Chapter 26

Ichigo tried to hide it but the action only made it even more suspicious to Byakuya.

"Did you just… cough up blood?" The noble asked with a straight face, looking at Ichigo and the hand he was trying to hide.

The orange-haired Taichou smiled sheepishly. It seemed he was caught red-handed, literally and figuratively. The Hollows they've been fighting for a while now weren't even that strong and yet his body already felt like he was fighting Aizen for some hours. Just some seconds ago, he coughed and covered his mouth with his hand, only to see blood on his palm. It seemed his body had yet to recover from the huge blow it took, courtesy of the Bounto Kariya. Of course, he tried his best to hide it from Byakuya… in vain. The man was just as observant as he was, if not even more.

"We should rest." Byakuya voiced stiffly but Ichigo immediately shook his head.

"No, Byakuya, I'm fine." He insisted, wearing his usual scowl. He knew Byakuya must be pretty worried to even put the mission on hold just for his sake. However, simply resting would not help. He was quite sure of that since he'd been resting for some months now and his body was still as damaged as ever, if not worse. "Resting here now will not actually make my body heal..."

The noble closed his eyes, knowing full well that he couldn't win the argument. In the end, he nodded in assent. "…You strain your body too much, Ichigo. You should take care of yourself more." Ichigo didn't know if he would simply blush in embarrassment or if he would smile and giggle, although the latter was out of bounds for a man like him. He didn't know that having someone saying those words to him would make him feel a lot lighter and better.

The words were simple and he was sure Kaien and Juushirou had already said those same words to him a hundred times before. He knew it made him happy then. But somehow, it felt different when Byakuya said it.

Ichigo could also feel their other companions' strong reiatsus and knowing that everyone was okay made him more relaxed and cheerful, although still very much alert.

The last set of doors at the far end of the corridor immediately gave Ichigo the feeling that the main event was bound to set there. The man exhaled deeply before he and Byakuya both shunpod in front of the two sets of huge oak doors.

"He's inside." Byakuya voiced quietly. Ichigo knew even without saying the name that the noble was pertaining to Kariya. He quietly nodded, indicating he understood and was more than ready for it.

"Welcome, or rather, this will be your last destination, Shinigami." Kariya's voice rang inside the huge high-ceilinged room. The air he emitted was of pure power, which only meant that he managed to tend to his wounds and regain his strength somehow.

"Are they the ones who cut you that badly the last time?" Another voice echoed throughout the room. Kariya scowled at the newcomer just as the male laughed at his own statement. It was at that time that Byakuya gave the orange-haired Taichou a small signal. Ichigo nodded discreetly before he faced the one who spoke. Judging from the appearance, he'd say Kugo Ginjo became even more powerful than in the picture. Or maybe that's just the difference between an unmoving photo and the personal appearance of the person. The picture greatly failed to show just how terrifying and great Ginjo's reiatsu was.

"Oh?" Kariya arched an eyebrow when he noticed the signals exchanged by the two Taichous. "So my enemy is not the orange-haired Taichou this time?" His cold eyes then turned to Byakuya as the latter gave him the coldest gaze possible. "You sure know how to intimidate people with your gaze alone, Taichou-san." He voiced in mockery.

"Be ready. I will make sure to end your life." Byakuya answered with equal coldness. "I won't show you mercy."

"I know that." Kariya's eyes gleamed as he sneered. "It's because you're all dogs of Seireitei. You will follow any command of those Central 46 ruffians without question."

"You seem to be mistaken." Byakuya unsheathed Senbonzakura as he spoke just as Kariya readied his Doll. "I will kill you not because I was ordered to, but because you dared point your filthy blade at my pride." His gray eyes turned even colder than earlier "It does not matter if you did it once or twice, the fact that I will kill you either way remains."

Kariya looked surprised and at the same time confused for a while. But then his crimson eyes turned to Ichigo and he seemed to have understood. His smile was most menacing when he answered. "Oh, really? How wonderful. But I want action. Mere words bore me to death. I wonder though, is your sword as sharp as your tongue? Or are you just someone who speaks empty threats?"

"Bankai." Byakuya spoke just as he dropped his sword to the ground. The noble's massive reiatsu immediately filled the room just as killing instincts clashed against one another.

