8 Last Day on Earth
(A/N: WARNING THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FROM BLEACH THOUSAND YEAR BLOOD WAR. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK)
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The next morning Orihime woke up to Yoruichi walking on her face. After getting dressed, they headed down and continued training. Orihime was annoyed because the ankle wraps seemed to have adjusted to her body's strength.
The progressive training showed wonderful results, so it was worth it. On the third day, the two of them were interrupted by a strong Reiatsu coming from Ichigo. This was when he found the Soul Reaper powers that he was born with. It was also when he stimulated the Hollow that resided deep within.
Orihime wondered if there was a way to stimulate his Quincy powers this early on. Probably not a good idea though, it may trigger Yhwach to move earlier than intended. Part of Orihime's plan was to extend the Hueco Mundo arc as much as possible.
Yhwach only moved when he did because the throne was empty in Heuco Mundo which was integral in his plans to collapse all three realms. Although he wasn't particularly scared of Aizen, he probably wouldn't want to trigger a two-front war.
Anyway, this was all Orihime's conjecture. Snatching the hogyoku and becoming a Soul Reaper were all plans for the long-term goal of delaying the Thousand Year Blood War arc. She suddenly made a huge mistake while fighting because of her straying thoughts.
"Orihime, what happened? You suddenly left yourself wide open."
"Sorry, I was just… worried about Ichigo."
'Dammit, how could I have forgotten something so obvious. Its literally in the name! The reason the Quincy waited so long to invader Soul Society was because that day Yhwach regains all of his powers. I think I messed up…'
"I'll take a break since you're so distracted. Go run fifty laps."
Orihime just nodded and started running. She would have complained if not for the realization that the Quincy's would attack on that day, guaranteed. She began to sort through what she remembered. After the Heuco Mundo arc, there will be two years of cushion before the final showdown.
Orihime wracked her brain for ideas, and by the time she finished running she only came up with two. Get Aizen to kidnap her, play through the arc normally, and when he destroys the cleaner, take advantage of the time distortion to get stronger.
That idea was, however, rejected, because Orihime could not guarantee hiding her hogyoku from him. He would certainly notice hogyoku's power if they were in close proximity for so many days.
The other plan scared her almost as much. Orihime had to rise in the ranks during those two years and have enough political power to oust the Quincy's hiding in the shadows. If the Gotei 13 launched a pre-emptive assault on them, with a weakened Yhwach, their chances of winning would skyrocket.
She would have to at least become a lieutenant, but she feared a captain would be the minimum. At this position, she could make full use of her future knowledge without throwing too much suspicion on herself.
She walked back to Yoruichi with a newly discovered determination. Becoming a captain wasn't easy.
'For my future with Byakuya—I mean the future of the three realms, I must become captain!'
Yoruichi noticed her determination and grinned. Secretly she was very happy with this student of hers. On one side of the cave, Ichigo and Urahara were dueling. On another, Orihime and Yoruichi were dueling.
…
Day of the invasion.
Ichigo arrives at the entrance to Urahara's shop and sees Urahara and Sado waiting for him.
"Oh, Ichigo! Right on time! Good, good."
"Chad… why are you here?"
"Rukia saved me once. I want to help her out. I'm going too."
Ichigo couldn't understand and was going to argue…
"What…"
"Did you not hear him properly?"
"Uryuu!?"
"Did you think I'd let myself be defeated by those Soul Reapers without counterattacking? So, I'm going too."
The door slid open and Orihime was standing there with her arms in her sleeves. She looked like a Soul Reaper so Ichigo was very confused.
"Good, we are all here."
"Orihime! Hold on a second, can someone tell me what's going on here?"
Yoruichi appeared from behind Orihime and mocked Ichigo.
"Don't tell me you didn't notice the growth of your friends? You need to be more observant to be a Soul Reaper. Orihime was training right next to you. Instead of questioning everything, you should be thankful."
Ichigo was dumbstruck.
