Soul Society Arc (3)

Masato and Tosen stood silently, waiting for the other to make a move.

'Why are we staring at each other?' Masato questioned himself internally, but his face didn't share any of his questioning thoughts. Like Tosen, he just stared at him.

'Are we moving or what?' Just as he questioned, Tosen made his first move. His Katana traced a horizontal path, making its way towards Masato's neck.

Masato's grip on his sword tightens and his body tenses. He didn't have the same proficiency in swordsmanship as in the dagger/knife art or archery. The reason he was using a sword was mainly that he wanted to level it up faster, and fighting life and death situations leveled the skills faster than normal as your brain process things faster.

{

[Single-Handed Swordsmanship Level: 11]

Allows the user to freely handle single-handed swords. 110% increase in single-handed sword's damage

}

'It is going to be a tough fight if I only use swordsmanship… but I need to level it up before fighting with Unohana too,' he thought, 'Guess I'll play a little before using Kido to finish it fast before some other captains intervene.'

Thinking, he didn't hesitate any longer and slashed towards the coming sword. Both swords colloid with clang as sparks left the point of contact due to friction.

Both didn't stop at that as they exchanged many other sword strikes before creating distance between themselves.

During this small contact, none of them was serious as both were trying to find the depth of the other - to see the difference between themselves. And obviously, Tosen could feel that Masato was not proficient in handling swords. But he still didn't make any reckless movement as he could not feel any spiritual energy on him, only a minuscule amount which was not even enough to become a Shinigami.

This shouldn't be right - he thought. After all, he knew that, from his instinct, that Masato was a captain-level fighter. How can his spiritual energy be this low? It didn't make sense at all.

After gauging each other's strength, they again launched themselves towards each other, creating a bag of dust behind them as they appeared in front of each other.

Both of their swords create an arc in the air before meeting each other, producing clang sounds.

Tosen took a step forward as he swipes his sword vertically upward, trying to cut Masato's hand. Even though his speed was faster than Masato, and his strikes were swifter than his, Masato had the aid of his skills to compensate for his lacking.

He used [Gods' Sight] and [Observation Haki] to their fullest as to not miss a single beat. Before Tosen had even moved, he already could tell where his sword would strike. He took a single gentle step towards his right as the sword passed some millimeter away from him. His movement was swift and gentle, like a flow of water, without any unnecessary motion or mechanics.

Feeling him dodging his slash, Tosen took another step forward, using the momentum of the previous slash, he spun before trailing horizontally towards Masato's torso.

Masato, who had taken a right step, raised his right hand and used his left as support to block the incoming sword.

*CLAG* *BANG* *Shhsshh*

Both swords colloid, pushing Masato 4-5 meters towards his left. He hurriedly took a spin before using [Flash Step] and appearing in front of Tosen, his legs bent and his face reaching up to Tosen's stomach.

His right foot between Tosen's leg and his sword raised upward as he brought it down with enough force to create a large gully in front of him, extending up to 10 meters. Even though his proficiency was low, his STR was nothing to sneeze at. He could easily create an air vacuum with his punch.

'Maybe I should go to My Hero Academia and become the second All Might. With enough STR, I don't think I can't,' He joked inside his mind while dodging the barrage of slashes Tosen threw at him.

"Captain!" His Vice-Captain Hisagi shouted as dust covered everything in his vision.

"I am alright, Hisagi," he looked towards where the sound came from and saw his captain standing there without any cut or wound on him. He looked relaxed and free as if he didn't engage in a heated battle a second ago. Both Masato and Tosen were fast as all of this happened in 5-6 seconds.

'As I thought… I should have practiced swordsmanship first before coming to Soul Society,' Masato thought as he wiped his thumb onto his neck, cleaning the blood from it. As he wiped the blood, the cut vanished as if it never existed, credited to his [Gamer's Body].

{

HP: 1254/2590

}

His eyes narrowed as he looked at his HP that had decreased dangerously. The previous hit of Tosen was registered as Critical Strike which increased its damage.

'Status,' he internally called his status as a screen popped to his side of vision, making sure it didn't block his vision for any incoming strike.

{

Name: Masato Oosuki

Class: The Gamer

Level: 95 (51.2%)

HP: 1254/2590 (647.5 [((VIT)*1.25)]*2 per min.,)

MP: 18040 [((INTx10)x2)+105%] (6142.5 [(WIS*5)+110%] per min.,)

CON: 2590 (1295 per min.,)

STR: 282 [+710%(2002.2)]

VIT: 259

DEX: 249 [+560%(1394.4)]

INT: 440

WIS: 585

LUK: 200

Stats Point (SP): 240

Money: 2501100$

}

Masato raised his hand and pressed his finger at DEX, increasing it to 400 in one scoop. He felt a refreshing feeling washing up his mind, his vision clearer than before.

He found out that he could perceive things more clearly now. He even felt a spike in his mind processing, increasing his reflexes even more. He could tell that his body moved more freely than before as if some form of chain that was restricting it was taken off.

Masato clenched his fist before smirking towards Tosen, "Ready for round two?" He became more confident in defeating him now since not only has he become swifter and defter than him, his reflexes have increased too. With the increase in his brain processing power, his body and mind would find it easier to learn swordsmanship than previously.

