Bankai! Ryumon Hozukimaru

Isane Kotetsu checked Rukia one more time, then looked between her and Ichigo.

"She only needs a little more rest," Isane said. "Rukia is recovering quickly."

Ichigo nodded.

Isane did not linger long enough to become the third person in the room. She left with professional calm, closing the door behind her and giving them space.

Ichigo looked down at Rukia.

"Don't worry," he said. "Stay here and rest. I'll bring Byakuya back."

"Mm. I'll behave."

Rukia only sounded this soft when she was injured badly enough to stop pretending she was fine.

Ichigo had just opened his mouth to say something else when a knock came from the door.

"Ichigo? Rukia? Can I come in?"

Ichigo straightened at once.

"Yeah. Come in."

The door slid open, and Ikkaku Madarame stepped into the room with an Asauchi over one shoulder. Ichigo glanced at him, then at Rukia.

"You came to see Rukia?"

Ikkaku shook his head.

"No. I came for you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Me?"

"Yeah. I heard you took your Zanpakuto back. I want you to help me find mine."

Ichigo had no reason to refuse. He needed to leave and search for Byakuya anyway.

"Fine. Let's go."

...

Elsewhere in the Seireitei, Omaeda led several members of Squad Two through the night, following Soi Fon's order to investigate Muramasa's master.

Walking around the Seireitei at night during a Zanpakuto rebellion was asking to run into trouble.

Omaeda found it almost immediately.

His own Zanpakuto spirit, Gegetsuburi, was with Ikkaku's Zanpakuto, Hozukimaru.

To Omaeda's horror, Gegetsuburi's reason for rebelling was not some deep wound or ancient resentment. It was taste.

Apparently, his Zanpakuto hated his aesthetics.

Omaeda was still trying to process that insult when he drew his sword. Before the fight could begin, a loose stone shot out of the dark and slammed into him hard enough to send him flying.

The stone had been kicked by Ichigo.

"Huh?" Ichigo looked in the direction the rock had gone. "Did that hit someone?"

"Did it?" Ikkaku asked from behind him.

"Whatever. Look over there. Isn't that your Zanpakuto?"

Ikkaku turned and saw a burly orange-haired man rushing at him with a spear in hand.

Clang!

Ikkaku caught the strike and grinned.

"So it really is Hozukimaru!"

"You finally noticed?" the man said. "That's right. I am your Zanpakuto, Hozukimaru."

He pushed harder and knocked Ikkaku back.

Ikkaku's eyes widened.

"You have hair?"

Hozukimaru froze.

"That is what you care about?"

Then, while Ichigo and Gegetsuburi stared blankly, Ikkaku and Hozukimaru performed an absurd little dance together like they had practiced it for decades.

Ichigo pressed a hand to his forehead.

'Wonderful. I should never have brought this idiot out here.'

Gegetsuburi took advantage of the chaos and slipped away. The closer he got to Ichigo, the more clearly he felt the monster-like reiatsu around him. Staying would be suicide.

Unfortunately, Muramasa's orders seemed stronger than his survival instincts. A few moments later, Gegetsuburi crept back and hurled his spiked flail at Ichigo, apparently hoping to knock him out and drag him away.

Ichigo looked at him with flat disbelief.

If someone insisted on making a terrible decision, there was only so much pity he could offer.

One casual burst of sword pressure cracked Gegetsuburi's flail and knocked the Zanpakuto spirit unconscious on the spot.

Ikkaku's fight was much louder.

He opened with a storm of attacks, pressing Hozukimaru hard and refusing to give him room. Hozukimaru, despite his rough appearance, fought defensively at first, watching Ikkaku's rhythm and waiting.

Ikkaku cut him several times, but the wounds were shallow. They did nothing to slow Hozukimaru down.

"There."

Hozukimaru snapped his spear toward Ikkaku's head.

Ikkaku tilted aside and avoided it, but Hozukimaru was not only a spear.

It was also a three-section staff.

The weapon split apart with two sharp clicks, the chain whipping the blade back toward Ikkaku's skull. Ikkaku dropped low, barely letting the strike pass over him.

No one knew Hozukimaru's tricks better than Ikkaku.

They traded blows without holding back, neither one bothering with subtlety.

"Hey, Hozukimaru," Ikkaku growled. "Why betray me?"

"Betray you?" Hozukimaru pulled the sections of his weapon back into a spear and pointed it at him. "Ikkaku, you can accuse me of many things, but you do not get to accuse me of betrayal."

His reiatsu surged.

"I did not betray you. You betrayed me."

Ikkaku's expression tightened.

