Chapter 34 - The Dominos Begin to Fall

Elemental Nations

Nel slowly, shakily, let out a pent-up breath as the Garganta closed before her. Something was not right. Her hollow instincts told her so. Her animal instinct screamed at her to run - to get out of this place as soon as possible, but she did not know why.

Harribel cast a worrying glance toward her, tentatively walking up to her predecessor. She placed a hand on Nel's arm. "What's the matter, Nel? Why did you insist on us staying?"

"A bad feeling." She said, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to search for a rational answer; some way to articulate the overwhelming sense of dread she was feeling. She supposed it was due to her nature as a ram hollow - she did not know how she was sensing the approaching danger, but she knew, beyond any doubt, that there was danger approaching.

Harribel pursed her lips. "...that's all?"

"Szayelapporo Granz." Nel spoke softly. She felt suddenly bashful, but she spoke from her heart. "I heard his name mentioned. We can't do much in this fight against the Shinigami, but we can stay here and guard the Elemental Nations. Szayalapporo was the one who ambushed me alongside Nnoitra. He's a scheming rat, and anything he is involved in cannot be good. Can you sense him?"

Harribel frowned, reaching out with her Pesquisa, before shaking her head. "No-"

Whatever else she was about to say was interrupted when Tobirama and Hashirama teleported almost directly on top of them, courtesy of the Flying Raijin.

A gust of wind quickly followed their arrival.

"Hey, we came once they were gone, just as you said." Hashirama spoke first, "Why did you insist on us only sending a clone, Nel? Is Madara hiding something?"

Nel shook her head. "No, I don't think so. It's just that I wanted to talk to you a bit more about the alliance. That and…" Nel hesitated, hugging herself gingerly. "I've had a feeling of unease ever since we came back from the Soul Society. I can't place exactly what it is, and I have no proof, but the Lord Aizen I knew would not be in such a hurry to fight the Shinigami. He's had centuries to prepare, and they have had plenty of time, too. It doesn't make sense to just go rushing in so desperately now, especially without even having a battle plan. Something strange is going on here."

Tobirama nodded. "You took the words right out of my mouth. I, too, have had a sense of foreboding ever since Aizen weaseled his way into joining forces with us. I, for one, am just glad Aizen is out of the Elemental Nations for now."

Hashirama waved him off. "How many times must I say that you worry too much, Tobirama? Aizen has helped us immensely with his medicines, and radios. The only concern I have is that the clones we sent will not be powerful enough. We should join them as soon as possible. If not, we mightn't just be letting Madara and Aizen down - we'd be squandering our best chance of dealing a crippling blow to the shinigami."

Nel sighed softly. "We'll join them shortly. There are just some loose ends I need to tie up with a certain Szayelapporo."

Tobirama raised his eyebrows; "Aizen's pink haired scientist assistant?"

"That sounds about right," Nel said, surprised. "You know him?"

"They were installing communication devices for us in return for our aid in this battle, but he's left already." Tobirama explained.

Harribel crossed her arms, drawing attention to herself as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Surely you found an opportunity to mark him with your Flying Raijin at some point, just like with me?"

Hashirama burst into hearty laughter. "You've gotten quite used to my little brother's antics, I see."

Tobirama smirked. "I have, but would it not be unwise to resort to such measures on a whim? It could jeopardize the trust we have built."

"You can say I forced you to track him down. It's the truth, anyway. You don't need to tell him how you found him." Nel reasoned.

Tobirama brought a hand to his chin in contemplation. "What's your relationship with him? Why such animosity?"

"He tried to assassinate me a long time ago." Nel said shortly, "Also…if you know him a fraction as well as I do, you just become naturally suspicious of anything he's involved in."

The younger Senju looked to his elder brother; "It's your call. You spoke highly of Nel, but I do not know her."

Hashirama chuckled as he met with Nel's determined gaze. "Nel was very helpful in providing moral support for Mito and I as we were consolidating the Shinobi Alliance. Do as she asks, Tobirama - I trust her."

Tobirama shrugged. "If you really want to, I can give it a go, but…in the event he is not in the Elemental Nations, I don't know how my Flying Raijin might work. Sorry, but I'll have to do this through a shadow clone, too.

Nel nodded. "That's fine by me. Thank you very much, Tobirama."

The younger senju nodded, summoning a shadow clone and commanding it to place a palm on Nel's shoulder. "Are you coming too, Harribel?" He asked.

The Tres Espada sighed. "I might as well. Can't hurt." She reached out to place her palm on the clone Tobirama's back.

"Alright, hang on tight." The shadow clone said.

"Make it quick. I don't want to let our new allies down. Meet back at the Alliance headquarters, okay?" Hashirama said, and the Arrancar nodded.

The world around them warped.

Somewhere, Deep Underground

Tobirama's shadow clone did not have time to react as a flash of steel sliced into his neck, forcing it to dispell into a cloud of smoke.

Nel and Harribel easily leaped out of the way of their assailant, dodging the follow up strikes as they took note of everyone present in the room.

Szayalapporo was there, alongside two others that they recognized, yet did not expect.

