Force of Souls Chapter 38

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Force of Souls! With Ichigo and Byakuya’s battle over, those hiding in the shadows begin to move, initiating the next step of their plan. However, the curiosity of Ukitake, confirmed by the science of Mayuri, has revealed Ichigo’s heritage, which led to looking into the past century of ‘incidents’…revealing a connection, shining a small light upon the hidden plot. Things have already skewed away from the mastermind’s plans. Revealing themselves only makes them clear enemies to the ones that protect Seireitei.

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

Make sure to thank the patrons that make these stories possible by checking out the Patron Plaque on my profile!

So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 38 – Ice and Ash, Traitors Revealed

Atop the devastated Sōkyoku Hill, both Ichigo and Byakuya lay on the ground barely conscious. They were both bleeding from their wounds, though Byakuya was by far the worst off, given all of the internal injuries and broken bones that he had as well. Even beaten to the state of near unconsciousness, Ichigo’s Bankai hadn’t broken yet, despite the massive amount of damage it had taken. His pitch-black nagamaki was still whole, even though the majority of his armor had been shattered by Byakuya’s overwhelming power. Because of this, Ichigo’s wounds weren’t bleeding as much as they should, Shingetsu using tiny fields of gravity to put pressure on the wounds, stopping the blood flow and allowing the blood that had spilled to start coagulating to stop the bleeding.

“You wanted to know…” Byakuya spoke, his voice regal despite his grievous injuries. “…why I didn’t try to save Rukia.” Ichigo turned his head to be able to look at Byakuya, even though the nobleman was looking towards the sky as he spoke. “Those that break the law must face justice. They must be punished according to their crimes.” A haggard breath rattled out of Byakuya just from speaking. “That is…the law.”

“You were going to kill her…to uphold the law? Your own sister?” Ichigo got out, the large laceration down his torso flaring with pain as he spoke.

Byakuya let out a low breath, dealing with the pain he was in. “Sympathy for one’s own kin…is unworthy.”

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. “What…did you say?” If he could move, he’d try and punch Byakuya for what he’d just said.

“Familial devotion is nothing next to the law.” Byakuya said, still looking at the sky. “I must not succumb…to sentimentality.” Another rough breath escaped him. “The Kuchiki are one of the Four Great Noble Clans. We have to set an example for all Shinigami.” Byakuya finally turned his head to look at Ichigo as they both lay on the destroyed ground; his dark eyes nearly boring into Ichigo’s brown eyes. “If we do not uphold and follow the law…who will?”

“Sorry…but I still don’t get it.” Ichigo could logically understand what Byakuya had said, and the reasoning behind it, but he could never support it. “If…I were in your shoes…I’d fight the law.” He said with absolute conviction, staring Byakuya down.

In Byakuya’s eyes the image of another young man overlapped with Ichigo, almost the same face, but with dark black hair and aqua-green eyes. A rather rough young nobleman, with a ferocity that Byakuya had found unbecoming of a member of a Great Noble Clan. ‘Would you?’ He wondered for all of a moment before the intensity of Ichigo’s gaze made it clear. ‘I was never his enemy. He’s been fighting the laws of the Seireitei.’ Byakuya saw Ichigo and Shiba Kaien’s faces side-by-side in his mind’s eye. ‘He’s truly similar…to the one whose ferocity I found distasteful.’ The image of Kaien faded away as Byakuya drew in another painful breath. “Kurosaki Ichigo… Your ferocity has broken my sword. I will pursue Rukia no longer. The battle…is yours.”

Ichigo let out a small cough as he looked up towards the sky. “I already…claimed victory earlier.” He still had a small grin on his face despite his words. There was still more to do, but until he could move properly, Ichigo could only try and make plans to get Rukia, Orihime, Tatsuki, Chad, Ganju, and Hanatarō out of the Seireitei.

-Central Forty-Six Chambers-

The entryway to the underground chambers of the Central Forty-Six was located within a central courtyard within the Seireitei. It was surrounding by a circular wall of pure white that stood tall and had only a single wooden gate for entry. Directly behind the gate was a single bridge over a huge, circular pool of deep water…in which sat a cylindrical white building with a set of double doors that were painted dark red.

Rangiku, as a Captain, had authority to enter the first gate and cross the bridge to request an audience with the Central Forty-Six. But she and Toshiro found that the red doors of the building were barred with thick blades in a fence or cage-like formation, indicating that the chambers were locked down. While this was normal protocol for a ryoka invasion, they should still get a response from within when addressing the Central Forty-Six.

“Captain of Squad Ten, Matsumoto Rangiku, requests a response from Central Forty-Six.” Rangiku said properly as she stood before the barred doors, Toshiro two steps behind her as was proper for a Lieutenant.