"You indeed have the strength to fight against a captain," Tosen said as he raised his sword, "But that is only if they have not released their Zanpakuto. Unlike a Shinigami, your growth is bound to stagnate at a certain level. While we can break that boundary with the help of our swords, you will not be able to."

"You don't have to worry. I'll make sure to give you a painless death."

[Suzumushi: Cry]. Tosen said as a wave of highly dense vibrations traveled towards Masato who could feel it with his [OH] and [GS].

AN: OB → Observation Haki* GS → Gods' Sight*

His [Absorption Mana Shield] activated as it blocked anything he deemed harmful to himself. In a sense, it had the same properties as Accelerator's Vector Barrier. The only difference was that it did not reverse the vectors of incoming objects.

The vibrations stuck his barrier, shaking and vibrating it, but it couldn't penetrate it. Since the shield would absorb the incoming strikes and nullify them as long as he had Mana.

"You are stronger than I'd thought," Tosen frowned as he saw him blocking his attack, but he doesn't seem to be down. He placed his sword horizontally before releasing his second release.

[Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihikō]

Tosen's blade vibrates before he traces a semi-circular arc in the air.

*SLING* *WHOOSH*

Many blades left the semi-circular arc as they were launched towards Masato, who [Flash Step] away from his place. Even though he had enough Mana to stand still for the next hour, he still didn't want to take any risks.

*BOOM* *BHAM*

The blades released from Suzumushi stuck on the ground, producing bombarding sounds as if the area was attacked by military artillery strikes.

A cloud of dust covered everything within one vision after the blade strikes ended. Tosen looked unamused by all of this as he gazed at the destruction he caused.

*SWWINNNG~!*

He suddenly jumped away from his place as a sword passed from it. Now standing at Tosen's place, Masato looked at him with a smirk on his face.

'Damn that was a close call. Almost had him.'

*DRIP*

Tosen silently 'looked' at Masato as blood dripped from his decapitated left hand. His mind was still raising alert sounds as he didn't understand how he lost his hand. He was sure that he had dodged Masato's slash and it only gazed at his hand, and yet he lost his hand. It should only be a shallow cut.

Of course, he wouldn't know that Masato never really had any plan of cutting his hand but the Line he was seeing. This was another one of the things that made MEoDP one of the most powerful mystic eyes.

The user didn't need to cut the whole mass, but just the Line. If that Line indicated the Kill of the hand, even if it was a shallow cut, the hand will be cut off. Something that happened to Tosen recently.

"Captain Tosen!" Hisagi shouted and appeared in front of Tosen. He hurriedly took a cloth out and blocked the blood flow of his hand so as to not let him lose too much blood. Even though it was unnecessary as Tosen could block it with his Spiritual Energy.

"What happened, Mr. Blind Justice Boy? I thought you were going to give me a painless death?" Masato sneered, looking at Tosen's pale face. Even though Tosen couldn't see his eyes, his instinct started screaming at him since the movement Masato had activated his eyes.

"Please don't stop me, Captain! I can't sit back any longer and see you getting hurt! Let me help you take care of this Ryoka!" Hisagi shouted while facing Tosen.

'Ugh… even though I don't want to think about it… but it sounds gay as fuck to hear a male saying that,' Masato's face morphed into pure disgust hearing him.

AN: I don't have any problem with gay people, so please don't get offended if you are one. If not, then ignore this note.

Tosen didn't stop him this time. His attacking power has reduced a lot due to losing his hand. And for a while now, he was feeling as if he would not be able to beat Masato alone. His presence started to pressure him.

Hisagi, seeing as his captain didn't stop him, looked back just to see a black metallic foot enlarging in his vision.

*BOOM!*

"Fuck off!" Hisagi was launched away before he could even pull his sword, destroying anything that came into his path.

Tosen, feeling Masato, hurriedly slashed his sword that Masato easily parried before kicking him in his guts, launching him too.

"Enough of this. Use your Bankai as you are not my opponent without it," Masato said with impatience in his voice. He could feel two Spiritual Signatures coming in his direction at a rapid pace and both were Captain-level. He knew that he couldn't play any longer.

*Cough* Cough* Tosen stood from the debris as the blood left his mouth. He was breathing heavily as he tightly clenched the hilt of his sword.

"W-cough-why are you… standing in my way of justice? Why are you stopping me from enacting justice!? Why are you stopping me from cleansing the evil from this world!? You, who stand in my path of justice, why are you stronger than me who has lived his life for justice!? You are just a mere human who got his power from some outer source! Then why are you stronger than I, a Shinigami!?" Tosen shouted, his face contorted in anger, towards Masato, who looked at him with apathetic eyes.

"Justice? What is that? Is it edible?" Masato asked, "Heh! Let me tell you what Justice is. What I do is Justice. What I say is Justice! What I deem is Justice! In short, where I stand, I am Justice! Erasing evil from the world is justice? Don't make me laugh!" Masato shouted as a feral grin took over his face, memories of his past surfacing his mind, "What is evil? Whoever I deem so. That is my Justice!"

Tosen looked at him with pure shock and fear as he gritted his teeth, "That is nothing but tyranny!"

"Is it? You are wrong. Just as you said, I don't hold the power of my own. The powers I have are something that is given to me from an outer source, but what of it? Since they are already given to me, is it wrong of me to use them to my liking? You, yourself, have power given to you by the Soul King."

