinji's chest, bursting his radiant camouflage in a flash of yellow.
"How-?" He strangled out, his throat grasped by Zaraki.
"Hiding your reiatsu and form doesn't make you invisible," Kenpachi sneered with a grin. "I could smell your bloodthirst!"
Feeling something rush up behind him, the Captain swung Kirinji's body around towards it. A lavender haired woman grasped the man, pulling him away from his sword with a Shunpo.
At the same time, Nimaiya appeared, swinging his blade at Kenpachi.
KRAK-KOOM!
The sky erupted in a flare of reiatsu, cascading across the outskirts of Soul Society, shaking the Rukongai all the way to the Seireitei's walls. Even as the two began to descend, a flurry of sword strikes continued to rain shockwaves down and around the forest clearing.
"Do you need anything from me?" Kirio asks.
"Don't touch me," Kirinji snarled, shrugging her off as he began to apply Kaido upon himself. "Damn that bastard! How could any ordinary Shinigami see through my Hikari no Bēru?"
"This guy is no ordinary Shinigami," Gin expresses, looking over at the Zanpakutō Creator exchanging numerous strikes with Kenpachi, each one close to making contact as the last. "He's got a latent talent for combat not seen since the first Kenpachi herself. You should have an idea of what that means, seeing as from what I heard, you trained the first Kenpachi."
"Retsu was just a murderer when I met her," Kirinji confessed, taking his hand away from his now healed chest with a sigh. "I taught her how to use Kaido so she wouldn't wind up dead. I saw too many kids die in horrible ways because they couldn't recover from battle. But after she earned the title Kenpachi, she became the indisputable top killer."
Kirinji pauses, looking over at Gin, "You're telling me he's her superior?"
"I think the evidence speaks for itself."
Another crack is heard, this time Nimaiya thrown backwards into his back to drag across the earth. Blood flowed from another cut across his chest, his sword.
Ebbing freely from another slash across Kenpachi's left pectoral across his abdomen.
"You can get up now, Ouetsu," Zaraki says, pointing his jagged blade at the Zanpakutō Creator. "Unless you want to take a nap."
Flipping onto his feet with an earth quaking stomp, Ouetsu grinned cheekily.
"You're really something else," Nimaiya says aloud, his countenance shifting into one of self assurance and excitement. Reaching into his Haori, he pulls out another pair of shades, placing them onto his face as he calls out to his colleagues. "You guys go ahead. I'm finally getting into my groove here."
"Should we be leaving you alone here?" Kirio asks with a hand cupped around the mouth. "I can heal you quickly if you need it."
"No need," Nimaiya says with a chuckle, presenting his sword up in the air; spinning it upright, it gains a golden glow that brightens with every swift revolution.
At the sight of it, Kirinji immediately moved.
"Haul ass if you don't want to die!" He shouts at the other three.
Shūtara floats up with Kirio, the two leaping up into the sky before fading out of sight. As the three flee, Gin Ichimaru lingers on for a little longer, witnessing the Zanpakutō's transformation.
"Blessings to the unfortunate. Curses to the fortunate," Nimaiya chants out, grasping the spinning handle of the weapon, bringing out its full splendor to the fore. "Shichi Fukujin!"
Gin takes a look at the Zanpakutō that is unveiled. It looked to be a golden mace, having an eight sided octagon with each face of gold inscribed with names in different fonts and colors. At the point of activation, Nimaiya's wounds are healed and the level of his reiatsu has increased.
By what degree, Gin couldn't fathom.
Sighing, Gin says with a wave, "Good luck, Nimaiya. I'm going to head over to the others."
"Luck is exactly what I have in spades, Ichimaru," Nimaiya answers with a confident smirk.
As the gray haired Shinigami left in a burst of Shunpo, Zaraki stared at Nimaiya's weapon. It didn't look like a particularly intimidating weapon. The faces of the mace itself looked closer to the insides of the pachinko machines he saw Ikkaku and Yumichika playing with in the Seireitei. The names didn't hold any meaning to him, but he never considered himself a book-learned soul.
While he had been looking at the mace, the head began to spin, clicking loudly as it did.
"Whoo, here we go!" Nimaiya hollered ecstatically.
Zaraki waited for it to stop rotating, the speed of its spinning slowing after six seconds. Four seconds later, it dragged out to a crawl, ticking as a red pair of arrows could be seen from below and above the head of the mace.
