Chapter 29 - Victory


Seireitei - Northern Districts

Damn! Starrk thought as he sensed Shunsui in the distance behind him. The Squad 8 Captain's flash step was almost as fast as his own. Redoubling his efforts, Starrk poured his reserves into his legs as he bounded toward the Seireitei. Gin was dead, and Ulquiorra had retreated. Harribel was making her way toward him, from somewhere further North than where he had fought Captain Kyoraku. Out of their original strike team, only his own and Madara's battles remained unresolved.

Madara was facing off against the Head Captain, again, though much further south than where they had arrived. He had no idea what was going on around the Uchiha, but there had been a multitude of high-Espada level reiatsu signatures flaring in and out of existence around him.

Starrk bared his teeth. Speaking of high-Espada level energy signatures, a few others were drawing close in front of him right now. Captains, no doubt.

He grunted, checking a blow with his reishi sword as a woman with long, black hair intercepted him with a shunpo. Trying to jump over her and continue on his way, Starrk was taken aback when she rolled with the momentum of her initial strike, yanking her zanpakuto backward to strike at his head with its hilt. He deflected it with his wrist, wincing as he felt his Hierro bruising against its hard, wooden shaft.

Squad 4 Captain, he noted, briefly glimpsing her captain's Haori as she turned. He instinctively nursed his tender wrist as worry spread across his features; that one backhand blow could have split his skull if it had struck true.

Before Starrk could act, an impact jarred his right shoulder, and his sword arm felt like it had tripled in weight. Casting a cursory glance at his arm, he was surprised to see it encased by a pillar of ice. He had no time to dwell on it, though; the raven-haired woman before him had a murderous glint in her eyes as her zanpakuto lanced toward his chest.

Thinking fast, Starrk manifested a second reishi sword in his left arm to block the blow again. Tugging against the ice, he hissed in frustration as it resisted his attempts to break free.

A slew of unfamiliar emotions welled up within the Espada, then. He had spent his entire existence bemoaning the power that nature had seen fit to bestow upon him. For as long as he could remember, he had dreamed he could be a weaker Hollow; one who belonged in a pack. He loathed the power that had forced him to lead a solitary existence. Now, though, in his first ever serious battle, he wished more than anything else that he had more.

"Why…?" His voice cracked as he called out to nobody in particular. "Why do my opponents have to be so strong…?"

He scanned along the pillar of ice encasing his right arm, seeing that it was connected to the zanpakuto of a young, white-haired boy. Opening his pesquisa, he could sense Kyoraku's reiatsu almost catching up to him, too. He closed his eyes. So this is where he-

"Starrk, Idiot!"

Starrk's eyes widened in surprise as he felt a few fragments of his soul shear off into wolf-form before they darted toward the boy. The boy attempted to bat the wolves aside with his icy wings, though they exploded in a cloud of blue-grey smoke upon contact.

The boy's reiatsu faded, and the woman before him narrowed her eyes. She lunged at him again, but pulled back sharply as another pack of wolves broke off of him, snarling at her as they circled protectively around the Primera Espada.

"Sorry, Starrk. This might hurt," Lilynette said as she latched onto the pillar of ice encasing Starrk's right arm.

He turned away, shielding his eyes and clenching his teeth as he felt the dull impact of the explosion reverberating through his bones. He shook his right arm experimentally. There was pain, both from ice as well as Lilynette's explosion, but it was freed and functional.

"Thanks, Lilynette," he muttered. He gathered his wits. He was Coyote Starrk, Primera Espada; he had comrades now, and he was fighting for their future. No matter how much the odds were stacked against him, he simply could not afford to roll over and die. He bared his teeth in threat, howling a battle cry before using his sonido to form a series of afterimages around Unohana.

He swung both blades in an overhead slash toward Captain Unohana, a pennant of blood trailing his right arm as it sailed through the air. She reacted instantly, blocking both swords with a single arm before firing a kido that forced him to yank his body to the side and forfeit his favorable position.

It only took a few clashes for Starrk to realize that he was outmatched in skill. He regretted now having wasted his millenia sleeping and wandering aimlessly, instead of training. Snarling in frustration, he disengaged, kicking off Unohana - who blocked his feet with the flat blade of Minazuki - and letting the reishi sword in his left hand dissipate before reforming into a gun.

