Chapter 24:Save The One Save The All

Bleeding red reiatsu

Power surging through the air

Darkness filling the area

And a blood curling roar

These were the signs that things had taken a much darker turn

"This power...could it be the power he activated in Hueco Mundo?" Yamamoto contemplated as he and Isshin flew away from the torrent

Byakuya however was clouded in the darkness

"This power?! He's activated it once again?!"

Byakuya's wonderment was put to rest as a black getsuga smashed the Captain into a nearby wall

"I-Ichigo?" Rukia quietly muttered to herself however her thoughts escaped for her as the kido around her was broken and a pale white arm wrapped around her and smashed through the roof

Rukia now clearly laid her eyes on her savoir, it was Ichigo, once again clad in the demonic hollow form

Which had already begun to break apart

"Ichigo?" Rukia repeated as if it was the only word in her vocabulary

"Can't..." he panted as the form began to dissolve as they reached the surface "Can't hold...the form"

Ichigo huffed and panted as the mask cracked off, the long hair dispelled and his skin returned to its normal color

Rukia reached out and supported him, being the only thing keeping him on his feet

"We...have to get back" Ichigo continued to pant "We need to get back...to Hueco Mundo"

Rukia stared at him for a few seconds before nodding

"Bakudo #77..."

"Welcome to our humble abode!"

The door slammed open, revealing the contents of the apartment

the oddly large apartment

A large club-like area stood before her, a dark skinned woman sat on a couch on the far side of the room, a well-dressed young man sat on a nearby table, holding a videogame, complete with earphones that he was currently using, a one-eyed well dressed butler stood behind the bar

"This place is pretty big" Karin commented

"One of us has some pretty big bank accounts, we were able to knock down a few apartments above and to the sides"

"That explains it"

"Kugo, what're doing?" came the voice of the women "Pickin' lil' kids off the street? Didn't know you were into all th-"

"Before you go any further, she's already made all the inappropriate jokes, so cram it Jackie" Ginjo groaned as Karin made a mental note of the women's name

"Still, Kugo" the boy said as he plucked out one of his earbuds "What're you doing bringing a complete stranger here...unless she's a-"

"Easy, Yukio" Ginjo cut the boy off

"A what?" Karin asked herself as she added Yukio to her mental database

"She's just a poor homeless girl I found in the soaking rain" Ginjo shrugged

"And what did you hope to accomplish by bringing her here?" Yukio asked

"Give her a hot shower, dry her clothes and food and a bed for the night"

"Since when are we a freakin' charity?" Jackie asked

"Maybe should I go..." Karin mumbled

"It's fine Karin" Ginjo waved her off "Ignore them, they're only teasing you"

Ginjo sighed before he turned to face the man behind the bar

"Giriko, run her a hot shower" Ginjo commanded the man before he turned back to her "Afterwards you can use the backroom to get dried while we dry your clothes, we'll get Riruka to give them back to you"

"EHHHHH?!"

And then came the debut of the strangest woman Karin had even seen

As a pink-haired, pigtailed girl wearing a bizarre hat, thigh high boots and a maids dress entered from a previously unseen room

"You want me to what?!" the girl who must've been the Riruka that Ginjo mentioned a second ago spluttered "I'm not some laundry girl! I'm not picking up some dirty wet clothes that belong to some-"

"Riruka..."

The atmosphere become heavy the moment Ginjo opened his mouth

The girls magenta colored eyes edged open wider as the shadows seemed to manifest on Ginjo's face again

"I wasn't asking..."

...

"F-Fine!" she spluttered, trying to maintain her tsundere-ness "I've got nothing better to do!"

With that, Riruka returned to the room from whence she came

Giriko also returned into the room

"The shower is running" he said

"I didn't even see him leave" Karin noted

"Man..." Ginjo sighed as the atmosphere dropped its heavy-ness "Shower's just through there, kid"

"Thanks" Karin said as she walked out of distance into a far off room

The voices didn't resume until they were sure she was out of hearing distance

"Well this is certainly new" Jackie quipped as she stood up "Weren't you all about survival of the fittest? I'd assume if you found a deadbeat homeless teen, you'd leave her to rot in the alley where you found her"

"Her name is Karin Kurosaki"

...