No response came from within the sealed chambers after a full minute.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes slightly at the lack of response. Something wasn’t right here. The Central Forty-Six were the highest court within the Seireitei. Made up of six judges and forty sages, every member was highly educated on the laws that governed the entire Soul Society and when Shinigami committed crimes, whether in the Seireitei or the Living World, the Central Forty-Six were the ones that determined punishment. Despite their slightly unusual decisions regarding Kuchiki Rukia’s punishment, they should answer when a Captain came to request an audience. “What should we do?” Toshiro asked Rangiku as they both looked at the barred doors.

“Given the orders from the Head Captain, there’s no choice.” Rangiku said as she unsheathed her Zanpakutō fluidly. “Stand back.” A single swing of the blade cut straight through the thick blades barring the doors…and the double red doors behind the blades as well.

“There’s no alarm…” Toshiro noticed the lack of any response to Rangiku’s destruction of the barred doors. His teal eyes narrowed sharply as it was now blatantly obvious that something was very wrong. “The guards should’ve come running by now as well.”

Rangiku stepped through the doors that she’d broken open, Haineko still in her hand as she reached out with her senses to try and feel for any lingering Reiryoku or the Reiatsu of an intruder. “Someone took out the guards and walked into the chambers.” It was the only way that this lack of alarm or guards made any sense. “But for the doors to be locked from within, it means they must still be here.”

Toshiro reached up to grasp the handle of his Zanpakutō, Hyōrinmaru (Ice Ring). “They disabled the alarm to not draw attention to themselves.” He said as he followed after Rangiku, down the stairs just beyond the red double doors.

Once the Captain and Lieutenant reached the bottom of the stairs, they were greeted with locked shoji doors. They weren’t made of any normal material, but that wasn’t what either Rangiku or Toshiro were focused on. It was how the locks on the shoji doors automatically unlocked at their approach before the doors slid open, something that the barrier shouldn’t do for anyone that wasn’t a member of the Central Forty-Six. They walked through thirteen such doors—known as the Thirteen Barriers—without issue to reach the single door to the central chamber.

Rangiku looked at Toshiro and her Lieutenant nodded as he prepared to draw his sword as soon as the door was opened. With her left hand, Rangiku pulled open the door, keeping Haineko ready to strike in her right hand should anyone leap out to attack. But what met their eyes wasn’t an attacker…it was the scene of a massacre.

The forty sages, still in their seats, had all been killed, some even cut in two or split from shoulder to hip. The six judges, in their individual seats up short sets of stairs and in alcoves within the white walls, had all been slain as well, their throats cut or impaled through the chest. All of the Central Forty-Six had been murdered, but while some had clearly been killed with precise, almost execution-like, strikes, others had been more violently killed, with even the tops of their chairs cut through along with their heads. The varying levels of gore for the kills made it obvious that either this had been done by multiple people, or a single person was trying out different methods.

Neither was a good thought.

“What is this?” Rangiku wondered, her eyes taking in the scene while she kept her senses sharp for any trace of the perpetrator.

Toshiro lightly touched the blood splatter on the nearest desk of one of the slain sages, only to find it completely dry. “This didn’t happen recently. The blood is brown and flaking…” The lack of a rotting stench was odd, as was the bodies still seeming to be freshly killed, aside from the nearly grey tone of the corpses’ skin.

Rangiku agreed with Toshiro as she lightly touched one of the bloodstains as well, noticing how the dried blood flaked off. “How long ago was this done, is the question. This chamber would’ve been sealed when the ryoka broke through the barrier created by the Sekiseki walls.” Once sealed, no one would’ve been allowed in, meaning that the murders had to have taken place before then, when the chambers could still be entered by those with the proper authority. “That means all of the orders that came from the Central Forty-Six since at least the time of Kuchiki Rukia’s execution date being moved up…have been faked.”

“By who?” Toshiro questioned, not directly to Rangiku, but to himself as he ran through everything they knew, and his own suspects. ‘Captain Ichimaru has been acting suspicious for a while now…but could he really do all of this by himself? Without anyone noticing? Are there others helping him? Who? And why?’

“I wondered who had broken into the Central Forty-Six chambers.” Gin said from the doorway leading down into the room. Rangiku and Toshiro both locked eyes on him, surprised that they hadn’t felt a trace of his Reiatsu before he’d spoken. “This scene looks rather bad for you two, doesn’t it?” Gin asked with a fox-like grin on his face.

Rangiku narrowed her eyes, catching Gin in a powerful glare. “Gin, did you do this?”

Gin shook his head once. “I wouldn’t say that.” He walked away from the doorway and out of sight.

“Toshiro!” Rangiku vanished in a Shunpo, reappearing just outside the door of the inner meeting chamber, she spotted Gin blurring up the steps and chased after him. Toshiro was right behind her, his Shunpo speed was impressive among the Lieutenants, allowing him to keep up.

