[Seireitei] The Streets

[Bloodedge]

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4127/35769295655_1d47656e87_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WuNZq4)

[Apollymi]

Walking along the streets of the Seireitei several hours after the incursion of a group of First Class students into the Material World, a young woman in over-sized white pants and a Chinese undershirt purple in color seemed to be walking around aimlessly. Her hair up in two horns on the side of her head, with flat bangs across her forehead. She was currently walking with a flat expression like there was something on her mind, but this tended to always be the case. "I should get my nails painted," she finally said, aloud to herself, changing her direction in walking and having new found purpose.

[Bloodedge]

A quick Shunpo would bring the new white-haired Lieutenant of the 10th Division before the wandering woman. He seemed quite battered, and was somehow without the entire top half of his shihakushou. Upon landing, he immediately took a knee and bowed his head. "Konbanwa, Han-Soushireikan," he greeted. He had obviously come before this woman for a reason, but formalities were to be addressed first. Beyond that, he figured she would understand everything just by looking at him, considering. "You're looking well, as usual. Off for a date?"

[Apollymi]

The woman whose surname was apparently Han was stopped by a young man landing before her. She was familiar with this young man, he'd been one of the best prospects for joining the Onmitsukido she'd seen in a couple of decades. Sadly to her knowledge he'd chosen to go elsewhere, but she still found him to be entertaining at least. So his formalities as most would call them would be addressed as such. "Eh? You look like hell Raizen-kun, don't tell me you turned us down just to go off and start losing fights," she woman asked in a whimsical way. There was the matter of her looking well which she appreciated as well as the question of what her activities included she simply chuckled. "No, I was thinking of getting my nails repainted, but... something tells me I might want to save that for later~" said the woman as she paused with hands on her hips waiting for this young man to say something else.

[Bloodedge]

"Gomen, gomen. It's not as bad as it seems; I promise. I had to deal with a few Hollows, and I may have made a mess of things." After being addressed by the woman, and explaining himself, Raizen rose to his feet. He had only just returned from the human world, where he aided the first-year students of the Shinou Academy's first class, only to then face a Menos the likes of which he couldn't previously comprehend. "I'm sure the one that gave me a bit of a problem was a Menos, but not of the Gillian class. I don't want to give myself any undue credit, so I'll assume it was a fresh Adjuchas. I held my own, but I honestly need a lot more training with... Shunkou."

[Apollymi]

The thought of a hollow giving one of his caliber trouble was a bit distressing to the woman known as Han. He should have been good enough to handle most anything he would have come across but his current state and explanation seemed to be contrary to this point. As he continued to explain he claimed he'd helped the first class of Shino Academy after the untimely death of their teacher which she did know about already but this claim of an Adjuchas was something a bit far-fetched. He went on to claim that what he needed help with was his mastery of Shunkou, which made the woman's eyes widen just a tad. "Whoa, wait a minute, did you say Shunkou? You need training with Shunko? Like you can actually do it?" the woman was simply astounded.

[Bloodedge]

"Shunkou. Hai," he replied. This woman seemed surprised to some extent that he knew of this technique. There was also an obvious shock factor in the idea that he not only knew, but was capable of using it, at least in some way. "Well... I wouldn't exactly say I can do it. I can, but there's a bit of... ineffectiveness that I'm sure you can see by the state of me now. With you being the owner of the technique, I hoped you could help me gain a bit of mastery." With his purpose now fully revealed, Raizen clapped his hands together and bowed. "Onegai! If you help me out, I can take you for that date you're missing out on for your evening."

[Apollymi]

The state of this young man's attire was apparently following his attempt to properly use Shunko. He went on to claim that while he could do it, it wasn't as effective for him, as he'd heard it being effective for her as the originator of the technique. She had a set of conflicting feelings about this entire ordeal. Still when the young man bowed and practically begged for her help, she could hardly say no. In fact, she sucked her teeth and allowed her hands to rest on her hips. "It figures, I wait almost a century for someone else to pick up this technique, and it's you. Fine. I'll help you out, Raizen-kun. Don't beg or anything~" the woman mentioned. "Also, I said, I wasn't going on a date, besides that you are way too young for me." she said playfully. "I was going to get my nails repainted, but that can obviously wait. Come on~ I'll have to see what you have so far so I can tell you how to fix it." she said, beckoning the young man to follow to one of the training grounds used for the Onmitsukido, so that she could help him with his use of the technique she'd created.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course it's me. You of all people should know, there's no bigger fan of combining Hakuda and Kidou than yours truly," he said with a wink. "Fine, no date then. Kids like me go out of their league sometimes; I get it." Laughing off his most recent statement, Raizen followed closely behind the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidou, letting her lead him to whatever training grounds she had in mind.

[Apollymi]

Out in the streets of the Seireitei, the Fifth Division's Captain walked after a Captain's meeting adjourned about a potential threat to the Seireitei. 'Hm, if it could potentially affect even Captains, anyone among us could have already become a problem,' thought Litchi. As she walked. She didn't seem to be afraid of anything but she was constantly on the lookout with the strangest feeling that there was someone behind her. Her own Division barracks were still quite a ways off and she'd already begun taking detours feeling that she didn't want to risk her Division members should it actually be the case that someone was watching her. "If you wish to converse with me, you should just say so, following a woman around like this seems creepy at best..."

[Bloodedge]

Litchi's belief that she was being followed was nothing short of accurate. Eventually, she chose to speak with whatever individual trailed behind her, prompting the emergence of... another Captain. The man with light blonde hair and an opera mask approached the 5th's Captain from the rear, wearing a sinister grin upon his face, and stinking of Hollow Reiatsu. "Fayeling-taichou. Forgive me; I only wanted to ensure your safety during your travels."

[Apollymi]

"If that were the case, you should have just offered to take me back to my barracks..." she said turning around to find something strange about this man's reiatsu and beyond that, his sinister grin. He looked a bit off of what he normally did, and with that in mind the young woman subconsciously reached for her Zanpakuto. "Ohka-taichou, please accompany me to the 12th Division," the young woman asked politely as her hand came to rest on the hilt of her sword she didn't wish to fight this man, but she knew that he was likely affected by this 'Ghost'.

[Bloodedge]

This man's grin grew when he received Litchi's response. "Why would I do that, when you have such a scary look... Fayeling-taichou?" With that said, the man named Sadao drew his own sword, which had a strange and ethereal glow. Something these Shinigami did not seem to have figured out by now, was a more direct method of infection. At this very moment, the 2nd Division's Captain was the only one affected by the "Ghost" they had discovered, and unlike the others, he was completely overtaken by it. As such, he was the source of the infection; his sword alone would serve to spread the affliction to another. Sadao immediately made attempts to infect Litchi by charging toward her, baring his blade with intentions of merely slashing her upper left arm as he passed her by. This would result in a minute amount of the "Ghost" Hollow Reiryoku entering her body.

[Apollymi]

"It isn't a scary look, you don't feel right, Ohka-taichou," the young woman said, already drawing her weapon by the time that Ohka decided to attack. Even knowing she should have had her weapon at the ready, the young woman experienced a moments hesitation and this of course, let do her being cut by the strange weapon. Beyond this she felt a bit odd, but was still ready to strike back at the Second Division's Captain. "Sumimasen, Ohka-taichou, I'm going to have to incapacitate you." she said calmly. "Bakudo no Rokujuuichi: Rikujokoro" such an utterance would cause a explosion of yellow triangular shaped fans to appear around the male captain aiming to slam into his mid-section and capture him without having to cause too much of a scene.

[Bloodedge]

"You, incapacitate me?" the male retorted, arrogantly. His slash had marked the first stage of the infection, but soon after, he was bound by six beams of light. Immediately, his Reiatsu began to flare against this. As this occurred, traces of Hollow Reiatsu became more and more apparent within the man's body, providing him much more strength than he was known to possess. "Bukkowasu," he said as the expenditure of Reiatsu finally allowed him to touch his sheath with his left hand. "Nami no Buki!" At his command, his sword and sheath each released an explosive flash of Reiryoku. This boost was enough to shatter the spell that contained him. When the light faded, Sadao stood with two large, purple gauntlets extending from his forearms to his shins. These gauntlets bore jagged claws dripping with the same effect his sealed blade once had. "Don't be absurd." Within his left claw, Sadao formed a sphere of black Reiryoku, which launched itself toward Litchi's fore without any visual prompting from Sadao himself. Upon reaching the halfway mark, the sphere instantly grew to ten times its own size. If Litchi managed to be struck by this, she would momentarily be trapped within the orb which would repeatedly inflict damage while feeding the Hollow infection into her open wound.

[Apollymi]

'Shimata, too much hollow Reiatsu coming from him. He was already a bit stronger than me...' the young woman's eyes stayed trained as she bought herself a bit of time with the use of a well-timed bakudo. But before she had time to properly capitalize on her winnings, she was confronted by an outpouring of Reiatsu followed by the release of this man's Zanpakuto. "Bakana..." the young woman seemed a bit stunned, this was well beyond anything she expected from one of her peers. She'd never seen this man's Zanpakuto's release, nor was she prepared for the ball which came from the left hands created by the end. The young woman jumped away but was soon engulfed by a black ball which began to berate her within. "Argh!" a single noise would be heard as the young woman was pummeled. She slammed the end of her Zanpakuto into its sheath and uttered a release command. "Noribo, Mantenbo..." this would cause her zanpakuto to become a large bo weapon, black and white with red tips. Which she immediately used to begin trying to bash her way out of the ball which she was trapped in. After a few moments she finally managed to escape, but by the time she did, her heart beat felt irregular. "I feel..."

[Bloodedge]

Sadao began walking toward Litchi as she was pummeled by his most recent attack. By the time she broke free via using her Shikai, he was standing in front of her. "Like the Shinigami must die?" he said with an upward inflection, as if to assume the end of the woman's statement about how she felt. At the same time, his left claw rose again. As it was held over her head, Sadao aimed to directly pour the Hollow infection into her to finish the job he'd started.

[Apollymi]

"Yee....s" the young woman was soon clutching her arm where the cut was made, trying not to have anything happen. "No... that's not right..." she said as she tried to back away from the man but she couldn't really. Soon enough the man's clawed hand was hovering over her person, filling her with Hollow Reiatsu and causing her to experience a very strange sensation. Soon enough she lost her will to fight this man in particular and fell into the clutches of the hollow which held him.

While this happened though a gentle pitter-patter of footsteps could be heard. They approached rapidly and soon moved right past the male Captain aiming to knock the downed Fayeling away with sheathed sword and done with enough force to knock the younger woman unconscious instantaneously. The pink haired woman with the kanji for the number six on her back turn around to face the man who still had his Shikai out. "It's you, Ohka-taichou, I was hoping this wasn't true. That there was some other explanation for what I found in the barracks of the Second Division." said the woman as she drew her sword, "Do you... have any explanation for the dead Vice-Captain?"

[Bloodedge]

"Yes... Now, together, we will take the next one," he said when it became apparent that Litchi had fallen under the influence. Much to his dismay, the black-haired woman soon fell unconscious, mere moments after being taken over. The culprit was recognizable, pinned as the Captain of the 6th Division, and among the most powerful individuals in Soul Society. A toothy grin appeared on Sadao's face when she spoke. "An explanation? It's obvious. The boy was going to be another vessel, like this body. He could not handle it... but you... you could be the next primary vessel, Tamamura Tamao!" With that said, Sadao held out both of his claws, aiming two black beams toward the pink-haired woman. His intention was not only to do what he had done with Litchi, but to make her the epicenter of a Gotei-wide infection.

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka, that is what you're after. Nice to know, you'll now be executed," the pink haired woman mentioned. She found this man rather despicable, and the death of his Vice-Captain should have moved him more. Yet here he was, converting another Captain and apparently wanting to execute all Shinigami. "Iie, I will not be anything of the sort," she said as she drew her blade, upon doing so she swung it very quickly. Doing so with precision and power enough to aim to dodge both the black beams while slicing through the hands which created them. Immediately after those two swings of the blade were performed she swung the long blade around once more, aiming to cut the male captain vertically from his torso to the top of his head.

[Bloodedge]

"This body said the same thing," he replied. Moments later, his Shikai was slashed at twice in succession. The normal state of this man would have had his Zanpakutou destroyed, but the addition of the Hollow's power allowed him enough resistance to get away with mere cuts along the claws of his weapon. As such, he was left with something to defend against the third slash, and he chose his left claw to do so. At this time, his right claw moved forward with intentions of grasping the woman by her entire torso and clawing into her shoulders and sides simultaneously.

[Apollymi]

"If that is the case, whatever is left of him will appreciate being disposed of before he does anything else to shame his name," Tamao said seeming to still be disgusted. The infusion of hollow Reiryoku into this individual allowed him to withstand attacks from her that would have normally felled him. This of course, wasn't expected and caused Tamao's left brow to raise in reply. Such a thing as someone living through three swings of her sword at such range was almost unheard of. Even so, she couldn't help but become somewhat excited by the prospect of all this. She moved on soon, enough to one of these claws trying to encroach upon her person, "Habatake..." she said a shield of energy forming around her person. "Tengu." the form of her sword didn't change, but she gained an extra bit of energy about her person, which condensed into a large piece of armor right above her shoulder which would keep the clawed hand from closing in on her person. Her sword swung at an extended distance aiming to crush the other hand as it tried to harm her. "I am nothing like them, I've already said enough..."

[Bloodedge]

Sadao's onslaught was met by the Shikai of the 6th Division's Captain. The added power of this release was significant enough that the next slash broke through one of Sadao's claws. The Hollow within was quite appalled by this, and the general idea that there was such a difference between Captains of the Gotei 13. However, even if it had to sacrifice and abandon this body, if the form of Tamao could be obtained in the process, it would be worth the trade-off. "Kekekeke~. Shikai beating Shikai. Shinigami are interesting, no!?" As he spoke, the halves of his broken claw, and the entirety of his remaining one, began to glow brightly. "BANKAI!" he shouted. Suddenly, a massive explosion of Reiatsu occurred, encompassing the entire immediate area while shining brightly enough to notify others in the distance of the occurrence. When the light subsided, Sadao stood next to a female doll of sorts, taller than he was by nearly a foot. Its arms were that of his Shikai's claws, it wore a dress and hat that were both violet in color, and atop its hat were a pair of violet blades as long as its body. "Nami no Buki! You're strong, Shinigami. I'll make you stronger. But first, remorse! This one has the ultimate power among your kind: Bankai!" Immediately after this declaration, Sadao pointed in Tamao's direction, willing the doll to charge forward. A continuous spin caused the blades on its hat to fan out, aiming to saw through Tamao by tilting slightly forward on its way toward her.

[Apollymi]

"BAKA!" the Sixth Division Captain, had taken all she could of this hollow's speech. She abhorred the idea that it as a being thought of Shinigami as nothing more than toys, and beyond this point, she hated the idea that it was presently wearing one of her comrades, and using his abilities to further shame the name of Shinigami everywhere. She then saw something she hadn't expected to see, the use of Ohka's Bankai by this individual. And though she'd never seen it before, she couldn't help but feel disgusted knowing that a hollow possessed it. A deep frown appeared on this woman's face, even so she was soon left to fend off the coming blades of doll charged towards her. She found herself blocking the large blades with the extended blade of her Shikai charged by energy she shifted it from left and right without any problem aiming to cut the hat off of it along with all the blades there on. She had one thing to say to this hollow. "It seems you are very misguided on your knowledge of Shinigami. Allow me to educate you before you die..." she mentioned as her reiatsu flared pink around her person crackling buildings and causing the ground to tremble beneath her. Something about this woman rather suddenly became overpowering and menacing.

[Bloodedge]

"Am I now?" he asked. Tamao seemed to be doing a good job in defending against the doll's blades, but as she aimed to lop off its hat, it ducked into a crouching position. The blades on its hat detached, forming a pair of wings with numerous blades jutting from them. These rings became something of a vehicle for Sadao's Bankai to ride as it moved forward with the plan of sawing through the 6th's Captain. "Ooh, is it something about your little Zanpakutou's size? I hear it has something to do with Reiatsu quantities. This one may be weak and have a small Bankai, but my power is more than enough to make up for that!"

[Apollymi]

A sigh escaped the Sixth Division Captain, but she was obligated by her own sense of duty to make sure this hollow and all others would know what they were dealing with. "The size of my Zanpakuto, has nothing to do with my power. As a Captain, I am required to constantly suppress my Reiatsu lest I walk around with a mountain sized sword, making an assumption like that will be why you die," she said holding up a hand as she was charged at by this Bankai once more the shield and sword of her Shikai further compressing to hold it at bay while she spoke. "Besides that the one thing that all Captains of the Gotei 13 have in common, is that they all possess the ultimate Shinigami power, as you called it," she said as her energy exploded outward taking a strange form as she uttered the word for posterity. "Ban... kai." she said all of the energy around her condensed and what rose behind her was a large tengu several stories high dressed as an ascetic monk completely with prayer beads and wielding a proportional version of the woman's original sword. "Fudatsuki Dai Tengu..." she said as it grew out of the ground it had enough power to force itself between its master and the Bankai of the man. "In the face of my power, you're nothing..." she said as the Tengu drew back its sword to attack. "Shugen Kijin Shiekihou Gokugi: Kamaizuna," she said as the bird towering above her began slashing but it looked like a single attack being launched as if it held several swords at once. Each of these were launched at the man and his Bankai as if she intended to cut him into ribbons, and end his life with this single attack.