"Zommari? Aaroniero? What are you two doing here?" Harribel asked in confusion, drawing Tiburon in response to their raised weapons.

Zommari was the first to recover from their surprise arrival. "Tier Harribel? You did not participate in the attack against the shinigami?"

"Answer my question. What are you three doing here?" Harribel countered, looking around cautiously. They were in a small room, with some monitors that displayed what appeared to be camera feeds showing some bustling streets. "In fact, where is 'here'?" She raised her reiatsu in threat, as Nel did the same beside her.

It was then that Szayalapporo turned to them with a wry smile. "Ah, Harribel. What an unfortunate situation we have found ourselves in."

Harribel's eyes darted to each of the Espada before her. Zommari and Aaroniero were oddly tense. Her mind raced. Something was terribly wrong with the situation before her.

"...Harribel." Nel's voice was small, but clear for all to hear. "We're underground. Right below the Shinobi Alliance." She unsheathed Gamuza as she spoke, and both Zommari and Aaroniero gripped their weapons tighter.

"Talk." Harribel ordered, storming up to Szayalapporo. She ignored the other Espada, having raised her spiritual pressure to a point that none of them would be able to harm her through her hierro.

Zommari and Aaroniero both grimaced as they braced against her reiatsu; though Szayelaporro seemed nonplussed as she approached.

Then she froze, her breath hitching.

Slowly, disbelievingly, Harribel looked down at the blade embedded in her chest. Her mouth hung open in shock at the speed of the strike. As she approached, the Septa Espada had not even drawn his Zanpakuto, yet now it was extended through her chest. She could not see or sense, much less react to any intermediary movement.

As she weakly grasped at the blade that had skewered her heart, she forced her dimming gaze up, away from the blade and toward the pink haired Espada.

In an instant, everything made sense.

Harribel collapsed to her knees with a thud; blood was already pooling beneath her as she fought against her fading consciousness. She tried to speak, but gasped in pain as her foe withdrew his blade. Unable to stay upright any longer, Harribel fell to her side.

Szayelaporro placed a heavy foot on her neck, silencing any further efforts to speak. All she could do was sputter and croak in futility as her world faded to black.

Nel barely had the time to let out a cry of surprise before Zommari and Aaroniero rushed at her in a flurry of blades.

Twisting out of the way of their strikes and blasting them back with a wave of reiatsu, her eyes gleamed as she held her sword before her horizontally. "Declare…Gamuza!"

Shinobi Alliance

Screams tore through the air as the earth exploded outward in a cloud of mud and dust. Pink reiatsu from Nel's release spilled out from the crater, and Anbu from all villages instantly rushed toward the scene.

"Wind Style - Divine Mountain Wind!" One of the Anbu roared as he summoned a gale to dissipate the dust.

A wave of sage chakra enveloped the area as Hashirama and Tobirama also arrived. Supported by the sage chakra, the spiritual beings at the center of the crater came into focus for everyone present.

Aaroniero and Zommari lay bleeding out, each sporting a gruesome puncture wound in their chests, courtesy of the released Gamuza. Nel was reared on her hind legs, yelling a battle cry as she raised her bloodied lance toward Szayelaporro. The Septa Espada did not react as she charged toward him, instead only closing his eyes with a disappointed shake of his head.

"Nel!" Hashirama roared, leaping before the former Espada even as a mass of roots tangled her legs. "Have you gone mad!?"

Nel shook her head. "He attacked us! Harribel is still down there - she's wounded!"

Hashirama turned his glare into the still smoldering grater, before locking eyes with Tobirama. The latter nodded, jumping down with no hesitation.

It was then that Nel spotted a large, white pillar not thirty feet away from them. She craned her head around, seeing more in the distance, scattered about the alliance. Sekkiseki stone? No…not quite.

"Elder Brother." Tobirama's deep voice held a note of urgency as it appeared beside them. "Harribel is gravely wounded. I do not want to move her - she needs your attention immediately." His lips curled up in a snarl. "I should have expected something had gone wrong when my clone dissipated so quickly."

Nel barely heard a word of what he had said, as her mind flashed back to her days as an Espada. She did not even notice as Hashirama released her from his wood style.

And this, my Dear Espada, is the final piece of the puzzle. The Hogyoku has the ability to transform matter and reality itself to its master's will. By infusing the reiatsu absorbing properties of Sekkiseki stone with the Hogyoku, I can create a material that absorbs not just reiatsu, but souls themselves. Deploying these in the Soul Society shall serve the dual purpose of destroying the Shinigami, as well as gathering enough souls to create my Oken.

In an instant, Aizen's plan suddenly made sense. He was not the magnanimous peacemaker with ambitions for greater power that Nel had remembered. No, Aizen had played the lines of friend and foe to perfection for centuries, building his influence and reputation for one, single purpose.

Taking over Hueco Mundo from Barragan was a covert affair - meant only to consolidate his power and establish a base of operations.

His betrayal of the Shinigami was nothing but a pebble in a pond, sending political ripples throughout the Seireitei.

Sending Madara and the Espada to the Seireitei diverted the Shinigami's attention away from him, giving him the opportunity to scout out the Elemental Nations.

