In this chapter, our protagonists are gonna use the cannon that Kukaku made so that they can successfully get inside Soul Society without anyone noticing. Maybe this time Gin Ichimaru won't bar them out.
But in the process, they're going to get separated. In case that isn't obvious, that's going to be a big problem for our protagonists. In a place as big as Soul Society, it's not going to be easy to reunite. Of course, you're probably going to wonder whose going to get partnered with who. Well, you're about to find out.
Of course, you'll probably want to check on the Straw Hat Pirates as well.
Chapter 17: No Splitting The Party
After about half a week of training, Nami and her friends could finally focus their Reiryoku. Well, Luffy still had some problems. But other than that, it appeared that everyone was ready to use the cannon. They were rather excited for the big day, to say the very least.
"Are you ready, kids?" asked Kukaku.
"Aye aye, captain!" exclaimed Luffy.
"I thought you were the captain..." stated Orihime with a confused expression on her face.
"Oh that's right, I forgot..." answered the pirate captain. Why was that so hard for him to remember? His merry group were known as the Straw Hat Pirates, after all.
"Sometimes I forget things like that..." noted Nami. To her credit, she was a lot smarter than Luffy was...as much as she wouldn't want to tell that to Luffy.
"Do you mind if I come with? I have a score to settle with the Shinigami to be honest..." answered Ganji.
"Sure...was it because they made you live in squalor?" asked the navigator.
"Pretty much." answered the resident of the slums. He wished that he could live somewhere with air conditioning for a change, especially in the summer. At this rate he was going to be barbecued.
"3, 2, 1, blast off!" exclaimed Kukaku at the top of her lungs.
Expectedly, the enormous cannon went off. Nami and the others were sent flying.
"Whoa!" bellowed Nami.
Immediately, the six of them were sent flying.
Unfortunately, it appeared that they were all sent flying in different directions. It appeared that she might want to work on her aim a bit more.
"Er, where are each of them going?" Kukaku asked herself. She didn't know for sure.
She hoped that they could all find each other. It was dangerous to enter Soul Society alone as a Ryoka. There were captains and lieutenants all over the place.
A few minutes later...
"That was a great flight, wasn't it, Luffy?" asked Orihime as she helped herself to her feet.
"It certainly was! I can't wait to do that again!" exclaimed Luffy.
"Are you sure we should do that again? It might not be safe..." pointed out the teenage girl. She didn't want herself and Luffy to end up getting hurt...though she supposed that Luffy was a bit of a daredevil considering that he was a pirate.
"But it was awesome!" bellowed the pirate captain. He hadn't felt that excited since he first became a pirate captain.
"It sure was. Wait, where are Nami and the others?" asked Orihime. She didn't see them anywhere. Had they gone off without her?
Curious, Luffy stretched his head to look around.
"I don't see them...I guess it's just us." stated the pirate captain.
"This isn't good, Luffy...while we're separated from our teammates we'll be sitting ducks!" exclaimed the teenage girl.
"Sitting ducks? I love ducks!" bellowed Luffy. They were his favorite bird...and he liked eating roast duck occasionally. Of course, he would eat anything if it wasn't poisonous.
"We need to find them, fast! What if a captain finds us?" asked Orihime. To her knowledge, Kukaku had warned her to stay away from them. If one of them spotted the duo, it might be best for them to run away.
"What are the chances of that?" inquired Luffy.
"Pretty good, actually. Someone likes tempting fate..." stated a nearby captain.
Luffy and Orihime gasped in shock.
Sure enough, it was Kenpachi, the Squad 11 captain in the flesh. And by the looks of it, he meant business.
"Now now, we don't want any trouble...we just want to save our friends and get back home..." said the pirate. Personally he wanted to see his ship again.
"Oh really? Alright then...you fight me and win...and I'll let you go. Sound good?" asked Kenpachi. That seemed like a rather reasonable offer.
"But I don't want to fight a captain...I'll get slaughtered!" exclaimed Luffy. He simply didn't have the kind of power to deal with them...or did he? He wasn't quite sure at this point.
Suddenly, Kenpachi's lieutenant Yachiru grabbed Orihime. She tried to struggle a bit, but she was really strong. A lot stronger than she looked.
"Yay! Taking hostages is fun!" bellowed Yachiru with a wicked smile on her face. For some strange reason, she reminded Orihime a bit of Yuzu...an evil version of Yuzu.
"Sorry, Luffy...but I don't think you have a say in the matter..." stated Orihime. It appeared to be the only way for her to regain her freedom.
"Orihime!" exclaimed Luffy, shocked as to what was happening.
