9 Chapter 9: Clash of the Titans

*Captain's Meeting*

Inside the meeting room within the first division's barracks, all of the captains of the Gotei 13 stood in a single horizontal line across the room while the Captain Commander stood in front of the line looking at all of the captains with his staff in hand. Every captain was present except for the captain of the Thirteen division.

"This situation has become critical. As a result of recent events, the Thirteen Court Guard squads are now short by one lieutenant. Obviously, we cannot afford to leave these matters in the hands of lower rank officers and members." said Yamamoto while looking at each of the captains, "Furthermore, senior officers, including lieutenants, shall be allowed to carry the zanpakuto at all times, with full war-time usage of their powers." he finished.

"They're allowed to carry the zanpakuto at all times?" asked the captain of squad 9, Kaname Tosen.

"Full release as in war-time, hey. I couldn't be happier." said Kenpachi with a grin on his face, "He is fair game now, just the way I want it." he said with a chuckle at the end. The captain commander then slammed his cane on the ground before speaking.

"Everyone!" he yelled, and all of the captains looked up at him with a serious look on their face, "Let us declare all-out war on these ryokas!" he yelled and slammed his cane once more on the floor.

*With Ichigo*

After about four hours of hiding in the sewers, Ichigo stood up and looked over at Hanataro who was sleeping on the floor a few feet away from Ichigo.

'It's going to get really dangerous from here on.' Ichigo thought as he looked at the sleeping form of Hanataro, 'I won't be able to protect him and fight at the same time. I will have to come up with a plan.'

"Hanataro." Ichigo said trying to wake him up. Hanataro only mumbled a bit before rolling over in his sleep. Ichigo chuckled while shaking his head. He then walked over to the sleeping form of Hanataro and nudged him with his foot while saying "Hanataro," a little louder this time. Hanataro simple rolled over once again and hugged his bag-pack tighter and said,

"Five more minutes Captain Unohana." He mumbled loud enough for Ichigo to hear. Ichigo raised his eyebrow at that comment before sighing.

"Well, he can't say I didn't try to wake him up the normal way." he said before pointing his index and middle fingers at the sleeping form of Hanataro and whispered "Hado#4: Byakurai (Pale Lightning)!" Out of Ichigo fingers came a tiny bolt of white lightning that traveled through the air faster than the eye could track. The lightning then slammed into Hanataro's behind causing him to jolt straight up screaming.

"Ahhhh! Stop it! Please stop it! I don't know why you are coming on to me like that, but I am not that type of squad member!" Yelled Hanataro as he woke up. Ichigo simply stared at him strangely. Hanataro then looked at Ichigo before speaking again, "oh, good morning." he said.

"Uh, do I even want to know what you were dreaming about?" asked Ichigo.

"Um, no." he replied. Ichigo decided to change the topic.

"We should get moving, the commotion should have calmed down up there." Ichigo said while looking up the ladder. Hanataro stood up and dusted himself off before walking to stand next to Ichigo.

"Well, we should get a move on. There is still a way to go before we reach the tower." Hanataro said and was about to start climbing the ladder but stopped when Ichigo began to speak.

"It is going to get really dangerous from this point on Hanataro." Ichigo said while looking at Hanataro with a serious look on his face. "The next person we come across would likely a captain and I won't be able to protect you and fight at the same time." When Hanataro heard that he could immediately tell where Ichigo was going with this. "That's why instead of going with me to the tower I want you to go find my friends and tell them where Rukia is. Okay?" when Hanataro heard that he immediately brightens up a bit at the thought of getting to help Rukia in some way.

"Okay! Ichigo I will find them and tell them!" said a happy Hanataro.

"Well, let's go." Ichigo said as he started climbing the ladder. When he reached the top, he slowly lifted the stone covering the entrance to the sewers and looked around to make sure no one was around. After spotting no one around he removed the stone and climbed out allowing Hanataro to climb out as well before he placed the stone back into place.

"I had expected this place to be more secure after what happened earlier." said Ichigo while looking around.