Helping Hashirama with his Alliance? The perfect opportunity to gain the trust of powerful allies who were ignorant to Shinigami technology.

The Elemental Nations was the final chapter of his sick plot. Aizen had gradually subverted the anchoring governments of each realm. All it would take was one light push in the right direction, and the weakened civilizations would collapse.

The Oken was about to be completed.

Everybody here was about to die.

There was nothing she could do about it.

The hairs on the back of her neck rose as the ramifications of what was about to happen truly sank in.

Time itself seemed to slow as her mind scrambled. But why would he leave Szayalapporo and risk himself in battle against the Gotei 13?

And then like dominos, the pieces began to fall and click together, and Nel understood everything.

Dangai - Precipice World

Aizen stopped, and his entourage followed suit. "We have arrived."

He held out his zanpakuto against the fleshy walls of the Dangai, before pausing. "They will be waiting for us. Be prepared to meet the full force of the Gotei 13 upon our exit."

Without waiting for a response, Aizen swiped Kyoka Suigetsu Horizontally, tearing open a Garganta into Karakura town.

Fake Karakura Town

"A very warm welcome indeed." Madara mused, frowning as he surveyed his battlefield. The enemy was arranged in two distinct squadrons before them.

His Rinnegan identified Yamamoto instantly at the head of one, while he recognized the bowl-cut blonde shinigami-hollow hybrid at the head of the other.

Yamamoto made the first move, dashing toward Aizen with a shunpo, slashing widely in front of him and sending a tongue of fire toward the group.

The Espada scattered, and Madara saw from the corner of his eye the retreating forms of Hashirama and Tobirama as they too sought refuge from the flames.

The head-captain slashed at Aizen's neck.

The former squad 5 captain sidestepped, but Ryujin Jakka clipped his sleeve, opening up a nasty cut over his left arm. He dashed back with a sonido, though it was too slow. Yamamoto had already preempted the action with his own flash step.

Aizen's eyes widened as the head captain readied Ryujin Jakka for a killing blow.

Madara intervened with a sonido to block the strike. "You've got to be better than this, Aizen." He growled through clenched teeth as he deflected the Head Captain's strike. "Or is all that reiatsu of yours just for show!?"

Aizen did not deign to respond, instead choosing to begin chanting some kido.

With Barragan

Summoning Gran Caida to his grasp, the God-King twirled his axe, relishing in the subtle vibrations through his bony fingers as the golden chains clanked against themselves. The shard of the Hogyoku Aizen had given him had heighted his senses further than he had ever imagined possible. Gran Caida was no longer a mere weapon. It felt like a true extension of his arm and will. He turned his attention to the two quivering shinigami before him, and focussed.

He heard the quickening of their breaths, and the tensing of their muscles as they felt the weight of his reiatsu. He saw the individual strands of fabric on their shihakusho.

He smelled their fear.

WIth a single swing of his ax, he sent a wave of respira forward. The shinigami before him braced their zanpakuto to defend as the wave of death washed over them.

It could not be denied. Barragan's power was absolute, after all.

As the respira passed, nothing remained in its path but the lingering smell of rot as every last molecule of the shinigami disintegrated into nothing. Pleased at his new power, Barragan cast a sideways glance toward Aizen. Judging by the usurper's current performance, perhaps he had been too cautious. There was no movement Aizen made that he could not follow. He tightened his grip on his axe.

"Tetsuzaemon! Kira!" A gruff voice roared. A huge man, almost as large as Barragan's resurreccion form, appeared with a Shunpo where the other shinigami just were. His helmeted head darted about, searching frantically for his lieutenant and comrade in arms.

"They're gone, Captain Komamura." A Captain with long, flowing silver hair answered, taking the Squad 7 Captain's side. "That is Barragan, the ruler of Hueco Mundo before Aizen. His power over aging disintegrates anything it touches."

Barragan craned his head in curiosity, forcing himself to turn his attention away from Aizen for now. "Identify yourself, Shinigami. You who claim to know my power."

"Jushiro Ukitake. I was with the Captain Commander in Hueco Mundo when you spoke with him a few days ago."

The God-King hummed thoughtfully, before chuckling. "I don't remember…" he rumbled. "I don't care. My power is absolute. Simply knowing it does not negate its effect."

Komamura growled under his breath. "I can't use my Bankai, then. It'll be too big of a target."

Ukitake nodded; "I don't think we're taking Barragan down." He lowered his voice, then, "I don't know what relationship he has with the Captain Commander, but don't do anything hasty. Just try to stall until the old man is done with Aizen."

At that moment, both of them tensed as an aura of malice blanketed the battlefield. Ukitake instinctively raised an arm above his head as thick, green droplets of condensed reiatsu rained down upon them.

The Squad 13 captain suppressed a shiver as he felt the depth of the new reiatsu. Aizen had truly brought his elites.

With Ulquiorra

"Captain Soi-Fon, wait!" A chorus of voices cried in near-unison as the stealth force commander activated her Shunko and released her Shikai.