“Are you sure that you have time to be chasing me around, Rangiku?” Gin called back over his shoulder, the same grin on his lips as before. “You might miss something.”

Rangiku nearly growled, but she sharpened her senses and expanded her perception as much as she could, instead of focusing it solely upon Gin. Her blue eyes widened just slightly as she felt it, barely perceivable even with her full focus, but the unmistakable Reiatsu of someone that should not only not be within the Central Forty-Six chambers, but shouldn’t even be alive. “How?” She stopped at a four-way intersection of corridors and looked down the left one.

“Captain?” Toshiro stopped right beside Rangiku, wondering what she’d sensed to stop so suddenly.

Gin, having stopped at the base of the stairs at the end of the straight path of the corridor, gave the two an amused grin. “Things aren’t always what they seem. Those wrapped up in things they’re not even aware of can be in the most danger.” He blurred into a Shunpo and was up the steps and through the broken double doors before either Rangiku or Toshiro could react.

“Damn it!” Rangiku cursed, her eyes narrowing as she realized what Gin’s words more than likely meant. “Toshiro, go protect Momo!”

Toshiro’s eyes widened at the sudden order. “What?!”

Rangiku was turning away from him to head down the left corridor. “What Gin just said; those that don’t realize they’re wrapped up in things are in danger. Momo doesn’t know, none of us knew what was really going on. If Gin gets to her first…”

Toshiro didn’t need to hear another word, he vanished down the corridor, up the stairs, and was outside in the fastest Shunpo of his life. “GIN!!!” He roared out, his normally cool and calm composure nowhere to be seen as he locked onto the other Captain’s Reiatsu and vanished into another Shunpo. ‘I won’t let you touch her! I told you that I’d kill you if you ever hurt, Momo!’ The distance between Toshiro and Gin was rapidly shrinking.

Rangiku moved down the corridor carefully, her senses sharp as she entered the largest underground chamber within the Central Forty-Six compound. “The Seijōtōkyorin (Tranquil Forest of Residential Towers) where the Central Forty-Six reside when in session. I’ve only heard about this place before, never thought I’d actually see it.” She looked at the nearest ‘tower’, specifically at the open doorway and the pitch blackness within. “Quite the nice hiding spot you found for yourself…”

Footsteps from the dark interior nearly echoed in the quiet of the vast chamber.

“…Captain Aizen.” Rangiku addressed the ‘dead man’ as he stepped into the light, looking just as he always did.

“It’s been a long time, Captain Matsumoto.” Aizen greeted her with a slight smile, his brown eyes soft behind his square glasses. “I’d taken precautions, but you came here anyway. I suppose Gin’s penchant for veiled words and threats got the better of him…or perhaps you’re able to read between his words better because you knew each other before either of you ever became Shinigami.” He didn’t actually seem to care at all either way. His words as soft and polite as always, just how everyone in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads knew the man to be.

“And how long have you and Gin been conspiring?” Rangiku asked as she took a step forward.

Aizen’s smile didn’t waver. “Since the beginning.”

Rangiku didn’t like the vagueness of that answer, her Reiatsu beginning to rise. “Since before you faked your death then?”

“You catch on slowly.” Aizen chided lightly. “From the beginning. Ever since I became a Captain.” His smile was less friendly now, his eyes becoming cold. “I’ve never considered anyone else my Lieutenant other than Gin.”

The Reiatsu increased as Rangiku nearly hissed like an angry cat. “So, all this time… Momo, the Shinigami in your Squad, all of the other Captains… You were deceiving us all!”

“I never thought of it that way…” Aizen said, his tone calm and collected, as if he was talking to a child. “The truth is, none of you recognized my true identity.”

“So it’s our fault?” Rangiku’s retort was as sharp as a blade. “Momo has practically shutdown because of you. She barely eats, doesn’t bathe, and her sleep is plagued with nightmares. That girl worked hard to become a Shinigami, just to be your subordinate.”

Aizen smiled a little, seemingly amused by Rangiku’s words. “Yes, that’s true. Which made her quite easy to manipulate. That’s why I requested her for my squad.”

Rangiku glared at Aizen’s words. “What?!”

“It was too good to pass up. Remember, Matsumoto…” Aizen’s smile reached his eyes for the first time. “…adoration is the state furthest from understanding.”

Rangiku’s sword was little more than a blur as she swung it.

BOOM

The ‘tower’ residence was cut in two and then shattered from the force, the upper part collapsing down onto the lower, rubble cracking the stone floor all around where the building had been.

Aizen landed easily on the stone floor a safe distance away, his expression mildly amused as he looked at Rangiku.

