While the group was facing their own crisis, it was the same for Itsuki. Despite being one of the strongest Shinigami, it didn"t change the fact that fighting against a group of Menos Grande would prove difficult even more him, worse yet, nigh life threatening. Despite all his perks, he was bound to make a mistake or even an oversight. Sadly, for Itsuki, it was both and his misfortune came as a pair. Our protagonist was currently, breathing heavily in the middle of the now destroyed forest. The huts were no longer there and the trees surrounding the village had disappeared. Craters littered the grounds and while his captain"s haori lay on the side. He had taken off the upper half of his Shihakuso and had activated Shunko. It was getting progressively harder to fight with the Vasto Lordes.
The four main Vasto Lorde"s looked at him then at each other. A reluctant look plastered their face as they all took out a katana. They were simple ones, but it sent Itsuki into full alert. Breathing out slightly, Itsuki got into position and the five of them called out at the same time. He could think of many reasons why they had katanas, but it would just prove to be a waste of time. Quickly getting into stance, five different voices were heard throughout Hueco Mundo. Whether it was the intruding group, or it was the Arrancar"s that had stayed behind or the hostage, they all heard it. It resounded within them as a sense of foreboding developed in their hearts.
They all looked in one direction as if they were an audience to a play and saw a series of clouds gather on the horizon. However, not many could see them because,
"Hey, Ichwigo, why are you looking at the wall?"
"Huh, oh, huh? Don"t you feel that?"
"What?"
Ichigo looked at Nel and thought that she didn"t feel it because she was too weak. He then focused at the enemy they were facing who was also looking at the wall with a serious expression.
Back where Itsuki was,
"Bankai."
""""Resureccion!""""
Large amounts Reishi was released as it took the form of a hurricane, killing the weaker Vasto Lordes. The stronger ones weren"t scot free either, they did develop some form of injury. Clouds developed in the sky as a pillar of lightning struck Itsuki"s position. The clouds formed a whirlpool with the bolt in the middle as snakes of lightning could seen streaking with the clouds. The bolt didn"t disappear after the first strike but rather stayed there constantly sending pure electricity into Itsuki. This was the first time Itsuki had used bankai and he was currently being bathed in lightning.
Itsuki felt the lightning travelling through each and every cell as wind started to pick up around him. The other four Vasto Lordes went through their own changes as well. They all became more of the animals they represented. The mantis Vasto Lorde grew extra long scythes and his speed quickened, the bear one enlarged and had a bone armour protecting him, the lion one"s legs turned cat shaped while the snake woman became a something reminiscent of Medusa, with snake like hairs. They all grew in size though.
As soon as the lighting stopped hitting Itsuki, his form was shown. His black Samurai armour devoured the light as six b.a.l.l.s of lightning appeared behind him, all of them being different shades of colour. It seemed to start as blue then turn into violet as it went round in circles. His Odachi was longer and various runes covered the blade. What changed was his left eye in between the helmet and mask, it had a black sclera.
Itsuki could suddenly feel that the surroundings were more fragile than he had thought. He could see his reiatsu take physical form behind him, turning into a tiger and dragon. Looking at the lion Vasto Lorde, Itsuki brought his Odachi up and swung down, it was a simple move, but it was extremely fast. What happened though completely blew his mind, a flash of lightning seemed to strike the sword as the swing ended in a before it even started for the opposition.
Silence ensued on the battlefield as the lion Vasto Lorde split in half. Behind it though, was a long thin ravine ending up as far as the eye could see. The other Vasto Lordes all gulped as they didn"t expect this level of neat destruction.
While Itsuki was still mesmerised, the others all tried to attack by unleashing Cero, but it turned out to be useless. They couldn"t summon any Reishi. So, with no other choice they went into battle. The Mantis arrived first and struck, not even leaving a tiny mark on Itsuki"s armour. What did happen though was he felt numb every time he struck the armour. With Itsuki giving him a backhanded slap, half of his upper body disappeared.
Looking at the hand that he just slapped the mantis with, only one thought was left in Itsuki"s head,
"When did I become this OP?"
The bear and snake Vasto Lorde looked at Itsuki in disbelief. They had all activated their true power, yet they couldn"t even fight back. In just two moves, he had annihilated half of their main power. It wasn"t just them, Itsuki was also in disbelief before he suddenly dived into his consciousness and found what he was looking for. He had completely fused with the Hollow and with the Sokyoku. To be honest, he had expected some major event to take place and not be fused so anti-climatically.