She dashed toward Ulquiorra's back, pushing her speed to its absolute limit as she squinted against the rushing winds.

She remembered Ulquiorra very well - and there was no way in hell she was going to let him enter his second release here.

It was over in a split second. The Squad 2 Captain was out of her element. Even in their first confrontation at the Seireitei, she was barely keeping up with Ulquiorra's resurreccion speed.

Ulquiorra was fully recovered; courtesy of his high-speed regeneration, and all his abilities had been further enhanced by the Hogyoku. Soi-Fon, on the other hand, was still dealing with lingering fatigue from their first battle.

She could not defend herself at all as she was blindsided by Ulquiorra's lance. There was a sickening squelch as the Espada spun, driving the energy lance into Soi-Fon with a backhanded thrust.

The young captain's eyes widened as she was impaled horizontally through the torso, her own momentum sealing her fate as she felt her insides torn in an instant.

The Cuatra Espada leaned forward, bringing his mouth to Soi-Fon's ear as he absentmindedly swatted away his victim's last ditch attempt to stab him with Suzumebachi. "Why charge so quickly to your death, Shinigami?"

He clamped his free hand around her wrist with strength belying his stature, thwarting another, feeble stab as he completely immobilized her arm.

"I regret not being able to end your life before in the Seireitei, but I suppose this is sufficient." The Cuatra Espada droned as he withdrew his energy lance from her failing body.

He did not move as the petite captain collapsed upon his shoulder. She tried to speak, but no words could get past the blood pooling into her destroyed lungs.

Ulquiorra watched impassively as the light faded from her still-open eyes, ignoring the warm, flowing red rivulets that stained his fur.

Soi-Fon fell limply from the sky as he released her. She had been the first to confront him, despite already being completely outmatched at their previous encounter. He supposed he could commend her bravery - foolish as it was.

As he took stock of the remaining shinigami, a shadow darted across the edge of his vision. He followed it - seeing a dark-skinned, purple haired lady swoop in to catch Soi-Fon before her body hit the ground.

With his enhanced sight, Ulquiorra could see the shaking of her shoulders as the newcomer cradled the corpse in her arms.

Yoruichi lowered herself to one knee, gently laying her former protege down and closing her defiant, lifeless eyes. She had expected casualties, yes, but for Soi-Fon to be among the first…she clenched her hands, gathering her reiatsu at her back in preparation to activate her Shunko.

She slowly set her eyes on Ulquiorra, her cat-like irises narrowing into slits. She remembered this Arrancar - he was the same one who had exchanged a few blows with Kisuke while she was beating down Yammy, and had kept up with Shinji during the second invasion.

His reiatsu felt far denser - far more oppressive - than she remembered, but she could not let Soi-Fon's death go unavenged. One way or another, this Arrancar would not be getting away this time.

With Grimmjow

"Fight me like a man, goddamn it!" Grimmjow screamed as he clawed at the unending stream of razor sharp petals. He had entered his resurreccion, and though the long ranged attacks were not incredibly fast, judging by how effortlessly the Squad 6 Captain looked to be controlling them, it was only a matter of time before he grew too tired to fend them off.

He had his own arsenal of ranged attacks, though. Putting some distance between himself and the swarm of cherry blossom blades, Grimmjow pointed a finger toward Byakuya, "Cero!"

Sensing the danger, Byakuya disappeared with a shunpo.

Grimmjow bared his fangs in a savage smile as he twisted back, catching the Squad 6 Captain's melee strike on his claws. "You've got a pretty good flash step, Shinigami."

Byakuya frowned as his eyes darted down to Grimmjow's Espada tattoo, before flash stepping more aggressively to avoid being mauled by Grimmjow's clawed feet.

His eyes widened then, when the Espada not only kept up, but passed him mid-step, sinking a set of clawed fingers into his back.

Grimmjow's reiatsu flared, covering Byakuya in an aura of blue. "Desgarron." He fired the attack immediately.

Byakuya twisted out of the way as fast as he could, but screamed in agony as he felt multiple, burning blades of Reishi slicing through his back.

His lower body lost all feeling as he fell out of the sky.

Grimmjow howled in victory, blood broiling as he licked the blood of his foe from his claws. He raised his other arm, aiming to discharge his second set of Desgarron after Byakuya's falling form.

A bright flash of yellow rocketed toward the Espada, wrapping around his arm before he could fire the reishi claws. He snarled, following the yellow, rope-like zanpakuto to the hands of a man with flowing blond hair. He wore what looked like a plague-doctor's mask, covering his entire face. Two others, a muscular man with short, silver hair, as well as a taller, dark skinned man wielding a club, hovered beside him.

Opening his pesquisa, Grimmjow's bile rose. He remembered those masks. That unmistakable feeling of shinigami taint beneath the hollow reiatsu. "More of you failed, Arrancar freaks!" With a flourish, he unwrapped himself from Rojuro's shikai.

The next combatant was upon him. He blocked a series of blows from the silver haired vizard, before surging forward and tackling the man down, sinking his canines hard into his neck as they wrestled on the ground.

"Kensei!"