[Bloodedge]

"Is that so? In that case, perhaps I'll see what hidden potential this body has," the Hollow-possessed Captain spoke, assuming Tamao intended to imply that this controlled Zanpakutou size was relative to withheld power as well. It was then that she spoke the words Sadao in this state did not expect to hear. More importantly, the massive form of this Bankai caused Sadao to look up with wide eyes. "B-... Bakana!" he said. What came next, would seem to result in the Hollow dying in ignorance. The seemingly numerous blades of Tamao's Bankai sliced through Sadao and his Bankai simultaneously, reducing them both to nothing along with the landscape around them. However, the Reiatsu within Sadao's body did not disappear; it slipped away from his physical form during the assault, instead. It seemed to be collecting along with the whole of the Hollow's Reiatsu, along with a mass of Litchi's Reiatsu as well, as it fled from Tamao's location.

[Apollymi]

A woman with pink hair in a bun moved through the streets of the Seireitei. She was looking for the massive influx of Reiatsu she'd felt just a few moments prior from her barracks. As dainty footsteps carried her past many people she kept moving. Her pink eyes narrow as she aimed to find what she was looking for. There was something disturbing the peace of the Seireitei and she'd have to do something about it. 'Where are you...' she thought absently as she moved about. She'd find her target eventually and dispatch it with much haste.

[Bloodedge]

This woman was quickly joined by a male figure of Captain caliber, judging by the immense Reiatsu he let leak out during his approach to whatever had made this commotion. He had long, purple hair kept in a ponytail, leaving a long, thin ahoge to jut from the top of his head. His eyes were golden, and though he wore a Captain's Haori, it was covered by floor-length purple and white robes. "Ohai, Tama-chan," he said with a yawn. "Mendokuse yo! If you're here, I won't get to have any fun at all. You knew what day it was too, didn't you?"

[Apollymi]

"Sato-kun, not late to the party for once," she said those narrow pink eyes darting in his direction as he came up beside her. Still she didn't have any problem continuing her search with this particular man at her side. Onto the matter of him not being able to have fun because she was there, something of a smirk came to her face. "Oh by all means, if you want to take the first stab at whatever it is, I'll allow it. After all, it isn't often you decide to grace us with your presence..." she said knowing that she normally took to the streets to dispatch of anything that could be found. Whatever was going to be found, it was massive enough that it stirred and caught the attention of at least two high tier Captains. One could only assume they wouldn't be the only ones looking into this particular issue.

[Bloodedge]

"I was on a walk anyway," said this Captain about his happenstance presence for this apparent danger. He had no clue what they were up against, but he had an idea of what this ordeal involved. Looking to the sky, he spoke again. "Today is the day they move the Ouin. It should be shipping out right about now. Something tells me this isn't some random coincidence." While these two spoke, it became apparent that yet another Captain was present. The blonde male wearing the haori of the 13th Division appeared seemingly out of thin air near these two. "You're right. Good thing both of you are here. I'd have handled the situation myself already, but... it's Kenpachi," said the Captain Namikaze Minato. "No clue why, but he's got the Ouin, and he's acting pretty crazy. This isn't like him at all."

[Apollymi]

"Hai, Kenpachi's squad was in charge of it. But that's not the Nijo I'm used to either..." these were the words of the Captain of the Second Division as she also randomly appeared in this group of Captains. Surprisingly enough directly beside Minato, it seemed like this grouping of Captains was two pairs of friends who all had the same initiative in handling this problem that was rising in the Seireitei right now. "Kenpachi-taichou is acting strange... this decade is oddly busy..." said Tamamura who recalled another recent event where a Captain went completely astray and had to be put down, specifically by her. She couldn't help but wonder if this might have been related, but now wasn't the time for thinking too much about it. "Ouin... will grant an unwieldy amount of power to its user, all of us are probably going to be necessary to take him down... Besides that looking at the thing is against the law. Possessing it is a death sentence," said Tamamura who was somewhat familiar with the artifact without having ever set eyes on it.

[Bloodedge]

When Tamao spoke of the illegality of beholding the Ouin, Minato seemed to shrink while looking toward Juri. In truth, he'd looked directly at the artifact while it was held by the Kenpachi of this generation, but he had nothing to say about this. "Uhh... yeah. So, gotta do stuff about that there problem. What do we do, though? There's got to be something else going on here; our Kenpachi would never do anything like this. We can't just kill him, can we? I mean..." Just then, yet another Captain made their appearance. This one was the well-known Captain of the 7th Division, Mutsuki Kagura. The black-haired man approached this group with his massive zweihander of a Shikai in tow. "No time for favoritism, I'm afraid. If Kenpachi's the one with it, he has to go down. You should know better than most that it's the only way to stop him," he chimed. At this point, the aforementioned Captain of the 11th Division became easily sensed to any, as his Reiatsu flared in absolutely vast quantities, far surpassing whatever he was previously capable of. His location could be pinpointed not far from Soukyoku Hill.

"Yare yare. That's pretty intense, even for a Kenpachi. This might be a problem for all of us."

[Apollymi]

True enough the death of the Kenpachi seemed like it may be the only way to deal with him. Though Juri was familiar with said Kenpachi she had to admit that what was going on here, whether it had higher implications or not had to be stopped. And it wasn't necessary an easy task when the man was in control of himself. In this moment everyone seemed to gather and know exactly where they needed to go. With this in mind a turn took place which would take them towards where the Reiatsu was felt strongest. Satoshi's words met the ears of a quite Tamamura who spoke up once more. "Yes, its a bit intense, but we are five Captains against one, I am pretty sure we can manage," mentioned the woman as she came to a stop.

[Bloodedge]

As the crew of Captains approached, the brown-haired Kenpachi stood upon a rooftop in the streets of the Seireitei. As if this sudden bonus to his Reiatsu wasn't enough to cause some level of concern, he was not alone for longer than a moment upon making his presence known. Dozens upon dozens of Gillian-class Menos Grande began tearing through space to enter the Seireitei, but they did not seem to use their normal methods. In this case, it was as if portals had been opened from within, rather than from where these Hollows originated. What's more, these Gillian were all of a recently-discovered special variety. They all seemed to have some caliber of intelligence, and were also more powerful than the normal version. That aside, the quantity of Hollows present was enough to cover most of the Seireitei in shadows cast by their massive forms. Minato was the first to have something to say about this. "Well, that's a problem. Somebody's gotta deal with Kenpachi; I can work on these Hollows. Even I need backup, though. Juri?"

[Apollymi]

The scores of Gillian Menos were beyond what Tamamura expected to see in one place. As she looked out over them she soon enough found herself staring at the Kenpachi. Of course, it was her immediate thought that she would take him, but the sheer number of Menos was a bit daunting to say the least. At Minato's words Juri looked at the Menos and at him. "Hai hai, just like old times," she said as she prepared for battle removing her haori to reveal the dao type undershirt beneath in purple which seemed to look a bit like a spider in its design but left her shoulders bare. Meanwhile Tamamura drew her sword and flicked her eyes towards Satoshi, "Sato-kun, I did offer you first go at the threat. So after you," she said seemingly calm but acknowleging that the pair of them would likely be backing them up.

[Bloodedge]

At Juri's acceptance, Minato drew the tanto he wielded on his back. The weapon immediately transformed, taking the shape of a three-pronged kunai with greater weight and size than the norm. For some reason, he launched this toward the 2nd Division's Captain instead of the enemy. En route to her, a golden flash occurred around the kunai and in Minato's hand, somehow producing a second copy for Minato himself. "You might want that," he said. With that, he discarded his own haori and kosode, revealing a male version of the Onmitsukido's keisen uniform beneath. Kidou energy suddenly erupted from his body, primarily his back and arms, taking the form of swirling winds. "Phew! Been a while. Which routine this time?"

In the meantime, Satoshi took the go-ahead and darted through various Gililan to approach Kenpachi. Satoshi was fast; incredibly so, and yet Kenpachi vanished from his sight before he could be reached. "Tch! Damn Onmitsukidou," he said, only to be corrected by another individual on the scene. "That wasn't Shunpo," spoke Kumori Raizen, the only Vice-Captain to have appeared among the group thus far. "That was some form of teleportation."

[Apollymi]

Juri could soon enough be seen cloaking herself in lightning, bouncing on her toes as she opened her hand and caught a kunai after a yellow flash occurred. She flipped it around in her palm getting used to its slightly increased weight over the norm. As this happened, she looked at a set of close by Gillian and decided on a routine so to speak for the pair of them to follow. "Out of practice? Mina-kun this is way too useful for you to not give it is proper usage," she said of the technique. Even so she triangulated between herself and two nearby hollows and a third and forth just behind that and grinned. "Fourth should do for this..." she mentioned taking off to start this a solid jump would lead her up the body of the hollow where she'd aim to run through a mask using a powerful kick from her legs.

Raizen's words to the Captain of the 8th didn't go unnoticed by the 6th Division Captain. She looked towards the only young man who'd actually managed to properly injure her in quite a long time and considered what to say. Given the level of this threat it wasn't really a place for Vice-Captains, that being said, it might be more of a problem for them than she'd like to admit. "Fantastic, meaning we'll have to take care of this first..." mentioned the Captain of the Sixth Division, who went on to raise her sword in a singular swift strike and immediately cut down a Menos. "Unless of course, there is a suggestion on the table about how to track down a teleporting empowered Captain," she finished as she flicked her weapon. It'd taken her a while to track down the Kenpachi the first time even after realizing it was him. It wouldn't be worth it to try and hunt him down among the mess of Hollows.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, but it's so similar to my Bankai that I-" Minato's response to his long-time friend came to a sudden halt as he realized something about the Shunko skill when compared to his Bankai. "Wait, were you copying my Bankai!?" he asked in shock. Moving back to the matter at hand, though, the fourth routine run by these two was chosen by Juri. Looking at the Menos in front of them, Minato grinned. This was a good one to choose. "Hai hai!" When Juri took off, so did he. Minato's path took him toward a more distant Hollow, whose mask he slashed through an innumerable amount of times in the blink of an eye. This maneuver shred the Hollow's head into a thousand thin strips, killing it. The kill would happen simultaneously with the killing of Juri's target, at which point he would throw his kunai toward the woman at the perfect angle that, if she threw hers as well, the two would ricochet off one another and pierce the heads of two other Gillian. If this occurred, and since Minato had one of his own teleportation seals upon Juri already, he would follow the second pair of deaths by teleporting himself and Juri to their respective kunai to begin their onslaught anew with another pair.

Raizen stood with arms akimbo as the 6th's Captain replied to his assessment of the situation. He watched the slaying of Hollows while continuing to think through the ongoing ordeal, and the conclusion he came to was not very pleasing. "Kenpachi-taichou's Reiatsu has completely disappeared. That says these Menos Grande were nothing but a distraction from the beginning. Surely he's hiding somewhere, and he intends to use these to keep anyone from looking for him until he's done... something. Gomen; I have no idea what that could be," he said. True enough, this was exactly the case with Nijo Kenpachi. Rumor was that control of the Ouin required use of a Bankai, and though few would know, the current Kenpachi's Bankai had a special requirement which gave him a great deal of preparation time before he could release it.

[Apollymi]

There seemed to be a sudden realization from Minato about the similarity between his own Bankai and the technique developed initially by the leader of the Onmitsukidou. She couldn't help but chuckle at his apparent question, "I'd say no, but I feel like you wouldn't believe me," she said as she started her actual work. As they moved about they seemed to be in perfect harmony. She threw her kunai at the exact moment that Minato threw his, causing them to ricochet off each other and into new hollows killing those as well. It seemed their timing was still quite flawless, as they were soon teleported to their respective kunai and as such able to start on their new targets. Such a thing was rather amazing to watch, as such they continued with their work aiming to thin this heard while some of the others began work towards dealing with the more severe of their threats.

Tamao was soon scoffing. Kumori Raizen's assessment of this situation meant that until Nijo decided to show himself again, they were but sitting ducks. "That's still disturbing, what on earth could he be doing that he requires this much of a distraction?" she said seeming to find it strange, though since they couldn't dawdle she decided it would be best if they simply kept killing Menos. "Mendokuse, the Ouin requires a Bankai to wield, Kenpachi's Bankai... it has a charged release... so he couldn't immediately use it," she surmised. Though knowing this information didn't actually help them find him, it simply clarified why such a distraction was so necessary. "Oh well, we'll know where he is when it is released, until then... killing these Hollows is top priority," she said moving on to do exactly that, swinging her blade against yet another Hollow seeming to have to waste much less energy to do this than some of the other Captains.

And while this happened on the outskirts of this particular fight, a lone redhead wandered among the gigantic shadows created by these Hollows seemingly without being sensed by them. Her hand rested on the hilt of her Zanpakuto which was practically vibrating with the desire to be drawn. 'Sou ka, you like this do you, Yakouboku?' she said which made the spirit of her sword speak within her mind. 'Um-hm, you should use me here. I'm sure you'll understand... kill one of these!~ The forests are so quiet still...' said the voice. She could imagine the strange stitched together woman entangled in dark vines with thorns. 'You still speak in riddles... but... I've been wondering myself if I could take one of these now,' said the little redhead as she drew the ebony blade with her left hand having it flip around twice before she caught it again in a backhanded grip. "Tenchikaimei," she said with a small smirk developing over her face as she ran her hand over the blade, the singular phrase that would change her weapon to its released Shikai form, with red handle and a long dark blade which seemed to swirl with darkness even more so than normal. "Yakouboku," she finished as she looked at her blade. 'Sou ka... you really do prefer the dark, huh?' she questioned rhetorically as she looked up and then down at the giant shadows cast. She allowed her blade to touch the ground, the darkness of her own shadow spreading over the one nearest to her, this was something of an experiment to her and as such she planned to see it all the way through.

[Bloodedge]

"Not at all," said Minato the moment he retrieved his Zanpakutou. Now that he was airborne, he used his active Shunko to carry himself through the sky toward additional Hollows, one by one in a zigzag pattern to fell them individually.

Even with the speed at which these Gillian were being dispersed, the sheer number remaining continued to plague the whole of the Seireitei. Various other Shinigami were facing them, but only where Captains and Vice-Captains could be found were they falling at any reasonable pace en masse. An intervention from a great number of Kidou Corps members would see every last Menos bound by copies of the same powerful spell. Raizen diverted his attention from the pink-haired Captain to view this, having made no contributions himself quite yet. "Hmm... Sou ka."

About this time, Benihime would be joined by a particular member of the Kidou Corps; the very same one she'd faced during the Tournament of Power. He'd located her, in spite of her hidden Reiatsu, by instead following the Reiatsu of her Zanpakutou which was almost exactly the same as hers. His own Reiatsu became perceivable when he became visible after dispersing a shroud of bent light from around himself. "So, that's what it looks like," he spoke to the redhead.

[Apollymi]

"That's what I thought," mentioned Juri as she also began to move about at rapid pace, using distance and lightning enhanced strikes to hit multiple targets in similar fashion to Minato's movements. The pair of Captains went out of their way to help dwindle numbers but that didn't seem to be occurring, not until the interference of the Kidou Corps which allowed for a much easier way to handle the numerous Gillans than simple physical combat.

Tamamura seemed only to take advantage of the fact that all targets nearby had stopped moving and used it swing her blade multiple times slashing down a great number of these beasts without any real damage to herself. "Kidou Squad, is at least good for damage control, there is still the matter of Kenpachi-taichou which I assume they won't actually be able to help us with..." said the woman who knew that the better of her energy probably needed to be reserved for something much more taxing than this.

Meanwhile Benihime carried out her experiment having captured one particular Menos she was content to see how long it took for its shadow to be completely infected. As her sword touched the ground she was greeted by a familiar voice and soon after a familiar Reiatsu as a lad dressed in garbs she'd only seen him in once made an introductory statement about the nature of her Zanpakuto. "I did offer to show you sometime..." she said peeking over her shoulder. "Also sneaking around isn't really like you~" she said to him offering a small smile. As she did this, the mask on this Hollow, began to shatter, it had taken several moments but it seemed to be devoured by the darkening shadow which emitted from her blade but also from the shadow which appeared darker under its extended nose. 'Sou ka... that's kind of a long time...' she thought as the beast was felled. But she also knew for a fact that smaller things with smaller shadows died quicker. This ability of hers was likely influenced by the size of the shadow needing to be conquered. Even so, once this was done and the beast disappeared her own dark shadow returned to its original size around her. "So did they let you out to play, or did you break out to do something fun?" she asked seeming to have already made a few assumptions about this boy, his general disappearance and rather sudden reappearance in her life.