"What's it going to be? If you agree to fight me I'll let you and your friend live...of course, Soul Society will probably lock you away since you're Ryoka...but hey, at least you won't end up being executed...speaking of which there's going to be an execution two and a half weeks from now...it's going to be quite the show. Maybe they'll even show it on television..." pointed out Kenpachi.
"We're trying to prevent that from happening, actually..." said Orihime. Executions were a rather messy matter, and she personally voted against them as a pacifist.
"Aren't you the troublemakers!" exclaimed the Shinigami captain. He was starting to see why Soul Society wanted them arrested just like Ichigo and Rukia. They were causing a lot of trouble.
Wait, weren't they supposed to be five of them? There only seemed to be two of them...but he supposed that made arresting them easier. Maybe Mayuri Kurotsuchi would want them for his twisted experiments.
"Yeah...of course, I was a pirate back where I come from..." noted Luffy. It felt a bit strange becoming an outlaw all over again. But it appeared being an outlaw was his way of life.
"A pirate? This ought to be fun..." noted Kenpachi.
"Are you a pirate too?" questioned Luffy.
"Why would you think that?" asked the Squad 11 captain.
"You're wearing an eyepatch and have scars on your face! You also wield a sword!" exclaimed the pirate captain.
Now that he thought of it...he did resemble a pirate a bit. Maybe he should look in a mirror later. He could probably use a gold tooth.
Immediately, he pulled out his sword.
"Be careful, Luffy!" exclaimed Orihime.
Quickly, Luffy stretched out his arms so that he can fight.
"You remind me a bit of Gin Ichimaru with that elastic blade of his...that little bugger creeps me out..." acknowledged Kenpachi.
"He gives me nightmares..." complained Yachiru.
"I don't think we want to see him anytime soon..." answered Luffy.
"Now then, where were we? Think fast!" exclaimed Kenpachi.
Immediately, Kenpachi began to slash Luffy with his sword.
"Oh no! Luffy!" bellowed Orihime.
Fortunately, it appeared that Luffy's rubbery body was protecting him from Kenpachi's attacks.
"What kind of pirate are you?" asked Kenpachi.
"I ate a devil fruit!" bellowed Luffy.
"A devil fruit? Are you a demon?" inquired the man.
"I believe Ichigo's sister already asked me something like that..." noted the pirate.
Unfortunately, it appeared that Luffy's rubbery body was protecting him from the sword strikes. Suddenly, he stretched out his arm and punched out Kenpachi.
"I have to admit...I thought that this would be over by now..." noted Kenpachi.
"Don't underestimate Luffy! He's awesome!" bellowed Orihime.
"Do you need help, Kenpachi?" asked Yachiru. She was a bit worried that her captain might not be able to handle Luffy by himself. He seemed a lot different than the opponents that he usually faced.
"Relax! I'll be fine! Besides, the fights I've been having lately have been awfully boring...I'm actually glad that I've gotten a challenge for a change!" exclaimed Kenpachi.
"If you say so..." answered the lieutenant. Hopefully Captain Kenpachi had not bitten off more than he could chew. That happened to her sometimes...mainly when she was eating some submarine sandwiches. Sweet delicious submarine sandwiches.
Luffy grabbed onto Kenpachi, picking him up and slamming him into a wall.
"Ugh! Good...shot." remarked Kenpachi.
"Thank you!" exclaimed Luffy.
"You can do it, Luffy!" bellowed Orihime.
"C'mon! You can't let the invaders win!" exclaimed Yachiru.
Meanwhile...
"You called me, Yamamoto?" asked Gin Ichimaru.
"I need to ask you something...why didn't you tell us when they were invaders in Soul Society?" asked Yamamoto.
"I figured I could handle them myself..." answered the man.
"Well, apparently you thought wrong...they're in Soul Society as we speak. On the plus side, they appear to be scattered...making it easier for our captains to handle them." noted the leader of Soul Society.
"Perfect!" exclaimed Gin Ichimaru.
"Still, if you had warned us sooner...maybe we wouldn't still be trying to deal with them. Maybe they'd be safely locked away in Muken..." noted the leader of Squad number one.
"C'mon! Can't I have some fun with them?" asked the Squad 3 captain.
"Your idea of fun disturbs me, Ichimaru..." remarked Yamamoto. He heard that he liked to take candies from babies...and then pretend to give the babies their lollipops back before putting them in his mouth and eating them.
"Whatever! I'm going to hang out with some friends of mine...Tosen and Sakura..." stated Gin Ichimaru.
"You have a strange pair of friends, Ichimaru..." said Yamamoto. He did not trust those two. Did they have something to do with Sosuke Aizen's death? He was not looking forward to being next if they turned out to be terrorists.
Perhaps it would be best if he kept an eye on them. But for now, he needed to deal with the Ryoka. Imagine what chaos they could cause if he left them unchecked.
