Northwest Seireitei

[KagiSenkō]

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The giant tree has sprouted from the depths of the floor and now towers over the Seireitei for everyone to see. This visage of this tree was the doing of Kagi, the Second Division Captain, who activated bankai immediately when dealing with Densagi, whom he deemed to be a lost cause. Some or even most would question if this was a necessary force when other Captains were present. The act alone could have been viewed as an overkill. To Kagi, his only objective was to act quickly and eliminate the threat at hand. The Shiba was a threat and a danger to not just the parties involved but to everyone else. In Kagi's eyes, neither Kenpachi nor Shizukana could save Densagi by being passive. It was time for action. Even if that action was to unnecessarily used Bankai.

A cloud of leaves traveled towards Densagi's position, even when the woman tried to get in the way of saving him. The cloud of leaves halted in place as they only hovered about the sky, with Kagi somewhat disturbed that she would motion into a rushing race towards Densagi. His eyes squint in her direction while a mere thought crosses his mind to ignore her attempt and take her down, too, with no care in the world. Some could say she was hurt or killed in the crossfire. But that would have looked good in many eyes. There were too many witnesses, and the story wouldn't make sense. A captain deemed to be on the highest degree of skill to harm another captain accidentally? That would only prove to be incompetence on his part. Make him seem sloppy. And sloppy is not part of his reputation.

"Tch."

The only sound Kagi made while he disliked her attempt to get his way. In Kagi's eyes, there could never be too much violence; is it always the answer? No. But some things must be dealt with by force rather than words. And that is all he knows. He deals with things by force but also be brilliant and not reckless. Some may believe that violence cannot solve anything because violence carries only the power to compel action, not the power to persuade opinions. However, violence may be helpful in the short term to secure a limited goal; it offers no long-term solution to any dispute. This is why Kagi's action was to get it done as quickly as possible to kill or incapacitate Densagi instead of hand-holding to calm him down. Both Captains had the opportunity to handle the situation as delicately as they could and failed.

And now, regardless of what wrong she tried to correct, it was too late. Densagi had snapped after witnessing the Captain's bankai and his sudden appearance. It was the final nail in the coffin, speak, and like that, his power grew further into full-blown rage and unlocked his bankai in the process as well.

Just like that, a large portion of the leaves were taken out by a strike of this red lightning. The destructive powers are even more dangerous than Shikai's; without Kagi's knowledge, his leaves were burned to nothing, and their power and strength were siphoned away. Before he could realize his strength was slowly weakening, a flash of red light headed in his direction just above him. Using his wits about him, he managed to flicker away but appeared not too far away from his previous position, with his left arm somewhat seared from the strike. The colorless coat had a scorch mark, and their left arm was exposed as he appeared to skid against the other available rooftop.

"You feel it, Kagi?"

A woman's voice said to him, it was more likely Chiba (千葉, “Thousand Leaves”) to which he did not reply, but he knew his strength had been drained from his body at that moment. The question remains in Kagi's mind: if his powers get drained, where do they go? Is the lightning only attacking at the will of Densagi or randomly? This encounter is Kagi's first time going up against Densagi, let alone his bankai; he has to know how it works so he knows how to fight it off or best avoid it as much as possible. And with how things are, the neighboring sectors are in trouble, too.
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”Kagi! Shizukana! Go make sure no more lives are lost, my Bankai can’t hold back this lightning forever! I’m going to kill Densagi.”

As much as Kagi would have preferred to stay and see this to the end, he knows that he does not understand Densagi's power and cannot risk further making it worse by trying to fight him. And like that, Kagi fled to the Southwest since the Captain of the Fifth retreated to the NorthEast Section. Or at least Kagi was going to retreat until a message pinged through

This Is Head Lieutenant Munetoshi!

Captain-Commander Shihaimono has been killed.

Requesting all available Captain-level Shinigami for assistance on the capture of Daigo Shimojima to the Great Central Underground Prison Immediately.

All Squad 1 Members are to set forth all precautions, Let none but those of Captain inside the barriers, let nothing out at all costs.

Is the Captain-Commander dead? Captain Shizukana had already sent out a wide alert for the other sectors of both North and South regarding the situation. There was nothing Captain Senko could do more from that point. With the Captain Commander presumed dead, this required an immediate investigation. So, instead of heading to the South sector as Captain Aijo ordered, Captain Senko changed the course of his objective to a different primary. One that needs his immediate attention right away. The power of Kagi's bankai would be no more as it would have faded at the will of Kagi, who would have canceled his bankai into a recall since all his power was doing was feeding the beast Shiba's bankai. Plus, there is a more significant threat, Daigo Shimojima. If he genuinely escaped from prison, the question is how? Did he get aid? He will get answers one way or another. First Densagi and now this situation? There has been countless problems one after the other.
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LEAVING NORTHWEST, GOING TO CENTRAL
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[Adonai]

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”Assassinate!? No one wanted you dead until right this second you stupid fool!!”

