Chapter 1232 Mad Dragon 

Juushirou gained some distance from the large bulk of the battles and stopped. And only a few seconds later, two Shinigami landed not far from him, both sporting complicated expressions.

"Rukia, Sentarou. It has been a while." Juushirou greeted them with a smile.

However, there are no replies from the two and both of them just unsheathed their swords.

"I guess they've forbidden you to engage in conversations.", Juushirou sighed with a wry smile, "That's too bad, I suppose."

Rukia and Sentarou gritted their teeth when they saw Juushirou pulling out his Zanpakuto, "C-Captain... Do we really have to do this?"

Rukia was silent for a short while. Of course, she was very much against this and if possible, she'd like to convince Juushirou not to fight and maybe, they'll be able to find a suitable middle ground for the current situation. However, the current directives given to them don't allow any of those explicitly. So with her responsibility as a Captain, she was obligated to give an answer, "...Yes. Get ready."

Juushirou nodded in satisfaction, "That's admirable. You've become a respectable Captain, Rukia. In that case, I have to respond in kind."

With a strict expression, he muttered, "Bankai..."

Rukia and Sentarou's expressions immediately changed as they jumped back, "Bankai! Captain Juushirou is using Bankai!"

As far as they could remember, he never once mentioned anything about it nor released it even in the heights of war.

The katana in Juushirou's hand split like it normally would when he released his Shikai but instead of a thin rope with charms dangling along it, the blades became connected by a large thick rope arching above his body with sheets of folded paper lined along it. In addition to that, Juushirou also gained a headdress that was made out of folded paper that went around his shoulders, making him look like a high priest of a shrine.

"Shinkai no Gyosei, Futago no Utsushi; Sougyo no Kotowari (Twin Reflections of the Abyss; Law of the Twin Fish)"

Rukia pointed her palm towards him and was about to attack him with Kidou. Since they didn't have any information about him, she wanted to gain an understanding of the situation first by opening up the distance between them.

But before she could do so, she hesitated as she saw him point the tip of his twin swords to his left and right and couldn't feel any hostility coming from him.

"Reflections of Fate." Juushirou softly muttered and his Reiatsu spread outward with a soft light.

Rukia and Sentarou couldn't dodge the expanding light so they attempted to block it. However, the light just went through them and traveled outwards.

Confused, Juushirou chuckled and stabbed his swords on the ground, "Don't worry. That didn't affect the two of you."

"...What?" Rukia asked in confusion, not willing to immediately believe him.

While removing a cloth pouch from his Shihakushou, Juushirou casually explained, "Souyo no Kotowari's main ability is reflection and that's the same in my Bankai, though with one additional thing. I can store the abilities that hit me for future use."

"...Then what ability is it?" Rukia hesitantly asked.

Juushirou displayed a very rare grin and said, "Aizen Sousuke's Kyouka Suigetsu."

Rukia and Sentarou immediately looked around and found that no one else was glancing in their direction.

"From their perspective, we're having a great time. Don't worry about them." Juushirou replied while rummaging through the pouch.

A few seconds later, Rukia sighed and sheathed her sword.

"Captain!?" Sentarou immediately questioned.

But Rukia ignored him for now and walked towards Juushirou, this time, without an ounce of doubt, "The Captain Commander said that this might happen."

"Oh? Shunsui did? Well, considering Urahara-kun, he might have already come in contact with him before all of this happened." Out of nowhere, Juushirou pulled out a table and three chairs from the pouch, resulting in Rukia and Sentarou freezing from their spot.

"This sack sure is convenient," Juushirou muttered to himself before inviting the two of them to sit down with him.

Rukia immediately recovered and took Juushirou's offer, "Captain, what should we do?"

Juushirou also sat down and this time, he brought out a set of tea from the pouch, "You're the Captain now so call me by my name. And if you're asking that, then it must be a strangely strict directive that you receive."

"...Yes. Everyone has their doubts but no choice but to follow for now. Please tell me what's really going on."

"The situation is indeed compli- !?" Juushirou was pouring the tea but stopped and hurriedly stood up.

Rukia and Sentarou were also the same and looked in a certain direction. The direction where the leader of the Zero Division was fighting, "W-what is that!?" Rukia raised her voice.

"...I heard about it from the old man." Juushirou murmured with a twitched mouth, "I thought that he was exaggerating it... But it turned out that he was underselling them."

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Tenjirou and Serafall have also gained considerable distance from everyone else so it's hard to feel their presence.

"Hoo... You've kicked for quite a distance. Are you afraid that I was going to ask for help?" Tenjirou took out a wooden comb from his sleeve and fixed his hair which was slightly disheveled from being thrown around, "You're underestimating me, miss. I don't need anyone's help to deal with you."

"Nope. It's also because my ability is not really suitable with allies around. I can't really fight properly with them around." Serafall replied while stretching her limbs as a warm-up. While she was pushing Tenjirou back, she felt Kisuke leave and Ophis and Lilith substituted him so she's not really worried about the monk anymore.

"Heh? Is that so?" Tenjirou then turned towards Ichibei's direction, "But you sure are underestimating him. It may be a contest of Reiatsu between Shinigami's abilities, but his ability transcends logic. It won't end well for those ladies." And just in time, Ichibei covered his opponent with ink and squashed them under his feet.

But contrary to Tenjirou's expectation, Serafall actually started chuckling, "Of course, not~! There's no way we'll underestimate the leader of the most elite squad. It's precisely because of those girls that Ki-tan could leave in peace."

Tenjirou narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Because they were too far away, they could only feel Ichibei's Reiatsu and see the giant foot he manifested that looked like a tiny ant in their perspective, 'They should have been killed by that. It's not like they are Yhwach who could render abilities useless.'

But all of a sudden, Ichibei's Reiatsu suddenly disappeared, "Huh!?"

Tenjirou understood that Ichibei could come back to life from his earlier engagement with Kisuke so he's not really worried about his well-being, however, it didn't change the fact that something killed him. But soon he realized what it was when a suffocating aura descended.

"We see your leader as the biggest threat, so we sent him our strongest hand." Serafall added, still with a large smile on her face, "Though I'm a bit worried. Now that she has learned what emotion is, I'm not really sure what she'll do once she's pissed. I hope your precious leader can keep this world intact."