Still what could Itsuki say, his goal had been reached all he could do now was finish things off. Just as he was about to, he saw the remaining Vasto Lordes including the snake and bear one all kneel in front of him. Itsuki raised an eyebrow before he felt something above him. Looking up, he saw a s.p.a.ce rip apart around the storm clouds as he felt the realm shaking. Hueco Mundo was barely able to contain the amount of Reiatsu he was creating. Sheathing his Odachi, Itsuki deactivated his Bankai and slowly descended onto the ground. He felt his body contain immeasurable power and he felt slightly isolated from the world.
Cracking his neck, he looked at the remaining Vasto Lordes and ordered,
"Clean up and recuperate, I"ll send someone to collect you later."
Putting on his captain"s haori, he then disappeared from the ground as all the remaining Vasto Lorde"s let out a sigh of relief. Itsuki didn"t know how long he had been fighting for but from the senses he shared with Seikyo, it would seem that Ichigo hadn"t met Ulquiorra yet. Looking up he saw the majestic Las Noches resting in the distance. He then happened to look next to him and saw the thin ravine he created, and it seemed to go into the direction of that very building.
"Eh?"
- A short moment earlier -
Tatsuki was currently facing of against a Numeros. A set of gauntlets encompa.s.sed her hands as she let loose a punch after another, this was her Shikai. It was a simple blackish red gauntlet with heat radiating from it. Each attack that landed on her opponent left behind a burned wound and a charred smell. Her opponent was a rather largely built arrancar with his size only falling short of Yammy. He had a large green afro while a large bushy beard dropped from his face. A monocle was placed on his left eye as he kept spewing nonsense of being a gentleman and what not. Yet he was clearly being dominated by Tatsuki as half his clothes had been ruined and his number 31 showing. Even when he was defeated to this extent, he still blamed the fact that he was only losing because he was going against a woman and he was not fighting with all his strength. Tatsuki didn"t care because she could see that it was all just a lie.
Seikyo was giving off an attack here and there but it was all just distractions.
"Huehuehue, if only you weren"t a member of the opposite…Guh!"
A punch to the Arrancar"s stomach sent his organ into disarray as he spat out some blood. Laying on his face he seemed to lose consciousness,
"If-f…o-only…you…"
"Shut up!"
Tatsuki annoyingly shouted at the man before turning her back. Seikyo jumped on her shoulder as she received a pat. Just as she started walking away, a large shadow loomed over her. Feeling something wrong, she hurriedly turned around only to see her opponent sending a punch towards her with a vicious smile.
"You"re too naïve…"
Seikyo had a dangerous light in her eyes as they gave off a reddish hue. But before the bird could make a move, Tatsuki hurriedly dodged and sent out another punch, straight to the man"s throat. This time she didn"t held back, and a trail of fire left the punch as it landed, crushing the opponents throat. The opponent grasped his neck as it disbelievingly looked at the teenager in front of him.
Tatsuki looked back at the arrancar she just killed with cold eyes. Yet those eyes were slightly shaking and her arms trembling. She watched as the light left the man"s eyes and her stomach churn. She held it in, she knew that it won"t be her last time. To help protect her best friends, it was a step she had to take. Plus, she had faint knowledge of the man that was her master, so if she couldn"t do this much then it was honestly disappointing. Seikyo nodded with approval, like an elder sister.
This time Tatsuki turned around and never looked back. He clenched fists that were trembling ever so slightly, calmed down and her footsteps became steady. Yet what she didn"t expect was a sudden rumble behind her to catch her attention as she quickly turned around. What she saw blew her mind. She could clearly see a strike starting from one end of a room to and disappearing off to another. Looking at the direction it came from she couldn"t see the end, but she could clearly see that it came from somewhere outside. However, when she turned to look at another end, she found that the exact same issue the other way. The ravine didn"t get either bigger or smaller it stayed the exact same width. She couldn"t see how deep it was as well, but she felt a familiar reiatsu being emitted from it.
The same situation could be seen throughout Las Noches as the one that caused it just finished his fight. Itsuki looked at the ravine before entering a Garganta.
- The Living World -
Within a small apartment, a group of people could seen lazing around. These were all the people that Itsuki had gathered around ever since he became captain. They were all either playing cards or some board game. Suddenly a large black portal opened and out walked Itsuki, but no one even sensed him.