[Bloodedge]

At Benihime's location, the Kidou Corps member made an effort to remove the garbs which covered his head and face. A long, black braid fell over his shoulder when he did this, and it was joined by many loose locks of hair cascading down his back. This sapphire-eyed male walked closer to the redhead, watching as the Gillian she targeted was consumed by darkness. "Not exactly the way I was hoping," he said about her previous promise to showcase her Shikai. "We were deployed to detain the Menos so they don't do too much damage before they are dealt with. I thought I'd take this one opportunity to come find you. I know my disappearance may have been a bit sudden, but I had no control over it."

[Apollymi]

Soon enough the young man made an effort to remove the garb over his head, showing her the face she'd come used to seeing in her daily life while at the Academy. He was quite the attractive one, and the appearance of his face brought a smile to hers. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten what you looked like, Dai-kun~" the girl teased, though this was far from the actual case. As for this not being the way he'd hoped to find out about her Shikai she could only shrug, "She isn't really made for friendly combat," she said of her Zanpakuto, as if that fact wasn't obvious by the fact that she hadn't actually needed to move to kill the giant Hollow the pair of them had once run from. As they moved on in the conversation, it seemed he thought to explain his rather sudden disappearance along with why he was presently standing before her. "Ah, so they let you out then," she said. Benihime was clever enough to have figured out what happened to him, even before he made an appearance in the Tournament of Power. Even so, she knew she was at least partly to blame for the weirdness at their rather sudden parting. "Iie, I knew what happened and figured we'd be able to meet up eventually. I know you wouldn't just bail on me for no reason," she said. "Also, sumimasen, I should have explained better why I wasn't up for using my Zanpakuto and met you properly while we fought," the girl said offering her apology, something she'd been wanting to do properly since she'd faced the Fourth Seat of the 11th Division.

[Bloodedge]

"Looks like it," was his responsive commentary about this one's Zanpakutou. He had to say he was impressed, but more importantly than this matter, was the fact that he could only converse with her for a certain amount of time here. As such, when she offered her apology, he shook his head. "That bothered me for some time, but... I don't have the luxury of caring anymore. Listen... I want to keep this going; us, I mean. I just... the Kidou Corps is a very strict place. I haven't had the freedom to see you, and I don't see any future where any opportunities aside from ones like this will present themselves. That doesn't sound like much of a future."

[Apollymi]

It seemed at least Daiki understood why the girl's reluctance had been at the level it was when they'd previously met up. Of course, there were matters of much more importance than this, mostly his apparent ties to the Kidou Corps, which made him feel like they wouldn't work out as a couple. A sigh escaped Benihime, as she'd had the same feeling herself, especially seeing how long it took for this meeting to take place. "I've had a lot free time to consider that, and have done a considerable amount of research about the Kidou Squad. I know you're right... " she said taking a single step forward she reach out for the left side of his face with her right hand. "At least, I got to see that adorable face of yours again. Arigatou gozaimasu, Dai-kun," she said popping up on tip toes to offer him a single parting kiss, she'd then revert her blade to its normal form and step away from him as she sheathed it. "Ja ne~"

[Bloodedge]

Though he'd rather have avoided this outcome, Benihime also understood the situation at hand. When the lass rose to kiss him, Daiki placed his hand upon her face as well, savoring the moment as best he could for lack of surety to experience another. Her farewell was met by a few backwards steps by the raven-haired male, along with a parting query. "You'll wait for me, right? I'll take over the corps one day. I can change things then."

[Apollymi]

Benihime felt the feeling in this moment that she hadn't felt in a few months. The burst of sensation that made her feel a tiny bit less alone in the world as if her soul wasn't merely empty. It was quite shameful that this would likely be the last time she experienced such a thing. And as such she also enjoyed this singular moment of closeness, before the feeling of despair welled up again. She wanted to lie to him, to convince herself that it was possible to escape the fate she knew to be her own now, but, when she looked at those sapphire eyes, she couldn't bring herself to do it. "I don't doubt you'll change things. You'll do it for all the other people around you because that's the kind of man you are," she said rather suddenly very empty inside. "Chances are... I won't live long enough to see it," she said, knowing her own situation, she'd gathered that there would be something she couldn't avoid. And the looming gaze of destiny was on her shoulder, it'd already showed itself once, and lost the young woman her entire family, she had no doubt her fate would eventually swallow her up as well. Instead of dwelling on it, or allowing this young man to feel pity for her, she immediately began to move. "Live your life Daiki and have some fun for me~" she said as she aimed to disappear from this place making use of Shunpo.

[Bloodedge]

Suddenly, the air around the pair of young Shinigami shifted. What Benihime had to say regarding her personal future was dark; incredibly so. She went on to tell the lad to live his life and have fun in her stead, but he had no earthly clue where any of this was coming from so suddenly. Daiki stopped backtracking, choosing instead to step forward and reach out for the woman. "That's not... What do you..." He was struggling to form a complete sentence at this point, but before he could reach her and finalize a query, she was gone. Daiki stood alone then, having nothing but questions in his mind. 'Kuso...' he thought as he stood within a crowd of Menos.

In the meantime, though, the Menos in the Seireitei were falling at a much greater pace than they had previously, due to the efforts of multiple Captains and the binding spells of the Kidou Corps.

[Apollymi]

While the disappearance of Benihime was probably marked with a great deal of confusion for Daiki, Juri was busy having killed a great number of Hollows with her old partner in crime at her disposal. "Sheesh, this is getting bothersome, has anyone taken care of Nijo yet?" she asked seeming to find their constant killing of Hollows to be somewhat mundane especially when they knew there was a much greater threat looming on the horizon. Tamamura was also a bit anxious, she didn't remember Nijo's Bankai taking this long to start up, and she had been certain she would have felt the bust of his Reiatsu by now. 'This doesn't bode well for us, but at least the Hollows are falling at a more reasonable pace now...' she said taking note that the combined efforts of the Gotei into killing these beasts. Surprisingly one person who many would have expected to be in this place hadn't shown up yet. "Himotoya-taichou is late to this event, Sato-kun did you pass your tardiness off to the younger generation today?" asked Tamamura cheekily.

[Bloodedge]

"Doesn't look like it! I think he's still on the run!" This was the reply of Minato from afar, as he too killed Menos after Menos in this massive horde. The Hollows were beginning to look scarce, but Tamao was right about one key piece that could have been very beneficial to these efforts. "I have no idea where she could be. I figured she would have been the first one here, after those two. She's more than a little late now," said Satoshi. Just then, something strange occurred. All of the Hollows that had previously been killed were suddenly re-spawning, as if time had been reversed on their deaths. Within a matter of moments, the Menos looming over the Seireitei were of the same quantity they had been when this all started. Minato of all people seemed exceptionally displeased by this. "Not good. Really though!?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed Tamao wasn't the only one who wished to know the whereabouts of one particular 10th Division Captain. But there wasn't much time for this consideration, because, as the number of individuals was starting to dwindle, the horde returned to its previous size. "That... that's just not fair." said Juri who seemed to find this respawning something unfathomable as it made their efforts seem utterly useless.

Unlike the others Tamao seemed to simply narrow her eyes. "So, I feel like we're about to find Kenpachi-taichou," she said, no longer having the time to think about the missing Captain of the 10th Division. Instead there was an immediate need to try and trace to find the presence of one particular male so that they might defeat him and hopefully figure out what to do about all the Hollows presently in the Seireitei. Not that this would be an easy task, given they'd need to face a powered up Kenpachi.

The rise of these Hollows a second time was not something anyone would like, but surprisingly enough they wouldn't have to deal with this wave. The smallest pitter patter of little feet could be heard as a white haori sporting young woman ran through. "Kuchibuewofukita," said the young woman and whistle her sword did, as a singular strike took down every Hollow in the area. There was no explanation for how or why this happened nor any understanding of how she managed to do it without striking a single other individual. The young woman's pace slowed slightly as she kept walking through the area, apparently like this was the most normal thing in the world. "Ano, all that stuff was in my way..." she said innocently as she sheathed her weapon.

[Bloodedge]

"More importantly, this is an immediate danger," Raizen chimed in following the assumption of Tamao. Feeling there was no other choice at the time, he reached for his Zanpakutou and began to unsheathe it. "Itsu-" Just as he was beginning to utter the true release command of his Zanpakutou, the Menos across the Seireitei were all slain simultaneously. Raizen's eyes widened in this moment, only to then shift toward the source of the most familiar voice he'd heard thus far here. He returned his weapon to its fully-sheathed state while the 8th Division's Captain addressed the woman. "Ah, Himo-chan! We were just wondering where you were. Now we might be able to do something about this after all."

[Apollymi]

"Kogara-taichou? You left your division?! Sugei, this would have been really fun then~" she said. Of the group wondering where she might have been, she could only assume such a thing was causing major problems. Too bad the Captain or rather the Former Captain of the 10th Division was only passing through and doing it mostly because she expected to find her own Vice-Captain in the middle of all this carnage. "Gomen, minna... I'm only passing through," she said. Tamamura had been about to speak but the assertion that Saori was only passing through made the pink haired woman stop and look at the young woman. "Only passing through, that's surprisingly coy of you, Himotoya-taichou," she said making Saori's gaze shift. "Hai... I got promoted... so I'm leaving. Just thought I'd help out a bit..." she said hopping vertically to meet Raizen she stopped before her young Vice-Captain and smiled, pushing back her hood so she could see him. The news that she'd been promoted seemed to shock both Juri and Tamamura who both couldn't say anything else. Juri wasn't really surprised, she'd faced off against, Saori and found the girl to be uniquely overwhelming. Regardless she seemed to have a few choice words for her current Vice-Captain."Gommenasai, Raizen. I know you'll be fine, but I'm sorry for sticking you with all this. It'll be a lot but... you'll do fine, yeah?"

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. I was on a stroll when all of this started. Looks like we've got an Ouin-powered Kenpachi to deal with in a few," said Satoshi. He figured they would be perfectly fine now that they had three of the strongest Captains present to face off against the fourth member of their tier. However, it seemed Saori would not be sticking around due to a promotion, which could only mean she was joining the Royal Guard. "Mendokuse, of all the times. That Royal Guard is bothersome; they won't even help us lowlifes out."

Soon, about the time the Menos began returning once more, Raizen was found by his now-former Captain. She'd spoken of her promotion, and the 8th's Captain went on to mention the Royal Guard, which Raizen had some small amount of information about. "Of course I'll be fine. This isn't much of a notice, though. Does this Royal Guard not believe in leeway?"

[Apollymi]

Saori would have liked to question why Kenpachi Nijo had the Ouin at all, but it seemed like she wouldn't get a proper time to question it. From all standards the Royal Guard seemed to have the worst timing known to man and it would be a shame to lose Saori before such a pivotal moment. Still, Tamamura couldn't help but chuckle at the words of Kogara Satoshi who seemed to think it strange that the Royal Guard never helped them out. "Sato-kun, if you consider yourself a lowlife you can't expect to gain help," she mentioned.

While this happened, Saori found herself facing Raizen and much to her comfort he claimed he would be fine in this situation regardless of what happened. He also only really questioned the Royal Guard's apparently hastiness in acquiring their newest member. "Iie. I was actually on my way here when the Captain Commander summoned me. Rikuo-san said something about the timing needing to be specific... and his resemblance to you is uncanny," she said seeing her Vice-Captain in this moment she felt okay about leaving. She'd miss her friends but she trusted in his developments. "Don't forget to make sure everyone has fun, yeah? They get all stuffy when they get old, but that's what people like us are for~" she said as she aimed to keep walking. "I'll leave you a present in my office for when you're ready~" she said to Raizen specifically to everyone else she gave a quick bow. "I'll miss all you guys. Ja ne~" and with that the young woman kept walking through the area. Apparently she had somewhere to be and there wasn't much time to get there.

[Bloodedge]

"Rikuo?" Raizen repeated with an upward inflection when told of this man who looked so similar to himself. Moving on, it seemed it was time for Saori to take her leave, which she superseded by mentioning the leave of some present in her office for the young Vice-Captain. "Hai. Sayonara, taichou," he said as he watched the woman walk away. Taking up the former Captain's role in this battle would be his next aim, as the Gillian had to be dealt with for the Captains to have a clear shot at the Kenpachi, whose Reiatsu was now becoming present at a higher tier than any that should be containable in one Shinigami's body. As such, Raizen began reciting an incantation while focusing his Reiryoku; specifically, it was the unmistakable incantation belonging to the 99th Hadou. With Kenpachi returning to the crowd of Gillian, he intended to wipe out every Hollow to make a necessary opening.

[Apollymi]

And just like that, Saori was gone and as she walked away there was an increase in the Reiatsu of Kenpachi Nijo. This was something which she felt, and it sort of made her want to keep going, even so, she had more things to attend to than this, and would simply disappear. Still there was something else altogether which Raizen was going to do to help out the group as a whole which made Tamamura look at the young lad with a raised eyebrow. "Hadou 99? That's his opener..." she said to Satoshi whom she nodded to, figuring out rather quickly what was going to happen she figured he and she would have to put in most of the actual effort to felling the Kenpachi.

"Be still you two, that isn't necessary..." these were the words of the Captain Commander who'd showed up to this area, with the pink haired Captain of the 12th Division at their side. "Nobody's seen my fifth seat right? It'd be a pain if she got herself killed but I figured she'd be here somewhere..." said Akiko, who was presently eating a lollipop. She didn't seem to be worried about this situation either for whatever reason.

[Bloodedge]

"That's a hell of an opener... and will make a hell of an opening," Satoshi said with a glance in Tamao's direction. He knew what the two of them had to do, and that they had a limited amount of time to do it if this Vice-Captain managed to create space for them. Satoshi's sword was at the ready, and he could now see the Kenpachi in the crowd ahead of them. The 11th's Captain had glowing red skin, and he wielded a massive halberd of a Bankai that had a multi-colored shroud of Reiryoku around it.

Raizen reached the end of his incantation, but Satoshi for one didn't seem ready to move out. He'd turned to view the Captain-Commander and the 12th Division's Captain, having no real clue why they were here and being so nonchalant about everything. As if to answer an unasked question, Raizen's spell charging came to a quick halt, as it immediately became unnecessary. Suddenly, every Gillian across the Seireitei was struck by a massive shock wave of Reiatsu, which slayed them all instantly. Following this, another male approached the group. He had incredibly long, black hair, and a goatee reaching his diaphragm. He wielded a strange sword; it was the size of a fork, but it seemed he was quite serious about using it instead of the nodachi worn on his hip. The most interesting thing about this man was not this weapon, though, but instead the absolutely massive quantity of Reiatsu pouring from his body. "Pitiful. You brought me out here, and this is all there is? Fuckin' bullshit," he said in a deep, guttural voice.

Nijo Kenpachi, who now stood alone, seemed to take special notice of this individual. "Heh! Is this what you use all that time for? That's downright adorable! Come on then, Kenpachi against Kenpachi!" This statement caused no alteration in the newcomer's face. He looked just as generally hateful as he did during his approach, in fact. "... Kenpachi? Hmph," he replied. Knowing Tamamura Tamao was present, he had a few words to share to all, and her in particular, as he walked forward. "Get the fuck outta my way. And... cut my hair. I wanna feel like myself when I do this."

[Apollymi]

"What?" the words of the Captain Commander and the 12th Division Captain stopped Tamamura as well, but a rather sudden explosion of Reiryoku let her know exactly why her work was no longer necessary. A bit of a smirk crossed her face as she surrendered to the idea. "No one ever lets me do anything," she said as if she was cross at the idea. The approach of a certain bearded gentleman let her know that her services during this fight were no longer necessary, much like Saori clearing out all of the Hollows earlier this man's doing it seemed to mean that all of the gathered Captains now were no longer needed. Juri took this as a message and let her Shunko fall away, after all, it was starting to feel straining anyway.

Meanwhile, Benihime appeared directly behind her Captain falling into the woman's back. "Ayatsuki-taichou, don't make it sound like I'm incapable of doing my job. I'm not dead, I was out here doing field research. There's a thing..." she said which made her Captain jump ever so slightly as she didn't expect the girl to rather suddenly appear behind her. A moment after this though she was removing a lollipop from her sleeve and feeding it to the young woman where her head was over her shoulder. "Fuck. You need a bell... tell me about it later." she said to the girl who eyed the new man and frowned slightly. "And you... this is a time is of the essence thing. You can kill all of them at once, timing says... that's better than wasting the efforts of multiple people. Plus... whats a 2 decade early release?" she said with a knowing smirk. "Come on, out of his way~" she said.