Otokogi was enraged beyond belief now after hearing those foolish, ignorant, words. Densagi was truly the bonehead of the Shiba, sadly he was also a very powerful bonehead. From the air the giant rebounds himself in the opposite direction that the gravity is flowing, this does not shock Otokogi, he has had this Bankai longer than most of these current Shinigami have been alive and active, he understands every perceivable flaw of his own blade. And while thinking of his blade he notices Densagi reeling back to strike him with something. Could it be the orb already? No, something not as terrifying as that but still equally as bad, a bolt of lightning festering in his grip to be used as a crude weapon against him.

Otokogi had kept the lightning at bay for a brief period of time with his Bankai, the gravity forcing it back up into the air, but as time drew on it was getting stronger, pushing past the gravity to steadily begin hitting the tops of buildings again. He had this train of thought because he had to wonder if his blade would be enough to counter what Densagi held in his hand. This was the fearful power of this Shiba, no one but him knew just how much this power was climbing, what worked a second ago may not work in the next second. Through his blinding rage he had to calm himself in these climatic moments, slipping into Jinzen during it.

”Hmm, well this is odd indeed…”

A resounding hum vibrating the space around Otokogi and his Zanpakuto spirit which took the form of a massive planet with rings around it. Otokogi stood on a white tiled platform looking up to it, saying nothing to his spirit, only standing there in shame.

”You have doubts concerning this impending clash, don’t you? Hmmm, the lighting is starting to get past the inverse gravity field, Meigetsu is strong as ever.”

”A battle between shinigami is a battle of Reiatsu. Densagi’s Reiatsu currently stronger than mine, I fear-”

”Zettai Jūryokuhanten, that is the name of my Bankai, is it not?”

”Surely you don’t expect me to take that name literally I just-”

”YOU FRAIL OLD FOOL, MUST YOU STILL BE TAUGHT A LESSON!?

The voice booms now, shattering the platform so graciously given to Otokogi to stand on as he now drifts closer towards the planet, his Zanpakuto spirit.

”Lose your faith in me and our near millenia bond will shatter here and now! Did you come here to say ‘please work this one time?’ Hmmm? Zettai Jūryokuhanten. What is a black hole to me, who can simply invert it and turn it to nothing. Hmm? What is an explosion to me who can collapse it into nothing. Hmmm? Never again forget where I stand, where I reside. Now go and let me face Meigetsu.”

That exchange happened in all of an instant as Otokogi and Densagi came closer and closer to colliding with one another. The old man tightened his grip on his blade, deciding to allow Jūryokuhanten to meet Meigetsu head on. Lightning falls around them striking faster and brighter until a bolt races down and strikes the ground for the first time since the Kenpachi activated his Bankai, time was almost up for those on the ground. All the rage Otokogi had built up turned into a serene calm as he held his blade over his head, gripping it with two hands. He swings it downward to meet Densagi’s strike and the bolt of lightning and his blade collide. Oto decided to use Ryōdan here for a very specific reason as it was merely supplementary to what his Zanpakuto was about to do.

His blade meets the bolt of lightning and to Densagi’s surprise his makeshift weapon would be pried from his hands as the bolt collapsed in on itself, however all that energy had to go somewhere. Oto was following through with his swing before halting as it reached the end of its arc and began to pull said blade back up just as fast as his initial downward swing. This was done just in time as all that collapsed energy exploded allowing his blade to meet part of the explosion to collapse only a part of it, the part of the explosion facing him. The other half of the explosion would be met by Densagi and would blow him backwards towards the Soul Membrane. Otokogi wanted to bring Densagi down in a way where he could eventually talk and reconcile with him but he has not become a natural disaster against the Soul Society itself and cannot be allowed to live any longer.

Oto allowed himself to fall back towards the ground, landing on the rubble of a destroyed building. When he had fought the previous Kenpachi he had limited the release of his inverse gravity hence why he had to continually pursue him to get him to hit the Soul Membrane that surrounds the Seireitei. In this instance the inverse gravity is in full effect meaning not only is it encompassing half of the Seireitei but reaching up towards the Membrane as well and perhaps even well past it. The Kenpachi inhales and exhales as he takes another sword stance, ready to unleash another Zanjutsu technique because he knows full well what he has just done, he placed Densagi closer to the orb. He is sweaty, covered by dirt and debris, lightning striking the ground more consistently now, people dying around him.

”Forgive me, Jūryokuhanten, my old friend. But this is not a battle I can win…”

He stabs his blade into the ground and walks away from it, hoping that the two captains were able to use his Bankai to save as many Shinigami as they could. He sits down out in the open, lightning striking around him, sapping his energy each time. He was ready to continue the scuffle be he knows within his heart that this battle is in vain and if Densagi uses that orb it will make things worse and so he offers himself up the the monstrous Shiba, hoping that the man will opt for a different way to kill him instead of the orb looming in the sky above.