Ichigo, unfazed by the fight behind him, was merely looking at Ginjo coolly. He didn't have any personal hatred towards the man and he could see why they all wanted to have revenge. Just as Shinji said, they all had their reasons – valid or not – for hating Soul Society. But he's a Taichou and he wouldn't let them have their way.

"You seem too young to be a Taichou." Ginjo observed as he looked at the orange-haired Shinigami before him. "Also too young to be participating in this battle which I'm sure you know nothing of. I wonder how you will think of your beloved Seireitei the moment you learned just how dirty the place you call home is."

Ichigo merely readied himself for battle. He was sure Ginjo was saying the truth, for he experienced it himself, but he wasn't about to let the man shake his resolve. He wouldn't be swayed by such meager attempts of dissuasion. "I wasn't asked to know the root cause of all this. I was asked to protect Soul Society. And that's what I'm going to do." He merely said before he brought out both Muramasa and Zangetsu.

"Are you sure, King?" He heard Shiro's voice inside him. He merely nodded to himself as he voiced out loud, "Bankai."

Within seconds, reiatsus clashed against reiatsus. The tremendous effect of the fight immediately made the walls and ceilings of the wide room tremble and crack. The fight that took only several minutes already felt like hours because of the speed at which they all fought. The huge and magnificent room had started to collapse. The walls started having cracks and the ceiling slowly fell on them all. However, no one paid any attention to those things as the intense fight ensued – Byakuya versus Kariya and Ichigo against Ginjo.

"I'm telling you this not to discourage you, Kurosaki-kun." Unohana's voice was stern but her expression was that of concern. "Your body is not meant for fighting anymore. At best, you'll only last in a battle for about 30 minutes. After that…"

Ichigo gritted his teeth when he remembered Unohana's words. His zanpakutous and Hollow also said the same thing. But it's not like he could just tell Ginjo to finish their fight within 30 minutes if possible, especially since the other man seemed to be taking his time to play with the orange-haired Taichou.

At that, Ichigo knew the only rational thing to do was to speed up the fight so Ginjo would be forced to go all-out. He steadied himself in midair, between falling debris and specks of dust, before he swung out Zangetsu. "Getsuga Tenshou!!" The sudden change in tactic caught Ginjo by surprise but he was quick to recover. He managed to dodge in the last second, although he still received minimal damage.

"Is that all you can do, young Taichou?" Ginjo taunted. "I couldn't even feel it." He was so sure he would've been a goner if he received that kind of damage head-on. He needed to prevent that from happening. "In the end, you're still just too young, aren't you?"

But that wasn't the end. Ichigo, sighing and calming himself with all his might despite the fact that he wanted to say some retort, swung Zangetsu horizontally while he swung Muramasa vertically, forming a cross-like reiatsu. "Getsuga Jjuuji-shou!!" And he made sure Ginjo wouldn't be able to dodge this time. He disappeared from his earlier position and appeared some meters behind where he predicted Ginjo would show up after dodging.

Ginjo's eyes widened when the huge attack managed to damage him even though he was able to dodge it. When he escaped the blast, however, he found himself standing with his back in front of Ichigo. "Getsuga Tenshou." And it was all too late.

Ichigo looked at the explosion he made and the huge amount of smoke emanating from the scene. Anyone else would have been fooled that the enemy was dead… but not him. Ginjo would not die from that simple scale of an attack. If he would, then there would be no point in dispatching such a large-scale operation just to stop him and the other leaders of the rebellion. "I know you're still alive so there's really no need to shield your reiatsu from me." He said into the smoke.

A manic, feral laugh echoed as Ginjo showed himself from within the explosion. "You're right. I'm still alive. Too bad for you. You shouldn't have let me survive that." The man shrugged and grinned. "I was keeping it cool between us by simply playing with you first. But… Oh well, BANKAI." His grin widened just as Ichigo's eyes did.

It wasn't because it's the first time he saw a human transforming into Bankai but because of the transformation itself. Ginjo's raven-colored hair turned totally white just as his dark pupils turned gray. His skin color turned grayish as well just as his body got bigger. His muscles expanded and his clothes changed too. Usually, Bankai was a transformation of the zanpakutou and not the Shinigami. Although there were people like him whose Bankai would envelop the user like a shield, he had never seen a Bankai in which the appearance of the bearer changed. It was like Ichigo was looking at an entirely different person. There was no resemblance at all to the Ginjo he fought earlier, except perhaps the voice.