Grimmjow smirked as the club-wielding fool gave away his advantage of surprise. Raising both forearms before him to block the blow, Grimmjow grunted as the strike landed with more force than he expected.

He held his stance, however, as the bitumen cracked beneath his feet.

"Thanks for the assist, Love." Kensei muttered, picking himself up while nursing his bleeding neck.

"How are you feeling? Any poison?" Rose asked as he moved to join them.

Kensei shook his head. "Don't think so. He doesn't strike me as the type. I'll be fine." He cracked his knuckles, snarling as he raised his spiritual pressure further. The other two vizards followed suit.

Grimmjow shook the numbness out of his arms, inspecting them for damage. He could already feel the bruises forming, but he was nowhere near done yet. He sank onto all fours, narrowing his eyes as he sized up his three opponents. He was sure Aizen had mentioned them at some point in their briefings, but he couldn't remember anything, and he didn't care.

Was he stronger than these three? Maybe.

Could he win? Of course. So long as he was breathing, victory was always within grasp.

He bared his fangs in a smile as the thrill of battle overcame him.

The vizards charged as one, and Grimmjow uttered a feral howl, cloaking himself in an azure typhoon as he pushed his reiatsu to its limits.

"This time there's no need to hold back. Come, I'll take you all on!"

With Aizen

Sosuke Aizen snarled as he was forced onto the defensive. He could not find the reprieve he needed to use any Kido.

"Scream, Benihime!"

He clenched his teeth as he intercepted Urahara's blade beam. Whenever only a few words had left his mouth, Aizen was forced to interrupt his casting to defend himself.

"You've lost your touch." Urahara remarked, continuing his assault with Benihime.

Aizen cursed as he sidestepped two more beams, then blanched as he realized the dodges brought him closer to Yamamoto. As the head captain bore down on him, he frantically fumbled with something in his coat.

A Garganta opened above him, spewing out a mewling, arrancar abomination.

Its purple, crested mask rested over a grotesque, elongated skull. Huge protrusions flared out from its shoulders and hips, and its impossibly lanky limbs looked as if it should belong to a different creature.

"Wahhhhhhh!" It's voice sounded like it had only recently broken.

Yamamoto did not miss a single beat as he redirected Ryujin Jakka behind him, unleashing an arc of flame as he aimed to slice through the Arrancar.

Wonderweiss caught his blade with a single arm.

Yamamoto's eyebrows shot up, though he was otherwise unfazed. Tearing his Zanpakuto from the Arrancar's grasp, he elbowed Wonderweiss with enough force to crack his hierro, sending him careening through the skies.

He swiveled back to face Aizen, but instead of Aizen, he found himself looking directly into the eyes of Madara Uchiha. He tried to look away, but it was too late.

"Tsukuyomi."

This time, his zanpakuto spirit was not there to release the Genjutsu, having been sealed by Wonderweiss. The head captain's eyes glazed over as he went limp, and Madara brought his scythe down in a diagonal, two handed slash.

Yamamoto was given no opportunity for Bankai this time; no opportunity to demonstrate even a fraction of his full might.

Channeling his chakra into his Rinnegan, Madara manifested his skeletal susanoo, reinforcing his scythe with its power as he cleaved down on the head captain.

The battlefield fell silent as the impossible occurred before the shinigami's eyes.

The blade of his scythe, cut through Yamamoto's left shoulder, toward his right hip.

Yet just as the blade reached the Head Captain's heart, it stopped, its momentum completely halted.

Retsu Unohana had intercepted the blade, both her arms outstretched, with one hand bracing on the flat of Minazuki as she pushed back against Madara's susanoo.

Madara grit his teeth, standing his ground and hardening his absolute defence as Captain Kyoraku also arrived with a shunpo, catching his old sensei as he fell.

"Captains of the Gotei 13!" Kyoraku yelled. "Defend the Captain Commander!"

Madara retreated as his position was bombarded with Kido. Captain Unohana gave chase, whereas Captain Kyoraku pivoted to engage Aizen once Yamamoto had been taken from him by some of their healers.

Madara was elated; barely focussing on his current opponent; he had finally done it. Aizen was not half the combatant he had expected, but his Arrancar toy did its job. Only small fry remained. The day was won.

But then he noticed something. As he checked and dodged the frenzied blows of Retsu Unohana, his mind could not help but hone onto a sudden, curious absence.

Hashirama was nowhere to be seen. It was only the wood clone, of course, but suddenly Madara could not feel either Hashirama nor Tobirama's energy signatures.

He had no time to dwell on their absence, however, as an enormous torrent of flame erupted directly below him, forcing Unohana to disengage. Madara's brows furrowed as he scanned his surroundings.

Aizen was being pressured by a trio of captains led by Shunsui Kyoraku. He was visibly straining to keep up, and was steadily losing ground.

Yammy had released into an enormous monstrosity far in the distance, occupying a good number of shinigami forces. He howled as a similar eruption of flame scorched his tail.

Wonderweiss had absorbed one of the blazing columns that erupted nearby, but he was quickly piled on and overwhelmed by Shinji and the Vizards.