"It is simple Kaname Tosen! Justice is a term only used by the weak to explain their actions. For me, strength is Justice! If you have strength, then you are Justice. If you have strength, then your justice is everyone's justice! The answer to all of this is simple, and that is strength!"

'EXPLOSION!!!!!!! ahem*' if one saw it closely, then they would see a deep blush on Masato's face as he was raising his hand in the air as if hugging the whole world with his Mana rampaging his surroundings, destroying everything in its range. He couldn't believe that he did such a big speech. He thought that his speech did more damage than what Tosen had done to him till now.

"You are wrong! I'll kill you and enact my justice upon you! Justice is not something that can be expressed in mere words. It is proved by actions, and I'll prove mine now!" Tosen shouted before he gripped his sword tighter.

[Bankai! Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi]

Different rings formed all around Tosen as they started to spin faster and faster, soon covering a large area around him and Masato. A black substance started to release from the rings before everything around him was covered in a black void. It reminded him of the first time he opened his eyes after his death.

'I can't hear or see anything.'

"This is my Bankai, Enma Korogi. It removes the spiritual senses of anyone inside with their five senses," Tosen said as he stood in front of Masato, "But you can't hear me," he crouched and thrust his sword towards Masato's heart, "Die for my justice!"

*PUCHI*

"...H-how....?" Tosen looked in disbelief as Masato's sword pierced his heart while he completely missed him. He couldn't understand how his attack missed him.

"It is simple, Mr. Blind Justice Boy," Masato said since he knew Tosen could hear him, "My 'Justice' is stronger than you. Your Bankai is strong, but it has a fatal weakness. If the person is not using his spiritual senses to see, your Bankai is useless to them. Sadly, your luck is rotten as you met one who doesn't."

Masato never used Spiritual Energy or trained in it for this reason. First, his system allowed him to change his energy into any form of energy. As long as he has come in contact with such energy, he could easily change his energy into the said energy - this is the reason why Rangiku could feel a small amount of Spiritual Energy on him. Second, there were many ways to block someone's spiritual energy in this world and he didn't want to risk it.

One such case being Tosen's Bankai that blocked the spiritual senses of someone, but since he used Mana, it never really worked on him. And even if it did, he had Observation Haki to offset it.

Masato pulled the sword out of his (Tosen) heart and slashed again, decapitating Tosen's head.

With a thud sound, his head dropped followed by his body as silence reigned the surroundings. Small sounds of stones falling from rumble would sound from time to time.

Like an inflated balloon, his Bankai burst open and vanished.

{

Ding! Quest [Fall of Captain] has been completed!

[Fall of Captain] (Completed)

Kill a single Captain of Soul Society and let the world know about your presence.

Rewards: A Zanpakuto. A random skill from Omniverse [Skill Book: Knight's Strategy], A manual to upgrade one bloodline.

Time Limit: Until the end of the 'Saving Rukia' arc.

|==|

You've leveled up! X5

[Skill Book: Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi]

}

Hearing the similar prompt, a smile crept on Masato's face. He finally had his Zanpakuto, and now he can upgrade any bloodline he will have.

'But to think I'll get his Bankai as a skill book… Does that mean every time, if I kill a captain, I'll get their Bankai? No! I shouldn't think like that!' He hurriedly shook his head of such thought, not wanting to take any rash step.

He clicked on the skill book that he got from the quest and learned it. He didn't really have any need of Tosen Bankai, and if he was honest with himself - Tosen's fighting style didn't match his in the least.

In fact, his Banaki was powerful, but definitely not so in other worlds. After all, only a fool will depend on his eyes during a fight of life and death, other factors were too much to be noticed by only the eyes.

{

Ding! Skill book has been used!

[Knight's Strategy Level: 1]

A battle methodology in which one grasps the flow of battle and induces the opponent to make a mistake, even without being a match for him/her in strength. A Skill not for self-strengthening, but to invite a check failure for the opponent. Consists of composed observation powers to wager on a momentary chance of victory.

1% chance of creating a flaw in your opponent's flow.

}

His smirk ever so largening, reading the description of the skill. Even though it was sort of useless at the current level, but with enough grinding, he could max it. Even if it doesn't reach a hundred percent, 50% is enough for him to be jubilant about it. Imagine; you have a fifty percent chance of disturbing the battle flow of your opponent and force them to make a mistake. During a life and death battle, a single slip can announce your doom and this skill lets him do just that.

'At higher levels, it would become almost impossible to defeat me in close-combat, imagining that my opponent does not have the skill to counter it,' Masato internally said.

He raised his hand and a single-handed sword appeared in his hands. It looked nothing out of ordinary. The only difference between it and normal Aasauchi was that it was not a Katana. Masato swung it for a second before using [Weapon Creation], he made a sheath for it and hung it beside his hip.

He needed to constantly feed it Mana so he can learn his Shikai as fast as he can. His heart racing and blood pumping with excitement of using his own Zanpakuto. His biggest advantage was that it was not something created by Soul Society, so that monk shouldn't be able to nullify its name.

'Today is just a great day, I must say,' looking towards the overcast sky, he smirked before leaving the 9th division. The two Captain-Level Spiritual Pressures were almost here and seeing his Mana and HP, he didn't want to fight with them.

Only the broken structure and Tosen's decapitated body were left there for others to see.