"They probably think we feel lucky to have gotten away alive and figured this is the last place we would come back to," said Hanataro.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," said Ichigo, "This is where we part ways for now Hanataro." Ichigo said while turning to look at Ichigo.

"Yeah, I guess so, see you later then." said Hanataro as he began walking away from Ichigo towards the entrance of the courtyard.

"Yeah, see you-" Ichigo was interrupted by a really loud scream. It sounded like it was a girl screaming and she was a good distance away. Hanataro stopped and looked towards Ichigo.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound like anyone I know," Ichigo said. The two of them were about to continue walking when another scream came this time the girl was screaming someone's name.

"CAPTAIN AIZEN!" as Hanataro and Ichigo heard that both of them had different reactions. Hanataro eyes were wide as he looked around. Ichigo however, narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the scream.

'So, you have begun your plan...Sosuke.' Ichigo thought to himself. "We should get going." said Ichigo as he began walking towards the stairs leading to the Repentance Cell.

"See you." said Hanataro as he started walking in the opposite direction. Ichigo reached the stairs and stopped. He looked up at it and began mumbling to himself.

"Oh sure, they have giant walls that fall from the sky, but never heard of a damn elevator." mumbled Ichigo as he began walking up the stairs.

"Why don't you just flash step up the stairs." said Alucard from inside Ichigo's head. Ichigo stopped and started up the stairs for a second before he walked over to the side of the stairs, took his sunglasses off, and hit his head on the walls of the stairs. Alucard simply sweat-dropped at his master's behavior.

"Okay, let's do this," said Ichigo while putting his sunglasses back on. Ichigo then disappeared then reappeared at the top of the stairs. Ichigo stood there looking at the really large rectangular pillars that were there. Other than those pillars there was no one up there. Even though he could not see anyone Ichigo could not seem to shake the uneasy feeling he was having. He began walking towards the tower for about a minute, then all of a sudden, a large amount of spiritual pressure came crashing down on Ichigo. It was not enough to make Ichigo sweat, but it would have surely affected Hanataro.

'Good thing I sent him to look for the others.' Ichigo thought to himself. He then began looking around trying to find the source of the spiritual pressure, but much to his dismay, he could not find the person. So, he decided to continue walking towards the tower. As he took ten steps forward the spiritual pressure suddenly increased even more causing Ichigo to stop once again. Ichigo narrowed his eyes and expanded his senses trying to find the person. Suddenly Ichigo looked to his left and then looked up. In the distance up on one of the buildings was a silhouette oh someone. Ichigo never took his eyes off the person then suddenly the person disappeared, Ichigo did not look alarmed by that he simply turned his head and looked over his shoulder to see the person standing behind him.

"Are you Ichigo Kurosaki?" asked the man. Ichigo turned around to get a good look at his opponent. The man was a tall, muscular soul reaper with a wild and aggressive appearance. He has a long face with pronounced cheekbones and pronounced, hairless brow ridges. He has green eyes and long, stringy black hair. A noticeable trait in his appearance is a long, thin scar running down the left side of his face and across his left eye. In addition to the standard soul reaper uniform, he wears white bandages across his midsection and a sleeveless captain's haori which has a rugged look to it. He had lone spiky hair with a tiny gold bell at the tip of each spike. He also has a black eye patch over his right eye. Ichigo looked at him with narrowed eyed for a while before speaking.

"How do you know my name? And just who are you anyway?" asked Ichigo in a calm yet deadly tone.

"Ikkaku told me of course." said the man, "And I am Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of the eleventh division."

"I see..." said Ichigo, "...I do hope you put up more a better fight than your subordinates." Ichigo said while getting himself into a fighting stance. Then suddenly Ichigo heard a little girl's voice coming from behind Kenpachi.

"Wow, are you going to play with Kenny?" asked the little girl who suddenly popped up on Kenpachi's shoulder. She is a small, young girl with pink hair, dark pink eyes, and a perpetual blush on her cheeks. She wears the normal soul reaper's robes and a lieutenant's insignia on her arm. Ichigo stared at the girl with his eyebrows raised.

