Runaround

Surprised by Ohta's sudden appearance, everyone but Kisuke tensed before promptly relaxing when they realized who had appeared.

"I see you picked up a new trick," said Yoruichi, removing Ohta's bayonet-like Zanpakuto from her cloak and handing it to him hilt-first.

"Aizen prepared a countermeasure against my psychic powers, but things didn't play out in its favor," replied Ohta.

"So it would appear," mused Yoruichi, returning her attention to the battle between Aizen and Yamamoto as she added, "You arrived at a good time. If you can, retrieve the bodies of Captains Hitsugaya, Komamura, and the others..."

Raising his brows, Ohta asked, "Did they die...?" in mild disbelief. He and Toshiro weren't on the best of terms and had never spoken to Komamura outside their exchanges as adversaries, but he didn't expect them to keel over this early.

Shaking her head, Yoruichi replied, "No. Former Lieutenant Sarugaki was cut in half by Gin, and Hitsugaya had his right arm cut off, but Aizen has yet to kill anyone directly. He apparently wants everyone to survive and 'witness' the world he will create..."

Though he was tempted to question why she and Soifon hadn't moved everyone to safety, Ohta furrowed his brows, asking, "Speaking of that snake bastard...where is he?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Yoruichi replied, "Probably lurking in a shadow, waiting to see how things play out. Trying to intervene when those two mon-"

Before Yoruichi could finish speaking, massive pillars of flame began to appear throughout Karakura Town, prompting her to shout, "Worry about Gin later! Rescue the others...!"

Clicking his tongue, Ohta vanished using his newly acquired teleportation ability. He had left a psychic imprint in Toshiro long ago, so he found the white-haired 'youth' bleeding out in a small crater, staring up at the scene of Aizen and Yamamoto with a look of regret on his face.

Poking a pressure point in Toshiro's shoulder, temporarily stemming the blood flow, Ohta mused, "Don't go kicking the bucket on me, chibi. Your Lieutenant would become a pain in the ass if you did."

"Yamada Ohta..." groaned Toshiro. He then tried to say something else, but Ohta teleported him and his Zanpakuto to Yoruichi's location before moving on to his next target, Komamura. Unlike Toshiro, he was knocked out, so Ohta teleported him to safety before using Shunpo to dart around the wreckage of Karakura in search of others. Fortunately, Yamamoto and Aizen were having some kind of moral debate, so Ohta had a precious few seconds to-

Interrupting Ohta's recovery mission, Ichigo, standing outside the pillars of flame, shouted, "Old man, behind you...!"

As Ichigo shouted, a tall, eerie-looking figure with massive shoulders and thighs appeared behind Yamamoto, slapping the surprised Captain away with one of its inordinately long, skinny, and powerful arms. Alongside the figure's Hollow hole, located in the center of its chest, it had four vent-like ports along its pectorals and pelvis. Its blond hair and buck teeth denoted it as Wonderweiss, but in place of his pink eyes and freckles, he now had a tall, inverted test-tube-like mask with three small horns and dark voids where his eyes used to be.

Though he couldn't hear what Aizen said due to the sound produced by the flame pillars, Ohta had a decent idea of what it was since said pillars abruptly vanished, accompanied by Wonderweiss exhaling a high-pitched laugh.

Just as Ohta was considering launching a surprise attack on Aizen or Wonderweiss, the former looked down at him, smiling as he said, "I see you were able to defeat Blutgeist, even with the injuries inflicted on you by Gin. Marvelous."

Before Ohta could retort, Yamamoto reappeared instantly, smashing his right fist into Wonderweiss's abdomen and causing it to fracture like glass before he was sent crashing through several buildings.

"Yamada Ohta...!" shouted Yamamoto. "Remove yourself from this battle at once! I will not permit you to besmirch the honor of the Thirteen Court Guardian Squads...!"

Interjecting in place of Ohta, Wonderweiss emerged from the ruins of the buildings he had been smashed through, his wound bubbling and healing nigh-instantaneously as he launched himself at Yamamoto, pounding the latter's guard with swift and powerful punches. This allowed Ohta to cast one final glance at Aizen, narrowing his eyes as he asserted, "You're going to die..."

Adopting a faint smile, Aizen replied, "Not so long as you continue holding back..."

Seemingly coming up with an idea, Aizen's brown eyes glistened as he mused, "Oh, I know. Once I've finished dealing with the Gotei, how about the two of us relocate to the barrens surrounding the Soul Society for one final climactic battle before I complete the Oken and rise to challenge the Royal Guard? Then, once you comprehend the futility of opposing me, you can join me in the Heavens as one of my Generals. It would be a shame to kill such a promising young man..."

Before Ohta could respond, Yamamoto's aged voice echoed across the battlefield as he slammed both of his fists into Wonderweiss's abdomen, stating, "Sōkotsu...!" in a merciless tone. The power within the blow was enough to flatten a mountain, but instead of producing a shockwave, the energy was disseminated through Wonderweiss's Reishi-comprised cells, disintegrating more than 80% of his body.

Though he was taken aback by Yamamoto's demonstration of power, Ohta was more surprised when Aizen casually remarked, "I suggest you retreat to a safe distance..." in a voice only he could hear.

Clenching his teeth, Ohta had to muster every ounce of his willpower not to hurl himself at Aizen right then and there. His instincts were yelling at him to get as far away as he could, so he teleported to the nearest source of Reiatsu, finding the flamboyant Rose, afro-haired Love, and cosplaying Lisa collapsed near one another, teleporting the entire group to safety as the region behind him erupted like a rising sun, swallowing up several city blocks of the fake Karakura Town before gradually retracting in on itself...