The air chilled as those words left his mouth, widening the eyes of all the rooms occupants

"Kurosaki..." Jackie began

"Is she..." Kutsuzawa continued

"Yeah..." Ginjo answered the premature question "Ichigo Kurosaki's sister"

"Well, now this is a surprise"

Ginjo's eyes drifted to the source of the voice, whom soon stepped out of the Shadows

A obscenely tall, snazzily dressed man with a scar on his right eyebrow

"Tsukishima..." Ginjo mumbled as the man came into view

"This wasn't necessarily the Kurosaki we were looking for" The man said with an unmoving smile

"Plan's changed..." Ginjo told him

"Is that so?" He chuckled

"What are you doing Kugo?" Jackie growled as she walked towards him "You've been planning this for months and now-"

"It's to our advantage" He began to explain "Let's face it, the way we were going before, 'could be a year before we can set that plan into motion"

"But if we get his sisters trust, it'll be easier" Yukio piped in

Ginjo merely let out a tiny muffled chuckle at that

"So...I suppose we're starting earlier than expected" Tsukishima sighed "A shame, I was hoping to pick up a new book today"

"If my memory serves me right...I believe that Winter War is still going on" Kutsuzawa added

"That's true" Ginjo nodded "But the time after the war...that'll be the perfect time to act"

"So...that's it then?" Yukio asked

"Yeah..." Ginjo confirmed "We're going after Soul Society sooner than expected"

"Damn it!" Grimmjow growled as he was blown back once more, the blood pouring from his body dripped down onto the dirt as he righted himself and faced his opponent

"Do you feel that?" Yoruichi asked as she placed her gauntlet covered foot down "Kurai Hyono Yoroi enhances my power and speed...normally I don't bother with it but like I said, this is war..."

...

"Run that name by me again"

"Eh?..." Yoruichi asked with a raised eyebrow "Did I blow out your ears? It's Kurai Hyono Yoroi"

"The armor of the dark panther

...

Heh heh"

Yoruichi proceeded to raise an eyebrow at the Arrancar's chuckle

Which turned into a shock as he erupted into full blown psychotic laughter

"Panther?! PANTHER?! What a load of bullshit!" Grimmjow roared "I'm the only panther here! You're mocking me with this crap!"

Grimmjow eyes shone with determination, a psychotic smile blared onto his face, combined with blood running down his face, it made for a terrifying sight

"Thanks for pissing me off!" Grimmjow laughed "I mean it! You just awoke a fuckload of determination in me!"

...

"Just what are you?" Yoruichi questioned

"What don't you strike me again and find out?"

"Alright then..." Yoruichi said as the buzzsaw like device on her left gauntlet began to whir

But the fight was to end there

"GET BACK!"

The two combatants were startled by the voice as they looked around for the source

"That was...Kurosaki" Grimmjow muttered as he looked around for his familiar orange haired foe

"Bakudo #77, Tenteikura..." Yoruichi mumbled

"ALL NUEVA ESPADA, WE'RE DONE HERE, WE'RE HEADING OUT"

"He's pulling out now?" Grimmjow scoffed "After all that shit about completely taking down Soul Society...

Still...not a bad idea"

...

"Are you serious?" Yoruichi asked as the arrancar sheathed his sword

"Yup" He sighed "Don't get any wrong ideas, despite all the determination you just awoke, I'm gonna hold off our little fight...I wanna fight you when I'm back at 100%"

"And you seriously believe I'm just going to let you go?"

"Try to keep me here or not, I'm gone either way" Grimmjow grumbled

"You really are an idiot..." Yoruichi muttered as the blades of her gauntlets began to whir once more

But once again, there fight was interrupted as three speeding figures appeared behind Grimmjow

"We're leaving...Grimmjow" Came the cold voice of one of the figures

"Ulquiorra...tch, just leavin' anyway" He mumbled before an orange shield appeared over him "There's no time for that!"

"But you're hurt!" Orihime protested

"We were ordered to retreat" Nel added "There's no time, we should get healed back at Hueco Mundo"

"O-Okay" She sighed as she dropped the shield

Ulquiorra then turned his head to face the woman Grimmjow was facing

He could tell just by looking into her golden eyes, she knew what situation she was in

Taking on three high level Arrancars, even at her level, it was suicide

With what seemed like confirmation from her, the four took their leave

"Huh...guess we're heading back" Gintoki sighed

"Looks that way" Gamma sighed

"So...you cool?"