He pointed it toward the woman. "Cero Metralleta."

Starrk felt a flicker of hope as the rapidfire ceros blazed toward the Squad 4 Captain, obscuring her from sight. His heart fell, though, when there was no indication that any were landing. Then, he watched with rising horror as Retsu Unohana danced amongst the ceros, slashing and weaving her way through the lethal web of energy as each graceful dervish brought her closer to him. He bounded back with his Sonido as he continued to fire, trying his best to analyze the Squad 4 Captain's dodge patterns and predict her movements.

It was to no avail. He had to force himself not to quail before Unohana's feral, nigh ecstatic expression as she fell upon him again. Minazuki flashed against his own blades and sparks flew around them as she pressed forward. Blow after blow, Starrk was forced into a desperate, defensive retreat until suddenly, he felt his feet touch the ground. He backpedaled, stumbling as he barely evaded another slash from Unohana. It sliced by, carving a rivet into the snow.

"What are you doing, Starrk! Hurry up and kill that hag!" Lilynette called out in his head, but Starrk was trying. His right arm had gone numb; whether from Hyorinmaru's ice or Unohana's relentless blows, he did not know. He could, however, feel himself faltering with each passing moment.

Each blow he caught needed a bit more energy to push back, and every time he dodged, it was by a slimmer margin.

He winced as Minazuki finally found its mark. He had brought both his swords to bear in an effort to deflect a thrust aimed through his head, but Unohana merely angled her strike down, slipping through his guard.

She thrust into his left shoulder, severing the tendons and preventing him from lifting his left elbow above shoulder-level.

The Primera Espada groaned in pain, and Lilynette screamed within his soul. He loosed a cero from his Hollow hole, but Unohana batted it aside just like all the others.

In the seconds that followed, Coyote Starrk's knees buckled as his guard was utterly overwhelmed. He accrued a vicious gash on the inside of his left arm, and he twisted back too late to avoid a nasty cut on his side that sliced through his Hierro, scraping across his ribcage and doubling him over.

"Starrk! Run! Get out of here!" Lilynette's voice was ringing in his head as he panted heavily, each breath causing a fresh wave of pain to erupt in his torso.

His heart was hammering, and his head throbbed with each beat. During their entire exchange, he had not managed to land even a superficial scratch on his opponent. Rallying his remaining energy, Starrk flared his reiatsu before leaping toward Unohana with a defiant cry.

He slashed down with his right arm, and the reishi sword in his hand shattered against Minazuki.

The first Kenpachi swiveled, ducking his second blade before scissor-kicking upward and snapping his left elbow. Losing his grip on it, his remaining sword dissipated into the air as it fell.

He grabbed his useless forearm in his right hand, using it as a meat shield to redirect an arcing slash from Minazuki, as Unohana retaliated. The blade bit into his flesh, however, and the first Kenpachi leaned forward into her blow, driving Starrk back and down once more until he had sunk shin-deep into snow.

He could feel Lilynette wanting to separate, to manifest herself in those wolves again, but he resisted, knowing that they would do nothing against the monster before him. Snarling, he levied the most murderous glare he could at the eyes of his foe, only to blanch as her own deranged visage stared back.

He grunted involuntarily as he felt an odd feeling, looking down to see Minazuki buried to its hilt in his chest.

"Starrk!" He heard Lilynette cry as he staggered, black edges creeping into his vision. He reached forward to steady himself, but there was nothing to grab hold of. He swayed, and collapsed. The Primera Espada had fallen.


Seireitei - Sokyoku Hill

Madara tensed. He remembered that charred blade. The moment that his and Hashirama's mountain-sized, Majestic Attire Kan'on was split in two by a single swing was etched mockingly into his memory. That one swing had also shattered his morale, beginning a series of events that ultimately led him to surrender to the Seireitei. Times had changed, however, and so had he.

He would not make the mistake of giving Yamamoto a large, stationary target to cut down. He knew that the Captain Commander was his better in brute strength, so he had been theorizing a transformation, of sorts, for his Susanoo.