While Tamamura had the largest smile one had ever seen on her face on right now, and didn't even bother expressing to the Captain of the 12th that she should watch her language. "Inuzuri~ They let you out?!" she chimed seemingly a lot more excited by this fact than one would have expected from the normally upright Captain of the Sixth Division. Since he said he wanted to feel like himself, Tamamura stopped in front of him drawing her sword and holding it upside down as she angled up both sides of his face. Instantly she pushed her blade forward and began cleaning up his hair cut. In about six strokes she cleaned up his beard and the sides of his face completely. Until he was left with a short pointy goatee with two small side burns and an incredibly thin mustache. As she spun around him two quick sweeps of her sword allowed the man's over grown hair to return to its normal short cut. Hair would fly all around him as this happened but he'd be left feeling like himself. "You should feel about yourself now, right?"

[Bloodedge]

Raizen's eyes wandered toward this newcomer. He had no idea who this person was, aside from the part where he was referred to as Kenpachi as well, but he could tell the man was quite powerful indeed. After a few moments of consideration for how this fight would likely progress, his gaze was dragged away by the sudden appearance, once again, of Niwatoko Benihime. It seemed like he could not avoid these moments of share space between this redhead and himself, but now was such a moment that he could assume it wasn't like the other times.

While Tamao was still in front of him, this black-haired man sheathed the miniature sword he carried into a crucifix worn around his neck. Nijo Kenpachi had not seen this, so there were some assumptions made by the Ouin-wielding male. "That was a pretty solid use of your Zanpakutou. Darn shame, though. That won't hold a candle to my power now!" he taunted. In the meantime, the new challenger had his goatee and hair trimmed by the blade of Tamao, which was something he followed up by rubbing the smooth sides of his face. "Haven't felt this face in a couple of centuries. Good you haven't lost your touch." With that said, he stepped around the woman to be able to view this alleged "Kenpachi" directly. "Let's get two things straight, kiddo. First, you ain't a Kenpachi. I would have made that clear last time, but... better late than never." With that said, this man continued stepping forward, placing his right hand upon the sword at his hip. "Whatever you say. I'll stomp a hole in you and that tiny Shikai of yours, just like last time," the Kenpachi continued to taunt.

"... Second. I didn't use my Zanpakutou on those Menos, and I didn't use it on you during that fight, bub. I wasn't trying to kill you that day, but then you went and pissed me off." As if to prove his point, even though he knew the Ouin-powered man would never live to understand it, he drew his sword and slashed outward in a single, deft movement. The arc of its mighty swing sent forth a shock wave sharp and powerful enough to cleave through Nijo Kenpachi, bifurcating him where he stood. The now-former Captain's eyes widened, but no words were able to leave his mouth as his two halves fell to the ground below. "Not even Shikai. Fuckin' pussy ass."

[Apollymi]

It seemed like this newcomer was satisfied with his haircut and Tamamura smiled like a happy school girl for reasons unknown to everyone else. "Of course I haven't," she said about the idea of losing her touch under any circumstances. Moving right along Benihime consumed a lollipop while leaning against her Captain, though she wasn't under any strain while she'd been dealing with the Menos or being in this area in general, the addition of this former Kenpachi had pushed her towards the edges of her tolerance. Beyond all this, she was also not in the best of moods, but she'd still been doing her job, aside from her personal research, and as such... she had news to share with the woman. "Hai hai," the girl managed to say, taking a very specific line of sight so as to not make eye contact with the Vice-Captain of the 10th Division. Akiko for all her general complaints about the girl, didn't seem to mind her leaning against her right at the moment.

Soon a rather stunning sight was to beheld, and that was the former Kenpachi dealing with the rouge one, in a single deft sweep of his sealed sword. Juri looked stunned, Akiko looked about normal for herself given she had expected this outcome and Tamamura looked pleased beyond natural reason. "Welcome back, Inuzuri!~" were the words of Tamao. While Benihime seemed to be just as stunned as everyone else, more so even, "Sugei, that's... frightening. Guess I won't be doing my combat upkeep in the 11th anymore..." she managed, which made her Captain chuckle. "Oh that's frightening... I don't get you," she said to the girl. The Captain Commander who'd been quiet for the duration of this endeavor walked towards the fallen body of the former Kenpachi and retrieved the Ouin as it came back together, taking it to return it where it belonged. "Alright that's one crisis averted. Inuzuri Kenpachi, you're free to return to your Division. I would ask you not kill anyone you don't like, transfer them instead." said the Captain Commander as they walked off. "You're all dismissed."

[Bloodedge]

Following the sheathing of his blade, the man named Inuzuri Kenpachi placed a hand upon the back of his neck, and went on to twist his head until his neck popped in each direction. "Tch! Damn. I forgot not to cut through the haori. Whatever," he said. With that, he took his leave with the intention of scouting his old Division to see what its members were made of now.

Raizen's eyes were set on the red-haired 5th Seat of the 12th, and he found it strange that she had not even looked in his direction, unlike most of their encounters thus far. It somehow seemed like something being done on purpose, which made Raizen believe something was amiss. He felt strangely about this, and couldn't explain to himself why this was the case, but he left it alone regardless. For the time being, he decided to go against his earlier word of meeting with Michi again to return to his Division. He was quite sure the blonde would understand why he'd taken a detour, given the circumstances.

[Apollymi]

Akiko was walking about the Seireitei thinking of the best possible method of alerting the other Captains to the potential dangers surfacing. Of course, there was a certain amount of secrecy required for this, and though she was a person of many secrets she imagined the two who were actually working on this problem had many more. She seemed somewhat agitated as she moved about her ears ruffled and spiky as her tails swayed in a most annoyed fashion as she walked. Even her normally enjoyed lollipop was getting the concentration of her teeth as she moved through the area. 'I really can't believe I was cut of the research, everything else aside... I'm pissed about that...' she thought as she gave one final crunch to the lollipop destroying it in the process and leaving herself a stick to chew on as narrow golden eyes seemed to search the streets. She supposed speaking with Captains and alerting them directly should be something done first, but she so rarely left her own laboratory that she found wandering to initially be the best thing to do.

[Bloodedge]

During the time in which the Captain Ayatsuki wandered the streets, another Shinigami sporting a Captain's haori walked the streets as well. This particular Captain was a blonde male who sported the haori of the 9th Division. He seemed to be on his way toward the barracks of his own Division, but he was brought to a pause when he crossed the path of the pink-haired scientist. "Ohayou, Ayatsuki-taichou," he said with a brief and casual bow toward the woman. "You seem like something is amiss. Is everything alright?"

[Apollymi]

"Ohayou, Ikaruga-taichou," said Akiko, the bow was a bit too much for her, but she managed to only continuing holding tension right between her brows instead of her face giving off the aura that she wished to kill something. Soon enough this Captain of the 9th Division hinted that he'd figured something was wrong with her, a smirk crept up on the woman's lips as she moved the stick of the lollipop she'd so recently finished around in her mouth. "Something is always 'amiss'. I was thinking of getting rid of my 5th seat, and also... something I should tell you about," she said a as her brows furrowed seemingly endlessly. She stepped a bit closer and lowered the tone of her voice to a casual whisper nothing would seem amiss, just two Captain's casually conversing. "Members of the Gotei seem to be going rogue. And before you ask, I don't know how or why yet," she said with a curt nod. "My fifth seat ended up having to kill the 4th seat of the 11th when he attacked her... strange behavior as been noted a bit more frequently lately, and I have to get to the bottom of it." she said knowing this man was one of the few who took such matters rather seriously. "Keep your eyes open for anything like that, and it should be dealt with accordingly." she said, it was an easy enough story, but... she anticipated questions, and questions were the bane of her existence right now because she honestly had no more answers than anyone else did, but perhaps... this was the point. She couldn't help but smirk at this fact as she removed one lollipop stick from her mouth and traded it for another more complete one.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh? Your 5th Seat is the one from the Tournament of Power, is she not? If you're looking to transfer that one, I could gladly make more room in the Ikaruga Unit for an additional member. I'm sure Noel has had enough of being the youngest," the man spoke ever so casually, seeming to believe nothing was actually strange here, aside from some possible disagreements between this woman and one of her newest subordinates. Soon, though, he was given a bit of hushed information regarding renegade members of the Seireitei's forces. If nothing else, Ikaruga Jin was a Captain who'd see such things brought to an end for the sake of justice in the Soul Society alone. As such, there would be no questions from him. "Hai. I will mobilize the Ikaruga Unit at once, and we'll report any findings to you for your understanding."

[Apollymi]

It seemed the 5th seat of the 12th Division had made a bit more of a name for herself, than Akiko knew she would have liked. The idea of her joining the 9th Division and being subjugated to the type of rules enforced by Ikaruga Jin were almost enough to make the scientist a bit giddy. But given what the girl had actually shown as far as her mental prowess was concerned, it seemed a bit rude to do so. And though the girl annoyed her to no end, Akiko did at least respect her intelligence enough to not want to turn her over to a situation she would hate completely, especially since they'd made up in the Tournament of Power. "I'll keep it in mind, but I have a feeling that situation will work itself out. Plus, her battle prowess aside, I think you'd bump heads with her a bit," Akiko said. The phrasing of this statement was a bit ambiguous but she knew for a fact her fifth seat wasn't at all fond of just ideals nor being outward in any of her dealings. Making the 9th Division's Captain a liability to the young woman and thus someone she wouldn't trust at all. Even so there was another to be offered up, one she thought would likely be happy to hear such news. "But... Mako-chan said she wanted a transfer, to you specifically. You can definitely have her if you like," she said mentioning her 7th seat who always seemed to be spending her spare time with the other female members of the Ikaruga Unit.

Beyond this point though the man had no questions about what else Akiko had to say. She'd forgotten that unlike the Captain of the 10th Division and her wayward 5th seat, not everyone questioned everything, anytime it was spoken to them. She seemed contented by the knowledge that he would look into this without any further questions, for the sake of her own knowledge without even knowing what she was looking for. It was almost the perfect set up for a blind case study. "Alright, thank you... you should be warned though... All accounts say these people are out for blood if they attack. Don't let anything unnecessary happen to your Unit while you work," mentioned the Captain of the 12th in passing.

[Bloodedge]

"Nanaya-chan? I could see that working out spectacularly. She's been friends with Noel and the others since the academy. She'd be welcomed with open arms," he said about the lass whom he'd seen on numerous accounts due to her connection to his sister and subordinate. As for now, Jin kept in mind that he would have to be calling for the Ikaruga Unit at his earliest convenience, but another warning came from the Captain of the 12th Division before he moved out. "So then, dealt with accordingly would mean we're expected to kill where necessary? Huh, mendokusai... I only hope my own members are not part of whatever group we're dealing with. Arigatou gozaimasu!" With that said, the 9th Division's Captain was off to rally his troops and begin patrolling.

The departure of Ikaruga Jin was taken as freedom to speak by another Captain, who'd previously been close enough to begin eavesdropping on the recent conversation. Now that he had isolated Akiko, he stepped into plain view, and addressed her. "Yare yare. More problems, already. You never seem to be getting any rest, Aya-chan."

[Apollymi]

"Oh, I know. She mentions it all the time, her little club activities. How she misses her friends... I've been meaning to get around to it, but stuff has been happening all over the place for so long. I'll be sure to get you the paper work," Akiko said with a nod of consideration for her now 7th Seat. That young woman in particular was rather interesting, but she'd outlasted her usefulness as an experiment within the 12th Division and she didn't maintain a lot of clout as a scientist of her own so the transfer would be mutually beneficial. Her final warning to the Captain of the 9th Division seemed to be understood completely. "Me too, let me know if you come across anything which requires my attention," she said as the final words to this man.

But it seemed that Akiko wouldn't get to rest after her conversation with the 9th Division's Captain as the Captain of a different division soon showed himself to have been listening to her previous conversation. Her eyes narrowed only slightly as she flicked them in his direction. "Namikaze-taichou, let's be honest, I'm a scientist. I was never going to get anything near a proper amount of rest," she said as a moment of minor humor before moving on. "I assume you heard most of that..."

[Bloodedge]

"I'm pretty sure I caught everything but the hello," replied the blonde male. He had some understanding of the situation; in fact, he likely had more than what Jin seemed to have mere moments prior. "It's Ghost again, isn't it? The same thing that got Nijo," he said. Given his time spent in the Security Force of the Onmitsukidou, he'd gotten quite used to picking up on clues such as the ones presented in recent times. Two Captains had been taken down by this plague of whatever sort, and if there was a resurgence occurring at present without a doubt. He'd even seen a couple of potential cases with his own eyes. "If it's a kill order we're looking to fill on these things, I can take care of that easily... unless there's something else you think I'd be suited to do. You're the wise one."

[Apollymi]

"Good, I don't feel like repeating myself..." the woman said as she enjoyed her lollipop. With Jin doing his work there was the matter of Minato who had something rather astute and clever to say. Akiko could appreciate this, but spreading around unnecessary information wasn't really something she could do right now, she brushed off his statement rather calmly. "I can't say that with any certainty. And unless I can, it is for the best to just take it as I said it. Rogue Gotei members," she said, from his understanding of their present situation she figured he'd make the appropriate leap. "The kill order isn't what is important here, but Rogue Shinigami should be put down, in this case more than any others. If you want to help, keep an eye on whoever has sparked your interest and maybe work in concert with Ikaruga-taichou. But don't go out of your way or anything... everything is a work in progress, and life needs to carry on as usual around here." she said rather calmly before she rather randomly changed the subject. "Also do you want my fifth seat?"

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, yeah, life as usual. Cool. So... do exactly what I was going to do, just make sure nobody sees me doing stuff. Gotcha. I'll follow up as you say, though," Minato spoke. If he was to treat this incident like any ordinary rebellion, he could do exactly that without fault. After all, most of his life had been spent dealing with such things as a member of the Onmitsukidou. Confusion came to the man when Akiko offered her 5th Seat to him. Frankly, he didn't even remember who the 5th Seat of her Division was, but he saw no reason to accept this. "Err... if you're trying to get rid of your 5th Seat, I'm gonna have to go with no. I like to keep a baggage-free space, and that sounds like baggage to me."

[Apollymi]

"Carry on then," she said as if nothing really mattered. As their conversation switched topics rather randomly she couldn't help but chuckle as the man said he obviously didn't want to deal with the baggage of her fifth seat. This seemed to make the woman look at him strangely. "You got no idea who my fifth seat is, huh?" she said before smiling and waving him off. "It's not baggage, it's..." she gave pause to her statement, she was about ninety percent certain that her fifth seat would ask for a transfer within a year or so. She understood just enough of the girl's mannerisms to know she wouldn't sit well with continuing in her division after she'd finished whatever research she was done with. That being said, there wasn't any reason for Akiko to fully explain her reasoning behind wanting to get rid of her fifth seat. "Well it doesn't matter, I was just... weighing options," she said as she rather easily moved right along. She nodded to Minato before she began walking again the direction she'd been going. "If there's nothing else, there are a couple of other people I have to talk to. Ja ne, Namikaze-taichou."

[Bloodedge]

"No clue whatsoever!" was Minato's response. Whatever the case, he had little to no desire for a Division member someone wished to have sent off to him; he had a great deal of balance within his Division that he dared not throw off. With Akiko departing, Minato prepared himself to go through with his own duties.

After a few days passed, many Shinigami affected by these parasitic Hollows had been dealt with on a case-by-case basis. In most situations, this required the elimination of said afflicted, but those who sought and found them had no other choice but to do so. An interesting thing to note in this wide-scale occurrence was the fact that all "rogue" Shinigami had suffered depletion of their Reiryoku the moment before their deaths. Now, there were no such incidents, but there was a great deal of work to be done by the 4th Division in particular. This Division's Captain, a black-haired man going by the name Okawa Atsushi, traversed the streets of the Seireitei in broad daylight. He seemed to be searching for any additional fallen Shinigami, but an individual of higher intelligence may have taken note of the fact that he wasn't looking very hard for anything on the ground. Instead, his gaze traveled across the open sky for some reason.

[Apollymi]

As the Captain of the 4th Division moved about the streets, the Vice-Captain of the 9th Division did as well. This particular girl had been on her now regular patrols, she was trusted to take care of her self. As she moved about in the modified version of the Shinigami uniform which made her look a bit like she belonged in a higher tier. She wore a white and blue pleated mini-skirt with thigh high white and blue boots. Her Zanpakuto in its white sheath was carried to her left side so that she could quickly spring into action if necessary. It seemed she was on the look out for suspicious behavior and nothing was more suspicious then the Captain of the 4th Division out wandering the streets and not looking at the ground but instead to the sky. Still nothing but the utmost respect would be given to the man as she passed. "Okawa-taichou, Ohayou gozaimasu."

[Bloodedge]

As the Captain wandered the streets, he was eventually greeted by another Shinigami of high stature within the Gotei. This one was the Vice-Captain of the 9th Division, as he knew well. Her greeting was as much as anyone would expect, but Atsushi's...

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Minami-fukutaichou," he said. This was an oddity in itself, as even though he never spoke with this woman, he had greeted her Captain on numerous occasions while she was present. This particular Captain was one of few who tended to forego honorifics of a more formal nature. More importantly, he could be considered something of a lech who tended to ogle passing women. This time, however, he did no such thing, choosing instead to keep walking past her after their shared greeting.