Landing on a bland brown set of kanji letters, the mace glowed brightly as it transforms. Elongating, the handle became wrapped in worn leather, the pommel having a squirrel tail hanging off the end while the front of the weapon became long and arching till it tapered down to a fine thin point.
"Ebisu, I guess we got you to start!" Nimaiya shouts with a laugh.
Kenpachi gave an owlish stare.
Is that that…a fishing pole? He thought incredulously. The Hell is this nonsense? Isn't he supposed to be the Creator of Zanpakutō or something? What kind of lame form is that?
"I take it you're not impressed," Nimaiya states with a glum expression. "Ebisu isn't a flashy guy, but I promise you, he's not a pushover."
Frowning, Kenpachi is aware that appearances aren't everything. If he wants to know how strong this new form of this Zanpakutō is, he'll have to test it out for himself.
Gripping his sword, he swung it across the air, releasing a powerful burst of ken'atsu at the Royal Guard.
With a smirk, Nimaiya swings the pole, deflecting the cutting gale with a snap. Whipping it forward, a thin line of blue snaked out towards Kenpachi's neck.
Snatch!
Grasping the blue line with his left hand, Zaraki observes as it wraps around his palm tight.
"Gotcha!~" Nimaiya crowed out.
Before Zaraki had time to react, the whole of his body was hoisted off his feet in a violent whoosh. Spiraling the Captain around in a twister of momentum, Nimaiya took a strong stomp forward-
THUUM!
-and hurtled him across the sky. Kenpachi felt incredible momentum control his movement across the canopy of blue, his gaze of Soul Society shrinking and shrinking. A shadow swelled over his head, his eyes turned to see a massive wall of stone he was heading for.
KOOM!
A loud, distant collision of his body is heard, echoing the land for miles around with animals fleeing at the quaking sensation.
"Bingo!" Nimaiya cried out with a pair of forefingers stretched up to the sky with a toothy grin, shades gleaming in the Sun. "Don't underestimate the Number One Zanpakutō Creator, Ouetsu Nimaiya!"
A Predator Among Us
Falling Stars II
My Word Is Law
Blaring alarms went around the Soul Society. The arrival of the Royal Guard is imminent, and the Gotei 13 are on high alert. The strongest officers afforded lie in await behind each gate, anticipation of their barriers being broken down with ease.
Jidanbo stood at his post, a pair of axes held in his massive hands as he awaited the enemy everyone was talking about. He isn't afraid to fight the enemy, even if it means to die in the service of the Soul Society.
Yet, an encroaching sense of dread washed over him.
Like death coming to claim his life, a set of four individuals appeared in the blink of an eye in front of the gentle giant. Their mere presence set his nerves alight with danger, his eyes wide and his hands shaking.
More importantly, he recognized one of them!
"C-Captain Ichimaru!" He choked out, his gaze fixed upon him standing behind the three. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just here for the show, Jidanbō," Gin replies with a thin smile. "I advise you to open the gate for us, less you suffer worse than a missing arm."
"I can't!" He shouts, shakily raising his axes up in readiness. "I refuse to be treated like a mere doorman! I am the Guardian of the Hakutōmon, and unless you defeat me in single combat, I will repel any invader. Be they Shinigami or Hollow, or a Ryōka, you must abide by those traditions!"
"This is a waste of time," Kirinji growls, turning to Shūtara. "Are you sure you're using that spirit ribbon technique right?"
"The ribbons I trace lead to the Senkaimon of the Seireitei. As soon as I get there, I can transport us wherever the escorts that are hiding the Sword Five," She explains.
"So, do you want me to kill him?" Gin asks, instantly making Jidanbō sweat bullets upon hearing this.
"Oh! I'll get us through!" Kirio says with an enthusiastic raise of her hand. "I won't even have to kill him either!"
Kirinji raises a brow while Shūtara smirks. Gin scratches his chin, curious what Kirio means by that.
Pulling out a thin capsule from her Haori, Kirio clicks a switch and tosses it in front of herself.
Fwhoooosh!
A massive column of smoke erupted in front of themselves, a shadow emerging from within it. Armored and clothed in black with a purple obi wrapped around the waist with crimson trim lining its hakama, a masked being of immense stature stood up to tower above even the likes of the Gate Guardian, crowned by a flat broad rimmed hat.