---

Sometime back when Masato started his fight with Tosen;

A Hell Butterfly flutters its wings as it makes its way into a wooden structure. It looked like a small cottage, mostly looked like a Japanese traditional house or hut maybe?

A big man was sitting in Seiza's position. He wore gloves with bracers, as well as a helmet, that concealed his entire body. He looked up towards the Hell Butterfly as a voice came from it.

"Attention to all divisions! Seireitei is entering a war state! Seireitei is entering a war state! All Captains are now ordered to have their Zanpakuto with them all the time. Permission to use their Zanpakuto has been granted!"

The room regained its silence before the man stood up from his place and walked towards the door to look at the sky, "Things are not looking too good," he said.

Suddenly, he felt a huge spike of spiritual pressure, prompting him to look towards where it came from.

"There is no doubt… This is Tosen's spiritual pressure! Is he fighting a Ryuko?" before he could decide anything, a big dome of black rose in the sky and covered a certain area, "He used his Bankai!?" the man shouted. His face under the helmet fully showed his astonishment.

"He seems to be having a hard time defeating his enemy. I have to help him!" He said before used [Flash Step] and went straight towards where the dome was.

With his captain-level speed, it didn't take him long to reach the dome. But before he reached there, the dome was already gone. His body shook as he saw the decapitated body of Tosen laying dead there on the floor.

"Tosen!" He shouted towards the now dead captain and appeared above his decapitated body, "Who did this!?" His gay shouted resounded in the surroundings.

Just then, another captain reached there and looked at the decapitated body and the one holding it.

"I was late huh," her voice didn't hold any compassion or pity towards the dead captain except astonishment that someone was able to kill a captain.

"Send my message towards the Central. Captain of the 9th division, Kaname Tosen has passed away in a fight with Ryoka, Masato Oosuki."

"Hah!" A shout accompanied by the vanishing of a person behind her.

Soifon looked towards the angry Komamura as his spiritual pressure was running rampant. She looked all around the place before frowning, "I can't feel the leftover reiatsu from the battle except captain Tosen - weird…"

"Don't worry, Tosen! I'll avenge you!" Ga-ahem* Komamura shouted with determination with his battle intent filling up space all around.

'To think a captain will lose his life… we were too carefree…' with a frown, Soifon thought, 'It is not an ordinary invasion anymore.'

---

"Ha… ha… ha…" Hitsugaya's breathing was ragged, his expression pale, with many burn marks all over his body. He stood upon a broken structure of what was once a building.

In front of him stood a woman, without much dirtiness. Her clothes, though there were minor cuts and leftover ice, didn't look as bad as Hitsugaya. Her brown hair with a little bit of purple in it fluttered in the air.

She looked towards Hitsugaya and said, "Give up already, child. You can't beat Okaa-san."

"..." Hitsugaya remained silent, controlling his breath while regaining some of his lost strength. His mind fighting over a decision of whether to use his Bankai or not.

Hitsugaya had long learned his Bankai, but he didn't have enough control over it. He would always end up losing control over it, even hurting himself in the process. He was not sure if he should use it or not.

When he came here, he thought he would be able to defeat Mamako or at least - since she had captain-level strength - draw between them. But he never thought of the possibility of where he would lose so badly.

He used everything in his arsenal except his Bankai, yet the difference between them remained. Every time he increased his spiritual energy, Mamako's increased to match his - which perplexed him. His pressure increased since he released his Zanpakuto name, but Mamako didn't have one. How was she able to increase her spiritual energy?

He didn't know. But the answer was simple - Divinity. Minamoto no Raikou had divinity in her, and Mamako also received it after merging with her. When Masato saw her status, it didn't show her divinity state so he thought she might have not received it, but, in truth, the system had classified it as a hidden attribute. After all, it was not something she cultivated during her life but something that was given to her after her death.

Using Raikou's divinity, Mamako could easily bypass the set limit of Shinigami. Even if she couldn't reach the level of Soul King, she still could fill the gap that Shinigami received after their Bankai - x10 boast.

|AN: Happy? There you go with your Divinity *I know you are reading it*. And no, even after her divinity, she can't reach the same level as Soul King. That dude has enough Soul Strength to keep three worlds in balance since the birth of Bleachverse. I wouldn't be surprised to know that he has infinite spiritual energy and that he has reached the pinnacle of Soul Strength.

PS: It is said in the original, by Yoruichi during the training of Ichigo's Bankai, that Banaki increases the stats of a person by x10.|

This was the reason why she was still able to fight or even overpowered Hitsugaya. If he used his Bankai, then maybe he would be able to put up a fight with her, but definitely not currently.

He gritted his teeth, seeing as no alternative could be found. But before he could even use his Bankai, he felt the pressure of Tosen vanished in the air. His eyes widened in astonishment before he looked in the direction where a black dome stood a second ago.

'Captain Tosen… died?'

"It seems like Ma-kun has already finished with his fight," Mamako happily said, a beautiful smile taking over her face at the reminder of her son.

"Ma-kun?" Hitsugaya looked at her with a questioning look. He doesn't remember such a name as the one he received from Rangiku.

'Unless the name used here is a nickname. Then the only person whose name starts with is Masato Oosuki… wait! Didn't she say her name was Mamako Oosuki!?'