"A cat just spoke to me!"
"Alright, alright, lets take this inside. There are some things we can't talk about out in the open."
Urahara interrupted the nonsense. The group started shuffling in at his order. Everyone was inside except for Ichigo and Orihime, when he called out to her.
"Orihime, what exactly is going on with you? Why are you dressed like that, and even have a Zanpakuto?"
Orihime had long since planned a few lies in order to smoothen the operation later. And technically, most of what she was going to say weren't lies.
"After the incident with my brother, when my soul was separated from my body, my powers began to grow. Before I knew it, I was exhibiting attributes of both a soul and a human.
Urahara says I should be no different from any born soul once my powers grow enough. However, I'll still be able to come to the world of the living without a substitute body."
"Does that mean you will become a Soul Reaper too?"
"Most likely!"
Having used up enough time talking, the two of them headed down to join the group. Uryuu and Sado were surprised by the giant subterranean cavern. Orihime chuckled at them. The group continued on to where Urahara was standing next to a large frame.
"Alright, there's just one thing that needs to be done first…"
Urahara said as he thrusts his cane at Ichigo's forehead, separating his soul from his body.
"Dammit you could've warned me first."
"Hahaha, alright let me explain what this is. This is a world gate, similar to the one used by the Soul Reapers to travel to and from Soul Society. The main difference is this one contains a Spirit-particle Conversion Machine.
Since only souls can enter Soul Society, and only Ichigo and Orihime are in soul form, this machine will convert you into soul form."
Orihime knew this all from the series and Yoruichi had told her this beforehand. The doom talk was given to the other three, but none of them backed off.
Orihime took a deep breath and prepared herself. This was the most important part of her plans. If everything went correctly, she would join the Gotei 13 in time to attack Aizen in Heuco Mundo.
And then she would try to rise to lieutenant for the battle at Fake Karakura Town. Before Urahara opened the World Gate, Orihime removed the wristbands and ankle bands. The air became thick and stifling from the pressure of her Reiatsu.
Ichigo and the group looked over at her in shock. Orihime didn't think her Reiatsu would become so powerful after thirteen days of training.
"Orihime… How strong are you right now?"
Ichigo was completely shocked. He couldn't believe the kind and timid Orihime was hiding such a powerful Reiatsu.
[Calculating…
Physical Power: 5
Spiritual Power: 22
Imprinting: 8%
Fusion Process: 80%
Dormancy: 98.0%]
"Aha, I'm not as strong as you Ichigo, please take care of me."
Orihime made a silly face, and Ichigo nodded. He still considered Orihime as someone who needed protection, even if she was stronger.
"Alright, the gate can only be kept open for four minutes, so you must enter immediately."
The gate flashed open and the five of them jumped through. They were met with darkness at first, but after running for a while, they entered a strange pathway where the walls oozed purple slime. They didn't stop running because the tunnel was collapsing behind them.
About half-way through, Uryuu noticed something coming. A large train-like device was charging straight for them from behind. Yoruichi explained that this was the cleaner and it would destroy them all if any of them let their Reiatsu leak.
Although she knew the risk, Orihime still released her barrier when the cleaner was getting too close. The impact launched them through the gate and they successfully entered the Soul Society.
"We are lucky to have Orihime, otherwise we would have been crushed by the cleaner."
The group looked around and noticed the town they were in was empty. Yoruichi explained that this was where the bulk of the population of Soul Society stayed. Orihime didn't really pay attention as she stared at the Seireitei.
She had to admit, it was really beautiful. Although they were still a few steps away, she knew they wouldn't be able to enter from here. After fighting the giant gate guardian, Jidanbo, they would need to track down Kukaku Shiba to launch them into Seireitei.
Ichigo started to fight against Jidanbo and the shockwaves of his attacks reached her from so far.
"Honestly, Ichigo is way too strong. I'm scared to let hogyoku calculate his strength. He should already have captain-level spiritual power, just absolutely abysmal control."