[Apollymi]

Setsuko was a bit stunned by this greeting, but after a moment she seemed to recover. 'That's, a bit weird...' she thought absently. She remembered though that she was told by her Captain to remain vigilant and report any differing behavior to him immediately. She would do exactly this as the greeting she got from Okawa Atsushi was not at all what she expected. She'd seen this man on several occasions with her Captain, and when she'd seen him he'd always referred to her as Setsu-chan. He had even gone on to stare at her openly enough for her Captain to comment. The present mildness of his mannerisms was something that Setsuko thought strange enough to denote a minor detour in her patrol route. As the Captain of the 4th Division kept walking past, she too kept up her patrols, though this would take her to an established rendezvous point for her to speak with her Captain and other members of their task force, as the oddity of this moment couldn't be overlooked.

"Gomenasai, Setsu-nee, I thought, I'd get here first this time." said one green eyed female blonde with a little blue hat on. This girl was the youngerr sibling of the Captain, capable enough but always apologizing for some reason. Soon enough a girl with a strange winged hat with an eye shaped emblem also turned up seeming to understand fully the apology already issued by the blonde. "Setsu-fuku, you seem distressed, is everything alright?" asked the young woman with her stunning, blue eyes directed at her. "It's probably nothing, I just spoke to someone and it was a little weird."

[Bloodedge]

"I'm always here first," spoke the voice of the only male in the Ikaruga Unit, bar Jin himself. This one wore a poncho-like jacket with its collar pulled up to his nose, and he had his black hair worn in a peculiar bowl cut that reached his cheekbones. He spoke with a voice that was devoid of any emotional signs, but he did seem interested in what the Vice-Captain had to say.

In a matter of moments, the Captain of the 9th Division and leader of the Ikaruga Unit was upon this group. He caught the tail-end of what Setsuko had to say, and immediately approached to see what the matter was. "I'm here. I have found nothing new, but from the looks and sound of things, you have something for us to inspect?"

[Apollymi]

"Sumimasen!" said the blonde young woman as she leaned so far forward on her bow that her hat fell off, allowing those long locks to tumble free. "Why'd you apologize to him? You're kinda soft, Noel..." said the red haired young woman who while used to the antics of her friend never quite understood why she was so apologetic. It seemed that there was something strange afoot with the Vice-Captain of this division and with all the voices around she knew all members would soon be gathered. Their Captain soon made his own voice known which caused Setsuko to turn to him and report the strangeness of her interaction. The other two young women watched with wide eyes wondering what could have unsettled their normally steadfast Vice-Captain. "So, this isn't going to sound like much but on my way here I passed the Okawa-taichou, and he was being... weird." she said calmly. "I don't mean in his usual way either, he called me... 'Minami-fukutaichou' and before I acknowledged that I saw him, he was just aimlessly staring at the clouds as he walked," she mentioned. Her explanation of this Captain's actions might not sound noteworthy to most, but maybe at least her Captain would understand why this was so unsettling.

[Bloodedge]

With the 5th Seat's apology and bow, the young male gazed in her direction. He had nothing to say, and also didn't seem to be fazed by these antics. This was simply the typical attitude he bore toward situations of this sort while on official business. As such, he remained silent during Setsuko's report. Jin accepted this speech by the woman, agreeing all the while that it was very strange of the 4th's Captain to behave this way. "No moves made, huh? I wouldn't think much of that, given the time, but... the 4th has been dispatched to pick up any straggling bodies. There aren't any bodies in the sky. Where was Oishi-fukutaichou at the time?"

[Apollymi]

Thinking about the nature of the blonde haired Vice-Captain of the 4th Division, Setsuko shook her head. "Oishi-fukutaichou wasn't with him. By accident or design he was simply wandering about unaccompanied by any of his Division members," she said of the Captain of the 4th Division. And sure enough given his path he wouldn't have encountered any of them on his walk either. It was becoming more and more suspicious the more she picked at the situation. Initially she thought herself to simply be shocked by the man's newly found manners. The other two girls had gone silent. It seemed that there was something amiss, simply by the logic that during the dispatch of the 4th Division the Captain and Vice-Captain weren't together. Even if they didn't know about the nature of this man, something about him wandering the streets alone during a potential crisis was more than a bit strange.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm..." Jin muttered with narrowed eyes. The more he learned about this situation, the more bothersome it became. Of all the Captains to potentially be members of this renegade group, the Captain of the 4th being one would be quite the issue. For all they knew, such a thing could have resulted in the poisoning or crippling by other means of many Shinigami. Jin was also rather quickly made to worry about the state of the 4th's Vice-Captain. "Kohaku! Find Oishi-fukutaichou immediately; we have to make sure she's not harmed, or somehow part of this! Setsuko and Tsubaki, shadow Okawa-taichou to keep him in our sights, but do NOT let him witness you! Noel, come with me. We'll all rendezvous near the 4th Division's barracks in no more than ten minutes. Understood?"

The otherwise silent Kohaku had been given his task, and with it in mind, he would speak once more. "Hai, taichou!" he said. Without further ado, the 4th Seat employed Shunpo toward the 4th Division, where he would take on his task as the advance search for its Vice-Captain. In only a matter of moments, he would be outside the Coordinated Relief Station, peering through its windows in search of one Oishi Megumi.

[Apollymi]

It seemed the Captain of the 9th Division became more and more worried the more the situation with the 4th Division Captain was explained. It would be rather obvious to any clever person why this was the case, someone like the 4th Division's Captain could gain access to any one within the Seireitei and under the guise of giving treatment do literally anything to them and no one would be the wiser. Given this information when given their orders to trail the 4th Division Captain, both Tsubaki and Setsuko chimed their agreement. "Hai, Ikaruga-taichou!" they said in unison as both of them suppressed their Reiatsu down to the most minute levels. And Tsubaki decided it would be best to follow Setsuko as she was the last person to see the Okawa Atsushi anywhere within the Seireitei. Their stake out would leave them wandering the streets ducking behind corners and hopping over buildings until they came across the man they were looking for.

Meanwhile, once he reached the 4th Division Coordinated Relief Station, Kohaku would rather easily find one Oishi Megumi. "Make sure all non-critical patients are rotated out as soon as possible. Easy wounds should be tended and dressed and patients should be discharged. Don't forget to clean the rooms after rotations." she said to the group at large before dismissing them back to their duties. The blond haired tall Vice-Captain of the 4th was giving directions to some of her Division members on the movements of patients. If one was familiar enough with the young woman, they'd note a slight bulge to her lower abdomen which caused the whole thing to slope upwards just a tad. This increase in belly size seemed to strain against her nurse's uniform ever so gently, but was hidden by a white coat over her shoulders. Her general look though was contributed to by the headgear she was always seen wearing which seemed to cup her face and end in a halo like attachment which held up her hair.

Meanwhile, the last piece of the puzzle one Ikaruga Noel was left standing with her brother as she readjusted her hat and prepared to be deployed. She was told she'd be staying with him. After the departure of the rest of her friends and Division mates, she could only show a slight bit of confusion in her face. "Nii-sama, were are we going?" she asked more than ready to move.

[Bloodedge]

From outside, Kohaku laid eyes upon the Vice-Captain of the 4th Division, who seemed hard at work as per usual. He remained where he was to keep an eye on her, but nothing was out of the ordinary... bar the presence of one perfectly healthy 13th Division Captain within the room she inhabited. The blonde male seemed to be having issues with the goings-on at present. "Oi, oi!" he said, rushing about behind the woman to gently grasp her by the shoulders. "Shouldn't you be resting yourself? You're pregnant; you should be in bed or something...right?"

Meanwhile, Jin began to walk away from the original rendezvous point, assuming his sibling and 5th Seat, Noel, would be following suit. The lass wondered where they were going, but frankly, he had little in mind, other than simply keeping an eye on the green-eyed lass directly. "For now, we will be the reserve force. If any of the others need help on the fly, we'll be there for them."

[Apollymi]

After dismissing most of her subordinates, it seemed that Oishi Megumi still had someone else to deal with. Kohaku would get to watch as she dealt with the Captain of the 13th Division who appeared to be in perfect health. "Minato, I'm pregnant not an invalid," she said touching the left hand upon her shoulder while peeking behind herself to look at him. "And if we start letting this kid run our whole life before it is even born, we'll be consumed by it. Just relax..." she said offering him a bit of reassurance. He seemed like the type to benefit from added information. "Look, I am on light duty already. No heavy lifting, no really stressful situations or anything like that," she mentioned as she leaned over to peck him on the cheek. "Now, you can stay, but you have to let me work." she finished up.

It seemed that she and her brother were meant to be the reserve force of their current grouping. Noel found herself pouting at the idea, as it seemed that she was simply being kept away from conflict... again. "Hai... Nii-sama." she said as she followed along. Of course, she wanted to mention that she was perfectly capable of going out like the others had, but... somehow it was never the right time to mention such a thing. Right now was one such instance, and given this she followed along dutifully.

[Bloodedge]

"But don't you run risks of like... I dunno, crushing the baby or something when you move around like that? It's hard to relax; I don't know how this stuff works," the 13th's Captain asserted. He didn't consider himself to be allowing an unborn child to take charge of his life, but he was quite obviously worried for the well-being of the child and its to-be mother. "See! You said you have to work. Work is stressful, and you said nothing stressful!" he exclaimed after receiving an explanation about her light duty situation. All the while, Hibiki Kohaku observed intently from the window. Though still nonchalant in his outward appearance, he whispered a few choice words which asserted his present opinion of the blonde Captain. "That man... is some kind of moron. I do hope it's not his."

[Apollymi]

"You're making me feel like you slept through every single lecture the Academy offered about medicine and anatomy." Megumi said after hearing the question about her potentially crushing the baby with her movements before he went on to exclaim that he simply didn't know how these things worked. A light chuckle would escape the blonde woman as she turned the full force of her gaze towards Minato. "I can't crush the baby just by moving around, it isn't even big enough yet to crush anything of mine from the inside," she clarified, thinking she should dig up some literature on the subject for the man to maybe set his mind at ease. Though she supposed there were worse things to be than a worried potential father to be, "And work isn't stressful. Not knowing what's going on, that's stressful. Plus I have literally a whole division's worth of helpers to handle anything physical," she said hoping the man would finally be set at ease. She wasn't even going to busy herself with much, in fact she'd been prepared to review a stack of discharge forms which she soon found herself settling into a comfortable plush office chair to do.

[Bloodedge]

"... Eheheh," Minato chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head. In truth, he had indeed slept through the medical courses of the Shinou Academy. He'd managed to pick up on a few things, but he would never be able to pass as a midwife or anything of the sort. Either way, Megumi insisted that all was well. As such, he supposed there wasn't much he could say or do to dissuade her from continuing the way she was presently, so he stepped back and sighed. "Fine, fine... I guess I'll just get back to patrolling. Everything seems fine outside, though, so I think our little... renegade problem should be done by now."

Little did he know, the Captain of the 4th Division was presently being trailed on suspicion of being one of these "renegade" Shinigami. Still, he walked seemingly aimlessly through the streets, eyes on the skies all the while. What he would not allude to, was the presence of many, many invisible Hollows of a parasitic sort in the air. These Hollows had seen the lasses following him, and alerted him via some form of telepathic link they somehow shared. Two of these Hollows would be stealthily sent toward the Vice-Captain and 3rd Seat of the 9th Division, aiming to begin infecting them with the same affliction that had seemingly now taken three Captains.

[Apollymi]

As the Fourth Division Vice-Captain settled into her work, the Vice-Captain and 3rd Seat of the Ninth Division were busy following the Captain of the 4th. And though he'd visibly done nothing wrong, something about the way he moved about constantly looking at the sky made both young women uneasy. This instantly set both young women on high alert, though they weren't quite sure why. Both made eye contact and nodded at each other while making no moves to close the distance between themselves and the Captain of the 4th Division. They had been exceedingly careful and remained out of sight and as it stood the Captain of the 4th Division hadn't done anything more strange than his initial meeting with Setsuko. Even with all their precautions, soon enough both the Vice-Captain and 3rd Seat of the 9th Division would come into contact with invisible parasitic Hollows sent their way.

[Bloodedge]

After receiving confirmation from the surrounding Hollows that these women had been latched onto, Atsushi suddenly stopped moving. "For so long, we've been waiting. It's time now. You'll all become one with us soon," he said. The Hollow swarm was erratic in its behavior at this point, as the ones which entered these women began to consume their "brethren" to gain more power, and thus, more influence over the pair.

[Apollymi]

"Ugh," this was the first thing to escape Setsuko's mouth as she was overtaken. A Hollow seemed to be working itself into her psyche but it was hardly a thing she could properly describe. Still, she was enough herself at first to resist finding it more than a bit strange that the Captain of the 4th Division was part of this entire thing. Tsubaki on the other hand, looked to Setsuko and nodded, this simple gesture was enough she reached for the band on her neck as did Setsuko as they were both being overtaken by these Hollow. Neither had any reason to side with this man nor accept what he was giving, all they could do was try and create a distraction a rather large one. As they pulled from their persons explosive bands, one from around the neck of Tsubaki and one from around the left arm of Setsuko underneath her badge of office. Doing so caused blinding explosions in the hopes of drawing attention to themselves.

[Bloodedge]

Atsushi did not seem bothered at all by the last ditch effort of these two. The bright explosions which came from the bands they wore as members of the 9th Division's Ikaruga Unit were nothing more than a fancy light show to him. This did, however, quickly alert the Captain that there were members of the unit in need of assistance. As such, he turned toward the flash immediately. "Noel!" he called out just before dashing in the direction of the others himself. At this time, Kohaku was also alerted to the call. He, however, looked toward the flash with narrowed eyes. "Yare yare," the boy muttered. Without further ado thereafter, he simply returned to looking through the window to keep tabs on Oishi Megumi.

[Apollymi]

By the time Noel's name was called she was already on the move. She'd been exceedingly antsy the entire time, and seeing the bands of her team members go off, she knew immediately that they required assistance. As they ran when they reached the source of the explosions they would find the pair Vice-Captain and 3rd Seat of their Division struggling to hold themselves upright fighting against some unseen enemy. Noel for all her speed took off in search of her friends hoping nothing too bad had come of them. "Taichou... he's..." she tried to speak but it seemed something was stopping her. She couldn't get the words out and her body seemed to be moving of its own accord. Tsubaki filled in the last bit as she struggled against some unseen enemy. "Got us..." she managed as both of them seemed to be falling towards the control of the Hollows latched on to their bodies somehow super powered by the consumption of their brethren. Their statements were slightly unclear and without visual confirmation of the Hollows it could simply be taken as the Captain of the 4th Division having done something to the pair.

[Bloodedge]

Jin's arrival to the scene came with the eventual realization that something was happening to his Vice-Captain, as well as his highest ranked officer. His eyes widened as the two struggled against that which sought to control them. Their words implied the involvement of the 4th Division Captain, whom Jin looked toward with more than what could be called skepticism. "Okawa-taichou! Explain this! What's happening here!?" He demanded this information from the other male, but it didn't seem he would be receiving it. The man known as Okawa Atsushi merely turned to face Jin, spreading his arms while raising his head to the sky. "Ohayou gozaimasu... Ikaruga-taichou. It's a lovely day today." These words from the 4th's Captain caused Jin to narrow his eyes and unsheathe his Zanpakutou. He very carefully avoided an immediate approach, as he remained unsure what was happening to his members, as well as what the other Captain had in mind. "Noel. Be ready."

[Apollymi]

Upon arrival Noel found that her friend and her Vice-Captain both seemed to be struggling against nothing she could make out immediately. Of course, she wanted to go to them, but not knowing what affected them made her more than a little bit wary. "Sumimasen." she offered to her friends, because this was simply who she was. At her brother's insistence that she be ready the blonde young woman's hands came to rest behind her back on two tanto whose hilts stuck out from her lower back. "Hai, Nii-sama," she said acknowledging she understood her orders. "Shikou..." she murmured causing the small blades to change into large revolver like gun blades along with their sheaths which transformed to accommodate them. "Tsukimono." her hands shifting slightly to fit the larger grips but somehow she seemed more comfortable this way, she was more than ready for anything that came her way, but her brother's conversation with the Captain of the 4th Division seemed to be strange, especially considering the implication of her friends who she trusted even as they struggled against some unknown force.

[Bloodedge]

"Ikaruga... you should be an easy conversion as well. Come. Join us and let us begin the assault," Atsushi spoke. Considering the fact that both he and Noel shared this surname spoken by the man, Jin stepped forward. His brandished katana began to emit ice from its blade. "Ikaruga... who?" Jin asked. In response, Atsushi gradually raised his left hand, pointing it toward the blonde lass called Noel. As he did, there was a rather twisted and uncharacteristic grin upon his face. "Sou ka. Souten ni zase!" At his command, the skies above began to darken as they filled with clouds. His Reiatsu rose until an icy-blue glow became visible in his eyes, and around his body. The blade of his katana transformed into one that seemed to be made of a strange ice, and a long chain with a crescent-shaped blade emerged from the pommel. Temperatures around the Seireitei began to drop rapidly, and within a matter of seconds, it began to snow. "Yukianesa!" Jin shouted while pointing his blade, as well as focusing his Reiatsu, on the now enemy Captain in a direct challenge. "Okawa Atsushi... I will be your opponent," he said further, prompting the other male to begin unsheathing the katana at his hip as well.

