Fate in Bleach: Unlimited Blade Works!

Chapter 473 473: The Assault

It seemed his preparations had not been in vain.

"Bankai—Zabimaru!"

After the Vice-Captain Sasakibe replica's attack failed to achieve its intended effect, a roar echoed.

In the next instant, the Reigai of Renji Abarai had already released his Bankai, the dozens-of-meters-long segments of Zabimaru coiling around him.

Then, the Reigai Renji swung his Zanpakutō. Red spiritual pressure erupted from Zabimaru's joints, ultimately converging within the massive skeletal snake head.

"Baboon Bone Cannon!"

Boom!

A beam of red spiritual pressure blasted from Zabimaru's skull, sweeping across a section of the Twelfth Division barracks.

The metal rods above the barracks offered no resistance to Zabimaru's Baboon Bone Cannon, and four or five buildings were instantly destroyed by the red beam.

Rumble!

With some of the metal rods destroyed, the Twelfth Division's defenses against the Reigai Vice-Captain Sasakibe's lightning weakened considerably.

Instantly, several more metal rods shattered under the onslaught of lightning.

"Ah..."

"Aaaaaahhhhh..."

Bereft of the barrier formed by the metal rods, the lightning ravaged the Twelfth Division compound. Many squad members suffered heavy injuries from the assault.

This was even after the metal rods had absorbed the majority of Gonryōmaru's power.

Without that initial protection, those dozens of squad members likely wouldn't have survived.

"Dance—Sode no Shirayuki!"

A cold, clear voice rang out.

"Next Dance—White Lotus!"

Boom!

A torrent of freezing energy, like a blossoming white lotus, surged from the ground, engulfing the Reigai Renji Abarai.

Rukia Kuchiki appeared on the roof of a Twelfth Division building, the blade of Sode no Shirayuki in her hand still radiating white mist.

The blade of Sode no Shirayuki was an outward manifestation of its power; the surrounding moisture condensed into ice crystals under its intense cold.

"Cry—Benihime!"

The next moment, a red slash shot skyward, cleaving the thunderclouds and lightning above the Twelfth Division in two.

Kisuke Urahara, clad in a black cloak that concealed his spiritual pressure, appeared behind Rukia, accompanied by a white-robed Ichigo Kurosaki.

Having split the thunderclouds, Urahara pulled Ichigo down from the roof. "Let's go, Ichigo."

"Rukia, I'll leave this to you for now."

"Understood. This is the Seireitei, after all. Captain-Commander Yamamoto and the others must have returned already; they should arrive within minutes."

"You two be careful as well, don't let anyone else see you. After all, Kisuke, you're still a wanted criminal in the Seireitei."

"Got it!"

After Urahara and Ichigo disappeared from view, Rukia focused her gaze on the sky.

Back in the World of the Living, Rukia, Ichigo, Urahara, and the others had clashed numerous times with Kageroza Inaba.

During this period, Ichigo had even lost his Shinigami powers due to spiritual pressure exhaustion.

To utilize Ichigo's remaining combat potential, Urahara had proposed collecting Ichigo's residual spiritual pressure from his past battle sites, using Kageroza Inaba's Reigai creation techniques to forge it into a usable form.

In this pursuit, they had traveled to Hueco Mundo and braved the Dangai, where Ichigo had even confronted the Kōtotsu directly, entering its interior.

Ultimately, they gathered a substantial amount of Ichigo's spiritual pressure. All that remained was to find Kageroza Inaba's Reigai-creating machine; Urahara was confident he could process Ichigo's spiritual pressure into a "Reigai Pill."

Urahara had been the previous captain of Squad Twelve. Although Mayuri Kurotsuchi had renovated the barracks over the years, the basic layout remained largely unchanged.

Therefore, Urahara located Kageroza Inaba's Reigai laboratory with little effort. He began manipulating the computer, feeding the captured spiritual pressure of Ichigo Kurosaki into the machine.

...

"Everyone, charge!"

In the sky, Kageroza Inaba held Nozomi Kujō in one arm while waving his Zanpakutō with the other, ordering his remaining Reigai forces to assault the Twelfth Division.

