(Zanpakuto Cave)
"Shakaho!" Ganju shouted out, blasting fireball after fireball in rapid succession, shooting each one at the shifting sand of his Zanpakuto spirit. Several more explosions went off in the mass of sand, residual gunpowder from all the unlit bombs and fireworks he threw into his Zanpakuto's body. While the body continued to reform itself, the ground beneath Ganju's feet gave and turned into sand. Just before sinking down, Ganju poured all the energy he had into his flash step while continuing to use kido. His jumping around did not last long as Asusheika caught him and sunk him down to his waist. "Hado #33, Sokatsui!" He yelled, pouring all of his Reishi into that one blast, scorching the cave and turning some of Asusheika into glass before the mass of sand recovered.
"Still weak." The spirit rumbled, forming a face to stare down its master. "You wanted to honor your brother's legacy as a proper Shinigami, but you don't have the strength necessary to come close. You're out of Reiryoka." Dozens of spikes made of sand came up and prepared to skewer the noble. It stopped when Ganju began shaking from laughter.
"Hahaha, you're right! I'm still so weak!" He yelled out, making Asusheika look at him oddly. "Which is why I need to use my brain and tricks to beat my opponent. Like draining my opponent of his Reishi." He said, just as Asusheika began to fall apart.
"What the-?!" It gasped as it tried to reform, only to have more sand falling away.
"We're still connected Asusheika." Ganju answered, slowly pulling himself free of his confines. "All the Zanpakuto are to their wielders. Using your control over sand is incredibly taxing when you need so much of it. How long could you last if I ran out?" He asked, making the figure pause to think as it continued to collapse. "Come back to me, and let's get stronger together." He said, reaching out before fainting from exhaustion, his Zanpakuto following seconds later. Roughly an hour later, the rest of the Zanpakuto appeared.
"That ended poorly." Zangetsu growled, his body regenerating from his fight with Zaraki. "Who did we lose?" He asked as Kinshira got beside him.
"Tenken, Raika, Gonryumaru, Ruri'iro Kujaku, and Houzukimaru were defeated, Hyorinmaru disappeared, Ashisogi Jizo and Gegetsubori were captured, and Sakanade and Tachikaze were lost." The tall thin figure answered as they went deeper into their base.
"For all the talk of them being useless without us, they've been winning so.... far." Zangetsu groaned until seeing the base. "What the hell happened!" He growled, for the sake of fooling the others, as he saw Ganju and the shikai blade of Asusheika. 'Almost there. Just need a little more and this mess will be over.' He thought, feeling the pieces falling into place, as he sent out spirit threads to restrain and bring their new prisoner to him. "Ganju Shiba, surprised to see you actually contributing." The sudden movements shook him awake, but he was in that haze between sleeping and waking.
"Asusheika.... hiding... caves." He mumbled before falling unconscious. The double agents knew what that meant, but the other Zanpakuto thought he was speaking nonsense.
"How did he find this cave?" Zangetsu growled before dropping Ganju, Byakuya tying the man down with kido.
"It seems we have a traitor in our midst." A voice came from the entrance as Muramasa made his presence known. "Possibly a Soul Reaper that has fooled us," he said while looking at Byakuya before turning his gaze to Zangetsu, "or someone who claimed to lead us to freedom." He said marching up to the hybrid before all of the Zanpakuto got between him and Zangetsu.
"You should answer some questions we have before accusing someone else Muramasa." Haineko hissed while she and Tobiume prepared to attack. "We all heard a voice telling us to 'follow our instincts' but Nozarashi seemed to think it was more than that. What did you do to us?"
"I freed you from the control of the Soul Reapers, I told you this." He responded, his eyes drifting to each Zanpakuto and trying to think of a strategy.
"Then why do you feed on Hollows?" They heard from a floating golden light as Suzumebachi flew next to Zangetsu. "I saw him absorbing a Vasto Lorde and complain about Zangetsu being difficult to control. Muramasa has been lying about us becoming free." Muramasa took a step back as he felt the odds of his success, a plan of decades collapsing right in front of him. Then Zangetsu let out a sigh.
"He does that because he can no longer manifest himself using his master's Reishi." He answered, making everyone look at him while Byakuya got behind Muramasa. "Zanpakuto Muramasa, special abilities involve manipulating other Zanpakuto spirits by disrupting the energy flow between Shinigami and Zanpakuto and forcing the negative emotions to the forefront." Zangetsu answered, reciting the information given to him when Ichigo read Koga's file. "He never released us and this whole rebellion was doomed to failure from the start. Zanpakuto need the connection between us and our Shinigami or we cease to exist." He said, earning a shocked gasp from the rest of the Zanpakuto. "So yes, I am the traitor. Along with every Zanpakuto that was part Hollow, because you couldn't control us." Before anyone else could do anything, every last Zanpakuto that was effected by Muramasa disappeared.