[Apollymi]

When it was mentioned by the Okawa that Ikaruga would be an easy conversion, Noel shared the same confusion as her brother. Of course, she generally assumed herself because she was by far the weaker of the two siblings. But it was as if her elder brother sought confirmation of this, and when the Captain of the Forth Division's hand raised to gesture towards Noel she didn't seem surprised but then her brother chose to act. Her eyes widened as she immediately felt colder and the skies above darkened causing unseasonably cold weather. "Nii-sama..." her voice came out small, as she witnessed the release of the blonde male's Shikai, most certainly in defense of her. The idea that two Captains were about to fight here made her feel like this area was unsafe. She kept her hands braced on both of her weapons her eyes narrowed as she thought it pertinent to remain ready for anything.

[Bloodedge]

The moment Atsushi's sword was drawn, Jin's previously narrowed eyes widened beneath furrowed brows. This marked his first movement, which was a dash into a Flash Step. He emerged from this movement still dashing toward Atsushi's fore. A slash outward accompanied his sudden passing of the man, unleashing a veil of ice which froze him from head to toe. Jin landed behind Atsushi, immediately turning as if he intended to end the man while he was frozen. Atsushi, however, very quickly broke free of his ice prison, his Zanpakutou immediately taking on the appearance of a rapier with a syringe as its guard. A quick turn allowed him to stab outward at Jin's torso, piercing the flesh of his abdomen despite the blonde's hasty retreat upon seeing this movement. Suddenly, Jin's vision became blurred. A moment of vertigo caused his retreat to result in a wobbly landing, but he seemed to be motivated enough to easily recover. "Kisama..." It was then that Atsushi took charge, aiming various additional thrusts of his sword at the 9th's Captain. In response, Jin could immediately do nothing more than begin stepping back while using his blade to parry again and again.

[Apollymi]

Noel watched this battle and seemed to be taken aback, stunned by the fact that the Captain of the 4th Division had so easily gotten out of the ice jail created by her brother. Soon after, Jin had been hit and this had made the girl catch her breath just a little but he seemed to recover well enough. Beyond this, it seemed that Atsushi was having no problem putting her brother on ropes so to speak. So far that he was on the defense completely with no way to strike back. She prepared to help him, drawing her weapon only to immediately be confronted by Tsubaki as she drew her weapon. "Don't interfere." said the young woman as she clashed with the gun drawn in Noel's right hand. Her eyes widened just a little as she stared at her friend. "Sumimasen... " she said as she drew the left one and immediately fired aiming to shoot it into Tsubaki's torso.

This hit was only destined to make contact with the young woman's shield and soon enough a shadow was looming over the young woman as her Vice-Captain also began attacking her. A downward slash from Setsuko was met by the shield boasted by Tsubaki while both managed to look stunned that Noel had escaped the pair of them. A double round was soon fired towards both of them, and it would strike the back of Setsuko and the follow up aimed to go through her into Tsubaki's shoulder from their present position as Noel moved about behind the pair, having made use of Shunpo to move from between the pair of them. "Sumimasen," the girl was uncommonly skilled in the use of these guns and seemed to be rather fast in addition to this. Though she hadn't taken killing shots on either of her friends she'd hit both targets though they didn't seem to care much about the damage, as they seemed to be through and through shots.

[Bloodedge]

Jin seemed to be faring less well by the moment, as his vision and his movements were responding with some lag. As such, Atsushi was coming closer and closer to stabbing him again with each movement. Jin took note of this difference over time. After a few moments of this exchange, the tables seemed to be turning in the other direction somehow. Atsushi was shocked by this. "How!? You should be losing motor skills every second!" he exclaimed.

"Sou ka. You've never seen my release," Jin replied. A few moments later, it seemed to Atsushi as if Jin were moving at speeds far beyond what was natural, even for a Shinigami who'd mastered everything the art of Hohou had to offer. It was an impossible outcome, but now that he'd returned to having the advantage, Jin went about explaining the 4th Division Captain's fate. "My Yukianesa rests in the clouds of the great blizzard. There, only she is immune to the cold." This was all Jin had to say, bar the name of a single technique. "Suishou Kessei!" With this, he jammed his sword into the ground. This caused an eruption of ice around Atsushi to form a stalagmite around him. The 4th's Captain was rapidly frozen, far more solidly than he had been previously, and in a way that typically incapacitated the victim. "Are you done, Noel?"

[Apollymi]

Noel shot twice more, the shots seemed to curve around the young women aiming to hit them again where they'd previously been hit regardless of their dodges. Not that this mattered anyway, their dodging took them directly into Noel's path and when she was behind them she swiped each with her large gun dealing them enough blunt force damage to subdue them without actually taking their lives. Both the Vice-Captain and the 3rd Seat seemingly fell unconscious at this point and Noel tucked the two large guns back into their holsters. At the same time she'd been taking care of her friends, her brother it seemed had gained an advantage over the Captain of the 4th Division the man was soon found to be encased in ice with Jin left asking Noel if she was finished right as her feet touched the ground again and her hands fell away from her still released double guns. "Hai, I didn't want to hurt them. I don't know if what's wrong with them can be fixed or not. Nii-sama, I still don't understand what's going on." she said still confused about the situation. And with two of their own down again, it would seem like the group at large would suffer massive causalities without any real explanation of what had been taking place here.

[Bloodedge]

Jin held his sword at his side while beginning to converse with Noel, figuring now that Atsushi would not be escaping his ice prison. He looked toward the pair of young women from his Division who'd been bested by his sister, thinking that he also had little to no clue what happened to this group. "I don't know either, but this isn't some simple rogue sect," he said.

Right on time for what he knew to be the height of action, Kumori Raizen approached. He walked not alone, but in the company of one Niwatoko Benihime of the 12th Division. In his left hand was a prism-like case, which contained within it a black crystal of some sort. Jin, at the very least, may have recognized this as one of the gems once worn by many members of the Kumori family. "In a way, this is a sect... but not of Shinigami. I'd rather say, there is a Hollow hive mind taking refuge in the Seireitei. There has been for centuries."

[Apollymi]

Noel frowned it seemed her brother didn't have the answers she was looking for. It was a bit distressing especially since two members of their group were now affected by this problem. It seemed though that this problem was a lot more complicated than they'd been lead to believe. And proof of this would come as the newly sanctioned Captain of the 10th Division approached this recently calmed fray holding in his hand a black crystal which seemed to be inside some sort of casing. 'Oh my god it's really him!!!' the young green eyed woman seemed to become suddenly excited by the presence of this particular Captain, she'd never properly met before. In his company a redhead young woman with crimson eyes, dressed strangely by most people's tastes. Her chest, feet and hands all wrapped in bandages while also wearing the standard hakama of the Shinigami uniform. On the small of her back her sword with the hilt sticking out of the left side as she walked along her left elbow rested upon it. Noel seemed to hold herself together enough to say something which wasn't an immediate admittance to her knowledge of this particular Captain. "Centuries?" it seemed that this was a revelation to Noel who thought that something like a Hollow sect hold up in the Seireitei should have likely been known about by the higher ups long before it became this sort of problem.

"I figured you two'd show up once things got hectic. What happened to working fast?" asked the Captain of the 12th Division as she finally made herself known as well. It seemed that when the weather in the Seireitei became unseasonably cold, she'd taken to the streets to find the source that the Captain of the 9th Division had felt it necessary to release against. "Also, seriously centuries... and nobody noticed?" she asked seeming to feel herself kept out of the loop. Benihime looked to her Captain for the first time, after having her gaze fixed upon the two fallen Shinigami for quite sometime. Whatever the young woman seemed to be thinking she didn't say anything.

[Bloodedge]

"Yes... about four, to approximate," Raizen said to the blonde lass who'd questioned the spoken timing. As if cued by the appearance of this pair, Akiko showed herself. She came with questions; one regarding the timing of their return, and the other regarding the fact that none had noticed this Hollow presence after centuries. "This was fast. What we've accomplished should have taken a hundred years, and we've managed in a few days. Besides... I couldn't dare show myself in front of this one without proper preparation and state of attire," he said while turning toward the frozen Captain, bowing with utmost formality. "I do hope my ensemble is befitting of an audience with you... Ojiisan."

[Apollymi]

Akiko seemed to think about the timing necessary for 400 years ago to be a good approximate time for this apparent Hollow uprising. A bit of a frown came to her face as she realized that was around the time she'd graduated from the Academy and as such she was nothing but a child herself. "I was a kid fresh out of the Academy back then... " she said this only made Noel's eyes widened. First to be so directly addressed by Raizen and then to go on to be told that the conflict she was currently participating in, had been part of something taking place long before she was even born. She had nothing to say about this. Akiko was then forced to look at this pair of individuals, as they claimed to have done something which should have taken a hundred years in only a couple of days... "Uh-huh, something like a 12,000 percent up time. That's..." she paused waiting to see what they'd actually done, because anything done in that sort of time which would be useful in this situation had to be something stellar. Beyond that she knew from her own experience that the little redhead was quite a good research partner to have around as she'd used the girl's expertise to help get Raizen out of jail. Still, the cat woman's eyes just widened as Raizen directly addressed the creature inhabiting the Captain of the 4th Division as Ojiisan.

After being called Ojiisan and being addressed directly the form of Okawa in the ice began to crack. Hollows overhead became visible with a few seconds as the shell of the former Captain of the 4th Division cracked and exploded. From within came a face which bore startling resemblance to Raizen's. White hair tumbled forward and reached shoulders as this massive creature with a human face came together. This human face was complete with blue war paint shaped like a giant crescent over swooping over the right side of their face. Anyone old enough to realize would know this face, as it belonged to someone who had been a rather important and startling Captain in centuries prior to this. As his body ripped out of the body of the Okawa Atsushi it pulled him apart and seemed to be a conglomeration of various people's body parts, including those of the fallen Kenpachi who had a large scar across his chest and random other limbs. It also had wings and a large claw like apparatus on its shoulder with a small glowing orb in that spot as well. It would be the face though, that had the attention of the golden eyed Captain of the Twelfth Division. In fact she was so startled she took several steps back blinking as if completely unsure of what she was seeing. "But... that's..." the recognition on her face seemed to be something rather strange and painful for her. Which made Benihime's attention shift from the girls on the ground to her panicky Captain. "Ano, you know him, Aya-tai?" she asked seemingly immune to the amount of tension currently in the woman. "Juuniibantai taichou, Kumori Mōryōmaru!"

Her statement made Benihime's left brow raise, and then she simply nodded. She supposed there being a proper scientist among Raizen's relatives was something that was bound to happen. She took from the woman's surprise that she'd known this man at some point before he'd become what he was right now, but that wasn't really important as the this massive Hollow of collective bodies began to speak. "Oh? Knew I was here did you?"

[Bloodedge]

Following Raizen's greeting of his apparent grandfather, the Captain of the 4th Division met his untimely end. He was ripped apart from within by an emerging creature, seemingly Hollow in nature, as the otherwise invisible Hollows in the Seireitei showed themselves. Akiko seemed familiar with this individual, and she well should have been, considering his former occupation. The previous Captain of the 12th Division soon stood with a Hollow's form, yet still the face of a man. He even went so far in his grand reveal to question Raizen's knowledge of his presence. "It couldn't have been anyone else. He who created the Bakkoutou would have been the only one capable of making one with the power to consume all the others. It seems, though, you just weren't clever enough to figure out how to do this without being consumed by your Bakkoutou. And... it also seems your Bakkoutou in particular was made from a rather nasty Hollow that you simply could not compete with. It's a shame, really." As Raizen spoke, his gaze traveled around the area, as if to scan everything he could for any remnants of this Hollow plague.

[Apollymi]

Mōryōmaru frowned slightly at the lad as he explained how he came to the conclusion that the man still existed and even had a fairly good idea how he came to have a hollow body while still possessing his own face. "Oh?" the man seemed to be simultaneously proud and confused. "What a clever boy. No, I haven't managed that yet. Not that it really matters... I am more powerful now than I was then. So, I don't really need to think about it very much," the man said looking up at all the Hollows in the sky and smiling. "Besides the Hollow and I are one now... it doesn't matter that this form is monstrous... I'll eventually find the right match of pieces. Actually, you'd be a pretty good fit, mago. Join us... we can win this war together," said the creature directly to Raizen.

The entirety of this situation was watched by Akiko who seemed to be distressed by it. Beyond the fact that her former Captain was right now some kind of Hollow creature, he was also bringing back horrible memories of a time when the Seireitei was falling apart. The man was one of the smartest she'd ever known and Raizen's implication that he simply wasn't clever enough to fix his own problem made her frown deeply. 'See, this right here is the problem. Secrets were all over the place. And while I was conducting mundane scientific research he was out becoming a Hollow and starting a rebellion,' her thoughts were interrupted as her eyes flicked over her fifth seat who managed to look ever so intrigued. "Aya-tai, could you not look at me as if I've grown a second head... there is a former Captain Hollow in front of us," she said which made the current Captain of the 12th scoff as she reached into her sleeve and pulled a lollipop out to eat while she thought. "Yeah, and please tell me you have a plan in mind for properly dealing with him, because memory says he was a nightmare as a Shinigami." said Akiko. This made Benihime chuckle just a little, the next words from her mouth reeked of arrogance influenced by Raizen. "We wouldn't have come out empty handed..."

[Bloodedge]

"Really now? After all this time, you still don't understand?" Raizen questioned. In actuality, the Captain himself had already come to a conclusion that would allow retention of one's body and mind while undergoing such a change as what Mōryōmaru had gone through, but now was not the exact time to be discussing that. His forefather spoke of joining him, or rather, them to finish the war with a favorable outcome for their side. This prompted Raizen to raise a brow. "War? There is no such thing, as you should well know by now. As far as I know, I am the only living Kumori," he said. It wasn't until Akiko spoke that he would produce any additional words, but when he did, they were aimed her way. "The majority of the plan was simply to wait for this moment. There's nothing to fear. Nightmares are nothing, if not dreams yet to be understood. I understand this one perfectly." In spite of his words, Raizen seemed content to wait without action. If anyone was to attack the former Captain, it would be Ikaruga Jin, who'd previously resorted to caring for his fallen subordinates. After leaving his Vice-Captain and 3rd Seat, he charged toward Mōryōmaru from the rear, sword in hand, aiming to run through this half-Hollow's torso with the icy blade and freeze him from within. "Sou ka. That's where this snow came from."

[Apollymi]

Raizen questioned Mōryōmaru's understanding of how to maintain his human form properly without being overtaken by it. "It doesn't have to be that way. There is both of us, and they still conspire against you even now... mago," said the boy's grandfather. True enough the boy thought himself to be the only living Kumori but it didn't have to be that way. Besides that fact, the old man was still very aware that they'd tried to kill the lad before this point for doing the exact same thing that the grandfather had done but somehow managing to retain enough of his human self that it did not matter. Before he could speak more on this, his former Division member spoke on how much of a nightmare this man was when he was previously a Captain, and Raizen went on to explain that he knew enough about this man to no longer fear anything hinting at what the red haired girl had said was true and he could be dispatched.

Beyond this it seemed that the former Captain of the 12th Division was being attacked again, by the same lad who'd attacked him while he wore the visage of the Captain of the 4th Division. His body was indeed stabbed through and he began to freeze. Benihime watched as this happened and began speaking again to Raizen, mostly because of an observation he'd made about the snow. "Hai, that's pretty interesting... but I don't think it will be enough. Freezing unless done instantaneously and completely, likely won't stop him from regenerating," said the girl who went on to watch as the ice was soon pushed out of the man's insides and instead broke into several shattering shards before he uttered the name of a high powered Kidou spell. "Hadō no Hachijuuhachi: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō," said the man as calmly as he'd been speaking as he shifted his upper body with the man's sword still through it aiming an open palm at the center of his being which would explode into a massive beam of electrical and spiritual energy. This would cause an immense blast on impact and be even more massive than one would expect even given the power of this Captain before he became a Hollow, his intention to completely obliterate Ikaruga Jin were he stood so he could go back to the civil conversation he'd been having with his grandson about the world at large.