”Hmm, I hope people can learn from my mistakes… No sin goes unpunished… The longer you avoid punishment the more the sin will drag innocents down with you. Well, Densagi, have your revenge. I will resist no longer.”​

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[Ywi]

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Much to her utter disbelief, stewed deep in the bland-chatter of her dealings she was, the intricate hamster wheels in her head spinning with vigour to work through her next steps– Contacting Ōhei(and the subsequent argument she is sure she'll manage to get into with him), monitoring That situation, going to That Other place deep in 12th, continuing her █████████-, she is brought out of endlessly looping thoughts.

Braids trip along her shoulder, head turned slowly, gingerly, following a surge of reiatsu.

That situation; A Bankai. rage. hate. hate. hate–

"Girl–" she begins, addressing Kokuren with a scowl, her following words dying in her throat, choked around a spit filled gasp.

No.

Absolutely not.

For all her bragging grandeur, in her belief that she is truly the epitome of everything– The end-all, be-all. Perfection incarnate-, it is this moment that shows what she is to her core. Not a genius. Not a perfect creation.

A bug.

She's a bug.

Wide eyes, seeing the danger, yet too stupid to get away in time, choosing to ignore those obvious redflags flying in her peripherals. What good was someone like her, in the end, when the fear of inevitability ripped chunks of hair from her scalp, reminding her that she can't stand her ground if her life is even vaguely threatened.

And threatened it is.

THUD – THUD – THUD – THUD

Not even a glance is given to Kokuren, the girl and Itaku firmly put out of her head as blood vessels threaten to burst against her eardrums. Doors open with hollow thunks as she speed walks through the halls, adrenaline stuffed fear keeping would-be legs of jelly barely stable enough to not collapse under her, shoulders nudging blurry bodies out of her way.

Under her nails, in her teeth, behind her pupils- She can feel it. It could be a dull buzz breaking through the dampened, reiatsu proofed walls of the twelfth to others, the less honed and refined, but for her it's an inhumanly loud thunder rattling through her skull. It's alarming either way, whether she was panicking or not. Very little could get through their walls.

Were she clear, present, she would have added that to her list of to-do's to fix. But she isn't.

Carried back to toward the Spiritual Wave Measurement Lab (電波計測研究科, Denpa Keisoku Kenkyūka; lit. "Wave Measurement Department") by hurried pattering steps she glances around at various monitors, the searing greens and reds on black burning the information of the conflict transpiring to her retinas. With the entire scenario seeming to get further and further out of hand, any hopes that she could acquire 'samples' from the individuals involved dwindled to nothing. A pity, considering they may have been useful in the development of Mosquito (蚊; ka). She could just never shake the– currently rather intrusive- thoughts for furthering her Azamushi.

"Ma'am," stopping short of her destination she blinks, once, twice, registering the voice of another bothersome unseated subordinate. He cleared his throat, brow furrowed, "Third Seat Teishi has returned," he pauses, eyes averted from meeting hers, "And she has an unconscious Shinigami in her office,"

She stares, owlish, blinking slowly, and waiting for further explanation. When it's clear she isn't going to get one, she lets out a sigh, shaking and uneven where she meant it to be exasperated and controlled.

"Is… That all?" the unseated shinigami nods, his guard as lowered as her own, just for very different reasons.

What the thought process of Nanami is when shit is, objectively, hitting the fan escapes Shibuya. Why bother alerting her to her return? Why bother alerting her that she has some no-name Shinigami in her office?

If she wasn't so frazzled she may have understood the first as Nanami informing her that she was still alive.

While she still criticized the third seat, the interruption gifted to her by the woman was enough to shake her thoughts closer to their proper places, pegs knocked askew but rolling to the holes they fit into. Would her pride allow it, the Harai may have even offered her a word of thanks the next time they came across one another– Alas, for Nanami, Shibuya is nothing short of a sinner.

She takes a shaky inhale, and rolls her head in a small half-circle, focus returning alongside her rationale.

This, for how terrifying it is, how it sends butterflies down her spine, is an opportunity. A situation where she can safely watch the happenings and not get involved in person, and take the reins of control to benefit from it.

"Understood." her jaw grinds against itself, popping out of its socket on one side, then popping back easily, "Please, go and check on our guest from Fourth Division. Kokuren is her name. She may still be in the Warehouse Sector, Storage Building Fourteen. Ensure she is kept safe until this conflict is over," the man yips a 'Yes, ma'am!', charging out of sight to follow his orders, as benign as they are.

Finally, she pushes the last leg forward to the Spiritual Wave Measurement Department, shoving open one of the many doors leading into the area. Heavy air hits her, hot and suffocating as the frantic clicks of typing and loud chatter greet the fifth seat.