He had to admit, he was having a fairly bad day. Hopefully things would go better once they managed to execute Ichigo and Rukia for their crimes. He supposed they deserved it...though personally he wondered if he was making the right choice.
"Just two and a half more weeks..." thought Yamamoto to himself.
Meanwhile...
"Sheesh...I can't believe Sosuke Aizen died so suddenly..." noted Izuru as he investigated his surroundings.
Sure enough, there was Sosuke Aizen's body, who was still in the bathtub, dead as ever.
"Do I really have to see Sosuke Aizen naked?" questioned Izuru.
After Gin Ichimaru had reported to him that Sosuke Aizen was no longer with Soul Society, he had decided to investigate it personally.
Hopefully he would be able to determine who the killer was.
"Let's see now...who do I know that would be powerful enough to do such a thing?" asked Izuru.
Immediately, he began to look at the blood more closely.
Suddenly, he noticed something that alarmed him.
"Wait a minute...this isn't blood...this is corn syrup!" bellowed Izuru.
A few seconds later, he heard a door slamming behind him.
"What the-" exclaimed the man.
"Snooping your nose where it doesn't belong, aren't we? We're going to have to do something about that..." stated Sakura Kaguya.
Immediately, she pulled out her zanpakuto, otherwise known as Samayo Kokoro.
She then used her shikai, Shitaigaimusu on Izuru.
Shortly afterwards, Izuru found himself completely and utterly brainwashed...and by extension helpless.
"Do the chicken dance!" exclaimed Sakura.
Quickly, Izuru began to imitate a chicken.
"Bawk bawk bawk bawk!" bellowed Izuru.
Sakura began to giggle.
"Now strip down to your boxers!" bellowed Sakura.
Izuru did so, leaving him in his underwear.
Sakura thought this was a riot.
"Now call yourself a loser!" exclaimed the Soul Reaper.
"I'm a loser! I'm so freaking lame! I'm so lame that Gin Ichimaru wonders every single day of his life why he let me be his lieutenant!" bellowed Izuru.
"I could do this all day..." remarked Sakura.
Suddenly, Tosen came in.
"Sakura...we need you to plug the leak..." bellowed Tosen. Izuru was learning too much information.
Sakura sighed. Tosen was absolutely correct. She couldn't let Izuru tell the rest of Soul Society that the blood in Sosuke Aizen's bathtub was actually corn syrup. Otherwise Sosuke Aizen would not appear to be so completely dead.
"Alright...Izuru, why don't you do us a favor and call off the investigation? Surely there was something else you could be doing...I know that you love alcohol...so why don't you go to the tavern and get yourself some drinks?" asked Sakura.
Izuru nodded. That would be a good idea right about now.
"Do you remember anything about the investigation?" inquired the woman.
"No. Nothing at all..." stated the Squad 3 lieutenant.
"Not even the corn syrup you found in Sosuke Aizen's bathtub?" asked Sakura.
"No. I don't remember anything..." said Izuru.
"Good. You may leave now..." stated the woman.
Izuru left the building, still under the control of Sakura.
Sakura then deactivated her Shikai, causing Izuru to regain control of himself.
"Where was I? Ah yes...I think I'll go to the tavern. I'm awfully thirsty..." stated Izuru.
Sakura smirked in satisfaction. It looked like he wouldn't be finding out what she, Gin, and Tosen were up to anytime soon. It was simply too easy.
Still, she knew that some Soul Reapers would be harder to brainwash than others. Some of the stronger ones would not do anything that they would vehemently object to...and a few (such as Yamamoto himself) would not be affected at all.
It depended mainly on their reiatsu.
There were some side effects that occurred after her shikai was used as well...but hopefully nobody in Soul Society would notice them. It only lasted for a few days after all...and most of Soul Society were busy trying to deal with the Ryoka.
Why exactly had they shown up, anyway? Did they decide that with Sosuke Aizen being dead they could simply do whatever they wished?
She supposed that made sense...though it wasn't like Sosuke Aizen wasn't the only captain in all of Soul Society. If he had been, Soul Society would probably collapse completely...but it was still relatively stable.
Hopefully they would not interfere with their plans.
Meanwhile...
"If only Captain Kenpachi has a bankai..." thought Yachiru. Unfortunately, Kenpachi lacked a bankai...he had to make do with what he had...which to his credit was still rather impressive.
Kenpachi was rather lucky to get to be a captain without those sort of things, to say the very least. All the other captains happened to have those things. But Kenpachi was simply awesome like that.
Immediately, Kenpachi used a shockwave to send Luffy flying backwards.
"Gotcha!" exclaimed Kenpachi.
"Whoa!" bellowed Luffy.
"Luffy!" screeched Orihime.
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" shouted the pirate.