[Bloodedge]

"As do you, or whatever Hollow that Bakkoutou of yours came from, Ojiisan," Raizen replied. Frankly, he refused to accept this individual as Kumori, considering his present state of existence. He did, at least, find Mōryōmaru to be above the assault of Captain Ikaruga. This train of thought was given credence by the immediate recovery of Mōryōmaru, followed by the strange twisting and mention of a spell. Jin's eyes were wide; he was obviously in shock by the name of a spell, in addition to the sudden turn toward him. "Yare yare daze. Danku," Raizen spoke while closing his eyes. In that moment, Jin was engulfed by the electrical blast, seeming to be thrown away as it consumed his entire form. It could easily be assumed that there would be no more of this Captain after a point-blank spell of such caliber, but Raizen's sudden spell had been wrapped around the blonde male's body with pinpoint accuracy, and nigh-flawless timing. "I suppose I should give credit where it's due. At least there wasn't a full transformation forced by this Hollow presence," he said with utmost nonchalance.

[Apollymi]

"Oh? You think so?" the man questioned. "It wouldn't be the case if you'd simply join us... Obviously you're more than suited for it," said the man, as if it was the most natural assumption in the world to make. Of course, the fact that this former Captain had managed to handle one of the newer ones almost instantly and that his actions would have instantly resulted in the young man's death if not for Raizen's interference, only furthered Mōryōmaru's belief that himself and Raizen could easily topple the Gotei as it stood if they combined their power and genius. Benihime was rather stunned by the sudden use of Kidou, she'd been about to comment on the strength of that presented by Mōryōmaru but the counter presented by Raizen overrode any respect she found herself having for the Hollow man. "Sugei~ You wrapped it around him at the last possible second against something that strong~" it seemed the girl had no problem watching this and she also seemed to maintain some form of distance from the actual situation taking place here. It would be Akiko who looked towards the girl, having finally moved from where she was to check on the Captain of the 9th Division just like his younger sister had. "Really, Beni-chan? That's your commentary? Stunned by the kidou... okay." she said to the young woman. Akiko always thought this girl had an unhealthy fascination with things that should be left apart, much like her former Captain. That being said, the redhead's current state made the Captain a bit uneasy. It was as if she truly wasn't worried about anything, and this got her mind to working. 'I assume we're waiting for someone more equipped to deal with Kumori-taichou, as he is now. The way I figure it, it means they can only really be waiting on the arrival of one of three people, I wonder who will show up first?' Akiko seemed to understand at least part of the plan devised by Raizen and Benihime and wondered who the pair were waiting on.

[Bloodedge]

Raizen's head tilted as Mōryōmaru spoke. He took issue with this man's words; it was as if there was true intention to have Raizen join the former Captain's cause, for whatever reason that would be. Now that the Captain of the 9th was temporarily out of the way, though, Raizen could comfortably step forward. "Mendokusai. If anything, Ojiisan, you should be offering yourself to my cause. I can clearly see why you were reputable in your time, but... you hit your stride four centuries ago, didn't you? That's why you sought to strengthen the Bakkoutou beyond what a Shinigami's own power could do. My power far surpasses yours." With these words, Raizen moved forward until he stood within a few meters of Mōryōmaru. His words and demeanor were both set in place to issue a challenge, as if he intended to lay waste to the former Captain himself. In all actuality, though, Akiko's assumptions were correct; he was simply waiting for one very specific Captain to arrive. In the meantime, he figured he could kill a bit of time by testing out his own abilities in a way he'd yet to be able to do properly. Mōryōmaru was quite obviously stronger than himself by a large margin presently, but Raizen needed such a thing to test himself.

[Apollymi]

Mōryōmaru scoffed at the lads words finally seeming to find something akin to anger as the lad so nonchalantly approached him. "Watch yourself, mago... If you plan to interrupt and insult me there is no reason I shouldn't kill you myself," with this in mind the man cast another powerful kidou spell as if it meant nothing to him. With Raizen in such close range he figured it wouldn't make much of a difference one way or another. A black box with a purple outline seemed to spring from his hand almost instantly. "Hadou no Kyuujuu: Kurohitsugi," his plan simply to end this boy's talk right then and there. His aim to encase him in a black coffin which would either end his life or incapacitate him enough that the man could take over his body thereafter. And though there was no incantation spoke the strength of this spell did far exceed the norm of what could be expected if it was used by a normal person. "Hm, that amount of arrogance has to be bred into people..." Benihime said though she was still content just to watch and see how this turned out while waiting for the real form of their plan to come to fruition.

[Bloodedge]

After some intense commotion had been noted, the 9th Division's 4th Seat abandoned his watch of the 4th's Vice-Captain. His own Captain's Shikai had been released, and with such a thing being visible as far as the eye could see for so long, he felt it was time to check things out. When he arrived, he found not his Captain, but a fallen pair from the Ikaruga Unit, a still-standing Noel, two Captains, an unfamiliar redhead, and something that looked quite... Hollow. His words upon arrival were delivered primarily to the blonde 5th Seat from his own group. "Ikaruga! What's going on? Where's the Captain?" he asked. Soon, though, a single gasp would accompany his sudden inability to speak and breathe properly...

Mōryōmaru had accepted the challenge of Raizen by going on the offensive. The spell he chose to use was one of Raizen's personal favorites, but the young Captain almost took offense to the amount of power produced as the black box began forming around him. A scoff ensued, and was followed shortly afterwards by a cocky grin. "Chitchai ne~" he said as the mask of a Hollow began to form, starting at his forehead and encompassing his entire crown and face with its ripple pattern and trio of tomoe - two of which formed holes for Raizen's eyes. Raizen's Reiatsu was of a very formidable tier as it was, but the addition of this mask doubled it by adding the power of an equally strong Hollow. "I told you, Ojiisan... You've hit your stride. Kurohitsugi." With these words, Raizen began to form the very same spell Mōryōmaru used. His, however, was a great deal larger. Its size was more than enough to encompass Raizen, Mōryōmaru, and the latter's spell all at once. Numerous black boxes formed, rising from the ground to create a single, massive structure which brought forth the force of gravity within it. This would crush anything within, including the spell Raizen had been boxed in by. With this out of the way, Raizen stepped through a space he'd purposefully left during his own spell's creation, only for it to begin closing with the rest of the spell immediately afterwards. "Let's see if you're strong enough to not be crushed, Ojiisan."

[Apollymi]

Ikaruga Noel had been quiet for some time, she'd been watching her brother and keeping an eye on their other two fallen division members, beyond this she was also watching the goings on with the rest of the group. She still couldn't exactly follow what was going on here, but her summary of situation would be pretty efficient. "Hibiki-san, sumimasen. Tsubaki and Setsuko-san, both got taken over by something. Nii-sama and I came here to help them, but the Captain of the 4th Division was apparently secretly some Hollow with the face of a former Captain. Uh... what is happening now I am not entirely sure, Nii-sama, couldn't take the guy that came out of Okawa-taichou, he's unconscious beside Ayatsuki-taichou, she says he's alright. Kumori-taichou saved him," she said seemingly dazed by the explanation, and quite pleased with the actions of the Captain of the 10th Division.

While this explanation happened, Benihime kept an eye on Raizen and got to see him take the form of his mask without there being much of a problem. She didn't seem terribly surprised by this, but her eyes never left him. 'Sugei!~' she thought as her own Captain looked towards her. Mōryōmaru on the other hand was completely taken aback by the form this lad had, and how familiar he felt in this moment. "Bakana... this isn't possible..." said the man as his grandson donned a Hollow mask and doubled his output by that of an equally strong Hollow. Beyond this the lad then immediately cast the same spell around his spell and then rather casually stepped out of it. This went on to deal a great deal of gravity to Mōryōmaru so he couldn't move his entire body was pressed into numerous pieces it seemed like his body just collapsed under the pressure of this, but... when this spell cleared the oozy little pieces of the man's body would begin to reform, pulling from the skies numerous numbers of Hollows to aid in this process. "Sou ka, I was right about that... I wish I wasn't right about that..." Benihime would comment.

[Bloodedge]

"Kumori-taichou?" Kohaku questioned while looking toward the occurring battle. Since Noel confirmed the well-being of their Captain, he had no immediate worries, but the fight he was now watching was something strange that was beginning to have an obvious effect on his stability. "Is this the power from the tournament..." he murmured. With the spells beginning to form, Kohaku found himself being dropped to one knee and breathing deeply. This was certainly something he'd have rather avoided coming to.

"Hoh?" said Raizen in the aftermath of Mōryōmaru's speech. At this point, he was outside of his own Kurohitsugi, and awaiting the effects of the spell. When it dissipated, he was able to behold his grandfather beginning to reform himself. "You'll have to clarify for me whether it was the spell, or the Hollowfication you spoke of." With that said, Raizen spared a quick glance in Benihime's direction. He then hopped into the air, landing atop a building before moving from one roof to another. His path took him closer and closer to the barracks of the 8th Division.

[Apollymi]

"Hai," Noel said, she seemed to be leaning up against the nearest wall as she explained, the spells created in this area were kind of a lot for her as well and she used the wall to support herself. She'd also rather not be in such close proximity to these sorts of things. Even so, it seemed that the other Captain and mysteriously enough the red haired female didn't show as much of a negative reaction to this. A quick glance from Raizen to Benihime and some cheeky commentary to the man's reforming grandfather and the Captain of the 10th Division had taken off.

Benihime caught the glance and moved as well, seeming not to bother explaining anything. Her steps would instantly take her from her position to the roof and then to Raizen's side as he moved forward. As Mōryōmaru reformed he would look towards his grandchild confused about a word the boy had spoken. "Hollow...fication?" it seemed it wasn't a term he was familiar with, even so he intended to chase the boy down, as soon as his wings reformed he took to the skies after the boy, taking the horde of Hollows with him.. "Don't run from me, mago..." he managed, he couldn't be shown up by a child on his big reveal. And as such this trio and the massive horde of Hollows began moving towards the Eight Division. Akiko found herself frowning at the movements. She really wanted to see what these two had planned but the idea of running to find out made her want to gag. "Ugh, why is always running with these two. Shit... I hate it," and she too turned in the direction of the 8th Division as she had a pretty good idea of at least part of their plan based on where they were heading. She also noted that nothing was spoken between the pair but the red haired girl who was supposed to be her fifth seat took off with the Captain of the 10th Division as if the pink haired woman wasn't standing right there. 'She takes orders from him... maybe he really will take her off my hands?' she mentally questioned.

[Bloodedge]

"... Bakemono," was all Kohaku had left to say; he was quite clearly disturbed by the type and tier of powers he was witnessing. Raizen's retreat was met by chase, along with the order for him to not run. A sideways grin appeared on his face prior to his retort. "Hee? What, are you going to try and spank me or something? I'm a big boy now, Ojiisan," he replied. Soon enough, he landed atop a wall connected to the 8th Division's barracks and headquarters. Still holding the mysterious item in his left hand, Raizen chose to begin tossing it into the air repeatedly. It was during this time that he chose to address the earlier-questioned "Hollowfication" term. "Hollowfication is the power you lot gave to me. It seems to have been what I suppose you all would refer to as a happy accident. All research shows that I am a perfect Hollow-Shinigami hybrid. I can call upon this Hollow mask for a limited time to gain the power of a Hollow, in addition to my own natural abilities. You've already witnessed the kind of augment to my power it gives. I'm still not entirely sure which of you managed this, or how even, but even with time constraints... I find this to be leagues above that pitiful Bakkoutou possession you seem to have come up with."

[Apollymi]

Noel had to agree this class of beings were monstrous even by her own standards. That being said soon enough this 9th Division was pretty much left alone in this area as the Captain of the 10th Division, the 12th Division and even the little red haired young woman that no one else knew on sight had fled along with the monstrous reincarnation of the Hollow which had emerged from the 4th Division Captain's body. All in all this was the best possible outcome to such a situation.

Meanwhile, Raizen had some very cheeky commentary for his grandfather and this didn't seem to go over well, with the monster form of Mōryōmaru. Though it did garner a giggle from Benihime who seemed to find that whole situation hilarious. "Spanked? You're an adult, insolence is punishable with death!" were the words from this beast as it flew, when Raizen reached the place he wanted to get to he stopped moving and Benihime was at his side. "Yare yare, no humor in this one..." she said of the old man's obvious threat which seemed a bit much for such gentle teasing. "Perfect you say? That just makes it more necessary for me to have your body, mago," several Hollows descended in this moment causing quite the ruckus above the Eight Division. They aimed to take Raizen, all of them trying to latch on to the boy so they could incorporate him into Mōryōmaru's body.

In the meantime, a young black haired woman with a short hair cut was looking for her Captain, she'd likely find him somewhere sleeping. "Taichou, get up! There is a ruckus outside and I am pretty sure we can't handle it. Hell there is a Captain out there right now... you gotta get up!" she mentioned.

[Bloodedge]

"You're not the first person to tell me that," Raizen said regarding Mōryōmaru's death threat. After hearing of the alleged perfection in Raizen's current form, Mōryōmaru had a mind to possess the younger Kumori outright. Raizen looked up as the Hollow hive encroached upon him. A deep exhale escaped him, and with it, he tossed the object in his left hand toward Benihime with good faith that she would be capable of making it useful. Then, the Hollows reached his body. Raizen got to have a first-hand experience of these Hollows aiming to take over one's body, but he did not seem worried at all, even as they incorporated themselves into him.

Meanwhile, the barracks below began to shake, and a certain sleeping Captain stirred. His raven-haired Vice-Captain had so recently approached the man with the intention of waking him, but it seemed to be the clash of powers overhead that did the job in the end. Kogara Satoshi opened a single eye, looking first toward the ceiling, then toward his Vice-Captain. He sensed a very familiar Reiatsu, but what he thought it to be was simply not possible. "Neh, Youmu-chan. It's not nice to jump into people's dreams like that."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Raizen's insolence came with a death threat from his grandfather. And soon enough the masked man was being swarmed by Hollows as the man known was Mōryōmaru tried to take over his grandson's body. Before this though, Raizen tossed the object in his left hand towards Benihime, and the redhead extended one hand to capture it. "Yare yare, I guess we're doing this now, huh?" she asked and soon after she allowed her hand to close around the orb in its casing. This would cause the casing to break and leave her with the tiny black pearl in her hand. This exchange would cause Mōryōmaru to look towards the girl. "This generation has no respect. That's fine though, I'll show you all when his power and body are mine," he said of Raizen handing over a family heirloom to the red head without any thought, as the Hollows worked to absorb and spread his powers around to each and every piece which belonged to this man through their shared connection. "Only a Kumori could use one of those, you can't escape either, girl." he said which only made Benihime scoff. "Yeah yeah, I'm not going anywhere, but if you think I can't use this... you really are out of your own time Jiijii," the girl said as her own Reiatsu finally pushed past her bandages and she used the small crystal as a focus. With this she began an incantation the skies around her darkening. "My right hand is the stone that bridges worlds. My left hand is the blade that binds reality." she started.

Meanwhile below the Vice-Captain apparently known as Youmu would be told it was rude to enter people's dreams. "Whine about it later. Seriously, Kogara-taichou, there is a problem outside, the whole Division will go under if you don't get up!" the girl finally said as she urged her Captain to get up. As if to confirm what this girl said, the pink haired Captain of the 12th Division finally caught up and found herself standing in the presence of this senior Captain. "She's quite right, Kogara-taichou, what's outside your division right now, is something only someone like you should be handling... I know you felt it." she said wondering if the man had decided to push away the sensation of that person's Reiatsu as an impossibility.

As this happened Benihime worked towards finishing her spell seemingly, unmoved by the fact that Raizen was being overtaken by Hollows. "The black-haired shepherd is hung from a chair. Stratus clouds come, and I strike down the ibis." as she finished this incantation a large stream of Reiryoku stretched out from either side of her person, and soon after it turned black, opening up into a Garganta like mouth but this wasn't any ordinary spell. No, instead of simply being portal it would open as a field which held in place all the Hollows which had tasted the Hollow Power of one Kumori Raizen, using Benihime and the crystal as a conduit.

[Bloodedge]

The field which began binding every Hollow in the vicinity was fated to claim Raizen as well. He found himself unable to move from his location, but he had to take a moment of experimentation to get a proper feel for this. Soon enough, he brought his right hand to the mask upon his face. Some of these Hollows were within him now, and he knew precisely what this meant. "Yare yare. This is going to hurt," he said, immediately ripping the mask from his face to have it dissolve into the wind. The nature of the pearl-borne field was interdimensional, and it bound only that which contained Raizen's Hollow Reiryoku. This caused Raizen himself to be ejected from it upon removing his mask, while the Hollows within him were ripped from his form to remain between this world, and whatever world the field was linked to. Nothing more than a grunt and a wince came from the 10th's Captain as this occurred; it did seem to be quite an unpleasant sensation. Of course, Raizen theorized that this would also affect the two fallen members of the 9th Division.