Wasting no time, she stalks over to the center of the facility, the largest of the screens beaming down at her. This spot has been empty for as long as she has been a part of the 13 Court Guard Squads, its last occupant gone in what may as well have been mere moments before she arrived. A memory for those that were there, while Shibuya saw it as a goal, open and ready for her to reach it in what will leave a far stronger, more lasting, impact. A legacy of her own to strive for. Today is a simple taste-test for what she considers an inevitability.

A few final steps have her on the raised podium, encircled by the railings like a safety blanket.

"What are the casualties?!" she yells, voice carrying over the mutterings of her squadmates easily from her position.

A second without reply goes by, her fellow eggheads unsure how to respond- if they even should. She isn't the acting leader of their squad, her sudden jump into the deep-end will only create turbulent waves in time to come.

"Approximately ███ Shinigami, ma'am!"

The reply breaks through the quiet, all the signal the others need to pick-up their work again. It shouldn't feel as good as it does as they allow Shibuya control over their hive.

With all her internal celebration, the number worries her. As far as she is aware, the ranks of the Gotei 13 haven't fully recovered since the civil war incident, its numbers barely warranting the vast space of the Seireitei anymore as each division was met with what could almost be a halving of their total bodies. Needless to say, even a handful of casualties would be far too many after such an incident. Depending on the squads they came from, this could be devastating for more than just the physical damage likely being caused.

"Do we know who the perpetrator is?"

"Shiba Densagi, most likely," A Shiba? Well, that could certainly explain motivation. The massacre of his clan, finally no longer being able to stuff the hatred down, eventually leading to the current display of malice still leaking through her vertebrae. The intricacies fly over her head, however, only able to guesstimate the process that landed them where they are currently.

The choice of words catches her attention, though.

"Most likely? What does that mean?" she asks, glowering toward the voice's direction.

"Our sensors cannot get a clear reading of ground-zero, so we are unable to verify if it is him or not,"

"Captain Kurayami of Fifth Division alluded to it being him as well,"

Ah, right. That. In all her panic she had barely heard the other woman's voice in her head earlier, and she certainly wasn't in the right frame of mind to understand what she was saying. With how fast and loose Shizukana played it with sharing her reiatsu, many had likely heard what she had to say, including the hermits of 12th despite how little a majority of them actually left. Seeing her crinkle her nose, one of said members relays the message to her as verbatim as they can remember.

As she ruminates over what to do, what she could do, her eye catches a spike of red just out of view on the giant screen, huddled into the upper left corner of the zoomed in overhead perspective of the N.W. district of Seireitei.

"What in the…" she mutters, squinting at the oddity. She knows the N.W. isn't the only area caught in the attack, obvious from the display of power, but those dots aren't over the N.E. or the S.W. as she expects. Perhaps it's a glitch? Some sort of graphical problem caused by Densagi's overwhelming Bankai futzing with their tech. The rationale is flawed, enough so that she finally looks to the control panel before her.

Scrolling the view over, her fear is confirmed. Red dots cluster in Central- the opposite portion of Central that she could rightfully lump into the incident plaguing most everyone's attention at the moment, all close and huddled as-if–

She doesn't hesitate and pulls an Azamushi Injector(痣蟲 注射器; azamushi chūsha-ki) from her obi, its cap flying off somewhere as she stabs the needle into her forearm. Once the vessel's plunger clicks, it's ripped from her arm just as quickly as it entered, an inky black tattoo blooming where it once met her flesh.

Centipede(蜈蚣; mukade), 1 out of 6 injector(s) used.

The tattoo begins to move, squirming, until it divides itself into nine separate, identical tattoos, three of which crawl off of Shibuya's body, scattering in various directions toward the surface.
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Centipede #1 to N.E., 4th Division HQ!​

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Centipede #2 to Central, 2nd Division HQ!​

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Centipede #3 to N.W., Ground-Zero!​

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One stands out against her face, blatant while it slithers around, blending seamlessly even as it digs itself into her eye, stretching toward her ear in a line between the two orifices.

She sighs, gripping the metal railing around her.

"Allow anyone nearby to enter the S.R.D.I. down to level two," she orders, hand-picking a few from the ranks of twelfth that she is confident can suppress their reiryoku enough to not immediately make the problem worse. Level 2 contains many sub-labs, most of which require clearance, but it is the first level of the S.R.D.I. built with reiryoku dampeners, meaning it will just have to do to house any stragglers, the injured, or whoever else may need to get away and somehow haven't fallen unconscious yet.

Speaking of unconscious Shinigami…

To be sure she won't miss out on anything pertinent, one of the Centipede's crawls off her to the railing, standing on its back legs to watch the large screen.

"Keep a close eye on the situations until I return," she says to both the Centipede and the members of S.W.M.D. before vanishing into a short-lived shunpo– She's moved around so much already she can't rightly warrant more walking.