Sudden realization hit him as he looked towards her and asked, "Is Mamako Oosuki your son?" Since she has been calling herself in the third person as Okaa-san, he thought maybe she was his mother.

Hearing him, Mamako's face bloomed like a spring flower. Her eyes shining as she proudly raised her chest, "Indeed. Ma-kun is my son!"

'The Fuck… is her family is filled with monsters or something?' if not that he was sure that she was 'human', he might have believed that he is from some kind of noble family known for producing monsters.

Her son was considered the most dangerous among Ryoka, and his mother was in no way weaker than him.

"You do realize what your son has done… right? Killing a captain is a grave sin. Central will never let him go,' he regretted saying that as the whole area was filled with intense bloodlust.

Mamako sharply glared at him, making him flinch with the amount of bloodlust she was released, "You people dare to touch my Ma-kun and I'll erase this Soul Society from this damn world!" With each of her words, the pressure on Hitsugaya increased to the point where he was having a hard time standing up.

"Enough of this useless battle. I want to end this and go meet Ma-kun," Mamako said and raised her sword above her head. Her mouth opening and a melodious voice left her mouth, her eyes shining in a purple hue and thunder dancing around her, "Come to me, my royal subjects, my limbs, my arms, and armor… the Four Heavenly Kings themselves are as before you. Begin!"

[Ox-King Storm Call - The Inescapable Net of Heaven!]

As she liberated her Noble Phantasm, a loud thunder sounded as a giant Ox-Oni made up of purple thunder was summoned. Its aura raged everything around it.

|AOOOOO~!!| He shouted towards the sky, depressing the clouds.

Yoruichi looked at this dumbfounded, 'She also has a Zanpakuto!? No! This is not Zanpakuto but something completely different. Though its concept is the same as Zanpakuto! Damn! If only Urahara was here!'

Back at Mamako, there stood four more Mamako around her, each holding a different weapon made up of thunder. These weapons were the soul representations of the Four Heavenly King that used to be Raikou's subordinates.

She looked towards Hitsugaya and shouted, her voice filled with arrogance and authority. Right now, she was not the mother of Masato, but an undefeatable general who led her army towards dominance, "Come, warrior! Show us your strength!"

"Fuck…" was all Hitsugaya said before he rushed in with a battle cry.

---

"She used her Noble Phantasm? Damn… it looks so cool," Masato said while storing [The Mist] back into his inventory. He didn't have any more use of it anymore. It was this lamp that he placed above Seireitei and used to poison every Shinigami. Though his real purpose was to take care of most of the Captains, sadly he realized that he can't infect captains due to their immense Spiritual Energy, so he could only use it against Vice-Captains.

The other reason being he was looking for a certain place in Seireitei, though it was also a failure and he couldn't find it either.

He looked towards Seireitei before smiling, "Let's see how my little 'wife' is doing."

---

'Is it really the truth? Did Masato and everyone come to save me?' her back rested against the white wall of Seireitei Tower, Rukia thought. She was informed by Renji a day ago that Masato and others have come to save her.

She didn't want to believe it, but the recent disturbance was enough to prove that something was not right in Seireitei.

First, she saw a black dome that was undoubtedly Tosen's Bankai and then those thunder dragons and Ox.

She couldn't tell whose spiritual pressure was whose, after all, the wall blocked her perception completely.

'Why…? I am not worthy of saving…' her body trembling as she curled up into a ball with her face into her knees, a certain past surfacing in her mind.

'I am just a coward who only thinks about herself… isn't that right, captain Kaien?'

'Please… save me… I don't want to die…' a picture of a smiling face of a certain white-haired boy surfaced into her mind. The memory of him 'proposing' her. Tears started to form in her eyes as she tightened her grip on her knees, '... Masato…'

"Yo! It seems that you're doing quite… shit there," a sudden voice resounded into her ear, making her flinch.

'It seems that I started to hallucinate too…'

"Hello, hello~. Are~? Is this thing not working or what? Hello? Can someone hear me? Don't tell me I was ripped off?!"

Rukia suddenly opened her eyes and looked around her alarmed. She saw a blue screen floating in front of her eyes with the words [Voice Channel: Meatball's Chivalry. Currently Connected: The Gamer (Masato Oosuki), The Gamer's Right Hand Pinky Finger (Kuchiki Rukia)].

Her brows twitched as she shouted, "Who is your pinky finger!?"

"Oh~! So it is working. Almost thought that it was broken or something. Fu~. Again, hello there my-future-wife, how are you doing?"

Rukia's eyes were twitching with anger hearing him, but then suddenly, she looked at the blue screen and poked it, her finger passing through it.

"What is this?"

"Well, did you forget the party invite when brother-in-law was taking you away and challenging me to come and defeat him if I want to take your hand in marriage?"

"I-Idiot! Who will give you her hand in marriage?!" Rukia shouted with a blush on her face.

"Hahaha~, I know, I know. No need to be embarrassed. I am pretty embarrassed too, it's my first marriage after all."

Rukia didn't know what to reply to his shameless reply of saying that he would marry more women in the future or that he completely ignored her.

Remembering what Renji said to her, she worriedly asked but there was some expectation evident in her voice, "Masato… where are you currently?"

"Hm? Well, it is some kind of building. I don't know what it's used for though."

"Not that! But your current location!" Rukia shouted. She was already feeling tired talking to him.