Gamma sighed as he observed the man

They had dropped their released forms some time back as the fight destroyed the surrounding area and all it was doing was exhausting them

"Yeah...cool" Gamma sighed as he rolled his eyes

"Look I dunno what shit went on between you and your sis, you don't have to tell me because frankly I don't like to butt into peoples private lifes" Gintoki mumbled as he picked his nose "But don't be pulling this shit around me again"

"Whatever you say, senpai" Grumbled the Ashen haired espada

"So glad you agree Akutabi-Oniisan!" Gintoki sung before throwing his arm over Gamma

"Okay you just took it way too fucking far!"

"Feelin' better Karin?" Ginjo asked as the girl took a seat on the couch across him

Her only response was a nod but she was grateful to have had a hot shower and warm, dry clothes

"Good...good...now onto business"

"Business..wh-oh god you are going to rape me!" Karin yelped

All eyes dashed towards Ginjo, everyone shooting him a look of utter confusion and shock, the awkward silence was intensified by the sound of Yukio dropping his PSP in the background. Tsukishima, who seemingly wore an expression of confidence and arrogance that seemingly had no end had faltered to one of genuine confusion

"Something you're not telling us Ginjo?"

"It was a misunderstanding! That's all!" Ginjo pleaded to the group before turning to the girl "I thought we went through this!"

Her only response was a blank look. The Fullbringer rubbed his brow in frustration, sighing deeply as he did

"Screw it, I'll just straight to the point" Ginjo stated sharply as he raised his head so his eyes met the girls "How much do you know about your family?"

...

"Are you one of them?" Came her nervous response

"Eh? One of who?"

"I knew it!" She seethed as she leapt off the couch "You're with the damn Soul Society!"

"No Karin! We...wait, you know about them?"

"How interesting" Giriko piped "Could Kurosaki have told her about the Soul Society?"

"At least use their first name so we know which Kurosaki you're talking about, Giriko" Yukio muttered from behind the screen of his Videogame

"Strange that she knows" Tsukishima muttered

"We're not with them Karin" Ginjo stated as he tried to calm the girl down "Trust me, we're anything but"

That seemed to grab her attention as she eased off a little

"Are you...one of Ichi-Nii's Shinigami friends?"

"No, I'm not a Shinigami" he stated "And I don't know your brother"

"We know of him" Tsukishima piped in

"Yes, thank you Tsukishima, I was getting to that" Ginjo grumbled before he turned back to the girl "We don't directly know your brother but we know of him...we know he works for the Soul Society"

Ginjo was about to continue before she noticed Karin's lip began to tremble and her eyes peered down to meet her feet

"What's wrong Karin?" Ginjo asked as he raised eyebrow

"Those bastards...those Soul Society bastards!" The girl screamed as he squeezed her eyes shut and gripped the couch for dear life "Those Shinigami bastards...they screwed over Ichi-Nii!"

If there was ever a phrase that could shock Xcution out of their wits, that was it. Every expression, including those of the stoic Tsukishima melded into one of complete shock. Every eye in the room shot open, every jaw hitched, every drop of blood in their bodies had run cold

It was too late

"They...they've already done it?" Ginjo asked in a husk voice, his tone mixed with disbelief and astonishment

"W-What do you mean?" Karin quivered, as she raised her eyebrows in surprise

"That's...that's..." Jackie began to mumble

"This doesn't sense" Yukio said as he paused his game "They're in a war, why now?"

"They betrayed him in even when he was still useful to them" Tsukishima said aloud as he rubbed his chin "The Soul Society must've fallen on grave times indeed"

"Y-You..." Karin mumbled as she stood up and locked eyes for all the participants in the room "You all knew..."

And then she exploded

"Karin! Karin!" Ginjo pleaded as the girl who leaped out at him was quickly pinned back down to the couch by Yukio and Riruka "Listen to me! Just listen to me!"