Her head beats with pressure, migraine blurring her surroundings, as she swiftly makes her arrival. Shibuya clenches her fist, slamming it into her superior's door.

"Teishi!" she yells through the door, trying to keep her voice level, "Open up!"
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[Ywi]

Centipede #3 arriving from N.W. S.R.D.I. HQ to N.W., Ground-Zero!
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'Ooh, it's scary out here. Miss Harai thinks it would be bad, but the lighting makes me scared, because it's scary! I'd like to go back home to Miss Harai, but I must see the scene with my own eyes, because she thinks it's important.'

Three thinks as it skitters along the ground, clinging to the surface easily even as gravity would threaten to pull it toward the sky. It arrives quickly enough, seeing the tree's roots and the two men engaged in battle, short lived as that ends up being.

It watches Oto sit, accepting what seems to be his fate.

'Scary, scary… That old man is scary, but cool, because he is a samurai. And samurai are cool, but scary.'

It hopes that Shibuya is seeing this, its eyes roving from point to point briefly to catch everything, even though its true attention is called back to Oto. It likes him a lot.
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[Nobody]

Time, it drags and creeps to a crawl, both for Densagi and the Shiba slayer. For the Kenpachi, it is time allotted to converse with his zanpakuto, chastised by the spirit as it works to refocus its master's perspective on the battle and their power. For Densagi it is a time of reflection. He recalls the times of laughs and smiles with children and residents of the Rukongai. He thinks back on his favorite drinks, his favorite places to take a nap, and he recalls the times of exhausted laughter with him and those he once called friend, their clothes tattered and bodies decorated with wounds, happy to be alive, to have survived together.

Then like glass, the memories shatter, fractured and dyed in black and red. The faces of his closest confidants distorted, twisted. His heart had wavered, but the memories of his fallen kin, the recent recollection of Captain Senko activating his bankai to attack him while they were all talking reforges his conviction.

Time resumes its course

The Kenpachi's blade arcs down meeting the lighting forged weapon, Densagi's eyes still a burning crimson, lightning trickling ceaselessly from their respective corners, yet even in such a state they widen incredulously. The lightning crashes down furiously around them yet the lightning he wielded was gone. He moves to brace himself with the bracers clasped onto his arms, an addition to his bankai state. Yet instead of meeting a blade, no contact is made, the blade instead reversing in its arc.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

An explosion occurs, further lightning the skies above the seireitei. As Otokogi descends towards the ground a large dark object is seen drifting up towards the sky, difficult to see given the distance, but the object in question is none other than Densagi. The exposed flesh revealed to be burnt, seared, his clothes not garbed or covered in the armor torn with some pieces still alight from the flame of the explosion. There is no reaction from Densagi who seems to be floating helplessly into the air, helplessly towards the Soul Membrane...helplessly towards his end.

Yet in danger there is also opportunity. With every risk exists a chance of reward. As he floats his body that was still, motionless begins to move. Aside from the Soul Membrane, there resides something else high in the air, and that is Densagi's bankai itself, the massive sphere that had been decimating the various regions of the Seireitei, growing all the while. Oto, tired yet not beaten seems to relent, lightning now strong enough to reach the ground, collides against his body. His well of spiritual power a boon to both Densagi and the sphere, further contributing to their growth.

As he floats by his sphere, Densagi reaches out and grasps hold of it as if he were clinging to a ledge, pulling himself to contest the gravitational push of Oto's bankai.

"OTOKAGIIIIII!!!!!!"

The Shiba roars furiously, he voice by now, capable of reaching every sector of the Seireitei due to his monstrous size. His fellow Shinigami, like ants from his perspective. While he does not see Oto clearly, cannot hear his solemn words he knows where he is at. His charred arms flex alongside his muscles, biceps bulge as he yanks himself forward to position himself beneath the sphere, turning it into his foothold and support. Lightning crackles and dances along his feet, coursing and traveling up over him and through him. Fingers clench as if clawing through dirt, tendrils of electricity writhing between them, his reiatsu flares, the crimson light above, blinding.

"SPRINKLED ON THE BONES OF THE BEAST!"

All of Seireitei can hear it, the beginning of an incantation. Those versed in the Demon Arts are familiar with what spell this is, a staple of the Shiba clan.

"SHARP TOWER, RED CRYSTAL, STEEL RING! MOVE AND BECOME THE WIND, STOP AND BECOME THE CALM!"

He continues the chant, his reiatsu spiking further and as if to respond to this call, the red lightning too becomes excited. Its perhaps ironic, the words of this partial incantation, 'stop and become the calm'. Otokagi those months ago could not stop and become the calm, to reassess the situation when choosing to shed blood, placing them on the path they stand on today. Kagi who had been skulking in the shadows, watching the heated exchange between those involved in the matter, could not stop to evaluate his options properly, choosing poorly instead of truly remaining calm, propelling the events of today further on the current course. And then there is Densagi, who could not remain calm in the face of his family's killer, in the face of a Captain's bankai, reacting on the emotions that had been bottled up for so long; lightning trapped in a bottle.