“Aizen,” Rangiku said coldly as she held her Zanpakutō at the ready. “I’m going to kill you.” Her Reiatsu spiked, shaking the entire underground complex as everything was subjected to the crushing pressure.

“You shouldn’t make rash threats.” Aizen’s smile became mocking. “It makes you seem weak.”

Rangiku didn’t blink. She never let Aizen out of her sight and kept her senses focused on him and his Reiatsu. But a cut opened up on her shoulder, spraying blood, her shihakushō cut through like it was normal cloth. Aizen now standing behind her with his Zanpakutō at his side, Rangiku’s blood covering part of the blade.

“You…?” Rangiku staggered a step, trying to figure out what Aizen had just done. ‘It wasn’t Shunpo…he didn’t take a step. Kidō? Not without his Reiatsu fluctuating a little to form the spell. He didn’t release his Zanpakutō either, his Kyōka Suigetsu is a Flowing Water-Type Zanpakutō that uses mist and fog to confuse enemies into attacking each other…’ She stopped her thought s right then and there. “So, your Shikai was a lie too, wasn’t it?” She looked at Aizen over her shoulder.

“You’re still standing. I suppose with your amount of Reiryoku, your Reiatsu would make your shihakushō and body much harder to cut.” Aizen said with a slight drop in his previously mocking smile. “Since you’re so close to the answer, I believe that I’ll correct the misunderstanding. My Kyōka Suigetsu’s power is Kanzensaimin (Perfect Hypnosis). It disrupts the victim’s senses so they misidentify the enemy. Appearance, shape, size, texture, and even smell is affected. If I will it, a fly can appear as a dragon, or a swamp as a flower garden. Seeing the release of Kyōka Suigetsu is all that’s required for Kanzensaimin to take effect. Having seen it even once, from that moment on the victim is under the hypnotic power.”

“Seen…once…” Rangiku realized that only one person in the current Thirteen Court Guard Squads would be immune to Aizen’s Zanpakutō.

Aizen seemed amused that Rangiku had so quickly figured it out. “Yes. From the very beginning, Tōsen Kaname has been working for me.”

Rangiku nearly grit her teeth at that. ‘Three traitors and none of us suspected a thing!’

“Stop getting angry! You’re playing right into his hands, you idiot!” The annoyed and angry hiss came from Haineko.

Rangiku heeded her Zanpakutō’s advice and took a steadying breath as she turned to face Aizen. “So, I can’t trust any of my senses, huh?” She pointed Haineko at Aizen, the traitor looking completely undazed by the implied threat. “Then if I can’t tell where you are, I’ll just have to attack everything all at once! Ban…”

Aizen moved behind Rangiku, his sword prepared to cut her down as she looked at the illusion of himself that he’d left in her vision.

“..kai!” Rangiku released her Zanpakutō and the entire underground complex exploded.

BOOOOMMM

The entire large pool of water and the ground of the surrounding area on the surface erupted upwards in a titanic cloud of grey ash. Stone was reduced to dust, water scattered into microscopic droplets, and the towering cloud of ash continued to rise high into the air, nearly touching the top of the Sekiseki barrier over the Seireitei. The cloud of ash spread across the sky, blocking out the sun to anything beneath it, leaving a section of the Seireitei in deep shadow.

Aizen landed on the surface, well over a dozen meters from the large hole where the Central Forty-Six chamber entrance used to be. For just a brief instant he wondered if he’d miscalculated on the number of Captains that could pose an actual threat to him. The Reiatsu that was now pressing down on the entire area beneath the billowing ash cloud was something he’d expect from only the oldest of the Captains among the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

“Sōmi Haineko (Twin-tailed Ash Cat).” Rangiku introduced her Bankai to Aizen as she stood across from him, now in a grey cloak that hugged her body and matched the color of the ash from her Zanpakutō. She also sported two long cat tails behind her that flicked side to side, seemingly made from the same material as the cloak, and there was a matching pair of cat ears atop Rangiku’s head, making her look like she possessed fluffy grey cat ears in addition to her normal human ears.

“Your Bankai reminds me of Captain Kuchiki’s.” Aizen said, seemingly unbothered by the release, even as the massive cloud of ash hung over the area and the Reiatsu grew heavier.

“Nya~” A grey housecat meowed as it sat next to Aizen’s left foot. It brushed up against the man’s ankle and lower legs, seemingly wanting affection, but Aizen backed away, the leg of his shihakushō partially shredded as if someone had taken a sander to it.

Rangiku stared Aizen down, approaching him step by step. “What’s the matter, Aizen? Not a cat person?”

Aizen glanced around him, seeing dozens of grey housecats sitting along the tops of walls, lying down on the ground in every direction, and some approaching him like the first, looking to make contact with him. “I have no time for games, Captain Matsumoto.”