"Youmu-chan... Inuzuri's back. There's nothing I need to get up for anymore," Satoshi quipped. In a matter of moments, though, the Captain of the 12th Division appeared and spoke to him about this alleged danger. Satoshi's second eye opened, and both of his eyes narrowed as he looked toward the pink-haired woman. He truly thought there was nothing for him to worry about unless the Captain-Commander deemed such to be the case, but if there was one individual within the Gotei he expected to be right about something like this, it was the scientist standing before him. "Yare yare. I thought I'd never have to be the one to do this," he said as he rose. There seemed to be some form of sadness within this Captain; he knew what needed to be dealt with, and the thought alone left a bitter taste in his mouth. A few moments later, though, he begrudgingly emerged from the barracks to look upon the monstrous form of an old comrade. "Kumori-san... it's a shame we had to meet again."

[Apollymi]

"Bakana!" Mōryōmaru's exclamation was heard by Benihime and it only caused her to smile. She quite enjoyed the idea that she'd surprised this old man by the usage of this crystal. "Keikaigi." was the name of the spell which cemented its use and left it open to hold this fallen Captain and all of its Hollow pieces in place. Much to the thoughts of both Raizen and Benihime, just like him being ejected from the field after removing his Hollow mask, the two hollows attached to Yayoi Tsubaki and Minami Setsuko came flying from where they were attached to the two young women and into the field. This would release them from those Hollows' hold and leave them mostly unharmed by their take over. Where they were both Hibiki and Ikaruga Noel would likely witness said Hollows being pulled away.

"Yeah, I know. But I don't think those two would have brought him here, if they could use either of the others," she said of the senior Captains. Though she didn't like being left out of the loop, Akiko did know enough of the intelligence of Raizen and Benihime to assume they wouldn't have led the fallen Captain here, if it didn't serve some greater part of their plan. And soon enough Satoshi was heading out to greet one Kumori Mōryōmaru who was now trying to figure out how to escape the field. "Kogara-san, that is no way to greet me. When I get out of here... I'll teach you some manners too," he said which only made Akiko's eyes widen as she looked around and noted the placement of her fifth seat she found herself standing near where Raizen had been catapulted and asked a simple question. "Am I right to assume, Beni-chan has managed holding him and all his little pieces in place for some reason?" she asked the question but this was mostly an assumption. The only reason they had to hold all of this man's pieces in place was to try and kill him all at once. Which would mean that they intended to use Satoshi for the raw power of the kill, for whatever reason.

[Bloodedge]

"I was right," Raizen said as he brushed off his torso from shoulder to abdomen. "That was painful." It seemed the time was now approaching. The arrival of Satoshi came with a greeting for Mōryōmaru, which the latter seemed to take exception to. "Neh, Kumori-taichou wouldn't be too appropriate anymore, don't you think? That would be rude to Kumori-taichou and Ayatsuki-taichou here." These words came from Satoshi as he looked up at the beast of a former Captain, seeming curious as to what sort of situation he'd gotten himself into after this return. When Raizen spoke his response to Akiko, he would also be addressing this potential concern. "Quick thinking as always, Ayatsuki-taichou. This is the reason I couldn't bring you with us earlier. It may or may not have been even before your time that the black pearl was used by Kumori. Once upon a time, they were created by members of the family to form bridges to Kyougoku. We needed to create one of them, but also alter it in a way that would create this stasis field between here, and the designated Kyougoku. As I'm sure you can figure, these pieces are not just bound simultaneously... They are also connected to the same subspace due to them all being infected with my Hollow Reiryoku in larger relative quantities than I am presently. On the negative side, Mōryōmaru's regeneration ability far exceeds our ability to destroy all the pieces together. That is where you come in, Kogara-taichou. If my theory about your Bankai is correct based on what I've seen of your Shikai, you alone have the destructive power to stagnate the regeneration, while also having an area-of-effect that would allow you to strike all segments simultaneously. Ojiisan... I'm sure you know what this means."

After hearing Raizen's speech, and specifically honing in on the segment addressing him, Satoshi looked toward the young Captain through the corner of his eye. He understood these implications, but he once again found himself bothered by this white-haired lad. His gaze eventually traveled toward Akiko, as if to gain some level of confirmation from her about this entire ordeal.

[Apollymi]

"That boy is barely old enough to walk, how he was made Captain is beyond me, brat deserves a beating, not respect," mentioned Mōryōmaru as he struggled against the stasis field which was rather sturdily in place. "I didn't expect him to be so talkative... Couldn't get other Hollows to answer questions but this one, talks enough for all of them," Benihime mentioned as she landed. All of his smaller pieces hadn't been very forthcoming as far as speech was concerned but it seemed the original man did enough talking for all the rest of them. Meanwhile, Raizen went on to explain the plan while Benihime allowed her elbow to rest on the hilt of her Zanpakuto. Mōryōmaru went on to scream in the background apparently still retaining enough of his brain to think the pair actually had a plan that might work based on the information Raizen had given, and his actual knowledge of Kogara Satoshi's abilities. "You can't do that to me... you simply can't! STOP!" he screamed orders but no one seemed to be paying the Hollow Captain much attention.

"You two were up to that... while you were gone. Okay, I've never even seen one of those, because I'm always doing mundane things while people are doing stuff like that," she said seeming to be somewhat disillusioned about the status of these two people on the cleverness scale as it related to the ability to fuse science and magic. So far as she was concerned, such entreaties were how you ended up with a man like the beast locked up right now, but there was one thing which didn't immediately make sense, 'Kogara-taichou, because stagnation, okay... seems fair but...' her eyes narrowed as Satoshi looked towards her and she in turn looked towards Benihime. She'd seen at least the baseline notes on the girl's research into regeneration but it didn't include the information which would make Satoshi a standout candidate for this killing in particular. "Ano, when you look at me like that it feels accusatory, Aya-tai. Yes, that fact was missing from my research papers, but considering how I got that information I figured you didn't want to be associated with my methods," the young woman said which made Akiko scoff as she turned her attention back towards Satoshi. She was silent for about four seconds, but knew the combined efforts of the pair had indeed manifested in what had to be the most strategically perfect plan for getting rid of their hidden Hollow problem."Yes, it's exactly as they say. My own quick thinking done with all the information you should be able to kill him and all his parts here and now if you used your Bankai to do so. And this is the most efficient and casualty free way to do so... Nice job, you two." she said frowning deeply. She didn't like this, these two reeked of the kind of clever she was, with only one of them having made this blatantly obvious before hand. And she didn't have fond memories of encountering other truly gifted individuals, who hid their abilities, especially ones with properly curious natures. "So are you going to take this one off my hands Kumori-taichou?" she asked of the man completely changing the subject back to that of the potential transfer of her fifth seat. Such a statement just made Benihime smile, as she was quite correct in the assumption the Captain of her division was trying to get rid of her.

[Bloodedge]

"Urusai," Raizen said calmly to his elder clansman. "We've already proved my superior ability when compared to the likes of you. Return to dust, Ojiisan." The words of Raizen warranted another glance from Satoshi. He hadn't been able to see whatever sort of battle occurred before his arrival, but the implications of Raizen would lead one to believe the young Captain was stronger than an old legend. The thought of this alone was disturbing, as Satoshi could recall the days he himself spent looking up to the Bakkoutou-possessed former Captain.

In the midst of the ongoing discussion, it seemed Akiko was keen on abruptly addressing a different subject. The matter she chose to speak on was a potential transfer of one Niwatoko Benihime from the 12th Division to his own. Though this all seemed very out of the blue, Raizen replied with a coy smile and a quick glance in her direction. "I was wondering when you'd finally get around to asking. My part of the paperwork has been signed. I left it on your desk when you weren't looking earlier. For now, though... Kogara-taichou?"

The purple-haired, extravagantly-dressed Captain sighed, taking the necessary steps toward Mōryōmaru. "Yare yare," he chanted. During his approach, he began unsheathing the strange scimitar of a Zanpakutou he wielded, having it immediately begin cackling with powerful electricity. "Bankai... Otsu." The lightning being emitted from his blade was absolutely erratic. It arced in a way that tore asunder the ground Satoshi walked on, and it very quickly spread, reaching far and wide. Raizen had the foresight to prematurely set up numerous Danku barriers between Satoshi, the others present, and the 8th Division's barracks nearby, donning his mask briefly enough to empower the spells further. The Bakudou held out well enough, but the streets and walls for quite the massive radius were absolutely decimated by the activation of Satoshi's Bankai, which did not stop gaining intensity until the man could no longer be seen. When the lightning lessened in quantity, Satoshi stood with a long, double-edged sword in hand. Armor with the likeness of dragon scales now covered his legs, arms, and back. He wore a crown of two horns, and brandished a long tail at his backside. The lightning previously stemming only from his sword now cackled around his armor as well, as if Satoshi himself had become the generator of his power. "Kandenshi Garyuu!" Now that his Bankai was active, Satoshi looked ahead and pointed the tip of his sword at Mōryōmaru. "Kumori-san, it pains me to be the one doing this. Maybe we'll be able to meet again in another life for one of us, and under different circumstances. I'll at least honor you by holding nothing back," he said, simultaneously beginning to levitate high into the sky. As he did this, the sky once again became cloudy this day, spawning an electrical storm of great magnitude. Once he was overhead, he raised his sword and conjured a massive seal which absorbed every speck of electricity from the surrounding storm clouds. For a single moment, the sound of innumerable simultaneous thunderclaps spread across the whole of the Soul Society. The channeled lightning remained within the circle as it shrank, decreasing the size of the coming assault. Satoshi's only remaining words would come as his Zanpakutou was slowly brought down. "Disappear with the thunder, Mōryōmaru. Raiken Shikiten Haizetsu," he said ever so calmly. The slow descent of his blade stopped when its tip pointed toward Mōryōmaru once more, and after a single second of delay, a wave comprised of one million lightning strikes crashed down upon Mōryōmaru's location. Even at its minimum size, this blast threatened to destroy a great chunk of the Seireitei around its location, leaving a wide area barren and desolate. Raizen, having foreseen such magnitude in the coming attack, continued the formation and reinforcement of barriers in a circle around the battle space. Even so, he was remiss to see them all shatter at the tail end of Satoshi's Bankai assault. His eyes widened nearly to their limit at this time. 'Bakana!'

[Apollymi]

Mōryōmaru the once great Captain was now bound and being kept for his execution, at the hands of his own grandson and people he'd once called comrade no less. If not for the situation, he probably would have admitted the superiority of the boy's ability, but he was well past the state of normal reasoning. Of course, there was a great deal of irony in this, considering what he'd been trying to do in the first place, but still he didn't not expect this level of methodical treachery. Why hadn't he seen it coming? How had they managed to slip such a huge plan by him? Didn't these accursed brats understand, one day... they'd be shown up by the massive power of the next generation and have to grasp at straws to retain their relevancy? His questions would remain unanswered as his executioner let himself be known in the shape of rolling thunder.

Meanwhile, Akiko found herself staring at the Captain of the 10th Division. Finding it strange that he already knew she was going to hand over her fifth seat somewhere, and that he'd been proactive enough about it to leave paperwork already completed for her transfer. "This is how old people become ornery isn't it?" she asked rhetorically. "Hai!" Benihime replied seemingly happily as she began to watch was was slated to be a good show. Still the young woman didn't seem at all phased, but managed to gain the widest of wide eyes as she witnessed the Bankai of Kogara Satoshi. "Sugei!" she said knowing that Raizen had cast a great number of spells to protect the lot of them and the area, she still couldn't quite believe the amount of sheer power possessed by one of the oldest of the Captains the Gotei had to offer. The words spoken by the man to Mōryōmaru reached him, but that didn't stop him. "You'd kill me? You can't... You can't... " it seemed his cries fell on deaf ears as the power of a million lightning strikes rained down upon him. All of his individual hollow pieces were struck, stopped from regenerating and even beyond that... his whole being melted away under the pressure of this powerful Reiryoku based in electricity. Nothing could be done as all his pieces seemed to heat up and evaporate, the former Captain of the 12th Division becoming nothing but literal dust on the wind, with no possibility of regeneration. Still the power wasn't done yet, as barriers set up around the area exploded and shattered under the power of the lightning strikes, Benihime and Akiko were stunned enough to end up on their bottoms on the ground. "Okay, I've seen him do stuff before, but even I find that surprising. I see why he sleeps all the time, he definitely deserves it." said Akiko, only to have the redhead nod her agreement.

"Hai. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's even tempered or I doubt anyone would bother waking him up," she said still all but dumbfounded. At the end of the endeavor, the large stasis field which had been opened to hold the Hollows in place, disappeared with the last traces of Kumori Mōryōmaru. She could only imagine the responses of the others within the Seireitei, and she didn't envy either her current or future Captain having to explain this situation to the rest of them.

[Bloodedge]

Raizen looked onward, almost in awe of the power wielded by this particular Captain. He knew of the man's status among the senior Captains, but if this was any proper indication of the group's power, he'd narrowly escaped a personal execution at the hands of one Tamamura Tamao during the Shinigami Tournament of Power. The disintegration of Mōryōmaru was followed by the descent of Satoshi, and the sealing of his Zanpakutou. This was accompanied by the falling of the black pearl, which Raizen personally could not touch, lest he be bound in the same way Mōryōmaru previously had been. It was Satoshi who picked it up and stared at it curiously. The purple-haired male shifted his gaze toward Akiko, eyes narrowed, and he used the moment in which no other would be looking to store the pearl. Meanwhile, Raizen looked toward the disappearing clouds. "Yare yare. I have a long way to go," he mused. This resulted in a scoff from Satoshi, who slipped his arms into his sleeves as he walked toward his Division's barracks. "Che! Don't get too cocky, kid. Your kind has a history of going down the wrong road when they get cocky."

[Apollymi]

Soon enough the descent of the Captain of the 8th Division marked the end of the battle at hand. And though the black pearl had fallen during the aftermath, Benihime hadn't seen where given she was presently speaking with her current Captain. Akiko's eyes on the other hand seemed to travel from time to time to Satoshi, she knew he had something he didn't want anyone else seeing and as such she soon stood back up dusting off her bottom. "Ano, I think we're about done here, arigatou gozaimasu, Kogara-taichou. Pleasant dreams," she said to the man as she figured he'd be going back to sleep soon. Benihime soon got up as well, heading over to the Captain of the 10th Division whom she'd arrived with. "That kind of commentary makes me wonder, what did you do to him, Kumori-taichou?" she asked Raizen of the commentary provided by the Captain of the 8th, making the assumption the white haired young man had done something to him besides reveal the treachery of his grandfather to garner such commentary about his attitude. Beyond that, she wondered if the pearl created for this moment had been consumed by its usage, she hadn't seen it fall.

[Bloodedge]

"Ja," was the last thing Satoshi had to say before his disappearance. When all was said and done, Raizen was addressed by Benihime. At that time, he turned to face her while placing his right hand on his hip, leaving his left to hang loose at his side. "I didn't do a thing. I think, the appropriate question would be... What did the Kumori family do before I was even born?" he said. A deep sigh followed, but aside from all that, he figured now was the time to properly move on to doing something else. "No matter; it's not really my problem to deal with. Ayatsuki-taichou, I assume you will be dealing with that paperwork rather soon?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime thought about it for a moment, and Raizen did have a point. Something about the speech of the Senior Captain seemed to hint at the idea that his family was being less than upstanding citizens in the time before Raizen's birth. "That's fair..." said the girl whose elbow was now resting on the hilt of her Zanpakuto. It seemed that Raizen was content to move on from this topic and straight to to questioning the Captain of the 12th Division about her intention of completing the paperwork that would constitute Benihime's transfer to the 10th Division. Akiko looked to the pair and pushed her glasses up onto her nose. "Hai, I'll go take care of it now... while it's fresh on my mind. Beni-chan, take care of anything you wish to keep of yours from your lab." she said to the young redhead which just made her smile. "Already did. I... left you a present, Aya-tai~" she commented which made Akiko look at the girl with furrowed brow. "Of course you did..." with that the Captain of the 12th raised a hand to the pair before turning on the heels of her clogs to leave the area, headed to finish up the paperwork. "She always seems so cross with me..." the redhead said after Akiko left, still there was a matter of what she and the white haired man would be getting up to now. "Alright, plan got off without a hitch, what are we doing to celebrate our victory, Kumori-taichou?"

[Bloodedge]

A sly grin stretched across Raizen's face. It seemed he would soon be having this redhead counted amongst his own ranks; such was something to be quite pleased about. When Benihime spoke of celebrating the flawless execution of their plan, though, his grin was already in the process of inverting itself. In very recent times, he'd let himself forget something... something quite major. With said thing in mind, he turned away from the 5th Seat, and began walking away. "I... actually have some important business to attend to. Rain check; I suppose I'll see you at the barracks."

[Apollymi]

Benihime watched as the sly grin spread across Raizen's visage as the man was seemingly pleased by the idea that she would soon be part of his own ranks. She was also quite pleased by the idea, but when she mentioned the potential to celebrate their flawless victory he mentioned having important business to take care of, and thus needing to take a rain check. "Oh alright, I guess I'll go say hello to Saya-sama. She's been bugging me about having tea with her, anyway," the girl said with a roll of her eyes. She couldn't say she wasn't a tiny bit disappointed, but she was a fairly understanding individual, there was no need to question what this man was up to.