'Is she not affected by his spiritual pressure?' Ichigo asked himself. He was knocked out of thought when he felt something touch his shoulder. His eyes widen as he saw the little girl who was on Kenpachi's shoulder is now on his. He immediately jerked his shoulder upwards which successfully knocked her back to Kenpachi. 'I didn't even sense her' Ichigo thought.

"I think I made him mad," said the little girl.

"Well, what did you expect? That was just stupid." said Kenpachi.

"And stupid is as stupid does, right?" said the little girl while looking at Kenpachi.

"Well, you said it, not me" replied Kenpachi.

"Hey, you, little girl." said Ichigo getting the little girl's attention. "Who are you? or should I say what are you?"

"I am Yachiru Kusajishi." she said in a happy childlike tone, "I am also known as the lieutenant of squad 11." Ichigo's eyes widen at that statement.

'She is a lieutenant!' Ichigo screamed in his head while on the outside his face never changed from its impassive look. "So, the two of you plan on standing in my way of saving Rukia." Ichigo said, "well then, I am just-" Ichigo was then interrupted mid-sentence by Kenpachi.

"I could care less about your little quest to save that Rukia girl." said Kenpachi surprising Ichigo a bit, "I am only here for you. I heard you are strong, and I wanted a good fight. So, save that whole long speech, you were about to make for someone who cares." Ichigo now narrowed his eyes at Kenpachi. Kenpachi then looked towards Yachiru who seem to understand what that look meant and she then waved at Ichigo before disappearing.

"Where is she going?" asked Ichigo.

"Somewhere where our fight won't put her in harm's way." said Kenpachi. Ichigo nodded and then unsheathed his zanpakuto. "Tell you what, I am feeling mighty generous today. So, I am going to give you a free shot." Kenpachi said surprising Ichigo, "You can strike me wherever you please, I won't dodge, block, or counter." Kenpachi then pulled open his shihakusho and spoke again. "Come on, strike me."

"You know, the one thing I hate the most is when people underestimate my power," said Ichigo as he began walking towards Kenpachi, "but you, however, aren't just underestimating my power no you..." Ichigo paused as he reached in front of Kenpachi with his zanpakuto raised in the air while looking Kenpachi in the eye before beginning to speak again "...Insulted it." he said as he brought his zanpakuto down. Blood sprayed out of a diagonal cut on Kenpachi's chest. Kenpachi started laughing which was unnerving to Ichigo.

"Finally!" said Kenpachi sounding very satisfied. "A strong opponent. Yes! This is what I have been waiting for!" Kenpachi yelled as he drew his sword. It was the most beat-up sword Ichigo has ever seen. The edges were chipped in numerous places; The blade looked like it was not being properly taken care of.

'How can a zanpakuto spirit let their wielder treat their blade like that?' Ichigo asked himself. Ichigo then jumped back putting some distance between himself and Kenpachi. Neither one of them made a move or said anything. Kenpachi who still had a grin on his face was the first to make a move. He began charging towards Ichigo laughing all the way. When he got within striking distance, he raised his zanpakuto in the air and brought it down with a great amount of force. Ichigo just raised his zanpakuto with his left hand and blocked the strike. When the two blades connected it created a shock wave that destroyed the ground that they were standing on and created a large crater. Kenpachi raised his sword for another strike to which Ichigo blocked again.

"Stop blocking and fight back!" yelled Kenpachi as he brought his zanpakuto down for another strike. Ichigo sighed as he replied.

"As you wish" came Ichigo's voice as he swung his zanpakuto to meet Kenpachi's. When Ichigo's zanpakuto collided with Kenpachi's it knocked Kenpachi back with great force and sent him tumbling before slamming into one of the nearby buildings. Kenpachi stood up with a grin on his face and began to speak in a joyful voice.