He remembered Aizen having the same transformation but it was with the help of the Hogyouku and not a simple Bankai.

"Are you perhaps wondering why my Bankai is different from normal?" Ginjo asked when he finished transforming. "It's because–" and he suddenly appeared before Ichigo, kicking him with strength that would have killed an ordinary Shinigami. "–I'm also a Fullbringer."

Ichigo managed to block the kick using Zangetsu as a shield but he wasn't able to block the strong impact from Ginjo's reiatsu. He found himself thrown some meters towards the ground. Ichigo got back on his feet some seconds after but he was coughing some blood.

Byakuya got a little bit distracted when he saw how Ichigo was thrown on the ground but Kariya's relentless attacks prevented him from even checking the teen's situation. He could only worry as he fought against the bastard. Besides, Ichigo would probably not appreciate it if he suddenly showed up there and meddle in the fight.

"What? Are your words earlier simply for provocation?" Kariya jeered as he used his doll to bring destruction to the noble's existence.

Byakuya's glare, if possible, turned even colder as he used Senbonzakura to defend himself against the kamaitachi. Kariya was relatively strong both in his attacks and in defenses so the noble was having a hard time fighting him. However, the same went for Kariya since Byakuya's petal defense was also impregnable while his attacks were very powerful. He was a master of hado and he was using his skills to the fullest.

Ichigo stood up from the rubbles of the fall and dusted himself off as he looked at Ginjo fully. He knew several minutes have already passed and he was pressed for time. He needed to finish everything immediately or it would be bad for both him and Byakuya.

"Shiro, I'll borrow your power for a while." He said in his mind as he readied himself.

"You'll have to finish him quickly or your body won't hold out long, King." Shiro answered in his inner world. His voice was thick with seriousness. "I won't forgive you if you die!"

Ichigo slowly raised his hand in front of his face and motioned it into a clawing manner. The air surrounding the teen suddenly got darker as a huge white mask appeared on his face, shielding his expression and his weakness from the world. A loud Hollow-like scream echoed throughout the nearly destroyed room and Ginjo watched in both shock and fascination as the Shinigami before him suddenly turned into a Hollow. Even Byakuya's fight against Kariya almost stopped because both of them got distracted due to the dense and dark reiatsu coming not too far from them.

"Ichigo…" Byakuya voiced as he looked at his co-Taichou with worry, his zanpakutou hanging in midair. He knew Ichigo's body was injured. It would be almost suicide if the teen used that kind of power in his current state.

"Ginjo, let's finish this." Ichigo said as he immediately disappeared from his earlier spot and appeared just some feet in front of his opponent. "Getsuga Tenshou."

Ginjo, who was still shocked from the earlier transformation, did not have the time to dodge as he met a black Getsuga. The attack was so thick and dense with Hollow reiatsu that Ginjo, despite blocking the attack with all his might, was still severely wounded. He was panting when the attack finished, thick crimson blood flowing out of his wound and onto the floor some meters below. He looked tired and in pain but his eyes were still determined and fixated on his enemy.

"You…" He voiced as Ichigo readied for another attack. "You don't know what it was like!! You have no idea how I was treated by your scum society!!"

Ichigo closed his eyes from beneath his mask. He knew very well what Ginjo was talking about. He knew very well just what kind of place Soul Society was more than someone who only experienced it from the outside. "Like I said, Ginjo, I'm not here to preach about the goodness of Soul Society. I'm here to exterminate you." He knew Ginjo's action was justifiable. He wanted revenge for all the wrong things that were done to him. However, that didn't warrant destroying Soul Society and endangering not only the innocent souls living in it but also disrupting the flow of souls and energy in the two worlds. "Getsuga Tenshou."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Shunsui looked at his enemy with his usual playful expression. The man by the name Koga was a bulky middle-aged Bounto wielding yet another Doll. The man looked incredibly strong, not to mention utterly composed and calculative, so unlike the previous Bountos they had encountered. Another problem was his extraordinary Doll named Dalk. From a simple metal sphere, Dalk could manipulate its body and transform it into weaponry. It looked like a giant metal spider with dangerous steel webs. Shunsui was having a really hard time dealing with it.