"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six. Bakudo #61, Rikujokoro." Byakuya calmly chanted, trapping Muramasa in the kido spell. "I take it this means that Urahara managed to reverse Muramasa's influence?" He asked Zangetsu as the Vizard Zanpakuto took Ganju and headed back to the other Soul Reapers.
"Yeah, now's the time." He said, grabbing Muramasa's collar and dragging him along. "Let's go before the old man notices. Our window of opportunity is small enough as it is." With that, Byakuya, Senbonzakura, and Zangetsu all proceeded down the cave that supposedly led to Yamamoto.
(Squad 4 Barracks)
"Is it me, or does this kid get scarier every day Jushiro?" Kyoraku asked his old friend as the two senior captains looked at the sleeping hybrid. "I thought my powers were dark, but that was something else."
"It was as if he was a black hole of spirit energy." Ukitake continued, thinking back to how the ambient Reishi practically gravitated to him. "Is that the result of him being a hybrid?"
"It's very likely." They heard someone say from behind as Urahara appeared. "The control over Reishi, the Quincy. Absorbing said Reishi into himself, Hollow. Directing that power however he'd see fit, the Soul Reaper. The data is inconclusive, but the implications of his ultimate abilities terrifies me." He said, immediately thinking of what rules no longer apply to the hybrid and how to stop him if necessary. Taking into account Ichigo's current development rate, his options were slim and getting smaller. "Anyway, on to cheerier topics!" He said, shifting the mood in the room to focus on the most current thing. "We've confirmed the tablets work. They won't grant Hollowfication, but it's enough to disrupt and restore the bonds between Soul Reaper and Zanpakuto." He said, presenting the small white pills.
"Now we return our focus on the coming war." Kyoraku said with a slight smile as they used the Hollow pills and felt their connections be restored. Without a word, their Zanpakuto spirits manifested in the room next to them.
"Jushiro!" The small twins of Sogyo no Kotowari squealed as they latched onto their master.
"It's about time you got us out of that dreary cave." Katen told her master as they began to head for the meeting of the remaining Shinigami. "Muramasa has been using the three of us and Minazuke to try and break through the old man's barrier."
"He managed to bypass my restructuring by making it an ever shifting barrier." Benihime said, describing what the Head Captain hid himself behind. "He likely expected this to end quickly so he made it incredibly powerful, but also draining."
"Well we broke Muramasa's control on our Zanpakuto." Noted Renji, both halves of Zabimaru sitting at his side. "So it shouldn't be long now until everything about this is over."
"Yep, just one thing keeps nagging at me." Shinji started, idly scratching his head. "Muramasa wants to free Koga Kuchiki, Byakuya wants to kill him, and the only person that knows where Koga was sealed is the Captain Commander. The only people that might get through the old man's barrier would be Ichigo and Zangetsu." Everyone looked at him as the pieces came together. "What's the likelihood that Ichigo is going to help Byakuya with this?" Just as people were about to deny the thought, an explosion of fire rose up and started to move as if it were alive.
"Ichigo's gone!" Suzumebachi cried out, having flown over to the hybrid and finding an empty bed. Before the living flame grew out of control, it was slashed apart and extinguished. Seconds later they felt the crushing pressure of the Captain Commander, and he was pissed.
"ICHIGO!" The old man roared out, chilling everyone. "YOU WILL BEG MY FORGIVENESS BEFORE THIS DAY IS OVER!"
'WHAT DID HE DO!?' Everyone thought in horror of the dragon's rage.
(With Ichigo)
"ICHIGO! YOU WILL BEG MY FORGIVENESS BEFORE THIS DAY IS OVER!" Ichigo's eyes snapped open at the roaring of his teacher and he knew it was time to get the hell out of Soul Society. Zangetsu already carrying out of the barracks.
"I don't think I've ever heard him get this angry before." Ichigo said as he got to his feet, his body straining under protest. "What did you do Zangetsu?" He groaned, trying to force himself to more under the strain of what seemed like tight muscles.
"I used our bankai." He answered, helping Ichigo up. "Zaraki's own bankai lets him use 100 percent of his strength, which puts him higher than you at the moment, so I used ours in response. Even separated, the backlash was enough to knock you out."