“Nya…” The cats closest to Aizen all meowed at the same time.

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

Every grey cat exploded like a bomb, devastating the area where Aizen had been, leaving a crater in the ground.

Shing

Rangiku looked over her shoulder, her ash clinging to a figure she couldn’t see, hear, smell, or feel. The outline of a katana blade—now covered in her ash—was grinding against her cloak, revealing the garment to be more ash that had just been pretending to be solid cloth. One of her cat tails knocked the blade away while the other smashed into the figure, hitting an arm raised to block. Ashes swirled through the air as the unseen, unheard, and unfelt person moved through them.

“Even if I can’t perceive you, you’re still solid, and as you move, you’ll be covered in ash.” Rangiku said as a dozen more grey cats leapt at the figure, landing on the person for a moment before they blurred away in a Shunpo, kicking up swirling clouds of ash in the process, making it easy for Rangiku to follow their path with her eyes.

Aizen briefly reappeared, a few parts of his Captain’s haori now cut or torn. “Not as similar to Captain Kuchiki’s Bankai as I thought.” He didn’t seem concerned even now. He faded away again and dozens of ash-covered silhouettes moved through the falling ashes, all converging on Rangiku.

Until Rangiku turned to look to her left at seemingly nothing.

Shing

Shing

Shing

Shing

Shing

A swirling vortex of ashes engulfed the empty area, only for a metallic sound to ring out as the fast-moving ash hit something repeatedly. A flex of Reiatsu and the vortex was scattered, revealing Aizen with his brown hair slightly tussled and his Captain’s haori covered in ash and cuts.

“Nya~” Dozens of cats formed and meowed in the time it took most people to blink; all of them surrounding Aizen.

BOOM

The explosion as every cat detonated like a massive fragmentation grenade was deafening, the ground below was a crater and even the far walls were peppered with shrapnel that tore through the stone and made them collapse.

Rangiku used Shunpo to appear a dozen meters to her right, her hands now holding a sword made of ashes that clashed with another blade that couldn’t be seen. While the blade lock was brief, it gave Rangiku plenty of time to swipe her tails forward and knock the person wielding the other sword backwards.

Twin trails of ash were kicked up as the person skidded backwards two meters.

WoooooooOOOOO

A whistling sound rapidly getting louder was the only warning that the unseen figure got before a boulder of compressed ash slammed into their location like a meteor…that promptly exploded.

BOOM

Ash, sharp as a blade, tore through the ground and the air in a thick cloud, reducing everything touched by it to finely ground dust.

“Nine meters ahead, left side.” Haineko informed Rangiku of where their prey was, the Zanpakutō Spirit’s cat-like eyes slitted and nearly glowing as they played cat-and-mouse with Aizen.

The entire designated area was scoured with a rapidly moving cloud of ash with barely a thought. The ground was now fifteen centimeters deeper and covered in fine dust along with the ash after the cloud had passed through.

“Nya~” Dozens of cats leapt towards a different area.

Shing

Shing

Shing

The sound of metal on metal rang out as they were knocked back from their target.

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

Boom

The rapid chain explosion of the grey housecats into sharp ash and shrapnel filled the air with more ash that swirled around, joining the ever-thickening pile that was coating the ground. The ash fall could almost be confused with snow from how thick it was, and Rangiku knew where everything within it was at all times.

“He’s trying to run away!” Haineko hissed as a cloud of ash was kicked up from the use of Shunpo.

Bomf

A massive wall of ashes had risen up from the ground and coalesced from the air right as something unseen slammed into them. The cloud of ashes became a tidal wave or an avalanche, falling atop the figure and crashing to the ground, swirling into a hell storm of razor-sharp ash particles.

WooooooOOOOO

Another ash meteor slammed into the hell storm and then exploded.

BOOOOOOMMM

Rangiku moved in with her fastest Shunpo, her ash blade swinging towards the exact spot that Haineko told her to go.

Clang

Aizen became visible for just a fraction of a second, his eyes behind his glasses looking sharply at Rangiku, as if reassessing her. Then he was gone from her sight, hearing, and sense of touch while a dozen slashes crisscrossed Rangiku’s body. Not even a second later a massive wave of blue fire erupted between the two, aimed straight at Rangiku. The Sōkatsui—a Hadō spell in the low thirties, without an incantation—may as well have been an upper-sixties spell with a full incantation as it blasted Rangiku and all of her ashes away, clearing out a large portion of the area where the Central Forty-Six underground chambers had previously been.

As the blue flames burned for a short time on the rubble around the area, Rangiku emerged from the ashes, her ash cloak unfurling from around her body, revealing she’d taken only a bit of damage from Aizen’s flurry of Zanjutsu strikes followed up by the Sōkatsui.