"THE SOUND OF WARRING SPEARS FILLS THE EMPTY CASTLE!!! HADO 63, RAIKŌHŌ!!!!!"

As he completes the incantation, he simultaneously launches himself off the sphere. As he moves towards Oto's location he moves his hand forward bringing with him some of the crimson lightning when he had clutched his fingers. The red lightning seemingly combines with the yellow lightning of the spell, both coalescing into a singular sphere colors bleeding one into the other. As lightning crashes around them, from the discolored orb, a singular lightning strike flashes and collides on the area Oto is set to be in. With the growth in his size, and spiritual strength the potential of the spells power has become proportionally that much greater. Greater still when using the full incantation and when combining the lightning from his bankai, with the lightning of the spell in question. The thunderclap is, catastrophic, its roar echoes across the Seireitei. All are blinded by the burning lights of crimson then white.

 

[Adonai]

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The Passing

Otokogi sits on the ground, looking up towards the ever vengeful and wrathful Densagi as he shouts his name from the sky. In these moments time seems to dilate and slow down for the old man as the incantation for Raikōhō is spoken by the massive beast above him. He closes his eyes, or maybe this was just him blinking, due to the dilation of time it is hard to say.

”I have lived a long life, I’ve tried to do the right thing, but in these past ten months, did I lose my way? Should I have sought Densagi out and explained things to him one on one? I carry titles that are unbefitting of a man like me… I am no Captain and I certainly am no Kenpachi…”

Otokogi thinks to himself, reflecting on the more recent events of his life and how his own rage at the time propelled him forward, beyond his limitations. Strong enough to stride into a Noble’s home and slaughter their people, cut down the Onmitsukido Commander without a shred of mercy, and to fight near death against the then Kenpachi. All the rage, all the blood, red on top of red blinding him to what he was doing, unable to see the outcome of his actions properly. Now he is in a position against another man who is all rage and fury, red on top of red, unable to see the future beyond this current point in time. The old man’s thoughts go back even further, to a time where he was justified, where he could see beyond the “here and now” of a situation and navigate it correctly.

”The days where I could sit down and have a drink with Densagi… Even if he did get a bit rambunctious it was all in good fun and he meant no one any harm. A time where I could investigate corruption and plan how to stop it… Ahhh a future where Densagi would have fought at my side instead of against me… I am the last loose end of the Civil War, The last heap of sin that should be burned away.”

His eyes slowly open, he can see Densagi’s mouth moving but he can hear none of the words exiting it. The old man is in a serene Zen-like state that is blocking out everything save for his own thoughts. He looks down at his tired old hands, so much fighting, so, so much fighting. Only now does he realize that he is tired and wants rest. The way his hands sting whenever his blade clashes with another, the way his body aches when he is hit, the scars he must look at that only bring back painful memories of times of strife. His students wish to become mighty warriors of the Gotei Thirteen, everyone wants to be strong and experience many fights and achieve victory but they are not thinking about what life is like after that. When they sit down and think about those they lost, the pain of old injuries and what caused them.

A light shines above him, he does not see it nor hear it, it is judgment incarnate. He hopes people will learn from his mistakes, but the state the Gotei is in right now, he doubts it. He finally looks up and the discolored lighting about to crash down upon him, he lets out an exhausted sigh.

”Wounds are all I’m made of…”

The lightning crashes down upon the Kenpachi causing a great and violent explosion, hopefully everyone in this quadrant of the Seireitei had been evacuated to safety. In the aftermath of such a violent explosion there wasn’t much left, save for Otokogi’s Zanpakto, now in its sealed form, snapped in half. That would be the only thing left of the old man to even prove he was there at all.

Otokogi “Kenpachi” Aijō: Obliterated by Densagi Shiba…​

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[Frea]

The woman who appeared in front of Nanami had uneven locks of auburn hair with flowers in her hair, a woman who looked scandalous with her red velvet revealing dress, some might say it was too revealing which it was. Her skin complexion is a little darker than Nanami’s, it’s like a tanned olive tone to it, accompanied by red lipstick and eyeshadow which compliments her gold eyes that shimmered. This woman was Uzume no taizai. Uzume smirked looked down at her wielder and chuckled softly.

“So you want to achieve the Bankai huh? By forcing….”

The woman chuckled gently reaching down to Nanami softly stroking her cheek before her grip got harder. Leading Nanami to slap her hand off the cheek, She stared at the Zanpakuto spirit serious manner.

“Yes I do, are you going to allow me to?”

Uzume shrugged off the slap and placed her hand on her chin thinking about the decision on this. In a way, this can be done by forcefully doing it but what fun can that do if she just handed Nanami the bankai without a little bit of challenge? The zanpakuto spirit had disappeared from Nanami’s sight and flickered behind her, leaning close to her ear, Uzume whispered.