"Oh! You need to be more specific when you ask Rukia," he said, "Anyway, I am in Seireitei currently."

Her next words stuck inside her throat when she heard him, but Masato was not finished yet and continued with utmost seriousness in his voice, "I am not a coward Rukia. Since Nii-sama has challenged me, I can only take it like a man."

"Fool! Do you realize what you are doing?! You will die! How can you make an enemy out of the whole Soul Society for me? For a person like me… who only thinks about herself…" in the end, her voice started to get lighter and lighter. She knew she was being a hypocrite currently. She wanted someone to save her-no! She wanted Masato to save her, but she didn't want them to get killed by Soul Society because of her. She felt disgusted with herself.

Isn't it the same thing? Didn't she do the same thing in the past? Wasn't that the reason she killed Kaien? She could have run away at that time, but she didn't.

Why? She didn't want to live her life in regret if she ran away, so she came back. She couldn't see him in pain, so she ignored her captain's orders. She… couldn't see him in pain… so she killed him. Everything she did was for herself and no one else. She saved no one but herself.

'Why would you save a person like me…? Nothing has changed...'

"... do you know, Ichigo almost died while fighting with Renji?"

Rukia's eyes widened, hearing him but Masato continued, "Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, Ishida, even my mother, we all spend our time training so we could save you. You know, I just killed a Captain," of course, it was not for her but himself, but he never was a good guy now was he?

"We are risking our lives here Rukia! Do you take our resolve for nothing but a fart? We had resolved to die when he took our first step in Soul Society! A person like you? Bha! Save your self-loathing for yourself! If you hate yourself so much, then I'll love you double the amount of hate you give yourself! Fuck Soul Society! Even if it's Soul King himself, I wouldn't stop! That is my resolve! Same with everyone else! So stop crying like an idiot and wait for us patiently. We will definitely save you!"

"... Idiot…" tears falling from her eyes, Rukia had a small smile bloomed on her face as she ducked her head into her knees. She felt unprecedented happiness in her heart, hearing him.

"*Ahem* Since we are done with… emotional talk, we can talk about business. Now listen closely," Rukia looked towards the screen, "We will not save you till the time you are about to be executed."

"W-what?! Why?!" she asked.

"Listen first! And the answer is obvious is it not?"

Rukia thought, is it?

"Of course, it is to look as cool as you can! Can you imagine the faces of Captain if I made my entry during the execution? Damn! I can already feel goosebumps thinking about it!" Masato excitedly explains, much to Rukia deadpan expression.

"Anyway, here, take this dagger and save it inside your clothes. Since they have already taken everything from you, they would never imagine that you have something like a dagger on you."

Rukia saw as a dagger popped out of the window. She hurriedly catches it. It had a shape of a kunai with a purple crystal attached at its handle.

It was a dagger called Nightingale, part of 'The Songbirds Dagger' he had. It allowed the user to teleport to its pair dagger, Wren.

"Just make sure no one picks that you have that dagger. Other than that, well, you can wait I guess. Then I'll see you later, Rukia. Take care by then."

*Beep*

The connection was cut and the blue screen showed that The Gamer had disconnected. Soon , the screen also vanished as if never there. Rukia could only silently look at the dagger in her hand.

---

'Ahhhh! How can I say something so embarrassing!!!' Gripping his head, Masato internally shouted.

'Is this what they call becoming edgy?!' While he was self-loathing himself, he felt the Spiritual Pressure of Ichigo, 'Oh, is he fighting with Zaraki? Let's go and see.'

'But before that…'

"System, use item [Aghanim Shard] on skill [Combat Teleport]," he said.

{

Ding! Item [Aghanim Shard] has been used on skill [Combat Teleport]!

… Derived skill [Combat Teleport] has been updated to Major skill [Space Manipulation]!

[Space Manipulation Level: 1]

A skill only those who are blessed by space can use.

It allows the user to become the absolute ruler of the space. The user can bend, destroy, create, etc., space to his wimp.

}

'Perfect,' he smiled, seeing the skill. Now, as long as he can level it up to the max, he could easily break the world barriers.

Since the skill was already upgraded, it was time to test it out. So he didn't stop himself and started to teleport towards the place where Ichigo was fighting with Zaraki.

He felt Mamako also moving towards there. It seems that she already defeated Hitsugaya, though it didn't come as a surprise to him.

It didn't take him long to reach the place where Ichigo was fighting with Zaraki. He spotted a small girl sitting on a big towered building, so he made his way towards her.

He appeared beside her, startling her as she exclaimed in surprise, "Woah~! Who are you!?"

"I am a friend of that orange down there," Masato pointed towards Ichigo, who was lying on the floor after Zaraki stabbed him in the chest.

"Friend of Ichii?" she cutely tilted her head and asked, to which Masato smiled and nodded. He might be weak against children.

"Are you going to disturb the Ken-chan fight?" she again asked.

"No," Masato shook his head in denial. There was no need for him to do that. He was just here to observe.

Yachiru nodded and again diverted her full attention to their fight. Masato also didn't say anything and watched it.

Just like in the original, Ichigo stood back up, with increased Spiritual Pressure. His pressure was already reaching a Captain now.

'Fucking cheat…' Masato grumbled to himself as continued to watch.