“Damn it! Where is he?!” Rangiku tried to focus on her spiritual senses while letting Haineko search throughout the vast field of ashes that was already covering everything again.

“The rat is gone! Damn it! He sure can scurry away quickly!” Haineko hissed in aggravation that their prey had gotten away.

“Where did he go?” Rangiku nearly hissed as well.

“Captain Matsumoto!” Isane yelled out as she covered her mouth and nose while running through the thick ash that fell from the towering ash cloud that still blotted out the sun.

Rangiku looked at Isane curiously, wondering why she was here and not at the Fourth Squad. A single glance at the devastated Sōkyoku Hill made it obvious why the Lieutenant wasn’t at the execution. She’d been underground when the fight had been going on, but had still been able to faintly feel the Reiatsu of Captain Kuchiki rising higher than she’d ever felt the other Captain allow it to. Whatever ryoka he’d been fighting had to be incredibly powerful to make the Head of the Great Noble Kuchiki Clan struggle that much.

“Kotetsu Isane, here to assist with whatever support duty is required by order of Captain Unohana!” Isane informed Rangiku of why she was here.

“It’s Isane-chan.” Haineko confirmed for Rangiku as the ash was clinging to Isane’s shihakushō, allowing Haineko to feel the other woman’s Reiatsu. It was a familiar one too, given that Isane was a member of the Shinigami Women’s Association, just like Rangiku, and the two knew each other well.

Rangiku sealed her Bankai, the thick ashes everywhere swirling down into the shape of Haineko’s sealed form in Rangiku’s hand in only a second. With her Zanpakutō sealed again, Rangiku sheathed it and immediately gave her orders. “Isane, you can use Kakushitsuijaku (Footprint-Attentive Pursuing-Sparrows) and Tenteikūra (Heavenly Rickshaws in Silken Air), right?”

Isane nodded once. “Yes, ma’am!”

“Find Captain Aizen, Captain Ichimaru, and Captain Tōsen immediately and transmit my words to all of Seireitei!” Rangiku ordered and Isane quickly knelt down and pulled out a small container filled with a special black powder.

With quick motions of her index and middle fingers through the black powder, Isane drew a circle. She then drew two lines through the circle, one horizontal the other vertical, dividing it into four quadrants, each one then had a unique symbol written within. “Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain. Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuijaku!” Isane placed her palms down under the circle to activate the spell and the circle glowed with blue light as the symbols within the circle began to move rapidly, various numbers appeared within the circle until they suddenly stopped on a specific set. “I have the coordinates!”

Rangiku nodded, pleased by how fast Isane was with the Bakudō. “Good. Now, transmit my words to the Seireitei.” She gave her next order while memorizing the numbers that had appeared with the circle, they were the coordinates of the three wayward Captains.

“Yes, ma’am!” Isane used the same special black powders to draw a specific pattern along her forearms before she began chanting. “Silken net of black and white! Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowning sash; footprints, distant thunder, pointed peaks, revolving grounds, nightly prostrations, sea of clouds, the pale ranks of troops, complete the grand circle and surpass the heavens! Bakudō #77: Tenteikūra!” Isane held up her hands and a square of blue light formed in front of her, in the next instant, the black marking on her arms leapt into the glowing square outline and then branched off of it like a sumi-e painting of a tree without leaves. The lines then glowed blue as the Kidō connected to everyone that Isane could reach out to within the Seireitei, though she focused mostly on the Captains, Lieutenants and anyone with comparable Reiatsu.

‘I hope you managed to get to Momo before Gin did, Toshiro.’ Rangiku thought to herself as she prepared to tell all of Seireitei about the traitorous three Captains.

-Earlier-

“My, my, he IS a little prodigy, isn’t he?” Gin said to himself as he could feel the intense Reiatsu of Hitsugaya closing in on him from behind. “Shoot to kill, Shinso!” He turned while drawing his Zanpakutō and aimed the blade at the swiftly approaching Lieutenant.

Toshiro brought his sword around and deflected the blurring blade of Gin’s Zanpakutō with a grunt. The two landed on a rooftop and stared each other down. Toshiro’s Reiatsu kept rising higher as his frosty eyes glared death at Gin. Gin had his usual fox-like smile on his face as he stood across from Toshiro.

“Gin… I told you before…” Toshiro said, his breath coming out as a frosted mist. “If you ever hurt Momo, I’d kill you.”

“You did.” Gin’s expression didn’t change, though his tone was almost playful in its mocking.