“Then Earn it by battling me, beat me and I’ll help you to achieve it.”

Nanami’s eyes went to a side eye before jumping forward in fright on hearing her zanpakuto spirit into her ear. Gripping onto her zanpakuto Nanami stared at her spirit ready to start the spar, however…that didn’t last long as her long-lasting meditation was interrupted by yelling at the door. Nanami sighed in annoyance and soon her Zanpakuto spirit was nowhere to be found. She removed the headgear and went up to the door and opened it to reveal her other seated member and she looked down at Shibuya with a smile.

“Yes, Harai-san? What’s wrong?” ​

 

[Ywi]

---

'Woah! So awesome… That guy is super huge, and that's awesome! I wonder what the cool old man will do? So cool, and scary–'

Three watches in fascination, the two men equally drawing the creature's attention, feeding every second to Shibuya.

It doesn't think anything will truly happen to it, that it's safe where it is, even as searing white overtakes its sight.

The last thought it has is just as all its prior had been:

'So scary, but so cool,'

Centipede #3 Destroyed
​

---

---

Shibuya prepares another round of aggressive knocking as the door swings open, her fist frozen mid-air. She's sure she looks as frazzled as she feels, jaw tightly set in an aborted grind of jagged teeth against jagged teeth, hair springing from her usually finely tied braids, and a wild look in her eye.
​

“Yes, Harai-san? What’s wrong?”​

"Wrong?" she scoffs, the hand she intended to knock with whipping out, extended to the empty halls around them with her hand open, strained, tendons bulging against her skin.

"If you haven't noticed, then you're duller–" as she's about to go on a tirade, chewing out the woman before her, her eye twitches, heading shaking the slightest bit alongside it.

Jolts of electricity stutter her brain to a halt in favour of forcing her to feel every gruelling second of death at the Shiba's hand– She burns as Three did, far it may have been, it still experienced that blinding light and world-ending suffering-, yet no injuries arise on her person. No fluctuations of her reiryoku. Nothing but the mild convulsions forced onto her as her brain struggles to wrap itself around the fact that she is fine, alive.

Truth be told, while she had expected Three to perish, she hadn't expected an end like that, one where she was forced to endure the very thing that had set her off into her current state of being in the first place.

At the very least the incident, as horrific it was, didn't truly happen to her. Jittered and shaky, yes, but not really any worse for wear, and all she truly lost was a single Centipede (and arguably the Third Divisions Captain, though that hardly counts as a loss for her). For its sacrifice, she has gained some knowledge on one of many situations at hand. Granted she would have liked to keep it alive long enough to see more of that man's abilities, but such is life. Win some, lose some, draw on yet others.

"... Nevermind," she breathes deeply, in and out, filling her lungs and steadying her knees.

Through the constant influx of information from her still living and deployed Centipede's, Two stands out the most, a single name repeating in its head.

'Shimojima Daigo,'

Interesting.

"Where is the child you brought down here?" her question is asked only as a courtesy to Nanami, a small gesture to unfairly balance out a tiny hand attempting to shove said woman out of her way, barging into the office as-if she were its owner.

A fifth Centipede trails down her leg, crawling along the floor, its existence masked with purposeful steps, Shibuya's Shihakusho flowing in just such a way to obscure the little creature while it skitters off.

"I trust you haven't done anything untoward to it, hm? We are in a time of crisis, after all. We do not need to anger whatever squad the urchin came from,"
​

---

​

 

[Frea]

Nanami stared at the red-haired girl who is well known to be very much of a hothead. Nanami wasn't paying attention due to the fact she was forcing and experimenting on herself to achieve bankai but alas that got interrupted by her underling. She caught on to what had happened and she could no longer sense a presence that was in the air moments ago. Otokogi Aijo, Kenpachi Aijo rather his reiatsu is no longer to be felt presuming he had been defeated or worse case faced death.

"Ah, Captain Aijo died didn't he?"

What a shame, a guy who ascended and beat the 11th division captain and became captain all suddenly died at the hands of what she could presume was the Shiba male.

"The 2nd division and 5th division Captain should've done more and as well the Shiba if he was the one that killed his kind."

Nanami's facial expression went from neutral smiling to a doomed-looking face as well her voice changed to a much darker and sadistic tone.

"They all need to be jailed or executed for the death. There is no place for those kinds of captains in the seireitei if they wished to let their member of seireitei die at the hands of a disgusting Shiba."

Even though Nanami may not have known what started it and who or what had happened at the end, one thing she knew was involved due that she witnessed herself. Immediately when she saw the other captains not doing anything to help the captain who was being targeted by the Shiba these captains made Nanami question if they were even right for the position of a captain. being a captain wasn't just about strength and power but also at times intellect and leadership as well.