He and Zaraki had a little talk before both released their Spiritual to their utmost limit, but obviously, Zaraki was still holding back. Did he underestimate Ichigo? Of course not. It was just that, even for him, he could not control his Spiritual Energy and Masato could easily see that so much of his energy was just being wasted.

*Boom*

A loud explosion took, destroying everything in its path. A shock wave traveled to Masato and Yachiru as they silently waited for the winner.

"Zaraki lost," Masato said to himself, but Yachiru could easily hear him, "No! Ken-chan didn't lose! Ichii cheated! He said it was two versus one, his Zanpakuto and him! He is cheating!"

Masato rubbed her hair before smiling, "Makes sense."

'I really might be weak with kids. Who knew?'

Soon, the dust settled and both could see Zaraki and Ichigo as both of them slumped onto the ground. Blood dyed beneath as their lungs tried hard to gain oxygen.

"Ken-chan!" Yachiru vanished and appeared beside Zaraki. She picked him up before bowing towards Ichigo, "Thank you for giving Ken-chan such a fulfilling fight."

After Yachiru left, Masato appeared beside Ichigo. He was barely alive, losing his blood in constant flow. He looked towards Masato for a second before darkness took over his senses.

Masato looked at him before pointing his finger at him. He has been dying to try it. But since he "can't" get injured, he could not use it on himself.

[Shun Shun Rika: I Reject!]

Two fairies left his finger before creating an orange barrier around Ichigo. Masato looked at this with narrowed eyes as Ichigo's wound was healing at the pace that he could easily observe.

Everything was reversing to its initial place as it was before. After ten or so minutes, Ichigo was fully healed without any form of injury on himself.

'Fascinating to say the least. I can see why Aizen said that she can reject God's Will.'

"Ma-kun~!" A highly energetic shout brought him back to reality before he was hugged by the soft body of his mother, his face buried into her soft and springy chest.

"Ma-kun! Okaa-san missed Ma-kun! Hehehe~, Ma-kun's smell~ so good~," Masato sweated, hearing her.

"You are alright, Masato. I am glad," Yoruichi said before she looked back at Ichigo, suspiciously looking at his body. There was not a single wound left on him, but the destruction and him being unconscious proved that he was badly injured. Yes, it was. But now, there was not a single scratch on his body as he laid there, snoring.

'Did he heal him?' she looked towards Masato, who was being hugged by overly excited Mamako. The only possible scenario was that Masato healed him, and it spiked her interest in Masato even more. 'He really is filled with surprises, one after another.'

"I know that you are happy to meet him again, but we should move away as fast as possible before other Captains make their way here. I know the exact place where we can hide. Follow me," Yoruichi said before vanishing.

Masato picked Ichigo up before following after her with Mamako happily singing behind.

After moving for a while, they reached the hill where execution will take place. At the side of the hill, there was a small opening of a cave. Yoruichi entered it with Masato and Mamako following after.

"Wow~. Don't tell me that Urahara built this place too," exclaiming, Masato said as he found himself in the familiar place as that of Urahara's training ground.

"You're not wrong. This place was built by Urahara and me back in the days. We used to train here and to improve ourselves," Yoruichi said while reminiscing about her past.

Masato weirdly looks at her, "Train? What can a cat train with a human?"

Yoruichi's eyes suddenly perked as she smirked internally, "Oh. You are right. I never showed you my true form now did I?"

"Your true form?" Masato questioningly looked at her. Mamako also seems to be interested in this topic.

'Fufufu~, let's see how he reacts.'

*Boom!*

A cloud of smoke rose from where Yoruichi was before a silhouette appeared in the smoke. As it cleared, Mamako and Masato could see a slender and well-endowed woman of an average height.

She had dark skin, golden irises, and black hair. Her hair was waist-length, dripping over her back. She was naked so Masato could clearly see her curves and contours. He could clearly see her nipples and little dark slit.

Yoruichi smirked, seeing Masato's dazed expression. But before she could say anything, Masato appeared behind her and groped her chest, "Oh. It's real stuff. For a second I thought you were using some kind of illusion there, Yoru."

Yoruichi's brow twitched before she smirked, "What? Like what you see?"

"You don't say. I didn't know you were a human girl Yoru," Masato nodded before he looked her up and down before asking, "Wait… if you were a human all along, then when I spend some 'quality' time with my mother and teacher, those voices that I always heard behind the door… was you…" he narrowed his eyes at her, much to the cat's nervousness.

'Was I that loud?! Wait! Since he can use Spiritual Energy, then he should be able to hear me even if I whisper…'

"What are you doing Yoru-chan! Wear some clothes!" Mamako hurriedly shouted, covering her body with clothes.

'Fuu~, safe.'

"Sorry, sorry. It's been a long time since the last time I wore clothes, so I kinda forgot. Hahaha~," even though she said it, there was not even a single shred of shyness in her tone as she wore some clothes that she got from… somewhere.

After she wore some clothes, she looked back at Masato and asked, "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, I was thinking of 'punishing' you for spying on us and enjoying yourself while watching us-"

"Not that brat!" She punched his head, but a mana shield appeared in front of him and blocked her attack. She visibly clicked her tongue before saying, "I am talking about what are you going to do now? Are you going to save Rukia alone or go and gather others?"

Masato became quiet for a second before looking towards Ichigo, "Say Yoru… if Ichigo didn't learn his Bankai, what are the chances of us rescuing Rukia?"