"Second Class Divine Soldier, Shield of the Reiō," Kirio introduces from the shadow of the towering mass. "Remove the giant."
Jidanbō choked out a gasp, stepping backwards with both axes held up in defense.
KRAK!
A single punch from the immense being shattered the axes, punching the guardian with a loud thuum. Eyes rolled back, his body thrown back into the gate with a crunch, sliding down with a smear of blood painting the gate.
"Wow, he went down quick," Kirinji whistled out.
"Kirio," Shūtara turned to the lavender haired Shinigami with a thin smile of ruby. "Did you bring the Sword of the Reiō with you as well?"
"Of course," Kirio says with a pat to her coat. "We need all of our assets to get the job done. With the Reijin standing guard, I thought to at least get them some fresh air."
"Did you experiment with them?" She asks.
"What kind of person do you take me for?" Kirio asks with a black lipped grin. "Of course I experimented on them."
"Those soldiers are under my authority," Shūtara states coolly.
"Aaroniero didn't say I couldn't use them," She says with a pouty lipped frown. "Are you mad?"
"Just a little," Shūtara sighs, closing her eyes and looking away. "It's for the service of the Reiō after all. It doesn't matter who uses them, so long as it isn't for flights of fancy."
Kirinji stepped ahead of the others. With the spear hefted over one shoulder, he lets out a puff of smoke while looking at the gate.
"Open."
As he says this, the door moved up to his accord, rising up into the air above the wall.
"You should have told the guy you could open the gate on your own," Gin says with a raised brow. "Now I feel kind of bad."
"Don't bother," Kirinji says, watching the Divine Soldier pick Jidanbō up and throw him aside one handedly to their left, causing his limp body to crash across the ground. "We're here on a mission. Doesn't matter how we get it done, so long as it benefits the Reiō."
Stepping through first, the massive Divine Soldier looked ahead at a line of individuals standing on the other side.
"Man, here I thought we picked a good place to stand guard," Love Aikawa says, scratching the back of his starfish shaped afro. Dressed in a white jacket with a black Shihakushō, the back of the white coat states in black kanji 'Provisional Service - 3rd Officer'. "Guess we got the hard part, eh, Rose?"
"No need to complain," Rose says with an airy tone, drawing his sword as he smiles at the large giant standing before them. He had a proper Haori slung over his shoulders, with the 3rd Division emblem on its back. "We are given a perfect chance to prove our worth as reinstated members of the Gotei 13. Making a good impression here will help us in the long run."
"You and some of the others, I got stuck with a lousy title," Love grumbled, twitching at the left eye. "Provisional Officer…what kind of lame title is that?"
"Would you rather be named a Substitute Shinigami?" Rose asks with a smirk.
"I was a Shinigami already, ya dumbass!" Love turned to point at Rose with a throbbing vein across his forehead. "Why are you given a Captain position and I'm not?"
"There's only so many openings, Love," He shrugs, shaking his head. "Maybe if more people died, you'd have a better chance of getting an old position."
"Tch, forget it," Love groaned out, drawing his own sword as he faced the looming enemy. "I ain't joining Soul Society anyways. Me and the others who are given these fake ranks all agreed, right guys?"
"Damn straight!" Hiyori Sarugaki snaps from behind him, sidled up next to Lisa Yadomaru. The two were also given white coats and black Shihakushō, with a white obi on Lisa's waist and a red around Hiyori's. "We're going back to the Living World after this is all done. I don't care about promotions and stuff like that. Screw going back to the Gotei after they tried to execute us!"
"They only did so because Central 46 was under the influence of Sōsuke Aizen's Kyôka Suigetsu," Lisa adds, adjusting her spectacles as her high-rise ponytail swishes over her Haori, showing the emblem of the 8th Division. "And since they were killed, only the Captain Commander is in charge. With Jushirō Ukitake in that post, getting a placement was a piece of cake."
"I don't care for the reasons!" Hiyori, wearing the '2nd Provisional Officer' marked coat, jabbed a finger at her fellow Visored. "And you can spit facts all you like, it doesn't change how they turned their backs on us! How can you stand there and wear that uniform like nothing happened?!"
"The only reason I took up this uniform is because of what happened in Karakura Town," Lisa answers, a shadow cast over her gaze as she glared at Hiyori. "So shut your mouth, and keep your eyes on the enemy. We can't afford to make any mistakes."