The other Espada were all mid-battle with two or three captains each, and even as Madara watched, huge columns of fire erupted everywhere in Karakura Town.

"Shinigami! Prepare to withdraw!" Captain Kyoraku shouted over the roaring flames.

His Rinnegan instantly identified Hashirama's clone; it had completely reverted into wood, cloaked by the waning puff of smoke left from Tobirama's dispelled shadow clone.

Why did Hashirama withdraw!? Without them, we are still heavily outnumbered! Madara's heart sank. What are all these columns of fire? Did Hashirama know!? Was this another trap of some kind!?

"Ennetsu Jigoku." Madara's head jerked toward Unohana as she spoke, dropping her voice to a low rasp. "It is a kamikaze technique designed to activate regardless of Yamamoto's condition." As she spoke, another column of flame erupted directly behind her, bathing her in its fiery glow and casting sinister shadows across her features.

"The Head Captain was fully prepared to commit his life to entrap you and Aizen in Karakura town." She held her curved katana before her, running her hand along its edge and coating it with globules of sticky blood.

Madara narrowed his eyes, noticing his susanoo beginning to melt at its closest points of contact to the flames. "Your allies are retreating. Are you not going to join them?"

"Bankai - Minazuki." As well as a huge flood of reiatsu from the Squad 4 Captain was his only answer.

Madara growled as his Rinnegan identified more veins of magma slowly boiling to the surface below. "You can't be serious. You still want to fight me? You will die here, too."

"Every shinigami present here is prepared to give their life to end this arrancar threat." Unohana explained. "Plus…as the final surviving member of the original Gotei 13, I must avenge the Captain Commander."

"You're the healing captain, aren't you? You're not going to try and save him?" Madara countered, but he was met with silence.

A deep rumble from below heralded another pillar of fire; this one erupting directly between them.

Madara squinted, wincing as the brightness seared his enhanced vision.

The first Kenpachi barrelled through the flames of Ennetsu Jigoku. She ignored the burns - Minazuki would take care of that. Her hair and Shihakusho were ablaze with hellfire as she fell upon Madara, wearing the last breath of Ryujin Jakka like an infernal cloak.

Madara was already in resurreccion; he had also seen Unohana in action against Hashirama, but even then he had to exert himself so as not to lose too much ground as an unending rain of blows pressured him backwards. With the brightness of her flaming hair, he could not look directly at Unohana's eyes to cast any genjutsu, either.

Madara momentarily tossed his scythe up in the air, freeing one hand as gathered his chakra in his Rinnegan. Drawing on the preta path, he thrust out a palm toward Unohana.

Just like the first time, he absorbed the residual flames of Ryujin Jakka from Unohana with no issue. Now I can use my Genjutsu on her.

As he reached out to catch his scythe, however, a curved scimitar struck out from its shadow, tracking toward his neck.

Madara reacted instantly, bending backwards as the blade sailed by, missing its mark.

"Bansho Ten'in!" Madara growled, thrusting a palm toward the scimitar. It withdrew into his scythe's shadow again before his almighty pull could affect it.

A moment later, Captain Kyoraku stepped out from behind Unohana. "Damn, he's fast." The Squad 8 captain cursed.

Madara readied his weapons again. He can disappear and reappear from any shadows? It's almost like an enhanced version of the Nara Clan's shadow possession jutsu.

He was broken out of his musings, however, as an veritable ocean of chaotic reiatsu inundated the battlefield.

A senkaimon whizzed open - it was very close by. Madara turned as his rinnegan detected the rift.

The portal materialized directly behind Aizen, spitting out a roaring, hollow-masked Ichigo. He was already in Bankai, a crackling Getsuga charged and wrapped around Tensa Zangetsu's blade.

Aizen turned to meet his new challenger.

He raised Kyoka Suigetsu to block.

Instead of Tensa Zangetsu, however, it was the curved edge of Gran Caida that smashed into Kyoka Suigetsu. Caught off-guard as impact came from behind, Aizen staggered, eyes widening as Gran Caida's golden chains tangled around the sleek blade of his Zanpakuto. With a cry of frustration, Aizen tracked the chain with his gaze back to Barragan's skeletal hands.

Even on a face without flesh, it was clear to all that Barragan's expression was one of triumphant glee. Wrapping both arms around the chain, Barragan pulled with a defiant roar, wrenching his axe backwards and forcing open Aizen's stance.

Aizen resisted, but faltered as the twin blades of Katen Kyokotsu protruded from his chest.

"Game over." Shunsui Kyoraku mused, tooking advantage of the momentary distraction as he materialized from within the shadow of Barragan's axe.

"Now, Ichigo!" He roared, craning his neck toward the substitute shinigami. His sinewed arms strained as he twisted his blades in Aizen's chest, ensuring that the villain could not evade Ichigo's mortal blow.

Aizen froze, his face a picture of utter disbelief as Ichigo released the getsuga, accompanied by a guttural howl.

The force of the slash was such that Captain Kyoraku abandoned his zanpakuto, exiting his Kageoni to shunpo away from its blast range.

The moment the Squad 8 Captain vacated Aizen's vicinity, Barragan charged in with a sky-splitting sonido, followed by a thick cloud of death that washed over the area.