"If it makes you that strong, than why did you look like you barely won?" Ichigo asked, opening a Garganta back to Karakura Town.
"Surprisingly enough, it's harder to not kill someone than it is to kill them." Zangetsu responded as they rushed toward their destination. "Especially when you need to convince others to retreat after the fight."
"Right." Ichigo agreed as they entered Karakura Town, Zangetsu immediately heading for a secluded area in the forest. "So why do I feel so drained? What is my bankai?"
"You know how the Letz Stil pushes a Quincy's power to the very limits?" The hybrid blade returned as they found Byakuya and the others, Muramasa still restrained by kido and Senbonzakura's blade to his throat. "That is your bankai. Free control of all Reishi around you, continually growing in strength, a power that bends everything to you like an all consuming black hole. Downside is the fatigue that follows. Nothing mortal is without limit Ichigo, not even you." He answered as they landed next to the captain, facing a lone island with a tree in the middle of a lake.
"So there it is? Koga Kuchiki's tomb?" Ichigo asked, feeling the power in the barrier. The captain nodded while Muramasa looked both overjoyed and heartbroken. His goal was within reach and would be crushed before him. Unless Koga took him back, he doubted that even his master could fight the two Shinigami together. They went in front of the barrier and Ichigo placed his palm against it. Immediately the tree cackled with electricity as Ichigo used what power he currently had to take the barrier apart, absorbing what Reishi he could to recover. Byakuya looked into the distance as he felt a disturbance.
"Hurry up, your father's squad is coming." Byakuya warned as Zangetsu aided his master. Soon, the illusion shattered like glass and revealed a black coffin wrapped in chains and pierced with four brass halberds. Seconds later the coffin blew apart and revealed a withered man, bare chested with a broken mask across his nose. Messy black hair with red on the side and a long scarf draped over him.
"Koga Kuchiki, at last." Ichigo said, mildly disappointed in the man before him. While certainly powerful, being sealed for centuries had taken its toll. Byakuya released Muramasa on an unspoken desire for a fair fight. The Zanpakuto seemed to have lost his strength as he pretty much crawled to the now freed Shinigami.
"Master Koga, I'm sorry." He apologized as Koga opened his eyes, glaring at the beings before him. "All my years, trying to free you, all undone by these two." Koga said nothing as Ichigo and Byakuya stepped forward, Ichigo helping Muramasa to his feet before pushing him to his master.
"Koga Kuchiki," Ichigo called out and gaining the man's attention, "centuries ago you were falsely accused of crimes you did not commit. Unable to prove your innocence, you went mad and rebelled against Soul Society."
"This is your one chance to redeem your honor." Byakuya continued. "Swear your loyalty to Soul Society and lend your strength to the coming war, or pick up your sword so that you may die as a warrior." There was a pause before the man began to shake with laughter.
"And who are you to command or threaten me?" He demanded, shoving Muramasa aside. "One of you seems to be a Kuchiki while the other is a member of the 1st division."
"I am Byakuya Kuchiki, 28th head of the Kuchiki clan."
"Ichigo Kurosaki, Genryusai Yamamoto's chosen successor to the position of Captain Commander."
"The head of the Kuchiki clan and the next Head Captain? This seems almost poetic." Koga mused, looking down on the two warriors. "I must decline your offer and deny your threat. I will not bow to anyone weaker than me!" He roared, unleashing his Reiatsu and making the two glare at him. Muramasa stood at his master's side, struggling to stay on his feet.
"Master Koga, let us become one once again." He wheezed out, fading in and out of existence. "Together, our power will destroy th-" He was cut off when Koga stabbed him in the stomach.
"I have no need for a sword that won't obey his master." He growled as Muramasa looked at him in disbelief. "When I called out to you while I was being sealed, you never came. You betrayed me!" Koga yelled out before shoving his spirit off his blade and prepared to bring it down before Ichigo caught his wrist.
"Do you feel no loyalty to your own Zanpakuto?" Ichigo demanded, his grip tightening slowly.
"Zanpakuto are merely tools and tools can be replaced." He said, giving Ichigo a sense of deja vu.
"That's it. You're gonna die." He said as Koga laughed at what he thought was arrogance.
"You think you're a match for the strongest Soul-" The man said as he attempted to pull his hand free, not even able to make Ichigo budge. "What the?" He was able to say before Ichigo twisted his arm with a loud snap, breaking the shoulder joint. He yelled out in pain as Ichigo let go and kicked him to Byakuya, who wasted no time in his attack.