Reappearing near Unohana, Isane, and a massive, incredibly rotund man with buzzed pink hair, a mustache, and a black skull motif atop his head, Ohta observed the retracting Sun with a serious look on his face. It didn't get the chance to expand as much as Nnoitra's self-destruction, but Ohta could sense that the energy within the blast was much, much stronger.

"I see you managed to defeat that strange, spherical Hollow," remarked Unohana. "Also, thank you for bringing these three to us. We'll take it from here."

Turning his attention to Unohana, Ohta sarcastically remarked, "Lucky for us, Aizen doesn't seem interested in killing us..."

"So it would appear..." replied Unohana, her voice calm despite adopting a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"You look disappointed?" noted Ohta, adding inflection to the end of his statement to turn it into a question.

Adopting a markedly more sincere and amused smile, Unohana replied, "You'll understand in the future. For now, you should get ready to move. I don't believe the Captain-Commander will be defeated by his own flames. If he's injured, it's likely to draw Aizen into a trap. Once it's triggered, you and Kurosaki Ichigo should be prepared to follow up."

As if punctuating Unohana's statement, a pillar of crimson flame erupted in the distance, taking on the form of a blade more than three kilometers and consuming several city blocks in pure destruction.

"That would be the Captain-Commnader's trap..." remarked Unohana, narrowing her eyes as she looked up at Ohta and added, "I pray for your fortune in battle, Yamada Ohta. If you survive this, let's spar sometime..."

Feeling goosebumps spread across his body, Ohta replied, "Hard pass..." before teleporting away. As he did so, Unohana closed her eyes, exhaling a faint sight before opening them to reveal a cold, ruthless glimmer as she muttered, "Shigekuni, you old fool..."

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Finding Ichigo in the midst of performing a sneak attack with his Hollow mask equipped, Ohta clapped his hands together, intending to leap into the fray when Soifon appeared next to him, saying, "Ohta-dono. Yoruichi-sama has asked me to escort you to the Soul Society..."

"..."

Though his left eye twitched, Ohta Shunpo'd away, prompting Soifon to do the same. Once they were at a 'safe' distance, he stared down at the petite woman and asked, "What's this about...?" with an unamused look on his face.

"We overheard your exchange with Aizen," revealed Soifon. "If he is truly willing to fight you in the barrens of Soul Society, it would be best to face him there. Yoruichi-sama and the rest will delay him so we can muster the remaining Captains and prepare countermeasures..."

"..."

Resisting the urge to tell Soifon to fuck off, Ohta observed the situation for several seconds before responding with a curt, "Fine...but, before that, I need to pay someone a visit. You should move as far away from here as you can in the meantime. I'll teleport to you once I'm done."

"As you will," responded Soifon, bowing her head and cupping her hands together before disappearing with Shunpo. In the wake of her departure, Ohta teleported to a nearly undetectable Reiryoku near the edge of the massive crater caused by the enormous flaming sword. There, he found a grievously injured Yamamoto, still conscious but covered in severe burns and missing his left arm.

"Yamada Ohta..." groaned Yamamoto in a husky, aged voice. He could barely move in his present state, but if looks could kill, Ohta imagined he would have vaporized on the spot.

Catching Ohta a little off guard, Yamamoto asked, "Have you come here seeking to benefit from this situation...?"

Adopting a serious expression, Ohta revealed, "I promised the surviving Espada that Soul Society would not seek vengeance against them. If we make it through this, I'll have you uphold that promise alongside my other rewards..."

Having recognized Ohta's cloak at a glance, Yamamoto eventually closed his eyes and responded, "The first and ultimate law of the Soul Society is to maintain the balance between the three worlds. So long as they are not observed devouring the living, the Gotei will not seek revenge against the Espada or meddle in the affairs of Las Noches..."

"I'll have you put it in writing once we reach the Soul Society..." said Ohta, teleporting himself and Yamamoto to the location of Unohana to pick up Toshiro and a snaggletoothed 'little girl' with blonde hair and pigtails. The latter, Sarugaki Hiyori, had been cut in half by Gin, so while her body had been stitched together, her chances of surviving were low. Orihime would be able to heal everyone so long as she had enough Reiryoku, so after a brief exchange with Unohana, Ohta teleported everyone to the location of Soifon before they made their way to the Soul Society in preparation for Round Two...

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"You idiot...!" shouted Rukia, leaping and landing heels-first against Ohta's face. His barrier protected him, however, so he didn't move so much as he snatched her out of the air, holding her writhing body as he said, "You can lecture me all you want after the battle has ended. I'll listen to you for the rest of my life if needed..."

Giving up her resistance, Rukia exhaled a loud, exasperated sigh before adopting a serious, slightly pouty expression as she asserted, "I'm going to get stronger..."

"I have no doubts about that.." replied Ohta, kissing Rukia's head before setting her down. They had quite a large audience, including her brother, so he didn't want to embarrass her too much.

Turning his attention to Orihime, Ohta adopted a faint smile and said, "I'll be relying on you once again..."

Returning a far more radiant smile, Orihime pumped her fists and replied, "Just leave it to me, Ohta-kun~!"

Nodding in approval, Ohta surprised the bubbly ginger with a chaste kiss, greatly boosting her motivation. Then, while Soifon apprised the others of the situation, he watched as Orihime stabilized Hiyori and restored the left arms of Yamamoto, Toshiro, and, for good measure, Zaraki. This earned him a glomping hug and a wet kiss on the cheek from Yachiru, but as she looked like a literal child, Ohta just took it in stride, wiping away her drool with a neutral look on his face...

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(A/N: This is why you target the White Mage first...)