Flexing his will and manifesting the beginnings of his perfect Susanoo, he focussed his projection of the chakra construct internally, instead of externally. This time, he would not dilute his chakra to force the construct outward to its usual massive, yet ultimately cumbersome form.

Madara dug his heels into the ground, compressing his chakra. His will pulled against every spiritual speck and tendril until he felt a cool, comforting pressure against his skin. Madara breathed a deliberate sigh, grinning as he saw the flaming azure plates of his Susanoo's armor clad around his form. He spread the wings of his susanoo, and flexed his fingers around his weapons experimentally. His grin widened.

Yamamoto had his eyes trained on his foe, studying the transformation. He recognized the blue armor. It had held against a strike of his Shikai during their first clash, but his Bankai had parted it like it wasn't even there.

He knew he was wasting a window of opportunity by allowing Madara to manifest this armor. He knew that the fight should not be allowed to drag on a second longer than it absolutely needed to, but the warrior's heart beating within him refused the dishonor of striking down an unprepared opponent.

Madara was ready. His senses heightened with razor-sharp focus, he unleashed his jutsu. The ground below Yamamoto rumbled, cracking apart as a vast network of thick roots snaked toward the Head Captain. Yamamoto cast a sideways glance at the roots, before lifting his chin at Madara. The roots disintegrated before they made contact with the grizzled man, and Madara frowned in confusion.

"To think that you would come at Ryujin Jakka's flames with wood. My fire burns as hot as the surface of the sun itself. Have you no brain, boy?" Yamamoto scoffed.

Madara did not understand. There was no fire anymore. His Rinnegan had seen all the flames flow into Yamamoto's zanpakuto. And then he blinked. For a split second, he saw the Head Captain's entire body engulfed in a crimson conflagration. He blinked again, and it was gone. Shaking his head, Madara blinked a third time, and this time, Yamamoto himself was nowhere to be seen.

Only decades of fighting instinct saved his head from being cut clean off as he threw his torso backwards, bending at the hips, just as Ryujin Jakka sailed but an inch above his nose. His skin tingled. The searing heat from his mere proximity to the Head Captain was almost unbearable.

Has he himself become one with the flames? Madara thought. He kicked upward, leveraging his back on the ground as he drove both heels into Yamamoto's gut.

Even through his perfect Susanoo armor and Hierro, he grimaced as he felt his hips and knees jarring against muscles that would have put the strongest Uchiha tempered steel to shame. Yamamoto's attack was stymied, however, as the momentum of the blow sent the Shinigami reeling backward.

Leaping back to his feet, Madara stumbled briefly as a jolt of pain shot through his body. Both feet felt tender and singed where they had touched Yamamoto. So I shouldn't get close to him, and I can't touch him at all, he thought. But he is still susceptible to my Genjutsu.

Yamamoto was conveniently looking into his eye at that moment, and Madara morphed his remaining Rinnegan back into his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. "Tsukuyomi."

Yamamoto had been mid charge again when he caught himself. The world around him had suddenly warped into a gory, red hellscape. A blood moon, too large for life, hung menacingly in the sky above him, appearing almost close enough to reach out and touch. He found himself crucified, arms pinned to his sides upon a splintered cross.

Yamamoto scowled. This must be related to the illusionary world that Kenpachi spoke of when he woke from his coma. Wood cannot touch his body; in fact, when clad in the garb of Zanka No Tachi - West, nothing could touch his body and hope to retain its form.

He offhandedly noted dozens of copies of Madara appearing all around him, but he closed his eyes, turning his attention toward his inner world. Ryujin Jakka heard his call, and he felt his senses returning to normal as his zanpakuto lent its reiatsu to regulate his own, disturbed flow.

When he opened his eyes, the hellscape around him had faded back into the Seireitei, and he was free to move. There was only one Madara, who had apparently remained motionless. The Arrancar wore a look of disbelief, but quickly gathered himself, bringing his weapons up before him. Yamamoto lunged forward with a shunpo, leaving a scorched trail in his path.

He knew that, despite being under his command, the flames of Ryujin Jakka burned hot enough to destroy both the Seireitei and even himself if he drew upon its might for too long.