"Now that is what-" However, he was interrupted by Ichigo's blade stabbing him in his shoulder. Ichigo pulled out his zanpakuto and swiped the air to get the blood off of his zanpakuto. He then looked at Kenpachi with narrowed eyes and began speaking.

"I am not much a talker during a fight." Ichigo said as he let his zanpakuto hang loosely by his side, "And I am kind of on a tight schedule, so why don't you stop wasting my time and release your Shikai so we can really have some fun." Ichigo said in a bored tone.

"My zanpakuto doesn't have a name." said Kenpachi surprising Ichigo, "My sword is completely out in the open. It has never had a sealed state. What you see here is the true form of my zanpakuto." said Kenpachi as he held his zanpakuto up for Ichigo to look at. Ichigo got a pissed off look on his face.

"So, let me guess you are one of those guys who think a zanpakuto is only a weapon, a tool for killing your enemies." Ichigo jumped a few feet away from Kenpachi before he stood up straight and tighten his grip on his zanpakuto. "You disgust me." Ichigo said as he slit his thumb with his blade and dropped a few drops of blood on the blat side of his bade.

"Feast on their fear, Alucard!" Ichigo yelled and was encased in a tower of black spirit energy.

"This spiritual pressure!" yelled Kenpachi with a grin on his face, "Yes! This is what I have been waiting for!" he said with a bloodthirsty grin on his face. When the tower died own Ichigo stood there with his two pistols in hand.

"I am going to show you the power of harmonizing with your zanpakuto and treating it as a partner instead of just using it as a tool." Ichigo said in a calm tone as he pointed Casull at Kenpachi and squeeze the trigger. Out of the pistol came a small blood-red bullet with a black outline. It traveled through the air faster than even Ichigo's eye could track and slammed into Kenpachi's shoulder piercing straight through him and five of the pillars behind him before it disappears from sight. Kenpachi had a confused look on his face. He could feel the pain coming from his shoulder but did not know why. So, he decided to look at his shoulder, what he saw caused his eyes to widen. In his shoulder was a 2-inch-wide hole that blood was pouring out of at an alarming rate but Kenpachi did not look too concerned about that. Ichigo just stood there watching Kenpachi when all of a sudden, his eyes went wide. Since Ichigo and his friends entered the Seireitei, Ichigo was able to sense Chad's spirit energy but now he could not sense it. So, he tried harder to sense it but only caught a glimmer of it. Ichigo locked onto that glimmer trying to figure out if Chad was dying, but much to his relief Chad was not dying his spirit energy was really low, and he was injured. Ichigo then brought his attention back to Kenpachi was still looking at the hole in his shoulder. Kenpachi was knocked out of his staring by Ichigo's voice.

"I am sorry, but I am going to have to end this quickly a friend of mine needs my help." said Ichigo as he lowered Casull and pointed Jackle at Kenpachi.

"End it quickly?" asked Kenpachi while looking at the ground, "I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to do that. This is just getting fun!" Kenpachi screamed as he ripped off his eye patch. As he ripped his eye patch off a tower of yellow spiritual energy formed around him, going high into the clouds.

'What the hell! What was that eye patch?' Ichigo asked himself. "Now what nasty little secret have you been hiding behind that eye patch of yours?" Ichigo asked Kenpachi.

"Hiding? As if I would stoop so low to use tactics like that." said Kenpachi from inside the tower you spirit energy, "I had the technology department design this little monster for me. It consumes huge amounts of spirit energy from the one who is wearing it. Now that I have taken it off, I am using 100% of my spirit energy." Kenpachi said before he took his zanpakuto and swiped the air to his right effectively cutting the giant rectangular building that was there in half.

"That still isn't going to help you here Captain." said Ichigo as he pulled the trigger on Jackle. Out came a small black bullet with a red outline that pierced through the spirit energy surrounding Kenpachi and slammed into his chest knocking him into the wall behind him. After about two minutes Kenpachi then stood up and began channeling his spirit energy all around him. Soon an outline of a skull formed in his spirit energy and he began laughing like a madman

"Yes! This is so much fun!" yelled Kenpachi.