"As a Zanpakuto, I want you to use my power in battle. But what have you done? Why don't you use Bankai? Why?"

Hozukimaru's voice rose into a roar.

"Even when you lost to that girl from the World of the Living, you still refused to raise your reiatsu to captain level! What are you doing?"

That resentment had not been born in a day. For decades, outside of training, Ikkaku had never used Bankai in real combat.

"If you will not use it, then I will."

Hozukimaru's reiatsu climbed.

"Bankai! Ryumon Hozukimaru!"

Three enormous blades dropped from above and crashed down around him.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

Ryumon Hozukimaru was still a Bankai, but as Bankai went, its durability was terrible. Its raw attack power was not overwhelming, and once it broke, even repairs would never fully restore it.

That was probably the real reason Ikkaku hid it.

Shikai could be fixed.

Bankai damage was another matter.

Ikkaku had no Kido and only an Asauchi in hand. Against his own Bankai, he was quickly driven into the ground. A dark shape flew through the air and smashed into the steps behind Ichigo.

Ikkaku staggered up, bleeding but still stubborn.

"Not done yet."

Before he could rush back in, reinforcements arrived.

Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake appeared first. Then Soi Fon arrived with members of the Onmitsukido, surrounding the area in disciplined silence.

"Capture both Zanpakuto," Soi Fon ordered.

"Careful!" Ikkaku shouted. "Mine is in Bankai!"

Too late.

Hozukimaru planted the massive axe-like blade behind him into the ground. The blast of reiatsu blew the Onmitsukido members back before they could close in.

Then he ran.

He was not stupid. His enemies included Ichigo, two veteran captains, and Soi Fon, who was terrifying in hand-to-hand combat. Even Muramasa would have trouble walking away from that lineup.

"He escaped?" Ukitake asked.

"Gegetsuburi did not," Shunsui said lightly.

Soi Fon looked almost smug.

"It is fine. Ichigo followed Hozukimaru. There is no way he loses, Bankai or not."

Ukitake nodded. At this point, Ichigo might be the strongest active fighter available to the Gotei 13.

Unless Unohana decided to draw her blade and start cutting everyone down.

Ichigo followed Hozukimaru through the Seireitei like a cat toying with a mouse. Then cherry blossom blades swept across his path.

Ichigo raised Zangetsu and shattered them.

"Senbonzakura."

He looked up. On a nearby rooftop, Byakuya Kuchiki stood in silence.

"Byakuya?"

Senbonzakura's attack had not been meant to win. It bought just enough time for Hozukimaru to vanish.

Byakuya disappeared as well.

"Wait! Byakuya!"

Ichigo chased him without hesitation.

Ambush or not, he was not sure the people waiting ahead understood the difference between surrounding him and being surrounded by him.

...

As Ichigo passed through a wooded stretch, a pink ribbon snapped toward his neck.

He caught it in one hand and pulled.

A petite girl in a kimono tumbled into view.

Tobiume.

Momo Hinamori's Zanpakuto.

She was not alone. A woman with a far more revealing outfit and a body that made her identity obvious stepped out from the shadows.

Haineko.

Rangiku Matsumoto's Zanpakuto.

"It really is Ichigo Kurosaki," Tobiume said, delighted.

Ichigo released the ribbon and looked from one Zanpakuto to the other.

"You two are seriously trying this?"

Haineko smiled like she had just found a prize.

"What luck. Ichigo Kurosaki walked right to us. If I bring you to Lord Muramasa, I'll earn more credit than anyone."

Ichigo stared at them.

These Zanpakuto were brave.

Too brave.

They did not even have Bankai, yet they were arguing over which one of them would get to claim him.

'You two might be braver than Aizen.'

Haineko lost patience first. Her body dissolved into ash and smoke that swirled around Ichigo.

It did not even reach him.

Ichigo waved one hand, and his reiatsu scattered the ash before it could pierce the pressure around his body.

Tobiume shut her eyes with a pained expression.

"Give up. You're barely scratching him."

"What?" Haineko snapped. "Are you trying to beat me with your mouth because your figure cannot compete?"

Tobiume touched her own very modest chest, then glared.

"Who said my figure cannot compete?"

"I did. Admit it. You're jealous."

Tobiume's face went red.

"You shameless cat. Is there anything in that head of yours?"

"What? Throwing a tantrum?"

"Which one of us is throwing a tantrum?"

The two Zanpakuto started bickering right in front of Ichigo.

They really had stopped paying attention to him.

Haineko finally pointed at him.

"Fine. Whoever takes him down first wins."

"I dislike your attitude, but I accept."

"My attitude? You mean my strength."

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