With one motion, he batted aside the Madara's paltry defense before wrapping his fingers around the Hollow's throat, crushing it while simultaneously running Ryujin Jakka through his chest. Yamamoto glared, unflinching, into the Arrancar's eyes as its body burned.

And then he felt arms wrapping around his legs. He snapped his gaze down, but saw nothing, though he found the invisible arms' strength to be enough to stop him from moving. An instant later, two more pairs of invisible arms wrapped around his arms. Suddenly alarmed, Yamamoto yanked hard against his invisible assailants, but though he could hear the hiss of their burning flesh, they remained invisible to him, and their strength held firm.

He felt a light pressure upon his back; five fingers, swiftly accompanied by the same hissing of searing flesh as his Bankai burned it. Yet, just like the others, the hand remained. "Ninja Art: Four Crimson Ray Formation!" Madara's voice boomed from directly behind him. Four thin beams of light shot out from the ground around him, before filling out to encase him and Madara in a tall, narrow box, no more than twenty square feet in area.

The tip of the box, however, continued to grow higher and higher, as Madara flapped his Susanoo wings to gain altitude. He couldn't fly by conventional means in the Seireitei, but old-fashioned wings did the trick.

Yamamoto raised his head and his scowl deepened as he saw the Madara before him flickering into the shape of a wooden log while the real Madara ascended. "What trickery are you up to, now, boy?" He demanded.

Madara narrowed his gaze as he watched the hand that had been burned by Yamamoto's back swiftly mend itself, courtesy of his high speed regeneration and Hashirama cells. This is what all the Espada were doing as they fired their ceros, he thought, as he charged a cero, feeling its potency soar as it mixed with the blood of his still-healing hand.

He had ascended to the top of his Fuinjutsu, now, feeling his wings brushing against the roof of the Crimson Ray Seal. He had commanded each of his four limbo clones to use the Preta path to strip Yamamoto of his fiery armor, but they had all reached their limits merely absorbing enough to not be burned into ashes. Nevertheless, he could always summon more.

Sneering down the bridge of his nose toward the still-trapped Yamamoto, Madara released the energy gathering in his palm. "Gran Rey Cero."

A Gran Rey Cero from any of the top four Espada was potent enough to destroy Las Noches. The same level of attack, coming from a sage mode, resurreccion Madara, could have easily leveled the majority of the Seireitei. Yamamoto could do nothing but watch as the crackling beam of red energy spiraled toward him.

The Four Crimson Ray Formation was the most powerful sealing Jutsu in existence, to Madara's knowledge. He had cast it in such a way that it burrowed below the stone of the Sokyoku hill. Thus, it contained the entire explosion.

Madara himself had opened the roof of the barrier and exited before his Cero struck Yamamoto. Even then, he felt his ears popping from the pressure generated by the blast, and was forced to avert his eyes at the brightness of his attack.

"When the enemy is too elusive for large scale attacks, bind them," he muttered to himself, pleased at his work. His single Rinnegan throbbed, and his remaining chakra was at barely over a quarter. He had trapped Yamamoto, though, and the Head Captain was undoubtedly wounded. Forming a ram seal, he commanded the Crimson Ray Formation to retract in size, compressing the dust and smoke within it until it was just barely the size of a man.

And then it shattered, drawing a sharp intake of breath from Madara in surprise.

"Zanka No Tachi, South: Kaka Jumanokushi Daisojin."

Madara reeled as his surroundings morphed into a dark, volcanic purple, more sinister than even his own Tsukuyomi. His wings began to burn, forcing him to retract them and land back down upon Sokyoku hill.

He winced as rocks beneath his feet split with mighty cracks. Each crack was lined with volcanic magma, and all traced back to the middle of his shattered Fuinjutsu. Did my Gran Rey Cero trigger this? He thought.

The smoke of his cero cleared, Madara smiled despite his rapidly changing surroundings. The Head Captain's long beard was disheveled, burnt strands of hair still smoldering as the wisps of smoke licked at his sweat-laded brow. His mouth was open in a half snarl, sucking in the arid air as his soot-covered chest heaved with every labored breath. A third of Ryujin Jakka had been planted into the ground, and Yamamoto, for the first time ever in battle, looked every bit as old as he was. His hands rested on top of each other, leaning on the pommel of his zanpakuto for support.