Toshiro, ever protective of his childhood friend, didn’t waste any time with more words…or even Shikai. “Ban…kai!” He roared as his Reiatsu spiked and the entire area was covered in ice. Thick ice spread from Hyōrinmaru, forming into a dragon head around Toshiro’s hand. The ice moved up his arm and across his back, forming two massive wings of ice along with a dragon’s tail that lashed viciously through the air. Toshiro’s free hand was covered in a gauntlet of ice in the shape of a dragon’s claws and both of his feet were covered in dragon-like talons as well. Behind him, floating in the air, were twelve dark purple ‘flower petals’ that formed three ‘flowers’ each with four petals. “Daiguren Hyōrinmaru (Grand Crimson Lotus Ice Ring)!”

“It’s cold now.” Gin said while exhaling a cloud of breath. “Shoot to kill, Shinso!” His Zanpakutō’s blade was like a glint of metal as it crossed the distance between him and Toshiro.

Toshiro flew upwards to dodge the blade that tried to impale him. With a powerful flap of his ice wings, he shot straight at Gin with his blade swinging forward to unleash a massive wave of ice in the shape of an eastern dragon.

Gin vanished into a Shunpo, dodging he ice dragon that flash froze the entire area that he’d just been in, fully encasing the empty building they’d been standing on. Without a second of wasted movement, he pointed his palm ats Toshiro. “Hadō #54: Haien (Abolishing Flames)!” The purple flames of the fire ball blurred through the air and Toshiro brought his wings together to defend, the fireball exploding against the ice, shattering it from the thermal shock. “Shoot to kill, Shinso!” The blade shot forward again before the cloud of steam and smoke had any chance to clear.

Ching

Daiguren Hyōrinmaru deflected the spear-like attack with a single wing batting it aside. The right wing had already fully reformed, and Gin watched as the left wings followed suit in only a second.

“Guncho Tsurara (Icicle Flock)!” Toshiro swung his blade and a hail of large icicles, like giant daggers of ice, rocketed through the air at Gin.

Gin Shunpo-ed out of the way easily, letting the icicles go wide to demolish a wall along one side of the street. “You’re quick and powerful, eh, Lieutenant Hitsugaya?” He asked with the same grin as before still on his face.

Toshiro’s answer was to blur into existence beside Gin and thrust his sword straight at the other man’s chest.

Crack

Shinso’s blade had stabbed straight through Toshiro’s chest. The lengthened blade was at least six meters long for a fraction of a moment before returning to its normal length. As Toshiro’s eyes widened and he fell towards the ground, Gin smiled down at him. “You should know that a Captain doesn’t have to call the name of their Zanpakutō to use Shikai. Then again, you’re only a Lieutenant…”

Toshiro hit the ground and shattered into ice.

“Huh?” Gin was confused for a fraction of a second.

“Ryūsenka (Dragon Hail Cross)!” Toshiro roared as the tip of his Zanpakutō was almost at Gin’s back. A translucent barrier sprung into existence as Hyōrinmaru nearly hit Gin’s Captain haori.

Crkkkle

A loud crackling sound filled the air as a huge forward burst of ice shaped similarly to a lotus bud erupted from the point of contact between Hyōrinmaru and the barrier, encasing and freezing everything in front of Toshiro. The barrier shattered, having been frozen, but a sharp pain straight through him made Toshiro hacked up a mouthful of blood.

“Gakh!” Toshiro spat out the blood in his mouth as Shinso’s blade retracted from his body. He glared at Gin, only to see the man with his eyes fully open for the first time that he could recall. It was a sign of seriousness that Toshiro had never seen from the normally distant and aloof Captain of Squad Three. Before Toshiro could swing his sword again, Gin’s palm slammed into his bleeding injury and with a powerful Tesshō (Iron Palm) Hakuda strike, Toshiro was sent slamming into the ground hard enough to crack the tiled street.

“Cold restraints, moving snakes, strength wrought from flame. Suppress. Coil. The sound of the forge fades. Bakudō #57: Tetsuobi Yokusei (Iron Band Suppression).” Strong, flexible bands of iron formed from Reiryoku and Reishi and swiftly wrapped around Toshiro’s injured body, nearly mummifying the injured Lieutenant as they squeezed him tightly, preventing him from moving. “You stay right there, Lieutenant Hitsugaya.” He pointed Shinso down at the bound and injured Lieutenant whose Bankai had already faded, only to stop as he saw the massive, towering cloud of ash in the distance. “Rangiku…” He breathed out before he blurred away in a Shunpo.

Toshiro glared at where Gin had been, but his injury was bad, and now that he was bound up in a Bakudō in the upper-fifties, cast by a Captain with a full incantation, he couldn’t do much. The only things that could be considered positives about this situation were that he was still alive, and that the Bakudō was putting sufficient pressure on his wound to stem the bleeding. The fact that this entire area was covered in ice would also attract other Shinigami that would be able to help get him to Squad Four for treatment.

‘Ichimaru Gin… I swear that I’ll kill you the next time we meet.’ Toshiro swore to himself as he steadied his breathing and did everything he could to maintain his consciousness. He refused to pass out until he knew that Momo was safe.