Hiyori relented, unaware of the previous Captain's death that gave Lisa that opening. A Captain she held dearly to her yet rarely spoke of it.
"So, is it just me," Love began to say, pointing out to the looming giant. "Or is that big guy yet to do anything?"
"It gives me Deja vu of the last time we faced a large monster," Rose concurred, staring past the giant between its pillar sized legs.
Stepping casually from the shadow of the Divine Soldier, the three Royal Guards and Gin Ichimaru made themselves known. With Kirinji at the front with Kirio and Shūtara at the middle, leaving Gin at the vanguard position.
"So, those are the Zero Division?" Love asks in a low volume. "I'm getting goosebumps all the way back here."
"Their reiatsu is likely a lot higher than ours if the stories are true," Rose admits, a sliver of sweat crawling down his scalp. "We might need to get serious from the start if we're to stand a chance."
"I'm in agreement with that," Love affirms, gripping his Zanpakutō in an upright stance.
Apart from the serious air they had, Hiyori couldn't help but lock in on a face she couldn't forget.
Gin Ichimaru, even though he stood behind them at a distance, fixed into her mind. Memories flooded back to the night her life ended, and she was robbed of any happiness she could have known.
"How…dare you…GIN!" Hiyori spat out, her body shaking as she drew her sword from its scabbard.
"Hiyori-?"
In a burst of speed, Hiyori dashed forward in a blur of white and black. Her Zanpakutō, Kubiki Orochi, shined out with a low utterance into its thick toothed broadsword form.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" She screamed out.
Love and Rose could only watch as a massive black half-shield appeared in her path. Even as she slammed her sword into it, a grinding collision with a burst of crimson reiatsu in a flurry of sparks is all that managed to occur.
In a flex, the Divine Soldier swung its arm back, throttling her down the street to crash into a distant building with an explosive impact.
As it collapses over her, Kirio Hikifune laughs as she looks over at Gin.
"I take it you have some history with that girl?" She asks.
"My history is limited to seeing her become Hollowified," Gin admits with a shrug. "I guess that was all it took for her to snap."
"Strange, I feel like I should know her," Kirio says with a frown.
"Enough with the banter," Kirinji barks, turning to look at the two with a hard stare. "We got a lead to the Senkaimon. Let's ditch the golem here and head straight there."
"Why the rush?" Kirio asks with a cheery wave of her arm. "Someone needs to give the Divine Soldier orders. Why not go ahead without me? I'll catch up in a few minutes."
"Fine, whatever," Kirinji growled, turning his head back to the distant highrise of the Seireitei. "Don't dawdle too long, you damn Hollow."
"Fiiiine," Kirio sighs with a puffed up pair of cheeks as she pouts. "Now shoo!"
In a flicker, the three left Kirio alone with the Divine Soldier and the other Visoreds.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Love closed the gap to the massive Divine Soldier. With a silent release command, Tengumaru transforms into the over three meter long spiked club.
Sensing the large arms sweeping down at him, Love flipped up and over the arms. Swinging the club around, Love's face becomes masked with a tearing motion over his head.
A thunderous shockwave is released from the point of contact, blood spouts in a rainfall as the helmet is crushed over the giant's head with a flash of reiatsu. Pulling back, Love swung the club around to crack the Soldier's head, sending it flying back through the doorway over Kirio's head.
"Awww, you broke him," Kirio says aloud, looking over her shoulder at the sight of the collapsed figure of the Soldier. "At least he didn't die outright. I'll have to check on him later."
A shadow swelled swiftly, the silhouette of an oni visage wielding massive club came down at her.
KOOM!
The street upheaved, a blast of reiatsu filled wind ruptured the ground and blasted the faces of Seireitei structures. Clouds of dust rose up, parting ways to unveil to the other Visoreds standing by, both of them tending at what is revealed.
A single hand is held up above her head, holding the club as it arches in front and behind her. Her Haori is pristine despite the explosion of force, her black smile spreads with an eerie upwards squint present on her face.
Pushing it up with a pulse of reiatsu, Love staggers back before jumping away from a clawing stroke-
KRAAAAK!
-slashing the ground in a deep gouge from her fingertips raking the air.
"Nice reflexes," Kirio remarks musically, licking her lips hungrily as she eyes Love appraisingly. "I wonder how you'll taste?"
"Aw Hell no!" Love shouted out.