Despite his obvious injuries however, Madara could not help but be impressed by the old man's tenacity. All four of his limbo clones had been incinerated by his Gran Rey Cero, and yet the Head Captain still stood, shakily as it was.

And then Madara squinted as Yamamoto rose, straightening himself to his full height while cracking his neck. It was then that he realized that all the webbed cracks beneath his feet had a single origin - Ryujin Jakka. Even as he contemplated what to do with this information, he leaped back defensively as a charred, blackened hand reached out from the cracks.

And then another, and another. Madara's Rinnegan darted around as he tried to track the number of burnt corpses crawling out from the abyss. Thousands… Hundreds of thousands… Millions… More? Even his Rinnegan could not precisely count them all. Each molten fissure was the nexus of countless, densely packed movement signatures that spanned further into the abyss than he could see.

A skeletal hand reached for him, and he slashed it across the chest with his scythe. Three more leaped toward him, and he dispatched them in similar fashion before kicking their remains back into the crevasse from where they spawned. Ten more took their place.

Another slash, and another slew of broken corpses fell, before a hundred more took their place, surrounding Madara as they slowly advanced. He didn't know how powerful each of these ghouls were, but he had taken enough uncalculated risks since becoming a Hollow that he was not about to let them touch him.

With a roar, Madara swung his gunbai around him, blowing back those closest to him. Can I use wood style to plug these ravines? Madara thought, before immediately dismissing the idea. His wood would burn away, just like it did when he had previously used it against Yamamoto. Ceros, then, to destroy the fissures, he decided, preparing to charge a cero.

He felt a light tickle at his feet. Then he saw something that made his mind go blank.

No. Madara's heart began to pound in his chest as his bile rose. He could not help himself as he bent down, tenderly lifting the tiny child by the Uchiha crest emblazoned in the back of his shirt.

"Little Fugaku…?" He breathed, lips quivering as the prodigious Uchiha toddler stared blankly at him. He was one of the casualties of Yamamoto's initial Bankai release near Konoha.

Madara suddenly felt light-headed, like his soul was trying to leave his body. Looking around him, the skeletal ghouls that had clambered out of whatever hellish gateway Yamamoto had opened had all developed faces. Familiar Konoha faces. Uchiha faces.

They clambered around him, swarming him and burying him in their limbs. They had all died a terrible death once, already. Must he bring himself to strike them down again? The very people he had sworn to protect in place of Izuna?

Yamamoto drew his sword from the ground, prompting Madara to return his attention to the Head Captain. As he did, Madara's lightheadedness escalated into full-blown vertigo as he struggled to keep his bearings. The world spun around him as his Rinnegan tried once more to track the amount of bodies now pouring out of the cracks in the earth. Tearing an arm free from the swarm of corpses, he squeezed his eyes shut and focussed his chakra inward. "Release!" He commanded, before opening his eyes and being forced to slap away another corpse with one of his Susanoo wings.

"Release!" He roared, a note of madness in his voice as he purged any trace of genjutsu from his mind.

It was not a genjutsu. He forced his emotions down, and analyzed his situation. If the Uchiha were really, physically there, then it stood to reason that each corpse was a life that Yamamoto had claimed in the past. Madara fought to keep his composure as he realized that the amount of individuals that had fallen to the Head Captain was a number beyond reckoning. Millions upon millions. Billions; possibly more.

"Zanka No Tachi - North. Tenchi Kaijin," the ancient Shinigami spoke again.

Yamamoto ignited Ryujin Jakka once more, its flames burning so hot as to warp Madara's vision as the Head Captain propelled toward him with a shunpo. His depth perception was already compromised due to only having one working eye, and now, with the heat-induced mirage, he did not trust his ability to time a parry. He had no choice but to retaliate with an area attack.

I'm sorry, Madara thought, as he closed his eyes and gathered his remaining chakra. "Shinra Tensei!" A dull, sonic boom reverberated across the Seireitei as a mountain of reanimated corpses was blasted away. Not having any muscle or tendons remaining to hold themselves together, most of them were blown apart, or fell apart as they flew, splattering upon the entirety of the Seireitei like a gruesome rain.