"Hado #33, Sokatsui." The noble chanted, blasting Koga with the kido and sending him next to one of the halberds that sealed him. Before they could continue the attack, Muramasa began to scream as Hollow Reishi exploded from his being. A whirlpool of dark Reishi grew and thousands of Hollows began to sprout like weeds, many being Menos Grande.
"That's unfortunate." Ichigo stated as Muramasa began to hollowfy and Hollows continued to appear. "Take over, I'm going to try to stop this." Ichigo donned his mask and flew towards Muramasa, just as some Vasto Lordes appeared to attack. One was about to swipe at Ichigo, only to be impaled from behind by a glowing black and blue Reishi blade. Uryu then appeared next to the Menos, hand on the hilt, before tearing it through the Hollow and decapitating it.
"Your father demands an explanation for this." The Quincy said as the rest of squad 15 appeared and started to attack. "He's a little annoyed by what has happened." Ichigo didn't answer him as he continued to Muramasa and bit down on the Zanpakuto's shoulder, eliciting a cry of agony and increased Reiastu that began to die down rapidly. Ichigo devoured all the Hollow Reishi he could, cleansing Muramasa and stopping the flow of Hollows coming from him. What he did not stop was the arrival of more Hollows that were attracted to this single point.
"Damn, too late." Ichigo cursed as the Hollows began to fight indiscriminately, lightening the burden on his father's squad.
"Master Koga, why?" He heard Muramasa say, in the most quiet and broken tones. Ichigo shook his head sadly, trying to think of a way to save the poor Zanpakuto, until he saw his answer. Orihime, standing in a large 13 point barrier that was repelling all attacks and healing every injured Shinigami that came inside and guarded by six sprites that cut many Hollows in half and four glowing balls of red, blue, brown, and green using fire, water, earth, and wind. Ichigo flew down to deposit Muramasa into the barrier.
"Bakudo #99, Kin." Ichigo cast the spell, letting spiritual fabric tie the spirit's arms behind his back and pinning him to the ground with iron shafts. Orihime looked at Ichigo before nodding and accepting the prisoner. Ichigo returned his gaze to Byakuya and Koga's fight, the disgraced noble about to strike at Byakuya from behind with the lake frozen solid. Ichigo flashed in front of Koga and caught the blade with ease. "How's it going?"
"He's relying on his petty illusions, believing himself to be the strongest Soul Reaper alive." Byakuya answered, letting his thousands of flower petal blades attack and force Koga back. "Do you wish to show him who is truly the strongest?"
"Stop, you might make me blush." Ichigo joked as he felt a slight disturbance in his Reiatsu before his spirit righted itself. Koga appeared above them and pointed with his halberd.
"Hyoga Seiran!" He yelled out, blasting a torrent of ice down at the two. Ichigo responded with raising his hand and firing a Cero, easily overpowering the kido. The attack surprised Koga as he was caught in the torrent of Reishi and collapsed in a heap in front of the two. "How? I infected you with my Reishi, I know I did! You should be trapped in my illusions!" He demanded as Ichigo stomped on his head, cracking the ice.
"You did infect me, but you're too weak to maintain it." Ichigo answered, grabbing Koga's red ponytail and pulling him up. "You are indeed strong Koga, but I'm stronger. If all you have to back up that claim is your illusions, than you're just fooling yourself. My master went easy on you when you were sealed." The two were soon surrounded by hundreds of glowing pink blades. "We are not so generous."
"You will die, here and now, Koga." Byakuya said as Ichigo threw the man between them. "I will honor the wishes of my predecessor and my obligations as head of the Kuchiki clan."
"And I will end another stain on the history of the Soul Society." Ichigo declared as Zangetsu appeared behind him, letting Ichigo hold his true shikai blades. Koga forced himself up, shifting his glare between the two.
"Just like all the rest, you fear my tremendous power!" He reasoned to himself. "No one ever understood, they always feared my great-" He was cut off once again as Ichigo buried his blades into his sides. He looked into the impassive face of of the hybrid as each blade in the Senkei formation shot themselves into Koga's body.
"Ikka Senjinka." Byakuya said, naming his technique. Koga coughed up blood, feeling his life beginning to fade.
"Getsuga Jujisho." Ichigo finished, performing the cross slash Getsuga in the same instant Byakuya recalled his blades and completely destroying the shamed Soul Reaper. "That guy was annoying." He said, letting his blades dissipate as Byakuya dispelled his bankai. "Now for all the.... Hollows..." Ichigo slowed, coming face to face with his angry looking father and an absolutely livid Head Captain. "I can explain." He said after gulping, trying to convince himself.