Swinging his club around above his head, engulfing it in flames, he brings it down in a swift shot of a fireball.
"Hifuki no Kozuchi!"
An explosion of flames detonates over her, further leveling the street and blasting the wall within the span of a city block covered in a rising bed of flames. It looked like nothing could survive such a point blank attack.
They all stared agape at what was revealed.
A flower of charred red, having fully enclosed Kirio's person. Blossoming, Kirio Hikifune laughs aloud as she steps away from the dying bloom.
"If that's all you got," Kirio says with a malicious grin. "I'm going to finish this."
A blur of gold whipped around to her back. Turning while stepping back, she raised a single hand to halt the incoming projectile. Colliding against her palm, she sees it bloom golden petals at her.
"Kinshara Sōkyoku Dai Jūichiban," Rose intones, strumming the golden cord from where he stands, - his face adorned with a white bird's mask - sending a flash of light along his weapon to the blooming bud of metal instantly at Kirio, "Izayoi Bara!"
SheeeOOOOOOOW!
In an instant, a palpable eruption of sound blasts into Kirio's face. Her eyes wide, blood escapes her nose, eyes, mouth and eyes, the Royal Guard is left to stagger back.
Leaving her open for a crunching blow by Tengumaru into the sky.
Waiting there is Lisa, donning her mask while releasing her own sword silently - transforming it into a large halberd, Haguro Tonbo - as she descends down with a crushing blow into her chest.
Crashing there into the ground, Kirio is left beside herself. She had no idea she could be injured when she possessed so much reiatsu more than everyone else.
I guess their Hollow powers make up enough of the difference to at least stun me, She assumes.
Kirio slowly gets up from her place, hearing slowly returned as she visibly heals in front of the others.
"Something's not right," Love says, landing not far away at one corner with Lisa on the opposite end. "She should not be getting up from that."
"And she's healed up too," Lisa says behind her mask. "What's going on?"
"Tell us, Captain Hikifune," Rose demands, giving a rare somber glare aimed at her. "What have you done to your body to obtain such abilities?"
Kirio grins perversely.
"Ah, that's right, you know me from before," She says with a brush of her hair from one hand. "I have evolved since I encountered Aaroniero. I am much more than I ever was. I am now a perfect being!"
"Kirio?"
She stops, looking past Rose to the debris-stained Hiyori. A small gash is seen in her dirty blonde scalp, but her brown eyes wide with recognition yet disturbed at what she saw.
"Oh, yes, I do remember that face," Kirio says with a mirthful smile. "Sweet Hiyori. You haven't changed a day in over a hundred years. How is everyone in the 12th Division?"
"Why are you…siding with Aaroniero?" Hiyori asks, visibly confused at what she saw compared to what she felt. "A Hollow ate the Reiō! How can you side with that?"
"The Reiō is the lynchpin to all creation, sweet Hiyori," Kirio responds with a sigh, gesturing emphatically as she explains. "You can't stand in the way of that. No matter what we did, she was too much. After all, our duties don't change because she sits on the throne. I really am sorry."
"So are we."
A sudden voice spoke from behind. Looking over her shoulder, she sees Shinji Hirako, now adorned with the 5th Division's emblem as he wore customary Shinigami apparel. Standing adjacent is Kensei Muguruma, wearing the Captain uniform of the 9th Division along with Mashiro Kuma, his lieutenant. Hachigen Ushoda, wearing his own custom made uniform of a white coat over a Shihakushō, emblem marking him as Second Provisionary Officer.
"Been awhile, Kirio," Shinji says with a glare. "You ready to face the music?"
Kirio eyes Shinji, her gaze sweeping around herself. Surrounded by a number of enemies she could say have the capability to incur a minor amount of damage to her, she pondered her strategy.
When it dawned on her, she smiled sweetly at Shinji.
"Tell me, have you ever considered yourself a fortunate man?" She asks, reaching into the inner recesses of her Haori.
"Course," He smiles nastily at her. "I could have ended up working for a Hollow masquerading as the Reiō."
Clicking a capsule in hand labeled #13, she tosses it in front of herself. An explosion of smoke manifested a black silhouette rising up from a kneeling posture.