"I think it is time for you captain to learn what true fear is." Ichigo said in a deadly tone as he too began channeling his spirit energy around him. Just like Kenpachi, an outline began to form above Ichigo the only difference is Ichigo's outline was of a rather scary looking dog with blood-red eyes that stared at Kenpachi. Kenpachi was starting to get scared because of the way the dog was staring at him, but he put his fear aside and started to charge towards Ichigo.

"You know the biggest disadvantage to having guns as your Shikai?" he yelled as he was charging at Ichigo, "It is only an offensive type weapon which means you have no defense!" he yelled as he stabbed his zanpakuto through Ichigo's chest. He started grinning and laughing but immediately stopped when Ichigo spoke.

"Who needs defense?" asked Ichigo as he moved to his right which caused Kenpachi's zanpakuto to cut its way through him until free. Kenpachi's eyes widen at that. Ichigo now stood there with the left side of his upper body not connecting to his lower body. When Ichigo turned to face Kenpachi, what Kenpachi saw made his eyes widen.

'So, that's why he doesn't need a defense.' thought Kenpachi as he looked at Ichigo. Ichigo's wound was smoking, and the upper and lower part of his body starting to heal itself. It looked like the body was sewing itself back together. After about three seconds Ichigo's wound was completely healed along with his clothes. Ichigo then looked at Kenpachi before disappearing from Kenpachi's view only to reappear behind him with both guns pressed into his back.

"I do hope you survive this because I would love to fight you again." Ichigo whispered to Kenpachi as he charged up a large amount of spirit energy in both guns before squeezing both triggers at the same time firing a shot larger than usual through Kenpachi. No one could see the bullets exit the guns however, it could be seen exiting Kenpachi's chest. Kenpachi then began to fall to the ground, but before he could hit the ground Yachiru appeared and caught him. She looked towards Ichigo and spoke in a happy and cheery voice.

"Thank you for playing with Kenny Ichi. It has been an exceptionally long time since I have seen Kenny have some much fun. Try to stay alive okay? That way you will get to play with Kenny again someday." as she said that she disappeared with Kenpachi. Ichigo just stared at the spot where she was before sealing his zanpakuto and mumbling to himself.

"What a strange girl." Ichigo said to himself. Ichigo then began trying to find Chad's spirit energy aging but this time he could not locate him. 'It seems you were captured, my friend. Don't worry I'll get you out.' Ichigo thought to himself and was about to head to the tower but was stopped by Alucard's voice.

"I think you should get some rest master." said Alucard from inside Ichigo's inner world.

"Why? I feel fine." said Ichigo

"You used a lot of spirit energy to heal your wounds and in that last attack of yours. Your opponent even though he was strong, did not have a Shikai. Your next opponent will likely be a captain with a Shikai, so just take a few minutes to replenish your spirit energy before continuing."

"I guess you're right." said Ichigo, "But where am I going find a place to replenish my spirit energy."

"I believe I can help with that." came a familiar voice from behind Ichigo. When Ichigo turned around he saw it was Yoruichi.

"Hey Yoruichi, is it just you?" asked Ichigo.

"Yeah, I got split up from Ganju and the rest of them after the whirlpool exploded." He said as he walked towards Ichigo.

"So, where can I go to rest for a bit?" Ichigo asked while dusting off his clothes a bit.

"Follow me." Yoruichi said as he began running in the direction of the Repentance Cell, then made a right towards what appears to be a storage area of some sort. Yoruichi then stood in front of one of the buildings and with his paw, he slid open the door. "We can rest in here for a while." He said as he walked inside the building. Ichigo soon followed him inside to find it to be an old storage shed or something. He sat down at the corner of the room and removed his zanpakuto from his side before laying it down right next to him.

"So, when did you show up to my fight?" asked Ichigo. Yoruichi who was cleaning himself with his paw stopped and looked at Ichigo before speaking.

"I was there from the beginning. I was there even before you arrived." said Yoruichi.