Some faint footsteps a short time later gave him hope that he’d be able to go check on his childhood friend soon.

“Lieutenant Hitsugaya, sir!”

“Help the Lieutenant!”

-Rukia Rescue Group-

The group were making good time towards the safehouse that Captain Ukitake had set up for Rukia. Once they were there, then they’d just have to lay low until the man himself came to get them. Hopefully by then, this entire situation of execution would be solved.

Chiiiiiiiiiirp

An incredibly high frequency sounds filled the ears of everyone. It was like a cricket’s chirp, only to such an intensity that it nearly scrambled their heads.

Tatsuki’s eyes widened, familiar with this sound. “Oh shit!”

Orihime, also remembering this sound, looked around as she grabbed her Zanpakutō. “Where is he?!”

“The noise…” Rukia held her head, trying to resist passing out, even as her vision went hazy. She was still weakened from her stay inside the Senzaikyū, so the sound was having a greater effect on her.

Chad transformed both arms and threw a punch as he saw a blur coming at them out of his peripheral vision. “El Directo!” The blast of blue Reiryoku cut through the air, but was split in two by the attacker’s sword.

Clang

Yachiru’s sword met the attacker’s sword and everyone saw Tōsen as he hung in the air with Yachiru for a brief second, their blades locked as they pushed against each other.

“Hey! You’re that guy Ken-chan was fighting!” Yachiru pointed out. “Visor! Did you run away from Ken-chan?!” The little girl demanded, seemingly genuinely angry.

“Captain Tōsen?!” Kiyone exclaimed in shock at suddenly being attacked by the Captain that hadn’t even shown up to the execution.

“Sir, wait, we can explain!” Sentarō said loudly, trying to prevent a fight that they were unlikely to win.

“C-Captain!?” Ganju cried out, still having injuries from his run-in with Kuchiki Byakuya.

“I have no time for all of you.” Tōsen said, his torso still heavily bandaged from the grievous wound he’d suffered from Kenpachi Zaraki. “Cry, Suzumushi!” The ringing sound was even more intense this time, making everyone reel backwards as their consciousness wavered. Rukia nearly blacked out, barely grasping at the threads of consciousness. “Bakudō #63: Sajō Sabaku!” Thick chains of glowing gold Reishi formed from the air and wrapped up everyone present.

“Why you! You’re messing up what Ken-chan told me to do!” Yachiru growled out, an aura of pink Reiryoku surrounding her and looking like a demon’s face while her Reiatsu spiked intensely. Even bound by the thick golden chains of the Bakudō, she still managed to lash out with her sword, the pink aura leaping from the edge of the blade to slash Tōsen’s cheek, then his collarbone, cutting through some of his blood-soaked bandages, before the Captain moved back a step to avoid the rest.

Tōsen let out a pained grunt at the new injuries. “The child of a monster is also a monster.” He uttered out before grabbing Rukia—the only one not bound in the golden chains—and leaping backwards twice to make distance while unfurling the white cloth around his arm. The cloth spun around in a wide circle, faster and faster before closing in on Rukia and Tōsen, the two vanishing a second later.

A moment later a message was heard throughout the Seireitei.

“All Captains, Lieutenants, and Seated Officers of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, this is Squad Ten Captain Matsumoto Rangiku. Hear my words, this is an urgent message!” The information that followed made more than a few eyes widen in shock. All across the Seireitei, Shinigami rushed towards the location given of the three traitors.

Sōkyoku Hill.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rangiku is powerful as FUCK!!!

We finally see Captain Matsumoto’s Bankai!

I hope you like what I came up with!

Aizen certainly underestimated Rangiku! But it turns out, hypnosis doesn’t alter reality…you can hide perfectly, but you’re still moving through the world and affecting things.

Toshiro tries to kill Gin for the mere chance that he’s threatening Momo!

Overprotective little brother he is. Kek!

However, Gin’s been a Shinigami for quite a while and was ALSO a prodigy. Good thing he got distracted by seeing Rangiku’s Bankai and didn’t finish the job.

Tōsen, that one-third dead fucker, snatches Rukia by using his Zanpakutō’s Shikai ability to knock people weaker than him unconscious. Yachiru DOESN’T take kindly to him messing up the task Ken-chan gave her to do! She slices his face and chest even while bound by a low-sixties Bakudō!

But now the entire Seireitei knows what’s going on!

Three certain Captains that were playing up their fight while hiding their plan to trap those lurking in the shadows are about to come face-to-face with the three traitors, along with Ichigo who just so happens to still be atop the Sōkyoku Hill, along with the injured Byakuya!

You can imagine how those two will react to the three traitors having their hands on Rukia!

How will the Soul Society Arc come to an end?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!