He appears to be a slender man with an elegant Shihakushō of golden trim, with the lower half being pants as part of one piece uniform just like the other 'Swords of the Reiō' do. Possessing a katana within a purple obi on his left, it has a brown hilt, brass square tsuba of entwined tendrils. Bright Sun blonde hair is adorned in a ponytail with a lotus hairpin affixed to it. Blue eyes shine behind a stoic visage, his lower jaw covered by a sharp black and gold trimmed mask of similar fabric material to his kosode.
"Divine Soldier, Hanzo Kazumasa," She introduces, waving to the Visoreds with visible delight. "Let's see how fortunate you are in the face of a beloved creation of mine!"
Reaching the Senkaimon took barely a handful of seconds. Combined with their unerring speed and familiarity of the Seireitei, they arrived without further delay. The three appeared before a vast courtyard, viridescent tile floor with white pillars framing a large marble gateway.
The place appears unguarded, but the Senkaimon itself appears closed for that reason.
"It's right here," Shūtara nods to a place in front of the gate. "The Sword Five were here, accompanied by two Shinigami."
"Can you tell where they went?" Kirinji asks, taking the time to relight his pipe while resting his pole down to lean against him as he did.
"Whoever has escorted them used an unregistered Kidō, likely to teleport them a vast distance," She surmises with a turn of her head to the tall man. "I can trace the thread in that direction."
"Sounds good," The Guard says, inhaling a few seconds before exhaling a cloud of smoke. "You can come out."
Glints of faint light twinkled around the towers, a storm of shuriken hurling straight at the pair.
Without even batting an eye, a golden puppet arm waved in a dizzying flourish of gray. The projectiles all sparked in a repelling parry, sending them all scattering around the air to the floor.
"Smash'em, Gegetsuburi!"
A large spiked ball struck a set of knuckles, Kirinji not even moved as he backhands the large sphere like a golf ball. Turning to look over his shoulder, the pompadour adorned man glared at a visibly sweating burly man a dozen paces away.
"You wanna die?" Kirinji asks in a low growl. "Try that again."
"Y-Y-Y…" He stammered out, dropping to the ground with a shaky hand raised up, "You're the one who's gonna bite it!"
Palming the floor, he shouted out, "Bakudō #21, Sekienton!"
A loud explosion bursts up a cloud of crimson smoke, filling the courtyard and obscuring their view.
"Hiding your reiatsu and obscuring the enemy's vision? Guess that means you're an Onmitsukidō Officer," Kirinji says coolly, taking hold of his spear with his right hand and left hands, sliding down to a broad ready stance. "I'd wager you're a Lieutenant, or maybe Third Seat. If that giant ball of yours is your strongest move, then all I gotta do is wait for you to make your move."
The sound of a chain clinking alerts his ears. Twisting on the balls of his heels, the Royal Guard swings the back of the pole to catch the incoming spiked ball.
His pommel whiffs the air, his eyes widen with surprise as the iron ball disappears in a flash of light. A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, Kirinji whirls away, the tip of his pompadour is cut by a swift slash of a katana.
A secondary flicker later and a thrust of the blade is parried by a counterclockwise spin of the spear, the pole derailing its course with a thwack!
Smacking Omaeda along the face with a crack with the spear, the Guardsman sees the thick layer of crimson smoke curl. The burly man's body flies through the red vapors, corkscrewing into the face of a nearby pillar with a crash.
"Close, but no cigar," He says with a grin.
SHINK!
Eyes go wide with his mouth, dropping his piper from his lips as his back shoots out with a sudden spike of pain.
His back, exposed after defeating what he thought was the enemy, is stabbed by a single blade barely larger than the size of a finger. Pulling out for a fraction of a second, he whirled around in response with his blade erupting in a gleam of gold.
KOOM!
The Senkaimon platform shook with a powerful shockwave dispersing the cloud of Sekienton surrounding him and Shūtara. Where his spear struck lies only a torn sleeveless Haori and yellow obi, covered in blood within the cracked flooring beneath him.
Unheard to all but Kirinji, he twists around to catch a thrusting petite hand; a mere inch away from an unseen mark of a black butterfly imbued over his Haori where the thin line of blood dripped out.
"You'd have to be faster than that to catch me twice," Kirinji sneered, turning around to look at his attacker.
Suifeng grimaced, her stoic visage quivering at the pain of the earlier slash displayed on her left shoulder down her front Kirinji had landed a mere moment before she escaped. Now with her dominant hand caught in what she felt to be an iron vice, she could scarcely bring herself to say even a witty retort.
