[Quincy Archer Hates You Arc] Part 48: Ichigo vs Renji

Rukia was in disbelief. The fight between Uryu and Renji didn't last long. Renji had a clear advantage and defeated quincy without too much trouble.

Renji: "See? What did I tell you?" - He spoke to the fallen quincy.

Rukia: 'He's strong! He is much stronger than before! I couldn't even stop him…! I couldn't even move…!'

The shinigami pointed the zanpakuto in the direction of the quincy with the intention of delivering the final blow.

Renji: "Now reflect your stupidity as you die and remember my name. I am Renji Abarai…the one who killed you! Nice to meet you!"

As he was about to execute the quincy, a large zanpakutou hit the ground beside him, shattering the ground Renji was standing on and causing him to momentarily lose his balance.

The shinigami jumped onto a wall to get a better view of who attacked him.

Renji: "...! Who are you!?"

Ichigo: "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki! The man who will beat you!! Nice to meet you!"

Rukia: "Ichigo! You fool…why did you come?"

Renji: "I see…so you're the human who stole Rukia's powers!"

Ichigo: "And what are you gonna do about it?"

Renji: "Kill you!!"

***

Yato was walking slowly towards the place where Rukia and Ichigo would be. The truth is, he was still a little undecided on what to do.

He wanted to save Rukia somehow and was aware that if he overused his powers, he might be able to stop them from taking Rukia but there were a lot of problems with that idea.

If Soul Society learned that a human was able to take down a captain and a lieutenant, the next shinigami that would come for Rukia would be much stronger and not be as willing to talk. And the teenager was pretty sure they wouldn't wait for him to recover to try to protect Rukia again.

Cheshire: 'Not to mention we still have Aizen to worry about. You will obviously become a target.'

Yato: 'I would become Aizen's target sooner or later…but I prefer to become a target when I already have enough power to not care about it…'

Cheshire: 'So…'

Yato: 'I have a plan…but unfortunately…I'll have to let Rukia be taken…'

***

The fight between Ichigo and Renji continued with Ichigo having a hard time defending himself. His opponent was much stronger and faster and all Ichigo could do was defend.

When Ichigo thought he had an opportunity to attack, Renji surprised him by easily dodging the blow and slicing Ichigo's shoulder in the process.

Renji: "It's over. You're going to die here. Rukia is going to get her powers back and she's going to go back to Soul Society to die." - He spoke with a victorious smile.

Ichigo glared at Rukia after finding out she was going to be killed, but the little shinigami looked away.

Renji: "You're such an idiot. She ran away to protect you! It would be fine if you stayed hidden in your home, but you had to follow her uselessly. Did you really think you could save her? An amateur like you could never even scratch a real shinigami—"

Renji's words were interrupted by a sudden attack from Ichigo, resulting in a small cut on the shinigami's chin.

Ichigo: "Oops, my bad…You seemed to be saying something important and you were so distracted that I couldn't resist. What were you saying again? It had something to do with a scratch…" - He mocked.

Byakuya: "You let your guard down...Renji." - The captain spoke calmly, calling the attention of the red-haired shinigami. - "There was an image-only report from Onmitsukidō 33 hours ago. A Menos Grande was drive back to Hueco Mundo by a sword wound…"

Renji: "Hmph!! Ha ha ha ha!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Yeah, right! The Onmitsukidō isn't what it used to be!! - He pointed his finger at Ichigo. - "Are you telling me that this one hurt a Menos!? I don't believe!!"

Byakuya: "Renji–..."

Renji: "Look at his zanpakuto, captain! It's just big! He obviously can't control his own spiritual energy!!" - The shinigami kept mocking as he spoke. - "Hey, you! What is your zanpakuto's name!?"

Ichigo: "Huh? Name? It doesn't have a name. Do you give names to your zanpakuto!?"

Renji: "I knew it! You don't even know the name of your zanpakuto! Do you really think you can face me as equals? You're two thousand years too early!!!"

The shinigami takes a different stance and places his left hand on the zanpakuto's blade.

Renji: "Howl! Zabimaru!"

Renji's zanpakuto transforms into an even longer 6-part segmented blade; each segment is wider than the one preceding it from the hilt, with 2 pick-like protrusions on the front and back of each segment, with the ones on the front much longer than the ones on the back.

Renji: "Look, Zabimaru! There stands…dinner!!!"

The shinigami attacked again and Ichigo tried to defend himself but the attack was much more powerful than the previous ones, causing Renji to hit Ichigo's shoulder.

Violently, Renji pulls the zanpakuto back, causing each segment of the blade to tear further into Ichigo's shoulder.

Renji: "It's over, boy!!! You lost to Renji Abarai and will die here!!"

Ichigo fell to his knees, not knowing exactly what had happened. His opponent had suddenly become very strong.

Renji: "Sorry, kid. You were never on my level." - He said while pointing the zanpakuto at Ichigo. - "The zanpakuto change size or shape according to the user's spiritual power. That's the form of my power."

