Kai's right arm was quickly bandaged. That last attack had shattered the bones in his arm so he wouldn't be able to fight for a while, additionally, he was given an eye patch for his right eye which he had lost.
Izuru was taken back to squad 4's barracks, and Rose followed with him. Hisagi was forced to leave, so now it was just Kai and Kurenai following behind Mayuri to someplace else that hadn't been specified.
"Where are we going?", Kai asked.
"..."
Mayuri was annoyed at him unsurprisingly. What could be a rare specimen was walking right behind him, yet he couldn't do anything with it. He had also noticed Kurenai on Kai's shoulder, but he said nothing about it.
Eventually the two arrived back to Soul Societies surface, where he was then taken to an area outside of the Seireitei.
"You've already taken me this far, tell me where we're going."
"Since your so desperate for an answer, I regret to inform you that I can't say. I doubt you'll understand when your there anyway so just keep yourself quiet."
To Kai, they ended up wandering in the middle of some random forest in the Rukongai, but then he started to sense multiple captain class spiritual pressures. What could so many powerful fighters be doing out here?
Once they arrived, Kai got to see many of the Gotei 13 captains, some which he recognised, and others which he didn't. Byakuya, Shunsui, Ichigo and Tetsuzaemon were there and he was surprised to see Albrecht there too. He could tell at a glance that he had gotten far stronger than when they last met.
"So your still alive? It hasn't been that long has it?"
Albrecht approached him while extending a hand out.
"Thanks for helping me back there. I don't think I could've beaten her if it wasn't for you."
They quickly shook hands properly creating a friendship between the two. Kai then asked what they were doing here, but Albrecht said he didn't know either.
Everyone apart from Kai suddenly looked up. He was confused at first but then as it got closer, he too noticed it. Something was falling out of the sky which resembled a large white tube big enough to fit a couple people inside it. It then crashed into the middle of the forest, right in front of them all.
Something that looked like doors where on the front of it, which was marked with the symbol of a Gotei squad. However it lacked a number. As its doors opened, terrible eastern music began to play, and five figures walked out.
They all wore garments of a captain, with its leader appearing to be the large bald monk with a beard. Next to him was a beautiful women with several spider like arms made from wood, and even further behind was a larger women with tied up pink hair. To the monks side was a darker skinned man black shaved hair and sunglasses, and behind hand was a tall man with the strangest hair cut.
"SQUAD ZERO HAS ARRIVED!"
Kai was surprised at hearing that name. He quickly looked at Shunsui for an explanation.
"Oh, right. You only know that there are 13 squads, however there are actually 14. The squad that is normally kept hidden, Squad 0. All of them combined is as powerful as the Gotei and its their task to protect the Soul King up in his palace above Soul Society."
The last time squad 0 had come down, it was to assist the Soul Reapers in preparing for Yhwach's next invasion. So why could they have come down now? Now hearing about their strength, Kai grew angry.
"Where the hell were they when the Soul Society was getting destroyed? If there are people dying then we need all the help we can get?"
The monk then stepped forward as he introduced himself.
"Hello there! My name is Ichibē Hyōsube, the captain of squad 0. If your angry about us not being there, then you should understand that our place is up there in the royal palace. If we were to leave then, the Soul King would be vulnerable. Besides, its the Gotei's job to protect Soul Society, so if your going to point fingers at anyone, look at Shunsui over here."
Suddenly Ōetsu Nimaiya walked up to Ichigo before grabbing him by the shoulders. He started to rock him forwards and backwards as he shouted,
"MY BABIES!!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABIES!! YOU'VE RUNIED THEMMMMMMM!"
Ichigo had no clue what he was screaming about, but then he remembered. His Zanpakutō was originally two separate blades, but now they were one. It was vastly different from what Ōetsu had originally forged it into, which saddened him.
"Er.. Sorry? I just found this shape more suitable for me."
A flood of tears began to flood from his eyes.
"MY BABIES!!!"
Tenjiro also walked up to Byakuya who was also slightly frustrated at him.
"You've grown up quite a bit since the last time I saw you huh? You didn't get beat up this time did you?!?"
He began to poke his stiff and narrow hair into Byakuya's forehead which annoyed him too. Tenjiro made it clear he was angry at him for no particular reason, all while Senjumaru was still playing a rubber trumpet.
Kirio was looking around for someone, but was disappointed they couldn't find them.