Yamamoto bellowed a battle cry, voice augmented by the roar of his flames as he slashed toward Madara. He barrelled through the Shinra Tensei as if the pressure wave was not even there, and any corpses flung toward him were incinerated well before they could even touch his skin.

Madara brought both his gunbai and scythe before him in a cross formation to block, but they may as well have been made from paper as Yamamoto sliced through both.

The Head Captain carried his momentum forward, and the charred blade of Ryujin Jakka bit into the Arrancar's Susanoo body armor, then his Hierro, before carving out a large chunk of his torso, and exiting behind him.

Madara slumped over, before crumpling against the ground, and Yamamoto re-sealed his zanpakuto.

The Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 looked around him. Sokyoku Hill was no more, and the Sokyoku itself was also nowhere to be seen, no doubt obliterated at some point during their battle. It had been almost a thousand years since his clash with Yhwach of the Quincies had required him to utilize the full capacity of his zanpakuto, but he was glad to end Madara without causing too much collateral damage to the Seireitei.

In total, Zanka no Tachi had only been active for a few minutes. He frowned, then, wondering where the other Captains were. More than enough time should have passed for reinforcements to show up, though he did not need them.


He leapt into the skies, and a cold pit formed in his stomach as he realized he had been duped. The entirety of the Seireitei was covered by the same, thick yellow pollen that had incapacitated his division in District 78.

Gigantic, angular pink flowers bloomed upon colossal roots that had devastated the heart of the Soul Society, crushing small buildings and strangling around the larger ones. Scattered everywhere, he could spot the unconscious forms of many Shinigami lying about inside the pollen field.

Yamamoto's true nightmares, however, were only just beginning. A large shadow passed by the remains of Sokyoku Hill, obscuring it entirely for a brief moment before sailing by. Yamamoto looked up, and saw eight enormous meteors raining down toward the Seireitei.

He swiftly took note of their trajectory, paling as he deduced that they were tracking to impact at the outskirts of the Seireitei at each compass point. He took off toward the nearest meteor, intercepting it outside the protective barrier of the Seireitei.

He knew that he could not stop them all in time, and could only pray that the barrier would hold.

"Bankai: Zanka no Tachi!" He cried, disintegrating the closest meteor to dust with a slash of Zanka no Tachi - North.

He managed to destroy another before the Sereiheki dome flared and flickered. Dust and debris slid down the dome of the barrier. Cast down from the Soul Palace itself, what had once been thought to be an impregnable defense absorbed two more impacts before it failed, and three meteors broke through.

At that very moment, Yamamoto felt a series of very welcome reiatsu signatures. A roll of white cloth erupted from one end of the Seireitei, enveloping the meteor barrelling toward it and slowing it down before a flash of swordplay cut it apart.

"Senjumaru… Oetsu…" Yamamoto mouthed to himself.

One more suddenly disappeared, turning into a small pebble that bounced harmlessly in the streets, and Yamamoto felt a glimmer of hope as he recognized the godlike power of Ichibe Hyosubei's "true name" at work.

The final meteor was out of Ichibe's vision, however, and too far away for even the Royal Guard to reach from the other side of the Seireitei.

Yamamoto flew toward it, but his effort was ultimately futile. The heart of Soul Society trembled as the celestial body made groundfall.

Madara was dripping sweat as he panted heavily on his hands and knees. He had gambled on staking himself as the decoy while his clones used Deep Forest Bloom to incapacitate the Shinigami. He had intended on holding them hostage to force Yamamoto into surrendering.

Seeing the reanimated Konoha dead, however, flipped something within him. Hashirama was right. Ultimately, he did not care that much for the Soul King because he had his own plan for the Infinite Tsukuyomi. The true driving force behind his presence in the Soul Society was revenge.

He had exerted his chakra heavily, pushing the wood clones he had planted to expend every last drop of chakra. Each one had exchanged their life to cast Tengai Shinsei in their respective corners of the Seireitei to obliterate the Shinigami.