Large beads of cold sweat dripped from Kageroza's forehead.

He couldn't believe his foolproof plan had encountered such a massive flaw.

The root of the problem was Nozomi Kujō being taken from the Dangai.

If he had found Nozomi immediately after altering the time flow between the Dangai and the real world, these past two weeks would have been more than enough time for him to fuse with her, become Ōko Yushima, and destroy this disappointing Seireitei.

Now, the captains of the Gotei Thirteen had returned from the World of the Living. His own Reigai captains had vanished one by one, clearly killed by the returning captains.

Kageroza's only hope now was to reach his laboratory and successfully fuse with Nozomi Kujō before the other captains arrived as reinforcements.

Based on his years of research, and considering the growth both he and Nozomi had undergone, he was certain that after fusion, Ōko Yushima's spiritual pressure would allow him to perfectly wield that Zanpakutō.

At that point, even against powerhouses like Captain-Commander Yamamoto or Captain Ailin, he wouldn't be without a fighting chance!

Given a little more time, he could even recreate captain-level Reigai.

Then, wouldn't the fate of the Seireitei be entirely in his hands?

"Howl—Haineko!"

"Bloom—Tobiume!"

"Raise your head—Wabisuke!"

Following Kageroza's roar, the remaining Reigai Vice-Captains under his command unleashed their full power, pushing the battle line forward another dozen meters.

Rumble!

The thunderclouds above, previously split by Urahara, reformed, unleashing lightning once more.

Countless golden bolts rained down like a torrential storm.

Without the metal rods and Kidō barriers on the rooftops, this wave of attacks would undoubtedly inflict devastating damage upon the entire Twelfth Division.

"Quick, quick, quick! Everyone back up your data immediately and retreat to the emergency evacuation tunnels!"

Amidst the thunder, the Third Seat of Squad Twelve, Akon, directed the researchers in an orderly evacuation.

Squad Twelve was the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. While some members were combat-oriented like other squads, the majority were researchers, strong in knowledge but not necessarily in combat prowess.

Losing even a few of these individuals here would be a huge blow to Squad Twelve.

"Bankai—Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō!"

Just as the countless bolts of lightning were about to strike the Twelfth Division, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi finally made his appearance.

Amidst purple mist, Mayuri's Zanpakutō, Ashisogi Jizō, manifested.

Compared to before, Ashisogi Jizō was significantly larger now. The halo above its head had turned purple, and the centipede-like limbs beneath its feet had been completely modified by Mayuri into countless Zanpakutō blades.

Rumble rumble rumble rumble...

Innumerable lightning bolts descended, all absorbed entirely by Ashisogi Jizō.

Massive amounts of lightning erupted across Ashisogi Jizō's body, destroying much of the surrounding architecture.

However, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō merely exhaled a ring of black smoke, having weathered the Vice-Captain Sasakibe replica's attack.

The lightning had caused no apparent damage to Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō.

Clearly, Mayuri had modified his own Zanpakutō, granting Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō immunity to lightning attacks.

"Wheee..."

"Hooo..."

After letting out a strange cry, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō expelled a cloud of purple mist, forcing the Reigai Vice-Captain Sasakibe to retreat.

The lightning and thunderclouds in the sky were visibly corroded by this purple mist.

Bang!

With the Reigai Sasakibe blocked by Mayuri, on Rukia's side, the Reigai Renji Abarai broke free from the White Lotus's freeze, roaring as he swung Zabimaru towards her.

Although Rukia's strength surpassed Renji's considerably, Renji had still mastered Bankai. It wouldn't be easy for Rukia to defeat him using only her Shikai.

"Negative twenty degrees."

Muttering softly, ice crystals formed slightly on Rukia's body, and a white mist emanated from her surroundings.

Rukia stood firm, her Zanpakutō pointed towards the attacking Zabimaru.

"Third Dance—Shirafune!"

Swish!

A flash of white light streaked past. Zabimaru was pierced from its head through a large portion of its body by a white blade dozens of meters long.