"You knew, you son of a bitch!" She roared as she flailed wildly, landing her famous soccer kick squarely in the jaw of Yukio, who proceeded to fall over like a plank of wood. With one side free, she attempted to throttle Ginjo only to be pinned down again, Jackie taking Yukio's vacant spot

"Yes...yes, we knew" Ginjo explained as kept his distance from the raging girl

"Nice, I'm sure that's the answer she wanted to hear" Tsukishima said with a large dose of snark

"Shut up Tsukishima!" Ginjo hissed through his teeth

"You bastards! YOU BASTARDS!" Karin screamed as she continued to attempt to free herself

"We knew...we knew" Ginjo panted as if he was out of breath "We just didn't know when they were going to do it"

That seemed to momentarily reduce her rage as she stopped her flailing

"Listen, the Soul Society are a bunch of heartless scum who drop those who are no longer useful to them in a heartbeat" Ginjo said as he reached for something in his pocket "No one knows this more than me"

The man pulled something out and proceeded to drop it, the small chain attached to it halted its fall, and there it dangled in front of her

A talisman, identical to her brothers

"That's..." She whimpered in shock as she was finally let go

"This is a Substitute Shinigami Combat Pass" Ginjo explained "It's proof that I was once a Substitute Shinigami, just like your brother"

"It's just like Ichi-Nii's she quietly whimpered as she gazed at the item

"It's not exactly like his" Ginjo explained as he returned his pass to the confines of his pocket "Through the years I managed to switch off the badges abilities, to give them a generous name"

"Abilities?" she questioned

"The badge is a tool, it suppresses the reiatsu of the holder so they can always be managed if the situation calls for it" Ginjo explained "it's also a tracking device so they can keep track of their target, every said close to the badge will be picked up an received in the Soul Society"

...

"W-What?"

"The badge kept tabs on your brother" Ginjo repeated

"B-But...oh no"

"What's wrong Karin?" Ginjo asked

"Ichi-Nii's badge is a tracker?"

"Karin, why do you keep asking the...same...question"

Horror now donned upon them as Karin reached into her back pocket

And pulled out a Substitute Shinigami Combat Pass

Her brothers pass...

All that followed was silence, but eventually the situation pulled out a very uncharacteristic response from Tsukishima

"Oh shit..."

"Head back?" Gantenbainne said as he looked around "Something must've gone wrong"

"Oh my, what a shame" Szayel sighed as he sheathed his sword "As much I would like to continue our little squabble, I have my orders"

"Oh? That's a shame..." Mayuri groaned as he lowered his sword "And here I was hoping to take your cadaver back for examination"

"Sorry to disappoint you" Szayel shrugged before he turned to his comrades "But we must depart"

"Sado..." Gantenbaiine turned to him "About what you said earlier, about how unsure you were...nows the time to decide"

"Sado-kun"

The large man and his Arrancar companion turned around to meet the source of the voice

Kisuke Urahara

"Oh joy, it's you" Mayuri grumbled

"Sado-kun" The bucket hatted man continued, ignoring Mayuri's comment "I hate to push you...but the fact is you already know you're not going back, don't you?"

...

"You're right"

Gantenbainne's expression didn't change, surprise was definitely not an emotion present

Not for him at least

"Oh my..." Szayel chuckled "Do I smell betrayal in the air?"

"An act of Judaism in a war, how dull" Mayuri sighed "It's practically a cliche"

"Sado...you're sure about this?" Gantenbainne asked "The promise you made..."

"It doesn't matter anymore" Chad proclaimed as the orange haired compatriot stared into his back "What I promised doesn't apply anymore...that man isn't Ichigo anymore"

"So you're sure?"

"Gantenbainne...will you-"

"I hold no loyalty to him, I don't care about this law to serve the ruler of Hueco Mundo" Gantenbainne explained "I'll go with you"

"Thank you..."

"My, my, such an interesting twist" Szayel smirked as he adjusted his glasses "Shall I inform Kurosaki-sama of your betrayal or would you prefer to do it yourself?"