Toshirou was in no better condition. His opponents were the twin Bountos Ho and Ban. The two seemingly innocent kids were very synchronized in their attacks and defenses, making it hard for the young Taichou to defeat them. The twins also used twin Dolls Guhl and Gunther which could manipulate water even though they were merely bottle caps. The Taichou would attack using his ice-based zanpakutou only for the ice to turn into water and be used against him.

"Are you sure about this plan of yours?" Shunsui quietly asked his companion for confirmation. Toshirou simply nodded. The older Taichou smiled at that. "Hana Kaze Midarete Kashin Naki, Tenpū Midarete Tenma Warau. Kageoni."

At that moment, Toshirou also finally used his full power. "Bankai."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Oy, old man. Are you sure you're still up for this?" Shinji asked with a smirk, panting and bloodied. His opponent was an old man but he also seemed to be the strongest among the Bountos, which only made the fight more challenging. If only the old man was the one fighting… The old man by the name Sawatari was sitting on top of his Doll Baura as if watching a boring movie. The Doll, a huge whale-like creature, was the one fighting Shinji and it was annoying the blonde a lot. "Seriously, you tick me off." Shinji voiced after a while of running away from the monster. The whale could use the solid floor as its "water," making it practically invisible when it was underground. Not to mention Shinji could not locate its exact whereabouts while invisible.

"Oy, don't get in the way!!" Kenpachi shouted as he almost bumped into Shinji while dodging from his own opponent's attacks. He was currently fighting another Doll. Gesell was a huge eyeless monster who was annoying Kenpachi greatly. The brash Taichou was expecting a serious fight since his opponent seemed really strong. However, because all it did from the start was attack from the shadows using its limbs, Kenpachi was starting to lose the huge smile on his face. It could hide well in the shadows and the master controlling the Doll was nowhere to be found. "The weakling just does nothing but hide!!" He was starting to get bored.

"They're seriously messing with us." Shinji stopped running after a while, scowling at their hidden enemies. The whale chasing him just a while ago had vanished again. "They're just trying to tire us out." And he had not yet even used his Shikai.

"Let's see who gets tired first then." Kenpachi looked thrilled again. His unlimited supply of energy was one of his strengths. He stopped running and simply waited for the attack to come. The attacks could indeed wound him because the Doll's reiatsu was strong. But that's all there was to it. He would definitely find its master and fight him. "I wonder how I can torment you once you finally show yourself to me." He grinned as he imagined the attacks he would try out on the person.

Shinji sighed. He too felt tired of just running, expecting the enemy to finally fight him seriously. "It seems our opponents are the type to simply sit still while their Dolls do all the work." As if he would be beaten by such weaklings. "How about we finally show them who they're up against, eh, Sakanade?" He grinned as he calmed himself down. No one had ever managed to defeat his zanpakutou Sakanade before.

Kenpachi's eyes narrowed when another attack came from behind him. "Tch." He simply flicked his sword to defend himself against it. Other than that, he did not move from his position. He wanted the enemy to realize he was tired of playing hide and seek.

Shinji's demeanor changed when he realized something the moment Baura came out from its hiding place next. His grin widened. "So that's your weakness. I'm glad I finally found it."

"What do you mean, boy?" Sawatari looked confused, as if the word 'weakness' itself was something incomprehensible to the likes of him. But Shinji didn't answer so he simply smiled. "Bluffing won't get you anywhere, especially if it's blatantly lying to a more experienced fighter and veteran Bounto like me."

Shinji merely raised his hand upward and performed a slicing motion with his fingers. "Let's see about that." His aura immediately darkened as a long white mask appeared on his face, effectively making his reiatsu at least twenty times more immense and darker than normal. "Let's finish this, Bounto." He voiced as he readied his sword. Kenpachi looked at him then. It looked like the brash Taichou wanted to fight the blonde instead of his own enemy now. The dark, immense reiatsu was exciting Kenpachi so much that Shinji was almost sure the other Taichou would have attacked him now if only they were not fighting such annoying opponents.

Sawatari looked like he just saw a ghost with the incomprehensible event right in front of him. The blonde Shinigami Taichou just transformed into a Hollow right before his eyes. "What… are you?"