Rukia noticed that Ichigo was still standing there without showing any reaction and tried to gather strength to at least prevent the worst.

Renji: "Goodbye, boy. It's nothing personal, but… the air of this world doesn't suit me… I'll just get this over with…"

Suddenly, Rukia jumped on Renji's back and tried to grab his arm, preventing him from attacking Ichigo.

Rukia: "Run!!"

Renji: "Wha…What are you doing, Rukia!? Let go!! You're only making things worse for yourself!! Let go, fool!!"

Rukia: "Run, Ichigo!! Get up!! Get up and run!! Ichigo!!!"

To their surprise, Ichigo started to get up slowly, holding tight to his zanpakuto.

Renji: "What…? Can you still move? Excellent. No fun butchering a cripple pig anyway."

Rukia: "Ichigo!! If you can stand, run!! Run, Ichigo!!!"

Ichigo had gotten up but strangely just continued standing in the same place without responding to Rukia's pleas.

Renji: "Well? If you're not going to attack, I will!!"

The red haired shinigami took an offensive stance again but he wasn't prepared for what came next.

Ichigo's reiatsu suddenly increased, putting great pressure on Renji who couldn't dodge a sudden attack.

Ichigo had made a big cut on Renji's shoulder and the shinigami still didn't understand how the boy had done that.

Renji: 'What is this...!? His reiatsu…is increasing!!'

Renji turned to Ichigo but was again surprised by the boy's attack that threw him away. At first, it seemed that Renji had managed to defend himself from the attack and was just pushed, but when he managed to regain his balance, the glasses that were on his forehead broke and now there was a big cut on his face.

Renji: 'What the hell is this...!? Why is this boy's reiatsu so high!? He was about to die just a few seconds away!! Where is all that power coming from!?'

Ichigo: "Ha! What's the matter!? You got slow all of a sudden!!" - He said smiling with euphoria.

Renji: 'I didn't get any slower, you idiot. You're the one who got too fast...!'

Ichigo: "I don't know why, but…I feel great!! My wound doesn't even hurt anymore!! I'm sure I can finish you off now!!" - He practically shouted, still with that smile on his face.

Ichigo prepared to finish Renji, who was unable to move thanks to the sudden reiatsu that kept him paralyzed, but when the attack was about to hit the shinigami, Ichigo realized that the blade of his zanpakutou was gone.

Ichigo: 'What? The blade…disappeared…?!' - He looked at Renji and realized that the shinigami was still paralyzed, and judging by his expression, even he hadn't understood what had happened.

The teenager turned his attention to the other shinigami who was standing some distance away from everyone and started to sweat when he saw that the shinigami was holding the missing blade of his zanpakuto.

Ichigo: 'That guy...?! Impossible…!! How did he do it from so far?!'

In a simple movement, Byakuya took his hand to the handle of his zanpakuto, making Ichigo move to try to defend himself even with his broken blade but when the teenager realized, Byakuya had passed by him, apparently without even attacking, as blood began to flow from a small wound that had opened in the teenager's chest.

Ichigo: 'Huh…? What happened…? Did he hit me...? I…I can't tell if it was a cut from behind or from the front…'

Byakuya: "You're slow…even to fall…"

Rukia: "Byakuya nii-sama!!!!"

Renji: 'It's been a long time since I saw him in action…I could only catch a glimpse of the second stroke…just a blur…I never saw him draw his zanpakuto…I never saw him sheath It…The boy probably doesn't even know what hit him...'

Byakuya: "What's the matter, Renji?"

Renji: "...It's nothing, captain...You didn't need to get involved...I would have taken care of him myself..."

Byakuya: "Even I would be rusty if all I did was watch…"

Rukia: "Ichigo!!!" - She screamed as she ran to the fallen teenager.

Upon seeing this, Renji jumped towards Rukia but he ended up stopping in mid-air with his hand outstretched towards the small shinigami.

Renji: "What…?! I…can't move… What's going on…?"

She knelt beside Ichigo but seeing that Renji had suddenly become paralyzed for some reason made her even more apprehensive.

Rukia: 'I've seen this before…no…he can't be here…!!' - She turned towards a person who was approaching slowly.

Renji: "They keep showing up one after another…! Who the hell are you…?!"

Yato: "Hum...First of all…Good evening…"

The young man who had arrived paused momentarily, looking at Rukia.

Rukia: "You fool…why did you come…?" - She said shakily.

Yato: "...What a stupid question…" - The young man gave a slight smile turning his attention to Byakuya and Renji.

Renji: "All of you are idiots if you think you can–"

Renji's sentence is interrupted by a cut opening on his face.

Renji: 'What the...?! Where did that come from...?!'

The atmosphere was tense despite the boy appearing to be calm, but even the stoic captain was not prepared for the words that would come out of the boy's mouth.

Yato: "...Do I...really need a reason…to keep my fiancée safe?"