Yoruichi silently looked at him and said, "Less than 50%, and that is if all captains don't fight us. Otherwise, zero."

Masato nodded before pointing his finger at Ichigo. A little spark before a thunder dragon traveled to him and bit him.

"Ahhh!!" Ichigo suddenly screamed before jumping to his feet and vigilantly looked around. As his gaze landed on the amused look of Masato, he visibly relaxed.

"Where am I? I thought I lost to Zaraki?" fixing his hand and cracking his neck, Ichigo asked.

"Oh. The truth is, you indeed died while fighting him. But I knew a method that would need the sacrifice of a thousand living souls to bring back a person. With the help of Yoru, we gathered Shinigami before killing them and bringing you back to life," Masato narrated everything with such precision and seriousness that Yoruichi and Mamako almost believed him.

"What!?" Ichigo shouted with disbelief written over his face, not knowing what to say.

He gritted his teeth. To think such a thing happened when I died.

"Are you an idiot?" Yoruichi asked, looking at Ichigo's face that said that he really believed Masato's story, "Obviously, he is kidding."

"Eh? Really?" he looked towards Masato who just shrugged.

"Fuu~. Damn man! Don't scare me. I seriously thought that you guys killed a thousand Shinigami for me."

"That is why she called you an idiot," Masato replied.

Ichigo's temple twitched before he changed the topic, "Anyway, since I am all healed, let's go and save Rukia." he said and started to walk towards the exit before Masato kicked his face and launched him backward.

"Oi! What was that for?!" Ichigo shouted while standing up.

"We are not going anywhere," Masato replied.

Ichigo frowned and stared at him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you are too weak to do anything beyond here. Do you know, there is another release after the Shikai which is Bankai. It can increase a captain's strength by tenfold."

"W-what?" Ichigo's eyes widened. He thought that Shikai was the only release, but to think that there was another release to the sword.

"The reason why you can't fight beyond this point is that from now on, captains will come after us and every captain has mastered their Bankai. Leaving me, Okaa-san, and Yoru alone, do you think you can fight against such person while you already struggled to defeat Zaraki when he didn't even have Shikai?"

Of course, Masato was just trying to extend the time so Rukia's execution time was lessened. He can't have Ichigo save Rukia when she still has Hogyoku. Not only that, Masato had no confidence in fighting all the captains, even two were stretching it.

The reason he was able to defeat Tosen was that his Bankai was ill-matched against him who could see even without eyes and didn't depend on spiritual senses. If he were to fight with Byakuya or Unohana, he would surely get his ass kicked. Leaving Unohana alone, Byakuya's Bankai was a pain in the ass to deal with.

There was a weak point to it, but once he used his final move that creates a dome around a person, he was sure to be fucked. From there, it was the same as fighting with Gilgamesh but the only difference was that Gilgamesh could only fire weapons from the front, while Byakuya from all sides. If he pushed hard, then he might be able to defeat him but chances were fifty-fifty the best.

Another reason was that he had killed a captain. Unlike the original where they were not sure whether it was Ryoka who killed a captain or not, here it was clear as day that he killed a captain. He needed to solve that problem before the execution too. All in all, he needed time.

"Then… what should I do? Wait here while Rukia is being executed!?" Ichigo barked back with his fist clenched tight.

"Huh? Who told you to wait?"

"Then?"

"You are going to train obviously. It would be better if are able to learn your Bankai too, but…" he scarached his head, "I've no fucking idea how to train one in Bankai."

"That's why, I present to you my almighty cute kitten, Yoruichi-sama!" Masato shouted while raising his hand while Mamako clapped while releasing an amazing sound. Nothing to say, Masato was proud of his mother.

Yoruichi's brow twitched in annoyance but she looked towards Ichigo, who had the face of disbelief while looking at her.

"What!? When did Yoruichi turn into a human?!" Ichigo asked in utter disbelief, not believing his eyes and wondering if Masato was joking again.

*Bam* Yoruichi kicked his head and stood on it, "Shut up! I've always been a human! Have you ever seen a cat speaking?" she asked with annoyance.

Ichigo wanted to say that she was a talking cat herself, but seeing her angry face he became quiet.

"As Masato said, I'll be training you in Bankai. Since we only have three days left, I'll have you learn Bankai in three days," Yoruichi said, making Ichigo surprised.

"Can I really learn it in three days? I mean, it seems pretty difficult to achieve."

"Of course, it does. Normally, it would take 10s of years for a person to learn Bankai. But with my special method and your talents, it would not be that hard to learn it," she explained.

"Then I'll take my leave first," Masato said, "I have some things to take care of. While I am at it, I'll try to gather others too."

Yoruichi suspiciously looked towards him but didn't say anything.

Masato walked up to Mamako before gently saying, "I'll be going out for a while, Okaa-san. You can stay here with Yoruichi or enjoy yourself in the hot spring at the back there," leaning forward before giving her a gentle peck on her forehead.

Mamako nodded. She wanted to go with him, but seeing as he would not take her, she didn't pursue it.

Masato smiled before leaving the hidden cave and stood on the execution platform. He examined the whole Seireitei before finding the person he was looking for and vanished. He needed to finish his preparation and make sure that the relationship between him and Soul Society doesn't sour. It would become problematic that way.