Eyeing his left, Kirinji saw another member of what he assumed to be an Onmitsukidō. She held a black iron bar, with handles along its mass, rushing straight towards him in a charge.
"Sayuri, stay awa-!"
Gin swung an arm with a thin smile, a blur of grey lashing out at the charging Shinigami in a razor arc.
Third Seat Sayuri, with weapon in hand, found her left arm and pole sliced in a smooth motion.
Collapsing with a hoarse cry of pain to the ground, Suifeng tensed her body up at the moment of distraction. Ripping her arm out of Kirinji's grip, a violent burst of wind wrapped around the Captain, Suzumebachi thrusting into his chest where she knew her mark would land a killing blow.
Fizzling through Kirinji, she gaped at the sudden sight of the Guardsman vanishing before her eyes.
A white hot lance of light thrusted through her chest out of her back an instant later. Coughing up blood, her Shunkō dispersed as she fell to her hands and knees, clutching the hole in her middle.
"You brought this upon yourself," Kirinji gravels out, materializing in waves of light as he points his spear at her. "I came here to do a job, and you Gotei are just insisting on getting in our way. Why did you even try?"
"Because…the Captain Commander…was killed by the very Hollow who ate the Reiō," Suifeng gasped out, shakily raising her head to shoot daggers at Kirinji's face as she spat. "A quick death is too merciful…for a traitorous scum like you!"
Kirinji stares with annoyance at the young woman. She didn't look like she had been a Captain for long, probably not more than a hundred years. The words she uses for them are juvenile, and without any knowledge of the stakes involved.
Yet, she is completely right.
"You Shinigami failed first," Kirinji says derisively, his hand creaking the pole handle, veins threatening to pop along his knuckles up his wrist. Looking down at her with visible contempt, Kirinji grit his teeth as he lowered his head down to spit at Suifeng.
"Know your place, Gotei Captain!"
A distant rumble shook the ground beneath his feet. Apart from the sounds of fighting he could scarcely hear where Kirio is at, he felt the unmistakable reiatsu in the air of Ouetsu Nimaiya and the Kenpachi Zaraki who is fighting him.
Looking at the horizon, he frowned. If things escalate too far he knows the kind of destructive power that Shichi Fukujin is capable of.
"We should probably hurry," Gin speaks up, looking around at the downed members of the 2nd Division strewn across the courtyard. "Who knows what kind of reinforcements the Gotei will send?"
"Don't need to tell me what I already know," Kirinji growls out. "Shūtara! Have you got a precise trace?"
"Just about," She responds, raising a puppet hand to the direction from the platform. "It's that way, I believe two thousand ri away."
"Shouldn't take us long to get there," Kirinji huffs, turning away from Suifeng to leave. "Let's get going-"
A tug at his clog made him pause. Turning to look over at Suifeng, she lay on the floor, a pool of blood covering the cracked floor she lay on. A hand clutched his clog.
"Let go," He says with a scoff. "Save your strength."
"I'm…not…letting…go!" Suifeng grimaced, sweating as a hazy pair of eyes fixated on him.
Visibly twitching with anger, he gripped his spear and turned with a kick that smacked her hand away.
"Have it your way!" He shouted, raising his spear to thrust from overhead to her head.
Suifeng saw a flash of light, the weapon cracking a foot away. Cherry blossoms flourished across her gaze, dancing across the air in a line across the courtyard.
Gin raised a brow with recognition.
Shūtara turned her head with calmness at the line of blossoms.
Kirinji had his eyes go wide with surprise.
Where did those petals come from, and how did they stop Kinpika?
VMMMMMMMMMM!
A palpable wave of reiatsu emerged from the now glowing Senkaimon. The silhouette that came into view has a katana without a blade, the petals swirling in the air stemming from his hand. Draped in a Haori with a set of three ornamental hairpins with a lush scarf of white wrapped around his neck, the 28th Head of the Kuchiki Clan has emerged.
"Zero Division," Byakuya says with a cold voice, his dark eyes coolly staring at Kirinji, Shūtara and then lastly, Gin. "You're in collaboration with a known traitor to the Soul Society. I find myself surrounded by wounded comrades, one of which you would have slain had I not intervened."
"And?" Kirinji growled out. "What authority do you have to say the Royal Guard is at fault? We supersede your own laws. We were there when it was written."
Raising his chin up at him, he cast an oblong crooked stare at Byakuya.