Aizen had summoned a kido barrier to protect himself from Ichigo's getsuga, but the sheer force of the getsuga tenshou, coupled with Barragan's respira, had already cracked the barrier.

Barragan bellowed a war cry as he flared his reiatsu, bringing down Gran Caida in a mighty cleave. As the God-King of Hueco mundo surged his angry black reishi across the battlefield, Madara knew that the fight was over.

He sensed Aizen's reiatsu disappear even before the man's decapitated head fell from the sky. It was followed shortly by the remainder of his decaying body, leaving behind a smoking trail as respira continued to consume it.

For the second time in as many minutes, every combatant present fell into stunned silence. Even the roaring of Yamamoto's Ennetsu Jigoku's flames faded as Barragan's respira aged the fires away.

Madara squeezed his eyes shut, barely able to process how easily the apparent mastermind behind all this had been defeated. For the briefest moment, he stared into the hollow sockets of Barragan's eyes, wondering just where the betrayal had come from.

He had no time to dwell on it, though. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he sensed the majority of the Shinigami's killing intend focussing on himself.

He sank into a battle stance, preparing to summon his susanoo.

And then, reality shattered.

"Hey guys…" Ichigo's measured voice broke the silence. "Where's Aizen?"

Where's Aizen? Those two words washed over Madara like a bucket of icy water.

Aizen's headless body thudded to the ground. In an instant, the killing intent directed at him morphed into confusion, as each captain did a double take on the corpse.

A cold pit began to form in Madara's stomach as he drew upon his chakra, holding two fingers before him as he expanded its reach to encompass all combatants on the field. "Release."

He blanched.

With a Sonido, he dashed to where Aizen's decapitated head had rolled to a stop. Captain Kyoraku, Unohana and Ichigo appeared, too, surrounding the gruesome visage. None of them moved to attack him, each wearing varying expressions of disbelief. Even Unohana's mouth hung open in shock.

Barragan's respira had consumed about half the head by now, but the dark skin and purple braids that had yet to disintegrate told the observers all they needed to know. Kaname Tosen's blindfold wafted away softly from his pupiless eyes as respira rotted away the knot.

No one moved; their collective minds scrambled to understand exactly what was going on.

Each passing second felt like an eternity, until Yamamoto's soul pager buzzed in the distance, its shrill ringtone cutting through the trance that had befallen the battlefield.

Shunsui Kyoraku nodded to Nanao, who dashed toward their fallen commander to retrieve the device. With a quick shunpo, she delivered it to her Captain.

He answered the call.

"Emergency report; Squad 12 monitoring division to Head Captain. T-t-there are some crazy spiritual pressure readings in the Elemental Nations; w-w-we think it's Aizen. Souls are evaporating by the hundreds…no, thousands!"

Without warning, white Zetsu's head emerged from beside Tosen's. "Madara! Aizen is attacking the Elemental Nations - we need you, now!"

Madara's head spun. How long…how long has he been using Kyoka Suigetsu for?

"Now, Madara!" Zetsu was frantic.

Opening a garganta, Madara wordlessly dove through. Not a single shinigami moved to stop him. The remaining Espada still needed to be dealt with, and they had their own dead to bury.

The chakra that had released them from Kyoka Suigetsu's hold had been laced with fear and guilt; it spoke of a man who was desperate to save his war torn nation, and none of the shinigami were in any hurry to face the real Aizen.

Konoha - Shinobi Alliance

Nel drove her lance toward the Septa Espada. The pinked haired scientist showed no sign of alarm, instead lazily stopping the thrust with an outstretched palm, before crushing the tip of Gamuza in his grip. He swung his sword horizontally.

Nel leaped back as fast as she could, but as she tried to find her footing again, she found herself crashing down onto the ground. Her vision exploded in red, and searing pain erupted from where her front legs should have been. She blanched as she looked down at their bleeding stumps. Not even Nnoitra's released state had been even close to this speed. All my training…and this is the result? And against Szayelaporro, of all people?

She choked back her cry of pain as she clenched her teeth, brandishing her lance for one more strike. Reiatsu gathered around her weapon in a swirling cloak of pink.

"Lanzador Verde!"

Thick, green roots erupted from beneath Szayelaporro, tangling around his limbs as Nel's released Gamuza barrelled toward him. He raised a single eyebrow in amusement, flexing his right wrist within the roots and and pointing his index finger toward Nel.

A thin, golden beam of kido lanced out from the Septa Espada's finger, redirecting Gamuza's trajectory as it pierced through the lance, while running through the entirety of Nel centaur form.

"Nel!" Hashirama screamed as the former Tres Espada's eyes rolled backward, and she collapsed into a heap.

With no visible exertion, the pink haired arrancar shrugged off Hashirama's wood-style restraints, tearing apart the thick roots as if they were paper. He sauntered up toward the downed centaur, scoffing as her resurreccion dissipated in a cloud of smoke.

"I'm impressed, Nelliel. To think that I would need two strikes to bring you down." He raised his Zanpakuto.