"I see." said Ichigo before he closed his eyes to rest for a bit. Unintentionally Ichigo fell asleep for a while. Out of nowhere, Ichigo sprang to his feet with his zanpakuto in hand looking around the room. As he was looking around the room for an enemy, he came across a very strange sight in Ichigo's opinion. Standing in the corner of the room was a naked lady. She was a slender and well-endowed woman of average height. She has dark skin, golden irises, and purple hair. Her hair is waist-length and kept in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face.

"Um, not that I am complaining about the view or anything but who are you, and why are you naked?" asked a very confused Ichigo.

"Oh, I forgot I never actually showed you and your friends my human form." said the woman.

"Your human form?" asked Ichigo to which the woman nodded. "Okay, and what is your other form?"

"A house cat." she said while making no attempts to cover herself. Suddenly realization hit Ichigo as he stared at the woman wide-eyed.

"Yoruichi!" he yelled, "You're a girl!"

"Of course, I am a girl. Want to come and check just to make sure?" asked Yoruichi with a teasing grin on her face. Ichigo calmed himself and turned around looking away from Yoruichi before speaking.

"No, I do not need to check, I believe I had a good enough look to confirm." said Ichigo. Yoruichi just started chuckling, "Can you please put some clothes on." said Ichigo.

"Fine I will, such a prude." said Yoruichi as she got dressed, "Here I'm wearing clothes now are you-" Yoruichi was interrupted by a large amount of spiritual pressure that came crashing down on them. Ichigo immediately recognized it.

"It's him," he said as he strapped his zanpakuto to his side.

"It is coming from the direction of the Repentance Cell." noted Yoruichi while moving to stand next to Ichigo.

"How long was I asleep for?" asked Ichigo.

"About an hour. Why?"

"Cause I sent Hanataro to go look for the rest of the guys and tell them where Rukia is." said Ichigo while looking in the direction of the Repentance Cell.

"Well, whoever this Hanataro is it looks like he found your friends and they are there right now." said Yoruichi. Without saying another word Ichigo disappeared from Yoruichi's view. At the Repentance Cell, Rukia and Hanataro were standing in front of the door of the cell while lying face down in a pool of his own blood was Ganju. It looked like he was cut up pretty badly. Standing in front of Ganju was the captain of squad 6 Byakuya Kuchiki. Byakuya looked away from Ganju and turned his attention to Hanataro. Rukia saw this and immediately stood in front of Hanataro and yelled at her brother.

"No brother Stop!" She yelled in a desperate attempt to stop her brother. However, Byakuya paid no attention to her and raised his zanpakuto to strike both of them down, but before he could strike someone grabbed his wrist. He turned around to see the captain of squad 13 holding his wrist.

"Whew. Close one. Pretty dangerous." said the squad 13 captain, "Why don't we leave it at that captain Kuchiki."

"What are you doing here Captain?" asked Byakuya.

"Well, I could ask you the same thing. After all, releasing one's zanpakuto in a place like this is a first-class offense, even if it is to repel ryoka. What were you thinking Kuchiki?" Jushiro scolded.

"The wartime exemption allows the unrestricted use of a zanpakuto," Byakuya said surprising Captain Ukitake.

"War exemptions?" said Ukitake in a surprised voice, "Has the ryoka invasion gotten that bad? was it a ryoka who killed Aizen?" he asked. Before Byakuya could reply a large amount of spiritual pressure came crashing down on everyone there forcing Rukia and Hanataro to their knees and it even causes the two captains breathing to increase a bit. "What spiritual pressure!" Jushiro yelled, "This is undoubtedly a high captain class opponent!" Byakuya narrowed his eye and looked over his shoulder. After about two seconds someone landed on the bridge leading to the Repentance Cell.

"Always picking on the weak huh Kuchiki?" came the person's voice.

"I see you survived my attack..." Byakuya said before pausing to turn and face the person, "...Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo stood there with a smirk on his face.

*CHAPTER END*

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