"Get lost, or I'll cut you down where you stand!" Kirinji said with a sneer.
Byakuya vanished.
Kirinji's head jerked, looking at his right side to see the shorter man materialize at his flank. He twisted himself around in a glamorous shine as he swung his spear around.
SHINK!
Byakuya swung his sword in an elliptical arc, flicking the blood off its edge onto the floor.
Crimson arches from Kirinji's right arm, chest and side along with his other arm.
So fast-!
"Bakudō 61," Byakuya quietly chants. "Rikujōkōrō."
Six beams slam into Kirinji's waist, freezing him in place. The Royal Guard felt stunned, seeing Byakuya arc his blade around towards his neck.
Pulling back at the last second, Byakuya disappeared, dodging an extended golden puppet arm that stabbed the space he was standing. Appearing at the end of the courtyard, Byakuya parried two more needle holding arms, swiveling away from a third that sought out his head.
Amidst the exchange of thrusts and lunges, a spear of gray shot out at Byakuya.
Clang!
Deflected with a rising stroke of his sword, the 6th Division Captain is left exposed to four arms lunging at him from all sides.
Swinging his sword down, a flash of pink with a series of spiraling petals grind into the puppet arms of Shūtara. They swept the air in an instant, the Royal Guard flickering away from harm at the last second.
Arching away from their lost prey, the swarm of Sakura blossom petals sought out Gin, the latter of whom thrust his wakizashi out, unleashing a storm of rapid jabs at the spiraling razors.
Snapping out of the Kidō with a flex of reiatsu, Kirinji snarled with a lung filled heave. Shūtara appeared via Shunpo next to him, the woman's smile thinner at their current obstacle engaging with Gin.
"When did he get so strong? None of our intel on the Gotei 13 is adding up here!" Kirinji snapped at Shūtata.
"It appears that Aaroniero had made an error," She answers, looking over at the Senkaimon, with Kirinji's gaze trailing over to it as well. "When she destroyed the Cleaner, the Dangai Precipice World became temporarily unchecked. I deduce that if someone is holding back the barrier walls from overlapping, then the time dilation can be taken advantage of-"
"To train undisturbed for a long time without much of it passing out here!" Kirinji realized amidst her deduction. "That means if he came out of there, freshly trained from years of effort, how many others are in there doing the same thing?"
"Irrelevant," Shūtara dismissed, looking back at Gin parrying strikes from Byakuya's Senbonzakura, doing his best to avoid damage from the dangerous Shinigami.
"Our mission still stands. We capture the Sword Five and then withdraw to the Reiōkyū," She says determinedly, looking over at Kirinji. "I'll go ahead and do just that. Once I have them, I'll use Tenteikūra to inform you all of the order to withdraw."
"Hey, I'm in charge of this operation!" Kirinji snapped at her.
"Then clean up here and hurry up, First Officer Kirinji Tenjirō," Shūtara she snidely says, narrowing her eyes menacingly at him. "Or do I have to take over here as well?"
"I got this, you puppet!" He hissed behind gritted teeth.
Smirking, she disappeared from sight, using Shunpo to navigate to her destination.
Kirinji looked around to see if anyone else would show up. To his surprise, Suifeng is missing, and he couldn't see the bifurcated Sayuri or the tower embedded Omaeda.
That means there's one more at least lurking around, He thought knowingly. That's fine. I'll kill every last Shinigami who gets in my way.
"Hey, Captain!" Kirinji shouted out, halting the fierce exchange between Gin and Byakuya.
Byakuya turned to face him, his stoic expression unchanged even as he affixed his gaze at him.
"I'm going to give you my name before I kill you," Kirinji rang out, jabbing a thumb at his own chin. "Kirinji Tenjirō, First Officer of the Zero Division."
"Byakuya Kuchiki of the 6th Division," He coolly replied. "And make no mistake, Guardsman. I will sentence every single one of you to death, as befits those who are traitors to Soul Society."
A/N: Whoooooo! This Chapter got my blood pumping. Between the start of a good exchange between Kenpachi and Nimaiya, we got some juicy battles taking place here. Tensions rise as Byakuya Kuchiki emerges to save Suifeng and so battle with the traitorous Zero Division. With Shutara going after the Sword Five, can Byakuya defeat one of the strongest Shinigami alive?
Find out in the next update of A Predator Among Us!