"Do whatever you like" he stated "It doesn't matter anymore"

And with that, Yasutora Sado, Gantenbainne and Kisuke Urahara flickered away

"Oh my, Kurosaki-sama will not pleased about this" Szayel chuckled "Still, as a whole, those two cannot be considered great losses to the army"

"Oh I wouldn't say that" Mayuri piped in "That boy was able to do something you couldn't, he was able to beat me"

"Oh, is that so?" Szayel asked curiously as he turned to his fellow scientist "It seems there's more to that Fullbringer than I thought"

"Fullbring, eh?" Mayuri pondered as he rubbed his chin "Haven't heard that name in a long time, suppose it could make sense"

"Oh? You didn't realise the boy was a Fullbringer?" Szayel laughed "Oh well, do not worry. Soon enough many more things beyond your understanding will occur, just sit and watch"

And with that, Szayel vanished in a burst of Sonido

"Mayuri-sama, what did he mean by that?" Nemu asked

"I don't know Nemu" he stated as he furrowed his eyebrows "And I don't like not knowing"

"KARIN, GET RID OF THAT THING NOW!"

Karin was so incredibly startled by Ginjo's alarmed yell that she nearly threw the badge into the air

But her startled state allowed Tsukishima to grab it out of her hand and vanished in a flicker of a Bringer Light

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Ginjo roared as he gripped his hair "This is bad!"

"If you're implying what I think you're implying, this means we'll have to do more than go to another hideout" Yukio sighed

"With those bastards on our tail? Well have to leave the fucking country" Jackie grumbled

"Eh?! What the hell are you talking about, I'm not leaving the country!" Riruka squealed just as Tsukishima re-appeared

"I took care of the badge" Tsukishima stated "Soul Society is sure to find out about this sooner or later, we need to move"

"Wait! Wait!" Ginjo pleaded to the group "Let's get our facts straight before anything goes down, okay?"

The room fell silent at that

"Good...right" Ginjo sighed before he turned to Karin "Karin, listen to me and just answer this question; is Ichigo dead?"

"N-No...I was told he escaped"

"Shit, this is bad" Ginjo seethed, seeing the girls confusion, he knelt down to her level and placed his hands on Karin's shoulders "Listen, Soul Society gave that badge to Ichigo to keep track of him, yes, but also because they knew one day he would run into me"

Seeing this was doing nothing to clear her confusion, he continued

"Ichigo was nothing more than a pawn to them, the only reason they made him a Substitute Shinigami was so they could find me and then eliminate us both" He cleared up "Listen...I was going to change that, I was going to open Ichigo's eyes to the truth...I was going to bring him to our side

Listen...it's no coincidence I met you out there in the rain"

"W-What?"

"I knew who you were the instant I saw you, I've known about you for a long time, I know about you father, you sister, even your late mother...I have...an informant who tells me everything I need to know...I sensed you were nearby and I came up with a plan, if we gained your trust then gaining Ichigo's would be much simpler"

...

"Who are you?" She quietly mumbled

"I'm a human just like you" He stated as he stood up and slowly backed away from her "But I'm a human with a special ability"

He gave the X shaped pendant on his necklace a light tap, which then emitted a bright green glow

And Karin could only watch in amazement as that light manifested into a large claymore

"We're called Fullbringer's...and this is my Fullbring, Cross of Scaffold" He explained as the girl continued to watch in amazement, with a sigh he returned the sword back to its pendant form "I'd give you a full explanation but we're pressed for time, so I'll cut to chase, you can be one of us"

"W-What?" Karin stuttered

"Are you crazy?!" Jackie snapped "She's a kid!"

"Look around, we got two of them here" Ginjo stated

"I'm not a kid!" Riruka snapped

"Look, Karin" Ginjo began as he once again knelt down to her level "You meet all the...requirements to be a Fullbringer, it's a power we can harness to take back everything that has been taken from us, with this power we can take on Soul Society...I admit, we were hoping for Ichigo in this scenario but...we need you Karin"

...

"Will...will I be able to help Ichi-Nii?"

That brought a smile to Ginjo's face

"Kid I promise you...we'll save your brother and take down the bastards who did this..."

And as if of all the depression and anxiety from the last few days were eliminated, she gave him a determined now

"Well then Karin...Welcome to Xcution"

"Well that went balls side up..." Gintoki grumbled as The Nueva Espada returned to the familiar presence of Las Noches

"Could of gone worse" Gamma shrugged "We lost Dordonii and god knows where Plateado went..."

"Wonder how Kurosaki feels about this" Gintoki mumbled as he picked his nose "Doesn't seem to have much of a reaction to it all"

"FUCKING SHIT!"