He was prepared to sacrifice his remaining eye for another Izanagi, but as Yamamoto left to deal with the meteors, he had enough time to regenerate. He picked himself up, then, slowly finding his feet as he surveyed the result of his handiwork. Of the initial eight, only one meteor had actually struck the Seireitei. It was not enough.

Gritting his teeth, he clapped his hands together, suppressing a shiver as he felt his chakra draining dangerously low.

"Chibaku Tensei!" He growled, sending the gravitational orb into the skies.

It had barely cleared his head when a red sword beam crashed into it, followed by a splash of black ink before it disappeared.

"Kisuke Urahara." He cursed under his breath. Beside Kisuke stood a balding, middle aged man. He wore a chain of large, red beads that dangled just beneath a thick, black beard.

"This is the upstart Hollow that has you all so concerned? Looks like Yamamoto dealt with him just fine," the bearded man said.

"With all due respect, Lord Hyosube," Urahara said, gesturing around him. "Madara Uchiha has caused this much damage to the Seireitei despite the Gotei 13 and the Captain Commander's best efforts."

Ichibei cast a sideways glance at the former Squad 12 captain, before crossing his arms. "You are correct, of course. I see Senjumaru's high regard for you is not misplaced. Secure the Arrancar. Throw him in the Muken with the other one while we consolidate our victory."

Madara backed away. The bearded Shinigami exuded an almost otherworldly presence. From the way he talked, it sounded like he viewed even Yamamoto as being inferior to himself, which suggested… Zero Division?

Kisuke moved toward him, but his eyes widened in surprise at the same moment Madara felt a hand upon his shoulder. The scenery around him changed instantly.


Shadow of The Seireitei

Nel and Harribel were sitting cross-legged, clearly in the middle of conversation when Madara spontaneously appeared. The two female Arrancar looked rather worse for wear. It was then that Madara realized that he knew the technique that had transported him away from danger, and he knew the chakra signature of the man behind him.

He knew it very well, in fact.

He chuckled to himself. "You have my gratitude… But tell me; when did you mark me, Tobirama?"

Tobirama Senju stepped up beside him, still resting a hand upon his shoulder. "I was right here, with my hand upon your shoulder when we formed the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"Ah," Madara remembered. He had just shaken Hashirama's hand, and Tobirama had walked up to give him what he thought was an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "You're a devious bastard."

Tobirama chuckled, before his expression grew serious. "I tried to use Flying Raijin to reach Hashirama the moment his chakra signature appeared here in Soul Society, but there was no mark to teleport to because he was a clone. I had to make my way to him on foot, first, and that's when I found him with Nel."

"When did you mark me, then?" Harribel asked. Tobirama had appeared out of nowhere and teleported her to Hashirama and Nel just as she was about to come to Starrk's aid. It had probably been for the better.

"In Konoha forest," was all Tobirama said. "More importantly, where are we?"

Nel shook her head. "I don't know. Once the Zero Division arrived, something stopped me from opening a Garganta to Hueco Mundo. This was the only place I could link a Garganta to, and anywhere was better than the Seireitei, at that point." She gestured at the blue expanse around her.

"Where is Hashirama's clone, now?" Madara asked.

"He dispelled. He was running out of chakra, anyway, and he was in a rush to tell the real elder brother about me," Tobirama explained.

Madara chuckled again. "To think… You would end up in Soul Society while I became a Hollow. Fate is a cruel mistress indeed."

"And whatever do you mean by that?" Tobirama asked, narrowing his eyes while crossing his arms.

Madara dismissed the younger Senju with a wave of his hand. There were more important matters at hand than bickering with Tobirama.

Turning to Harribel, he took stock of her condition. She had cuts and bruises all over her body, but none looked to be even remotely life-threatening. "Is it just us two left?" Madara asked.

Harribel nodded. "Of the five of us who came, yes. I think Ulquiorra may have gotten away, but I saw Starrk cut down right before my eyes, and Gin…" She trailed off as Madara's expression darkened.

"That traitor has been dealt with appropriately," was all the breath the Uchiha was willing to expend in regard to Gin.

"...What should we do now?" Harribel asked. "There is no way we can continue fighting, now that the Zero Division has arrived."