Kai was shocked at how completely unserious they were. The peak of Soul Society appeared to be nothing more than a crew of clowns. Suddenly Osho began to approach Albrecht, who found looking at him to be uncomfortable. Although it wasn't visible, Albrecht could tell how vile he was.
"So your that kid huh!? You really do remind me of Yhwach back when he was kid. Say, how much of his power did you manage to take for yourself."
Mayuri hearing that, quickly pulled out a strange device from his Shihakushō. It was a portable device he used to measure the Reishi density in the ground. Compared to when Yhwach first died, 20% of his Reiatsu which had soaked into the earth had disappeared, seemingly overnight.
Ichibē than continued,
"I called you here personally to take you back to the Royal Palace with me. It's about something that concerns your progenitor."
"No. I want nothing to do with him. If your trying to force some kind of responsibility onto me, then you've found the wrong person."
Ichibē stroked his beard as he laughed a little.
"Well if that's the case then you don't have to come up right now. But I can assure you that you have to go up there some day. Shunsui, do you mind if I talk to you later? It's about Tachibana."
Shunsui just tilted his hat, acknowledging what he had to say. Squad 0 then began to walk off, but then Kai suddenly asked,
"Huh? Why was I brought here then?"
Ōetsu suddenly flinched as he finally set his hands free from Ichigo.
"That's right! I came here for that Zanpakutō. Hand it over right now."
All the captains apart from Shunsui were shocked from this. Kai naturally rejected the idea of course.
"Hell no! Without my Zanpakutō's, how will I become a Soul Reaper!? I'm not letting you take them away from me!"
"Listen here kid, you must be miss hearing me so I'll explain it in a way that you can understand. I'm here to take that Zanpakutō off your hands, not your Zanpakutō's."
Kai suddenly got angry and ran up to Ōetsu. He grabbed him by the collar with his still functioning hand and started to shout.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ASSHOLE!? IF YOU DON'T STOP TALKING NONSENSE, IM GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"
Suddenly he felt a strong force pull him away from Ōetsu, and launched him into a nearby tree. His body slumped onto the floor, as his earlier injuries prevented him from standing back up.
Tenjiro was the one who threw him. Ōetsu started to poke his ear with his pinkie finger as he explained things more properly.
"Are you clueless? I'm sure you've figure it out by now, but since you need some clear explaining, how about we start from the beginning? My name is Ōetsu Nimaiya, and I'm the God of Zanpakutō's. All the Zanpakutō's you Soul Reapers use to fight with were forged by me in the royal palace. But more specifically, I create the Asauchi that you Soul Reapers turn into Zanpakutō. Because of this, I'm aware of the location of any and all Zanpakutō. Not even the Shinken series are an exception to this rule. Yet for some reason, once I heard that you had two Zanpakutō's, something didn't sound right. Because to my knowledge at the time, you only had one. And even right now, you only have one."
Although what he was saying sounded to be insane. Kai knew he was right. There was really something wrong with his Zanpakutō's ever since he heard about Shunsui and other dual wielders.
When a dual Zanpakutō is created, it's spirit is split in half. Yet whenever he went into his inner world, there was only one spirit. So where was the other one?
"The answer is simple Kai Kureno. That Wakizashi you carry isn't a Zanpakutō of my creation. Every time you fought a hollow, you've felt a strange fear haven't you? An abnormal fear towards hollows. If the Zanpakutō's I forge are created to fight Hollows, then that Zanpakutō was created to do the very opposite. Rather than kill hollows, it was made to kill humans. The fact you've been able to use it till now is impressive, but the effects it's having on your Soul are dangerous. Even if you limit it's powers the way you have been doing it so far, you'll die in 5-10 years."
Kai froze. The sudden news was alarming.
"That's not true.. when my Asauchi turned into two Zanpakutō's, that Wakizashi came from it.. so why are you lying??"
Ōetsu slowly approached Kai, and he pulled the Wakizashi from his waist.
"You had this Zanpakutō even before that. Maybe even when you were born in your mothers womb, you had this Zanpakutō. It only sneaked out once you tried to kill a human right?"
Despite their strange hollow related powers, those Fullbringers were also still human, much like Ichigo. When Akira killed Linny, that was the first time he had felt such rage, and a genuine desire to kill another human. Those emotions were what caused the Wakizashi Zanpakutō to awaken.
"Well if we're done here, then it's time for us to go."
Oetsu and the rest of Squad 0 walked away. To return back to the Royal Palace, they would need Kūkaku Shiba's cannon.
Albrecht walked over to Kai to check on him, but his eyes were completely dead. Everything he had seemed to be disappearing.