The topic was deterred by Harai who wanted to know where the unknown 10th division member was so Nanami stepped to the side due to Harai's barging in as if this was her office, this annoyed Nanami due to she considered it rude, knew what Nanami had going on in her office. For all Harai could know Nanami could've done something morbid in the office, but luckily the 3rd seat was not like that at all. She pointed directly at the girl who was unconscious as well her body had no odd contraptions or no experiments on her. Nanami wasn't all too particularly fond of doing experiments on others, at least not to her kind of people. That was in the past, but now it is all about developing new technology for the future to come. Of course, Nanami can't deny that Harai is brilliant at that type of stuff, dare to say she is better at Nanami at times.

Nanami's eyes fixated on the moving bug that crawled out of Shibuya's leg and saw the odd creature skittering off somewhere. She stared at Harai with yet again one of her cold stares and made quite a strong-toned question.

"So, Any new information?"​

 

[Ywi]

---

​

"The 2nd division and 5th division Captain should've done more and as well the Shiba if he was the one that killed his kind."​

"They all need to be jailed or executed for the death. There is no place for those kinds of captains in the seireitei if they wished to let their member of seireitei die at the hands of a disgusting Shiba."​

Shibuya pauses in her stride toward the girl Nanami had pointed out, head turning to look over her shoulder with a smug smirk pasted in place. A rare expression that smoothed whatever fine lines exist on her face, painting the picture of a young noble girl getting the last laugh, rather than that of an unaging monster.

"Quite opinionated, aren't we?" she all but laughs. To think the younger woman had so many thoughts about what was worthy of reprimand.

To the contrary, Shibuya held no such arguments. The woman exacted her judgement with precision if she so believed any, at all, had done enough wrong to warrant death. She would get her own hands dirty rather than say someone else should carry out said judgements. Though the fact of the matter remained that killing was the resort of a stupid, confused, animal lashing out once it is cornered, and certainly Nanami was a stupid animal in her eyes. A creature that hurt for fun because it was too half-witted to use its brain and come to any conclusion other than to harm.

Shibuya was no saint, though the difference between their varieties of horrid is like light and day. Her earlier actions could be regarded as 'heroic' in a sense, but helping in a time of need wasn't for the good of the people, it was for her own benefit. Trust and goodwill go a long way in the world of politics, perhaps enough to garner an endorsement or two for her soon-to-be claim on the captaincy of 12th.

"What would be the use in punishing them?" her smirk dips to a neutral frown, "Need I remind you the Gotei is severely under-manned, and losing two additional Captain-level Shinigami for something as trite as 'not doing enough' would leave yet more weaknesses where the other squads cannot afford them,"

"If we are judging them based on deaths caused by this Shiba, then should you not be punished as well?"

The elder takes a moment of pause, and it is enough for her to feel a minute vibration from within her obi, buzzing four times to signal it's been ignored for some time, prompting her to fish out her denreishinki.​

" Lady-Harai!~ Sorry i made a mess! <3 ur prob already on this but pretty please take care of the pplz! i think densagi will stop stomping around soon. i hope he does! close to everyone's got away i gotta check out some other stuff, but can you do something?? I felt hollow ickies around the rukongai and it might be nothin but can u check? A sign, anything? Winging it! lol its crazy out here! ttyl! <3 <3 <3 "​

"If anyone deserves to be hung out to dry, it is the woman shirking her duties and allowing many able-bodied soldiers to die when she could have stepped up and done something in lieu of those she so seems to want drawn and quartered," Shibuya unhurriedly types out a response to Shizukana as she speaks.
​

'i have indeed handled the people.
my condolences for the loss of captain aijo.'​

Four scrolls its view of the screen back in the S.W.M.D toward Rukongai, scouring across the quadrants searching for even trace amounts of hollow energy.
​

'pertaining to the hollow: it seems as though there is something toward the south.
i will see what i can arrange to check the situation.
i would also like to talk to you in person when you have the time.
to have a.
girltalk.
as it were.​

"But instead of performing her base duties as acting leader of Twelfth Division, she is hunkered down in her office doing nothing," she looks up from her messenger, clapping it shut in her palm.
​

"So, Any new information?"​

Turning on her heel back toward Kuwashii, her expression darkens the tiniest bit, "You seem to misunderstand something about me, Teashi," a last step and she's finally in front of the girl, "I do not divulge information to those who disappoint me,"

She doesn't expect Nanami to sit and take her cruelty, but she feels no fear with her back turned to the other woman. It isn't trust in the sadistic wretch, rather trust in the eyes slithering across her body, acting as extensions of her own, watching and waiting.

With her little tirade over, Shibuya lightly slaps her palm against Kuwashii's cheek a few times, "Wakey-wakey, girl, lest you wish to be my next specimen,"

Whether the threat is a joke or not hangs dead in the air.
​

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