Madara hummed in contemplation. "Yes… Though depending on how many of them came, it does mean the Soul Palace could be potentially undefended by anyone of relevance."

Tobirama shook his head, then. "I'm completely lost, Madara, but to be honest, I am not interested in whatever ploy you are cooking up here. Nel and I have already decided to find a way out of here and back to the Elemental Nations."

"I think it is in our best interests to all work together until we know where we are," Harribel suggested. "This is enemy territory for all of us, after all."

Madara sighed. In his and Harribel's current condition, having Tobirama and Nel around would definitely be safer than on their own.

Any further exchange had to be shelved for later, however, as a number of energy signatures suddenly appeared not far from the quartet.

Thinking fast, Madara dug a ditch with earth-style, even as Tobirama formed a tiger seal, activating a jutsu to camouflage them.

The four of them waited in anticipation until they could hear a faint, girlish voice in the distance.

"...Do I have to be in the same scouting party as Candice, of all people?"

"Be quiet and accept his Majesty's orders, Giselle," A pompous, male voice reprimanded.

"Don't even bother, Quilge," a different female voice interjected; "And be careful. We're looking for three powerful Hollows, right? If we can sense them, they can probably sense us."

Madara shot a pointed look toward Nel and Harribel, both of whom frowned but shrugged. Tobirama had his eyebrows raised inquisitively. Nobody knew who these people were, but their reiatsu certainly did not feel like Shinigami.

Another faction? Madara mouthed to Harribel, who shrugged again.

Madara experimentally reached out with his reiatsu, and frowned when nothing seemed to be stopping him from opening a Garganta to the Elemental Nations. He didn't think Nel was lying, so whatever had been blocking her Garganta must have been only from the Seireitei.

I'm going to open a Garganta. He mouthed again, making sure the others could understand him. Jump in the moment it's open. His gaze lingered on Tobirama, who hesitated, but ultimately nodded.

With a swipe of his hand, the portal whizzed into existence, and the four of them jumped through. The Sternritter saw the portal, but it had closed by the time Quilge attempted to use his 'Jail.'


AN - As promised, some action. I really tried to think about how to do Madara vs Yamamoto justice without it just becoming a back and forth of jutsu and techniques. Hopefully it's decent enough.

Starrk vs Unohana kind of just wrote itself in my head. I'm actually pretty happy with how I presented their fight, though I'm sure some of you guys won't like it, there is really no way for Starrk to win that. At least he got one over Hitsugaya (Damn he's really been a punching bag this fic huh).

A little bit of teasing the Quincys, in case I do continue to fit to cover their story, but they're not going to come into play in a major way yet.

I know I hinted at Tobirama's involvement in the story not being over...heh might be a bit of a polarizing thing here as well.

Final arc of the fic starting next chapter. The biggest plot twist yet is happening soon. It's been hinted at throughout the fic and nobody's guessed it yet :P Hopefully it doesn't alienate too many people!

Responding to Reviews:

SpedyAlarm - fixed!

Luv Boy - Ichigo will get his training soon. Don't really have any firm plans of what to do with him after, though, but I'll think of something.

XenoLucifer - now that you mention it, yeah I most likely overestimated Omaeda. I've made a note of it and when I finish fic and comb through I'll make that part sound a bit more reasonable :P

Awwal: Thanks for pointing out that Orihime's body seems to have spontaneously disappeared. Went back to fix it. Isshin took it with Ichigo off to squad 4

Witcher: Ahhh you predicted one of the big plot points I had in mind for Madara vs Yamamoto. Yeah in hindsight I definitely should have done more with Vasto Lorde Ichigo, but I just couldn't figure out a logical series of events to make it happen.

Tolancer - Thanks mate!

dat-boi-waddup: yeah I know Amaterasu is only used by Itachi (and sasuke with itachi's eyes) but it is heralded as the ultimate fire release. It just seems reasonable that Madara can use it. Just like Tsukuyomi. Also, black Zetsu is not going to get the drop on Madara. I hate that plot point as much as anybody else. You can rest assured about that :P

To all the other reviewers; thanks for your support (and criticism!) most of the comments/questions should be addressed in the responses above. Stay tuned!