"Oop, never mind"

"All of it...All of it was for nothing!" Ichigo roared as he slashed the ground with his blade

"Ichigo, calm down" Rukia said softly as she placed her hand of his shoulder "We took out thousands of them"

"Only small fry, no captains or lieutenants" He seethed "And the Vizards and Starrk...fucking changing sides"

"Man, sounds like some real shit went down, eh? Too bad I missed out on such a cool party"

The sound sent every member into high alert, even more so when something was thrown from the shadows and landed at their feet

The beaten and bloody body of Arturo Plateado

"Sorru, but this dude came back without your calvary, he attacked us so we had fight back, you see?"

At those words, two figures emerged from the shadows

One stood tall, brown armoured boots with plain white pants accompanied upper body armour covered with a long brown trench coat. A small scar laid on his cheek, his face uncovered by hair which brown, shoulder length and slicked back

The other one stood slightly smaller, covered from neck to toe in armour with a blue hoari, a record six swords were sheathed on his hips, three on each side, a helmet with a large crescent moon shaped decoration that probably usually sat on his head was grasped on his right hand, his hair was brown, shaggy and shoulder length, a sword tsuba acted as an eyepatch, his singular brown eye stared dead ahead to the army

"How rude of me not to introduce myself, the name's Date Masamune and this here is Kojuro, and we're here because you took my throne

"I'm sure you realise why you are here" the Captain-Commanders voice boomed throughout the room to the other two in the room

Retsu Unohana and Soifon

Unohana's braid was still undone, leaving her flowing hair down, the bruises and bloody nose left by Gamma were still there, as well as her injured leg which had not been fully healed

Soifon, still clutched to her burnt uniform, which hid her charred flesh, the smell of burnt hair still filled her nose, a permanent burn sat on her left cheek, scarring her forever

"In this time, you two have committed treason"

"Captain-Com-" Unohana begun

"Silence!" He roared "You are in no position to speak Retsu Unohana"

...

The woman chose not to reply

"Retsu Unohana, in this time of war, you refused to battle your enemy, refusing to join your fellow soldiers in battle in the ultimate act of cowardice!"

"Sir, you don't understand, he-"

"I understand you refused to fight, that is all that mat-"

"That Arrancar was my bro-"

"Enough!" He roared, slamming his cane onto the ground "You have committed treason, that is all

...

As for you...Shaolin Fon"

The mere mention of her real name sent the girl into shivers

"Your Bankai resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocents and further on, you proceeded to beg for your life like a pathetic coward"

Tears began to roll down the girls eyes

"You cry, yet according to reports, you exposed your breast to your opponent, perhaps as a payment? Truly a shameless child"

"S-Sir, no, t-that was an accident, my uniform was ripped and-"

"I did not give you permission to speak" Yamamoto cut her off "This is only increasing your shameless nature"

"Sir, no! I'm not shameless!" She sobbed as she aimed her tears stained eyes at him

"You are, and for that you will be punished accordingly" The man stated "You have disgraced yourself and the famous Soifon code name on the Fon clan, you don't deserve to wear the garment of a Shinigami and I will not tolerate the pathetic sight of you clutching your robes any longer, remove them"

"S-Sir?" The girl stuttered in shock

"Remove your clothes, this is the first part of your punishment" Yamamoto spelled out

"Captain-Commander!" Unohana yelled "This is-"

"You too are ordered to remove your garments, you traitor" Yamamoto ordered

"I will do no such thing!" She snapped back

"Then you will die the death deserving of a traitor" He stated, drawing his sword which caused the girl to freeze "I sense you do not want to die so do as I ordered"

...