The next instant, bone-chilling cold erupted, completely freezing the pierced section of Zabimaru.

Crack! Crack!

As the Reigai Renji pulled back his Zanpakutō, Zabimaru's body shattered segment by segment, falling to the ground.

It looked as if the Reigai Renji's Zanpakutō had been broken by Rukia.

However, Rukia, familiar with Renji, knew his Zanpakutō wasn't so fragile.

Indeed, with a roar from the Reigai Renji, red spiritual pressure burst from the shattered segments of Zabimaru, shattering the ice that bound them.

"Higa Zekkō!"

Swish swish swish...

Following the Reigai Renji's roar, the dozens of Zabimaru segments transformed into streaks of red light, attacking Rukia.

"Bankai—Zabimaru!"

"Baboon Bone Cannon!"

Before the Reigai Renji's attack could hit Rukia, from another direction, the real Renji Abarai arrived, immediately releasing his Zanpakutō and unleashing his strongest technique, striking the Reigai Renji who was attacking Rukia.

Boom!

"Ah—"

Struck directly by the Baboon Bone Cannon, the Reigai Renji let out a scream, his body turning charred and smoking as he fell from the sky. His attack on Rukia naturally amounted to nothing.

"Rukia, are you alright?"

Renji landed beside Rukia and asked.

"Yes, thankfully you arrived, Renji."

Nodding at Renji, Rukia scanned their surroundings.

"Since you're here, let's quickly deal with the commotion in Squad Twelve. I saw Kageroza Inaba break into Squad Twelve earlier. I don't know what that guy is planning. But I feel we must stop him!"

"Right."

Renji nodded, knowing this wasn't the time for catching up. His figure flashed as he charged towards the several Reigai Vice-Captains.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With Renji and Rukia working together, the few Reigai Vice-Captains were quickly dispatched.

However, glancing towards the sky where Captain Mayuri and the Reigai Vice-Captain Sasakibe fought, Renji and Rukia exchanged helpless looks and shook their heads.

That battlefield was already enveloped in Captain Mayuri's poison gas.

Although Rukia could likely freeze the poison gas by lowering her temperature to "negative fifty degrees," immunizing herself, even she couldn't maintain that state for long.

Judging by Captain Mayuri's current condition, he clearly had the Reigai Vice-Captain Sasakibe completely suppressed. It was only a matter of time before the Reigai succumbed to the poison; they didn't need to worry about it.

...

Clickety-clack...

Whirrrrr...

In a laboratory, Kisuke Urahara's hands flew across a keyboard before a monitor. He quickly cracked the computer's password, accessing Kageroza Inaba's Reigai creation data.

Then, after a series of actions, Urahara started the machine, feeding the collected spiritual pressure of Ichigo Kurosaki into it.

"Faster, faster..."

Watching the progress bar on the screen, both Urahara and the powerless Ichigo Kurosaki silently urged it onward in their minds.

Ichigo, without his Shinigami powers, couldn't sense the spiritual pressures outside.

However, the sounds of battle still filtered through the laboratory door.

Regret over failing to protect Nozomi Kujō, allowing Kageroza Inaba to capture her, gnawed at Ichigo's sanity.

If only he had been stronger then, Nozomi wouldn't have...

Though he didn't know what Kageroza wanted with Nozomi, Ichigo felt that if he couldn't do something this time, he might never see her again!

As for Urahara, his spiritual senses revealed something even more alarming.

Not far from the laboratory, he could feel the spiritual pressures of Kageroza Inaba and Nozomi Kujō merging in some mysterious way.

This situation reminded Urahara of the previous captain of Squad Twelve, Kirio Hikifune.

Kirio Hikifune had ascended to Squad Zero because she invented a method to absorb souls into her body to enhance her own spiritual pressure.

Of course, the souls absorbed were not true human souls, but "temporary souls" created by Hikifune herself.

Was Kageroza Inaba so obsessed with Nozomi Kujō because Nozomi was a "temporary soul" he had created to enhance his own spiritual pressure?