"He must be made of rubber..." remarked Kenpachi. He had never seen a fighter quite like him in his entire life.
Once again, Luffy punched Kenpachi in the face.
"Huh. Still fighting after a blow like that...how about this!" exclaimed Kenpachi.
This time, Kenpachi sent a yellow energy wave towards Luffy.
But as it turned out, the attack was too telegraphed...and Luffy used his elasticity to climb on top of a nearby building to avoid it.
Kenpachi immediately leapt to follow Luffy...
...only to be sent crashing to the ground when Luffy slammed him with his arms.
"Oh no! Kenpachi!" screamed Yachiru. Was he dead?
"Way to go, Luffy..." remarked Orihime.
In the process, Yachiru loosened his grip on Orihime, allowing her to break free.
"Hey, Luffy! I'm free! You don't need to fight Kenpachi anymore!" exclaimed Orihime.
"But he's beating me up..." stated Luffy.
"You look fine to me..." said Orihime.
"But I'm starting to feel tired..." spoke the pirate.
"Should I help?" asked the teenage girl.
"I think I should handle this between him and I one on one..." acknowledged Luffy.
"But you said you were tired..." stated Orihime.
"Well, a little bit..." admitted the pirate captain, who was yawning.
"That's too bad! I'm just getting warmed up! Nome!" exclaimed Kenpachi.
"A gnome? Where?" asked Luffy. He wanted cookies.
Immediately, Kenpachi activated his Shikai, causing his blade to become much bigger.
"Be careful, Luffy! He's getting serious!" bellowed Orihime.
Likewise, Kenpachi removed his eyepatch, causing him to become even stronger than before.
"He's going full power!" warned the teenage girl.
"Darn right!" exclaimed Kenpachi.
"This might be messy..." thought Luffy to himself.
Yachiru attempted to grab Orihime's ankle to take her prisoner again, but this time she kicked her away.
"Yay! I'm flying!" exclaimed Yachiru, disappearing into a twinkle in the sky.
"I guess my karate class finally paid off..." noted the teenage girl.
Immediately, Kenpachi used his new weapon to cut down the skyscraper Luffy was on, causing him to fall.
"Whoa!" bellowed Luffy.
Fortunately, it was a rather soft landing, as he inflated himself like a balloon.
"Sheesh..." murmured the pirate.
This was then followed by Kenpachi swinging his new weapon at Luffy, who did his very best to avoid it.
Suddenly, the piece of skyscraper Kenpachi had cut earlier began to fall...right on top of Kenpachi.
"You might want to look out..." remarked Luffy.
"Huh?" asked Kenpachi.
Unfortunately, it was too late. It fell right on top of Kenpachi and crushed him. Miraculously, he still appeared to be alive.
"That's one way to end a battle..." noted Luffy.
"Are you alright, Luffy?" asked Orihime.
"Yeah, I won!" exclaimed the pirate.
"I'm surprised you managed to take him on all by yourself..." noted the teenage girl. To think that he was a Gotei 13 captain...just how strong was Luffy now?
"Well, I had you cheering me on!" exclaimed Luffy.
"Yeah, you did..." noted Orihime. Apparently he did a lot better when his teammates were giving him support. But of course, he was a pirate captain, so that made sense.
"I wish I had a sword that big...Zoro would be jealous..." noted Luffy. It was too bad that he couldn't come with him on this mission. He would do pretty well in a swordfight...though he doubted that he could compete with a sword that big.
"There you are!" exclaimed a voice.
"Huh? Who said that?" asked Orihime.
Curious, Luffy looked around, and noticed that Yoruichi had managed to find them.
"I'm glad to see you...but where are the others?" inquired Luffy.
"Wait, did you just talk?" asked Orihime.
"As a matter of fact, I did." nodded Yoruichi.
"Cool! A talking cat!" exclaimed the pirate captain.
"Yeah yeah yeah...can we keep our voices down? I'm glad that you managed to take down a captain...but your luck is bound to run out sooner or later...for now, we need to find shelter..." stated the cat.
"You know...you happen to sound awfully masculine...I thought that you were a girl cat..." questioned Orihime.
"I am...I just have a rather bizarre voice..." explained Yoruichi.
Orihime shrugged. She happened to know a few people who had voices like that. She wasn't going to judge.
"Wait, what about the others?" inquired Orihime.
"I'm going to go find them...for now, we need to find somewhere where you'll be safe..." stated Yoruichi.
"I suppose that makes sense..." nodded Luffy. His battle with Kenpachi could have admittedly gone a lot worse.
I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter...though I will admit that I haven't really been focusing on the Straw Hat Pirates lately. In fact, only Luffy and Nami appeared in this chapter, at all. I suppose I wanted something a bit more action-packed.
I might change that soon though...