"You are sick..." She seethed with disgust as she dropped off her captains haori

"I am not doing this out of sick, perverted pleasure. This the appropriate punishment for treacherous cowards" he explained "Strip, every single garment, now"

With a shaking hand, Soifon...no, Shaolin Fon tugged her already wrecked robe, the small pull was enough to tear the fabric, causing it to flop down and expose her upper body, her petite breasts also burned. Her socks and sandals were burned off in the explosion so with nothing other to remove, a small tug of her obi was enough to allow her charred hakama to fall to her feet, all that remained was her fundoshi, the sides of which were burnt too, with just a small tug at the sides, the garment ripped in two, exposing her untouched purity. Her sobs now increased as she stood there, naked and humiliated

With a grimace on her face, Retsu Unohana removed the top half of her uniform, exposing her uncovered large breasts, her anger clearly overcame her shame as she angrily undid her obi and allowed her hakama to fall, exposing the large amount of bloody bandages covering her wrecked knee, however as she angrily yanked down her underwear, her knee gave way causing her to crash to the ground, the girl squealed in agony as her destroyed knee smashed into the floor

"Cease your pathetic grovelling" Yamamoto ordered as Soifon looked on in horror

"Please, she's hurt!" Soifon begged

"Your punishment is not over yet so do not speak" He stated

Unohana gritted her teeth, she realised she made a pathetic sight, being an injured, mostly naked woman lying on the floor, struggling to remove her underwear but she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her cower. Angrily, she pulled the sides of the garment until they ripped, exposing her clean shaven womanhood, she slowly reached down and removed her footwear, her only remaining garment.

"Get on all fours" Yamamoto instructed them both, Soifon slowly fell to her knees while Unohana laid herself out, carefully keeping her injured knee above the ground

"Heads down, you are to keep your eyes on the floor at all times" Yamamoto instructed as they did just that "It is now time for the second part of your punishment"

And then the sound of him unsheathing his sword rang through their ears. And as his footsteps drew closer to Soifon, the girl began to shake uncontrollably

But then the only sound that could be heard was the most blood curling scream Unohana had ever heard.

The woman's eyes shot open as the screams rang through her ears, they were screams of horror, screams of extreme pain, screams of pain so intense that even she had never heard before

And worst of all, she had no idea what he was doing and it was going to happening to her

Dear god, what was he doing...Stabbing her? Cutting her? Killing her? Raping her?

However when the smell of burning flesh entered her nostrils, she knew exactly what he was doing

Burning her

The screams never seemed to stop, even when it was over and Soifon collapsed due to the pain, they didn't stop ringing in her ears

And now it was her turn

He swiped away her hair with the blunt side of the blade to expose her bare back and then it begun

The most horrendous pain imaginable

To this day, she cannot completely recall the experience, perhaps her mind wiped the memory so she would never have to relive it. But even if she couldn't remember the pain, she would always remember the feeling

It felt like boiling lava was being poured onto her back after being stabbed billions of times by flaming spears. It left behind wounds that would never heal, not even by the most advanced and powerful medical kido.

Another thing she would remember was the smell

Oh god, the smell

Burning flesh was the most honest to god putrid and nauseating smell on the planet.

She never could remember how long it lasted, it felt like an eternity but was most likely just over a minute.

All she did when it was over was fall to the ground, immobile due to the pain and have no choice but to listen to Yamamoto further

"I burned into your backs the symbol '賊'. The kanji for traitor". He explained as he sheathed his sword "Your bodies will be forever scarred as punishment for what you have done today"

The two girls could only lay there, naked and immobile with their charred flesh giving off smoke

"Squad 2 Captain, you are hereby relieved of command of the stealth force and use of the code name, Soifon, from this day onwards, you shall go by your real name, Shaolin Fon. Squad 4 Captain, Retsu Unohana, you are relieved of your duties as head medical officer of the Gotei 13. As punishment for your war crimes I hereby give you the greatest punishment I can personally dispose.

You are hereby relieved of your positions as Captains in the Gotei 13"

"Are you feeling better, Captain Ukitake?" The squad 4 member asked

"Yes, much better, thank you " he smiled

Even though it was a lie

Kiyone and Sentaro, his most loyal officers were dead...

And the upcoming news would not help his state

"Captain Ukitake!" Came a blaring voice from the door, he immediately recognised the voice as his sixth seat officer

"Hidetomo, what is it, what's wrong?" He asked

"Sir...Squad 12 were using the Substitute Shinigami Combat Pass's tracking feature to try and locate Ichigo Kurosaki...and..."

...

"Yes?...Go on?"

"Sir...they found him"

"You mean...Ichigo Kurosaki has been located?" Ukitake asked quizzically

Unaware that the answer he would get would turn his blood cold

"No sir...not him...They found Ginjo..."