"The Eight Gates: Seventh gate - Gate of Wonder, open!"

A flash of blue blitzed past Nel's prone form. From the cloud of smoke, Hashirama caught the hilt of Szayelaporro's descending Zanpakuto, stopping it in its tracks. In the same breath, he swung the sword of Kusanagi in an uppercut toward the Arrancar's exposed chin.

The tip of its blade bit into the Arrancar's abdomen, slicing deeper as it continued on its upward arc, until it abruptly halted at Szayelaporro's sternum. The blade had impacted something very solid.

Hashirama's eyes locked onto the glowing, purple gem embedded in the well muscled chest of the man before him as the illusion shimmered, and faded. His hand was wrapped around the green hilt of Kyoka Suigetsu.

Hashirama blinked. Just like when we were in Konoha Forest…he used some sort of genjutsu…Then who was the Aizen that left with Madara in the Garganta? "Sosuke Aizen." He snarled. "What are you doing? Explain yourself immediately!"

Aizen smirked. "I could ask the same of you. You betrayed me."

"Do not waste time on semantics - Nel informed us of something odd going on, and she was right." Hashirama growled; "Just what in the world are you playing at, Aizen?" He tried to drive his sword deeper into Aizen's chest, keeping his eye on the glowing purple gem that seemed to shine brighter and brighter.

Aizen shrugged, casually pulling away from Hashirama's sword and taking his time as he watched the wound mend itself completely. "I don't need you anymore. I don't need any of you, actually. The stage is already set." He muttered to himself.

"Aizen!" Tobirama took his position beside his brother. "What is the meaning of this?"

Sosuke Aizen glanced around him, at the growing crowd of onlookers, as he closed his eyes and smiled. "Allow me to show you, dear shinobi."

He slowly raised his hands up in the air beside him, summoning the full force of his reiatsu. The Hogyoku responded with blinding radiance, as the earth began to quake.

The people of the shinobi alliance began to scream.

Madara exited the Garganta to utter mayhem.

Corpses littered the streets of the Shinobi Alliance. Despite the poor visibility from a howling sandstorm, his Rinnegan could see clear as day.

The souls of his people were being wrenched from their bodies, pulled toward the pillars Aizen had installed. The shinobi that had gathered under Hashirama's banner of unity and peace were slowly being absorbed within the glowing, white stone.

Folowing up from each pillar, a thin stream of souls congregated in the middle of the sky above the Alliance settlement. The source of the sandstorm - a shell of a golden key beginning to take shape.

His ears popped as a shockwave washed over him. He snapped his head in the direction it came from, and leaped out of the way as Tobirama came crashing down not thirty feet from where he had been.

"M-Madara." The Senju choked out as he approached. Tobirama's armor was in tatters; his legs were twisted at odd angles, and his right arm, despite still holding a Kunai, had one too many bends. "Aizen…Elder brother is fighting…help him."

Madara nodded wordlessly. He heard the transmission through Yamamoto's soul pager. He knew about Aizen's plan with the Oken. He knew exactly what was happening and that they had all been fooled. There was no use beating himself up over it, now. He had to move forward.

He gathered his reiatsu, tracking Hashirama and Aizen's duel with his Rinnegan. His old friend easily had the upper hand, which meant that he just needed to deal with the Oken.

"Summoning Jutsu - Gedo Mazo!" Madara declared as reached out his senses toward the thousands of souls being absorbed into Aizen's pillars. He extended his senses toward the pillars, then, pinpointing every individual point of absorption that had been planted in the Shinobi Alliance.

Madara roared as he channeled his lifeforce into the outer path, bending the demonic statue's powers to his will.

He shook from the sudden drain in his energy as the Gedo Mazo roared in unison with its master, unleashing a cloud of translucent purple from its mouth. Countless tendrils in the form of dragon heads burst outward from the cloud, protectively encasing separated souls in their mouths as they were guided back to their bodies.

Madara ignored the blood that wept from his eyes as he channeled his jutsu. The flow of souls slowed, but continued nonetheless. The primary head of the soul dragon he had sent toward the Oken could not break past the gale force barrier around the key.

He needed to access more of the Ten-Tails's power, and in the back of his mind, he knew how to obtain it.

Without any hesitation, Madara grasped at the Ten-Tails's essence, and made the pact.

He did not look back. He did not flinch nor make a sound as the demonic statue's chakra rod punched deep into his spine, its offshoots lodging into the entire canvass of his back. He had no time for pain; instead focusing on the Gedo Mazo's chakra, now fully integrated with that of his own.

His skin began to shrivel and sag as his hair faded to white. He did not know when he had fallen to his hands and knees, but despite that, Madara grinned savagely.

He could hear his soul dragons' triumphant roars as they began to win the tug of war against the Oken. He gathered his remaining strength, looking up as the dragon's primary head snapped its jaws around the King's Key, and the flow of souls began to reverse.

AN - final battle coming up!

Also Witcher - ahhhhhhhhhh you figured it out 1 chapter before :P

Anyway, a bit of a chaotic chapter - I'll try to get the next one out asap! As always, thanks for reading and stay tuned!