"I'm a Vaizard." Shinji voiced before he disappeared from his earlier position. Sawatari immediately ushered Baura to hide under the ground again but it was all too late. Before he knew what was happening, his Doll had already been cut in the middle with a power so huge that it also cut in two all the buildings and rocks behind Baura. Sawatari looked aghast as he was finally forced to stand up from his throne. But Shinji's attack wasn't finished yet. Sawatari suddenly found himself standing upside down, much to his shock and panic, while the sky and the ground were also upside down. He tried looking to his right but he found himself looking left. "W–What's happening!?!"

"My zanpakutou Sakanade inverts and reverses my enemy's visual perception." Shinji voiced. "As you said, you're a more experienced fighter. If that's true, then there's no way you'll defeat Sakanade." He knew this because experienced fighters rely more on their instincts than novices did. It would make them easy prey to the inverted and reversed world that Sakanade created.

"That's ridiculous!" Sawatari shouted. But he knew he was done for, especially when he saw the masked Shinigami attacking from behind him. He tried to at least defend himself by blocking the zanpakutou with his cane but it didn't have the desired result. His hand had blocked his front, while the cane that was supposedly on his right hand could now be found on his left. And that he could not move because he was upside down and he feared he might fall down if he took even a single step. Also, when he thought Shinji was attacking him from behind, the man was actually in front of him all along. The attack was swift and thorough. It was the last thing he remembered before everything finally went dark. It seemed he lost not only the fight but also his life. "You're… strong…" His lips whispered before he fell lifeless on the floor.

Shinji stared at him with an unreadable expression for a while before he took off his mask. "I told you I finally saw your weakness." He said before he sheathed his sword once again. His mask dissolved on its own as he finally finished his fight.

Kenpachi, on the other hand, had finally lost all his patience and had started punching and kicking all the buildings and rocks nearby. It took several minutes but in the end, the enemy had lost all the shadows that enabled his Doll to attack from. The glaring heat of the sun showered itself upon them when everything was cleared.

"Wow." Shinji voiced as he whistled at the scenery. He knew there was no way a sun existed in Hueco Mundo because Hollows were nocturnal creatures. It must have been those Bountos and Fullbringers who designed the place to have an artificial sun.

When Kenpachi finally destroyed the last set of rocks near them, the two were greeted by the master who was trying his best to stay invisible in vain. "Wha–?" The person was a middle-aged man wearing glasses. He was sitting in front of a table filled with cards. He tried to compose himself by standing and bowing like a gentleman. "Congratulations on finding me. My name is Ugaki, a Bounto who will definitely bring you to your end." He glared at the two Taichous just as he called out his Doll's main form. "Gesell, I command you to kill those two Shinigamis!!"

"Leave him to me." Kenpachi said as his eyes glittered from too much enthusiasm, especially when the whole body of the monster appeared before them.

Shinji simply shrugged and yawned. He didn't need to do anything because the weakling was starting to self-destruct anyway. He could see that Ugaki was actually panicking silently despite appearing so calm. It seemed it wasn't part of his plan to be exposed to his enemy. The weakling. There's no way the blonde Taichou would be thrilled to fight such a weak coward.

It seemed Kenpachi was starting to lose his thrill too. He had managed to defeat the monster after several minutes using merely his fists and enormous strength. Although, he did remove his eye patch in the middle of the fight because Gesell was much stronger than its cowardly master.

Ugaki gritted his teeth in anger when his Doll was defeated. He tried resurrecting it again but Kenpachi got to him first. The Taichou glared at the man and used his zanpakutou to cut the cards into small bits and pieces. Ugaki screamed in both anger and grief when the cards he used to call out his Doll were destroyed so easily. He also tried fighting Kenpachi but he was defeated in the end.

"Gah, so weak." Shinji said when he saw the man finally fall on the ground.

Kenpachi looked up as they both felt Ichigo and Byakuya's reiatsu soaring sky-high. Their enemies' reiatsu were also terribly immense. It seemed the two of them would have a hard time defeating their opponents. "It seems they often get the big fishes."

"I can't help but agree." Shinji scowled when he felt himself wanting to fight such opponents too. He could feel Ichigo's fluctuating reiatsu and Byakuya's disturbed one. He couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows in worry, even if he wouldn't admit it. "Those two are strong. They'll definitely win." It was more of a wish than anything.

Kenpachi nodded as they also felt Shunsui and Toshirou's reiatsu. They seemed to be having a hard time because they have three opponents. "Kyouraku-taichou and Hitsugaya-taichou are nearer from our location. Let's go."

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.tbc.

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